Earlier, ethnologists counted up to 45 different peoples living in a harsh climate in the North. They live in small groups, each has its own language, traditions and religious beliefs.
Who are the northern peoples?
The concept of "peoples of the North" is increasingly diluted with the word "small." According to official figures, those are considered to be those whose number of representatives does not exceed the threshold of 50, 000 people. However, then those who nevertheless exceeded this figure, but who live in the North, honor the ancient traditions of their ancestors, and also practice the same religion, will not be able to get on the lists. If you count the peoples of the Far North only by their small numbers, you have to throw Komi, Karelians and Yakuts out of the list. These are quite large groups.
Legal basis
In 1995, for the first time, a more ordered list of ethnic groups and peoples of the North came out that not only live in this part of Russia, but also preserve cultural and everyday traditions. It includes both Komi and Yakuts, who are engaged in breeding deer. All of them live in a localized small territory, differ in activities and are part of a large ethnic unit. Researchers are constantly talking about the peoples of the North and Siberia, since few groups of Russians live on those lands.
In 1999, additional nationalities were given an additional definition. The peoples of the North recognized those who live on their territory, where their ancestors once settled, have their own language, keeping traditions, using the same types of food and numbering less than fifty thousand people. In fact, scientists crossed out about 30% of ethnic groups.
In 2000, for the first time, all the small peoples of the North were included in one official document. The list of 45 well-known ethnic groups to this day. Each of them lives on its own territory, engages in certain industries, while in contact with the rest of the population of the Russian Federation, as a rule, through trade. Moreover, their cultural characteristics are preserved and transmitted as the wealth of their ancestors.
Almost seventeen of all those listed have no more than 1, 500 people in their composition.
The peoples of the North are very careful about ecology. They try to master the surrounding nature, causing it minimal harm.
Many of them had to change their habitat during the course of history, but usually their ethnic environment also changed at the same time.
Earnings
For a long time, the peoples of the North only exchanged with each other. They gave away excess goods and took the one they needed. Changed as goods for everyday use, and various fertilizers, fossils and so on.
In ancient times, they passed on to each other even flint, from which they created tools for hunting.
The main types of fishing for most of these peoples are:
- reindeer husbandry;
- fishing;
- gathering;
- horticulture.
Many have a system of seasonal migrations during which hunting trips or trade with other inhabitants of these lands are made.
Great relocation
The peoples of the North were significantly modified after glaciers began to melt 10, 000 years ago. During this phenomenon, part of the local ethnic group, which used to live in the central or even southern part of the country, migrated to the northern territories.
They can be identified by language groups:
- Evens, Dolgans, Evenks and many other peoples of the Far North belong to the Turkic and Tungus-Manchurian groups;
- Nenets, Nganasans, Selkups and Enets belong to the community of Samoyed languages;
- Yukagirs to the Paleo-Asian, combining everything that the peoples of the North and the Far East brought to their culture;
- Khanty, Sami and Mansi to a separate group of Finno-Ugric languages.
Yukagir cave paintings were found in the mountains of the Angara. And now they all live in the northern part of Russia. Many ended up in the Arctic.
Over time, both the language and even the appearance of the nomads changed. Their body adapted to endure persistent frosts.
Culture of the peoples of the North
The culture of each ethnic group is unique and inimitable. Despite its small size, the ethnic population learns the languages of their ancestors and preserves cultural traditions.
Each dialect spoken by a particular nationality is divided into several different subspecies.
For example, the Chukchi have about five different dialects. Each of which is characteristic of a specific area in which they live.
Folklore
Indigenous peoples of the North carefully preserve ancient legends passed down from generation to generation. Their legends can be regarded as a unique cultural phenomenon. Researchers still record all the plots from stories retold by the northern peoples. With the help of them you can understand exactly what processes have been happening with these people for many centuries.
Traditional holidays are observed from year to year throughout the history of the tribe, having evolved somewhat. Song traditions, music, dance - all of them are still preserved by local communities.
Material culture
Specific ornaments on clothes serve as a dividing sign for each people. Also, plots from their lives, images of their ancestors often appear on the traditional clothes of northerners. You can see water motifs on the dresses of those ethnic groups that are engaged in fishing as the main industry. Images of deer appear at reindeer herders.
Each of the ethnic groups is characterized by its dwellings, built under the place of residence, working conditions. Nomadic tribes usually build temporary structures that can be easily dismantled in order to move to another place.
As for nutrition, the peoples of the North still have a traditional way to preserve food - to dry it. This allows us to replace our refrigerator. For example, drying deer meat, fish, various berries, mushrooms, herbs is widespread in most territories of Northern Russia.
Mostly representatives of these ethnic groups are engaged in raw food diet. They do not cook meat or berries, fish or herbs, preferring to eat them raw. Naturally, this is possible due to the fact that the temperature rarely rises above zero.
Religion
In the north of Russia there were neither Christians, nor Muslims, nor anyone else. It is for this reason that primitive beliefs have been preserved here. This is of great interest to scholars and theologians. Representations of the local population are radically different from that of other peoples.
Shamans are still held in high esteem. These respected people are the guides between the world of spirits and the human environment. They serve as psychologists, doctors and religious mentors.
According to the indigenous population, nature is a living organism. Everything around has a soul and is capable of both helping and harming. It is for this reason that all the peoples of the North venerate the spirits of animals, forests, mountains and plants. The ancestors deserve special respect. With due regard, they will certainly help their relatives. In addition, it is they who store all the experience that the clan acquired during its existence.
Interestingly, the shamanism of the North has nothing to do with the culture of the Indians. If you draw a parallel, it will be closer to the frightening wood. But, unlike the latter, shamans use their knowledge exclusively for the good.
