The Morden-Graves North Asiatic Expedition

Filmed during the AMNH Morden-Graves North Asiatic Expedition to Soviet Central Asia and eastern Siberia, 1929. The second AMNH-sponsored expedition led by William James Morden journeyed to Soviet Central Asia and far eastern Siberia in search of saiga antelope and the long-haired Siberian tiger. Along with him were George Gilbert Goodwin, AMNH mammalogist, George Coe Graves II, whose father financed the expedition, and two Soviet guides, dispatched from the Soviet Academy of Science. The film includes footage from the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, the Kazakh steppes, a Goldi village in far-eastern Siberia and the expedition's camp in the Siberian taiga (forest). The film presents segments from the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara and the hunt for the saiga antelope in central Kazakhstan. In Central Asia, Uzbek children play alongside small mud houses and a water mill is shown in great detail. Some of the Samarkand sites shown are: the Gur Emir, tomb of the Central Asian ruler, Tamerlane; the dilapidated Registar Square, surrounded by the Uleg Beg, Shir Dar and Tillya-Kari medrassahs, Moslem universities; a monthly bazaar where Uzbek men, wearing skull caps and turbans, crowd around an auctioneer; a horse market; a barbershop; veiled Moslem women; a pottery mender; a man cooking shashlik; the abundance and variety of market goods, and then a series of faces in the crowd. At Kazakhstan, the scenery quickly changes to winter; a Kazakh family stands in front of a yurt and then goes about its daily activities, and a caravan of Kazakhs on camels on their way to their winter camp passes by. There are close-up shots of a crater and scenes of camp life. Goodwin and Morden are photographed and at one point Morden is offered a goat's head on a stick. Dressed in furs, the expedition travels by sleigh to a Goldi village on the Amur River which, according to Morden's diary, was Naikav. This was the first step of the tiger hunt in Siberia. Some excellent footage includes: the village from afar; scenes from just outside it, then inside the village barriers; shots of Goldis wearing fishskins; and a dance showing a shaman propitiating the tiger god. The expedition travels through thick forest to where they begin their hunt. A Goldi sable hunter demonstrates how to hunt on cross-country skis. But, before any actual hunting can take place, the scene switches to a Siberian tiger in the Moscow Zoo, followed by footage of a stuffed tiger Morden procured for the Museum. The expedition party never did shoot a tiger, but, in the Bikin region of Siberia, Morden purchased two specimens for the museum. In addition to the tiger and saiga antelope, the expedition brought back approximately 300 specimens of small birds and mammals.

Filmed during the AMNH Morden-Graves North Asiatic Expedition (1929). This expedition, led by William James Morden, journeyed to Soviet Central Asia and eastern Siberia in search of saiga antelope and the long-haired Siberian tiger. Includes footage of the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, the Kazakh steppes, a Goldi (Nanai) village in far-eastern Siberia and the expedition's camp in the Siberian taiga (forest). Film segments from the hunt for the saiga antelope in central Kazakhstan are also included. Additional ethnographic subjects shown include Uzbeks and Kazakhs.