The
Nivkhs (also
Nivkh,
Nivkhi, or
Gilyak; ethnonym: Nivxi; language, нивхгу - Nivxgu) are an indigenous ethnic group inhabiting the northern half of
SakhalinSakhalin , also Saghalien, is a large elongated island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N. It is part of Russia and is its largest island, administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast. The indigenous peoples of the island are the Sakhalin Ainu, Oroks, and Nivkhs...
Island and the region of the Amur River estuary in
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's
Khabarovsk KraiKhabarovsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Russian Far East. It lies mostly in the basin of the lower Amur River, but also occupies a vast mountainous area along the coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. The administrative center of the krai is the...
. Nivkh were mainly fishermen, hunters, and dog breeders. The Nivkh were semi-nomadic living near the coasts in the summer and wintering inland along streams and rivers to catch
salmonSalmon is the common name for several species of fish of the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family are called trout; the difference is often attributed to the migratory life of the salmon as compared to the residential behaviour of trout, a distinction that holds true for the Salmo...
. The land the Nivkh inhabit is characterized as
taigaTaiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway, Highland Scotland and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern...
forest with cold snow-laden winters and mild summers with sparse tree cover. The Nivkh are believed to be the original inhabitants of the region deriving from a proposed
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
people migrating from the
TransbaikalTransbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia , or Dauria is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" Lake Baikal in Russia. The alternative name, Dauria, is derived from the ethnonym of the Daur people...
region during the
Late PleistoceneThe Late Pleistocene is a stage of the Pleistocene Epoch. The beginning of the stage is defined by the base of Eemian interglacial phase before final glacial episode of Pleistocene 126,000 ± 5,000 years ago. The end of the stage is defined exactly at 10,000 Carbon-14 years BP...
.
The Nivkh suffered heavily from foreign influences, the first of which was the migration of the Tungusic peoples. Later
ManchuThe Manchu people are a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the seventeenth century, with the help of Ming rebels , they conquered the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which established a...
dynasty in
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
forced tribute upon its people. In 1850s-1860s 19th century, Russian
CossackCossacks were originally members of military communities in the uninhabited borderland areas in the steppe that lies North of Black Sea...
s annexed and colonized Nivkh lands, where they are a small, often neglected, minority today. Today, the Nivkh live in Russian-style housing and with the over-fishing and pollution of the streams and seas, they have adopted many foods from
Russian cuisineRussian cuisine derives its rich and varied character from the vast and multicultural expanse of Russia. Its foundations were laid by the peasant food of the rural population in an often harsh climate, with a combination of plentiful fish, poultry, game, mushrooms, berries, and honey...
. The Nivkh practice
shamanismShamanism comprises a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. It is a prominent term in anthropological research. A practitioner of shamanism is known as a shaman, , noun...
, which is important for the winter Bear Festival, though some have converted to Russian Orthodoxy.
As of the 2002 Russian Federation census, 5,287 Nivkh exist. Most speak
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
today, though about 10 percent speak their indigenous
Nivkh languageNivkh or Gilyak is a language spoken in Outer Manchuria, in the basin of the Amgun , along the lower reaches of the Amur itself, and on the northern half of Sakhalin. 'Gilyak' is the Manchu appellation...
, which is considered an isolate language, though for convenience grouped with the
Paleosiberian languagesPaleosiberian languages or Paleoasian languages is a term of convenience used in linguistics to classify a disparate group of languages spoken in remote regions of Siberia...
. The Nivkh language is divided into four
dialectThe term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by scholars of language. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other...
s.
Etymology
Nivkhs (plural Nivkhgu), an endonym, means "person" in the
Nivkh languageNivkh or Gilyak is a language spoken in Outer Manchuria, in the basin of the Amgun , along the lower reaches of the Amur itself, and on the northern half of Sakhalin. 'Gilyak' is the Manchu appellation...
. They may also be referred to as Nivkhi in 1920's Western literature, due to romanization of the Russian term "", which is the plural of "" (
nivkh). In the seventeenth and eightieth centuries, Russian explorers first termed the group
Gilyak (also
Giliaks or
Giliatski). The etymology of the name "Gilyak" is disputed by linguists, with some believing the name originated from an exonym given to the Nivkhs by a nearby
Tungusic groupThe Tungusic languages are spoken by Tungusic people in Eastern Siberia and Manchuria. Many Tungusic languages are endangered, and the long-term future of the family is uncertain...
. Other scholars believe that "Gilyak" derives from
Kile, another nearby Tungusic group that the Russians had mistakenly named Nivkhs.
Origins
The origins of the Nivkh are hard to discern from current archeological research. Their subsistence by fishing and coastal sea-mammal hunting is very similar to the
KoryakKoryak may refer to:*Koryak Autonomous Okrug, a federal subject of Russia*Koryaks, a people of northeastern Siberia*Koryak language, language of the Koryaks*Koryak, the illegitimate son of Aquaman, a fictional character in DC Comics...
and Itelmen on the
Kamchatka PeninsulaThe Kamchatka Peninsula is a 1,250-kilometer long peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of 472,300 km². It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...
. The rigging of dog-sleds is also similar to these Chukotko-Kamchatkan groups. However, spiritual beliefs are similar to the
Northwest Coast IndiansThe Salishan languages are a group of languages of the Pacific Northwest...
of
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
. The Nivkh are physically and genetically different from the surrounding peoples and it is believed the Nivkh are the original inhabitants of the area. The current archeological model suggests that a sub-Arctic technological culture originating from the
TransbaikalTransbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia , or Dauria is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" Lake Baikal in Russia. The alternative name, Dauria, is derived from the ethnonym of the Daur people...
region, termed the microlithic culture, migrated across Siberia and populated the Amur and Sakhalin region during the
Late PleistoceneThe Late Pleistocene is a stage of the Pleistocene Epoch. The beginning of the stage is defined by the base of Eemian interglacial phase before final glacial episode of Pleistocene 126,000 ± 5,000 years ago. The end of the stage is defined exactly at 10,000 Carbon-14 years BP...
, perhaps earlier. It is also believed the microlithic (small tool) culture were the first to move into the Americas. The microlithic culture was technologically adept for the harsh climate of Siberia during the ice age. After the Ice age receded, Tungusic people from the south pressed into the warmer northern areas, soon dominating the settled peoples. The Nivkh are considered the last surviving ethnic group able to adapt to the warmer climate and not be assimilated or squeezed out by the new comers, hence the Nivkh isolate language. The earliest archeological
radiocarbon datingRadiocarbon dating, or carbon dating, is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to about 60,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present"...
for Northern Sakhalin as of 2004 is the
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
Age-
Imchin Site 2, dated at 4950-4570 BCE near the Tym' River Estuary on the west coast.
History
The Sakhalin Niviks populated the island during the
Late PleistoceneThe Late Pleistocene is a stage of the Pleistocene Epoch. The beginning of the stage is defined by the base of Eemian interglacial phase before final glacial episode of Pleistocene 126,000 ± 5,000 years ago. The end of the stage is defined exactly at 10,000 Carbon-14 years BP...
period when the island was connected to the Continent of Asia via the exposed
Strait of TartaryStrait of Tartary is a strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia , connecting the Sea of Okhotsk on the north with...
. When the ice age receded the oceans rose and the Nivkh were split into two groups.
The earliest mention of the Nivkh in history is believed to be a 12th century Chinese chronicle to a people called
Gilyemi (Chinese: 吉列迷
Jílièmí), who were in contact with the
MongolThe name Mongol specifies one or several ethnic groups, now mainly located in Mongolia, China, and Russia.-Definition:...
rulers of the
Yuan DynastyThe Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was both the continuation of the Mongol Empire and the Mongol founded historical state in Mongolia and China, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. Although the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, he had his grandfather Genghis Khan placed on the...
of
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
.
Vassili PoyarkovVassili Danilovich Poyarkov was the first Russian explorer of the Amur region.The Russian expansion into Siberia began with the conquest of the Khanate of Sibir in 1582. By 1643 they reached the Pacific at Okhotsk...
was the first Russian to write of the Nivkh in 1643, calling them
gilyak, a tungus
exonymAn exonym is a name for a place or a personal name that is not used within that place or for that person by the local inhabitants , or a name for a people or language that is not used by the people or language to which it refers...
, by which they would be referred until the 1920s.
Nivkh lands extended along the northern coast of
ManchuriaManchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within China, or is divided between China and Russia...
from the Russian fortress at Tugur, eastward to the mouth of the Amur at
NikolayevskNikolayevsk is a town in Volgograd Oblast, Russia, located on the left shores of the Volga River. The settlement was founded in 1747 as khutor Dmitriyev, which was reorganized into a sloboda in 1794 and renamed Nikolayevskaya sloboda. The settlement was granted town status and renamed to...
, then south through the
Strait of TartaryStrait of Tartary is a strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia , connecting the Sea of Okhotsk on the north with...
as far as De Castries Bay.
For many centuries, the Nivkhs were tributary to the
ManchuThe Manchu people are a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the seventeenth century, with the help of Ming rebels , they conquered the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which established a...
Empire. After the
Treaty of NerchinskThe Treaty of Nerchinsk was the first treaty between Russia and the Qing Empire.-Context:...
in 1689, they functioned as intermediaries between the
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
ns,
ManchuThe Manchu people are a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the seventeenth century, with the help of Ming rebels , they conquered the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which established a...
and
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese, the latter via their vassal, the
AinuThe are an indigenous ethnic group of Japan. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. Most of those who identify themselves as Ainu still live in this same region, though the exact number of living Ainu is...
. Early contact with
Ainu peopleThe are an indigenous ethnic group of Japan. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. Most of those who identify themselves as Ainu still live in this same region, though the exact number of living Ainu is...
from southern Sakhalin was generally hostile, although trade between the two was apparent.
The Nivkhs suffered severely from the
CossackCossacks were originally members of military communities in the uninhabited borderland areas in the steppe that lies North of Black Sea...
conquest and imposition of the Tsarist Russians referred as
kinrsh (devils) by the Nivkh. The Russian Empire gained complete control over Nivkh lands after the Treaty of
AigunAigun was a historic town of China in northern Manchuria, situated on the right bank of the Amur River. The Chinese name of the town, which literally means "Bright Jade", is a transliteration of the original Manchu name of the town.Today the former city of Aigun is called Aihui town ; it is the...
1858 and the Treaty of Peking 1860. A Russian penal colony was established on Sakhalin from 1857 to 1906, bringing large numbers of Russian criminal and political exiles, including
Lev ShternbergLev Yakovlevich Sternberg was a Ukrainian ethnographer who from 1889 to 1897 studied the Nivkhs , Oroks, and Ainu on Sakhalin and in Siberia for the American Museum of Natural History, in New York City. He was active in Jewish social movements and a devoted Marxist...
, an important early ethnographer on the Nivkhs. The Nivkh were soon outnumbered and sometimes employed as prison guards and to track escaped convicts. Smallpox, plague, and flu occurred frequently among the populace, due to the large influx of foreign immigrants.
Though the
Japanese EmpireThe Empire of Japan was a Japanese political entity that existed during the period from the...
never controlled the northern part of Sakhalin Japan and Russia jointly ruled the island as part of the 1855
Treaty of ShimodaThe Treaty of Shimoda of 1855 was signed between the Russian Vice-Admiral Euphimy Vasil'evich Putiatin and Toshiakira Kawaji of Japan in the city of Shimoda, Izu Province, Japan, on February 7, 1855...
. From the 1875 Treaty of Petersburg until the 1905
Treaty of PortsmouthThe Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War.It was signed on 5 September 1905 after negotiations at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard near Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the United States.-Negotiations:...
Russia governed all of Saxalin. From 1905 to 1945, Saxain was partitioned between Russia and Japan along the 50th N parallel. Japanese entrepreneur fishermen were allowed in Nivkh lands from the 1880s by Russia until their 1948 expulsion. The Russian
PriamurAmur Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , situated about east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur and Zeya Rivers. It shares its border with the Sakha Republic in the north, Khabarovsk Krai and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the east, People's Republic of China in the south, and Zabaykalsky...
Governor-Generalship had difficulty finding Russian labor and allowed Japanese and Nivkh fishermen to develop the area though they were heavily taxed. Russian authorities prevented Nivkhs from fishing in prior coastal and river systems via bans and high taxes from cached fish. The first of many incidents of over-exploitation of fisheries by the Japanese (and latter the Russians) on the Tartar Strait and lower Amur occurred in 1898, which had driven many Nivkh peoples into starvation or import expensive foreign - Russian - foods.
Russia underwent the Bolshevik Revolution forming the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
in 1922. The new government altered prior
Russian ImperialThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
polices towards the Nivkh that were in line with
communist ideologyCommunism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general. Karl Marx posited that communism would be the final stage in human...
. Soviet officials embraced the new self-designation name
Nivkh from the old term
Gilyak, as a hallmark for new native self-determination. A brief Autonomous
OkrugOkrug is an administrative division of some Eastern European Slavic states. The word "okrug" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "district", or "region"...
was created for the Nivkh. Extensive fishing rights were granted that would not be rescinded until the 1960s. However, Soviet policies proved devastating. Nivkhs were forced into mass agricultural and industrial labor
collectivesCollective farming is an organization of agricultural production in which the holdings of several farmers are run as a joint enterprise. A collective farm is essentially an agricultural production cooperative in which members-owners engage jointly in farming activities...
called
KolkhozA kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...
. Nivkh fishermen were difficult to convert to agricultural practices because of their belief that ploughing the earth was a sin. The Nivkh were soon working and living as a second-class minority group among the massive Russian labor force.
These collectives irrevocably altered the life style of the Nivkh. The traditional
hunter-gatheringA hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild, foraging and hunting without significant recourse to the domestication of either...
lifestyle disappeared. Soviet authorities showcased the Nivkh as a 'model' nation for a culture quickly transforming from the
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
age to a
socialistSocialism refers to various theories of economic organization advocating public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with a method of compensation based on...
industrial model. The Nivkh language was banned from being used in schools and the public square. Russian language was mandated and
russificationRussification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attribute by non-Russian communities...
of the Nivkh accelerated. Many Nivkh stories, beliefs, and clan ties were forgotten by new generations. From 1945-1948 many Nivkh along with half of the
OroksOroks are a people in the Sakhalin Oblast in Russia. The Orok language belongs to the southern group of the Tungusic language family and have no written language...
and all of the Sakhalin
AinuThe are an indigenous ethnic group of Japan. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. Most of those who identify themselves as Ainu still live in this same region, though the exact number of living Ainu is...
and Japanese were forcibly moved to
Hokkaidō, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island and the largest, northernmost of its 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshū, although the two islands are connected by the underwater Seikan Tunnel...
, though many indigenous people would later return.
Dr.
Chuner TaksamiDr. Chuner Mikhailovich Taksami is ethnographer of Nivkh origin and has a Doctor of Historical Sciences attained in 1955. He was born in Lower Amur River of Khabarovsk Krai Russia. He is an important spokesman for the Nivkh and other Siberian peoples. Taksami specializes in Siberian historical,...
, an anthropologist, is considered the first modern Nivkh literary figure and supporter of Siberian rights. In the post-
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
Russian commonwealth of nations, the Nivkh fared better than the Ainu or the Itelmens but worse than the
ChukchiChukchi, or Chukchee are an indigenous people inhabiting the Chukchi Peninsula and the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean within the Russian Federation. They speak the Chukchi language...
or the
TuvansTuvans or Tuvinians are a group of Mongolized Turkic people. They are historically known as Uriankhai, from the Mongolian designation....
. The Soviet government in 1962 resettled many of the Nivkh into fewer, denser settlements, such that Sakhalin settlements had been reduced from 82 to 13 by 1986. This relocation was accomplished via the Soviet collectives that the Nivkh had become so dependent on. The closure of state-funded amenities such as a school or electricity generator prompted citizenry to move into government-preferred settlements.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kolkhoz collectives were abandoned. The Nivkh were dependent on the state-funded collectives, and with their dissolution, rapid economic hardship ensued for the already poor populace. At present, the Nivkh living in the North of
SakhalinSakhalin , also Saghalien, is a large elongated island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N. It is part of Russia and is its largest island, administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast. The indigenous peoples of the island are the Sakhalin Ainu, Oroks, and Nivkhs...
island see their future threatened by the giant offshore oil extraction projects known as
Sakhalin-IThe Sakhalin-I project, like its sister project Sakhalin-II, is a consortium to locate and produce oil and gas on Sakhalin Island and immediately offshore, in the Sea of Okhotsk, from three fields: Chayvo, Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi....
and
Sakhalin-IIThe Sakhalin II project is one of the biggest oil and gas developments in the world. Two oil and gas fields are being developed offshore Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk: Piltun-Astokhskoye and Lunskoye. Associated infrastructure has been constructed onshore. Piltun-Astokhskoye is primarily...
, operated by foreign Western firms. Since January 2005, the Nivkh, led by their elected leader
Alexey LimanzoAlexey Limanzo, President of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of North Sakhalin Region , is the chairman of the council of the indigenous people plenipotentiary of Sakhalin Island -External links:*...
, have engaged in non-violent protest actions, demanding an independent ethnological assessment of Shell's and Exxon's plans. Solidarity actions have been staged in
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and later in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
. The monthly Nivkh newspaper,
Nivkh Dif, established in 1990, is published using the west-Sakhalin dialect and is headquartered in the village of Nekrasovka.
Village life
The Nivkh were semi-nomadic
Hunter-gathererA hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild, foraging and hunting without significant recourse to the domestication of either...
s having summer and winter settlements. Nivkh villages consisted of 3 to 4 households shared by several families with larger villages rare, mostly located on the Amur estuary. Households were shared for reasons of community and survival during the harsh cold winters. Villages would last for several decades but were susceptible to floods and sometimes vanished such as the many wiped out during the devastating Amur floods of 1915 and 1968. Often households contained families that were not related. The village was usually composed of people from two to eight different clans, four being standard.
In the late fall able-bodied Nivkh men would leave the villages to hunt for game in the surrounding hunting grounds while women would gather foods from the forests. Nivkh would move to winter settlements near rivers to survive the harsh snows and catch salmon spawning. (see
List of Nivkh Settlements) The Nivk were very hospitable such that when the Nanai located upstream on the Amur when faced with hard times would often visit or stay in Nivkh villages.
Clan
Nivkh clans (
khal) were a group of people united by marriage ties, a common derived deity, arranging marriages, and responsible for group dispute resolution. The clan is divided into three exogamous sub-clans. A clan would cooperate with other members on hunts and fishing when away from the village. A Nivkh clan believed they had "one (common)
akhmalk or
imgi, one fire, one mountain man…one bear, one devil, one tkhusind (ransom, or clan penalty), and one sin."
Marriage
Marriage tended to be
exogamicExogamy has two related definitions, both biological and cultural.- Biological exogamy :In biology, exogamy more generally refers to the mating of individuals who are relatively less related genetically: that is, outbreeding as opposed to inbreeding...
unlike many paleo-Siberian groups. Although within the clan, marriage is
endogamicEndogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class or social group, rejecting others on such bases as being unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships...
while sub-clans are exogamic. Nivkh marriage customs were very complicated and controlled by the clan. Cross-cousin marriage seems to be the original custom with the clan a latter necessity when the clan was unable to marry individuals without breaking taboo. The bride-price was probably introduced by the Neo-Siberians. The dowry was shared by the clan. The number of men generally exceeded the number of women. It was hard to gain wives, as they were few and expensive. This would lead to the wealthier men having more than one wife and the poor men without.
Religion
Nivkh's traditional religion was based on animist beliefs, especially via
shamanismShamanism comprises a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. It is a prominent term in anthropological research. A practitioner of shamanism is known as a shaman, , noun...
, before colonial Russians made efforts to convert the population to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Nivkh animists believe the island of Sakhalin is a giant beast lying on its belly with the trees of the island as its hair. When the beast is upset, it awakens and trembles the earth causing earthquakes. Nivkh have a pantheon of vaguely defined gods (
yz, yzng) that presided over the mountains, rivers, seas and sky. Nivkhs' have extensive folklore, songs, and mythos of how humans and the universe were created, and of how fantastic heroes, spirits and beasts battled with each other in ancient times. Some Nivkhs have converted to
Russian OrthodoxyRussian Orthodoxy in Christianity may refer to:*Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church descended from the Imperial Church of the Byzantine Empire*Old Believers*Russian Orthodox Church*Western Rite Orthodoxy...
or other religions, though many still practice traditional beliefs. Fire is especially venerated. It is the symbol of the unity of the clan. Fire is considered a deity of their ancestors, protecting them from evil spirits and guarding their clan from harm. An open flame would be 'fed' a leaf of tobacco, spices, or a tipple of vodka in order to please the spirits for protection. Nivkhs would also frequently offer items to the deities by 'feeding'. The sea would be 'fed' an item of importance in order that the sea god protect the travelers.
Shamanism
Shamans' (
ch'am) main role was in diagnosing and curing disease for the Nivkh. The rare Shamans typically wore an elaborate coat with a belt often made of metal. Remedies composed of plant and sometimes animal matter were employed to cure sickness. Talismans were used or offered to patients to prevent sickness. Shamans additionally functioned as a conduit to combat and ward off evil spirits that cause death. A shaman's services usually were compensated with goods, quarters and food.
Bear Festival
Nivkh Shamans also presided over the Bear Festival, a traditional holiday celebrated between January and February depending on the clan. Bears were captured and raised in a corral for several years by local women, treating the bear like a child. The bear was considered a sacred earthly manifestation of Nivkh ancestors and the gods in bear form (see
Bear CultBear worship is the religious practice of the worshiping of bears found in many North American and North Eurasian ethnic circumpolar religions such as the Sami, Nivkhs, Ainu, and pre-Christian Finns...
). During the Festival, the bear would be dressed in a specially made ceremonial costume. It would be offered a banquet to take back to the realm of gods to show benevolence upon the clans. After the banquet, the bear would be sacrificed and eaten in an elaborate religious ceremony. Often dogs were sacrificed as well. The bear's spirit returned to the gods of the mountain 'happy' and would then reward the Nivkh with bountiful forests. The festival typically would be arranged by relatives to honor the death of a kinsman. Generally, the Bear Festival was an inter-clan ceremony where a clan of wife-takers restored ties with a clan of wife-givers upon the broken link of the kinsman's death. The Bear Festival was suppressed during Soviet occupation though the festival has had a modest revival since the decline of Soviet Union, albeit as a cultural instead of religious ceremony.
Environment
The
Russian Far EastRussian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
has a cold and harsh climate. In the fish-rich Amur River estuary in the districts of Nixhne-Amruskii and Takhtinskii, winters have high winds and heavy snows with mid winter usually averaging from -28° to -20°C (-18° to -4°F). Summers are wet and moderately warm ranging between 16° and 20°C (61° to 68°F). The area's
biomeBiome are climatically and geographically defined areas of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems...
is characterized as
TaigaTaiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway, Highland Scotland and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern...
and evergreen
coniferous forestThe conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority...
s consisting of larch, yew, birch, maple, lilac, honeysuckle, and extensive low-lying swamp grasses. Higher elevations have spruce, fir, ash, lime, walnut and mountain tops have cedar and lichens. Bears, foxes,
sableThe sable is a species of marten which inhabits forest environments, primarily in Russia from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, in northern Mongolia and China and on Hokkaidō in Japan. Its range in the wild originally extended through European Russia to Poland and Scandinavia...
s, hares, Siberian tigers,
elk-Various species of deer:** European Elk , also known as Moose** North American Elk , also known as Wapiti** Indian Elk , also known as Sambar...
s,
grouseGrouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are often considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...
, and deer typical near the Amur outlet which usually floods during the rainy season.
Northern Sakhalin is harsher ecologically with mostly
TaigaTaiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway, Highland Scotland and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern...
. Winters are longer, with a mean temperature of -19°C (-5°F), however short summers are warmer averaging 15°C (59°F) due to warmer Pacific Ocean currents moving around the island. Heavy snows blanket the island of Sakhalin (
Yh-mif in
NivkhNivkh or Gilyak is a language spoken in Outer Manchuria, in the basin of the Amgun , along the lower reaches of the Amur itself, and on the northern half of Sakhalin. 'Gilyak' is the Manchu appellation...
) during winter, due to monsoon winds blowing from Siberia, drawing humidity as they pass over the
Sea of OkhotskThe Sea of Okhotsk is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and north...
,
Sea of JapanThe Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Russia. It is referred to in North Korea as the Korea East Sea and in South Korea as the East Sea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure...
, and the
Strait of TartaryStrait of Tartary is a strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia , connecting the Sea of Okhotsk on the north with...
. Barren
tundraIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tūndâr, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra...
dominates the north, with sparse trees such as larch, birch and various grasses, while moving southward, spruce and fir are seen. Bears, foxes, otters,
lynxA lynx is any of four big-sized wild cats. All are members of the genus Lynx, but there is considerable confusion about the best way to classify felids at present, and some authorities classify them as part of the genus Felis...
, and
reindeerThe reindeer , also known as the caribou when wild in North America, is an Arctic and Subarctic-dwelling deer, widespread and numerous across the Arctic and Subarctic.- Distribution and habitat :...
are common wildlife. The Island's major rivers are the Tym' and Poronai, rich in fish especially Salmon. Before Russian colonization, Nivkh villages could be found on these rivers approximately every 5 km.
The Strait of Tartar is currently only 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) wide and is shallow enough that the divide is covered by an
ice bridgeIce roads or ice crossings are frozen, human-made structures formed on the surface of bays, inlets, rivers, lakes, or seas. They are linked from frozen waterway to frozen waterway by overland portages or winter roads that are usually consistently used from year to year...
during the winter that can be traversed by foot or dog sled. At the glacial maximum of the Ice Age, sea levels were 100 meters (300 feet) lower than they are today. The
EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
continent was connected to Sakhalin via the Strait of Tatar and
Hokkaidō, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island and the largest, northernmost of its 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshū, although the two islands are connected by the underwater Seikan Tunnel...
via the Soya Strait of which humans migrated. This connection explains the similarities of trees, plants, and animals including now extinct
mammothA mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair. They lived from...
s. The receding ice age warmed the area allowing greater tree cover and wildlife, thus new resources for the Nivkhs to exploit. The opening of the Soya and then the shallower Tartar Strait allowed warm pacific currents to bathe the island and the lower Amur River.
Dwellings
Nivkhs lived in two types of self-built winter dwellings. Most ancient of these was the
ryv (or
to). The dwelling was a round dugout about 7.5 meters (23 feet) in diameter, shored up by wooden poles and covered with packed dirt and grass. The
ryv had a fireplace in the center and a smoke hole for light and smoke escape. The other type of dwelling used for winter is the
chad ryv similar to the
NanaiThe Nani people are a Tungusic people of the Far East, who have traditionally lived along Heilongjiang , Songhuajiang and Ussuri rivers on the Middle Amur Basin...
dio which was modeled after Manchurian and Chinese dwellings of the Amur. The
chad ryv were one-room structures with a
gableA gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns...
roof and a kan (Korean furnace) for heating. A nearby shed held sledges, skis, boats, and dogs.
Clothing
Nivkh's traditionally wore robes (
skiy for men,
hukht for women) having three buttons, fastened on the left side of the body. Winter garments were made of skins from fish, seal, sable, and furs from otter, lynx, fox, and dog. Women's
hukht extended below the knee and were light multicolored with intricate embroideries and various ornaments sewed on the sleeves,
collarCollar may refer to:Human neckwear:*Collar , the part of a garment that fastens around or frames the neck*Collar , a device of any material placed around the neck of the submissive partner in BDSM...
and
hemTo hem a piece of cloth , a garment workerfolds up a cut edge, folds it up again, and then sews it down. The process of hemming thus completely encloses the cut edge in cloth, so that it cannot ravel....
. Ornaments were coins, bells, or beads made of wood, glass, or metal mostly originating from Manchurian and Chinese traders. Men's
skiy were darker colored, shorter, and had pockets built into the sleeves. Men's clothing were less elaborate with ornaments on the sleeve and left lapel. Men would also wear a loose kilt called a
kosk when hunting or traveling on dog sled. Boots were made of fish-, seal-, or deerskin, being very water tight. Fur hats (
hak) were worn in winter, with the furry tails and ears of the animals used often adorning the back and crown of the hat. Summer hats (
hiv hak) were conical made from birch-bark. After soviet collectivization, Nivkh mostly wear mass-produced Western clothing, but traditional clothing is worn for holidays and cultural events.
Diet
The Nivkh had a diverse diet being semi-nomadic before colonization.
FishA fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...
was the main source of food for the Nivkh, such as Pacific Salmon, (
ChumThe chum salmon, Oncorhynchus keta, is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. It is a Pacific salmon, and may also be known as dog salmon or Keta salmon, and is often marketed under the name Silverbrite salmon...
,
PinkPink salmon or humpback salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. It is the smallest and most abundant of the Pacific salmon.- Appearance :...
, Trout), Red Eye,
burbotThe burbot is the only freshwater gadiform fish. It is also known as the lawyer, and eelpout, and closely related to the common ling and the cusk. It is the only member of the genus Lota....
and pike found in rivers and streams. Salt water fishing provided
saffron codThe saffron cod , is a commercially harvested fish closely related to true cods . It is dark grey-green to brown, with spots on its sides and pale towards the belly. It may grow to 60 cm and weigh up to 1.3 kg....
,
flatfishThe flatfish are an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. The name means "side-swimmers" in Greek. In many species both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through and around the head during development...
, and
marine gobyThe gobies form the family Gobiidae, which is one of the largest families of fish, with more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most are relatively small, typically less than 10 cm in length...
caught in the
littoralIn coastal environments and biomes, the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes the intertidal zone and is often used to mean the same as the intertidal zone...
coasts of the
Strait of TartaryStrait of Tartary is a strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia , connecting the Sea of Okhotsk on the north with...
,
Sea of OkhotskThe Sea of Okhotsk is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and north...
, and the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
, though over fishing by Russian and Japanese trawlers have depleted many of these fish stocks. Additionally, Chinese and Russian industrial pollution such as
phenolsIn organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl group bonded directly to an aromatic hydrocarbon group...
and heavy metals in the Amur River have devastated fish stocks and damaged the
Estuaries'An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries are thus subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of...
soil. A traditional preservation process called
Yukola, involving slicing the fish in a particular way and drying the strips by hanging them in the frigid air, without salt, was used before foreign influences. The preservation process created a lot of dried fish waste, unpalatable for human consumption but utilized for dog food. Pulverizing dried fish and mixing it with fish skins, water, seal fat, and berries until the mixture had a sour cream consistency is a favorite Nivkh dish called mos. Nivkhs would hunt seal (Larha, Reinged, Reibbon, Sea-lions), duck, sable, and otters. They would gather various berries, wild
leekThe leek, Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum , also sometimes known as Allium porrum, is a vegetable which belongs, along with the onion and garlic, to the Alliaceae family...
s, lilybulbs, and nuts. Contacts with the
ChineseHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and, by most modern definitions, the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92 percent of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98 percent of the population of the Republic of China , 75 percent of the...
, Manchurians, and
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese from the 12th century on introduced new foods incorporated in the Nivkhs diet such as salt, sugar, rice,
milletThe millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...
, legumes and tea. Russian 19th century colonisation introduced flour, bread, potatoes, vodka, tobacco, butter, canned vegetables and fruits, and other meats.
Further reading
- Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian short-story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
, and Brian Reeve. (1993) A Journey to Sakhalin. Cambridge: Ian Faulkner. ISBN 185763005X
- Grant, Bruce (1995) In the Soviet House of Culture. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press
The Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large....
. ISBN 0691037221
- Taksami, Ch. M
Dr. Chuner Mikhailovich Taksami is ethnographer of Nivkh origin and has a Doctor of Historical Sciences attained in 1955. He was born in Lower Amur River of Khabarovsk Krai Russia. He is an important spokesman for the Nivkh and other Siberian peoples. Taksami specializes in Siberian historical,...
(1967) Nivkhi: Sovremennoe Khoziaistvo, Kul'tura i Byt. [The Nivkhs: Contemporary Economy, Culture, and Way of Life]. Leningrad: Nauka
External links