Hoelun is saving all your families in the Mongolian wilderness
I'm reading a book called Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford, and despite never having had a real interest in Genghis Khan before, it is FASCINATING. I've been particularly impressed by Genghis Khan's mother, Hoelun.
In my brief and unscholarly way, here's a summary: Hoelun was born to the Olkhunut tribe and a man named Chiledu came from his tribe to marry her and bring her home. They seemed very into each other (this info is all from the 14th-century-or-earlier text The Secret History of the Mongols), but then on the way back to his tribe, this man kidnapped her. Which apparently is what happened in the 12th century.
From this new relationship, she gave birth to Temüjin, aka Genghis Khan ("khan" is a title for a ruler or military leader). Basically, his father later died, leaving his 2 wives and their seven children, and the rest of the tribe went "you're not providing anything and we don't have a lot of food, so bye." And they took their animals and abandoned them. But did Hoelun give up! No! She spent hours every day foraging for food for her family! She raised her sons! And when Temüjin became one of the most successful military leaders of all time, she became one of his most trusted advisors and took care of war orphans.
To learn more about Hoelun, check out Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World or read this excellent piece about her that also talks about how smell was so important to steppe culture.