Yukaghir

expand_more Description

The Yukaghir of the Kolyma River basin of Siberia are divided into two groups traditionally reliant on contrasting ecologies and livelihoods: those on the tundra of the northern or Lower Kolyma who relied on reindeer herding; and those in the taiga of the southern or Upper Kolyma who were primarily hunter-gatherers. Both also engaged in fishing and the fur trade. They revered shamans, and had a reciprocal relationship with game to the extent that hunter and prey could exchange consciousness. By the end of the twentieth century the territory of the Yukaghir had been greatly reduced and they suffered rapid decline in population and their traditional way of life because of incursion and assimilation by Yakuts, Chukchee, Evens, and Russians.

Identifier

Region

• Asia

Subregion

• North Asia

Subsistence Type

• primarily hunter-gatherers

Samples

• EA
• SCCS

Countries

• Russia