#Aph tuva

[irithnova]

About my Siberia ocs...

So I think it's important to balance their characterisation in a way in which they are distinctive characters with interesting personalities and backstories but also acknowledges the challenges they face without making their entire character essentially "They're sad all the time because of Russia" or "Stop talking about their struggles under Russia I don't like politics."

I think both are problematic however I find the latter to be far more distasteful because well. This is a nation personification OC we're talking about and not only that, they're essentially nations within a nation (Russia) by virtue of colonisation and so are minority groups within the larger nation. Hell - because of displacement and immigration from European Russia , a lot of these groups are minorities within their own lands. It's a special case when dealing with minority groups/occupied people personifications and it's particularly egregious when someone wants to forgo any kind of acknowledgement of these power imbalances yet still insists that their interpretation is sensitive.

I've seen some pretty bad OCs of Siberian groups which are the product of the creator going "I hate politics stop talking about politics!" or, an almost direct quote, "I hate when people shove politics into historical hetalia." Which... Is an interesting take to say the least considering how history feeds into politics and vice versa. Historical hetalia is a beast in an of itself and is one of the only hetalia communities/bubbles in which "no politics" will get you laughed out the door from what I've seen considering *gestures to my previous statement*. If you've ever taken a history course - you'll know how much history and politics are intertwined.

This is how you get interps which consists of the likes of "Russia was wandering around the empty lands of Siberia" which not only blatantly disregards the brutality of the Russian colonisation of Siberia but also promotes the concept of "Terra Nullius" or "Virgin Land". I'm quoting myself from an even bigger post I have in store which focuses on anti Mongolian sentiment however stereotypes about Mongolians and Siberian groups often overlap because of their placement in Northern Asia, hence why it applies to both,

"In addition, to hone in on Mongolia being an "untouched, pristine" land - this is also a common trope that is launched towards traditionally nomadic "unsettled groups” (such as Siberian and Native American groups). The concept of "Terra Nullius", a Latin word meaning "nobody's land". It completely disregards the presence and rights of the people who inhabit the land and has been historically used to justify the colonisation and displacement of such groups - their land belonged to "nobody" so it was essentially up for grabs...It divorces the people from their landscape and paves the way for dangerous misconceptions and justifications to blossom.

Here is an example of "Terra Nullius" in action in a Russian propaganda poster, encouraging Russians to move to Kazakhstan."

Or interps such as "[Siberian group] has forgiven Russia for everything he did/most things he did and is in love with him" which implies that the mistreatment of the Siberian groups is merely something in the past when it is in fact ongoing. The mistreatment of Siberian groups such as the Sakha, Buryats, Chukchi and Tuvans has been all the more highlighted in their disproportionate mobilisation in the invasion of Ukraine - and the heaps of scapegoating that was subsequently shovelled onto them.

That's not to say ethnic minority soldiers in the Russian army shouldn't be held accountable for their crimes - however that and the fact that they themselves are victims of Russian imperialism can both exist as true statements. The scapegoating is so bad that even Pope Francis joined in, blaming the brunt of the war crimes committed onto "Non Russians" such as Buryats and Chechens, as they do not come from "Russian culture."

Back to my main point... I think the resistance to do research on and publicly acknowledge how these groups live under Russia and what kind of struggles they face in some kind of bid to "not paint them as victims!!11" is sorely misinformed and ignorant. Because well. They are victims.

Not in the sense that you should portray them as sad, pitiful, weak little meow meows but in the sense that yes they are living under Russian occupation and are an occupied people who's been subjected to centuries of Russification, and so compared to making an OC of Mongolia who is an independent nation state at least I think there is far less room to be hauling around "leave politics out of historical hetalia!" "don't talk to me about politics!" "stop victimising them!!" because then it leads to tone deaf interpretations such as "They've forgiven Russia for everything and is in love with him ♥️💖", "Russia is actually [Siberia groups] father", "Here is my singular Siberia OC who represents ALL Siberian groups and by the way Russia is their father" (yes these are all real interpretations I've seen and I've made a separate really strongly worded post ranting about it) and worse. I mean I've literally seen an "aph Siberia oc" who was Russia and France's love child. Terra Nullius executed Hetalia-style.

I don't really think I need to elaborate on why a singular Siberia OC is problematic - Siberia is filled with a myriad of different groups who speak different languages, have different origins and ways of lives and practices, different religions, who've experienced eras of peace and conflict with each other, etc and yeah to shove them all into one personification is an erasure of the sheer diversity that is in Siberia. I definitely don't need to elaborate on why making Russia a father to any of these groups is problematic, to say very the least.

On the point of "don't only portray them in a victimising lense", I think making Siberian groups all depressed all the time is also a Russia-centric perspective. Of course it's ignorant at best to not acknowledge their shared suffering because of Russia however when this point and this point alone is central to their character I believe in a way that it strips them of their autonomy and ability to feel things and do things outside of Russia's gaze. There is absolutely a lot of joy to be had despite their current situation, perhaps even in spite of their current situation. It's ok to give them odd quirks and put them in funny situations as well as acknowledge that they are an occupied people and approach that territory carefully when need be.

For example, I made my Buryatia bubbly and loud but made my Tuva a bit more deadpan because I see them as a pair who often associate with each other and I think the dynamic is funny. I also made Buryatia an overbearing "husband" to Soyot who is perpetually tired™ from all the se- .

I made a crack dynamic between Sakha, Evenkia and Dolgan where Evenkia was Sakha's teacher at first but then became a deadbeat dad leaving Sakha to primarily raise Dolgan, thus Dolgan takes after Sakha and is uh lawyermaxxing👍. Yukaghir is the little old lady of the group who is often forgetful but very nifty and Chukotka acts like a big sister to people which Koryak (who I see as her brother) always finds annoying and they often bicker. Ket is on the slightly edgy side and is extremely particular about his routines and Nganasan terrifies Nenet because he eats reindeer whereas Nenet doesn't.

All of these quirks/ more lighthearted interpretations and "they are an occupied people under Russia" can coexist. One should not be thrown out for the sake of the other.

I think there's also problem - though I've seen this far less, in making Siberia ocs purely as a middle finger at Russia. As in, you made the OC because you wanted to say loud and proud FUCK RUSSIA which well yeah, fuck Russia, but I highly doubt your interest in this group lies outside of wanting to #own the Russians which is dehumanising in and of itself. At least pretend to care about the history and culture instead of using an entire group of people to make a virtue-signally oc purely to try and upset some Russians.

Anyways yeah Siberia 👍

[peonycats]

Umm how do you think Tuva is/looks like? 🥺 I have my own OC /post of him but I'm considering altering how I characterise him a bit. I think he's a fairly proud but also chill nation who's faced a lot of adversity in his lifetime but obviously has his own struggles as a part of Russia (one of the poorest republics, went through a period of isolation under Russia) and is close to Mongolia:0 sorry I kind of went off xjsjdjsj

Sorry to take so long with your ask haha but I think all of your hcs are on the right line! and like the other siberian indigeneous republics, probably dislikes russia and would like to give him a good walloping if the chance comes- but he does like music a lot!

BONUS:

[who1kio]

new hetalia oc's!!

my designs of Tuva and Dukha republics!

best father and daughter award goes to them 💗

[meliissa-art]

Mongolia in the Gangsta! AU

This AU is very random, but I wanted to draw him as a mafia leader, so... here you have him, with a poker card on his hands, as they play poker in the manga (I dont know why??? omg hima is too random sometimes)

Tuva and Buryatia are his bodyguards :)

[peonycats]

четтирдим!! thank you for Tuva!!! as a person from this republic, I'm VERY interested in watching how my republic is portrayed. I want to add that we can be hot-tempered. and it seems to me that Tuva has an ambiguous attitude towards Russia. in Soviet times, there was no nationalism (?) from the stories of others and my family lol. so yeah an ambiguous attitude.

ahahaha sorry, I just madly love Tuva and when people talk about it.

(i just wanna see happy Russia and Tuva 😭)

AH HELLO!! Thank you so much for your kind words, and I would definitely agree with you that Tuva, who belongs to the lovely @irithnova, has a fiery side to him! When he's around people he doesn't know too well, he's more withdrawn and polite, but he's very proud of his traditions and culture and doesn't take insults lying down. He constantly gets into arguments with Mongolia over who throat sings better, and is notorious for being pretty crazy when drunk 😂 Him actually seriously losing his temper and blowing up is comparatively rare, though, so when it does happen it makes everybody in the room go:

As for his relationship with Russia, due to their history (of note are the circumstances that Tuva came to be annexed into the USSR) Tuva tends to be very distrustful of Russia, and tries to keep a low profile around him, given how the man's treated some of Tuva's neighbors >_> Russia for his part, doesn't really pay that much attention to Tuva beyond "has mineral resources" and "is poor" but once in blue moon does try to hang out with him, usually as part of wider efforts to ingratiate himself to the Siberian nations...

If I had to sum it up, Tuva prefers to mind his own business, so when Russia does actually remember he exists and actually seeks him out, he's pretty weirded out and wary of Russia's intentions, lol

[who1kio]

I'M BACK WITH MY HETALIA SKETCHES!!!

[irithnova]

Crack Mongolia headcanons:

Livestreams his arguments with China (taken down in the first 10 minutes for being too offensive)

Pretends he hates C dramas when he's been addicted to Chinese stage plays since the Yuan

Livestreams his arguments with Tuva as to who created throat singing

Livestreams his arguments with Tuva as to who's the better throat singer

Inner Mongolia made a necklace for him that spells out "child of divorce" as a joke but he carries it around in his wallet

Switches up if he's East, North East, North, Central or Inner Asian during debate when it's convenient for him

Uses the "I'm a buddhist" excuse to get out of people proselytising to him but he's not actually very religious

10000000 hours on chess.com

His tiktok is embarrassing because his for you page is full of f3mboys so he hides that he has it

Will make the most racist jokes about himself infront of South Korea because he enjoys seeing his mouth gape in shock as he can't stop him (only does this infront of South Korea because China and Japan would agree with him)

Wakes up in a cold sweat at night when he remembers how China fucked his entire bloodline before him

Good at texting but bad at emojis he went into the east Asian groupchat like: guys Shinzo Abe just got assassinated 😩

Has a whole spreadsheet that tracks the questions his bosses have asked him about the 13th century and if they ask a question that's already been answered he just directs them to the spreadsheet (he is tired of answering the same questions over and over 💀). Sometimes he just makes shit up though especially if he's particularly unhappy with his boss.

Can locate every CU (Korean convenience store) in Ulaanbaatar like it's on the back of his hand (because he is a vape addict but pretends like he's not)

Likes rock and metal and acts like a typical oldhead about it🗿

Part of the east Asian groupchat and central Asian groupchat (after some begging) he regularly leaks East Asian tea to the central Asians

Blocked China for almost a week after he sent him a text saying "I'd suck on ur tatar tatas 😜"

To this day he still accuses Manchuria of copying his entire culture and sends him regular "YOU WILL NEVER BE A MONGOL/YWNBAM" texts.

But because Manchuria wants his approval so much its easy to get him to do what he wants ("If you're truly my son then you'd spam South Korea with 'Kpoop' texts for me")

Secretly likes some Kpop though shh don't tell South Korea...

Let Inner Mongolia paint his nails for him once and forgot to take it off before going into an important meeting

Ever since he was introduced to incel/4chan lingo he's been calling anyone who annoys him "sedentarycels" and calls himself "based and nomadpilled/steppepilled"

Relies on his serious™ persona too much so when you catch him off guard it's really funny

Once called China chunky in retaliation to him calling him horseface and had to spend like 4 hours apologising afterwards.

Is tired of the horse jokes

[irithnova]

Ok I think. We need to appreciate how goofy/embarrassing Mongolia can be so here's the post (will be talking about edgier stuff at some point but let this man flop around if only for a second):

During the Yuan the words "buluo" and "buzu" were virtually non existent in important Chinese texts despite the frequency of the words used before. It's most likely this exclusion was not accidental and was a result of the Yuan rulers being sensitive to the barbarian connotations of the word. Yes Mongolia was offended by being called a barbarian by China and told him to stop

He was totally acting all new-money and spending his newfound wealth on the most ridiculous shit, like a literal fountain that dispersed 4 different types of alcohol

Thinks throwing money at things is some sort of fix-all

Went on a 40-day bender when Ogedei ascended to Khanhood

Did I mention he was an alcoholic?

Would take on the advise from advisors that came from everywhere but China.

Made his own version of a racial hierarchy with Mongols and other Northerners being at the top and Southern Chinese being at the bottom ("who's the barbarian now?!!")

Categorised his Chinese subjects into 10 ranks, with Confucian scholars coming 9th - below prostitutes

Chinese criminals got way harsher punishments than Mongol criminals

No sinicization here folks - this dude was NOT wearing Chinese clothes or eating Chinese food. In fact a lot of Mongol rulers never even bothered to learn the language. Mongolia probably knew it but would make China speak Mongolian with him anyways

Despite all this he was absolutely addicted to Chinese stageplays you have no idea how much Mongol rulers loved that shit

Got defeated by Ainu and response sent him gifts to try and get him on his side

When I tell you how possessive he was of Ilkhanate I was not joking, there were certain Ilkhanate rulers like Ahmad who tried to break free from Yuan influence by having the inscriptions of the coins refer to Islam rather than the Yuan Khan, but after him under Arghun, Yuan suzerainty over Ilkhanate coinage was reinstalled - it's speculated this was encouraged by Khublai (ruler of the Yuan)

Could not accept that the Yuan dynasty divorce was real and so called the remains of his empire the "Northern Yuan" ("You see the marriage never ended I'm just living in the Northern half of our house. It's called the Northern Yuan. Yes it's perfectly valid fuck off")

Went all surprise-pikachu-face when years of being a megalomaniac lead to his Northern subjects finally turning against him

During the four Oirat era, the Oirat confederation called themselves the four "tumens" (tumen = 10,000) of Oirats. Mongolia responded by basically going "hmm... FOUR tumen you say? Well... we are the SIX tumen of Mongols... Checkmate"

Again during this time, (Chinggisid) Mongols would record how Oirat rulers would "bully" Mongol rulers,. A lot of these accounts were greatly exaggerated as many of these so called Oirat rulers were actually just visitors who had nothing to do with the Oirats

The Choros Oirat clan had an origin myth that involved emerging from a sacred mother tree. Mongolia responded by hijacking this story and making it so that Genghis Khan came down and #defeated this tree

Definitely coped + seethed hard when the Dalai Lama started giving non-Chinggisid Mongols the title "Khan"

Once Mongolia was incorporated into the Manchurian-lead Qing dynasty, he was making almost all the exact same complaints China once made about him but now directed at Manchuria and did not sense an inkling of irony in any of it ("Why does this teenager think he can boss me around! He's uncultured and the only culture he gets is from me! He doesn't know anything about anything!)

During the era of communism and Russian influence in Mongolia, I've read that some Mongolians complained that the Russians "drank too much" errm... Pot calling the kettle blac-

Some non-historical ones which are still based in fact somewhat but just also overall goofy as hell:

He is weirdly freaked out by cats

He fucking loves KFC I swear there was even some Mongolian TV show about KFC workers.

His love for Chinese stageplays now has a 21st century equivalent: cnovels. Guiltiest pleasure

He's very... moe, around Tibet. Make sure to back away from them if you see them with each other unless you wanna hear some weird shit

Pretends he doesn't like Kpop. He does

Thinks calling Tuva a kleptomaniac rather than a thief is some sort of politically correct upgrade and doesn't understand why he's still offended by it

>"Buryatia should be a part of greater Mongolia again" #panmongolism"

>Makes fun of Buryatia for being "too Russified"

>"Inner Mongolia should be a part of greater Mongolia again #panmongolism"

>Makes fun of Inner Mongolia for being "too Sinicized"

If Kazakhstan is really annoying him he'll ask him if it's past his bed time

[irithnova]

Tuva

Name: Aydyn Kuular

Tuva/the territory of what is now Tuva has been ruled by other major empires throughout his lifetime, ever since the Xiongnu era. (209BC - 93AD) After the Xiongnu, it was the Xianbei, the Rouran Khaganate, the Gokturks, the Tang Dynasty, the Uyghur Empire, the Mongol Empire, the Yuan dynasty, the Northern Yuan, the Khogtoid Khanate and Zunghar Khanate, then the Qing. However during the Qing, Tuva was administered by Mongolia.

Some facts

"Dubo" first appears in Chinese records.

Tuvans then were known as "Dubo" (later pronounced as Tuva but also in other forms they were called Toba/Tuba/Tyva/Dyva/Tofalar). They lived in isolated groups in grass tents, ate lily roots, fish, birds, and animals, and wore clothing made of sable and deerskin. Some of the wealthier individuals had horses, but herding was not common. When someone passed away, they would perform a "sky burial" by placing the deceased in trees.

Ruled by Turkic Empires, the Tang, the Uighur Empire, the Mongols

Reappearance of "Tuba" in the Secret History of the Mongols (The Mongols called Tuvans forest people/put them in the forest people category): 13th and 14th centuries

Conquered by the Khotoghoi Kalkha in the 16th and 17th centuries

Passed into the hands of the Zunghars (Mongolic people but not Chinggisid/Khalkha Mongols) in the 1660s (so Mongolia and Tuva would mald about the Zhungars/Oirats together)

Fall of the Zunghars to the Manchu Qing Dynasty in 1755

Tannu Uriyangkhai organised as an aimag (province) in the 18th century under Mongolian rule

Tuva's adoption of Buddhism in the 18th century

Tuva had 5,000 lamas in 30 monasteries and 1,000 shamans in the 1920s

I think that the Tuva we see today was born during the Tang Dynasty era, and the previous personification of "Tuva" or Tuva's ancestor fell during this time. This is because emperor Taizong of Tang sent troops to get rid of the ethnic minorities of Xue Yanto. Now, Xue Yanto used to be an ancient Khaganate in Northeast Asia who used to be the allies of the Gokturks. The Xue Yantuo was a member of the Tile tribe which belonged to the Turks until 583 when it broke into Western and Eastern branches. However they then allied with the Tang against the Eastern Turks. It was vast and it included (what is now) Tuva in it.

The Xue Yantuo and Tang were friendly for a bit, however it changed in 639 with emperor Taizong's actions, and this is when their relationship began to worsen. Ashina Duobi of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate was captured, and Emperor Taizong placed the surrendered Eastern Turks within the borders of the Tang without appointing a new Khan to manage them. However after Ashina's nephew conspired to rebel against the emperor, he then changed his mind and gave the title of Ashina Simo (Eastern Turkic aristoricrat) to the Tang Dynasty, appointing him as the new Eastern Turkic emperor.

Ashina Simo settled in Dinxiang (now Hohhot, Inner Mongolia) in 641. Yinan, who was the Khan of the Xue Yantuo, saw this as an opportunity to launch an attack on the Eastern Turks before the Tang could assist them. Ashina then asked for urgent assistance from the Tang, and they provided. Afterwards, funnily enough, Yinan sent an envoy to tell emperor Taizong that he was willing to live peacefully with the Eastern Turks (lol trying to save face much?). Emperor Taizong sent an envoy back to criticise Yinan but didn't take any further action against the Xue Yantuo.

Sensing that the relationship between Xue Yantuo and the Tang was turning sour, Yinan tried to amend relationships through tribute and intermarriage, however even then there was issues (Emperor Taizong making excuse after excuse to cancel or postpone Yinans marriage to Princess Xinxing, his daughter). Since then, relationship could not be repaired.

After Yinan died, the Xueyantuo descended into chaos. Two of his sons ruled the Xue Yantuo, Bazhuo ruled the West, and Ye Mang, the East. Bazhuo killed Yemang, and ascended fully to the throne, deciding to attack the Tang. He suspected that the Tang border would be unguarded at the Tang were invading Goguryeo, however Emperor Taizong predicted that this would happen. In 646, Emperor Taizong stationed more troops against Bazhuo's attacks. Bazhuo was defeated in the same year.

Bazhuo was a pretty bad leader, and instead of appointing his father's ministers to assist him, he replaced them with his own cronies, causing disarrest among the nobles and eventually causing a rebellion against him. Huihe, he was a vassal of the Xue Yantuo, was a main rebel against Bazhuo.

Seeing all of this chaos take place, emperor Taizong launched an attack on the Xue Yantuo, and the people of the Xue Yantuo panicked, including Bazhuo, who then fled to the Ashide tribe. Huihe, upon hearing this, killed Bazhuo and the remaining royal family members of the Xue Yantuo. After Huihe took most of Xue Yantuo's territory, most of the people of the Xue Yantuo surrendered to the Tang. However some still did try to hold on, and saw Yinan's nephew Tumozhi as the new Khan of the Xueyantuo. However of course, the Tang did not recognise this, and emperor Taizong sent troops to attack the Xue Yantuo, and Tumozhi surrendered. The Xueyantuo then collapsed. Now, the Tuvans paid tribute to the Tang, and they established a monarch-subject relationship. I don't think Tuva was born as soon as the Xueyantuo collapsed but he was young when he experienced the downfall. He's a similar age to Mongolia.

So, that was my long drawn out explanation of when I think the we see now Tuva was "born".

TL;DR, during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty (Emperor Taizong period) when the Xue Yantuo confederation was destroyed and when the the territory of Tuva/Tuva paid tribute to the Tang, was an approximate date of when Tuva was "born." I think he most likely emerged a century or so before this as of course he wasn't born as soon as the Xue Yantuo collapsed or something, but he was young when he witnessed it's downfall.

Random fact, but in the Tang Dynasty era book "Tongdian", the Tuvans were described as "skiing hunters", and during the Yuan, the Mongols called them the "forest people"/ put them under the "forest people" category.

Tuva, as I have said before, was conquered pretty easily throughout his lifetime. Skipping to the Mongol Empire era, it was conquered by the Mongols in 1207 by Jochi, Chinggis' eldest son. The Mongols then established suzerainty over them. It was ruled by Khalkha Mongols until the 17th century, when they then were ruled over by the Oirats Mongols and were a part of the Dzungarian state. So, for a long time, Tuva was ruled over by Mongols/Mongolic people. For this reason and because of the many cultural similarities between the two, he feels pretty relaxed around Mongolia. Furthermore, during the Qing, although Tuva was a part of China, it was administered by Outer Mongolia. Tuva used to be a part of Mongolia.

In 1911, Mongolia regained its independence back from the Qing. Some regions of Tuva like Tozhu, Salchak, and Khöwsgöl banners wanted to be part of Mongolia, while only the Tannu banner leader appealed to Russia. In 1914, what is now Tuva became part of Russia due to Russian settlers moving in.

However, in 1914, the Russian empire made Tuva its protectorate and allowed Russians to settle there. However even before then, Russians were already settling down in Tuva in the 19the century. In 1860, the Qing signed a treaty with Russia that Russians were allowed to live in Tuva, as long as it was in boats or tents, however by 1881 they were already living in permanent homes. This was the beginning of the Russian colonisation of Tuva, however 1885 was the year of official colonisation of Tuva when the Governor-General of Irkutsk gave permission to a merchant to farm at present-day Turan. From this, more settlements formed. There were around 2000 merchants and colonists by the first 1910's.

This greatly offended the Tuvans and there would be fights between them and the Russians from time to time.

The Qing weren't oblivious to this and were concerned at first, but eventually, internal problems with the Qing meant they didn't have enough time to focus of Russia creeping in on Tuva.

In the 20th century, Tuva was broke asf, their economy was in shambles and there was an increase of poverty in the region, thanks to Russia. The Qing established a rule that Han traders were not to trade in Tuva, and this rule was actually applied, unlike what happened in outer Mongolia. However, Han traders were then allowed into Tuva to compete against the monopoly the Russians had over there, and eventually, like what happened in outer Mongolia, the Chinese dominated commerce there. Many Tuvans found themselves indebted to Han merchants.

I don't think Tuva is some sort of peeping violet, yes, Tuva was ruled by many empires during his life but he is still a proud person who values freedom, and isn't one to completely just bow down. He is moreso someone who just wants to mind his own business, and if (begrudgingly) paying tribute means he'll be left alone for the most part, he'll take it.

Furthermore during the end of the Qing reign of Tuva, when the Wuchang uprising of October 10th 1911 led to a full scale revolution. Mongolia declared its independence from the Qing in early December, and during the second half of December, the Tuvans plundered many Han owned businesses, calling back before to when I mentioned how Tuvans would fight Russians who settled down in Tuva lol. Tuva definitely isn't one to go down without a fight and is quite fierce-willed despite his quiet exterior and history.

In 1921, pro-Soviet Russians took control during the Russian Civil War, and Tuva became a people's republic. By 1926, it had a population of around 58,117 Tuvans and 12,000 Russian settlers. Initially, Mongolian was the official language, and Tuva wanted union with Mongolia, but Mongolia, under pressure, recognised Tuvan independence in 1926.

Explaining Tuvan independence further, jumping back to when I said the Russians declared Tuva as its protectorate in 1914, the new communist Russian government of 1921 declared that this was invalid, so technically, Tuva was an independent state (under very heavy Russian influence/was essentially a puppet state.)

From 1930-31, Tuva underwent changes, including the introduction of a new Latin script for Tuvan. However, attempts at collectivization failed, and pro-Mongolian Tuvan politicians faced execution.

During World War II, Tuvans were conscripted into the Soviet Red Army, and in 1944, the Soviet Union annexed Tuva as an autonomous region within the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, .allowing Russians to enter Tuva to work in mines and factories. A Cyrillic script for Tuvan was introduced in 1943, and collectivization continued until 1954.

In 1961, Tuva became an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the RSFSR. The percentage of ethnic Tuvans increased over the years. After the Soviet Union's dissolution, Tuva became a constituent republic of the Russian Federation. In 1989, there were 198,448 ethnic Tuvans, making up 64 percent of the republic's population, and border transit points with Mongolia were opened, though issues like livestock theft and unauthorised pasturing persisted.

Because of Russian colonisation, the identity of the Tuvan people was hurt greatly. Before, they were able to freely live as nomads, hunt, practice shamanism, use their traditional medicines. But after Russian colonisation, forced assimilation, forced settlements, the Tuvan identity was scarred. Despite this, Tuvans resisted full Russification.

Russia kept Tuva closed off from the outside world for nearly 50 years. Even now, Tuva is remote and difficult to access, and is one of Russia's poorest regions. This is why Tuva comes off as closed off/aloof.

Tuva does feel a bit on edge when interacting with other nations who he doesn't feel close to, primarily because of the period of isolation he was put through under the Russians, and he can come off as a bit aloof. He's quite friendly really and he does want to make more friends, he just finds it hard to trust people. For this reason he's lucky he has a cute face to make up for the moody exterior.

He also talks to Yakutia/Sakha about whatever, their conversations are not usually that deep though.

Tuva is trying hard to reclaim his national identity, for example, after the fall of the soviet Union, ethnic Tuvans living in Tuva went up from two-thirds to three-quarters of the population. He's extremely keen on having the lowest amount of contact with Russia possible outside of what's necessary lol.

He probably blasts Huun-Huur Tu and Sainkho Namtchylak.

He and Mongolia, despite their familiarity with one another, do have a bit of a... Rivalry going on about where throat singing originated and who's better haha.

Anyways that's my Tuva. His name is Aydyn Kuular and overall personality wise he is:

Seemingly quiet/aloof

On the inside, quite fierce willed

Very much "I mind my own business, you mind yours."

Is actually quite warm once you get to know him but it's hard for people to get to that point

Avid music lover and is always composing something new!

Tries to reach out to others the best he can

Not a fan of Russia or China

Has his own little projects, doesn't tell a lot of people about them though

[irithnova]

Tozhu/Tozhu Tuvan OC

Name: Kara-Kat

Birthdate: 13-15th century

I gave her the Tuvan name "Kara-Kat" which means blackberry because honestly, I thought it was cute. Also, it's extremely hard to find Tozhu names in particular. However I don't think it's not strange for her to have a Tuvan name as the Tozhu have lived with the Tuvans for a while and the Tozny Tuvan territory is a part of Tuva, and Tuvan is their first language.

The origins of the Tozhu Tuvans are widely contested however it is seemingly a common consensus amongst various ethnographers of the North East that they most likely had Samoyedic origins. Dolgikh, a prominent ethnographer of the North East, classifies the Tozhu Tuvans as being a distinct group with Samoyedic origins/are a Samoyedic language people, as opposed to Tuvans who are Turkic-Mongolic.

On Tozhu as a region of Tuva and Tuva as a whole being connected: Historically, the Tozhu land was also distinct from what was then Tuvan land. The Tozhu region of Tuva is the largest, however the least densely populated. When the Tozhu territory became part of the Qing, the Western and Central areas of Tuva were not a part of this, and instead were ruled by the Oirat Mongol (by Oirat Mongol I'm not talking about hws Mongolia I'm talking about a different Mongolic group) Zhungar Khanate. Historically, the Tozhu region was distinct from Tuva until 1757, when the Zhungars were ultimately defeated by the Qing. Tozhu, along with Tuva, then came under rule of the Qing dynasty until 1911. Like the other reindeer herders, she pretty much just was content doing her own thing and trading with whoever and became subject to many different rulers over the course of her lifetime.

The ancestors of Tuvans as opposed to the Tozhu Tuvans according to scholars are most likely from a loose confederation of Turkic language speaking tribes who descended from the Huns, and as early as the 6th century inhabited the Altai, Northwestern Mongolia and what is now Tuvan territory.

I am still a little lost as to what century I'd give to Tozhus birth date. In the modern day Tozhu region, the tribe name that was mentioned the most was called "Dubo" and this was recorded by Tang dynasty chroniclers. This is believed to have been derived from an evolution of ethnonyms that produced a variation of names, such as Tuva, Tofa, Topa, Tuba, Dukha. Perhaps a common ancestor? As mentioned before, these names were first recorded during the Tang dynasty however it ts unknown if these ethnonyms were always Turkic or were originally Samoyedic and then Turkicized. I think whoever the “Dubo" could have been an ancestor to her.

We know that the Tozhu came into closer contact with the Russia in 1944 once Tuva was annexed so they must have been around before then, and similar groups to the Tozhu like the Tofa/Tofalar have an even longer history of contact with Russian which began in 1648. I'm going to be safe and say perhaps they emerged anywhere between the 13-15th century.

The reindeer herders of the Eastern Sayan, Tozhu, Tofa, Soyot and Dukha are undeniably linked. The territories in which they inhabited are mountainous, forested, isolated and difficult to reach. This in turn, provided them a haven from Turkic and Mongolic invaders alike, as noted by ethnographer Larisa Raylinskaya.

When reading about the reindeer herders of the Eastern Sayan, I came across a remark that these peoples are unique in a sense that they've never shed blood nor engaging in conflict - but only fleed/escaped danger when it came nearby. It is said that those who retreated in these mountains are the ancestors to the Soyot, Dukha, Tazhy and Tofa.

Onto why the Tozhu people are called "Tozhu Tuvans" again and why, despite being called this, are distinct from the wider Tuvan population of Tuva and therefore from a historical and ethnographical standpoint AND a hetalia standpoint, Tozhu would warrant it's own personification - hence why I am talking about Miss Tozhu right now!

Once the Tozhi were incorporated into the u

Uriankhai by the Mongols and then later on becoming a part of the Tuva republic - by virtue they were considered Tuvans, even a Tuvan subgroup - which is a bit of a misconception. The Tozhu live in Tuva, and so are called Tozhu Tuyans by virtue of living there, however ethnographers of the North East almost unanimously agree that the Tozhu are their own distinct people.

Miss Tozhu does not mind being called a "Tozhu Tuvan" as she is part of greater Tuva, however her lifestyle is different from Tuva's traditional lifestyle, and she's quite keen on letting people know that she is not exactly a “Tuvan” and has her own history and lifestyle - thank you very much! She doesn't get into a huge fuss if she’s called a Tozhu Tuvan or whatnot as that's not technically incorrect, however she does have her own history she’s proud of.

A brief and kind of story which highlights the differences between the Tozhu and Tuvans: A Tuvan buddhist (Tuyans are predominantly buddhist) visited the Tozhy region and set up a kuddhism study club. None of the locals were interested (i think Miss Tozhu probably snorted at this.) Miss Tozhu, despite being part of Tuva, doesn't have many of the same interests as Tuva and doesn't really put in an effort to be interested, not because of malice (though, she will say something snarky tf someone calls her a "sub-group" of Tuvan) but simply because she's content with doing her own thing like she has been doing for a few hundred years now. Tuva knows this but can't help but take it as a slight sometimes. It's not as if she's disconnected from Tuva of course. However she's definitely not going to be joining any of Tuva's Buddhism book Clubs anytime soon.

The Tozhu are animistic/shamanistic. While Tuvans and even Mongols originally were also animistic/shamanistic, a majority of them have turned to buddhism. The Tazhu, like the other reindeer herders of the Sayan, have little to no interest in buddhism. I see her as still being quite in touch with her practice and kind of tuts at Dukha when she sees him camping outside Ulaanbaatar (capital of Mongolia) during Christmas time and charging Mongolians to ride on the reindeer (also because hey don't just let anyone on your reindeer you don't know if they'll behave and those are your livelihood-) but ultimately (begrudgingty) respects his grind.

Circling back to the Uriankhai - the exact meaning of Uriankhai has been contested. During Qing rule of Mongolia, Mongolia governed Tuvan territory and assigned the term "Uriankhai" to Tuvans and pretty much anyone on or around Tuvan territory if they were close enough. Therefore, it was and to this day, still is a generic term to refer to the peoples North West of Mongolia, hence Tuvans being the major group under the Mongolian label "Uriankhai" meant that a lot of other “Uriankhai” people such as the Tozhu and Soyots and Dukha were misrepresented as being Tuvan. This definitely irked Miss Tozhu but it’s not as if she can do anything about it. Sometimes she'd point out how hypocritical Mongolia was when he'd rant about people still referring to him as Tatar when he calls different groups the same name himself all the darn time and yes she thinks his reaction is hilarious.

Not only are the Tozhu distinct from Tuvans in their (most likely) Samoyedic heritage as opposed to the Turkic Tuvans, but so are their lifestyles. The Tozhu live in birch-bark tipis which are typical of reindeer herders, whereas the Tuvans live in felt yurts. Tuvans have had more direct contact with Mongols whereas the Tozhu (whether on purpose or not) managed to avoid as frequent contact with Mongols, Tuvans raise livestock for meat whereas the Tozhu rely on hunting for their meat - they do not eat their reindeer.

Major Tozhu clan names, such as Todot, have Ket origins, and other major Tozhy clan names such as Choodu, Kyshtag, Khaazyt etc are Samoyedic in origin, further indicating that Tozhu's Samoyedic origins and close ties to the Ket people. In

fact, the Tozhu language is so distinct from the Tuvan language that Tuvans call the Tozhy language "Tozhu Chugaa”, meaning “Tozhu talk", Tozhu would prefer it if Tuva just called it the "Tozhu language" and sometimes tries to correct him into calling it that but she guesses that that distinction is good enough for the time being.

I don't think Tozhy and Tuva dislike each other at all by the way, it's just that they don't really have too much in common, but ultimately they do respect each other and there's no hard feelings between them (for the most part), probably because historically they haven’t had conflict with each other and well now they pretty much live next to each other, so. Tuvan ts the first language of many Tozhu people, and the use of the Tozhu language has been waning, though it is in a far better position compared to the Tofa and Soyot languages. They sometimes bicker about this. They have grown closer over the years due to living next to each other and of course, the Tozhu are widely called the Tozhu Tuvans.

So who does Miss Tozhu relate to then? Miss Tozhu finds a lot in common with the other reindeer herders of the Sayan, the Soyot, the Tofa and the Dukha with Miss Jozhu living in the South Western quadrant.

Like the other reindeer herders, Miss Tozhu greatly respects her reindeer. As noted before, the Tozhu have to hunt for their food unlike the Tuvans who raise livestock for theirs - the Tozhu, like other reindeer herders, do not eat their reindeer. In fact, the reindeer herders of the Sayan avoid killing animals unless it is absolutely necessary. They rely mainly on fish and wild game for their protein intake. It is speculated that Reindeer herding may be the oldest form of animal husbandry in Siberia/North East Asia.

I think out of the reindeer herder gang, Miss Tozhu is the one who usually gets them all together and is the most extroverted. They're all quite closely related when it comes to their lifestyle, language and origins. In addition, she and Tofa are very keen on rekindling their old relationship. Historically these two groups are quite close but became divided due to the administration under the Russian Empire.

In addition, Tofa's close contact with Russia as opposed to Tozhu means that the Tofa have pretty much abandoned their traditional way of life and their language, however this is not the case with the Tozhu. The situation is the same with Soyot.

The Soyot and Tofa were in the original 26 “officially designated Indigenous Small-Numbered groups of the Russian federation." Due to this and the influx of Russian and Buryat (in Soyots case) culture and language, along with the collectivization policies implemented and the downfall of the USSR which lead to the collective institutions also collapsing, these two groups have lost their native language and lifestyle.

The Tozhu were also incorporated into this grouping, however in a much later date - 1993. The Tozhu also have a larger population, so of course they were harder to assimilate.

The Russian period for the other reindeer herders was extremely hard on them because of the collectivisation policies - it's not exactly a time they enjoy remembering however the ugly memories still rear its head. Despite Tozhu not being so affected by Russia as most of the other reindeer herders were, she gets slightly paranoid about the safety of all her reindeer as a result. So she sometimes finds herself scolding Dukha, for example, when she sees him being "careless" with his reindeer.

As in, camping outside Ulaanbaatar and charging any random Mongolian civilian money to ride on his reindeer during Christmas time (the Dukha fled from the Russian collectivisation policy and so was not subject to it.)

So, in short:

Generally quite chill but has that (1) thing that will make her go >.> (calling her merely a Tuvan subgroup) The most extroverted out of the reindeer herder gang!

Can kind of give older sister vibes

Bickers with Tuva like they're an old married couple sometimes

Has pictures of her reindeer in her wallet and is kinda paranoid about their safety at any given time

Likes to do a little trolling from time to time

I think Tozhu trying to uh “save” Soyot from Buryatia's clutches is quite funny (the Soyot are extremely assimilated to the Buryats)

Because a lot of Tozhu clan names are Ket in origin, she does try to have nice chats with him, even if he uh is keen to get back to his own little routines after they stop talking.

Tozhu: L + ratio + ur a Buddhist

Tuva:

Sources:

“HEY, YOU! GET

OFFA MY TAIGA!”

COMPARING THE

SENSE OF PROPERTY

RIGHTS AMONG THE

TOFA AND TOZHU-

TYVA - Brian Donahoe

A LINE IN THE SAYANS:

HISTORY AND DIVERGENT PERCEPTIONS OF PROPERTY AMONG THE

TOZHU AND TOFA OF SOUTH SIBERIA - Brian Donahoe

Naming Practices and Ethnic Identity in Tuva - K. David Harrison

[irithnova]

One thing about Mongolia is that he's weirdly paranoid of people stealing shit from him. Which you wouldn't really expect because he's on the more generous/hospitable side when it comes to nation cultural norms. But I just think it's so funny. For example Mongolians stereotype Tuvans to be livestock thieves and Mongolia probably like. Mongolsplains to Tuva about how it's okay that he has a stealing problem but the first step is admitting it y'know :/

And then I heard there was some controversy about a Mongolian dude like, basically abandoning his entire life behind to go and live with the Dukha reindeer herding people. Yeah Mongolia is probably side eyeing Dukha rn like "stop luring my citizens away" (it literally happened once and he left because he wanted to).

Going even further back in history, he was very anal about this towards the Oirats and Manchuria LMAO. With the Oirats, he basically excluded Oirat groups from ever being able to take the title Khan so any attempt from the Oirats of taking power was basically them trying to steal his power away from him!! Yeah the Oirats being unhappy totally had nothing to do with your chauvinistic outlook on non-Mongol groups and being reduced to marriage partners for your royal family but ok Mr Mongolia. I mean from a nation perspective it makes sense he did this (nations pursuing their own interests) but I find it funny how he had to kind of bite his tongue a bit when the Oirat-Mongol code came out in 1640 which made their relationship a liiitle more equal.

With Manchuria, yeah Mongolia literally accused Manchuria of stealing his whole culture and still does. Which I guess is understandable to an extent when you realise that Manchurians are sedentary and have never lived in Yurts but suddenly Manchuria has an "imperial Yurt" and is bugging Mongolia for approval but... Mongolia you were also called an annoying upstart and uncultured/culture stealer don't you think you're being a bit hypocritical right now 🤨 Mongolia is still launching accusations @ Manchuria of conspiring with Russia to steal his land.

I've also heard from Mongolians that Mongolians abroad avoid each other because they don't want to risk getting scammed?? Mr Mongolia you are so weirdly paranoid 🤒

In all seriousness I think that the paranoia about shit getting stolen from him has a lot to do with his past. If we go alll the way back to the beginning he started out having close to nothing and was basically at the bottom of the food chain when it came to different steppe peoples, so whatever he did have, he held onto pretty fiercely. And then once he got insanely wealthy he was totally new money about it and yeah you bet your ass he was not living frugally. Dude literally commissioned a fucking huge alcohol fountain which dispensed multiple different types of alcohol. Gaudy and proud baby

And well when we look at more recent history, Inner Mongolia, Buryatia and Tuva used to be a part of his land, and now they're all either in Russia or China. So I'm not surprised he's weirdly paranoid/possessive of what he does have and can be kind of gatekeepy, especially if it has to do with his own history because God knows the amount of insane people trying to appropriate it for their own agendas (if you try to tell him that Genghis Khan had red hair or was Turkish or Kazakh or something he will thwack you)

[irithnova]

I may have to slightly retcon Tuva's age to make him a bit younger tbh. The origins I wrote in my OG Tuva post still make sense but moreso I want to give a more accurate pinpoint as to when the Tuvans would have first emerged

[who1kio]

So, uh.. here's some infos about my Buryatia oc;

-Human name: Khulan Darqan

-Human age: 16

-Real age: 200 or 300 idk

-he really loves Boorsaq.

-besties with Hong Kong? (I know this doesn't even makes sense)

-Little brother of Mongolia and Kalmykia!!

-Turkey is encouraging him to become independent, he even says "When are you going to be a Genghis Khan 2.0 and make me proud?" :D

-While he is in the city to mingle with people, he works in a temple under an old monk. But when he's in the countryside, he's just an ordinary shepherd.

-he has a goat named Baikal.

-he plays tsuur.

-He steals Mongolia's wallet and buy unnecessary things with Kalmykia and Manchuria.

-He loves to scare people!

-He loves to sing with Tuva, like a sibling activity.

-Youngest nation of East Siberia.

-He also loves wrestling, he always wrestles with Mongolia. (tho he always lose lol)

[irithnova]

💕

💕who's a character you love but never (or rarely) talk about?

When it comes to canon characters, China LMAO.

Ok I have talked about him a bit on my blog but not really a lot.

When it comes to non canon characters, I really want to post more about Tuva. I already have him fleshed out in my head but I usually talk about my ocs with my friends privately rather than make them public but I really want to get more of them out there considering I have a few master-posts in the making

[irithnova]

Should I make Tuva a chill stoner Chad who bullies Russia...

[peonycats]

You might have noticed that i havent been posting art that much recently, which has been caused by a variety of reasons, but one of which is that I've been hunkered down and working on this series about my Siberian OCs!!! Really proud of how these turned out, esp the embroidery and patterns, even if i did fry my hand a bit in the process LOL

Click the read more for icons and personality descriptions written by @irithnova, who I share many of these OCs with :3c

Yukagir: Resident old lady surrounded by (who she sometimes considers annoying) youngins, sweet demeanour and pleasant to talk to, though she isn't immune to giving a good scolding when a younger Siberian is annoying her. Lots of knowledge from her many years when it comes to practical stuff so is good with her hands, though she finds other things difficult to remember… Sakha: Approachable and outgoing, hardheaded and unafraid to speak his mind. Big organiser of events and knows who everyone is - is always trying to extend his reach, even outside of Siberia. Smokes like there's no tomorrow. Was kind of a menace in his youth - his neighbours don't let him forget. Is artistic at heart, has sketchbooks full of illustrations and is pretty crafty. Saul Goodman who? Evenia: Easy going but usually keeps to himself, often mistaken for Evenkia much to his chagrin. Somewhat playful, loves some good banter. Excellent storyteller and has a million random tips and tricks stored in his head. Sporty, loves to challenge people to a race.

Dolgan: Similar to Sakha, she is also hard headed and unafraid to speak her mind, seeing as he raised her. Very studious and serious about her research, calculative about a lot of her actions. Seems timid on the surface because of her appearance, but she's managed to wield a lot of influence. Usually decked out in pretty clothing and jewellery from Sakha. Evenkia: Likes to take on a mentor role to those younger than him, like he did with Sakha. Very knowledgeable and enjoys problem solving. Has a bit of a reputation for dumping children of his onto others, though you would never guess this through his appearance alone. Enjoys collecting things, nerdy. Ket: Serious faced mostly and protective of himself, quite reserved, so it means a lot when he lets his guard down. Very particular about his routines, though this has made him quite good at planning and organising. Caught up in his own thoughts a lot - makes sense seeing as he's the last survivor of the Yenisein family. 

Chukotka: Social butterfly and very outgoing. Likes to be sort of a big sister figure to people, including North American groups. May seem scatterbrained and silly on the surface but she is far more clever than she lets on. Very girly and bubbly, wears jewellery that jingles as she walks past. Koryak: "Sibling" of Chukotka but personality wise he's quite different - he takes himself a bit more seriously. Dry sense of humour, and like Ket, he can be pretty sarcastic. Has a reputation of being a troublemaker (blame Russia for that), he's really not though. Being somewhat strung up is unfortunately his default these days. Itelmen: Woman respecter™ (no seriously look up the Itelmens' original polytheistic religion). Invites the other Siberians to his celebrations and is a pretty good host, but is prone to being possessive over them (as in, he wants to remind them that this is HIS tradition so don't try and claim it 🙄). Also prone to unprompted malding. His hair is well styled and maintained, though he pretends like he does nothing to it so as to not give up his secrets.

BONUS: