Nenets

Nenets
A Nenets child.
Total population	41,000
Regions with significant populations	{{{popplace}}}
Language	Nenets, Russian
Religion	Russian Orthodox, Shamanism

Nenets is the singular noun for the Nentsy people, Ненцы (n'enyts, pl. n'enytsja) in Russian, one group of the Samoyeds that inhabit the Russian tundra, which includes the Enets, Selkup and Nganasan people. The term Samoyeds comes from indiscriminate Russian usage throughout the centuries, deriving from the literal morphs of samo and yed, which translates to "self-eater". Since the 20th century, the traditional self-determined, translated as "man", Nenets became politically correct although Samoyeds is still used to define the entire indigenous populations of the area.

History

Due to the similarities in languages, historians believe that the Nentsky split apart from the Finno-Ugric speaking groups around 3000 B.C.E. and migrated east where they mixed with Turkic and Altaic speaking peoples around 200 B.C.E. They ended up between the Kanin and Taymyr peninsulas, around the Ob and Yenisey rivers, with some of them settling into small communities and taking up farming, while others continued hunting and reindeer herding, traveling great distances over the Kanin peninsula. Those who remained in Europe came under Russian control around 1200 C.E. while those who lived further east intermixed with the Ugains, the Novgo, and Tartars until they too came under Russian control in the 16th century. Since the 17th century unification, Russian rulers had difficulty maintaining control over the Sameyods, the Nentsky in particular. Resenting their oppressors, the Nentsky attacked government officials and out-posts, having the advantage of superior knowledge of the terrain coupled with the incorporation of firearms initially supplied by the Russians. . A new approach of assimilation was attempted in the 18th century with a Russian-Orthodox missionary movement to convert and educate that failed to directly engage the Nentsky. However, by the 19th century life for the Nentsky had grown difficult. Alcoholism, exploitation by tradesman and merchants, and forced re-locations by the government threatened to destroy the traditional life-style of the Nenets. Communism in the 20th century furthered the decline in Nenet culture with the creation of collective farms that stopped the longstanding nomadic traditions and the regulating of child raising by spending all children government run schools, disrupting the flow of passing down culture from one generation to the next. Industrial complexes also caused mass polluting in the Nenet region, furthering their displacement..

File:Nenets Region.jpg

Extent of the traditional homeland of the Nenets.

Culture

Traditionally, the Nentsky lived in a clan-based social structure, small bands all belonging to a clan name, living in non-permanent settlements. Usually they inhabited tee-pee like tents they called mya. . They were nomadic, migrating seasonally amongst the tundra and forests due to both economic and religious reasons; Their shamanistic and animistic belief system stressed respect for the land and its resources and incorporated shamans called Tadibya, forming the belief in a symboitic relationship between the Nentsky and nature. Excellent at hunting, fishing and using natural resources without exploiting and damaging mother nature, such as using the furs and skins of slain animals they intended to eat as clothes, and bones as decorations. The Nentsky economy traditionally is based around the reindeer and Samoyed dog. The Nentsky bred dogs to help herd the reindeer and pull sleds across the snow. Later, European explorers used the dogs for Arctic explorations since they were so well adapted to the environment.

The Nentsky language is called n'enytsia vada, and has numerous dialects. The language reflects the traditional n'enyts culture, with many descriptions and words for nature, animals, hunting and reindeer references. A rise in bil-lingualism of the Nentsky made Russian the largest influence on the language. The language was based loosely on pictographs for centuries, until an effort to create a written paradigm was created in the 1930's, using the Latin alphabet and Russian orthography. .

Contemporary Life

Nenets family in their tent.

Today, there are two distinct groups based on the Nenet economy: the Tundra Nentsky (living far to the north) and the Khandeyar or Forest Nentsky. A third group, Kominized Nentsky (Yaran people) has emerged as a result of intermarriages between Nenets and the Izhma tribe of the Komi peoples. The Nentsky still continue to bare mongoloid characteristics: commonly short and stocky, dark skin pigmentation epicanthic eye folds, flat faces and poor beards. A group of Nentsky from the Arkhangelsk region have more European features. .

With the collapse of communism in the early '90s, the Nentsky continue to struggle with the lingering effects of centuries of oppression. The last census in 2002 showed that there are 41,302 Nentsky in the Russian Federation currently, making them by far the majority in the Samoyed group. However, due to the loss of tradition, the N'enyts language is nearly extinct, along with much of their culture. There are high rates of suicide and alcoholism within their society, along with low life expectancy rates are difficulties that still face the Nentsky. The Nenet struggle is comparable to the plight of Native Americans in the U.S.A..

References

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• The works of M. A. Castrén are still of authority on the Samoyedes. See Grammatik der samojedischen Sprachen (1854); Wörterverzeichnisse aus den samojedischen Sprachen (1855); Ethnologische Vorlesungen über die altaischen Völker (1857); Versuch der koibalischen und karagassischen Sprachlehre (1857).
• A. Middendorf, Reise in den düstersten Norden und Osten Sibiriens. (1875).
• Janhunen, Juha: Glottal stop in Nenets. - Helsinki : Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, 1986. - 202 p. - (Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran toimituksia ; 196). - ISBN 951-9403-03-5
• Salminen, Tapani: Tundra Nenets inflection. - Helsinki : Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, 1997. - 154 S. - (Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran toimituksia ; 227). - ISBN 952-5150-02-X
• Sammallahti, Pekka: Material from Forest Nenets. - Helsinki, 1974. - 140 p. - (Castrenianumin Toimitteita ; 2). - ISBN 951-45-0282-5

External links

• [1]
• UNESCO Red Book on endangered languages: Northeast Asia
• Endangered Uralic Peoples
• Jarkko Niemi: The types of the Nenets songs. 1997
• Minority languages of Russia on the Net
• The Red Book of the peoples of the Russian Empire

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