Mongolian herders usually keep goats and sheep until maturity, making use of their wool or cashmere and milk. Older animals are used for meat and hides, but no part of the animal is wasted. Even the bones are used in toys, puzzles, and games, as with the knucklebones (rear anklebones), known in Mongolian as shagai.

When thrown as dice, if the knucklebones land on four different sides — known as dörvön berkh — it can be considered very good luck!

About shagai

A large number of traditional Mongolian games are played using sheep and goat knucklebones.

Depending on the game the bones may be tossed like dice, flicked like marbles, shot at with arrows, caught in the hands, or simply collected according to the roll of a die.

In many knucklebone games the manner in which a tossed bone lands is significant. The bone can land on any of four sides, each of which is named for one of the animals in Mongolians’ herds: horse, sheep, camel, and goat.

The game of shooting shagai at a target, often played in tournaments during holiday festivals, has been registered by Mongolia in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Most other games are played informally among children or in families.

Popular games

Horse Race Game

This is one of the most common knucklebone games. It is usually played with two players, but more can also participate. A number of bones are lined up to represent the steps of a race course, and each player places one bone as a racehorse at the beginning of the track. Players take turns tossing four anklebones, moving their racehorses one step (i.e., one bone along the line of the course) for each “horse” obtained in the toss. The first player to reach the end of the course wins the game.

Birthing Camels

On his or her turn each player tosses all the bones onto the ground. If any bones have landed as camels, the player attempts to knock each one over so that it ends up on the sheep side, by flicking it with one of the other bones that previously landed as a sheep. The player continues his or her turn until there are either no camels or no sheep remaining. If there are no camels, the player collects all the sheep. If there are no sheep, however, the player must set aside all the camels and try to knock them over with the sheep obtained in subsequent turns. Once all the bones have been collected by the players, whoever has the most sheep wins.

Cat’s Game

A number of bones are set up two by two in a row, placed uniformly either on the sheep or on the goat side. Players take turns tossing a small object (often a piece of chain) into the air and, before the object can reach the ground, picking up one of the laid-out bones without disturbing the others next to it. If the surrounding bones have not moved the player can take another turn; otherwise the next player’s turn begins. Whoever manages to collect the most bones wins.

Full Toss

Between two and four players can participate, using any number of bones. Players take turns tossing all the bones onto the playing surface and counting the number of bones which have landed on horse and camel. If there are no camels, the player collects all the bones having landed on horse. If there are no horses, however, the player must return a number of horses to the general pool equivalent to the number of bones having landed on camel. If the player does not have enough horses to replace, he or she establishes a debt which must be repaid on subsequent turns. Once all bones have been collected, the player with the most bones is declared the winner.

Open Catch

Any number of players can participate in this game, using ten or more anklebones. On each turn the player places all the bones in his or her hands and tosses them into the air, then quickly turns his or her hands over and tries to catch the bones on the back of the hands. The player then throws the bones thus caught upwards into the air once more, and attempts to catch as many of the bones as possible by grabbing them in his or her fist. The bones caught in this manner are kept by the player. The game continues until all the bones have been collected, with the player having the most bones becoming the winner

Twelve Years

The main object of this game is to throw the anklebones so that they land on the “horse” side. Two players take turns tossing two anklebones, counting a point for each horse obtained in twelve rounds, corresponding to the twelve years of the traditional calendar. The player who obtains the highest number of points wins the game. If neither player obtains twelve horses in twelve tosses of the anklebones, the game begins anew. It is considered auspicious for a horse to land in the round corresponding to the player’s own year.>

Tossing Three Knucklebones

Any number of players can play towards an agreed-upon number of points. The players take turns tossing the three bones, scoring two points if all three bones land on the same side (i.e., three horses, sheep, camels, or goats), and one point if two of the bones are the same.

The Four Knucklebones

This game is played with four knucklebones (shagai). Players take turns tossing the four bones, earning eight points if all four land on different sides; four points if all four land on horse, sheep, camel or goat; and two points if the four bones land in two identical pairs (e.g., two sheep and two horse, two horse and two goat). If all four bones land on the same side following anyone’s throw, all players attempt to grab the bones as quickly as possible; if any player succeeds at obtaining all four bones, he or she is entitled to add their value to his or her score. The game is won when one of the players succeeds at overcoming the remaining players by an agreed-upon margin of points – typically ten, twenty, or thirty.

Four Animals

This game is set up by dividing the bones into four equal groups, set up to represent four different herds of animals – sheep and goats, camels, horses, and cattle. (For the purposes of this game the traditional “sheep” side of the shagai represents the cow, while the “goat” side represents both sheep and goats.) Players take turns tossing an anklebone, collecting one bone from the laid-out “herd” corresponding to the animal-side on which the bone has landed : thus if the tossed bone lands on the camel side, for example, the player will take one bone from the camel herd and place it in his or her own camel stock. During the course of the game some of the herds may become depleted, in which case a player tossing a bone corresponding to that animal must return one animal from his or her own stock to the appropriate herd. A player who has no large animals (cow, horse, camel) must substitute two small animals (goats and sheep) when required to return large animals to the general herd. Once all the animals have been taken by the players the number of animals in each player’s stock is counted – two small animals being equivalent in value to a single large one – with the player having the most animals declared the winner.

Motley Turtle Game (alag melkhii)

This knucklebone game is commonly played by families at the lunar New Year. The object of the game is to collect different parts of the turtle according to the roll of a die. Before play commences, knucklebones are laid out in the form of the turtle, as follows : head – 1 bone; ears – 2 bones; eyes – 2 bones; neck – 3 bones; back – 6 x 6 = 36 bones; legs – 4 bones each (16 bones); claws – 5 bones each (20 bones); heart – 1 bone; kidneys – 2 bones.

Players take turns throwing a die, taking a part of the turtle containing a number of bones corresponding to the number shown on the die. Thus a player who rolls a 1 can take either the head or the heart, a player who rolls a two can take the ears, eyes, or kidneys, and so on. If the parts of the turtle corresponding to the roll of the die have all been taken, however, the player must replace an equivalent number of bones. Once all the parts of the turtle have been collected, the player with the greatest number of bones is declared the winner.

In the Gobi, goat milk is processed into curds, fermented drinks, or hard cheese to prevent spoilage. Each family’s hard goat cheese has a unique flavour, and will be presented to visitors as an auspicious gift.

This video sequence shows a family milking goats, straining fermented curds, then finally cutting the strained curds and placing them on the roof of the yurt to dry in the sun.

The video was edited from ethnographic footage produced in 2012 in collaboration with nomadic families in the East Gobi, for the Mongolian Digital Ethnography Archive.

The posts in our “nomadic culture” series highlight various elements of Mongolia’s Intangible Cultural Heritage that are supported by the cashmere trade.

This video sequence shows a family setting up the yurt during a summer move.

The video was edited from ethnographic footage produced in 2012 in collaboration with nomadic families in the East Gobi, for the Mongolian Digital Ethnography Archive.

The posts in our “nomadic culture” series highlight various elements of Mongolia’s Intangible Cultural Heritage that are supported by the cashmere trade.

The vibrancy of nomadic culture depends on herders not simply being goat producers, but also dairy producers, airag (fermented mare’s milk) producers, felt producers, harvesters of natural resources, custodians of natural sacred sites, horse trainers, and so on.

Recently, we contributed to discussions intended to lay the groundwork for two new nominations to the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list — “nomadic customs” and “animal husbandry knowledge”.

Within the scope of these two nominations, we can list a wide range of cultural practices that are more-or-less directly related to goat herding: notching of ears, identifying rangeland plants, selecting suitable areas to graze livestock, combing cashmere, selectively breeding goats, birthing kids, moving to a new camp, going on otor (short-term) moves, milking goats, processing goat milk into various dairy products, dealing with drought and zud (severe winter), preparing supplementary feed and infusions, providing traditional veterinary treatments, and communicating with livestock through a variety of calls or vocalizations.

These are just a few examples of traditions that are related specifically to goats and cashmere production. More broadly, within Mongolia’s Intangible Cultural Heritage lists, we also see several dozen other higher-level elements that are unrelated to goats but could not really survive without nomadic livestock production as a holistic system. These range from camel polo to felt handicrafts, from traditional meteorology to horse brands.

The posts in our “nomadic culture” series highlight various elements of Mongolia’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. By sharing information about these traditions, we hope to provide an understanding of the importance of nomadic culture as a holistic system.

Our personal clothing choices can have major social and environmental impacts in other parts of the world. But how can you know if your clothing is sustainably produced?

That’s a question that I’m asking as part of a research project at the University of Winnipeg, where we’re investigating better ways to define “ethical” and “sustainable” cashmere.

Cashmere is an ultra-fine, soft, natural fibre that comes from the undercoat of goats native to Inner Asia. Almost all the world’s raw cashmere is supplied by Mongolian nomadic or semi-nomadic herders.

Cashmere has traditionally been associated with luxury fashion. But increasingly, it’s being marketed as a sustainable clothing option for everyone.

This makes sense: Cashmere is a durable, organic textile that’s produced from a renewable resource. Cashmere goats help maintain biodiversity, since they’re most often grazed extensively in small, mixed herds, as they have been for thousands of years. The cashmere trade also supports the livelihoods and culture of Mongolian nomadic herders. And economically, the cashmere industry is one of the only viable alternatives to extractive resource-based development in Mongolia.

But at the same time, some organizations and news reports claim that cashmere goats have been damaging rangelands through indiscriminate overgrazing to meet market demand.

To address this concern, several different “sustainable cashmere” standards have been introduced, mainly by international organizations. Their underlying idea is that if international consumers are willing to pay a small premium for cashmere that’s certified as “sustainable”, then cashmere suppliers can invest in product quality rather than quantity, thereby reducing the pressure to overproduce.

A goal of our own research is to find ways to incorporate cultural measures into sustainability standards such as these. The mainstream concept of “sustainability” incorporates three so-called “pillars” of sustainable development – environmental, economic, and social.

Mongolian cashmere suppliers are not just specialized goat herders…

But this leaves out a fourth major pillar, which some people are arguing should be culture.

Cultural sustainability indicators are important, because sustainability standards that are weighted toward environmental and economic priorities can become a pretext for encouraging new, more specialized or more intensive forms of production that are less culturally appropriate.

Mongolian cashmere suppliers are not just specialized goat herders. They are also dairy producers. Felt producers. Harvesters of natural resources. Custodians of natural sacred sites. Horse trainers. And so on.

They are also bearers of unique traditions, such as the knowledge of how to communicate with animals through instrumental music and vocalizations.

In this sense, income from cashmere directly supports a broad, diverse system of cultural practices, knowledge, and expressions.

Many of these elements are included in Mongolia’s national Intangible Cultural Heritage List, having been identified by Mongolians themselves as important to their culture and essential to safeguard for the future.

We believe it makes sense to develop cultural sustainability standards or best practices that are aligned with this list – or similar ones – created in Mongolia, by Mongolians.

We would like to see consumers having the option to purchase cashmere from suppliers who commit to investing in environmental, economic, social, AND cultural sustainability.

By openly discussing the cultural impacts of apparel commodity chains, we can bring a wider lens to the ethics of our choices as producers and consumers.

We invite you to follow our work as we continue to work through these ideas, and find new ways of measuring and communicating sustainability in all its forms.

Many retailers use a premium pricing model, building on cashmere’s reputation as a luxury good. But cashmere itself is naturally expensive to produce!

We have tried to break this down in the infographic here. (All prices are calculated averages in Canadian dollars, and may vary depending on the design and sourcing of the scarf.)

Breaking down the price of a Zolzaya scarf

Nomadic herders in Mongolia keep, on average, about 300-400 goats and an equivalent number of sheep.

Each goat gives enough cashmere wool to make one scarf.

The herders move with their sheep and goats at least once a season, and sometimes much more frequently if rain is scarce.

The income from cashmere is primarily what supports this year-round labour.

Raw cashmere collected from herders must be graded and transported to the city of Ulaanbaatar for further processing, adding to the cost of the cashmere before it reaches the processing site.

Raw cashmere is washed and carded (untangled by repeated combing) in preparation for further processing. This makes the fibres uniformly soft and fluffy.

The cashmere is then spun into very fine yarn.

The finer the fibres, the more delicate this work needs to be, adding significantly to the production cost.

Knitting with cashmere yarn is done by machine, but is relatively slow due to the extremely fine nature of the yarn.

For example, our lattice knit scarf has an intricate design that takes a full eight hours to knit on an industrial knitting machine!

Each item needs to be finished by hand once it comes off the machine.

Authentic Mongolian cashmere is, unfortunately, not exempt from standard customs duties.

We pay 18% import duties and 5% tax on both the factory production cost and the shipping of our cashmere goods imported from Mongolia.

The cashmere scarf needs to be given a label, hang tag, airtight and moisture-proof packaging for storage, and later packing for mail shipment or a bag for purchase in person at a boutique.

We are based in Manitoba, Canada. This puts us 8,895 km away from the processing site in Ulaanbaatar, and a further 1,400 km away by rural road from the most remote sites where nomadic families produce raw cashmere.

Shipping costs include carbon emissions offsets.

Suppliers of fair trade commodities are typically guaranteed a “social premium” of 15-20% of the product’s commercial price, to be reinvested locally in socio-economic development initiatives.

Zolzaya allocates at least 20% of the retail price of each scarf for reinvestment with local partner organizations in Mongolia.