A common thread throughout the world is a parent’s / grandparent’s desire to create a legacy with their children. Whether in Sweden picking forest mushrooms with your mormor (grandmother), fishing with your uncle off the moye (dock) in Columbia, or in teaching your children how to herd yaks (sarlag) in Mongolia, the innate desire to create a legacy is ubiquitous. Humans produce a sense of purpose based on their connections to their families, neighbors, and surroundings. Purpose is how we embrace ourselves and define who we are.

A common thread throughout the world is a parent’s / grandparent’s desire to create a legacy with their children. Whether in Sweden picking forest mushrooms with your mormor (grandmother), fishing with your uncle off the moye (dock) in Columbia, or in teaching your children how to herd yaks (sarlag) in Mongolia, the innate desire to create a legacy is ubiquitous. Humans produce a sense of purpose based on their connections to their families, neighbors, and surroundings. Purpose is how we embrace ourselves and define who we are.

The Mongolian people find a sense of pride in the individual; one person’s strength and purpose comes from their personal successes. They call this inner desire horhoi, a feeling you cannot explain, you just want it and have to do it. This desire manifests itself outwardly in wrestling, horse racing, and herding. However, when seeing people interact, you also notice their inherent desire and pride to share their craft and leave a legacy.

From a young age, usually five or six, Mongolian herders learn how to ride. After learning this ‘basic’ skill, they begin to work alongside their parents discovering the traditional methods of herding. Women tend to the sheep and goats, and men to the yaks and horses. Fathers take pride in both their sons’ and daughters’ successes. They ride as a family and pass down their skills.

As nomadic people, Mongolian herders redefine what home is. For Erdene, a herder from Lake Khövsgöl, home is wherever his animals are and his animals are where his family is. Herders follow an inherent sense of place. They do not go to random locations; they go to where the landscape and their surroundings tell them they should go.

The wild gives them comfort and freedom, therefore, they never put borders around themselves and where they can go. As long as they have their family and animals to share the experience, they have a home.

Bill and Betina Infante founded Hangai Mountain Textiles on many of the same principles. Their family is nomadic in a modern sense of the word; they have moved throughout the world creating a home where they find friends and family. Their kids Sofia and Rafaelo grew up learning from their parent’s drive and passions as well as the local culture of the countries they lived in. Now finding a home base in Colorado, the entire family has brought their fused multicultural lifestyle to the Roaring Fork Valley. The Infante family has found their horhoi by fostering and interconnecting people from around the world. From their friends in Mongolia Hangai Mountain Textile brings us beautiful blankets, throws and ponchos to amalgamate two cultures together. 

Written by Annika Furman

Annika Furman is currently a student at Colorado College. She travelled with founders Bill and Betina across Mongolia meeting herders and experiencing the culture of the vast steppe meanwhile gathering stories and insight.

Photo By Julia Moore