Preserving the Past: Documenting Endangered Knowledge of Traditional Mongolian Wooden Cradles for Nomadic Infants

PI: Gerelmaa Erdenechuluun | Collaborator: Tsetsenbileg Undrakh | Project ID: 2024SG05
Location of Research: Bayan-Ulgii Province, Mongolia | Host Institution: Tsakhim Suvarga Cultural Heritage Explorers NGO

Among Mongolia’s nomadic herding communities, the wooden cradle is a traditional implement of exceptional importance in child-rearing and upbringing. Crafted and used for more than 3,000 years, this cradle represents a valuable cultural heritage passed down from generation to generation. Mongolia’s many ethnic groups have developed and used different types of cradles—such as hollowed, woven, and framed—adapted to their specific environments and ways of life. In particular, the willow-wood canopy cradle was once the most widespread and distinctive form. Today, however, the traditional techniques of cradle-making and the associated cultural knowledge are at serious risk of disappearing. In response, this project documents traditional cradle-making knowledge through the participation of local herders who still retain these skills. For nomadic communities, the cradle historically played a vital role in raising children. Given Mongolia’s extreme climate, the cradle was ingeniously designed to keep infants warm in winter and cool in summer, protect them from sun and wind, and ensure hygiene through a drainage system—thereby supporting children’s health and physiological well-being.

Nomadic families traditionally migrated at least four to six times a year, and sometimes as many as 20–30 times, making the cradle an essential tool for protecting infants from injury and enabling safe and convenient transport during traditional migration. Beyond its practical function, the cradle embodies rich expressions of Mongolian intellectual culture, worldview, symbolism, and values. In recent years, Mongolia’s nomadic way of life has been rapidly transforming into a more sedentary lifestyle. As a result, nomadic cultural practices and knowledge are increasingly being forgotten and fading away. In particular, migration using traditional draft livestock such as camels and ox has largely been replaced by motor vehicles. Alongside the introduction of modern baby strollers, rocking devices, and new childcare technologies, the traditional cradle has fallen out of everyday use. Consequently, a wide range of intangible cultural heritage associated with the cradle—including cultural meanings, beliefs, symbolic practices, and values—is being lost. Most critically, the technology and knowledge of cradle-making itself is on the verge of disappearance.

Cradle-making is not merely a carpentry practice; it represents a holistic cultural system rooted in a harmonious relationship between humans and nature. All materials are traditionally prepared by herders themselves, using raw materials derived from their livestock and surrounding natural environment. This integrated ecological and cultural knowledge system is now rapidly eroding.

Within this project, building on field research conducted since 2022 by the project leader, Gerelmaa Erdenechuluun, the team worked with two knowledge bearers who inherited traditional cradle-making techniques in Bayan-Ulgii province. The project documents not only the technical processes of cradle construction, but also related knowledge obtained through interviews with local elders, including understandings of child health, associated rituals, and broader cultural traditions.

At present, there is a serious lack of research, documentation, and digital resources on this topic. This initiative therefore aims to create the first comprehensive digital resource dedicated to Mongolia’s traditional cradle culture. Based on the documented digital data concerning cradle characteristics, usage, and cultural significance, the team collaborates with local museums to disseminate this knowledge to the public—particularly children and young people. In doing so, the project fostered intergenerational learning and to established a foundation for the future recognition, safeguarding, and preservation of this unique cultural heritage.

Methodology

Data was collected through ethnographic fieldwork conducted between May and June 2025 in Ulgii and Buyant soum, Bayan-Ulgii Province. The primary methods included: semi-structured interviews with 12 participants (craftsmen, mothers, elders); video documentation of cradle-making processes; photographic documentation of cradle structures and usage; observation of rituals such as offerings before wood cutting and cradle use; and documentation of cradle-related practices and belief.

Acknowledgements from the Project Team

We express our sincere gratitude to the communities of Bayan-Ulgii Province, especially the residents of Ulgii city and Buyant soum, for their invaluable participation and knowledge sharing. Special thanks to heritage bearers Badel Duuren, Bayanmunkh Tumur, and Javzan Bayar, as well as all participating families, artisans, and local institutions.