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37-723: The area is named after the Yukaghir people . The Yukaghir Highlands are a mountain region located at the eastern limits of the Sakha Republic and the northwestern end of Magadan Oblast, as well as a little part in the westernmost limit of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug . They include two medium height mountain ranges, the Chubukulakh Range and the Siversky Range , as well as a plateau, the Yukaghir Tableland . The average height of

74-862: A Siberian ethnic group in the Russian Far East , living in the basin of the Kolyma River . The Tundra Yukaghirs live in the Lower Kolyma region in the Sakha Republic ; the Taiga Yukaghirs in the Upper Kolyma region in the Sakha Republic and in Srednekansky District of Magadan Oblast . By the time of Russian colonization in the 17th century, the Yukaghir tribal groups occupied territories from

111-407: A hide shirt , which often had a hood attached to it, boots and traditional caps made of reindeer skin. They still use the boots and caps. The women wore the same as the men, but with a longer shirt reaching to the calves. Today, women often wear a head cloth and skirt , but wear the reindeer skin robe in cold weather. The Koryak lived in domed shaped tents, called jajanga, or yaranga (from

148-564: A major part in the diet, as reindeer flesh did not contain some necessary vitamins and minerals , nor dietary fibre , needed to survive in the harsh tundra . Today, the Koryaks also buy processed food, such as bread , cereal , and canned fish . They sell some reindeer each year for money, but can build up their herds due to the large population of reindeer. Clothing was made out of reindeer hides , but nowadays men and women often have replaced that with cloth . The men wore baggy pants and

185-586: A very young age. The other Koryak were skilled seafarers hunting whales and other marine mammals. Koryaks believe in a Supreme Being whom they call by various names: ŋajŋənen (Universe/World), ineɣitelʔən (Supervisor), ɣət͡ɕɣoletənvəlʔən (Master-of-the-Upper-World), ɣət͡ɕɣolʔən (One-on-High), etc. He is considered to reside in Heaven with his family and when he wishes to punish mankind for immoral acts, he falls asleep and thus leaves man vulnerable to unsuccessful hunting and other ills. Koryak mythology centers on

222-420: Is I. I. Tomsky. The community's main activities are deer hunting and fishing. Tchaila is the biggest of the three. Its head is S. I. Kurilov. They have 4000 domesticated reindeer, 200 horses, and 20 cows. The community also hunts deer and polar foxes. There is also a shop where traditional skin and fur garments are made. The head of Teki Odulok is N. I. Shalugin. Their base is the village of Nelemnoe. This community

259-521: Is based on local fishing and marine mammal hunting. The inland Koryak, reindeer herders, are called Chaucu (or Chauchuven ), meaning 'rich in reindeer'. They are more nomadic , following the herds as they graze with the seasons. According to the 2010 census, there were 7,953 Koryaks in Russia. The name Koryak was from the exonym word 'Korak', meaning 'with the reindeer (kor)' in a nearby group Chukotko-Kamchatkan language . The earliest references to

296-431: Is by air or boat, although tracked vehicles are used for travel to neighboring villages. They developed snowshoes , which they used in winter (and still do) when the snow is deep. Snowshoes are made by lashing reindeer sinew and hide strips to a tennis racket -shaped birch bark or willow hoop. The sinew straps are used to attach the shoe to the foot. Children learned to ride a reindeer, sleigh, and use snowshoes at

333-444: Is in the most difficult situation. Due to the “creative interpretation” of various Perestroika and privatization laws by the local and district administration and so-called businessmen, the community has lost all their reindeer, cows and even part of its land. All they have left are about 50 horses. They have no money for supplies for hunting and fishing. 80% of all adult population is de facto unemployed. The highest forum for Yukagir

370-517: Is not accepted by the majority of specialists in Uralic linguistics. The languages are regarded as moribund, since less than 370 people can speak either Yukaghir language. Most Yukaghirs today speak Yakut and Russian . Alongside Russian Orthodox beliefs, Yukaghirs practice shamanism . The dominant cults are ancestral spirits, the spirits of Fire, Sun (Pugu) , Hunting, Earth, and Water, which can act as protectors or as enemies of people. The most important

407-450: Is possible that migratory peoples crossed the modern-day Koryak land en route to North America . Scientists have suggested that people traveled back and forth between this area and Haida Gwaii before the ice age receded. They theorize that the ancestors of the Koryak had returned to Siberian Asia from North America during this time. Cultural and some linguistic similarity exist between

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444-556: Is the all-people gathering Suktuul . The main traditional activity is nomadic and semi-nomadic hunting of deer, moose, wild sheep, and sable, as well as fishing. Reindeer are bred mostly for transportation. Horses are known among the Yukaghir as "domestic reindeer of Yakuts " ( Yoqod ile in Tundra Yukaghir or Yaqad āçə in Kolyma Yukaghir ). A Yukaghir house is called a chum . The decline of traditional economic activities,

481-528: Is the cult of Pugu , the Sun, who is the highest judge in all disputes. The spirits of the dead go to a place called Aibidzi . Every clan had a shaman called an alma . After death every alma was treated as a deity, and the body of the dead alma was dismembered and kept by the clan as relics. The Yukaghir still continue traditions stemming from their origins as nomadic reindeer-hunters: they practice dog sacrifice and have an epic poem based around crows. The animal cult

518-643: The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation. According to the 2002 Census, their total number was 1,509 people, up from 1,112 recorded in the 1989 Census . According to the latest 2001 all Ukrainian census, 12 Yukaghirs are living in Ukraine . Only 2 of them indicated Yukaghir as their native language. For the remaining others (6) it is Russian and for 1 it is some other tongue. Genetically, Yukaghirs exhibit roughly equal frequencies of

555-616: The Lena River to the mouth of the Anadyr River . The number of the Yukaghirs decreased between the 17th and 19th centuries due to epidemics , internecine wars and Tsarist colonial policy which may have included genocide against the sedentary hunter-fisher Anaouls. Some of the Yukaghirs have assimilated with the Yakuts , Evens , and Russians . Currently, Yukaghirs live in the Sakha Republic and

592-661: The Nivkh and the Koryak. The Koryak once occupied a much larger area of the Russian Far East. Their overlapping borders extended to the Nivkh areas in Khabarovsk Krai until the Evens arrived, and pushed them into their present region. A smallpox epidemic in 1769–1770 and warfare with Russian Cossacks reduced the Koryak population from 10 to 11,000 in 1700 to 4,800 in 1800. Under

629-562: The Soviet Union , the Koryak Autonomous Okrug was formed in 1931 and named after the Koryak people. Based on a local referendum in 2005, this was merged with Kamchatka Krai effective 1 July 2007. Families usually gathered into groups of six or seven, forming bands . The nominal chief had no predominating authority, and the groups relied on consensus to make decisions, resembling common small group egalitarianism . The lives of

666-762: The Y-DNA haplogroups N1c , Q1 , and C2 (formerly C3). According to another study, out of 11 Yukaghir males 3 turned out to belong to the Y-haplogroup N1c (different subclade from the one found in Yakuts), another 4 - to the Y-haplogroup C2 (former C3; for the most part, the same subclade that's also found in Koryaks ), one more - to the Y- haplogroup O , and the rest 3 exhibit apparent Russian genetic influence (two individuals belonging to

703-505: The intermontane basins of the plateau is between 300 meters (980 ft) and 700 meters (2,300 ft). In the ranges a few scattered mountains rise above 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) and the highest point is 1,128 metres (3,701 ft) high Mount Chubukulakh (Чубукулах). The highlands are limited by the Kolyma Lowland to the west and the courses of the Bulun and Namyndykan rivers to

740-724: The Kamchatka Peninsula. All of these peoples and other, unrelated minorities in and around Kamchatka are known collectively as Kamchadals . Neighbors of the Koryaks include the Evens to the west, the Alutor to the south (on the isthmus of Kamchatka Peninsula ), the Kerek to the east, and the Chukchi to the northeast. The Koryak are typically split into two groups. The coastal people are called Nemelan (or Nymylan ) meaning 'village dwellers', due to their living in villages. Their lifestyle

777-487: The Odul (Kogime) are mostly hunter-gatherers. The Vadul are also known as Tundra Yukaghir. The Odul are also known as Taiga Yukaghir or Kolyma Yukaghir. The Vadul and Odul languages are as different as German is from Dutch . Both are nearing extinction, and Odul is in a much weaker state compared to Vadul. In the 1989 census, more than 700 of the Yukaghirs identified as Vadul while fewer than 400 were Odul. The Yukaghir are one of

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814-893: The Odul of Nelemnoe, the Vadul of Andryushkino and the Chuvan of the Anadyr river area. Of the extinct groups, the most important were the Khodynts, the Anaoul (both of the Anadyr River area), and the Omok (north of the Chuvan). Sometimes the Chuvan are considered a separate people. The Chuvantsy language has been extinct since the early 20th century. In 2002, 1,087 identified themselves as Chuvan compared to more than 1,300 in 1989. The Vadul are mainly involved in reindeer herding while

851-506: The Y- haplogroup R1a , and one more - to the Y- haplogroup I2a ). The study also found no similarities between Yukaghirs and Chukchis in regards to mitochondrial DNA . Modern Yukaghirs are thought to be descendants of the late Neolithic Ymyyakhtakh culture . The 13 tribes that once constituted the Yukaghir group are: Vadul - Alais , Odul , Chuvan , Anaoul , Lavren , Olyuben , Omok , Penjin , Khodynts , Khoromoy , Shoromboy , Yandin , and Yandyr. The surviving three tribes are

888-473: The Yukaghir found that most had no knowledge of traditional Yukaghir culture. The Yukaghir languages are a small language family of two closely related languages, Tundra Yukaghir and Kolyma Yukaghir, although there used to be more. They are unclassified languages: their origin and relation to other languages are unknown; some scholars consider them distantly related to the Uralic languages , but this classification

925-413: The chum. They used small cupboards to store the families' food, clothing and personal items. The inland Koryak rode reindeer to get around, cutting off their antlers to prevent injuries. They also fitted a team of reindeer with harnesses and attached them to sleds to transport goods and people when moving camp. Today the Koryak use snowmobiles more often than reindeer. Most inter-village transport

962-780: The community was under the control of the older women. Their decisions in those matters were indisputable. In the beginning of every summer all clans gathered for the Sakhadzibe festival, where mutual Yukaghir questions were discussed. In the Yakut-Sakha Republic there are three nomadic extended family communities. These are Tchaila in Nizhnekolymsky District , Teki Odulok in Verkhnekolymsky District and Ianugail in Ust-Yansky District . The head of Ianugail

999-470: The more famous Chukchi term) similar to a tipi of the American Plains Indians, but less vertical, while some lived in yurts . The framework was covered in many reindeer skins. Few families still use the yaranga as dwellings, but some use them for trips to the tundra. The centre of the yaranga had a hearth , which has been replaced by an iron stove . Reindeer hide beds are placed to the east in

1036-463: The most elderly identify this way. In the 2002 census, out of the 1,509 Yukaghirs, 51 identified themselves as Omok, 40 as Alais, 21 as Odul, 17 as Vadul, 6 as Khangait and 4 as Detkil. The head of every clan was an elder called a Ligey Shomorokh . His was the final word in all aspects of life. Hunting leaders were Khangitche , and war leaders were Tonbaia Shomorokh ("the mighty man"). Women and teenagers had equal voices with men. The internal life of

1073-573: The name 'Koryak' were recorded in the writings of the Russian cossack Vladimir Atlasov , who conquered Kamchatka for the Tsar in 1695. The variant name was adopted by Russia in official state documents, hence popularizing it ever since. The origin of the Koryak is unknown. Anthropologists have speculated that a land bridge connected the Eurasian and North American continent during Late Pleistocene . It

1110-732: The oldest peoples in North-Eastern Asia. Originally they lived over a huge territory from Lake Baikal to the Arctic Ocean. By the time of the first encounter with Russians, Yukaghir were divided into twelve tribes with around 9,000 people. The Yukagir ethnonym is Odul or Vadul , which means “mighty”. Tribal divisions among the Yukaghir are fading now, although in every census from 1926, significant number of tribesmen identified themselves with tribal divisions like Anaoul, Odul and Vadul rather than describing themselves as Yukaghir. The Soviet government actively discouraged this tendency and now only

1147-432: The people in the interior revolved around reindeer , their main source of food. They also used all the parts of its body to make sewing materials and clothing, tools and weapons. The meat was mostly eaten roasted and the blood , marrow , and milk were drunk or eaten raw. The liver , heart , kidneys , and tongue were considered delicacies. Salmon and other freshwater fish as well as berries and roots played

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1184-663: The south and the Anadyr basin in the north. The Koryaks are culturally similar to the Chukchis of extreme northeast Siberia. The Koryak language and Alutor (which is often regarded as a dialect of Koryak), are linguistically close to the Chukchi language . All of these languages are members of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family . They are more distantly related to the Itelmens on

1221-715: The south. The Kolyma Mountains rise to the east and southeast. The Arctic Circle passes through the area. The Yukaghir Highlands separate the basins of the Kolyma and Omolon rivers, both flowing roughly northwards. The latter marks the eastern limit. The Berezovka River has its sources within the area of the mountains. There are sparse forests of larch in the lower slopes of the mountain ranges and thickets of dwarf stone pine at higher altitudes. The mountaintops are covered with tundra . Yukaghir people The Yukaghirs , or Yukagirs ( Northern Yukaghir : вадул, деткиль ( wadul, detkil ), Russian : юкаги́ры ), are

1258-554: The southern regions along the coast of the Shelekhova Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk . The northern regions inland are much colder, where only various shrubs grow, but these are enough to sustain reindeer migration. The mean temperature in winter is −13 °C (9 °F) while the short summers are +12 °C (54 °F). The area they covered before Russian colonization was 301,500 km (116,400 sq mi), roughly corresponding to

1295-706: The supernatural shaman Quikil (Big-Raven), who was created by the Supreme Being as the first man and protector of the Koryak. Big Raven myths are also found in Southeast Alaska in the Tlingit culture, and among the Haida , Tsimshian , and other natives of the Pacific Northwest Coast Amerindians . Koryak lands are mountains and volcanic, covered in mostly Arctic tundra. Coniferous trees lie near

1332-439: The unfavorable environmental situation of the Yukaghir's traditional lands and waters, and the absence of local and federal laws and executive mechanisms protecting indigenous peoples in Russia, have not aided the welfare and continuation of traditional Yukaghir communities. The average life span for men is 45 years, and 54 years for women. Child mortality is the highest in the Yakut-Sakha Republic. In addition, one expedition made to

1369-596: Was especially strong in the elk cult. There was a number of rituals and taboos connected with elk and deer hunting. Modern culture: Koryaks Koryaks ( Russian : коряки ) are an Indigenous people of the Russian Far East , who live immediately north of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Kamchatka Krai and inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea . The cultural borders of the Koryaks include Tigilsk in

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