We used to go in search of some outlandish peoples to overseas countries. But it is worth remembering that many unusual small indigenous peoples also live in Russia. For example, the ancient people of the Nenets live on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Traditional occupations, religious beliefs, life, culture of this people sometimes seem to us distant and incomprehensible, reminiscent of aliens. Still, they keep headless dolls in memory of their ancestors, live in small tents, their children can be seen sleeping in the snow. Nevertheless, such a people of Russia as the Nenets are an integral part of the country, its pride. It is worth characterizing these northern people in more detail, understanding their main activities, historical traditions.
Territory of residence and population
The Nenets are a Samoyed people living on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, on the Kola Peninsula and Taimyr. Obsoletethe names of this people are "Samoyads", "Yuraks". They arrived at the place of their modern habitat from the territory of southern Siberia in the 1st millennium AD. e. The Nenets of the North is the largest group among other peoples of this region. There are 41,302 Nenets in Russia. Half of them live in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
The territory of the Nenets is quite extensive. They are divided into two groups:
- Tundra. They are the most. They live in the tundra zone of the Kola Peninsula, on the right bank of the lower reaches of the Yenisei River. This is the modern territory of the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions, which makes up the Nenets district, also the Tyumen region (Yamal-Nenets district), the Krasnoyarsk Territory (Taimyr or Dolgano-Nenets Autonomous Okrug).
- Forest. Their number is small - 1500 people. Some settled in the taiga (the interfluve of the Yenisei and the Ob). Others live in the Pur basin. Also, Forest Nenets are found near the upper reaches of the Nadym River, namely, near its tributaries - Agan, Tromegan, Lyamin.
From the history of the Nenets people
What is the history of this people? Even in the annalistic writings of the monk Nestor, the northern tribes - the Nenets - are mentioned. The photos presented in the article prove that this is a very original people. It is believed that its representatives are very well versed in people. And the very word "Nenets" has the meaning of "a real person." Although in the old days they had an unsightly name "samoyeds", meaning "eating themselves." After all, it was common for Nenets ancestors to engage in ritualscannibalism. They did not see anything wrong with this and chose the body of a weak tribesman as a sacrifice for their needy residents. A person who sacrificed himself was considered truly happy. His descendants did not need to take care of the sick, and they had something to profit from. For many, such a ritual may seem barbaric, because the children were engaged in patricide under the spells of shamans. After the end of the sacrifice, the body was divided between all the tribesmen.
Some historians have a different point of view and believe that the Nenets were called "raw eaters" because they ate raw meat. Both of these versions are just guesses about the history of distant northern tribes. The Russian Empire had a great influence on the development of the peoples of the Arctic. In the 16th century, the construction of towns and prisons for the Nenets was noted. These are today's Surgut, Berezov, Obdorsk. The Russians began to trade with reindeer herders, which benefited both. Nenets tribes got the opportunity to have fabrics, weapons, metal products.
What anthropological type are they?
In terms of anthropology, the Nenets people belong to the Ural contact minor race. Its representatives combine Caucasoid and Mongoloid features. Since the Nenets live on a fairly vast territory, anthropologically they can be divided into several groups that demonstrate a decrease in the degree of Mongoloidness from the eastern regions to the western ones. Least of all Mongoloid features were recorded among forest representatives of the nationality.
Traditional activities of the Nenets and everyday life
How does this northern people live? The traditional occupation of the Nenets people is considered to be large-scale reindeer herding. Engaged in this industry, shepherds have to graze animals with reindeer dogs all year round. They also take reindeer in teams and ride in sledges. Men's passenger sledges have only a back seat, while women's sleds have a front and side backrest, for the convenience of transporting children. There can be from three to seven deer in a team.
You need to drive and get into the sled from the left side, because one rein is attached to the reindeer's bridle on the left, to coordinate movement. Often a metal spear is placed in the sled for hunting. The harness is covered with deer or sea hare skin.
Cargo sledges are called sleds, they are harnessed by two deer. Sometimes one argish is made up of several sleds, when the deer are tied in chains to the previous sledges. Often, teenage girls become cabbies for argish, and older men drive light teams near the herd.
Sleds are also used to create special pens for lassoing the desired animals. Reindeer eat reindeer moss (moss). When food supplies are depleted, the herd is driven to another place. Families of shepherds roam along with deer herds. Adapting to the nomadic way of life, the Nenets came up with a special collapsible dwelling - the chum. They make it in the form of a cone-shaped structure, consisting of 25-30 poles. Photos of the Nenets in the article show their housing and main activities. You will read about life in the plagueslightly lower.
Besides deer grazing, this people catch Arctic foxes, foxes, wolverines, ermines, wild reindeer. Fur-bearing animals are hunted with special wooden mouth traps, iron traps, and nooses. The prey of the northern people are often partridges, geese, capercaillie. In the summer they also catch fish. Women dress animal skins, sew clothes, bags, covers for tents.
National clothes
Inhabitants of the Nenets and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs are accustomed to harsh natural conditions. Warm clothing is considered a great value for Nenets men and women. In winter, it helps to cope with severe frosts, in summer - with midges. The Nenets came up with a special underwear fur shirt - a malitsa. A hood and mittens are sewn to it. In a very warm coat, the body and head are protected from cold and wind. Only the face remains open. The fur fits snugly to the body, because the malitsa is sewn with the fur inside. The Nenets decorate such clothes with special fur patterns, which are sewn with needles. It turns out a kind of fur piping.
In winter they use new coats, in summer they wear old ones. They are even worn when traveling close distances. The hood of a malitsa is called a savoy. From below the hood is pulled together by straps. Mittens sewn onto clothes are called ngoba. Malitsa must be girded with a special belt - no. The belt is also used to sew a scabbard for weapons to it. For very severe frosts, in addition to malitsa, a fur scoop is put on top. Often his hood is decorated with fox tails.
Women's clothing is more complex. We are talking about a fur coat - sirs. The upper part of such a fur coat is made up of the skins of kamus (the upper parts of the legs of a deer). Such a fur coat is sewn up with fur, the bottom is trimmed with fox fur. Mittens are sewn near the sleeves. Pans are decorated with fur mosaic, brushes, colored cloth piping. A cloth cover with patterns is put on top of the fur coat. Outerwear is fixed with a long belt with tassels. In addition to a luxurious fur coat for a woman, a special fur hood is made - a sava. It is no longer attached to a fur coat.
Delicious dishes of the Nenets
Thanks to natural ingenuity and courage, the Nenets people resist the merciless nature. These people take from her everything they need to exist. One of the first necessities is food. Nenets women prepare food and prepare something for the future. Men bring meat and fish. They eat very little plant food. In winter, deer meat is the main delicacy.
The Nenets are very fond of fresh venison. Eating fresh meat is a holiday for them. Especially often they eat the horns of young deer. To do this, they cut off the ends of the horns and throw them into the fire. The fried cartilaginous endings seem very tasty to them. In autumn, the Nenets carry out a massive slaughter of reindeer. Then the meat is buried in the frozen ground, which serves as a kind of cellar. Someone smokes meat from the back of a deer on a fire. Sometimes it is dried in the sun or s alted.
With the advent of winter, the Nenets are happy to eat their meat reserves and drink frozen reindeer blood. Some people also manage to cook partridge. In spring, the season for catching birds begins: loons, ducks, geese. Seagulls are considered sacred birds for this people, they never catch them. But during the molting of geese, they often feast on their meat. It is also sometimes dried. They also eat boiled goose and duck eggs.
Although the bear is a sacred animal among the northern people, sometimes they are not averse to tasting its meat. The Nenets living near the sea often render the fat of marine life. In the course are sea hares, walruses, seals. Sometimes the meat of these animals is also used as food.
In the summer, the Nenets eat fish. Especially it is caught by those who have few deer. The fish is eaten raw, just slightly s alted or dipped in s alt water. In winter, stroganina is prepared from fish - fresh frozen fish, which is cut with a sharp knife. In the summer, fish is harvested for future use. Very often, a special drying of fish is used - yukola (pehe). The Nenets also love caviar from lake or river fish.
Another invention of the Western Nenets was unleavened bread. From plant foods, cloudberries, blueberries, and lingonberries are used. A liquid porridge is prepared from bearberry. But the Nenets do not harvest berries and mushrooms for the winter. The fact is that deer love to feast on mushrooms, and there are not so many of them in those parts.
The favorite drink of the Nenets is tea, they drink it at least three times a day. Only brew a very strong drink. In summer, Ivan-tea grass or cloudberry leaves are used as tea leaves. Also, the Nenets learned to be treated with many medicinal herbs.
Writing andlanguage
The Nenets language belongs to the group of Samoyedic languages. It is spoken by about 27,000 people. Some Nenets switched to Russian. In addition to it, the influence of the Khanty and Komizyryan languages is felt. There is a forest and tundra dialect.
In 1932 they created the Nenets script, based on the Latin script. Later, Russian graphics were used. The tundra dialect influenced the formation of the literary language. In the Nenets national school, the native language is a compulsory subject. In many schools, it is studied as an elective.
Religious views
The religion of the Nenets is associated with animistic ideas. The concept of "animism" comes from the word "Anima" with the meaning "soul". The Nenets endow the whole world around them with living spirits. They see spirits in rivers, lakes, natural phenomena. The Nenets divide all spirits into good and evil. Good people help people, and evil ones send misfortunes and misfortunes. To appease the spirits, the Nenets make sacrifices. Evil spirits are presented with the contents of the stomach of a deer, collected in seven pieces.
The Nenets have patron spirits of the world around them. They consider Ilebyam pertya to be the owner and giver of furs, animals, game, and the keeper of deer herds. Id erv owns the water of the Nenets, and Yakha erv is the lord of the winds. Fire Grandmother - Tu Hada.
Meaning of the plague for the Nenets
Chum has been the habitation of the Nenets since ancient times. These people consider chum to be the center of all family life. A hole is made at the top of the plague,corresponding to the day location of the sun and the night location of the month. 30 high poles covered with skins resemble an air sphere enveloping the Earth. We althy families set up huge plagues, poor ones - quite pointed ones. To build a plague, some take up to 40 poles. The reindeer skins used to cover the chum are called nyuks. It takes up to 70 deer skins to cover the winter plague. The tent is 8 m in diameter and can accommodate up to 20 people.
In the center of the plague there is a pole, the place near which is considered sacred. They call it sisms. The plague also has sectors for men, women and a bedroom. Children can play in the sleeping area.
Moving from place to place, the owners take the chum with them. This does not provide any particular inconvenience, because the Nenets do not build massive furniture. For a small child, a cradle is placed in the chum, in which he is until he starts to walk.
Women tend the hearth, they chop wood, dry it and make a fire. Before entering the room, a man must sweep the snow off his shoes. He leaves his clothes on the sled. In the plague, he changes into home clothes. Guests in the chum also have a special place.
Threat of extinction of the culture of a small people
In recent years, the traditions of the Nenets, language, national dignity have undergone severe deformations. Indeed, insufficient attention is paid to the problems and cultural values of the indigenous peoples of the north. Many Russians have no idea about the occupations of the Nenets, life, lifestyle. But these people are the samerare, like some plants and animals. The culture of the peoples of the Far North must be preserved. The traditions and customs of the Khanty, Mansi, Nenets, Selkups must live on!
