Indigenous peoples of Siberia
Indigenous peoples of Siberia: history, demographics, and cultures
Last updated
Siberia covers the northern part of Asia and makes up Russia’s Asian territory. Because of the Russian conquest of Siberia, which lasted from the 16th into the 19th century, and the population shifts that happened during the Soviet era (1917–1991), most people living in Siberia today are ethnic Russians (called Siberiaks) and other Slavs. Still, there is a slowly growing number of Indigenous groups, who make up about 5% of the total Siberian population—roughly 1.6 to 1.8 million people. Some of these groups are genetically close to Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
History
In Kamchatka, the Itelmen people rose up against Russian rule in 1706, 1731, and 1741, but each rebellion was crushed. During the first uprising, the Itelmen only had stone weapons; by later ones, they had gunpowder weapons. The Russian Cossack mercenaries met stiffer resistance from the Koryaks, who rebelled with bows and guns from 1745 to 1756. The Cossacks also failed in their attempts to wipe out the Chukchi in 1729, 1730–1731, and 1744–1747.
After the Russian defeat in 1729 at Chukchi hands, the Russian commander Major Dmitry Pavlutsky was responsible for the Russian war against the Chukchi and the mass slaughters and enslavement of Chukchi women and children in 1730–1731, but his cruelty only made the Chukchi fight more fiercely. A war against the Chukchi and Koryaks was ordered by Empress Elizabeth in 1742 to totally expel them from their native lands and erase their culture through war. The command was to “totally extirpate” them. Pavlutsky led this campaign from 1744 to 1747, directing the Cossacks “with the help of Almighty God and to the good fortune of Her Imperial Highness” to slaughter Chukchi men and take women and children as booty.
But the war ended inconclusively when the Chukchi killed and decapitated Pavlutsky, forcing the Russians to give up. The Russians also launched wars and mass slaughters against the Koryaks in 1744 and 1753–1754. When the Russians tried to force native peoples to convert to Christianity, groups like the Koryaks, Chukchi, Itelmens, and Yukaghirs united to drive them out in the 1740s. This culminated in an assault on the Nizhnekamchatsk fort in 1746, where the Russian forces were completely destroyed.
Lore & Background
In Kamchatka, the Itelmens' uprisings against Russian rule in 1706, 1731, and 1741, were crushed. During the first uprising the Itelmen were armed with only stone weapons, but in later uprisings they used gunpowder weapons. The Russian Cossack mercenaries faced tougher resistance from the Koryaks, who revolted with bows and guns from 1745 to 1756, and were even forced to give up in their attempts to wipe out the Chukchi in 1729, 1730–1731, and 1744–1747.
The command was that the natives be 'totally extirpated' with Pavlutskiy leading again in this war from 1744 to 1747 in which he led to the Cossacks 'with the help of Almighty God and to the good fortune of Her Imperial Highness', to slaughter the Chukchi men and enslave their women and children as booty. However this phase of the war came to an inconclusive end, when the Chukchi forced them to give up by killing Pavlutskiy and successfully decapitating him. The Russians launched wars and conducted mass slaughters against the Koryaks in 1744 and 1753–1754. After the Russians attempted to force the natives to convert to Christianity, different native peoples such as the Koryaks, Chukchi, Itelmens, and Yukaghirs all united to drive the Russians out of their land in the 1740s, culminating in the assault on Nizhnekamchatsk fort in 1746 and the utter destruction of the Russian forces.
After its annexation by Russia in 1697, around 100,000 of 150,000 Itelmen and Koryaks died due to infectious diseases such as smallpox, mass suicides and the mass slaughters perpetrated by the Cossacks throughout the first decades of Russian rule. The genocide by the Russian Cossacks devastated the native peoples of Kamchatka and exterminated much of their population. In addition to committing genocide, the Cossacks also devastated the wildlife by slaughtering massive numbers of animals for fur.
Reader's Guide
Siberia is a sparsely populated region. Historically it has been home to a variety of different linguistic groups. According to some estimates, by the beginning of the 17th century, Indigenous peoples numbered 160,000. In the 1897 census, their number was 822,000.
The 2010 census recorded 1,608,000 Indigenous Siberians and the 2021 census recorded 1,635,000 Indigenous Siberians. Some estimates put the population of Siberian Tatars at 200,000. Some estimates put the population of Kamasins at 21.
Ainu people
Ainu languages are spoken in Sakhalin, Hokkaido, the Kurils, and the Kamchatka Peninsula, as well as in the Amur region. Today, Ainu is nearly extinct, with the last native speakers remaining in Hokkaido and on Kamchatka. The Buryats number 461,389 in Russia according to the 2010 census, which makes them the second largest ethnic minority group in Siberia.
Mongolic peoples
They are mainly concentrated in their homeland, the Buryat Republic, a federal subject of Russia. They are the northernmost major group of the Mongols. Buryats share many customs with their Mongolian cousins, including nomadic herding and erecting huts for shelter. Today, the majority of Buryats live in and around Ulan Ude, the capital of the republic, although many live more traditionally in the countryside.
Their language is called Buryat. In Zabaykalsky Krai of Russia, in Mongolia and China, there are also the Hamnigans—a Mongolic ethno-linguistic (sub)group as Mongolized Evenki. In Altai Republic and Altai Krai of Russia there exists a community of Altai Oirats. The government does not write them in as a distinct ethnic group and misidentify them as Altaians or Kalmyks.
They mostly live in the steppe part of the Altai Republic or around Barnaul in the Altai Krai. They number about 2,000-4,500. Four small language families and isolates, not known to have any linguistic relationship to each other, compose the Paleo-Siberian languages: Chukotko-Kamchatkan (including Chukchi, Koryak, Alutor, Kerek, and Itelmen), Nivkh, and Yeniseian (Ket).
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the Indigenous peoples of Siberia?
They are the many distinct ethnic communities originally settled across Siberia, the enormous Asian portion of Russia, including groups such as the Chukchi, Buryats, Nivkhs, Kets, Koryaks, Itelmens, and Yukaghirs among others.
How did Russian colonization affect Indigenous Siberian peoples?
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Russian expansion brought widespread violence, epidemic disease, and severe population loss to these communities, and a few groups were driven to complete extinction.
More in Indigenous Peoples Of The World
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Indigenous peoples of Siberia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced