Revisiting Borgarid twenty-six years later

by Takahiro Ozaki

The name of the man sat beside me is Borgarid. He is a 90 year-old pastoralist who lives in Ongon Soum of Southeastern Mongolia.

He was awarded a title and medal acknowledging him as a pastoralist of National Merit in 2019, which is the highest honour for pastoralists. The banner behind us shows his title and photo of the ceremony. He is famous for his skill and knowledge of pastoralism, even in socialist era.

When I started my field research in the spring of 1997, our guide, who was the father of my friend and a retired high school teacher, brought me to his camp as I wanted to listen to a skilful pastoralist about pastoralism. Thus, Mr. Borgarid became my first teacher of practical pastoralism.

I revisited him in 2023 August. When I entered his ger, he was lying in bed. I noticed that he got weak apparently. However, when his granddaughter told him that I had come to see him, he ordered her to bring his best clothes and hat with a full set of his medals awarded before. Then he got up and wore them all, and she took our photo. His confident smile on this photo reminds me of his pride as a model pastoralist.