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| Yakuts |
|---|
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| A Yakut family in 1911. The women wear the traditional tall fur hats. |
| Total population |
|
470,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Russia |
| Languages |
| Sakha, Russian |
| Religion |
| Russian Orthodox, with a significant part of the population practicing Shamanism |
Yakuts, self-designation: Sakha, are a Turkic-speaking people associated with the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic.
The Yakut or Sakha language belongs to the Northern branch of the Turkic family of languages. There are about 456,000 speakers (Russian census, 2002) mainly in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the Russian Federation, with some extending to the Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin regions, and the Taymyr and Evenki Autonomous Districts. Out of all population in Yakutia 382,000 are Yakuts1 or about 39% of the population in Yakutia; their share lowered during Soviet rule due to forced immigration, and other relocation policies, but has slightly increased since. Given the large number of speakers, the Yakut language is considered to be somewhat less endangered than most other regional languages of the Russian Federation.
The Yakuts are divided into two basic groups based on geography and economics. Yakuts in the north are historically semi-nomadic hunters, fishermen, yak and reindeer breeders, while southern Yakuts engage in animal husbandry focusing on horses and cattle.2
Contents |
Origin
Yakuts originally migrated from Olkhon and the region of Lake Baikal to the basins of the Middle Lena, the Aldan and Vilyuy rivers, where they mixed with other northern indigenous peoples of Russia such as the Evens and Evenks.
The northern Yakuts were largely hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders, while the southern Yakut raised cattle and horses. Both groups lived in yurts and led a semi-nomadic life moving from winter to summer camps each year.
In the 1620s Russians began to move into their territory, annexed Yakutia, imposed a fur tax, and managed to suppress several Yakut rebellions between 1634 and 1642. The discovery of gold and, later, the building of the Trans-Siberian Railway, brought ever-increasing numbers of Russians into the region. By the 1820s almost all the Yakuts had been converted to the Russian Orthodox church although they retained, and still retain, a number of shamanistic practices.
In 1919 the new Soviet government named the area the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
Trivia
- French producer Hector Zazou recorded a traditional Tayouks (a cappella) song. Throat singer Lioudmila Khandi performed the song, titled "Yakut Song" on the 1994 album Chansons des mers froides (Songs from the Cold Seas).
- Renowned Red Army sniper Fyodor Okhlopkov was Yakut. He was granted the status of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1965 (#10678) as well as an Order of Lenin, after complaints he had been overlooked for the citations due to his ethnicity.
See also
Notes
- ^ "The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) - overview" Russia Trek dotcom source: Yakutsk State University;
- ^ "Yakuts". Centre for Russian Studies. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.
References
- Leontˀeva, Sargylana (2002) "Comments on Ойуун Уол 'shaman fellow': a Yakut historical legend." In John M. Clifton and Deborah A. Clifton (eds.), Comments on discourse structures in ten Turkic languages p. 287-291. St. Petersburg, Russia: SIL International.
- International Business Publications (ed.) (2001) Sakha Yakut Republic Regional Investment and Business Guide (US Government Agencies Business Library) (3rd ed.) International Business Publications, USA, ISBN 0-7397-9012-9
- Opyt Etnograficheskogo Issledovaniya (ed.) (1993) Yakuty (The Yakuts, text in Russian, w/illustrations) Opyt Etnograficheskogo Issledovaniya, Moscow
External links
- Yakut language site with lirics, mp3 and video
- Yakut newspaper site
- A good brief description of Yakut Society
- Russian translations of Yakut texts (heroic poetry, fairy tales, legends, proverbs, etc)
- A multi-language dictionary: Yakut - Classical Mongolian - Khalkha - Russian - German - English
- Historical and administrative background
- Korolenko, Vladimir Galaktionovich (1980) "Sibirskie rasskazy i ocherki" Hudozhestvennaya literatura, Moscow in Russian
- Ethnic groups -Yakuts
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 12 November 2008, at 09:32.
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