The Sakha Knife
Origin
The Republic of Sakha is one of the most extreme regions in the world where people live permanently. Its enormous territory occupies 3 million square kilometres. With summer temperatures reaching +95℉ and dropping to an extreme -94℉ in the winter, these harsh lands were settled by strong and skilled indigenous people. Not only did they manage to adapt to such extreme conditions but they also have prospered in these lands for centuries. Sakha is one of the Turkic nations, living further north of all. For centuries, Sakha bred cattle and horses and knew how to make various tools for home use out of iron ore. The unique “Sakha knife” was one of the key tools that helped our ancestors in the exploration of the vast northern territories.
The process of making a Sakha knife
History
The first Sakha knives were found in excavations dated to the beginning of the Iron Age. This suggests that the specific shape of the knife originated on the territory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) thousands of years ago. Since its origin, the knife has been continuously improved. Here we would like to explain the double name of our republic. Sakha is the indigenous name of our people, whereas Yakutia is derived from the word Yakut, the Russian name for the Sakha people. Originally, it was derived from the word eco, that is how the southern Evenks referred to Sakha. Eventually, in Russian transcription, eco first turned into yako, then into Yakut, and the -ut ending was added to make it easier to pronounce.
By the time the Russians arrived (first half of the 17th century), Yakutia was home to various tribes, out of which the Sakha were most skilled in metallurgy. In his 1646 report to Moscow, a Cossack chief Vasily Pushkin wrote this: “The aliens have good iron; they smelt the iron from rocks, not too much, just for their weapons, different from sabers – battle spears and knives.”
Significant information about the Sakha metallurgical production is contained in the materials of the famous Second Kamchatka Expedition. Its leader Vitus Bering wrote that the Yakut iron "will surpass the best Siberian iron", and that "the Yakut people use the iron for making cauldrons and various items, as well as plating chests." To supply the expedition, a metallurgical plant was built near Yakutsk at the mouth of the Tamma River. All ship iron was smelted and transported to Okhotsk across the Verkhoyansk mountains on the backs of the most hardy northern Sakha horses.
Since the knowledge about ore smelting and the production of knives was passed down from generation to generation, it was preserved. Even during the years of Soviet power, when much of the ancient knowledge sank into oblivion, blacksmiths were able to pass on their knowledge and skills to the new generations. Nowadays, the manufacturing of Sakha knives has got a second wind.
The Uniqueness of the Knife
Many admirers of Sakha knives, whose number is growing around the world every year, say that this is the most versatile knife that they have held in their hands. They call it the best bushcraft knife. We certainly agree with them. This stems from several distinctive properties of Sakha knives.
Unique Geometry. There are no other knives in the world with a similar geometry. The Sakha knife has an asymmetrical blade. On the one side, the knife blade is flat with a fuller (when viewed from the butt, it’s the right side of the blade). The opposite (left) side of the blade is convex. This is done to prevent the knife from plunging into the material when working with it. Consequently, the knives are made differently for right-handed and left-handed people. For left-handers, they are made with a mirror-inverted blade asymmetry.
There are many theories about the fuller. Here are some versions: the fuller is needed for blood flow; this is a tribute to ancient traditions when knives were made of bone; the fuller contributes to the convenient cutting of frozen meat due to the smaller contact area; the fuller is needed to give stiffness of the blade; the fuller is a result of forging an asymmetric blade; or the fuller is needed to reduce the weight of the blade so that the knife does not sink. We think that all versions are correct, perhaps except for a tribute to tradition.
The knife handle is traditionally made from birch wood and birch burl. They are the best materials that can be found in Yakutia: durable and lightweight, they do not freeze the hand and are not slippery, so that even a knife wet with blood or water can be used without the fear of getting an injury. Also, knives with such a handle do not immediately sink in water (of course it depends on the size of the blade and handle; a traditional knife, with the length of the handle equal to the length of the blade, will not sink in water); thus, a person has the opportunity to save his sinking "third hand", as the Sakha people call their knives. The cross-section of the handle has the shape of an egg, where its sharp end is directed towards the blade. This gives a comfortable grip and will always tell a person where the cutting edge of his knife is, even in complete darkness.
Knives with handles made of other materials – bones, horns, mammoth tusk, silver – have been made for a long time. Knives with such handles used to be a rarity, as they were predominantly ordered by wealthy people as gifts however, in modern times their presence has notably increased. They are suitable both for collecting as well as everyday use since in most cases they have highly functional blades. Such handmade knives are a memorable gift for a friend, a relative, a colleague or a chief.
The sheath is also original. For a traditional Sakha knife, it is made from an oxtail stretched over a wooden frame. The frame should not touch the blade; its function is not to hold the knife but to protect the blade from breaking. The function of holding is performed by the leather part of the sheath since the knife is sunk into the sheath by 2/3 of the length of the handle so that the sheath rests against the handle of the knife. Sheaths are also crafted from ordinary leather or birch bark, although wooden sheaths are rare. A leather cord is usually attached to the sheath to wear the knife around the waist.
Blacksmiths
With English subtitles
Blacksmithing is an ancient occupation of the Sakha people. Blacksmithing was a hereditary trade, which is reflected in the rituals. Blacksmiths, just like shamans, had their patron spirit – KudaiBakhsy. He lived in the Underworld and was the head of one of the eight kinds of underground spirits, so he was an evil spirit. KudaiBakhsy was different from the rest of the evil spirits of the Underworld: he did harm only to the shamans who harmed blacksmiths. KudaiBakhsy is a creature different from both deities (supreme spirits) and abaahy (evil spirits). Abaahy is afraid of him. He gave people the gift of blacksmithing.
If a person was destined to become a blacksmith, he and other people would hear the sound of a hammer and the hiss of bellows in his empty forge at night. It signalled that the forge acquired its own "spirit". The blacksmith-to-be continued working, but in two or three years since the forge had acquired its spirit, the person would fall ill.
The illness would continue, and the night sounds in the forge would intensify. Then the blacksmith-to-be would call for a shaman, who performed a ritual and concluded that the person "fell ill from his ancestors." The shaman would say: “KudaiBakhsy has heard the clinging of your hammer and anvil. He is asking for a three-year-old black bull as a sacrifice.” The bull would be found and the shaman would perform a ritual. He would take the soul of the bull and descend with it into the Underworld. Having reached the place where KudaiBakhsy lived, he would hand him over the bull’s soul with the words: “I have brought you an offering for this man. Do not torture him, but make him a blacksmith."
After the ritual, they would tie a live bull, rip it open and pull out the heart and liver with blacksmith tongs. They would put them in the furnace and fan the fire with bellows. Then the heart and liver were placed on the anvil. The initiate had to hit them with a hammer. It was believed that if he crushed them with one blow, he would make a good blacksmith; with two blows – an average one; and with three blows – a bad one.
For the initiated blacksmith, a suokhapchy nail header was made – an iron strip with a different number of holes. They came with three, four, five, six, seven, or nine holes. The number of holes corresponded to the number of generations during which the blacksmith's descendants would be blacksmiths. The Sakha believed that the more blacksmith ancestors they had, the stronger the blacksmith was.
After the initiation, the blacksmith's illness passed, and then he was considered even superior to a shaman. A black shaman could not harm a blacksmith who had passed the initiation rite. With the help of his nail header, which supposedly had magical properties, a blacksmith could destroy a shaman. If a shaman’s spirit chased a blacksmith’s soul, the latter could hide in his nail header’s hole or by KudaiBakhsy. KudaiBakhsy would let the blacksmith's soul into the middle of his fire, which roasted the spirit of the shaman, who carelessly approached the fire, and the shaman died.
His “Blacksmiths” series comprises 11 paintings depicting various stages of iron smelting and blacksmithing.
Here are the first six of them. Oil on canvas.
Today blacksmiths continue to make knives maintaining traditions, at the same time bringing modern trends.
We know the history of our people and the secrets of the masterful Sakha blacksmiths; we make our designs; we follow the old traditions of blade smithing. The Sakha knives we produce are authentic, completely handmade and sourced responsibly from local materials. They convey the spirit and the warmth of real master craftsmen, which will warm your hands and soul, bringing you good luck and success in whatever you do.
