The Alyutors (russian: Алюторцы; self designation: Алутальу, or Alutal'u) are an ethnic group (formerly classified as a subgroup of

Koryaks Koryaks () are an indigenous people of the Russian Far East, who live immediately north of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Kamchatka Krai and inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea. The cultural borders of the Koryaks include Tigilsk in the south ...

) who lived on the

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and w ...

and

Chukchi Peninsula The Chukchi Peninsula (also Chukotka Peninsula or Chukotski Peninsula; russian: Чуко́тский полуо́стров, ''Chukotskiy poluostrov'', short form russian: Чуко́тка, ''Chukotka''), at about 66° N 172° W, is the eastern ...

of the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

. Today most of them live in

Koryak Okrug Koryak Okrug (russian: Коря́кский о́круг, Korjakskij okrug; Koryak: , ''Cav’cәvaokrug''), or Koryakia (russian: Корякия, Korjakija), is an administrative division of Kamchatka Krai, Russia.

of Kamchatka Krai. The name also occurs as Olyutors or Olutors, as well as Olyutorka, a settlement where many of the Alyutor people formerly lived. There is no precise data on the number of Alyutor people, but it is estimated that there are approximately 2,000 to 3,000 of them living in Russia in the present day.

Language

Alyutors spoke the Alyutor language (also known as Nymylan language), which belongs to the Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family; however less than 10% of the Alyutors still speak it.Kibrik, Alexandr E.; Kodzasov, Sandro V. and Muravyova, Irina A. (2000) ''Yazyk i folklor alutortsev'' Nasledie, Moscow; English edition: Kibrik, Alexandr E.; Kodzasov, Sandro V. and Muravyova, Irina A. (2004) ''Language and folklore of the Alutor people'' (translated by Megumi Kurebito) Osaka Gakuin University, Faculty of Informatics, Osaka, Japan, Most present Alyutors instead speak Koryak and Russian. Today, many Russian experts believe it to be a separate language, though it was previously considered a dialect of the

Koryak language Koryak () is a Chukotko-Kamchatkan language spoken by about 1,700 people as of 2010 in the easternmost extremity of Siberia, mainly in Koryak Okrug. It is mostly spoken by Koryaks. Its close relative, the Chukchi language, is spoken by about t ...

.See Young (2008), above, for the reclassification of eastern Siberian ethnicities.

History

The Alyutors are mentioned in the very first chronicles about the Russian colonisation of

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and west ...

. In 1697, the Russian Cossacks imposed taxes on the Alyutors, who would show armed resistance in the next few years. After the suppression of the 1751 uprising, the number of the Alyutors significantly decreased. Also, they were constantly under attack from the Chukchis, who often confiscated their

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 sub ...

herds. In the late 18th century, the Alyutors were an isolated and secluded group of people, which helped them to avoid the

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

epidemics almost unharmed. Also, such isolation helped them to preserve their traditional way of life. Traditionally the Alyutors were engaged in reindeer breeding, fishing, trapping, and hunting. They positioned their settlements along the rivers on elevated spots with good visibility around them. Octagonal

earth house Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surface ...

s with vertical walls meant for 3 to 5 families were the only type of housing among the Alyutors up until the 19th century. Beginning in the 1950s and continuing through the 1970s, Alyutor children were sent to boarding schools which increased their loss of the Alyutor language and decreased their training in Alyutor traditions. Many Alyutors became teachers, doctors, geologists, and zoo technicians during the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

period. Presently, the Alyutor traditions, culture, and art are endangered because of the decreases in reindeer population and reproduction caused by the worsening ecology of the region. Most Alyutors are practitioners of shamanism and Orthodox Christianity.

Notes

References

Wixman, Ronald (1984) ''The Peoples of the USSR: An Ethnographic Handbook''

External links

The Red Book: Description of the Alyutors
{{authority control Ethnic groups in Siberia Indigenous peoples of North Asia Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East History of the Kamchatka Peninsula Kamchatka Peninsula Modern nomads Nomadic groups in Eurasia People from Kamchatka Krai

Language

History

Notes

See also

References

External links