Koryaks - indigenous people northern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, which managed to carry its originality and cultural characteristics through the centuries. Yes, their way of life has become more modern, and some unusual traditions have faded into the background. However, despite their small numbers and limited region of residence, they managed to preserve their basic customs.
Koryaks are the indigenous population of the Kamchatka Territory.
The most accurate translation of the term “Koryak” would be “owner of deer,” which fully reflects the essence of the main occupation of the people. One version of ethnologists says that people received this name from Russian Cossacks who came to the peninsula in the 17th century. According to another theory, they were nicknamed “Koryaks” by their neighbors, the Yukaghirs.
Koryak fishermen and Koryak reindeer herders 
Koryaks drag a whale on a sleigh. Penzhina, Kamchatka. 1900
Koryak tribes were not always nomadic. Initially, they were engaged in fishing and led a sedentary life. The need to separate from the main group arose extremely rarely - in years of poor catch, when men were forced to go deep into the peninsula to hunt and stay there for a long time. This began the division of the Koryaks into two main branches: nomadic tundra and sedentary coastal ones.
What is noteworthy is that the people themselves never called themselves “Koryaks”. Other terms have been used in contrast to this term. “Namylan” and “ankalan” to denote settled inhabitants, “chavchuven” and “chauchu” - for nomadic representatives. 
Koryaks drying fish, 1901
In addition to hunting and fishing, other industries were well developed in the villages. The Koryaks have always wisely managed the gifts of nature. Killed animals were used not only for food. Warm closed “kukhlyanka” shirts were made from reindeer skins, which were decorated with ornate patterns from the fur of fur-bearing animals. To make traditional fur felt boots, whole skins of walruses and seals were selected. 
Felt boots with traditional fur trim and embroidery.
The processing of soft materials, in particular sewing and embroidery, was considered an exclusively female occupation. Men did more hard work: they made figurines, snuff boxes and jewelry from walrus tusks; processed metal, stone and wood.
The Koryaks, cut off from civilization, even came up with a kind of diapers. They were made from the softest skins of deer calves and were equipped with a special pocket with buttons, which was convenient to unbutton and fasten without taking off clothes. A special type of moss was placed in the pocket, which absorbs liquids well and prevents the appearance of diaper rash.
Yarangi - traditional housing of the Koryaks
Koryaks at their traditional home.
The personification of home for any Koryak is the yaranga. Its structure is similar to a small yurt covered with deer skins. The warmest place of the yaranga is the canopy or bedroom, which is a small square “room” in the center, covered on all sides with reindeer skins with the fur inside. Previously, the whole family would climb there and, lighting a “zhirnik” (a lamp made from seal oil), would settle down for the night. Then it became so hot in the canopy that even in the most frosty nights you could sleep without clothes. 
Yaranga is the traditional dwelling of the Koryaks.
In addition to yarangs, the Koryaks built semi-underground dwellings from logs. The buildings had two entrances: the lower one, leading inside through the vestibule, and the upper one, which simultaneously served as a smoke exhaust. The first was used in the summer, until the building was covered with snow. But as soon as the snow cover became so high that most of the house was hidden under it, the Koryaks climbed inside through the winter entrance. The staircase was very steep and more like a pillar with recessed steps for the feet. Some ethnologists are of the opinion that such northern dugouts were built long before the appearance of yarangs. However, to this day, not a single entire semi-underground house has survived in natural conditions, so they can only be seen in museums.
What did the Koryaks worship? 
During one of the ritual holidays.
The Koryaks believed that every thing and surrounding object had a soul. They animated not only animals, but also the whole the world: heavenly bodies, sea, mountains, forest. Each community chose its own sacred place- appapel - which was worshiped and sacrificed animals. Often these were deer, less often dogs and sea creatures.
The most magnificent celebrations were held in honor of the main industries - hunting and fishing. The Koryaks solemnly “met” and “carried away” the prey (deer, killer whales, whales), performed rituals with the skin, noses and some other parts of the carcasses, which after the ritual were necessarily placed in a place of honor, most often next to family totems. Other cult objects were anyapels (fortune-telling stones), miniature figurines symbolizing ancestors, and boards with anthropomorphic figures for making fire by friction. 
Folk games of the Koryaks of the Magadan region.
The people treated death and the body preparation rituals associated with it with great respect. Premature death was considered the machinations of evil spirits, so the Koryaks regularly performed ritual sacrifices and turned to shamans for protective amulets. An obligatory element of funeral and memorial rituals was burial clothing. They started sewing it during their lifetime, but in no case finished it on their own. According to legend, by completing the funeral attire with his own hands, a person brought upon himself a premature death.
For several centuries, the main method of burial remained burning on a bonfire made of dwarf cedar wood. The dead were treated as if they were alive: they had sedate conversations and through them gifts were passed on to previously deceased relatives, food, personal belongings, and weapons were placed on the fire. However, from about the 18th century, traditional rituals began to intertwine with Orthodox funeral traditions and were gradually forgotten.
Koryak folklore: myths and fairy tales, folk music
Koryak writing is one of the youngest. It was created on the basis of the Latin alphabet in 1930, but in this form it existed for a little more than five years (from 1930 to 1936). Afterwards, the language began to be written in the Russian alphabet. The widespread spread of the Russian language negatively affected the native literature of the Koryaks: there were practically no authentic writers left, each new generation knew the language worse and worse. The situation worsened after the Koryak language was no longer taught in Kamchatka schools, excluding it from the educational program.
Nevertheless, there is a lot of interesting things in Koryak folklore. Even without understanding the language, listen historical legends and legends, fairy tales, myths and songs are very interesting. The melodies are performed in recitative to the rhythmic accompaniment of a round national tambourine with an internal cross-shaped handle - “g’eynechg’yn”. It should be noted that this term is common to all Koryak musical instruments. It denotes a birch bark pipe, a kind of flute with an external hole, feather squeakers, and even wind instruments. 
Young Koryak girls with a national musical instrument - a round tambourine with a flat shell and an internal cross-shaped handle.
The stories reflect real events: inter-tribal clashes between the Koryaks, wars between the people and the Evens and Chukchi. Many stories are centered around “Kuykynyaku” - Vorone, who in Koryak culture appears as simultaneously a creator, a prankster and a joker. Some tunes are passed down from generation to generation and are considered ancestral. In children's epics, fairy tales are popular in which the main characters are animals: dogs, bears, mice and sea creatures.
Modern Koryaks: what are they?
Today, the Koryaks still lead an isolated lifestyle, without leaving their usual habitats. And they even have their own autonomy - the Koryak district. According to the 2010 census, the population is about 9,000 people. Moreover, two thirds of the people live in the Kamchatka Territory, the rest in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and the Magadan Region.
The overwhelming majority of modern Koryaks speak Russian and profess Orthodox Christianity. Shamanism is practiced only by certain tribes in which they are strong traditional beliefs ancestors A similar situation exists with the Koryak language - no more than 2,000 people retain it, and about 1,000 more people speak Alyutor. 
Koryaks perform a national dance.
In an effort to protect the interests of the indigenous population of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, Russian government strongly supports public organizations and the nationalization of villages. Local radio and television regularly produce various programs in the Koryak language. In schools, along with Russian, the native language of the Koryaks is required to be taught, and clubs are organized on the traditional way of life and forms of economic management.
People in the Russian Federation. Indigenous population of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug. They also live in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and the Magadan Region. The Koryak language of the Chukchi-Kamchatka family of Paleo-Asian languages. Number of people: 8942 people.
Koryak is an ethnonym that began to be used in the 17th century. Its origin is associated with the formants (k o r) - “deer” and (a k) - “located at”, “with”, i.e. "deer".
The ethnic territory of the Koryaks is located in the north of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
The number in the Russian Federation is 8942 people.
Economically and culturally, the Koryaks are divided into two groups. Reindeer herders (Chavchuvens), monolithic in cultural terms, are represented by several territorial groups that roamed the mainland tundra from the Kamchatka Isthmus to the upper reaches of the left tributaries of the river. Kolyma.
Coastal Koryaks (Nymylans), more diverse in economic and cultural terms. Sometimes they are designated as ethnoterritorial groups: Kamenets, Parenets, Itkintsy (coast of the Penzhinskaya Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk), Apukintsy (Bringomorsky coast of Kamchatka, north of the Pakhachi River basin). Further to the north are the Kereks (currently considered as an independent people, numbering about 100 people). The Karaginians live to the south, along the eastern coast of Kamchatka, and parallel to them, on the western coast, the Palans live. The cultural and economic status of the Olyutor people, who settle on the east coast from the Gulf of Corfu to the south and have settlements on the Okhotsk coast, is more difficult to determine. Their economy is a combination of reindeer husbandry, fishing and hunting. Currently, the Olyutorians are distinguished as an independent people (numbering about 2OOO people). The differences between the listed groups are fixed in the language at the dialect level, and in culture, in the ratio of the main types of economic activity (for example: among the Padans, fishing predominates, and among the Kamenets, hunting for sea animals predominates).
The Koryaks, like other Paleo-Asian peoples of northeastern Siberia, belong to the mainland group of populations of the Arctic Mongoloid race (see: Itelmens).
The Koryak language is part of the Chukchi-Kamchatka group of Paleo-Asian languages, in which it is closest to the Chukchi language. This closeness is explained by linguists by the commonality of the linguistic substrate from which, in different time periods, languages were isolated modern peoples Northeast Siberia. At first, it was the Itelmen language, which long time developed autonomously, and then Chukchi and Koryak, which coexisted longer in a substrate state, and then, in conditions of fairly active contacts between these peoples. The cultural and economic diversity of the Koryaks in the structure of their language is reflected in dialects, the names of which correspond to the distinguished groups: Chavchuvensky, Kamensky, Apukinsky, Parensky, Itkansky, Olyutorsky, Karaginsky, Palansky, Kereksky. As noted above, in connection with the opinion about the possibility of giving the Olyutorians and Kereks the status of an independent ethnic community, their dialects also receive the status of independent languages.
In 1932, under the leadership of V.G. Bogoraz, S.N. Stebnitsky prepared the “Red Letter” - the first primer in the Koryak language. The difficulty of spreading literacy among the Koryaks lay in the division of their language into two dialect groups - northern and southern - each of which consisted of dialects - 4 and 3, respectively. Along with them, another dialect of the Koryak reindeer herders, Chauchu, stood out. Since the Chauchus make up about half the number of Koryaks, it was their language that was taken as the basis for the creation of writing, educational and mass literature. In the 1937/1938 academic year, teaching was transferred to an alphabet with a Russian graphic basis.
Koryak believers are Orthodox.
The history of the Koryaks is associated with the autochthonous basis of the formation of their culture. In the basin of the Sea of Okhotsk, archaeologists have identified monuments of the so-called. Okhotsk culture (1st millennium AD, culture of sea hunters, fishermen, wild deer hunters), in which the features of the Koryak cultural tradition can be traced, in relative chronological continuity up to the ancient Koryak settlements of the 16th - 11th centuries. The basis of the Okhotsk culture was formed by intracontinental Neolithic traditions (Baikal region) and southeastern components (Amur region).
The Koryaks interacted most closely with the Itelmens, which is recorded in almost all spheres of culture. From the 11th century The most significant factor determining the appearance of Koryak culture is Koryak-Russian ties.
Living together with Russians, especially coastal Koryaks, changed their economy and way of life. The Reindeer Koryaks have largely preserved the features of their culture. Thus, the appearance of the ethnic culture of the Koryaks was influenced by both regional factors in the formation of Paleo-Asian peoples and ethnocultural ties with their neighbors.
The ethnic culture of the Koryaks is represented by two economic and cultural types. The basis of the Koryak-Chavchuven economy is reindeer husbandry, which is supplemented by hunting and fishing. Sedentary Koryaks were engaged in fishing, sea and land hunting, but for different territorial groups of sedentary Koryaks, the importance of these types of economy could change. Among the Alyutor people, reindeer husbandry is complemented by a commercial complex.
Reindeer husbandry of the Koryak-Chavchuvens is large herd and, in terms of organization and productive orientation, corresponds to Samoyed. Regional differences are recorded in shorter routes of seasonal migrations, summer grazing in the mountains and division of camps, and the absence of a herding dog. Olyutor residents are characterized by a lower supply of reindeer farms and cooperation of low-reindeer farms, and a greater share of fisheries. Koryak reindeer herders were characterized by highly specialized reindeer transport.
The basis of the economy of the sedentary Koryaks was fishing (Karagintsy, Olyutortsy, Palantsy), sea hunting (Penzhintsy, Apukintsy). At the beginning of the 20th century. 63% of Koryak households hunted sea animals. Unlike fur hunting, which before the arrival of the Russians of great importance did not have, the Koryaks hunted bear, mountain sheep, and wild deer. A feature of the culture of sedentary Koryaks was sled dog breeding, more diverse means of transportation on water, which had much in common with the Chukchi and Eskimo.
The specifics of the fishery, coastal fishing and the extraction of marine animals, determined the nature of settlement. Coastal Koryak settlements were located along river banks, often in estuaries and on the sea coast.
The main type of dwelling was a half-dugout, which differed from similar buildings of other peoples of Siberia by a funnel-shaped structure on the roof; the settlements had piled outbuildings. The main type of dwelling of the reindeer Koryaks was a portable dwelling - yaranga.
Koryaks(there is no single self-name; group self-names: Chavchyv, Chavchu, Nymylgyn) - people, indigenous inhabitants of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Inhabited by Koryak autonomous region Kamchatka region, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, as well as the northern regions of the Magadan region.
Based on their place of residence and cultural and economic type, the Koryaks, like the Chukchi, are divided into two groups - tundra (reindeer, nomadic reindeer herders) and coastal (sedentary, coastal, “sedentary” Koryaks, sea hunters, fishermen, hunters).
The number in Russia is 8.9 thousand people. They speak the Koryak language, which belongs to the Chukchi-Kamchatka group of Paleo-Asian languages. The closest neighbors of the Koryaks are the Chukchi. The total number of Koryaks before the arrival of the Russians was about 10 thousand people.
Ethnonym
The Koryaks did not have a single self-name. Group self-name: chyvchavyv(units) chavchyv, chavchyv) – reindeer herder, “rich in reindeer”, to designate the reindeer Koryaks; nomylu(units) nomylyn), nomylgyn,“local resident”, villager - the self-name of the coastal Koryaks. The name “Koryak” (XVII century) comes from the Koryak root core- "deer". The basis for the name was the locative form of this root - korak, those. "located with the deer." According to another version, the ethnonym “Koryak” was borrowed by the Russians from the Yukagirs or Evens, who called the Koryaks kӓrӓko (Yukagir name) or heëkel (“the one who appears from behind the hill” - the Even name).
Number
The number of Koryaks in 1989 in the USSR was 9242 people, incl. in the Russian Federation - 8942. In the Koryak Autonomous Okrug there are 6572 Koryaks (71% of the total). In the Magadan region - about 11% (1013 people). A noticeable migration of the Koryaks outside their traditional habitat is becoming noticeable. So, if the total number of Koryaks increased in 1970-1989. by 25%, then in the Koryak Autonomous Okrug only by 11%. In 2002, the number of Koryaks in Russia amounted to 8,743 people.
Language
The first information about the Koryak language was collected by S.P. Krasheninnikov in mid-18th century V. Until the beginning of the 20th century. The Koryak language was almost never studied. His study was resumed and put on scientific basis V.G. Bogoraz. In the works of scientists, the relationship of the Koryak language with other languages of the Chukotka-Kamchatka group was justified. The Koryak language is represented by a number of dialects, the most widespread of which is the Chavchuven dialect. It is the basis for Koryak writing on a Russian graphic basis. The dialects of the Koryak language have been little studied.
Story
The problem of the origin of the Koryaks has not yet been sufficiently developed. Archaeological finds of remains of dwellings, ceramics, stone and bone tools on the territory of the northwestern part of Kamchatka and the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk should be attributed to the ancestors of modern coastal Koryaks. The most ancient ancestors of the coastal Koryaks are the tribes of the ancient Koryak culture of the Okhotsk coast, which developed during the Neolithic period on the basis of hunting and fishing. At the turn of the 1st century. BC e. – I in n. e. The ancient Koryak culture developed into the culture of sea hunters. In ancient times, the process of formation of the Koryak ethnic community took place. As a result of the transition to sea hunting and sedentism, there was a gradual separation of individual groups of ancient Koryaks and the fragmentation of the ancient Koryak language into a number of dialects. The question of the time of introduction of the Koryaks to reindeer husbandry and the ways of its spread remains open. It is assumed that reindeer husbandry developed among the coastal Koryaks as a result of their contacts with the Tungus tribes in the Penzhinskaya Bay area and on the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula adjacent to Chukotka. There is another point of view on the ethnogenesis of the Koryaks, according to which the ancestors of the Koryaks during the Neolithic period inhabited the areas of central Chukotka, from where in the 2nd millennium BC. advanced to the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, where they adopted a coastal way of life.
Monuments of oral folk art of the extreme northeast indicate a close relationship between the Koryaks and the Chukchi, Evens, Yukaghirs, and Itelmens. These relations were expressed, on the one hand, in intertribal exchanges, and on the other, in military clashes between the coastal and reindeer Koryaks.
The first information about the Koryaks was received in the middle. XVII century from the Cossacks Semyon Dezhnev and Mikhail Stadukhin. The Russian movement to Kamchatka began with the campaign of Morozko (1690) and V. Atlasov (1697 - 1998). From the second floor. XVIII century Close trade relations are established between the Koryaks and Russians.
Housing
Winter nomadic tents of the reindeer Koryaks
The dwelling of the Koryak reindeer herders was the yaranga ( yayaaa– in the Chavchuven dialect; raraa- in the Alyutor dialect). It was a tent, cylindrical at the base, conical at the top, with a frame of poles and a cover made of deer skins with the hair facing outwards. There were usually from two to five yarangs at the camp. The dwelling of almost all coastal Koryaks was a semi-dugout ( lymgyyan), the basis of which was a vast pit 1-1.5 m deep, lined inside with vertical logs in the form of a palisade in the shape of an irregular octagon. The roof vault had the shape of a truncated cone with an outer flange in the shape of a funnel. A hole was left at the top of the roof, which served as an outlet for smoke, a light window and an exit from the dugout in winter. A thick log with notched steps was used as a ladder. Several families could live in a semi-dugout. In the summer, fishermen lived in frame buildings on platforms.
Since the end of the 19th century. some Koryaks began to live in Russian-style log huts. Currently, Koryaks live in villages with standard houses, reindeer herders live in yarangas and huts.
Food
The main food of the Koryak reindeer herders was reindeer meat, usually boiled. Coastal residents ate fish and meat of sea animals. The Koryaks ate various edible plants in large quantities as seasonings. meat dishes and as separate dishes. Since the end of the 19th century. Purchased products began to become increasingly widespread: flour, cereals, tea, sugar. Leaf tobacco was very common. Fly agaric was used as a stimulant and intoxicant.
Farm
In the past, the Koryaks were divided into nine territorial groups, the largest of which were Chavchuvens- reindeer herders, who made up half of the entire nation, and Alyutorians, who inhabited the vast territory of the Kamchatka Isthmus (the coast of the Bering Sea and the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk) were typical reindeer herders; fur hunting was a secondary occupation, and fishing also did not play a noticeable role. In the economy of the Alyutor people there was a rare combination of fishing and sea fishing with reindeer herding. The remaining seven groups of Koryaks were also characterized by a complex type of economy.
Reindeer husbandry was of two types: large-herd and small-herd. Large-scale reindeer herding existed among the Koryak-Chavchuvens. Their herds numbered up to 10 thousand deer. Reindeer husbandry was nomadic. Herding of deer was carried out by shepherds without the help of dogs. In winter, the herd grazed near the camp. During the winter, the entire camp made several migrations to new pastures. In the summer, shepherds drove the herd to the mountains, where there was abundant food for the reindeer. The camps were located at this time of year along the banks of rivers. In the fall, shepherds drove the flock to the camp. According to the first snow, the herd and camp migrated to the winter pastures. Deer provided the main food product - meat and the main material for clothing and housing - skins and sinews from which threads were made. Deer also served as the only means of transportation among the Chavchuvens.
Small-herd reindeer herding existed among the Alyutor Koryaks. Their herds numbered in rare cases 1000 deer. Characteristic feature Alyutor reindeer husbandry was the use of dogs as mounts. Each household had several dog sleds. The Alutorians made only short trips on reindeer. The Alyutor people were characterized by a combination of reindeer husbandry with sea fishing and fishing. In the spring, all Alutor residents went to sea fishing to hunt on floating ice. In the summer, during the fish season, the Alyutor people migrated to the mouths of rivers, where, together with the Chavchuvens, they stored fish for the winter. At this time, the reindeer herds remained under the supervision of young people. The second type of Koryak reindeer husbandry arose much later than the first.
Northern sedentary Koryaks were engaged in fishing for sea animals, which was divided into two seasons: spring and autumn. The spring season began in mid-March and ended in the second half of June. The autumn season began in mid-September and ended in the second half of November. They went sea hunting in kayaks and longboats. In ancient times, the Koryaks developed whale fishing. According to legend, it was hunted using a large net woven from thick belts. The net was attached to coastal rocks and cliffs. Hunters drove a whale into a net, which became entangled in it. Hunters finished off a whale driven into a net with spears and harpoons, then pulled it ashore.
Belts and soles for shoes were made from the skins of sea animals. Meat and fat were used for food and stocked up for future use. The fat also served for lighting. Surplus sea products were exchanged for reindeer herding products.
Among the eastern and western sedentary Koryaks of the Bering Sea coast, the basis of their economy was reindeer husbandry. Fishing took up all summer period and the beginning of autumn. The most common method of fishing among the Koryaks was constipation, when the river was blocked from both banks by converging fences made of rods and stakes. They also caught fish using an iron hook “marika” and a net “scoop”.
Most of the catch was used to prepare yukola, which was the main food for people and the main food for dogs all year. The finished yukola was stored in barns - huts on high stilts, covered with dry grass. The preparation of yukola was usually done by women.
An important tool in the economy of sedentary and nomadic Koryaks was hunting, which was carried out by men. Bears, tarabagans, wild deer, and mountain sheep were hunted for meat. Fur-bearing animals included fox, wolverine, hares, ermines, and Kamchatka sable. Sables were caught with a net, a trap was set for ermine, other animals were beaten with arrows, and later with guns.
The collection of edible plants played a significant role in the Koryak economy. It was carried out exclusively by women and children. Edible roots were obtained mainly from mouse holes. Cloudberries and blueberries were collected from the berries. The settled Koryaks developed a collection of edible shellfish, wild bird eggs, seaweed, edible herbs: wild sorrel, saran, fireweed, hogweed, etc.
Traditional household crafts included processing of wood, bone, metal, and stone; weaving, dressing of hides. In ancient times, the Koryaks were familiar with pottery. Wood and bone were widely used on the farm. Wood was used to make reindeer and dog sleds, boats, oars, spears, and household utensils. Knives for cutting fish, picks, harpoon tips, brakes for reindeer sleds, and combs for combing grass were made from deer bones and antler. Until the beginning of the 20th century. The Koryaks also used stone axes and spearheads. With the arrival of the Russians among the Koryaks, gardening, dairy farming, and horse breeding began to spread. Currently, traditional industries - reindeer husbandry and fishing - determine the economic direction of the Kamchatka Autonomous Okrug.
Transport
The transport animals of the nomadic Koryaks were reindeer, which were harnessed to the sledge; the sedentary Koryaks had sled dogs, which were also harnessed to the sledge. A full team of dogs consisted of 10-12 animals.
To move on water (sea), the Koryaks used leather boats - kayaks and kayaks. The kayak was used mainly as a fishing boat. In summer, the Koryaks moved along the water baht- boats carved out of thick tree trunks. This boat was steered with a special long pole. To go out to sea, they used double bahts, connecting two boats using thick transverse sticks.
Music and dance
Playing the tambourine, men. With. Lesnaya, Tigilsky district.
Important component spiritual culture of the Koryaks - choreographic art, songs and music. There was a clear distinction between ritual and play dances. Among the songs one can note the so-called. personal songs– songs that are created and performed by only one person or donated by parents and relatives. In addition to personal songs, family ritual songs are widespread, performed in the family and passed down from generation to generation. The main musical instrument of the Koryaks is the tambourine. yayay, also known as pinwheel tellytal, making a buzzing sound when it is stretched, a pipe made of bark and wood, a pipe eyӈechg’yn from hogweed, duck feather decoy galgychgyn, which was used as a mouthpiece aerophone, a gull feather with a volume control gichgyn yaӄyaӄin and etc.
Cloth
Kukhlyanka with hood and bib made of kamus
The traditional clothing of the Koryaks can be classified as the so-called blind type. The main material for sewing clothes among the Koryaks in late XIX- at the beginning of the 20th century, reindeer skins and rovduga served, replacing and finally replacing the skins of mountain sheep by this time. Summer clothes of the Koryaks had the same cut as winter clothes, but were made from lighter materials. The Koryaks used the skins of other fur-bearing animals to decorate their clothing. The clothes were also decorated with ornaments and pendants. Bracelets, earrings, and pendants, which were remade from old copper and silver items, were also worn as jewelry. By the beginning of the 20th century, clothing made from purchased materials became noticeably widespread among them.
Family and tribal relations
The industrial and social life of the tundra Koryaks was concentrated in the camp. Previously, families wandered along with herds and grazed herds. Now only the herd workers roam.
The clan community consisted not only of relatives. IN social formation included orphans, single men and women, “free people.” The clan did not invite “free people” and did not expel them from their community. Usually these were men. They could go to another camp at any time. The tribal principle of community organization among the peoples of the North in Kamchatka was preserved for a long time. According to ancient customs, all orphans, lonely, sick and free people in the clan and tribe enjoyed protection and were considered relatives and family members. The family had a special attitude towards the elderly. Children respected their elders and listened to their advice.
The clan and tribe lived solely on what they themselves managed to create and obtain, so each member felt responsibility for the fate of the clan from an early age, since the person was completely dependent on nature. The yaranga of the owner of most of the herd used to be considered the main one in the camp. A family lived in it: wife ӈev’g’en, single, married sons kmiӈu, daughters ӈavakykav’. The family included brothers ӄaytakalӈo. The head of the camp was the manager of all economic life. Intra-camp ties were quite strong and covered all aspects of the economic and social life of the collective. They were based on joint reindeer husbandry, collective grazing of herds, were cemented by kinship and marriage ties, and were supported by ancient traditions and rituals. Kinship ties usually covered the entire nomadic group.
Traditional worldview and ritual rites
The universe, according to the Koryaks, consisted of five worlds: the earth inhabited by people, two worlds above it and two below. The lower of the upper worlds is inhabited by cloud people, the upper is the abode of the Supreme Deity. Of the underground worlds, the upper one is inhabited kalag'ami- evil spirits, the shadows of the dead live in the lower. All worlds seemed interpenetrable. Animals, people, spirits moved from one world to another. The world of the dead was, as it were, part of the world of the living. The inhabitants of the underworld took care of their relatives who remained on earth, sending them animals to hunt, helping them in all matters; the living sent gifts to deceased relatives.
There was family and professional shamanism. One could not become a shaman of one’s own free will, nor could one evade this mission. It was believed that the spirits themselves choose a person for this role. The Koryaks did not have special shamanic clothing. The main shamanic attribute was a tambourine yayay. Important place in the traditional worldview, ideas about the system of guardians occupied. Each Koryak settlement had its own guardian (pole).
The life of a Koryak from birth to death was permeated with numerous rituals, rites and prohibitions. The rituals performed on the occasion of the harvest of animals were based on ancient myth about a dying and resurrecting beast. He found a particularly vivid expression in the holiday organized after the hunt for a bear, which the Koryaks considered man’s cousin. The sedentary and some of the reindeer Koryaks performed similar ritual actions on the first fish they caught. Only after this was it allowed to be eaten. The whale was especially revered. Ritual ceremonies accompanying its extraction existed among the Alyutor people, the Koryaks of the Penzhina Bay and the northwestern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk.
Koryaksgeneral information
The Koryaks did not have a single self-name. Group self-names: chavchyv, chav"chu, "reindeer herder", "rich in reindeer"; nymylgyn, "local resident", villager; nymylg-aremku, ramku chavchyv, "nomadic resident", etc.
In the 20s XX century An attempt was made to give the self-name Nymylgyn in the form “Nymylan” the character of the official name of the people, but it did not take root and the old name “Koryak” was restored. The ethnonym was most likely borrowed by the Russians from the Yukaghirs, who called the Koryaks Karakas.
They speak the Koryak language, which has several dialects: Chavchuvensky, Apukinsky, Itkansky, Kamensky, Parensky, Karaginsky, Palansky, Kereksky. The Russian language is widely spoken. Writing on Russian graphics.
The Koryaks constitute one of the ethnic divisions of northeastern Paleo-Asians, formed on the basis of the intracontinental cultural traditions of Neolithic hunters. At the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, the ancient Koryak hunting culture was transformed into specialized culture sea hunters. The transition to sea hunting and sedentism contributed to the isolation of individual groups of ancient Koryaks and the fragmentation of the language into dialects. The final stage of Koryak ethnogenesis is the formation of the Chavchuven reindeer groups. The Koryaks' introduction to reindeer husbandry occurred relatively late - presumably in the 11th-16th centuries. as a result of borrowing reindeer husbandry from the Tungus. The transition of some coastal residents to a new occupation caused significant changes in the cultural appearance of the ethnic group, which led to the final formation of the Koryak people.
Territory of settlement and number
The Koryaks form the basis of the indigenous population of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug; they also live in the North Evensky district of the Magadan region and in Chukotka. In 1989, there were 9,242 Koryaks in the USSR, incl. in the Russian Federation - 8942. In the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, Koryaks make up 71% of their total number - 6572. In the Magadan Region - about 11% (1013 people). There are only a few dozen Koryaks in Chukotka.
The migration of the Koryaks outside their traditional habitat is becoming noticeable. So, if the total number of Koryaks increased in 1970-1989. by 25%, then in the Koryak Autonomous Okrug only by 11%. A large Koryak community was formed in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - 386 people. More than 300 people were recorded by the 1989 census outside Russian Federation. Current information on population needs clarification.
In the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, Koryaks live in all settlements. They are the predominant part of the population in 13 settlements (see table). In the Magadan region, the largest Koryak village is Verkhnyaya Paren.
Lifestyle and life support system
The traditional occupations of the Koryaks are reindeer herding, fishing, and sea hunting. All Chavchuvens and most Koryak-Alyutor people were engaged in reindeer husbandry. The herds reached 2-3 thousand deer. The deer gave the Chavchuvens everything they needed for life. Fishing was most developed among the Karagins, Alyutors and Palans; for them fish was the main food product. But fishing played an important role for other groups as well. All groups of sedentary Koryaks and Alyutor reindeer herders were engaged in marine hunting. Fur trade among the Koryaks did not occupy a leading position, but hunting for ungulates and birds was widespread.
During the Soviet period, great changes occurred in the economic life of the Koryaks. Marine hunting ceased to exist as an industry. Fishing was concentrated in fishing collective farms and bore little resemblance to traditional fishing. Not many Koryaks worked in fish production; the main catch came from industrial fishing. By the beginning of the 90s. in the Koryak Autonomous Okrug there were about 160 thousand deer, which corresponded to the number of available pastures. Reindeer husbandry is the only branch of the economy in which the absolute majority of employees were Koryaks, but the modern structure of their employment was still determined by new occupations (agriculture, industry, social sphere and other industries). The collapse of collective and state farm production in the 90s. significantly changed the employment picture. According to official data, the number of unemployed among the small peoples of the North in the district in 1992-1997. increased by 9.4 times.
The decisive role in the life support of the Koryaks modern stage National enterprises, family communities, and farms created in all areas of the district began to play a role. However, their efficiency is extremely low. The number of domestic reindeer decreased in 1990 - 1998. up to 63 thousand heads. Due to the lack of enterprises for complex processing of venison and rising tariffs for transport services, a significant part of the product is not exported to places of consumption. The marine hunting industry is in a crisis situation, and fish catches are declining. The population essentially switched to subsistence farming. The cash income of the indigenous population in the district does not provide even half of the subsistence level.
Ethno-social situation
The Koryak Autonomous Okrug is one of the few in the Russian Federation where the peoples of the North make up more than a quarter of the total population. This largely determines their fairly high status in socio-political life. At the same time, it is in this district that, due to objective conditions (weak industrial base, undeveloped transport infrastructure, lack of a domestic market, etc.), a particularly difficult ethno-social situation is observed. Problems with northern deliveries have extremely aggravated the situation with energy supply and heating in villages, there is a shortage of food products, and prices are rising. IN last years All summer there is no electricity in many villages of the district. People cooked food over fires. There was no communication between the villages and the regional center, helicopters did not even fly on sanitary missions, telephones and radios did not work. The decline in living standards and the crisis in the healthcare system have led to an increase in morbidity among the indigenous population. If in 1993 the overall incidence in Russia as a whole was 983 per 1000 people, then in the Koryak district it was 1358. The district has one of the highest incidences of tuberculosis in the country - 1459 per 100 thousand population. Domestic unsettlement and unemployment provoke drunkenness. On this basis, injuries are growing. The mortality rate associated with injuries due to drunkenness is 342 cases per 100 thousand population, which is 1.7 times more than in the country as a whole.
Ethno-cultural situation
The district has created an appropriate infrastructure aimed at solving the ethnocultural problems of the indigenous population - the Palansky Pedagogical College, which trains teachers of the Koryak language. There is a district museum and art schools in regional centers. Despite the difficult economic situation of the district, all of them continue to function today. Much of the rich cultural heritage of the Koryaks is preserved - folk arts and crafts; folklore centers operate in almost all villages. choreographic groups, the famous ensemble “Mango” did not cease its activities.
According to the 1989 census, 52.4% of Koryaks consider the Koryak language to be their native language, and 46.8% consider Russian to be their native language. Like other peoples of the North, the native language of the Koryaks is certainly losing its position, but the situation cannot be considered hopeless. The Koryak language is taught in school, mainly in primary classes. Since the mid-50s. Literature has been published on it since the mid-80s. Some publications are published in Kamchatka. The district radio broadcasts in Koryak. Pages in the Koryak language are published as supplements to district and district newspapers. But the main thing is that in many families, especially reindeer herders, the linguistic environment of communication is preserved.
Management and self-government bodies
Koryak Autonomous Okrug (created in 1930) is a subject of the Russian Federation. Koryaks and other peoples of the North take part in its executive and representative bodies. Among the deputies of the District Duma they make up 60%. At one time, the governor of the district and the Chairman of the Duma were representatives of the indigenous population. A significant part of the Koryaks work in regional government bodies and head rural and township administrations.
The functions of self-government bodies are performed by various public associations, endowed, in accordance with the District Charter, with the right of legislative initiative in the Duma of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug. The most authoritative of them is the Association of Indigenous Minorities of the North of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, which has its own territorial and ethnic branches in each region. A similar Association works in the Magadan region, which includes the Koryaks of the North-Even region.
Legal documents and laws
In developing the legislative and regulatory framework in the interests of indigenous peoples of the North, the Koryak Autonomous Okrug is one of the leaders. Already at the very beginning of the 90s. here a whole package of normative documents was adopted that were vital for the Koryaks and other peoples of the North important. Among them are the decision of the Presidium of the Council of People's Deputies of the district “On measures to preserve traditional cultural, religious and spiritual values of the peoples of the North”, “Temporary regulations on the transfer of land plots for farm (peasant) reindeer herding farms”, approved “Temporary status of the national enterprise”, Regulations on the order of distribution of catch limits for salmon species" and others. The legislative and regulatory framework of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, dedicated to indigenous peoples, currently consists of the following legal acts:
The Law “On Territories of Traditional Natural Resources in the Koryak Autonomous Okrug” was adopted by the Okrug Duma on May 21, 1997.
Law “On the Status tribal community Indigenous Peoples of the North", adopted by the District Duma on November 12, 1997.
Law “On the organization of territorial public self-government of the population of the Koryak Autonomous Region.” district", adopted in 1997.
Law “On the procedure for classifying lands as state, municipal and private property", adopted by the Duma on June 18, 1997.
Regulations on the national enterprise and main directions traditional types folk crafts, approved by the Duma Resolution on May 28, 1998.
The regulation “On the procedure for catching salmon by residents of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug for personal consumption” was approved by a resolution of the Duma on March 28, 1996.
Contemporary issues environment
The territory of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug is slightly affected by industrial construction; there are no large industrial enterprises federal significance. However, here too the problems of environmental conservation are quite acute. As a result of anthropogenic impact, the pasture area is shrinking. In the 80s, early 90s. Several dozen geological teams and parties worked in the district; their area of activity included about 1 million hectares of reindeer moss. Drilling wells, seismic explosions, dozens of tractors and all-terrain vehicles annually render hundreds of hectares of pastures unusable, which are already in short supply in the area. The condition of pastures in the Tigil region, where many expeditions have worked in recent years, is of particular concern. Fires are a real disaster. As a result of the reduction in the supply of energy and food products in recent years, the pressure on the natural environment near populated areas has increased - forests are being intensively cut down for firewood, and poaching of ungulates and fishing has increased. Industrial fishing off the coast of the district undermines the resource base of salmon, which play an extremely important role in the livelihoods of the indigenous population.
Prospects for the preservation of the Koryaks as an ethnic group
Despite the difficult socio-economic situation in the district, worsening demographic indicators, and a decline in the level and quality of life, the Koryaks retain the necessary potential to preserve themselves as an ethnic system. State assistance in solving the economic problems of the indigenous population with the further expansion of their independence and self-government is able to reverse negative trends and create favorable conditions for a full ethnic life.
Living within the Primorsky Territory along the shores and on the Kamchatka Peninsula, on the one hand in the vicinity of the Tungus, on the other - with the Chukchi. The first information about the Koryaks appeared at the beginning of the 17th century, after campaigns on. At the same time, the ethnonym “Koryak” first appeared. It probably goes back to the Koryak word khora (“deer”). According to their way of life, the Koryaks are divided into sedentary and wandering (sedentary and nomadic).
The type of Koryaks is in many ways different from the Mongolian: a somewhat flattened head, a round face, small cheekbones, small, lively and bold eyes, a long nose, often humpbacked, a large mouth, a dark complexion, a sparse beard, black hair, cut short in men, women - braided in two braids; the height is moderate, the physique is strong and slender, especially among the Olyutorians.
The Koryak language, generally similar to the Chukchi language, is divided into 5 dialects. Sedentary Koryaks profess Orthodoxy, the majority of nomads belong to shamanism. Koryak idolaters, to appease their gods, sacrifice either deer, placing their heads on large stones facing the east, or dogs, hanging them on high poles around their huts. Among the animals, the wolf is revered (servant evil spirit), the skin of which plays an important role in shamanic rituals.
The traditional dwelling of sedentary Koryaks is part of the house, the dwelling of nomads is huts, the conical pole frame of which is covered with reindeer skins. Traditional clothing: kuklyanka - a kind of shirt made of deer skin (with short hair in summer), tied at the waist with a belt, trimmed at the hem with black fur, decorated with beads and metal plates; fur pants, high boots made of deer skin and a large wolf hat; sometimes the hat is replaced by a hood sewn to the doll. The women's festive dress is trimmed with otter and wolverine fur and embroidered with beads.
Sedentary Koryaks are engaged in hunting and fishing. Boats for hunting (canoes) are very light; their wooden frame is covered with seal skins. The meat is used for food, the furs are sold. Dogs are also kept for driving. Some of the sedentary Koryaks prepare warm winter clothes from reindeer skins for sale to visiting traders; They also make items needed in the everyday life of foreigners from iron and walrus tusks (spoons, pipes).
The nomadic Koryaks are engaged almost exclusively in reindeer herding; Some nomads hunt fur-bearing animals. In summer, some Koryaks are busy collecting roots, especially saran bulbs (Lilium). Their main food is reindeer meat and yukola.
They speak the Koryak language, the writing is based on Russian. Some Koryak believers are Orthodox. Traditional beliefs are also common: shamanism, trade cults.
