Kazakh Nomadic Culture Guide: Yurts, Eagle Hunting & Steppe Traditions

The Kazakh people were nomadic pastoralists for approximately 3,000 years — moving seasonally across the steppe with their livestock (horses, sheep, camels) following the grass. The nomadic lifestyle was systematically disrupted during Soviet collectivization in the 1930s (which caused a famine killing approximately one-third of the Kazakh population), and the way of life essentially ended for the majority of Kazakhs within a generation. What remains is a cultural memory that has become increasingly important as a marker of national identity in post-Soviet Kazakhstan.

Understanding this culture — its material objects, its traditions, its music, its relationship with the horse — enriches any visit to Kazakhstan and helps explain why a country that appears thoroughly Soviet in its cities maintains such a strong distinct identity beneath the concrete.

The Yurt (Ger)

The portable felt house of the Central Asian nomads — a circular structure of wooden lattice walls, bent-wood roof poles (uuks), and a central tunduk (smoke hole, now also a skylight), covered in felt (compressed sheep wool) and decorated on the interior with embroidered textiles.

The yurt is assembled and disassembled in approximately 3 hours. The design evolved over thousands of years to be portable, insulating (the felt is an excellent insulator against both heat and cold), and structurally sound under load (the dome structure can support significant snow loads).

What’s inside: The interior is organized by function and gender — the right side (east, ong zhak) is the women’s area, with cooking equipment; the left side (sol zhak) is the men’s area, with weapons and tools. The back of the yurt (tor) faces the entrance and is the place of honor for guests and elders. The floor is covered with felt shyrdaks (decorated felt carpets made from appliqué — some of the finest craft objects in Central Asian material culture).

Where to see and stay: Yurt camps exist throughout Kazakhstan for tourist accommodation — from organized camps in the Altai Mountains and on the Charyn Canyon rim to more authentic guesthouses in Kyrgyz-border areas. Almaty’s Medeu valley has several.

Eagle Hunting (Berkutchi)

Kazakhstan’s most internationally recognized cultural tradition — the practice of hunting with golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), trained to hunt foxes, rabbits, and historically wolves. The tradition is indigenous to the Turkic steppe peoples; the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz are its primary living practitioners.

The training relationship: Eagle hunters (berkutchi) take a young eagle (usually a female, larger and more aggressive) from a nest or trap it as a juvenile. The training process takes 2–3 years to produce a hunting eagle. The hunter-eagle relationship is one of the most intensely personal in any hunting tradition — the eagle is often named, given a place of honor in the household, and released back to the wild after 7–10 years of service.

What an eagle can hunt: A trained female golden eagle weighs 5–7 kg with a wingspan of over 2 meters. It can kill foxes and hare reliably; hunters report successful kills on wolves, though this is increasingly rare and controversial.

Where to see it: The Almaty region has several registered berkutchi families offering demonstrations for visitors ($30–60 for a demonstration). The Salbuurun Festival in Kyrgyzstan (September, near Issyk-Kul) and the World Nomad Games (held alternately in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) have large eagle hunting competitions with many participating berkutchi.

Authenticity note: Tourist demonstrations of eagle hunting are staged — the eagle is flown at a fox fur lure, not at live prey. The genuine hunting season is winter, when snow tracking makes the chase possible. Visitors wanting to see the real practice should time visits to late October–February and connect with an actual hunting family through a specialized tour operator.

The Dombra

The two-stringed plucked instrument of the Kazakh steppe — the national instrument, present in every musical tradition from the oldest epic songs (zhyrau tradition) to contemporary Kazakh pop. The sound is distinctive: sparse, percussive, and capable of a wide dynamic range from intimate conversation to outdoor performance.

In traditional context: The dombra accompanies the akyns — the improvisational poet-singers of the Kazakh tradition, who perform in competitions (aitys) where they compose responses to each other’s verses in real time. The aitys tradition is recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Listening: The Almaty State Philharmonic Hall has occasional traditional music performances. The Kazakh State Ensemble of Folk Instruments (Otrar Sazy) performs regularly. Bazaar areas and cultural centers sometimes have informal performances; ask at the Almaty Cultural Heritage Center for current schedule.

Nauryz: The Spring New Year

Nauryz (March 21, the spring equinox) is the most important cultural celebration in Kazakhstan — the Kazakh New Year, predating Islam and celebrated across Central Asia for over 3,000 years. The holiday involves:

Nauryz köje: A ritual porridge of seven ingredients — wheat, millet, rice, meat, salt, water, and milk or yogurt. Prepared the morning of Nauryz and shared with neighbors and guests. The seven ingredients represent the seven elements of nomadic life. Refusing to eat it is symbolic bad luck for the year; accepting it is an act of community bonding.

Yurt settlements: Public celebrations involve temporary yurt settlements in city parks, sports performances (including köktöbe — a horse-mounted game), music, and communal feasting. In Almaty, the main Nauryz celebration is in Panfilov Park and the EXPO grounds.

Visiting during Nauryz: The week around March 21 is the best time to experience Kazakh cultural identity in its most public and joyful form. Public transport and accommodation are in higher demand; book ahead.

Equestrian Culture

The Kazakh relationship with the horse is the deepest in any nomadic culture — a people who bred horses for 5,000 years, consumed horse milk and meat as staples, and developed an equestrian vocabulary more extensive than any other language group.

Traditional horse games (performed at Nauryz and the World Nomad Games):

Baiga: Long-distance horse racing, traditionally 20–50 km
Kokpar: A game played on horseback with a goat carcass (the Kazakh version exists throughout Central Asia)
Kyz Kuu (“Girl Chase”): A man chases a woman on horseback; if he catches her before a set distance, he may kiss her; if she escapes, she chases and whips him

World Nomad Games: Held every two years (check current location — Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan). A 10-day event covering 37 traditional sports from Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Mongolian, and other nomadic cultures. The horseback sports, eagle hunting, and wrestling competitions are the spectator highlights.

Practical Experience

Yurt stay: The most immersive single-night experience — staying in a nomadic-style yurt camp (most are modern but authentic in construction), eating beshbarmak, drinking koumiss, and sleeping under the tunduk’s view of stars. Operators in the Tian Shan foothills above Almaty and in the Altai Mountains offer this.

Feltmaking workshop: Shyrdak (felt carpet) making is a major craft tradition — the pressing, rolling, and patterning of felt is a several-day process, but short workshops demonstrating the technique are available in Almaty’s craft centers.

Horse trekking: Multi-day horse treks into the Tian Shan or Altai Mountains with local guides — the most authentic connection to the actual nomadic relationship between the Kazakh people and their horses.