Part 5: Traditional Mongolian Method of Goat Slaughtering

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I spent the summer in Mongolia doing archaeology at Baga Gazaryn Chuluu. Our camp was very remote, and we had to slaughter our own animals for food every 3-4 days. One of the Mongolians who was a part of our expedition grew up in the Gobi, and was very skilled at handling animals. He was responsible for slaughtering the goats we purchased from local herders. I realize that some folks might find this video disturbing; most Americans, even if they consume meat, are insulated from the actual slaughtering of the animal. Like me, you probably go to the grocery store and buy your meat saran-wrapped in a styrofoam tray. I feel that it is very important for all meat eaters to witness, at least once, the slaughter of an animal that they will later consume. At the very least, I would like meat eaters to be more in touch with where their meal came from. If you disagree with slaughtering animals for food, please keep in mind that in Mongolia meat is a major part of the diet. In Mongolia, a significant portion of the population still lives as pastoral nomads. These people rely on their animals for milk and meat, which make up the bulk of their diet. Farming and the consumption of many vegetables is not compatible with this lifestyle. In this video, you will witness Ishee flipping the goat onto its back, and cutting off its air supply with his knee. This causes the goat to become quite lightheaded and disoriented (some goats will pass out). Ishee then makes an incision below the goat's sternum, and reaches inside the body cavity to sever the aorta. Once the aorta is severed, the goat bleeds out internally quite quickly. Ishee makes sure the goat is completely dead by tapping on its eye before proceeding with the butchering. He first skins the goat, and then removes the innards. Our cooks assist the process by rolling bread dough over the carcass to remove loose hair, and by cleaning the innards. Blood is scooped out of the body cavity and mixed with onions to make blood sausage. The goat is carved into sections, which are hung in the tent. ***The following information was taken from a video by sleevicus, and was provided by Mongolard*** "The way of slaughtering sheep (goats) is not about saving some blood. It was more spiritiual than that. Ancient Mongols thought spirit (soul) of any animal or human is in their blood. Dropping the blood on Earth was considered as not a good thing for dying sheep (goats) or dying human. Logically, spirit should go up to Heaven- Tengri -Eternal Blue Sky. There are many historical texts on how Mongols executed or killed noble people or aristocrats (Mongol or non-Mongol alike) in "respective manner" without dropping blood on earth which means by breaking spine, strangling. But lower born people or common criminals were beheaded. I guess this method of sheep (goat) slaugtering is leftover from this ancient tradition of no-blood dropping of nobles death. So sheep (goat) slaughtering in that manner should be considered as last respect to the poor sheep (goat) which may born again as more noble being."

Category: Travel
Uploaded: August 27th, 2007 @ 10:41 pm
Author: gwumph

Length: 09:47
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Tags: anthropology ethnography goat mongolia slaughter

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