O aquecimento global tem ameaçado um dos maiores desertos do mundo, a Península do Lamal – ou de Yamal, em russo –, localizada na região ártica da Rússia.

O blog de meio ambiente do jornal britânico The Guardian postou um álbum com 20 fotos sobre o fenômeno.

E as evidências do aquecimento são claras, dizem os cientistas.

Os permafrots – solo permanentemente congelado da região – estão derretendo, o que pode levar a uma catastrófica liberação de bilhões de toneladas de dióxido de carbono e de gás metano que estavam selados pelo gelo.

A consequência pode ser desastrosa para os Nenets, povos que vivem na região.

Clique aqui para conferir o álbum completo, ou veja abaixo uma seleção com cinco imagens.

As fotos são de Steve Morgan/Greenpeace

A Rússia libera uma enorme quantidade de gases do efeito estufa, apesar de grandes regiões, como o Lamal, estarem sujeitas às consequências danosas do aquecimento global

Os Nenets relatam outras mudanças, como a presença de mosquitos e de outros insetos, indicativos de que o aquecimento já chegou a esse lugar remoto

Se a temperatura global aumentar 4º centígrados, como dizem os cientistas, o impacto na Rússia será desastroso

Os Nenets também pescam – e cortam como sashimi o filé de peixe branco retirado dos milhares de lagos virgens que se espalham pela península

Criadores de rena comem a carne crua e bebem o sangue do animal

A Rússia – maior país do mundo em área geográfica – registra um aquecimento 1 e 1/2 maior que em outras partes do mundo

I’m all about the Pleistocene epoch tonight. Something about megafauna just makes be all gooshy inside.If I were designing a species, I’d definitely be a “k strategist”; call me a sentimental. As I think everyone has heard by now, a baby mammoth named Lyuba by a researcher, in honor of his wife, was found in the Yamal Peninsula of Russia, by a reindeer herder. The Nenets, the people of the region, are fiercely protective of their culture (Jstor  password required), and the discoverer, Yuri, has mixed feelings on the discovery. It appears the baby died at around the age of one month old, of suffocation. It makes me angry that a baby mammoth died of suffocation. After all the dinosaurs stuck in mud traps, I might expect the sort of cold-bloodedness necessary to abandon one’s offspring to die in the mud out of a reptile, it makes me think long and hard about wether we should bring back such a species. Though after all the horrific cases of child neglect, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised at all.

Two different shifts of mammoths existed in the area, clade I and clade II, one of which was more geographically widespread than the other. This timeline gives the general idea what was going on at the time with the species.

In other news, giant sloths called Megatherium wandered around, wasting time. They made it into the Grand Canyon, and crapped all over Rampart Cave, in Arizona. 

The Microraptor doesn’t fall into that category, being Cretaceous, but it had four wings and looks pretty bad-ass. Its name means “little thief” which is equally fucking cool. It lived in China. In other news, pterodactyls weren’t dinosaurs, they were pterosaurs. Fine lines, kids.

À quelques semaines d’intervalles, deux articles parus dans la presse, en Espagne et en France, nous alertent sur le conséquences de l’exploitation des gisements de pétrole et de gaz pour les peuples autochtones de Sibérie, en particulier les Nenets ou les Nivkhs.

Ces dernières semaines, on a beaucoup parlé du gaz russe. Début janvier, la compagnie russe Gazprom avait interrompu ses livraisons de gaz à l’Ukraine. Cette crise, comme l’explique un article paru le 9 janvier dans Le Monde Diplomatique révèle une double dépendance: “la dépendance européenne vis-à-vis de la Russie est réciproque : si environ 40 % des importations européennes proviennent de Russie (soit un peu plus du quart du gaz effectivement consommé), plus de 80 % des exportations gazières russes aboutissent en Europe.” Comme on le voit sur la carte ci-contre, parue sur le site de la BBC, le gaz russe vient de Sibérie, essentiellement du district de Yamalo-Nenetsie, le territoire où vivent les Nenets. Un article paru le 1er février dans XL Semanal, le supplément du Diario Vasco, met en avant les conséquences de la production de gaz pour le peuple nenet:

SIBERIA: EL PUEBLO NENET ACORRALADO

El éxodo de los hombres de hielo

De los aproximadamente 35.000 nenets que existen en la actualidad, tan sólo 10.000 continúan trashumando con sus rebaños de renos. Aun así mueven la mayor manada de renos domésticos del mundo.

Caminan 1.000 kilómetros al año en busca de las tundras donde comen sus renos. Ahora, su austera vida está en riesgo. Bajo sus pies: la mayor reserva de gas del mundo, de la que procede el 92 por ciento de lo que Rusia extrae. La industria ha colonizado la región, y a los renos ya les cuesta alimentarse. A los nenets, también.

Al salir de la tienda notó que el viento era más cálido y hacía subir la temperatura hasta unos agradables 25 grados bajo cero. Andréi Okateto, jefe de su grupo nómada, sonrió: la primavera asomaba. Era hora de retomar el viaje permanente de su pueblo, una ruta de 1.000 kilómetros anuales, andando en pos del alimento de sus renos. La idea no lo inquietó: eran nenets, y en su sangre corría una necesidad ancestral de vagar por los más fríos territorios del Ártico.

Los nenets –en su propia lengua, `los hombres´– pueblan las heladas tundras del nordeste europeo y noroeste de Siberia, desde la península de Kanin hasta el delta del Yenisey. Siempre fueron un pueblo ligado a la vida de otra especie capaz, como ellos, de vencer los rigores de una región con temperaturas de hasta 50 grados bajo cero: los renos. En sus orígenes, los nenets eran cazadores y, como los lobos del Ártico, seguían a los renos para cazarlos. Pero hace unos dos milenios comenzaron a capturarlos sin matarlos y aprendieron a criarlos en un proceso que culminó hace 400 años con un pastoreo masivo. Desde entonces se han convertido en los mayores criadores de renos del mundo y su vida nómada gira en torno a las necesidades de éstos: durante la estación fría se refugian en las taigas del sur y, al mejorar el tiempo, suben hacia el norte y traspasan el Círculo Polar Ártico en busca de los líquenes de la tundra, el alimento preferido de los renos.

Los rigores de su mundo han aislado a los nenets permitiendo a su vez que su cultura ancestral perdurase. Pero no les ha resultado fácil. En tiempos de la Unión Soviética se emprendieron distintas campañas para aculturarlos. En 1929 empezaron a crearse granjas colectivas y, desde 1957, los nenets niños eran custodiados por el Estado, lejos de sus familias, hasta que completaban su educación en un intento de erradicar la impronta cultural de los nómadas. Todo fue inútil. Aunque se los llegó a cazar desde avionetas como a alimañas, aunque los separaron de sus hijos y se cercaron sus rebaños, este pueblo permaneció fiel a su cultura.

Una nueva amenaza hace que las vicisitudes de ayer parezcan hoy contratiempos. El territorio nenet flota sobre la mayor reserva de gas del mundo. El gas, el petróleo y la minería de la región han atraído desde los 70 del siglo pasado a un creciente número de trabajadores rusos que han colonizado la tierra y han creado nuevas reglas, mercados y amenazas. El 92 por ciento del gas y el 14 del petróleo que Rusia extrae proceden de aquí: es previsible que habrá más trabajadores. La industria perfora el suelo, acota los pastos, contamina el suelo y agota los recursos que los 300.000 renos y los 10.000 nómadas de la península de Yamal necesitan. El contacto con el mundo desarrollado que llega con la industria del gas y el petróleo pone en peligro la supervivencia de esta cultura milenaria. Y el aumento de las poblaciones de nenets y sus renos amenaza la supervivencia de su forma tradicional de vida. Para ellos no es, sin embargo, un problema muy preocupante. Consultados al respecto, un brillo de arrogancia asoma en sus miradas. Son nenets. Saben que su principal seña de identidad es una increíble capacidad de adaptación a los cambios y las penalidades de su entorno.

Fernando González Sitges

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Les Nenets, ou Nenecs, sont aujourd’hui environ 35000, ce qui fait d’eux le principal groupe ethnique des Samoyèdes. Ils connaissent actuellement un fort accroissement démographique et sont répartis dans le nord de la Sibérie, principalement dans les districts autonomes de Nenetsie, de Yamalo-Nenetsie et de Taïmyr, où ils sont cependant minoritaires par rapport aux Russes. On distingue les Nenets de la toundra, majoritaires, encore semi-nomades, et les Nenets de la forêt. Chaque groupe parle une langue différente, qui appartient à la branche Samoyède des langues Ouraliennes.

Leurs activités sont bien sûr conditionnées par les conditions climatiques: élevage de rennes, plus intensif sur l’immense territoire de toundras qui s’étend de la mer Blanche jusqu’à l’est du Ienisseï, mais aussi chasse et pêche. Les Nenets qui continuent à nomadiser vivent dans des tchoum, des tentes coniques couvertes de peaux de rennes, au centre desquelles se trouve un poteau considéré comme un axe sacré: la société nenet a en effet conservé partiellement ses croyances chamaniques.

Les Nenets qui sont sédentarisés vivent dans des bâtiments en dur, parfois construits par la compagnie Gazprom. Ils sont menacés d’acculturation: la législation russe, qui ne leur permet pas de vivre selon leurs traditions et qui ne leur reconnaît aucun droit en tant que peuple autochtone, n’est que la continuité de la politique soviétique qui, à partir de 1957, avait  arraché les enfants nenets à leurs parents pour les placer dans des pensionnats d’État jusqu’à la fin de leur scolarité. Le sous-sol du territoire traditionnel des Nenets est riche en gaz et en pétrole, si bien que les Nenets sont aujourd’hui menacés par l’exploitation intensive des hydrocarbures qui entraîne une destruction des zones de pâturage et des lieux de culte. On les expulse de leurs terres comme on les avait déjà expulsés de la Nouvelle-Zemble, lieu d’essais nucléaires.

En mai 2005, un article de Madeleine VATEL, paru dans L’Expansion, avait déjà évoqué cette menace qui pèse sur les Nenets:

Le gaz et l’héritage soviétique menacent les nomades nenets

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Pour en savoir plus sur les Nenets, lire également The oil adventure and indigenous people in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Northwestern Russia), publié par le PNUD en 2003.

Consulter encore le site de l’Arctic Network for the Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Arctic (ANSIPRA).

Vous pouvez également visionner ci-dessous la vidéo Oil Threatens Nenets (Le pétrole menace les Nenets) que nous mettons à votre disposition.

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On peut enfin conseiller la lecture de Anthropologie juridique en Russie : Paysages sacrés et lieux de culte dans la vision du monde traditionnelle des Nénets, de Galina P.  KHARIOUTCHI.

La photo d’en-tête est extraite du site Barents Photo. Vous pouvez trouver d’autres photos sur le site du National Geographic ainsi que de très belles photos sur la page du photojournaliste Kadir VAN LOHUIZEN (Archive>Russia North Siberia).

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Les Nenets ne sont pas les seuls autochtones à être menacés en Sibérie. En 2005,  Survival International nous avait informé qu’une centaine de Nivkh, Evenk, et Uilta, des peuples de Sibérie, avaient  bloqué des routes avec leurs rennes pendant trois jours afin de protester contre la construction de deux immenses pipelines de gaz et de pétrole sur leur terre.

Cela nous amène au second article, que le Nouvel Observateur a publié le 27 février à partir d’une dépêche de l’AFP. Cette fois, ce sont les Nivkhs, qui ont la malchance de vivre sur l’île de Sakhaline, où les réserves de pétrole sont énormes. Les forages off-shore ont entraîné une diminution des ressources halieutiques:

A Sakhaline, le pétrole chasse le poisson et menace le peuple des Nivkhs

“Chaque année il y a de moins en moins de poissons”, se lamente Piotr Popka, le jeune père de la seule famille vivant dans le hameau de Veni: l’arrivée des majors pétrolières sur l’île russe de Sakhaline menace le mode de vie ancestral des Nivkhs, un peuple indigène.

Il ne reste plus que 2.500 Nivkhs sur ce territoire riche en hydrocarbures dans l’Extrême orient russe, et ils ne sont plus que quelques dizaines à encore parler leur langue et ses divers dialectes.

“Les problèmes ont commencé avec le début des opérations de forage” pétrolier, raconte M. Popka à son retour en motoneige de la baie Nyïski où il est allé pêcher sur la glace de cette anse de la mer d’Okhotsk.

Les réserves de poissons, essentielles au maintien des traditions des Nivkhs, sont en “déclin” depuis la mise en service des projets offshore, renchérit Alexeï Limanzo, directeur de l’Union des peuples indigènes de Sakhaline, une organisation locale qui défend activement la culture nivkhe.

Habitué au climat rigoureux de Sakhaline, une vaste île au nord du Japon, ce peuple a survécu à l’ère soviétique, bien qu’il ait été contraint de créer des fermes collectives et d’apprendre le russe.

Mais désormais c’est le capitalisme qui change leurs vies. Des milliards de dollars ont été investis dans des projets pétroliers et gaziers depuis 1990 au large de l’île russe, sous la direction des groupes pétroliers Shell et Exxon, menaçant les pratiques et les ressources des groupes indigènes.

“Les activités d’aujourd’hui sont plus nocives pour l’environnement et les ressources biologiques, en dépit de ce qu’on nous raconte sur l’utilisation de technologies modernes”, souligne M. Limanzo.

Les Nivkhs affirment qu’ils ne peuvent plus pêcher et chasser autant qu’auparavant. En conséquence, les ingrédients pour leurs plats traditionnels comme le “mos”, concocté à partir de peau de poisson, de fruits des bois et de foie de phoque, se font rares.

“Notre plat national est devenu un mets que nous ne mangeons plus que deux ou trois fois par an”, confie Lioubov Sadgoun, une Nivkhe qui enseigne l’anglais à Nogliki, une ville au nord de l’île.

En 2006, le consortium Sakhalin Energy, qui réalise un important projet de forage près des terres des Nivkhs, s’était engagé à verser une aide de 1,5 million de dollars (1,17 million d’euros) au peuple indigène.

Le consortium — dont Shell détenait alors la majorité des parts désormais aux mains du géant russe Gazprom — avait accordé cette somme après une série de manifestations en 2005.

“Nous avons de la chance ici à Sakhaline d’avoir affaire à des multinationales qui doivent faire face à l’opinion publique occidentale et qui causeraient du tort à leur image si elles agissaient contre les peuples indigènes”, ajoute M. Limanzo, dont le syndicat avait mené les protestations.

Mais la forte baisse des réserves de poissons inquiète malgré tout Lidia Mouvtchik, une femme de 68 ans qui est l’une des rares à encore parler la langue nivkhe.

“Nous sommes habitués à vivre dans la taïga, à la périphérie de forêts, de rivières et de la mer”, dit-elle assise à côté du fourneau de sa maison. “C’est tout ce que nous voulons. S’il n’y avait plus de poissons, nous mourrions”, lâche-t-elle.

Deepening into the geography of Russia is not easy, as it is en enormous country with lots of tribes and peoples. This website, The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire, offers a very good guide to wide our knowledgment, as it lists and describe a long list of Russian languages and tribes. It is based on a book with the same name published in Estonia, that you can also buy. I present the site today, and I will keep posting about the Nordic tribes later on:

The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire

Introduction

In the cliché-ridden propaganda of the Soviet era tsarist Russia was frequently dubbed the “prison of nations”. When the Soviets came into power this “prison”, by virtue of new national policies, transformed into a family of friendly and brotherly nations in whose bosom all the national cultures flourished. To boast of the achievements under the Communist Party leadership, grandiose cultural festivals were arranged in the Soviet republics, folkloristic dance, song and instrumental groups were established and the revival of old peasant culture was encouraged. The slogan “socialist in content, nationalist in form” came to be applied to the new Soviet culture. Behind this deceptive facade of ethnographic originality, the tsarist prison of nations never ceased to exist: russification was carried out on a large scale, nationalist intellectuals were persecuted, a policy of extensive exploitation of land was pursued and nations were continuously resettled and mingled. The desired result was the birth of a new, Russian-speaking “Soviet nation”, and to lay the theoretical foundation for this a whole army of scholars was employed. The evolution of the Soviet nation was seen as the process of history within the cognizance of Marxist-Leninist principles which was as inevitable as the process of life itself.

The recent rapid collapse of the Soviet economic and political system has revealed the consequences of these brutal colonization policies: hundreds of culturally and economically crippled nations, with the smallest of them nearing the crucial point of extinction.

[...]

The authors of the present book, who come from a country (Estonia) which has shared the fate of nations in the Russian and Soviet empires, endeavour to publicize the plight of the small nations whose very existence is threatened as a result of recent history. Perhaps it is not too late to give a supporting hand to them without an attempt at either ideological brainwashing or economic exploitation.

Peoples according to language groups

[I quote the only the groups related with this blog, if you want to read the complete list you have it here]

PALEO-ASIATIC PEOPLES: Aleuts, Aliutors, Asiatic Eskimos, Chukchis, Itelmens, Kereks, Kets, Koryaks, Nivkhs, Yukaghirs.

MANCHU-TUNGUS PEOPLES: Evens, Evenks, Nanais, Negidals, Orochis, Oroks, Udeghes, Ulchis.

URALIC PEOPLES: Enets, Ingrians, Izhorians, Karelians, Khants, Kola Lapps, Livonians, Mansis, Nenets, Nganasans, Selkups, Veps, Votes.

It seems that my work it has been multiplied now! But I see they use the language as a criteria to stablish the boundaries of a tribe, so I have not been wrong until the date. They offer also a selected bibliography of the different tribes for further research.

Let’s try just a simple stream of consciousness.

Welcome to August 1. On this day some 72 years ago, the Olympic Games opened in Berlin. Speaking of those games, The Photo Scrooge posted this winner of a demonstrator about two months ago:

Look it up if you aren’t already shaking your head.

Of course, this is also the week that it was reported that researchers discovered that the cool ancient Greek calculator also told when the Olympics should be scheduled.

Two more discoveries this week. First, the Montauk Monster, which doesn’t get a picture because it’s gross. Go look if you want to see it. If you haven’t read, some dead, monster-like (as in odd appearance, not in it’s monstrous, meter-long size) animal appeared on a shore in New York, and then it disappeared, and now it may be in a box in a backyard [...] and it may be a raccoon (thanks to Over the Hedge for the picture), not a monster. How unfortunate.

The Monster

The second discovery was water on Mars. This is a big deal. One that that we can all look forward now is on the astronauts trips to Mars, they can bring their Tang and have the water to add to it. The Martians have expressed great happiness with this new discovery (picture from Klingner; you should ask the Chief Awesome Officer about him).

And moving on with celestial occurrences, there was an amazing solar eclipse today. It was said to be most complete near Nadym, Russia. Nadym acts as a modern gas deposits location, but was originally part of the area frequented by the tribal Nenets people.

And on that tribal subject, Seth Godin launched his new Triiibes service. I haven’t learned yet about the triple i, and I am still having some trouble with my profile picture. After and while I overcome these deficiencies, I am going to enjoy checking out this new medium for exchange. Everyone involved seems to be very excited thus far.

Phew—that’s it.

*pictures from cited sources unless noted.

After some months, we finish this trip around the world with Ethnologue. We started in Alaska and Canada, passed by Greenland and Scandinavia, and now we finish in Russia and Japan. It has been a cool trip, right? Lets see what they have for Russia and Japan:

Russia (Asia) and Japan

Ainu: [ain] South Sakhalin Island and southern Kuril Islands. Dialects: Sakhalin (Saghilin), Taraika, Hokkaido (Ezo, Yezo), Kuril (Shikotan). Classification: Language Isolate Nearly extinct.

Aleut: [ale] 190 in Russia (2002 K. Matsumura). 5 on Bering Island Atkan (1995 M. Krauss). Ethnic population: 702 (1989 census). Nikolskoye settlement, Bering Island, Commander (Komandor) Islands. Alternate names: Unangany, Unangan, Unanghan. Dialects: Beringov (Bering, Atkan). Classification: Eskimo-Aleut, Aleut

Aleut, Mednyj: [mud] 10 (1995 M. Krauss). Copper Island, Komandor Islands. Alternate names: Medny, Copper, Copper Island Aleut, Attuan, Copper Island Attuan, Creolized Attuan. Classification: Mixed Language, Russian-Aleut Nearly extinct.

Alutor: [alr] 100 to 200 (2000 A. E. Kibrik). Ethnic population: 2,000 (1997 M. Krauss). Koryak National District, northeast Kamchatka Peninsula, many in Vyvenka village, 2 families in Rekinniki, and individual families in Tilichiki and Tymlyt. Some speakers are separated at considerable distances and without regular contact. Alternate names: Alyutor, Aliutor, Olyutor. Dialects: Alutorskij (Alutor Proper), Karaginskij (Karaga), Palanskij (Palana). Considered a dialect of Koryak until recently. Classification: Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Northern, Koryak-Alyutor

Chukot: [ckt] 10,000 (1997 M. Krauss). Ethnic population: 15,000. Chukchi Peninsula, Chukot and Koryak National Okrug, northeastern Siberia. Alternate names: Chukcha, Chuchee, Chukchee, Luoravetlan, Chukchi. Dialects: Uellanskij, Pevekskij, Enmylinskij, Nunligranskij, Xatyrskij, Chaun, Enurmin, Yanrakinot. Classification: Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Northern, Chukot

Enets, Forest: [enf] 40 (1995 M. Krauss). Ethnic population: 209 with Tundra Enets (1989 census). Taimyr National Okrug. Along the Yenisei River’s lower course, upstream from Dudinka. The Forest variety is in the Potapovo settlement of the Dudinka Region. Alternate names: Yenisei Samoyedic, Bay Enets, Pe-Bae. Dialects: Forest and Tundra Enets are barely intelligible to each other’s speakers. It is transitional between Yura and Nganasan. For a time it was officially considered part of Nenets. Classification: Uralic, Samoyed Nearly extinct.

Enets, Tundra: [enh] 30 (1995 M. Krauss). Ethnic population: 209 together with Forest Enets (1990 census). Taimyr National Okrug. Along the Yenisei River’s lower course, upstream from Dudinka. ‘Tundra’ in the Vorontzovo settlement of the Ust-Yenisei Region. Alternate names: Yenisei Samoyedic, Madu, Somatu. Dialects: Tundra and Forest Enets barely intelligible to each other’s speakers. It is transitional between Yura and Nganasan. For a time it was officially considered part of Nenets. Classification: Uralic, Samoyed Nearly extinct.

Even: [eve] 7,543 (1989 census). Ethnic population: 17,199 (1989 census). Yakutia and the Kamchatka Peninsula, widely scattered over the entire Okhotsk Arctic coast. Alternate names: Lamut, Ewen, Eben, Orich, Ilqan. Dialects: Arman, Indigirka, Kamchatka, Kolyma-Omolon, Okhotsk, Ola, Tompon, Upper Kolyma, Sakkyryr, Lamunkhin. Ola dialect is not accepted by speakers of other dialects. A dialect cluster. It was incorrectly reported to be a Yukaghir dialect. Classification: Altaic, Tungus, Northern, Even

Evenki: [evn] 9,000 in Russia (1997 M. Krauss). Ethnic population: 30,000 in Russia (1997 M. Krauss). Evenki National Okrug, Sakhalin Island. Capital is Ture. Alternate names: Ewenki, Tungus, Chapogir, Avanki, Avankil, Solon, Khamnigan. Dialects: Manegir, Yerbogocen, Nakanna, Ilimpeya, Tutoncana, Podkamennaya Tunguska, Cemdalsk, Vanavara, Baykit, Poligus, Uchama, Cis-Baikalia, Sym, Tokmo-Upper Lena, Nepa, Lower Nepa Tungir, Kalar, Tokko, Aldan Timpton, Tommot, Jeltulak, Uchur, Ayan-Maya, Kur-Urmi, Tuguro-Chumikan, Sakhalin, Zeya-Bureya. Classification: Altaic, Tungus, Northern, Evenki

Gilyak: [niv] 1,089 (1989 census). Population includes 100 Amur, 300 Sakhalin (1995 M. Krauss). Ethnic population: 4,673 (1989 census), including 2,000 Amur, 2,700 Sakhalin (1995 M. Krauss). Sakhalin Island, many in Nekrasovka and Nogliki villages, small numbers in Rybnoe, Moskalvo, Chir-Unvd, Viakhtu, and other villages, and along the Amur River in Aleevka village. Alternate names: Nivkh, Nivkhi. Dialects: Amur, East Sakhalin Gilyak, North Sakhalin Gilyak. The Amur and East Sakhalin dialects have difficult inherent intelligibility of each other. North Sakhalin is between them linguistically. Classification: Language Isolate

Itelmen: [itl] 60 (2000). Ethnic population: 2,481 (1989 census). Southern Kamchatka Peninsula, Koryak Autonomous District, Tigil Region, primarily in Kovran and Upper Khairiuzovo villages, west coast of the Kamchatka River. Alternate names: Itelymem, Western Itelmen, Kamchadal, Kamchatka. Dialects: Sedanka, Kharyuz, Itelmen, Xajrjuzovskij, Napanskij, Sopocnovskij. Classification: Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Southern

Karagas: [kim] 25 to 30 (2001). Ethnic population: 730 (1989 census). Siberia, Irkutsk Region. Alternate names: Tofa, Tofalar, Sayan Samoyed, Kamas, Karagass. Classification: Altaic, Turkic, Northern Nearly extinct.

Kerek: [krk] 2 (1997 M. Krauss). There were 200 to 400 speakers in 1900. Ethnic population: 400. Cape Navarin, in Chukot villages. Dialects: Mainypilgino (Majna-Pil’ginskij), Khatyrka (Xatyrskij). Previously considered a dialect of Chukot. Classification: Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Northern, Koryak-Alyutor Nearly extinct.

Ket: [ket] 550 to 990 (1995 M. Krauss). Ethnic population: 1,222 (2000). Upper Yenisei Valley, Krasnoyarski krai, Turukhansk, and Baikitsk regions, Sulomai, Bakhta, Verkhneimbatsk, Kellog, Kangatovo, Surgutikha, Vereshchagino, Baklanikha, Farkovo, Goroshikha, and Maiduka villages. East of the Khanti and Mansi, eastern Siberia. Alternate names: Yenisei Ostyak, Yenisey Ostiak, Imbatski-Ket. Classification: Yeniseian

Koryak: [kpy] 3,500 (1997 M. Krauss). Ethnic population: 7,000. Koryak National Okrug, south of the Chukot; northern half of Kamchatka Peninsula and adjacent continent. Alternate names: Nymylan. Dialects: Cavcuvenskij (Chavchuven), Apokinskij (Apukin), Kamenskij (Kamen), Xatyrskij, Paren, Itkan, Palan, Gin. Chavchuven, Palan, and Kamen are apparently not inherently intelligible. Classification: Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Northern, Koryak-Alyutor

Nenets: [yrk] 26,730 (1989 census). Population includes 1,300 Forest Nenets, 25,000 Tundra Nenets. Ethnic population: 34,665 (1989 census) including 2,000 Forest Enets. Northwest Siberia, tundra area from the mouth of the northern Dvina River in northeastern Europe to the delta of the Yenisei in Asia, and a scattering on the Kola Peninsula; Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets, and Taimyr national okrugs. Alternate names: Nenec, Nentse, Nenetsy, Yurak, Yurak Samoyed. Dialects: Forest Yurak, Tundra Yurak. Classification: Uralic, Samoyed

Nganasan: [nio] 500 (1995 M. Krauss). Ethnic population: 1,300. Taimyr National Okrug, Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia, Ust-Avam village in the Dudinka Region; Volochanka and Novaya villages in the Khatang Region. They are the northernmost people in Russia, near the Yakut, Dolgan, and Evenki peoples. Alternate names: Tavgi Samoyed. Dialects: Avam, Khatang. Classification: Uralic, Samoyed

Oroch: [oac] 100 to 150 (1995 M. Krauss). Ethnic population: 900 (1990 census). Eastern Siberia in the Khabarovsk Krai along the rivers that empty into the Tatar Channel, on Amur River not far from the city of Komsomolsk-na-Amure. Many live in the Vanino Region in Datta and Uska-Orochskaya settlements. Some live among the Nanai. Alternate names: Orochi. Dialects: Kjakela (Kjakar, Kekar), Namunka, Orichen, Tez. Classification: Altaic, Tungus, Southern, Southeast, Udihe

Orok: [oaa] 30 to 82 in Russia (1995 M. Krauss). Population total all countries: 33 to 85. Ethnic population: 250 to 300 (1995 M. Krauss). Sakhalin Island, Poronajsk District, Poronajsk town, Gastello and Vakhrushev settlements; Nogliki District, Val village, Nogliki settlement. Also spoken in Japan. Alternate names: Oroc, Ulta, Ujlta, Uilta. Dialects: Poronaisk (Southern Orok), Val-Nogliki (Nogliki-Val, Northern Orok). Significant differences between dialects. For a while Orok was officially considered part of Nanai. Classification: Altaic, Tungus, Southern, Southeast, Nanaj Nearly extinct.

Selkup: [sel] 1,570 (1994 Salminen, 1994 Janhunen). Northern Sel’kup has 1,400 speakers out of 1,700, Central Sel’kup has 150 speakers out of 1,700, Southern Sel’kup has 20 speakers out of 200. Ethnic population: 3,600. Tom Oblast, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Krasnoyarski Krai and Tomskaya Oblast. The northern dialect is spoken in Krasnoselkup Region, Krasnoselkup, Sidorovsk, Tolka, Ratta, and Kikiyakki villages; part of the Purovsk Region, Tolka Purovskaya village; adjacent regions of the Krasnoyarski Krai; Kureika village, Kellog, and Turukhan River basin and Baikha. The southern dialect (Tym) is spoken in a range of villages in the northern part of the Tomskaya Oblast. Alternate names: Ostyak Samoyed. Dialects: Taz (Northern Sel’kup, Tazov-Baishyan), Tym (Central Selk’up, Kety), Narym (Central Sel’kup), Srednyaya Ob-Ket (Southern Sel’kup). A dialect continuum with difficult or impossible intelligibility between the extremes. Speakers in the south are separated from others. Classification: Uralic, Samoyed

Yugh: [yuu] 2 or 3 (1991 G. K. Verner in Kibrik). Nonfluent speakers. Ethnic population: 10 to 15 (1991 G. K. Verner in Kibrik). Turukhan Region of the Krasnoyarsk Krai at the Vorogovo settlement. Previously they lived along the Yenisei River from Yeniseisk to the mouth of the Dupches. Alternate names: Yug. Classification: Yeniseian Nearly extinct.

Yukaghir, Northern: [ykg] 30 to 150 (1995 M. Krauss, 1989 census). Ethnic population: 230 to 1,100 (1995 M. Krauss, 1989 census). Yakutia and the Kamchatka Peninsula. Alternate names: Yukagir, Jukagir, Odul, Tundra, Tundre, Northern Yukagir. Dialects: Distinct from Southern Yukaghir (Kolyma). It may be distantly related to Altaic or Uralic. Classification: Yukaghir Nearly extinct.

Yukaghir, Southern: [yux] 10 to 50 (1995 M. Krauss, 1989 census). Ethnic population: 130 (1995 M. Krauss, 1989 census). Yakutia and the Kamchatka Peninsula. Alternate names: Yukagir, Jukagir, Odul, Kolyma, Kolym, Southern Yukagir. Dialects: Not inherently intelligible with Northern Yukaghir. Classification: Yukaghir Nearly extinct.

Yupik, Central Siberian: [ess] 300 in Russia (1991 Kibrik). Ethnic population: 1,200 to 1,500 in Russia (1991 Kibrik). Chukchi National Okrug, coast of the Bering Sea, Wrangel Island. The Chaplino live in Providenie Region in Novo-Chaplino and Providenie villages. Alternate names: Yoit, Yuk, Yuit, Siberian Yupik, “Eskimo”, Bering Strait Yupik, Asiatic Yupik. Dialects: Aiwanat, Noohalit (Peekit), Wooteelit, Chaplino. Classification: Eskimo-Aleut, Eskimo, Yupik, Siberian

Yupik, Naukan: [ynk] 75 (1990 L.D. Kaplan). Ethnic population: 350. Chukota Region, Laurence, Lorino, and Whalen villages, scattered. Formerly spoken in Naukan village and the region surrounding East Cape, Chukot Peninsula, but they have been relocated. Alternate names: Naukan, Naukanski. Dialects: 60% to 70% intelligibility of Chaplino. Classification: Eskimo-Aleut, Eskimo, Yupik, Siberian.

The situation is quite depressing, with a lot of languages that are tagged as “nearly extinct”… Here you have, as usually, the map for the zone. As Russia is a huge country, Ethnologue has one general index map, which I am showing here, and then some more detailed maps, that you can find clicking here:

Ahir em va arribar una bola de neu des dels Països Baixos fins a Barcelona. Deia que existeix un centre de recerca, el Mercator, o European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning (Centre Europeu de Recerca en el Multilingüisme i l’Aprenentatge de Llengües). Treballen en una gran varietat de temes, així que em vaig limitar a buscar els relacionats amb l’àrtic. Amb aquest títol tan bonic, us presento el que han dut a terme a Sibèria:

Veus de la tundra i la taiga

El projecte NWO anomenat “Veus de la tundra i la taiga” va començar el maig de 2002 i es va allargar fins el juny de 2005. Dividit en subprojectes duts a terme per diferents equips en diferents territories de la Federació Russa, aquest projecte ha contribuït a l’enfortiment i la revitalització de diverses minories indígenes del nord de Rússia, incloent-hi els Nenets, Nivkh, Yukagir, Khanty, Mansi i altres. El projecte forma part d’un programa general de recerca amb el mateix nom.

Informe final

Descripció breu de les línies generals:

El tema del programa de recerca “Veus de la tundra i la taiga” és l’estudi de les llengües i cultures amenaçades de la Federació Russa, que cal descriure ràpidament abans que desapareguin. Aquesta recerca es duu a terme des de l’experiència que dóna la feina prècia en la tecnologia per la reconstrucció d’antigues gravacions de so trobades en arxius de Sant Petersburg ha fet possible de comparar les llengües que actualment es parlen en aquelles àrees amb les que es parlaven fa mig segle. Aquestes gravacions consisteixen en parla espontània, cançons tradicionals, llegendes… narrades el llengües siberianes, entre d’altres.

En el projecte NWO vam aplicar les tècniques desenvolupades anteriorment a algunes de les minories lingüístiques i culturals de Rússia que estan en perill d’extinció:els Nivkh i Orok a Sakhalin, i les llengües Yukagir i Tungus a Yakutia. L’objectiu és establir una llibreria fonètica i de vídeo d’històries, folklore, cançons i tradicions orals dels pobles de Sakhalin i Yakutia. Per tal d’aconseguir-ho es comparen els arxius antics amb els nous, i aquests últims s’afegeixen a l’arxiu material de Sant Petersburg, part del qual es pot trobar a Internet i/o en CD-ROM.

La parla espontània i els textos preparats que es recullen són valuosos per la etnolingüística i també per l’antropologia, el folklore, i l’anàlisi etnomusicològica. Per aquest propòsit, les dades són (vídeo)enregistrades, i analitzades des del punt de vista de la construcció i l’ús de la llengua. Els textos, un cop descrits, es publiquen en revistes científiques i llibres amb il·lustracions, en CD-ROM i Internet. Aquestes anàlisis, per tant, resten a disposició d’investigadors en els camps de la fonètica, la lingüística, l’antropologia, la història, l’etnomusicologia i el folklore. Per aquest propòsit els nous centres estan equipats amb ordinadors, programari, gravadores de veu i llibres.

La recerca i documentació es duu a terme amb una cooperació propera amb els estudiosos locals. A Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk i Yakutsk els investigadors d’allà participen en l’arxivament de gravacions de so i en les expedicions per a realitzar el treball de camp. Es formen a la Universitat de Sant Petersburg i els especialistes d’aquesta universitat els visiten per tal d’establir nous centres per l’estudi i l’ensenyança de les llengües locals i els temes que s’hi relacionen.

Veus de Buryatia

El juliol de 2005, Tjeerd de Graaf va presentar l’informe final del projecte dut a terme juntament amb col·laboradors russos en el marc de treball del projecte “Veus de la tundra i la taiga”. El grup de recerca va rebre moltes reaccions positives, tant de científics com de professors, estudiants, parlants nadius i autoritats locals. Això s’aplica en particular a Buryatia, una de les repúbliques federals de Rússia a Sibèria, on Tjeer de Graaf i el seu company de Buryat Ljubov Radnajeva van visitar diversos centres el juny i juliol de 2005. Durant seminaris per a la formació de professorat, van comunicar els resultats dels seus projectes, així com l’ús de les noves tecnologies en l’ensenyament de llengües. Centífics i professors de Buryatia estan preparats i a punt per continuar realitzant projectes similars. Una proposta per aquest projecte ha estat preparada i enviada a l’INTAS, organització de la Unió Europea.

D’acord amb les últimes dades de la UNESCO, la llengua Buryat és considerada una llengua amenaçada, i registrada al Llibre Vermell de la UNESCO de llengües amenaçades. Mentrestant, molts dels seus parlants demostren el seu desig que els seus fills emprin la llengua nadiua. Els recursos educatius moderns (com ara l’aprenentatge assistit per ordinador, o el materia multimèdia) són pràcticament inexistents per ensenyar el la llengua Buryat. Cal dir, però, que existeixen condicionaments favorables perquè aquests materials es desenvolupin. LA recerca conjunta mencionada anteriorment permetria que aquest projecte es dugués a terme.

Si teniu més boles de neu per a mi (també conegudes com informació, enllaços, recursos…) no dubteu d’escriure’m unes ratlles!

Yestarday, a snowball came rolling from the Netherlands to Barcelona. It said that there is a research center, Mercator, the European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning. They work on a wide range of topics, so I just searched for the Arctic-related ones. With that beautiful title, here you have their Siberian project:

Voices from tundra and taiga

The NWO project “Voices from Tundra and Taiga” started in May 2002 and lasted until June 2005. In a number of subprojects, carried out by different teams throughout the Russian Federation, this project contributed to the strengthening and revitalization of various minor indigenous languages of the Russian North, including Nenets, Nivkh, Yukagir, Khanty, Mansi and others. The project was part of a general research program with the same name.

Final report

Short description of the overall approach:

The topic of the research program “Voices from Tundra and Taiga” is the study of endangered languages and cultures of the Russian Federation, which must be described rapidly before they become extinct. This research is in the fortunate position that our earlier work on the reconstruction technology for old sound recordings found in archives in St. Petersburg has made it possible to compare languages still spoken in the proposed research area to the same languages as they were spoken more than half a century ago. These sound recordings consist of spoken language, folksongs, fairy tales etc., among others in Siberian languages.

In the NWO project we applied the developed techniques to some of the disappearing minority languages and cultures of Russia: Nivkh and Orok on Sakhalin and Yukagir and Tungus languages in Yakutia. Our aim is to set up a phono- and video-library of recorded stories, and of the folklore, singing and oral traditions of the peoples of Sakhalin and Yakutia. For this purpose the existing sound recordings in the archives of Sakhalin and Yakutia are used together with the results of new fieldwork expeditions. The data are added to the existing archive material in St. Petersburg and part of is made available on the Internet and/or CD-ROM.

Spontaneous speech and prepared texts are collected that are valuable for (ethno)linguistic as well as for anthropological, folkloric and ethno-musicological analysis. For that purpose, the data are (video)recorded and analysed as to the art of story telling and language use. Described texts are published in scientific journals and books with audiovisual illustrations on CD-ROM and on the Internet. The materials thus become available for further analysis to researchers working in the field of phonetics, linguistics, anthropology, history, ethno-musicology and folklore. This information is also important for the development of teaching methods for representatives of the related ethnic groups and for the conservation of their language and culture. For this purpose the new centres are equiped with computers, software, sound recorders, literature, etc.

The research and documentation is carried out in close co-operation with local scholars. In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Yakutsk local scholars and their assistants participate in the archiving of the sound recordings and in fieldwork expeditions. They are trained at St. Petersburg State University and specialists from St. Petersburg State University also visit them in order to set up new centres for the study and teaching of local languages and related subjects.

Voices from Buryatia

In July 2005, Tjeerd de Graaf presented the final report of the NWO project carried out together with Russian colleagues in the framework of theVoices from Tundra and Taiga research program.The research group received positive reactions, both from scientists as well as from teachers, students, native speakers and local authorities. This applied in particular to Buryatia, one of Russia’s federal republics in Siberia, where Tjeerd de Graaf and his Buryat colleague Ljubov Radnajeva visited several centres in June and July 2005. During special teacher seminars, they reported on the results of their projects and on the use of information technology in language teaching. Scientists and teachers from Buryatia are ready and eager to take an active part in the realization of similar new projects. A proposal for such a project has been prepared and submitted to the INTAS Organisation of the European Union.

According to the latest UNESCO data, the Buryat language is considered an endangered language and is registered in the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages. Meanwhile, many Buryat people demonstrate their wish that their children use the native language. Modern educational resources (such as computer-assisted language learning, multimedia teaching material) are almost non-existent in teaching the Buryat language. It should be mentioned that good and promising conditions exist to develop such teaching resources based on information technology. The proposed joint research project will make this possible.

If you have more snowballs for me (aka information, links and resources…) do not hesitate to drop me a line!