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The Yukaghirs are one of the small numbered groups of the far east of Russia.

Their name

The name "Yukaghir" is not a self-designation. The Kolyma Yukaghirs call themselves 'одул' (odul), while the Tundra Yukaghirs call themselves 'вадул' (wadul). There are quite a few theories as to where the word "Yukaghir" came from. The -gir suffix at the end is probably of Tungusic origin, where the suffix is used to designate a nation. The first part of the word has multiple theories as to it's origin. According to W. I. Jochelson, it is related to the Kolyma Yukaghir 'йууке' (juuke) and Tundra Yukaghir 'йөкэ' (jöke). On the other hand, V. A. Tugolukov says its origin is likely the Evenki word 'дюкэ' (ǯuke), meaning 'ice', while according to A. N. Bernstam, it originates from an unknown tribe called the Yuy Kay, who lived along the Vilyuy and Aldan rivers in the 4th to 6th centuries and appears in some Chinese sources from the 13th century.

Yukaghirs today

The Tundra Yukaghirs live in Yakutia, in the Lower Kolyma Ulus, between the Alazeya and Kolyma rivers. They live mainly in the towns of Kolimskoye [1] and Andryushkino [2] and also in the western part of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. They mainly work in reindeer herding. The Kolyma Yukaghirs live in the Upper Kolyma Ulus of Yakutia, along the Yasachnaya river in the towns of Nelemnoye [3] and Zyrjanka [4], and some in Seymchan [[5]], in Magadan oblast. The residents of Nelemnoye mainly work in trapping and fishing.

Differently to many indigenous Siberian nations, in the 1930s, no translations of literature were made to Yukaghir, and an official orthographical system was not made. There are two main well-known Yukaghir writers; N. I. Spiridonov, who passed away during the Stalinist repressions, and S. N. Kurilov. A few decades ago, in the secondary school of Andrushkino, education commenced in Yukaghir from the first to the fourth grade, and was later expanded until the eighth grade. The orthography chosen was the one made in 1983 by G. N. Kurilov, a Yukaghir writer and philosopher. Since then, literature has started to be translated into Yukaghir.

The History of Yukaghirs

The ancient history of the Yukaghirs and their origin are up to speculation. Yukaghirs are thought of as one of the oldest nations of northern Eurasia, and its thought they formed more to the south and they went up north as the climate shifted to a livable temperature. Usually the ancient neolithic culture of Yakutia is attributed to the Yukaghirs, from which the upper paleolithic cultures originated from, and around 4000BC, the Yukaghirs wandered up northeast. It can also be argued that the Yukaghirs came not from the south, but from the west, seeing as the oldest settlements of paleolithic Yakutia show similarities to European and Western-Siberian settlements, but some argue this is due to the Siberians going west, not the other way around. Archaeological correspondences can be observed between the paleolithic and neolithic settlements of Yakutia, and of those around lake Baikal, and anthropological similarities have also been pointed out between the ancient Yukaghir and the Baikal Mongoloid races, so some theorise that the Yukaghirs developed in strong connection with the Tungusic peoples, and they wandered north from lake Baikal. Nevertheless, late neolithic and early bronze-age Yukaghir archaeological culture says that the Yukaghirs inhabited the lands from Chukotka to the lower Indigirka river.

Tales from north Asia describe the Yukaghirs as strong, numerous nation. According to tax books, the Yukaghirs numbered about 4500-5000 at the time of the arrival of the Russians, which, even then, was a significant nation for the region.

The border of the Yukaghirs in the 17th century extended until the Lena river in the west, the Yana, Indigirka and Upper Kolyma rivers to the south, the Kolyma and Koryak mountains to the east, and the Northern Sea to the north. It is also possible that the Yukaghiers covered an even bigger territory in the 1600s. This is supported by the Yakut epos "Olenyeki Hosun" and also by toponimical evidence (Yukaghir ending -an, -en, -on, -ön). Around this time, there was a major decline of the Yukaghir population, with entire tribes disappearing, for which the reasons are not entirely clear. The Yukaghir's traditional economy (hunting of reindeers and moose) suffered great losses, and to rub salt in the wound, due to a change in the climate, the migration patterns of the northern reindeer shifted, and their population declined. Due to these losses, it made it impossible for the Yukaghirs to economically keep up with their neighbors, (the yakuts and evens) who were not native to the land, and who had brought more developed material culture from the south. According to some sources the Yukaghirs and the Evens, who were much more successful, were already competing for hunting land in the 13th century. This played a large role in the assimilation of the Yukaghirs. The Yukaghirs were unbalanced and the balance with natural reserved was broken. When they became incapable of sustaining their economy, they adopted the mentality of a nation doomed to go extinct, entire families were starving to death, but they did not fight for themselves.

The Evens played a significant role in the downfall of the Yukaghirs, but especially military clashes with the Koryaks (of which there is folklore), and also clashes with the Chukchis. It seems as though in the 18. century, a few Yukaghir tribes became middlemen for the Russians and Chukchis, which ruined the traditionally peaceful Yukaghir-Chukchi relations. After the decimation of Pavlutskij's squadron by the Chukchi, they often attacked the eastern Yukaghir lands. Clashes with Russians, and internal conflict - which resulted in internal rearrangement and the extinction of tribes - are also reasons for their population decline. The matrilocal marriage system accustom to the Yukaghirs also contributed to this, as it lead to the decline of ethnic homogeneity, and the rise of mixed groups. The Yukaghirs also suffered in the smallpox outbreaks (1669, 1690-1693 and 1880s) due to which, for example, the entire Anaul tribe went extinct.

Assimilation was very prevalent. Many ethnic Yukaghirs assimilated to Russians, Chukchis, Evens and Yakuts, because there has been significant ethnic and linguistic mixing in the Kolyma valley. The first Russians to enter Yukaghir lands were government officials who imposed fur tax (yasak) on the Yukaghirs through hostages. Near the middle of the 17th century, about 6% of the adult male population were hostages, and 10% of women were married out to Russian government officials and hunters. Around this time is when the Russians started to settle in these areas, and it is also around the time when some Yukaghirs converted to Christianity, which added to the mixing of Yukaghirs and Russians, especially in the western Yukaghir areas. By the start of the 17th century, the western Yukaghirs had mixed with Evens and Yakuts, and by the start of the 19th century a complete system of Yukaghir-Even bilingualism had developed, but by the middle of the century, the Yukaghir language had started to be forgotten by them, and they switched to Even, and later, to Yakut. Due to the mixing of Evens and Yukaghirs, a significant population of Evens had formed between the Kolyma and Alazeya rivers, who had Yukaghir components in their culture and spoke the Allayhay dialect of Even.

Due to all of these factors, by the begining of the 20th century, only 700 Yukaghirs were counted, who likely still spoke their language well. The decline of the Yukaghir population stopped in the 20th century but their assimilation is still ongoing, and it is probably impossible to prevent at this point. Collectivization worsened the situation of the Yukaghir language, as communication between different ethnic groups happened in Russian, so their native language was not as necessary. Due to this, the Korkodon dialect, for example, went extinct due to this. Many of them switched to Russian or Yakut in the kolhoz, or moved to Nelemnoye, where their dialects were mixed.

The Tundra Yukaghirs got in contact with Russians earlier, so a bigger portion of their population had switched to the Russian language. According to the 1987 Russian census, Kolyma Yukaghirs aged 60 and over and Tundra Yukaghirs over 40 know their language well, meaning they kept their language for one more generation, which also means that Tundra Yukaghirs continued their traditional lives - that is, they roamed with reindeer in ethnically homogenous groups. Cooperative groups formed in Kolyma Yukaghir lands in the 1930s already, which later formed into Kolhoz.

Today, it is hard to count the number of Yukaghir people, because they have been living together with Russians, Evens, Chukchis and Yakuts for hundreds of years. Self-designations also don't always help either, for example, there is a group of Evens by the Yana river who call themselves Yukaghirs. The Russian census also probably isn't accurate; according to the 1979 census, there were 800 Yukaghirs and 10 years later in 1989 they counted 1100. This could be due to the fact that Yukaghirs are one of the small-numbered groups of the north, who get certain benefits, so parents who have children who are one fourth Yukaghir (or maybe not Yukaghir at all) want to register them as Yukaghir, so this is why the data can be exaggerated.

The Yukaghirs of today are anthropologically mixed too, although according to some studies, they are the Baikal type of the mongoloid race, and the Yukaghir component played a large role in the development of Tungusic peoples. The oldest Yukaghir anthropological benchmarks are very similar to those of the Nganansan.

Material culture

The traditional farming and culture of the Yukaghirs likely didn't change for millenia before the 20th century, and it represented the typical tundra hunter-gatherer culture. The main economic activities were hunting animals like moose and wild reindeer. The most used tactic was the stabbing of reindeer while they crossed the river, but they also used trapping, and using bait reindeer 'сэбуниэчэ' (sebunieče), which they likely learned from the Evens. They ate the reindeer meat raw, boiled or dried, they used the tendons as string, and made clothes and footwear from the skin. Hunting moose is more popular with the Kolyma Yukaghirs, where to this day, moose are the most valueable prey. They also hunted birds and hares. Later other animals were hunted, like foxes, squirrels, and among Tundra Yukaghirs, arctic foxes and ermines. For these they had special traps, like: a triangular shaped trap for wolverines and foxes; yux:'шашил' (šašil), a four-sided trap for hares and grouses; 'нонол' (nonol), a trap for birds and other animals. They also used crossbows 'нондавйэ' (nondawje), and later guns 'аарии' (aarii).

Another important part of their economy (less so with the Tundra Yukaghirs, there it was more additional) was fishing. For fishing, they used standing fish traps, yux:'өгө' (ögö); woven traps, yux:'моорто' (moorto); traps made of two pieces, set against the flow of a river, yux:'уулуу' (uuluu); fish hooks 'чумучэ' (čumuče); nets 'саабандьэ' (saaband'e), yux:'йөуйо' (jöujo), and fence netting 'саабандьэдэмул' (saaband'edemul), yux:'паҕул' (paγul), with which they fenced the fish in and lifted them from the water. Fishing under ice was less popular, so fish caught in the summer was spared for the winter. They dried and soured the fish, made yukola in special pits. From fish shreds 'чааха' (čaaqa) they made fish flour, which, in the winter they boiled in reindeer blood and dried around with it. Fresh fish, especially the more valuable white ones were eaten raw, or boiled with lard and berries yux:'кульбаахэ' (kul'baaqe). From the fish flour and roe they made scones and fish shashliks. The Tundra Yukaghirs mainly ate cooked fish 'оҥдьэдальҕа' (oŋd'edal'γa). They ate quite little plant-based food, mainly burdock seeds, berries, and some edible roots.

Reindeer breeding became popular with the Tundra Yukaghirs, who practise it to this day. It is likely an additional activity taken from Tungusic peoples, like the names relating to reindeer: 'иитээнкээн' (iiteenkeen), from Even 'итэ̄н' (iteen), or 'амарканэл' (amarkanel) from Even 'амаркан' (amarkan). The Kolyma Yukaghirs don't have this many words relating to reindeer herding and what they do have can be traced back to Tungusic origins.

The most important pet was the dog, which aided in hunted and was also used to pull sledges. On water, they traveled using different types of boats (boat made of 3 planks 'өлдьэ' (öld'e), yux:'экчил' (ekčil); poplar boat, yux:'анабускаа' (anabuskaa); boat made of three poplar planks, yux:'ходол' (qodol); Russian boat, yux:'хаарбэс' (qaarbes)), and with three-sided rafts, yux:'мино' (mino). On snow they traveled with skis, reindeer skin skis 'модьидииҥ' (mod'idiiŋ), yux:'угурчэ' (ugurče) or wooden skis 'хайсар' (qajsar), yux: 'көличэ' (köliče).

The Yukaghirs lived a seminomadic lifestyle. The Kolyma Yukaghirs stayed in one place from July until February or March. From July until November they stockpiled for the winter. From February til July they hunted and wandered. The Tundra Yukaghirs spent winters in the Tundra, where the men hunted, and in the end of July they moved to the seaside with their reindeer. The autumn was also spent hunting and fishing. The oldest dwellings were temporary, holes dug into the dirt, cone shaped tents, covered with two layers of animal skin, yux:'одун нумө' (odun numö). They started living in harrow houses in the second half of the 18th century, which a fireplace and had a central chimney, yux:'йахан нумө' (jaqan numö), and later in Russian peasant houses. The oldest permanent Yukaghir dwellings were found on the lower Indigirka, they were made of larch roots. They had a fireplace with a bowl on a tripod, beds on larch branches, a cupboard with three shelves, yux:'аажул' (aažul), a crossbar for skin or fish, yux:'орпондьираа' (orpond'iraa).

Home equipment was made of birch bark:

• yux:'пигэ' (pige): container for boiling water
• yux:'чохоль' (čoqol'): bowl made for collecting berries
• yux:'оччо' (oččo): round bowl
• yux:'хонмуйаах' (qonmujaaq): wooden spoon
• 'сускэ' (suske): wooden cup
• 'эримэдавйэ' (erimedawje), yux:'липэ' (lipe): snow shovel
• yux:'шобоҕо' (šoboγo): wooden plate
• 'пайдии' (pajdii): board with teeth to beat arctic fox skin

or from bone and stone:

• 'муридьэ' (murid'e), yux:'мидэдьэ' (mided'e): needle
• 'паҕадьии' (paγad'ii),yux:'йургудьэйэ' (jurdud'eje): awl
• 'кэрдэ' (kerde): iron scraper for skins
• 'хайданҕарии' (qajdanγarii): stone scraper for the meaty side of the skin
• 'ньумудьии' (ńumud'ii): stone axe
• 'анҕарии' (anγarii), yux:'анҕийэ' (anγije): scraper

The women's sewing equipment were kept in little bags made of fur or skin, embroided in reindeer fur. These bags are called 'иҥдьиэнубэ ньуҥурдоҥой' (iŋd'ienube ńuŋurdoŋoj), yux:'иҥдьиргии' (iŋd'irgii). The Yukaghirs were likely familiar with metals before the arrival of the Russians, but was used limitedly and likely got them from the Evens.

• 'ньорхо' (ńorqo): copper
• 'чуо' (čuo), yux:'лудул' (ludul): iron

In the last few centuries, the Yukaghirs word Tungusic style clothing, like;

• 'маҕил' (maγil): rovduga
• 'иэркэрэ маҕил' (ierkere maγil): open fur kaftan
• 'ньуҥурукун' (ńuŋurukun): apron or vest
• 'оо' (oo): fur trousers
• 'путуул' (putuul), yux:'мурэдуо' (mureduo): fur or skin stockings
• 'моҥо' (moŋo), yux:'моҕо' (moγo): hat

two belts:

• yux:'йө' (jö): upper belt
• yux:'игэдээнэ' (igedene): lower belt

A staple of Yukaghir clothing was the collar boa made of reindeer calf skin 'кавсик' (kavsik), yux:'ньэморай' (ńemoraj). In the winter, the Tundra Yukaghirs wore Chukchi kuhlyans, and the children wore priming 'тамбакаа' (tambakaa). Summer footwear was made of rovduga, and the winter and spring wootwear was made of skin from a reindeer's leg 'игирэмул' (igiremul), and the soles from the ankle skin 'саскариидугурчэ' (saskariidugurče), yux:'шөткурии' (šötkurii). The clothes were well-endowed with reindeer fur embroidery, later they were decorated with beads, reindeer leg fur linings were added and it was decorated with fur. The dominant colors of the clothing were black, red and white. Concoctions of various roots, flowers and leaves were used to paint them. Women wore large round discs around their breasts. A special accessory of funeral attire was a pointy hat 'кураатлии' (kuraatlii). In the 19th century, Russian fabric clothing spread about the Yukaghirs, but the Tundra Yukaghirs kept their traditional clothing until the 1950s.