Siberian Natives are divided into three
big language groups, which are Ugry, Samodijtsy and Turks. Separately stand
tribal Natives of the Far East. There are also Nations, which languages are
absolutely isolated.
|
Sibirga (Sibirs or Sypyrs) is a self-name
name. In different times different Nations called the Sibirga different
names. Siberia has been named Siberia after the Sibirga Native Nation.
(Ref: G.Kostachakov, Shor historian and professor of Shor language in the
University in Novokuzntesk).
The Sibirga were defined as a Nation
on the banks of river Enisei.The Sibirga call this river Ene-sai, what can
be translated as a mother’s bosom. Historically it occurred that the
Sibirga acquired a warrior culture early. Ancestors of the Yakuts moved from the
Sibirga territory to the place of contemporary Saha. Kyrgyz people did not
like the Sibirga as neighbors and moved to Issyk Kul. Afterwards for about
two thousands years the Sibirga lived as nomads traveling around Siberia;
the Sibirga came through Minusinskaya hollow, Altai, Kazakistan and Irtysh
river. At the time the Russians showed up the Sibirga lived in a bank of the
river Chulym. At first the Sibirga supported Russian Kozzacs (who can be
defined as a sort of army department at that times) in their war against
Chingizit (Chingizhan descendant) Kuchum Han. Because the enemy of their
enemy was their ally. After the defeat of Kuchum Siberia happened to have
the moving of Nations. The Sibirga moved to the bank of river Tom. Soon
Russian Kozzacs turned hostile. With the foundation of Tomsk city it turned
to be a center for Siberian slavery. The Sibirga did not agree with that;
and burned the city twice in a union with a relative Nation the Teleuts.
After that Russians set the Sibirga free. The Sibirga were assigned to the
lands and were given full self-government. The situation remained like that
till the arrival of communists. Apart from that in a period from the 3rd
till the 6th century (again in a union with related to us Teleuts) the
Sibirga formed the Great Turkic Kaganat and about 300 years the Sibirga
fought with the expansion of Chinese to Siberia. Finally the Chinese stated
a peace with the Sibirga and forgot their intentions about Siberia. Besides
this the Sibirga are mentioned in Byzantinian chronicles, again as the
cruelest Nation, which cannot be paid off neither with slaves, nor with
gold. In 1932 Stalin and his fellows simply prohibited the Sibirga from
being a Nation and went through with physical destroying them. Several
settlements officially existed in the documents, which were official before
the communist revolution; after the revolution the settlements officially
simply disappeared. This does not seem surprising. Why would communists
report genocide they made? The 1930es brought an awful decay to the Natives
because at that time shamans were physically killed being the first people
in the death lists. And Shamans were natural holders of the mind opposite to
totalitarian regime, and also they were holders of deep traditions and
culture of their Nations.
The Sibirga had shifts during the
development of their ethnicity; there were mixes with Ugry, Samodijtsy and
Turks. This entire heritage now shows itself in handprints, which are almost
identical with Selkups. The language has many Ugry words (Hunnu heritage).
The base for the language is formed by pro-Turkic language, which is older
than the inscriptions of the third century made in Turkic runes on stones.
After the break of Kaganat the written language was lost. Because of the
fact that Kaganat was not a state, but a war union, the Sibirga are named
possibly the most ‘out of state’ Nation in Siberia. For the Ethnography
specialists the Sibirga were and historically remained the least researched
Siberian Nation. Actually for the very majority of Russians Siberian Natives
don’t exist at all. This myth was carefully supported as in times before
soviets, so in soviet times. Taking into the consideration a total
information control in soviet society, this was an easy task; that is why
Russians who were born and grew up in Western Siberia even being the first
generation consider themselves Siberia natives, however anecdote-like it may
sound. The so-called Siberian art is as a rule made by Russians. Russian as
well as jewish artists frequently while being abroad use the term Siberian
art for their own art style.
Nations of the arctic zone are closer
to Inuit, especially Chukchis. There are Nations of fishermen cultures:
Khants, Mansi. Actually such approaches are not quite correct; it is better
to have some sort of classification about household activities. There are
Nations who practice as fishing, so hunting, and also have domestic animals.
There are Nations who specialize in some activities; it depends on the place
of living. The only thing is typical for all Siberian Natives: a complete
absence of agriculture. By this the Sibirga are very much different from
Niijiis (Natives in Turtle Island/N.America). Nganasans is a nomadic Nation,
‘People of the white dogs’; the main occupation is in the sphere of
reindeers. Shors is a Nation whose main occupation is hunting. For Sibirga
the main occupation has always been war and all the social structure
including language and system of relationship are built according to the
principles of warrior organization. Sibirga and Shors are close in language,
but completely different Nations. Shors themselves are Samodijtsy who
acquired Turkic language cradle, the very point of which can be symbolically
considered to be the Kulaj culture, which existed in Siberia about 2500 years ago, and served as a cradle almost for all the Siberian Nations. Tunes of the songs, which were sung to Siberian Natives in that cradle still sound in their legends and wisdoms by which historians recreate the essence of images and understandings of the Kulaj culture,
which traditionally orally transmitted not in written words. Similarly the
European culture came out from the Greek Parthenon. It means that Europeans
have always been trying to change the world for themselves, and the fight
with the Beast was on the first position what also includes the defeat of
the Beast as a solemnity of the human mind. Kulaj culture is absolutely
opposite. In that culture a human lives according to the laws of nature
having Beasts as cooperating creatures, and the cathedral for the human is
Nature. That’s in brief.
About ceremonies. According to Native
Siberian understanding all the four parts of the world have their colors:
the South is white or yellow; the North is black or blue-black; the East is
blue-green; and the West is red. One of the ceremonies takes place during
the floating of ice. However the ceremony during the floating of ice is not
closed; this is a tribal ceremony, which is typical for all the Western
Siberia Nations. According to Native beliefs, the bear, who has the status
of the strongest shaman being a creature, who lives in a full agreement with
the laws of Nature sleeping in winter and waking up in spring – the bear is
trying to break the ice, and it is not successful in that. This is why it
calls up for a wagtail, and it breaks the ice with its tail. There happen
sacrifices during the ice floating. Besides all the ceremony participants
who gather on a riverbank send to the North along with the ice all of their
misfortunes and all of their diseases that stored during the winter time.
Also during the ceremony everybody is asking everyone to forgive for the
offenses and grieves. All of this along with the ice floats away to the
black North. Besides a plaster cast of pike-mammoth is sent to the North;
according to the Siberian beliefs old pikes don’t die, but turn into horned
monsters, which are dangerous for the humans, and actually are mammoths.
However this is a double-side creature because mammoth is one of the most
powerful Shamanic beasts-helpers. -
Shaman Akkanat
About Today's
Teleuts
Teleuts - The Hidden
People in Siberia
by Melody Nixon from Kaitai, New
Zealand (Aotearoa)
--article from Anthroglobe.com first posted Dec.
28.
2002 last edited: Sep. 23. 2005.
Novokuznetsk, Siberia, Central Russia.
In central Russia, four hundred kilometers
south east of Novosibirsk, lies a mellow and haunted city; typically
Siberian in it’s undiscovered nature. On the banks of the Tom river,
and in the foreground of the Altai Mountains, Novokuznetsk is the
city born of Irmak’s 17th century dream, the place which held
Dostoeyovsky captive in his days of gaol, later witnessed his
marriage, and now plays host to Russia’s greatest metallurgy
factory. A city of 600,000, Novokuznetsk is a mere township by
gargantuan Siberian standards. To a New Zealander from a small rural
community such as myself, it is a towering megalopolis, the same
size as my country’s capital. In fact, I found my perceptions of
space were stretched with violent suddenness, upon my arrival in
Russia. Not only were the distances incomprehensible, but also the
scale of the soviet architecture and engineering seemed to have been
endreamed by creatures of another planet – very large, cumbersome
creatures. Slowly adapting to Siberian ways however, I discovered
the secret of life in Siberia lies not in a person’s hardiness, but
in how well s/he is prepared. " Endurance of the Siberian winter is
not determined by a mans strength, but by the size of his coat."
(Siberian proverb.) And the same applies to the distance and scale
of this country. The Siberians concept of space is simply different
– a drive of a few hundred kilometers is a mere potter down the road
– a few thousand is a good healthy Sunday drive - anything more
entitles one to a bottle of vodka or two, for company. Siberians are
hardy yes, but above all adaptable. However, arriving in
Novokuznetsk, I was presented with a question – What if the people
here are crafty and adaptable, but simply have no money for a coat?
How large does few hundred kilometers become, without a car? For
despite its typically post-soviet appearance and history,
Novokuznetsk is unique. Inside its apartment blocks and surrounding
its suburbs live one of Russia’s smallest nationalities, the Teleuts.
According to local statistics 300 Teleuts live in the city and 3,000
in the entire Kuzbass (also known as Kemerovo) region: together with
the Shortzs, the smallest ethnic group in Russia, they are the only
minority races in this area, surrounding the Tom river. This fact
alone makes them unique and intriguing. They have a language, an
outlook and a system of beliefs different to any other in the world.
When one considers the understanding we all could gain (from a
humanitarian and anthropological perspective) from the preserved
ideology and traditions of such a culture, one realizes the
attention such people deserve – or in the least the support to live
fulfilling lives and develop their own ways of learning and sharing.
Russia has around forty minority races held within its vast girth
and thirty one of these indigenous groups live in the territories of
Siberia and the Altai. Although most of the populations differ in
their origin, language and culture, they are united by their common
lifestyles; hunting, fishing, reindeer-breeding and herding,
traditional occupations which are linked to their nomadic, or
previously nomadic ways of living; low population densities; and a
contemporary situation of poverty and suppression.
Several of these aboriginal groups are on the
brink of extinction, due to the high mortality and forced
assimilation resulting from a lack of governmental attention. Their
population sizes, such as the 3,300 of the Teleuts, have kept them
mostly in the dark, oppressed and without means to find a strong
voice. The past attempts of the Russian government to deal with this
voice, when it has arisen, have been sporadic and at times
destructive and the assimilation projects put in place when prompted
by foreign organizations and governments have been ill thought out
and inconsistent. Many Russians are now aware of the sad situation
of ethnic children, taken from their native villages to city
institutions to be taught in a white Russian system, left marooned
afterward: unable to return to their village as the traditional ways
of living and hunting and even the language of their families are
alien to them, yet unable also to adapt to city life. The
discrimination and resulting ostracism is acceptable and accepted,
for the average population of non-ethnics. The Teleut population in
the Kuzbass region is a vivid example of the daily struggle in which
many of these minority groups live. Of the three main groups which
define native Siberian peoples, the Uralic, Altaic and Paleo-Siberian,
the Teleuts belong to the second, the Altaic, or Altai-Kizhi (Kizhi
meaning ‘people’ in Altaic.) This group is divided again into
Northern and Southern Altaic, and the Teleuts, referred to as White
Kalmyks historically, are members of the Southern Altaic. Included
in this category are the Maimalars (of the valley of the river Maima),
the Telengits, (of the valley of the river Chu), the Telesses or
Telosses, and the Ulan Kizhis, all of whom belong to the Asiatic and
south-Siberian type of the Mongoloid race. The Northern Altaic on
the other had, are less Mongoloid. They exhibit some European traits
and anthropologically they belong to the Uralic race. At times some
scholars have associated the Southern Altai Teleuts with a group
called the Bachat Teleuts, and the Kuzbass Teleut are often referred
to under this name, or as Bachatsky Teleuts. But the Bachat Teleuts
consider themselves a separate ethnos – shown by the fact they do
not use an Altai language as a standard form of communication. These
Bachat Teleuts are sometimes associated with the Siberian Tatars,
who do not all belong to a unified ethnic group. As applies to many
of the Siberian native peoples, Teleut is not a self designated
name. Traditionally names were taken depending on the peoples
locality – Tom Kizhi (translated literally as ‘Tom residents of the
village Teleuts’,) Tomdor (as the Teleuts of the village of Sredny
Teleut call themselves,) Telengit and Payatar - are examples of
those employed by Teleuts. The effect of Russian officialdom in the
17th century is also evident in the contemporary usage of the name
Tadar, ‘The Tartar’, a term used by officials from the 17th to 19th
century, politically covering all ‘Turkic’ peoples in Russia, but
anthropologically incorrect. Today it is adopted by many Southern
Altaic and Siberian native peoples to refer to themselves whilst
conversing with Russian people. However, interestingly, when Teleuts
converse with each other in their mother tongue they use the name
Telenet. Having spent time researching these people, but finding
little practical information, I was thrilled when during my stay in
Novokuznetsk I was introduced to Vladimir Ilyich, the President of
the Public Association for Teleut People, and a strong activist for
aboriginal rights. As the democratically selected leader of the
peoples only communal organisation, he took his position with
seriousness and determination and having recently returned from a
human rights conference in Geneva, he had a grave comprehension of
the difficulty of the situation of his people. To share this with
me, he took me to the village of Teleut, on the outskirts of
Novokuznetsk city, in an industrial area bordered with enormous
factories. Although shaky trees surrounded the village
smoke was billowing into the air beyond, and
the Sunday morning was sooty, grimed. A few groups were standing,
drinking beer and vodka, but despite its population of 100 the
village seemed empty as we approached on the muddy road. A kilometer
or so ago the real road had stopped, and this was more like a rough
track, not sealed and without metal, which ran between lines of
lopsided cottages. The materials on these cottages were rough, the
walls, gates and fences in disrepair, rotting – in one spot only was
a new house being built, uneven logs being thatched together with
cement and leather straps; new prosperity as the owner had a job in
the city. I asked Vladimir about the other inhabitants, as we began
walking along the track around the small community. I wondered what
they did – in a village of twenty-seven families, which received no
funding or attention from national or regional governments – how did
they survive? With great difficulty, he said, life is a daily,
instable struggle. Many Teleut people are inactive, unemployed, and
alcoholism is rampant. The village’s state of isolation intensifies
this stasis, and with no public transport at all running from the
community, the possibility of finding work is even slimmer. Some of
the inhabitants carry produce into the city to sell in the farmer
markets, or work in neighbouring factories. The children go to
school in the city, walking the three kilometers every day – a
tiresome effort in summer, usually impossible in winter. In fact for
the six or more months of harsh Siberian winter this village would
be dormant, cut off with a poor road and no transport, if it wasn’t
for the fact there is no shop and no inflow of products of any sort,
only what the inhabitants themselves bring in. Cold water is taken
from Kalotsi, shared public pipelines, in the street, and heated
over wood fires. There is no sewerage system and the area is already
very poor ecologically, the result of pollution from the nearby
factories. Vladmir Ilyich and the Public Association of Teleut
People cited their total population as 3,300 recognised Teleuts
living in Siberia in 2002. The only official census carried out in
recent years was the 1989 Soviet Census, which enumerated 2,594
residents of Teleut origin in Russia. According to research made by
the anthropologist D.A.Funk (from his paper ‘On The Problem of
Defining an Independent Ethos of the Bachatsky Teleuts’) during the
same year, around 1,900 of those Teleuts were living in the
countryside at that time. This shows a strong trend over the last
decade of urban to rural migration, combined with possible
population expansion, although this may be due to intermarriage,
assimilation and a less strict definition of what it means to be ‘Teleut’.
In the village, Vladimir was joined by his uncle, a soft older man,
who was also active in the fight for aboriginal rights. He told me
about the many journalists and occasional local council
representatives who had come, made photos and promises, and left.
There was interest – people tried to spread awareness, but as he
explained bitterly, nothing had ever happened after these visits.
Vladimir and his uncle, and the inhabitants of the village seemed to
me a mild people, Hidden Teleuts Page 4 unimposing. As their
Mongoloid features might suggest – a wide noseband, wide, long
orthognant face, heavy dark features and narrow inclined forehead –
traits which, according to craniological analysis made by G.F.Debets
and V.P.Alexeev [____., 1948; ____ _._., 1960; 1963] show close
links to Shortzs people of the region – the Teleuts claim that they
arrived from the south, during a mass migration of Mongol and Turkic
tribes. However the exact period of their arrival is difficult to
define. After the collapse of the Siberian Empire in the 16th
century all native tribes became members of the Russian Federation,
followed by a penetration of Russian troops into Siberia and several
fortresses being founded in the Tom
river region. At this time, in the first half
of the 17th century, Teleut tribes were found to already be living
in the Upper-tom Kuznetsk area of what is now the Kuzbass region.
However there is still very much debate from scientists and
historians as to the origins of the Teleuts, and indeed all Siberian
native peoples. There has been some confusion as native Altaic
peoples speak languages which are closely related to Turkic. However
it is now believed this is not due to their origins and they were
settled in Siberia long before the waves of Mongol and Turkic
tribes. It has been proposed that the first people lived in Siberia
during the Upper Paleolithic period, as early as 45,000-40,000 BC.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the settlement of Siberia was
a long and complex process with migrations possibly originating from
southern Russia and eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Mongolia.
There is also evidence that cultural ties were established between
the populations of western Siberia and eastern Europe as early as
the Neolithic period, and archeological findings of later periods
show bonds between the populations of Siberia and the ancient
civilizations to the West and South. Events in the history of the
southern part of Siberia, such as the movements of the Huns, the
formation of the Turkic kaganate, and the campaigns of Genghis Khan,
also affected the regions ethnographic map. The debate around these
facts is ongoing and currently a team of Russian and American
scientists are studying the DNA of indigenous Siberian peoples in an
attempt to decipher these first complex movements. Therefore it is
believed the currently spoken Turkic languages are derived from the
mixed waves of Turkic speaking nomads who, beginning 2000 years ago,
have populated the Altai area and integrated with the native
inhabitants. Back in the village of Teleut, I asked Vladmir and his
uncle if the Teleuts situation had become worse in recent years.
Both Vladimir and his uncle agreed – things had seemed better under
the Soviet regime. There had been a school in the village for
example, and a trained Teleut teacher. The government effectively
enforced active laws; laws that stated minority races must have a
means to keep their language alive, and a means to education in
their own culture. In the University of Novokuznetsk a department of
ethnic minorities was established in the faculty of Theology, to
educate minority teachers. And now? And now the school was
collapsing and although it was still stated in Russian law that
minority races must have a means to keep their language alive and
such a faculty of minority races must exist, it had not received
attention or interest for many years. The University was not
prompted by the government to train specialists and any funding
received was directed to what the university administration deemed
as more acute areas of deprivation. A deeper problem had resulted –
as there were no longer trained language specialists or teachers
there was now no real awareness from native students. The younger
generations no longer found inspiration in their Hidden Teleuts Page
5 own culture – the activities of modern Siberian society took the
place of the telling of traditional stories and the practice of
their own religion. Very few young people now spoke their native
language. When I asked Vladimir if the current government had made
any attempts to ease the problem, his mouth set in a grim line and
he stared roughly ahead. They have made laws he said, a whole
contingent of them. But not one has been acted upon. By law,
children of ethnic minorities must have unlimited access to
universities and institutions of learning, without having to pass
entrance examinations. Yet rarely a Teleut child has the opportunity
to study in Novokuznetsk, and if so it is through her/his own
funding and initiative they gain entrance to the university. Russian
law also states that land which historically belongs to an ethnic
minority must be returned to that minority, and a traditional style
of life be guaranteed. Grants and pensions must be paid to all
minorities. Yet the Teleuts receive no governmental money
whatsoever, and several times the local council has made threats of
taking their land or moving their village elsewhere. Vladimir told
me these laws had been devised solely to appease foreign
organizations and human rights groups, and if they served any
purpose it was that of showing the unawareness and disinterest of
Russian governmental bodies, on all levels. As we drove back along
the muddy track Teleut village receded, faded, and then disappeared
completely. Ahead of us the urban planning of Novokuznetsk rose,
taking command of the entire gray scene, of my thoughts. I closed my
eyes and firm images of faces, of smiling eyes, of creases and folds
of warm skin, filled my vision. I was uncertain of their realness.
Further into the city, as the rows of socialist realism closed in, I
felt I had only these stark faces and sharp memories to assure me of
this peoples existence, of their survival.
Theirs is a situation mirrored by hundreds of
thousands of aboriginal communities around the world, but this fact
only makes their position seem more desperate, crueller. A nation
that historically belongs to this area, a village that has existed
in one spot - framed by nature, framed by peasant plots, and today
framed by factories – for over five hundred years, now does not have
the basic necessities to live. Because of government inaction the
Teleuts, and countless other ethnic minorities throughout Siberia,
are in decline. Slowly their languages are dying, their young are
migrating and their traditions and religious beliefs are weakening.
Relative to the large area of the region they occupy, native
Siberian populations represent one of the least studied groups in
the world. The only extensive or conclusive anthropological studies
undertaken with regards to the Teleuts and southern Siberian native
peoples were those made by A.I.Yarkho in 1924-1927. Although
conducted 75 years ago, his studies form today’s base of knowledge
on the subject. As my brief visit showed me, a factor of urgency
surrounds such investigations, because of the threat of lost ethnic
identity is so real. For the Teleuts, it’s a case of having the
adaptability, craftiness and knowledge needed to endure and prosper
in Siberia, yet having so many factors against them, and so little
help from those who can give it, that all such strength is swept
away by a harsh reality. They simply don’t have enough money for a
coat, and the three-kilometer walk to school every day is a very
long way.
Resources and Parallel Works: V.M.Kimeev and V.V.Eroshov, ‘The
Aboriginal Peoples of Kuzbass.’ Drawing attention to two essays; "Ethnopolitical
Processes" with a section on Teleuts; and "Metamorphoses of Ethnic
and Self-identification (with the Teleuts as a case study)" by
E.P.Batyanova. Review of Material’naia kul’tura bachatskikh teleutov
[Material Culture of the Bachat Teleuts] and Dukhovnaia kul’tura
teleutov [Teleut Spiritual Culture], Dmitrii Katsiuba, Central
Asiatic Journal 43/1 (1999): 9-10. Harrasowitz: Wiesbaden. Artic
Studies Centre Michael Hammer and Tatiana Karafet – study of
Siberian DNA. Contact: Michael Hammer, Ph.D., Laboratory of
Molecular Systematics and Evolution, Dept. EEB, Biosciences West,
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 BSPU : Historical
encyclopaedia: HYPERLINK "http://www.bspu.secna.ru/Faculty/History/atlas/eng/ist_reg/21.html"
http://www.bspu.secna.ru/Faculty/History/atlas/eng/ist_reg/21.html
D.A.Funk : Studies of Teleut population: HYPERLINK "http://www.polarcircle.org/english/people/altaic/teleuts.htm"
http://www.polarcircle.org/english/people/altaic/teleuts.htmFor
further information contact: The Institute of Archaelogy and
Ethnography of the Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science
Lavrent’eva Ave 17 Novosibirsk 630090 Russia.
Siberian Tatars
by Nikolaj Tamilov
They called my attention in 1964 when I came
to village Tigil'deevo (Tomsk district) as a part of my student
internship. Immediately crashed the thoughts about Siberian Tatars
as of some kind of Povolzhje Tatars (Kazan Tatars). Another cultural
world was met, which was closer to hunting-fishing activities,
rather than to agricultural-cattle Breeding activities. I was
impressed by stories of earth-houses, and hunting ski, legends and
myths and some non-Muslim norms of behavior (in spite the fact that
they are Muslims).
...
In many villages I met people who came from
Povolzhje. Some of them came to Siberia in the first quarter of XX
century. They remembered by the way, that local Tartars firstly
treated them "worse, much worse than Russians did". One old man told
me: "We came to them and thought that they are like us because they
are Tatars, but they turned to be a completely different nation".
Who are they, Siberian Tatars? How do they
call themselves? Which language do they speak? How do they look
like? Where do they live? And how numerous are they?
We need to say that some part of Povolzhje-Ural
Tatars in Siberia also started calling themselves Sibirtatarlar,
i.e. Siberian Tatars. They do so because they live here for a long
time along with Siberian Tatars in the same villages and cities,
became close with them and pretty much mixed, i.e. became a part of
the Native Siberian Tatars. Others call themselves Siberian simply
because they live for a long time in Siberia; just like Russians who
call themselves Siberians.
- Baraba, Tom, Tobol-Irtysh and 'self-comers'.
Siberian Tatars consist of 3 separated ethnic
groups: Tom, Baraba and Tobol-Irtysh. Those 3 are also divided into
groups. Tom: Kalmaks, Chats and Eushtints; Baraba: Baraba-Turazh (Baraba-Chan
- depends on where they live), Lubej-Tunuss (Kyshta-Ust-Tark) and
Terenin-Choj (Kargat-Ubin); Tobol-Irtysh: Tumen-Turinsk, Tobol,
Yaskolbin, Kurdak-Sargat and Tar.
Well, as became clear this is not the final
ethnic classification. We could define that Tumen-Turinsk group
consisted of Tumen, Yaultor, Turin and Up-Turin Tatars; Tonol group
consisted of Aremzyan-Nadtsis, Iskero-Tobol, Babasan and
Ishtyak-Tokuz Tatars; Yaskolbin group consisted of Yaskolbin, Koshuk
and Tabarin Tatars; Kurdak-Sargat group consisted of Kurdak and
Sargat-Utuz Tatars; Tar group consisted of Ayalyn and Turalin.
Native Tatars of Western Siberia call
themselves Sibirtar - Siberian inhabitants (or maybe Sybyry -
descendants of Turkished here Ugor nation?) or Sibirtatarlar -
Siverain Tatars.
Group self-names still exist: Tobolik, Tarlik,
Tumenik, Baraba/Paraba, Tomtatarlar, Umartatarlar.
In the past they called themselves...otherborns,
top-ierly-halk (i.e. old residents), unlike the people who came from
Central Asia and European Russia. It is also known that huge
quantity (we recorded more than 200) of tribal, kin and minor-sized
names existed: Shiban (following the family name; in Tar and
Kurdak-Sargat groups: Ayaly, Turaly, Kurdak, Sart, Sargach, Tav,
Otuz, Ya-Irtysh, Tebendyu, Tunus, Lunuj, Lyubaj; in Yaskolba group:
Yusha, Konu, Tsaplaj, Kas, Tsele, Torna; in Baraba group: Terena,
Tara, Kelebe, Baraba, Longa, Lovej, Kargany, Puranak, Malik, Mumok,
Artyshak, Pulnuh, Talengut, Chungur; in Tom group: Yaushtalar,
Kalmaklar, Tsattyr, Tsitskan, Az-Kyshtym.
The new-came Tatars sometimes gave the name of
Kurchaklar (dolls) to the native Tatars because the latter favoured
'dolls'; supposedly the images of family-helpers. As for the
new-comers, they were called by the natives 'selfcomers' (they came
to Siberia themselves on their foot) or Kazanu.
...
Siberian Tatars live mostly in central and
southern parts of Western Siberia, from the Ural Mountains almost to
the Yenisei River.
...
The settlements of Tatars are spread among
Russian villages; some Russians live in Tatar settlements, forming
sometimes 15-30% of inhabitants.
...
Apparently, in the last quarter of XIX -
beginning of the XX centuries Povolzhje and Priural Tatars lived
among all groups of Siberian Tatars, excepts for Yaskolbins.
However, they were not numerous, but exactly at that time and in the
first years of Soviets they intensively moved to Siberia. It was
connected with the search for new lands, and was inspired by
Stolypin's agricultural reforms and later hunger in Povolzhje in
early 20-ies.
...
- Ugrs, Samodians, Turks and partly Mongols:
The language of Siberian Tatars is an independent Turk language. It
is classified to belong to Kypchak-Bulgar subgroup of Kypchak group
of Altai language family. In folk spoken language is recognized the
old-Turk part, what is typical for many Western Siberian Tatars.
Some linguists tend to consider it on of the most ancient Turk
languages, recognizing in it forms, which are not met even in old-Arkhon
monuments (on the Yenisei) and older all-Altaian lexis if compared
to other Turk groups. In the most general sense ethno genesis of
Siberian Tatars is viewed now as a process of mixing Ugor, Samodian,
Turk and partly Mongol tribes and nations. Ugor nations are Vengrs,
Mansi and Hunts. The latter two live in the North of Western
Siberia. But some time ago there was a bigger number of Ugor groups
and nations, and they also lived in more southern regions. It is
considered that they participated in formation of Baraba and
Tobol-Irtysh Tatars.
...
Archeological search suggest that native
people of Ob-Irtysh region in the first millennium and in many
regions in the first centuries of the second millennium A.D. were
Ugor tribes. Anthropological science witnesses that physical type of
Tobol and Baraba Tatars is similar to the one of Hunts and Mansi.
... Lately scientists have doubts about the suggestion that Kypchaks
were almost the only Turk component; ancient Turk language elements
found in the dialects prove these doubts. [furtherdown the author
describes some nations, but it is not worthy to translate because it
is very specific, and general impression is that they all are
overmixed]
...
Nikolaj Arkadjevich Tomilov the Omsk branch director of Joint
Institute of History, Philology and Philosophy SO RAN and Siberian
branch of Russian Institute of Culturology, the chairman of
ethnography and museums chair at Omsk State University, academic AGN
and ASN, member-correspondent of RAEN. Graduate from
History-Philological faculty of Tomsk State University " (end of the
article)
Terms Povolzhje and Priural refer to. Povolzhje is everything
near the river Volga (poVOLZHje) and Priural means everything close
to the Ural mountains (priURAL).
The Turtle Island Model
Below is a model of the portrayal of
Turtle Island/North America from an indigenous perspective.
Name: Turtle Island is the
Native name for North America derived from the Creation story of the
Turtle Island continent initially being carried on the back of a
turtle.
Location: Turtle Island
bordering both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, stretches
from the North Pole to Abya Yala also known as South America.
Turtle Island Map:
Turtle Island Flag:
The four colors of the flag represent
the four human races.
Turtle Island Insignia:
The four colors on the insignia represent the four human races in
circle representing the world.
Present Population: Present population consists of Natives
and nonNatives. The general name for Natives is Niiji.
Present Languages: Native and
nonNative languages are spoken in Turtle Island. The Native
languages are such as Inuktitut in the Arctic, Algonquin and
Iroquoian languages in the East Coast and Subarctic, Lakota in the
prairies, Athapascan languages in the West Coast and Southwest and
Aztecan and Mayan languages in the South. The nonNative languages
are from a wide range of European, Asian and African languages with
French, English and Spanish as the predominant ones.
Current Government System:
Consists of Native and nonNative government systems. The Native
government system is based on the Clan System. The nonNative
government system is based on the parliamentary system.
Prepared by SNTC News and Views from
the Native Network. 2000-2007
Abya Yala
Abya Yala means
"Continent of Life" in the language of the Kuna peoples of Panama
and Colombia. The Aymara leader Takir Mamani suggested the selection
of this name (which the Kuna use to denominate the American
continents in their entirety), and proposed that all Indigenous
peoples in the Americas utilize it in their documents and oral
declarations. "Placing foreign names on our cities, towns and
continents," he argued, "is equal to subjecting our identity to the
will of our invaders and to that of their heirs." The proposal of
Takir Mamani has found a favorable reception in various sectors.
Since its inception, providing information on Indigenous peoples in
Mexico, Central, and South America as been an important part of
NativeWeb's mission. This section is largely dedicated to providing
original content on this part of the world. Ref:
abyayala.nativeweb.org
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