Family and Settlement. Kurlumkin stoibishe today is located on a high ridge, about 10-12 meters above mid-summer water levels, on the east side of the B. Yugan River. Theirs is the penultimate stoibishe on the river, only Larlumkina being higher. At the turn of the century, the family name was transcribed as Kurliakin, which is how it is represented in Dunin-Gorkavich's records. Pyotr Vassielivich, the head of the family, told us in 1997 that Kuliakin means "woman with a crooked leg" because such a woman had been a member of the family some time in the past, and Khanty give nick-names like that, though normally they referred to other families by names which link a family to the landscape of their homesite and which translate into "people living at such-and-such a place."1 The extended family consists of five households: (1) Kurlumkin, Pyotr Vassilievich, the elder; his wife, Taisa Mikhailovna (maiden name Usanova), their daughter Nadia, and, until recently, an older daughter, Lena, who in 1997 departed to marry Pyotr Syrlumkin of M. Yugan; (2) the son of his deceased brother, his nephew Anton, with his wife, Larissa, and their four children; (3) his stepson, Leonid (whose mother was Taisa Mikhailovna) and his wife Natasha; (4) his recently married son, Nikolai, his wife and infant grandson; and (5) his unmarried son, Lazar, who lives with Nikolai and his family.

Pyotr Vassilievich's homestead is separated from that of Leonid and Nikolai by about a half a kilometer, from that of Anton by about a kilometer and a half. It is situated about seven kilometers downriver from the homesite that Dunin-Gorkavitch describe as "located on right side of the Yugan, one verst (=1 kilometer) from Yugan on a wide, cleared ridge parallel to the river (II:166)." His complex settlement consists of many structures, all handbuilt. In 1995 the Kurlumkins began building a new house for Lonya and his new wife.

The timing was fortuitous, because in the spring of 1996 the B. Yugan overflowed the ridge and entered their old house to a depth of a meter; this spring flood constituted a vertical rise of more than 13 meters from the river's mid-summer low level. The floodwaters stayed for 35 days, until the beginning of July, during which time the family retreated to Lonya's nearly completed house, which was finished later that summer.
Pyotr Vassilievich's hunting territory extends roughly ten kilometers north of the B. Yugan river and, spanning the river extends approximately 40-45 kilometers southward to the height of land (and Okrug boundary) just above the Demyanka river. It is approximately 166,000 hectares in area. Pyotr Vassilievich shares the bulk of this area south of the B. Yugan with Kolya and Lonya as a common winter hunting territory. A parcel of about 23,000 hectares between the Koyim-lokh River and the eastern boundary of his territory he has set aside for his nephew Anton's winter hunting territory. Another, triangular parcel of about 19,000 hectares in the extreme uplands at the southeast corner of his territory, he has reserved as winter hunting territory for a friend, now living in Ugut village. His self-identified boundaries are identical with those described by the Surgut Regional administration. His neighbors are: on the northwest, Yefim Kolsomov; on the west, Nikolai G. Tsinganninov, an elder who now lives in Talakhova, but who still hunts and fishes his land; and on the east several families at Larlumkina.
How long Kurlumkins have been on this land is not clear. Pyotr Vassilievich claims this land from within family memory. Although a Kurlumkin stoibishe could not be clearly identified on Remezov's seventeenth-century map, as far as Pyotr Vassilievich knows, his family has lived on this territory from before his great- grandfather's time. Dunin-Gorkavich described the Kurlumkin economy of Pytor Vassilievich's grandfather's generation as heavily based on the "cedar-fir-spruce forest. From it, they obtain annually up to 30 poods of nuts. Two heads-of household are there. They hunt exclusively squirrels near yurta, and get 800 in autumn and 500 in spring. They fish in the small rivers in spring by nets, in winter by morde (pike and mokhtik). In summer, they move to the mouth of the Yugan river." (II: 166) In their inventory of economic material, he added, they had no horses, 5 reindeer, 10 dogs, 2 seine nets, 10 gill nets (II: Appendix, xxv). With the important exception of not being mentioned as one of the families that go hunting outside their own territory (and who are thus, by Dunin- Gorkavich's categorization, restricted only to the moose and deer--as well as the ubiquitous squirrel--hunted on their own territory), this economic pattern seems absolutely typical by comparison with those of other B. Yugan families described by Dunin-Gorkavich. Particularly striking is the need to travel all the way to the very lower part of Yugan, between Yugan village and the Ob' to fish in summer, a distance of more than 800 kilometers by river; by the accounts of elders we recorded on the Yugan these trips were often done in caravan, several families travelling together and taking more than a week going downstream.

The Seasonal Pattern of Hunting and Fishing. The Kurlumkins allocate their efforts seasonally. They, and other Yuganskiy Khanty, differ from Khanty reindeer herders north of the Ob' by following a bi-polar rather than circular pattern of movement over their territory. Their autumn and spring camps lie on a line between their winter and summer izbushkas.

Late Spring-Summer. The family returns to the summer place before the ice leaves, usually in March, in order to more easily complete the relocation from the south side of the river by using snowmobile. In March, while there is still snow-covered ice on the river, fish are caught in fence weirs (Russ., kotets) at the mouth of the small creeks that flow into the north side of the B. Yugan. This harvest can be substantial or an absolute bust; we witnessed two in March 1992, one of which gathered more than 400 lbs of fish, including more than twenty very large pike, the largest weighing twelve kg., while the other trap, set later on another creek, was absolutely unproductive.

Some sable traps, from which they take late spring sable in March, are set in the forest north of their house, which also provides a few grouse for the pot. This is also a prime time for visiting, since the still-frozen land facilitates cross-country travel by snowmobile following old reindeer trails. Throughout the thawing and flood season, between April and the end of June, the family is pretty much dependent on stored food: dried moose meat, smoked salt-dreid fish, and bread. In a flood season of some length and very high water, the river is so clogged with dirt and debris, and so treacherous in its currents, that fishing is impossible. If the flood is not severe, hunting for moose can provide a supplement, as well as picking up an occasional duck while out after moose.
From the middle of June to the end of the month in severe flood seasons, the water level begins to drop, the Yugan's current slows, and dirt and debris settle to the bottom of the river. The land becomes passable; mosquitoes appear in the first part of July. Gill nets are set at several points on the river, near where creeks enter; they are kept up a few days, then removed and perhaps relocated elsewhere. Fresh fish provides the main source of food, though quantities are small. Occasionally Pyotr Vassilievich will set out by dugout canoe hunting for moose and ducks, trailing a line behind for pike. Toward the end of July, Lonya and Kolya, with Lena or perhaps Nadia, now that she is older, will go to Larlumkina Lake, which is rich in fish, to establish a summer fishing camp. They will stay there from five days to a week, catching and smoking fish. When we visited them in July 1996, they returned with many sacks of fish which, when divided among the families, produced a total of five large washtubs of fish, each holding perhaps two bushels. Establishing remote summer fishing camps is common on both B. and M. Yugan. The fishing camp provides a critical store of dried fish for late summer when the water is low, and fish, never plentiful in the Yugan, are scarce, and stocks of dried meat have been exhausted. Late summer is time of greatest scarcity, and occasionally lead to costly and unanticipated trips to the goverment store in Talakhova. This is only partially relieved by the harvest from several small potato patches. In very lean times, there may be only a little dried fish and bread to sustain the family. In September and October, the river fishing continues, but is complemented by berrying and the gathering of cedar nuts (Pinus Sibericus). The nuts, which appear to come in ten-year cycles, still supply an important source of cash, as they did for earlier generations of Kurlumkins. The family begins to prepare to move to its winter house, including several more trips to the store in Tailakhova.
Winter-Early Spring. In late November, after the river freezes over, the family sets out for its winter house. They stay in tents at a number of transit camps on the way; the nearest of these is nearby the old winter izbushka which was abandoned for their new one before 1990. At these they will stay a week or so, setting traps for sable, and hunting for moose, squirrels, several species of grouse and occasionally mink.

They arrive at their winter izbushka by New Year's and stay there until the beginning of March. The locations of both transit camps and the winter izbushka are in the center of game rich areas. Hunting takes place following a circular pattern that returns them to the izbushka in a day or two. Moose and grouse are the main source of food. Grouse are consumed as hunted, but much moose meat is dried in late winter to prepare for lean hunting season in spring and early summer. Squirrels are hunted for their fur and for the pot; mink and fox are hunted when found. More sable traps are set in the general area of the izbushka. Snares for hares are set in the vicinity of izbushka. The practice of winter fishing by several methods, including setting nets beneath the lake ice, is well-known on Yugan, and the Kurlumkins may travel to their neighbors on Larlumkin Lake for winter fishing, but we have no direct knowledge of this. Near the end of February the family begins to return to their summer place via the transit camps, again hunting along the way. They also gather any sable from traps set in December. They cross to the north side of the river before the thaw and reestablish themselves in their summer house.

A similar land use pattern also holds for Pyotr Vassilievich's son, Anton, on the land set aside for him and his family. The Kurlumkins provided these figures for their economic activity:

Kurlumkin, P.V., and Kolya             Kurlumkin, Anton

	1995	1996		1996
Sable	20	70		20
Moose	4	10		10
Deer	0	0		15
Fox	0	0		4
Squirrels	200	600		30
Minks	n/a	7		2
Wolverine	0	0		1
Hares	n/a	4		n/a
Ducks	2-3	5		2-3
Hazel Grouse (ryabchik)	many	200		100
Black Grouse (kazach)	many	60-70		20
Capercaillie (glukhar)	n/a	20		8
Berries	n/a	n/a		n/a
Cedar Nuts	3200 kg	6000 kg		n/a

Overall production for subsistence fishing is very difficult to estimate. The following represents our best estimate by season based on one late winter (March) and two summer (June-July) observations:

Spring (Mar-May) 400 kgs
Summer (June-August) 500 kgs
Autumn (Sept-Nov) 100 kgs
Winter (Dec-Feb) 25 kgs
Total 1,025 kgs

Fishing production is commonly divided proportionally according to the number of persons among all the Kurlumkin households.

Domestic Economy. Unlike the Kanterovs, the Kurlumkins allocate a substantial portion of their energies to cash-generating activity as well as to subsistence activity. These will be treated separately.
The Subsistence Economy. As in the case of Kanterovs, we can calculate the cash value of subsistence production among the Kurlumkins by determining the weight of foodmass procured from each species and valuing it at the price/kg similar food would cost at village state store. Beginning with production figures for 1996, which appears to have been a very good year, we subtract from this the 50% of the fish as distributed to Anton's and Kolya's families, as well as 30% of the winter subsistence production distributed Kolya's family, and all the production harvested for sale. The results should provide a good estimate of the resources distributed to Pyotr Vasslievich and his newly- married son, Lonya:

Kurlumkin, P.V., and Kolya

	1996 Qty	Weight (kgs)	Cash Value (1 US$=5500 rubles/1996)
Moose	6.5	1170	23.4mil.
Deer	0	0	0
Squirrels	420	70	1.75
Hares	3	2	.040
Ducks	3.5	1	.025
Hazel Grouse (ryabchik)	140	100	2.5
Black Grouse (kazach)	40-50	7	.125
Capercaillie (glukhar)	16	11	.275
Berries	less than 20 kg	15	.12
Fish	500 kgs	350	5.25
Total Foodmass Weight/Cash Value                                           2,592             33.485

Dogs are fed with fish bones and other table scraps so the cost of their feed is already counted.
Moose also provide a substantial resource for winter clothing and bedding, which cannot be entirely calculated here. Certainly each winter sees the production of:

Winter boots (3 pair) 600,000
Winter gloves (3 pair) 150,000
Thread 20,000
Total Cash Value 770,000 rubles

In addition, natural resources provide the bulk of homebuilding materials (with the exception of glass, roofing paper, nails, paint and some finished boards for the floor) and crafting into boats (both large plank type and dugout canoe) as well as containers. Wood is also the sole heating and cooking fuel. These estimates are based on the needs of the families of Pyotr Vassileivich Kurlumkin and his son, Leonid Kurlumkin, the same two households for which subsistence cash values were calculated:

Quantity Cash Value
Building materials (cubic meters @ 80,000 r.) 400 32,000,000
Heating (Firewood, cubic meters @ 60,000 r.) 270 16,200,000
Cooking (Firewood, cubic meters @ 60,000 r.) 70 4,200,000
Small Crafted Items (baskets, fish traps) 12 600,000
Oblasok (1) and large Boat (1) 3,000,000
Totals 57,000,000 rubles

As with Kanterov, the value of domestic construction materials and labor for houses, umbars, sheds, and so on, needs to be amortized, though in Kurlumkin's case for a longer period of time, eight years. The value of materials and labor for the boats needs to be amortized over a five-year period. This would produce annual figures of :

Quantity Cash Value
Building materials (cubic meters @ 80,000 r.) 50 4,000,000
Heating (Firewood, cubic meters @ 60,000 r.) 270 16,200,000
Cooking (Firewood, cubic meters @ 60,000 r.) 70 4,200,000
Small Crafted Items (baskets, fish traps) 12 600,000
Oblasok (1) and large Boat (1) 600,000
Totals 25,600,000

Total value of annual production, materials and labor, of the two households, that Pyotr Vassileivich Kurlumkin and of his son, Leonid Kurlumkin, is thus

Food 33,485,000
Clothing 770,000
Shelter 25,600,000
Total 59,855,000

Cash Economy. The Kurlumkins engage in a number of activities to generate the money needed to purchase staple foods, clothing, ammunition, tools and machine parts. If we again charge to the households of Pyotr Vassilievich and his son, Lonya, 70% of the 1996 harvest, the following production figures emerge, whose cash value can be estimated by multiplying the quantity by the average market price, understanding the furs will vary up to 20% of the average depending on their quality:

	1996	Cash Value
Sable	70 @ 50,000	3,500,000
Fox	0	0
Squirrel	600 @ 800	480,000
Mink 7	7 @ 80,000	560,000
Cedar Nuts	6000 kg @ 1,500	9,000,000

To this can be added the occasional production of straw brooms. In 1995, the Kurlumkin women made 200 straw brooms valued at 800 rubles each, for a total of 160,000 rubles. It is not known whether they made any in 1996, because, however they were valued in 1995, the family were not paid for them. They also were not paid for the cedar nuts nor for the dried berries they delivered in 1995. Formerly such products were purchased under the state factory system, but this system has almost entirely collapsed with the collapse of the Soviet system of centralized economy. Moreover, the buying of local furs is for all practical purposes unregulated, and now dominated by local buyers in Surgut, who often require fewer furs and at a poor price because they have found it cheaper to import furs. So, while the total annual production for cash of the Kurlumkins might in a good year reach a potential 13 million rubles, they are fortunate if they can actually realize a third of that. In 1995, for example, their estimates of cash income totalled a little over 3 million rubles.
To this must be added the pensions which both Pyotr Vassilievich and his wife, Taisa Mikhailovna, collect because of their age. In 1997 these amounted to 370,000 rubles per month, though in 1995-1996 it was probably 300,000, or 3.6 million per year each. This would bring their cash income up to around 11 million rubles per year.
A detailed reckoning of their purchases was not made beyond securing the figures of twenty-five, 50 kg, sacks of flour, though one winter trip to the store in Talakhova they bought several containers of oil, salt, sugar, tea and simple vanilla cookies. Based on the size of their family (4 adults, 2 teenaged girls), we can make these estimates of their annual purchases:

EXPENDITURES

Flour (25 sacks @ 80,000) 2,000,000
Sugar (6 sacks @ 100,000) 600,000
Tea (150 packs @ 6000 each) 900,000
Cooking Oil (4 boxes @100,000/box) 400,000
Macaroni (6 sacks @ 100,000) 600,000
Fabric for making clothes 700,000
Manufactured Clothing 1,500,000
Candy 50,000
Cookies/Crackers/Biscuits 200,000
Onions and Other Delicacies 150,000
Metal and Plastic Goods 500,000
Ammunition (Cartridges) 1,000,000
Parts for Snowmobile and Motor unknown
8.6 million rubles

If we assume that there is at least 1 million rubles in additional unaccounted for expenditures, we can calculate that the difference between the cash generated by Kurlumkins and their expenditures leaves a positive balance of about 1 millon rubles for additional expenses, or about 8% of their cash income. Most of their purchases of staple food items are made at the state store in Tailakhova, though perhaps four times a year they may make the very long trip to Ugut and purchase yard goods, manufactured clothing, ammunition and delicacies.