Sagaalgan: meaning, traditions and the date in 2027
What the White Month festival means, how family gatherings relate to Buddhist traditions, and what is confirmed about Sagaalgan in 2027.
Articles & guides
Meet the Buryats, learn the language, explore family history and work with sources. Choose a question and start reading.
Where to start
Who are the Buryats
An introduction to languages, histories and communities, with links to sources.
Start learning Buryat
Five words or short expressions with sources, one question for a teacher and a time for your next session.
All materials by topic
Meet the Buryats
Who are the Buryats
An introduction to languages, histories and communities, with links to sources.
Language
Translating Buryat: dictionaries and checking meaning
Where to look up a word, how to check a sentence and what to give a Buryat speaker when asking for a review.
The Buryat alphabet: 36 letters and first steps in reading
The complete Buryat alphabet, the letters Ө, Ү and Һ, and practical steps for reading, typing and dictionary work.
How to greet someone in Buryat and respond
Short forms from Burlang.Zugaa: a greeting and a response with thanks, with a source and contextual explanation.
Start learning Buryat
Five words or short expressions with sources, one question for a teacher and a time for your next session.
Family & names
Buryat names: examples, meanings and family histories
An introduction to male and female Buryat names and how to check meaning, spelling and a family’s account of a name.
Buryat surnames: researching your family name
Why a surname does not establish lineage or ethnicity, and how to connect spelling variants with family records and archival research.
Start your family history
One private record with the origin of each detail, the gaps and a next research step.
How to research your genealogy
From a family question to archive catalogues and documents: a research sequence and the limits of sources.
Living culture
Buryat traditional clothing: how to read an outfit
What to look for in male and female dress: cut, belt, sleeveless garments and the provenance of a museum object.
Buryat cuisine: buuzy, bukhler and getting to know the food
How buuzy differ from khushuur, what bukhler is and how to explore Buryat cuisine through a menu and a family recipe.
Sagaalgan: meaning, traditions and the date in 2027
What the White Month festival means, how family gatherings relate to Buddhist traditions, and what is confirmed about Sagaalgan in 2027.
Explore living culture
One cultural-material record: creator or performer, context, a link and a question to explore next.
Working with sources
What can a genealogy tell us?
A reading of one scholarly study: what a genealogy can reveal about memory and society. Includes citations and a comparison worksheet.