Samoyedic peoples

For other uses, see Samoyed (disambiguation).

The Samoyedic peoples (sometimes Samodeic peoples)^[a] are a group of closely related peoples who speak Samoyedic languages, which are part of the Uralic family. They are a linguistic, ethnic, and cultural grouping. The name derives from the obsolete term Samoyed used in Russian Empire for some Indigenous people of Siberia, see Samoyedic languages#Etymology for comments of the etymology.

Geographical distribution of Samoyedic-speaking peoples in the 17th (hatched area) and 20th (solid color) centuries

Peoples

Contemporary

People	Language	Numbers^[1]	Most important territory	Other traditional territories
Nenets	Nenets	45,000	Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Nenets Autonomous Okrug Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District	Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
Enets	Enets	200–300	Krasnoyarsk Krai
Nganasans	Nganasan	900–1000	Krasnoyarsk Krai
Selkups	Selkup	3,700	Tomsk Oblast Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug	Krasnoyarsk Krai
Kamasins	Kamassian	20^[2]^[b]	Krasnoyarsk Krai

Extinct

• Yurats, who spoke Yurats^[3]
• Mators or Motors, who spoke Mator^[3]

Comments

Traditionally, Samoyedic languages and peoples have been divided into two major areal groups: Northern Samoyedic (Nenets, Yurats, Enets, Nganasans), and Southern Samoyedic (Selkups) with a further subgroup of Sayan-Samoyedic (Kamasins, Mators) named after the Sayan Mountains. This classification does not reflect linguistic relations, being purely geographical.

The largest of the Samoyedic peoples are the Nenets, who mainly live in two autonomous districts of Russia: Yamalo-Nenetsia and Nenetsia. Some of the Nenets and most of the Enets and Nganasans used to live in the Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District. Most of the Selkups live in Yamalo-Nenetsia, but there is also a significant population in Tomsk Oblast.

Gallery

Historical pictures

•  
  Samoyed in summer dress, in 1781, by Johann Gottlieb Georgi
•  
  Samoyed in 1781 by Johann Gottlieb Georgi
•  
  Habit of a Samoyed woman and child in 1768, by Jean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroche^[4]
•  
  Samoyed winter dress (before 1906)
•  
  A reindeer herd in Kolguyev Island in 1895.

Modern

•  
  Yenisei Samoyedes (Enets people) around a campfire (1914)
•  
  Nganasans, 1927
•  
  Nganasan folkloric group, 2018
•  
  Nenets group, 1913
•  
  Nenets family
•  
  Nenets children, 2016
•  
  Northern Selkups, 2012
•  
  Kamasin family, 1925

See also

• Samoyed dog

Notes

1. Some ethnologists use the term 'Samodeic peoples' instead 'Samoyedic', see Balzer, Marjorie (1999). The Tenacity of Ethnicity. Princeton University Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-691-00673-4.
2. 0,2% of the population of Sayansky District (21 ppl) are declared as Kamasins and their descendants by the district administration in the official tourist guide (2021).

References

1. Demoskop Weekly No 543-544
2. "Администрация Саянского района. Унифицированный туристский паспорт. Саянский район Красноярского края". Retrieved 2023-01-04.
3. Unesco Red Book on Endangered Languages
4. "Habit of a Samoyede woman and child subject to Russia in 1768. Femme Samoyèd". New York Public Library Digital Collections website.

External links

•   Media related to Samoyedic peoples at Wikimedia Commons