- yesterday
Thanks to a mining boom, Mongolia has one of the world’s fastest growing economies. Ancestral traditions and values are evolving, as new relationships develop between Man and Nature.
Like most nomads in Mongolia, Purevjav is a hunter. Lured by easy money, he decides to catch a few wolf cubs and raise them to sell their pelts. But the old man soon realizes that he violated a sacred boundary between Man and Nature. In front of the cameras, he makes an irrevocable decision.
Like most nomads in Mongolia, Purevjav is a hunter. Lured by easy money, he decides to catch a few wolf cubs and raise them to sell their pelts. But the old man soon realizes that he violated a sacred boundary between Man and Nature. In front of the cameras, he makes an irrevocable decision.
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TVTranscript
00:00The snow is melting, winter is almost
00:29over, and the grass will start growing soon.
00:37My name is Purovjav.
00:40I am a shepherd from Mulanul, in the province of Hovskul.
00:45I have been taking this trip for 40 years.
00:47I am the elder, and I am in charge of the 10 families on this migration.
00:56Let's see if we can get some reception.
01:26We are the Darhats.
01:48We move over great distances, much further than other nomads.
01:54This is the last great migration in Mongolia.
02:00Every year we travel over 400 kilometers.
02:04We pass through several districts and villages.
02:08We are now heading towards our spring pastures, where it is warmer.
02:21Just look at those youngsters.
02:25They've got so much to learn.
02:27You've got to watch them all the time.
02:30They don't know where to go, where to set up camp.
02:33You've got to keep an eye on everything.
02:39These rings around the sun mean that the weather is changing.
02:43A storm is coming.
02:45We have to move carefully.
02:58We need to find shelter soon.
03:10We need to find shelter soon.
03:24We need to find shelter soon.
03:38We need to find shelter soon.
03:44Woo!
03:46Woo!
04:14This is a big storm.
04:32We've still got 150 kilometers before the next town.
04:38This is a big storm.
04:48This is a big storm.
04:52This is a big storm.
04:58You've got big, big, big water shop.
05:18This is Yeti weather, 2013 was a horrible year, how will I feed my animals this year?
05:45Last winter was tough here in the Darhat Valley, we lost half our animals, another winter
05:59like that and we're done, it's really tough.
06:13I get up at dawn every day to get the truck ready.
06:29We get started by 6 or 7 a.m.
06:34My job is to haul the heavy stuff to the next camp.
06:54I had to build a fire under the truck, the crankcase was frozen, it's really cold.
07:00It's okay now, we can go.
07:06There are about 160 people left in our herding community.
07:11About a third of us now live in towns, mostly children in boarding schools and the elderly
07:16who can't move.
07:18The rest of us still follow our animals.
07:27When I enter a town, it feels like I'm in a prison.
07:31We store our winter gear in this village.
07:40Our people now live behind fences and walls.
07:42No more cattle, not even a horse to ride.
07:45How can people live like this?
07:52How can people live like this?
08:00Batsai Khan, the projectionist, took over the old film club.
08:30He got the projector from his father.
08:37During the communist time, we had a film club in town.
08:44We used to meet here for movie nights.
08:52We're now restoring these old Russian films.
08:54They're an important part of our past.
08:58It's our history.
09:05Whatever happens in the future, these films will remain.
09:10Good job.
09:22Good job.
09:29Good job.
09:45Good job.
09:49During World War II, Hitler invaded Russia.
09:52Fords of fascist cannibals attacked our Russian brothers without warning.
09:59The Mongols helped them by sending supplies.
10:03Tons of meat, furs, and even gold and silver were shipped to the front.
10:07Dorge was the hero among shepherds.
10:11He led caravans to the front.
10:13He requisitioned thousands of camels from all over the country.
10:21They gathered in Ulaanbaatar.
10:25From there, they would travel to the railroad at the border.
10:31Dorge never failed.
10:32He was the perfect caravan master.
10:36The war caravans were led by the best shepherds.
10:56They were called the mingen malchen, the shepherds of thousands.
11:00Those who had increased their flocks beyond the quota of a thousand head.
11:14In the early 90s, communism collapsed.
11:18You couldn't buy flour, sugar, shoes, or even a pen.
11:24The Russian suppliers had pulled out.
11:27There was nothing left.
11:29How could we send our children to school in those conditions?
11:33So all of my seven children became herders, like me.
11:40There's no future in this life.
11:56We're always short of money.
11:59That's why I want to go find work in the city.
12:03Drive a big truck for a mining company.
12:06Get a salary.
12:10Exchange for a new company.
12:14Take care.
12:30I'll call you if you decided if you went crazy.
12:33I should.
12:34Put the check on through it.
12:35You get this car
12:36This much easier, you feel.
12:38That if I visit my sister.
12:39Here's what we're going to do.
12:41It's a good walk.
12:43What are we going to do?
12:45We're going to get to the top of the top.
12:47We're going to get to the top.
12:49We're going to get to the top.
13:09These days, we're free to move where we like.
13:13But it's not so simple.
13:16If there's not enough grass in one place,
13:18we'll have to move to another county.
13:20Then we have to pay a tax.
13:22It's become really hard with all these taxes.
13:25It's also difficult for the kids to be in boarding schools
13:28far from their parents.
13:33Instead of shuffling the children back and forth,
13:37why don't they have a nomadic school?
13:43But no teacher would take this kind of life.
13:48They prefer the comfort in town.
13:53Did you round up the axe?
13:56Where's that red horse?
14:00Look, it's running away.
14:02My children are tired of packing and moving all the time.
14:07They don't have the heart for this kind of life anymore.
14:13The new generation is becoming soft.
14:15They've lost their ability to survive.
14:21Nomadic life will soon disappear in Mongolia.
14:25Before us, our parents traveled these routes,
14:33as did our ancestors for millennia.
14:44The government is pushing us to become farmers and shopkeepers,
14:47but they don't really understand our ways.
14:53If I settle down, my life will become meaningless.
14:57We're not made to live in towns.
15:00Moving with the seasons is our way of life.
15:02We belong to the clan of swans.
15:26The swan is our totem.
15:28We follow them as they migrate.
15:29In summer, we live between our father and our mother mountains.
15:42Our animals graze here and raise their newborn.
15:50There are over 300 lakes in the Darhat Valley.
15:54Like us, the swans return here every year.
15:58To lay eggs and hatch their young.
16:00To lay eggs and hatch their young.
16:24To lay eggs and hatch their young.
16:25To lay eggs and hatch their young.
16:27To lay eggs and hatch their young.
16:49I've been keeping this diary for a long time.
16:50long time. I record everything that happens inside and outside this tent. I
16:58was born in Ulanul County. I entered school in 1957. Then I worked in the
17:08Negdel, a collective farm. I became a supervisor. After my military service I
17:18got married. My first wife stole my money, so I sent her back to her parents. I heard
17:29her needs a wife, so I started looking around. I remember how we got married. I
17:35kidnapped her. We escaped along this very trail. About 40 years ago, you were cute
17:45and chubby just like you are now. He was 28 and I just turned 20. We fell in
17:51love. I stole you away. I couldn't formally ask for her hand. There was no official
18:02wedding. My parents refused him, so we eloped in the night.
18:15There were wolves around here. It's that red wolf again.
18:40Wolves attack our herd when they have nothing left to eat. We've hunted out the forests and
18:55fished the rivers. This wolf has come out of the taiga. Wolves can go into a killing frenzy
19:09and wipe out an entire herd.
19:24This year, they've already killed 30 sheep and 20 goats. Wolves are always hungry after
19:31a hard winter. They can follow us for hundreds of kilometers. That's what we're up against
19:41after the fall of communism. I bought 100 sheep from the state farm. Today, my herd has grown
19:42to almost 600.
19:56My dream is to have a thousand sheep. Still chasing that dream. To have a herd of a thousand means
19:57to retire like a prince among shepherds.
19:58To have a herd of shepherds.
20:01To have a herd of a thousand means to retire like a prince among shepherds.
20:04To have a herd of shepherds.
20:06To have a herd of a thousand means to retire like a prince among shepherds.
20:31To have a herd of a herd of shepherds.
20:34To have a herd of for nail shear and shepherds.
20:36To have a herd ofappet in the flesh and shepherds hanging out of the experience of
20:40loudly.
20:40To have a herd of 확인.
20:42From a herd of fishermen to infants into 80 sheep and a large Their herd of arrangements
20:45to hold to 85 sheep and 35 sheep, they're on the Mohamed.
20:52This is a great place to eat.
20:57We are going to eat it.
21:00It's a good place to eat.
21:05It's a good place to eat.
21:08It's a good place to eat.
21:12It's a good place to eat.
21:15I think I'm going to eat it.
21:18There's a lot of water in the water.
21:22There's a lot of water.
21:25There's a lot of water.
21:28There's a lot of water.
21:48There's a lot of water .
22:17Oh, my God.
22:47You never know where a wolf will strike, it runs off in one direction then attacks from
23:04another. Out of respect we Mongols don't say wolf out loud, we call it by its secret
23:32names, Shaggy Head, Caterpillar, King of the Mountain. The alpha female is the brains of
23:40the pack. We killed a young wolf but the alpha female took her cubs, she adopted them like
23:53a human being would.
24:02The wolves came back last night, dragged a colt right out of the pen. An alpha male,
24:29big paws. This is one big bad wolf. He's smarter than most men. He's always a step ahead of
24:41me. I will hunt down this wolf and his cubs and sell their skins.
24:46Oh really? With that old gun? You expect him to be just sitting around waiting?
24:52All the kids have to be.
24:54Boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom.
24:56Boom, boom.
24:58Oeh, back to my head.
24:59Let's go.
25:29Too far away from my .22.
25:59I need a big rifle, one with longer range.
26:29We need to disinfect.
26:36We need to disinfect.
26:44We need to disinfect the cattle to kill the parasites.
27:03To kill the parasites, we need to throw the animals into a disinfectant bath.
27:28Prices have really gone up this year.
27:42We need more money.
27:45This summer, we survived thanks to our dairy surplus.
27:52We made some money selling cream and butter.
27:56But we spent it all buying food, tea, tobacco.
28:13We won't survive another bad winter like the last one.
28:22And to make things worse, these wolves are following us.
28:28We had to run away from the people.
28:31I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
28:33We've got food when we Unfortunately for the animals.
28:38I'm sorry.
28:39It's become more difficult to survive as a nomad.
29:01Winter storms cut down our herds every few years.
29:05We've lost too many animals.
29:07At least these wolf skins will bring in some extra cash.
29:22The Chinese use wolf parts in their traditional medicine.
29:36Wolf meat has become more expensive than mutton.
29:41If I capture these wolf cubs, I can sell them this winter.
29:47I'll make back money to replace my lost sheep.
29:51I'll make back money.
29:53I'll make back money.
29:54I'll make back money.
29:56I'll make back money.
30:01To be continued...
33:01In mid-September, we start moving towards our winter grounds.
33:05We make short migrations called otter, so our animals can make the most out of the pastures
33:10and put on fat before the winter.
33:11Storing fat will make the difference between life or death out here for both animals and
33:19men.
33:19I really need to replace the animals I've lost, but raising these wolf cubs for Chinese
33:40butchers just doesn't seem right.
33:41A predator even more dangerous than the wolf has come to these steps.
33:51A predator even more dangerous than the wolf has come to these steps.
34:03The two-legged wolf is worse than the four-legged one.
34:10The four-legged wolf may kill sheep and goats, but the two-legged man-wolf devours his own
34:16mother earth.
34:16Mining companies were drilling over there last time.
34:27Now they show up here on our pastures.
34:37There's a kind of grass here that we don't find anywhere else, good for fattening up the newborn
34:42animals.
34:43This has been our ancestral right since nine generations.
34:51They're offering us $30,000 to go find other pastures.
34:59Maybe we should take the money.
35:00They pay cash.
35:07You're free to do whatever you want.
35:09You can sell your share of animals, move to town, you can even go live abroad.
35:17You can sell the animals we've worked so hard to raise.
35:27I've seen it before.
35:29You'll spend everything in a few months and come crawling back without a penny in your pocket.
35:36The neighbor's son got a job in a factory.
35:45Over there, in a wood mill in Selenge province.
35:52Baira's son went to work in the city after his military service.
35:59It's never been easy to make a living as a shepherd.
36:09During the communist period, we learned the real meaning of work, just like in the army.
36:16Discipline and punctuality, always ready for action.
36:20We'll never make enough money like this.
36:36I don't know if we'll make it.
36:38The demon of greed is eating up this land.
36:42Can there be a future for us nomads in this new world?
36:49The demon of greed is eating up this day.
37:05The demon of greed is eating up this day.
37:10This wolf is a clever hunter.
37:40He has a strategy.
37:42He attacks and withdraws.
37:45We follow and fire a few shots, but he circles back around us.
38:01There's another one.
38:05You need to kill this wolf.
38:11If you don't, we'll lose everything.
38:17He's seeking revenge for the cubs you took away.
38:25Women can't measure up to wolves.
38:29I saw it happen when I was a young girl.
38:32Our neighbors had caught some wolf cubs, then the wolves came back and slaughtered the whole
38:37herd in revenge.
38:40This place is a real obstacle course, difficult to track down these wolves.
38:58These tracks are from today, those from yesterday.
39:03Here's the big male.
39:15Here's the big male.
39:25Here's the big male.
39:27Here's the big male.
39:31Here's the big male.
39:51Here's the big male.
40:03Here's the big male.
40:06Here's the big male.
40:08Here's the big male.
40:16Here's the big male.
40:21We use this to make the nuts and tighten the nuts and rid the nuts.
40:32We use this as a patch to control the nuts.
40:39We use the nuts and bolts.
40:43These nuts are complicated.
40:47.
41:17So it's come down to this, it's between this wolf and me.
41:39During the war with the Japanese, the Mongols were surrounded.
41:46The enemy had poisoned all the water supplies.
41:49Our soldiers were dying of thirst.
42:00So my father called the wolves and shot them.
42:03Mongol soldiers ate wolf flesh and drank the blood to survive in the trenches.
42:07And this is the same.
42:09I did not know where theerkers came and he is so rich.
42:12He was so rich.
42:14You did not know why!
42:16You are so rich.
47:50We're right back.
48:20We're right back.
49:20We're right back.
49:50We're right back.
50:20We're right back.
50:50We're right back.
51:20We're right back.
51:50We're right back.
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