The first regional sports and tourism festival was dedicated to Amur Lyca.
The Amur Lyka is one of the animals that is mandatory for the Nevkh, Urchis and Ainus during the Bear Festival.
This dog breed, which can be thousands of years old, was almost completely destroyed in the last century. The dog was very free-loving to the Soviet government.
The animals were shot and there was nothing to feed them in the ethnic villages. The indigenous representative's limit of 50 kg of salmon per person per year is not even enough to feed a child. Yes, almost destroying traditional lifestyles and management practices – fishing and hunting – has affected animal populations. The region can be proud of this unique variety today.
It is worth noting that enthusiasts of Sakhalin Island and the Amur region are working hard to revive this variety.
In addition to drawing attention to the issue of restoring one of the oldest dog breeds in the world, organizers also want to compete with the traditional dog-pulling sled race Berengia.
- We hope that this holiday will be an important milestone in the revival of the tradition of dog breeding and dog sledding in the Khabarovsk region, - the organizers of the festival are convinced.
The inaugural regional sports and tourism festival "Amuria" will be held from August 7 to 8 in Sikachi-Alyan, the oldest nai village in the Far East, next to petroglyphs estimated to be 13,000 years old.
The programme includes a children's painting competition, a competition on the traditional knowledge of dog breeding among indigenous peoples in the Amur region, live music concerts, a tourism festival and a tour of the Sikachi-Alyan neighbourhood.
Most importantly. The festival will host a sports competition elgepu - a traditional Amur dog race.
As planned - everything will be as close as possible to the traditional competition. The reconstruction will use equipment manufactured according to ancient techniques, terminology and Nana command.