The historical-ethnographic museum in the village of Hoytogol (Northern valley)

The museum was opened in 1990. The initiative of its foundation belongs to the former teacher of History of Hoytogol secondary school, a regional specialist - Shobonova Elizaveta Lopsonovna, who had collected the subjects of material culture of the Buryats for many years, and then gave them to the museum. The museum was built under the method of people’s construction, materials for this purpose were allocated by the state - farm “Turansky”.

The museum possesses a rich collection of exhibits, the majority from which are the originals.
The museum was built in the form of dwelling of the Buryats: an 8-walled yurta. Inside the yurta is designed according to traditional rules.

here are represented :

• Horse and hunting equipment,
• forge tools,
• household goods,
• utensils,
• clothes,
• female ornaments,
• ancient coins and banknotes.

One of the sights of the museum is a unique record of genealogy of several kins of the Khongodors containing names of many generations. There are also data on toponymics and samples of the Buryat annals.

One of expositions of the museum is devoted to legendary Shargay -Noyon, the corner of Glory has materials about the soldiers - natives of the village of Hoytogol who struggled on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War and in contemporary wars as well.

The creation of open exposition under a canopy is planned, where the elements of traditional agricultural tools will be exposed : a sledge, a cart, a “kozhemyaka”(a skin-crumpler), a mill.

During the academic year the museum is the place for the school local lore club. Schoolchildren and teachers conduct research work and represent their results at the conference and fill up funds of the museum.

The museum attracts special interest because the type of the exposition represented here is unique, it testifies to the mutial penetration of two cultures: the Eastern one, represented by the Buryat people and European, represented by Russian people, first of all, Cossacks.

The excursion around the museum gives a distinct idea about life, customs, rituals of natives, and also about life and service of the Buryat Cossacks, protecting boundaries of the Russian state from the attacks of the Mongolian troops.

After joining Buryatiya to Russia, each Buryat kin from Arshan sent one family for the organization of frontier post in the valley of Hoyto-goal and to the south. They were the kins of Badarkhan, Khongodor, Shoshoolog. In this way the Buryat cossacks appeared in the Tunkinskaya valley. Historical proofs to this event can be found in the exposition of the museum.

To reserve an excursion, it is recommended to call the director of the museum in advance, i.e.to Shobonova Elizaveta Lopsonovna, home tel: 98-1-83, or school tel: 98-1-44 . There is no telephone in the museum yet.