The Nenets (; ), in the past also called Samoyeds or Yuraks, are a Samoyedic ethnic group native to the Russian Arctic, in the Russian Far North. According to the latest census in 2021, there were 49,646 Nenets in the Russian Federation, most of them living in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District stretching along the coastline of the Arctic Ocean near the Arctic Circle between Kola and Taymyr peninsulas. The Nenets people speak either the Tundra or Forest Nenets languages. In the Russian Federation they have a status of Indigenous small-numbered peoples. Today, the Nenets people face numerous challenges from the state and oil and gas companies that threaten the environment and their way of life. As a result, many cite a rise in locally based activism.

Etymology

The old Russian name 'Samoyedy' most probably came from the ancient name of the territory where the Sami and the Nenets lived together Saame edna (the land of Sami). The name 'Samoyed' went out of usage at the beginning of the 20th century. The people are known as the nentsy/nenej nenetsj, which means "real humans".

In the Russian Empire, the term Samoyed was often applied indiscriminately to different peoples of Northern Russia who speak related Uralic languages: Nenets, Nganasans, Enets, Selkups (speakers of Samoyedic languages). Currently, the term "Samoyedic peoples" applies to the whole group of these different peoples.

Number and settlement

thumb|200px|Municipalities in which the proportion of Nenets exceeds 1%, in % according to the 2010 census

The names of two autonomous regions of Russia (Nenets, Yamal-Nenets) mention the Nenets as the titular nationality of the region; another such district (Taimyrsky (Dolgano-Nenetsky) Autonomous Okrug) was abolished in 2007 and transformed into the Taimyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of the Krasnoyarsk Krai.

The Nenets are divided into two groups: tundra and forest; the two groups have different languages. Tundra Nenets are the majority. They live in two autonomous regions. The Forest Nenets – about 1500 people - live in the basin of the Pur and Taz rivers in the southeast of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the east of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra.

{| class="wikitable"

|+Nenets population according to 2021 census Ethnologue says that in Siberia, most young people are still fluent in Nenets, whereas in European Russia, they tend to speak Russian. Overall, the majority of native speakers are from older generations. UNESCO classifies Nenets as an endangered language. Some believe that the use of Russian and Komi is due to inter-ethnic marriages.

History

thumb|left|upright|Nenets man, c. 1862

thumb|250px|A group of Nenets in [[Dudinka (2000)]]

thumb|250px|Nenets family, 2006

There are two distinct groups of Nenets sensu stricto, based on their economy: the Tundra Nenets (living far to the north) and the Khandeyar, or Forest Nenets. A distinct third group of Nenets, (Yaran people), has emerged as a result of intermarriages between Nenets and Izhma Komi people.

The Samoyedic languages form a branch of the Uralic language family. According to one theory, they moved from farther south in Siberia to the northernmost part of what later became Russia sometime before the 12th century.

They ended up between the Kanin and Taymyr peninsulas, around the Ob and Yenisey rivers, with only a few of them settling into small communities like Kolva. Their main subsistence comes from hunting and reindeer herding. Using reindeer as a draft animal throughout the year enables them to cover great distances. Large-scale reindeer herding emerged in the 18th century. They bred the Samoyed dog to help herd their reindeer and pull their sleds, and European explorers later used these dogs for polar expeditions, because they were well adapted to the arctic conditions. Tundra wolves can cause considerable economic loss, as they prey on the reindeer herds which are the livelihood of some Nenets families. However, the introduction of snowmobiles in the 1990s allowed the Nenets of the Yamal Peninsula to decimate the local wolf population, as the wolves have nowhere to hide on the open tundra. Along with reindeer meat, fish is a major component in the Nenets' diet. Nenets housing is conical yurt (mya).

They have a shamanistic and animistic belief system which stresses respect for the land and its resources. They had a clan-based social structure. The Nenets shaman is called a Tadibya.

thumb|Exhibition dedicated to the culture of the Nenets at [[Siida (museum)|Siida museum in Finland]]

After the Russian Revolution, the Nenets culture suffered due to the Soviet collectivization policy. The government of the Soviet Union tried to force the nomadic Samoyeds to settle down permanently. They were forced to settle in villages and their children were educated in state boarding schools, which resulted in erosion of their cultural identity. According to activist and researcher Maria Vyushkova, the oil and gas industry in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug "doesn't bring anything to the Indigenous population. On the contrary, it destroys the environment and what they live on - reindeer herding and fishing. Consequently, being in a dire economic situation, people are forced to join the army."

Environment

Although the Nenets people were able to remain resilient in the face of continuous change and maltreatment, a new challenge now awaits them. Environmental damage to the Nenets' is significant due to industrialisation of their land, colonization and climate change. The Nenet people depend heavily on fishing and reindeer herding to support their lifestyle. However, these practices are highly reliant on the environment which is under threat from the oil industry. Specifically, the nomadic lifestyle the Nenet people have been accustomed to for generations is in danger as the oil industries encroach on reindeer pasture and territory. Approximately half of the 10,000 Nenets people in the Yamal Peninsula are nomadic and herd reindeer. Although expansion halted briefly in the 1990s post-USSR disintegration, development picked up in 2004. Gazprom's arrival to the Yamal peninsula has brought about significant change to the area. According to the company's website, they operate a total of 32 fields. These fields bring in up to 360 billion cubic meters of gas per year and in 2019, Gazprom alone produced 96.3 billion cubic meters of gas. Within this same period, researchers found a trend of delayed herder arrivals to their local health clinic. Nenets people worry that the deal will lead to a further decline in their autonomy as well as their language and traditions. The relationship is described by some as "paternalistic" because it does not allow Nenets people to make their own decisions. However, it is difficult for the nomadic people to gather as a collective unit as they live so far apart from each other. Yuri Vella is a notable example of an individual protestor. Vella was a Nenets writer and, having lived near a lake that was licensed over to an oil company, protested often. Most notably, he is remembered for having stood up against a bulldozer alone with an axe.

Vella is not alone in his activism. There exists a rural protest community called Voice of the Tundra that currently speaks on topics such as the rights of the Nenets people.

The Voice of the Tundra project is being celebrated as it symbolizes a return of politics to Russia's Indigenous peoples.

Notable Nenets

  • Tyko Vylka (1886–1960), painter
  • Konstantin Pankov (1910–1942), painter
  • Yuri Vella (1948–2013), writer, poet, environmentalist, social activist
  • Anna Nerkagi (b. 1952), writer, novelist, social activist
  • Anastasia Lapsui (b. 1944), film director, screenwriter

See also

  • Music of Nenetsia
  • Nga (god)
  • Samoyed (dog)
  • Siberian minorities in the Soviet era
  • Pole worship

References

  • Aging in the Nenets community
  • UNESCO Red Book on endangered languages
  • Jarkko Niemi: The types of the Nenets songs. 1997
  • Minority languages of Russia on the Net
  • The Red Book of the peoples of the Russian Empire
  • Article on Nenets religion, culture and history
  • Historic-demographic note on the Nenets of the Komi Republic
  • BBC: Nenets Tribe
  • Photos of Nenets reindeer herders
  • BBC Living with Nomads 2/3 Siberia
  • Языки народов России - Ненецкий язык ('Languages of the Peoples of Russia – Nenets Language')
  • Learn Nenets language
  • Learn Nenets language