Samoyedic peoples

The Samoyedic people (also Samodeic people)[1] 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 Russia for some indigenous people of Siberia.[2][3]

Geographical distribution of Samoyedic-speaking peoples in the 17th and 20th centuries

Peoples

Contemporary
People Group Language Numbers[4] Most important territory Other traditional territories
Nenets Northern Samoyeds Nenets language 45,000 Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Nenets Autonomous Okrug
Enets Northern Samoyeds Enets language 200–300 Krasnoyarsk Krai
Nganasans Northern Samoyeds Nganasan language 900–1000 Krasnoyarsk Krai
Selkups Southern Samoyeds Selkup language 3,700 Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Tomsk Oblast

Extinct

The largest of the Samoyedic people are the Nenets, who mainly live in two autonomous districts of Russia: Yamalo-Nenetsia and Nenetsia. Part of the Nenets and most of the Enets and Nganasans used to live in Taymyria autonomous district (formerly known as Dolgano-Nenetsia), but today this area is a territory with special status within Krasnoyarsk Krai. Most of the Selkups live in Yamalo-Nenetsia, but there is also significant population in Tomsk Oblast.

  • A group of Samoyeds around a campfire (1914)
  • Samoyed winterdress (before 1906)
  • Nenets child
  • Nenets family
  • A reindeer herd in Kolguyev Island in 1895.

References and notes
  1. Some ethnologists use the term 'Samodeic people' instead 'Samoyedic', see Balzer, Marjorie (1999). The Tenacity of Ethnicity. Princeton University Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-691-00673-4.
  2. [T]he term Samoyedic is sometimes considered derogatory in Balzer, Marjorie (1999). The Tenacity of Ethnicity. Princeton University Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-691-00673-4. Samoyedic derogatory.
  3. "Samoyeds" had no derogatory meaning and represents a modification of the expression same-edne in Arctic Institute of North America (1961). Anthropology of the North: Translations from Russian Sources. University of Toronto Press. p. 219.
  4. Demoskop Weekly No 543-544
  5. Unesco Red Book on Endangered Languages
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