Russia is |
Peoples of Russia
Khanty
Khanty is a small-numbered native Ugric people living in the north of the Western Siberia.
Language
The Khanty language (obsolete name Ostyak language) together wtih the Mansi and Hungarian languages belongs to the so-called Ugric group of the Ural family of languages.
Dispersion
The Khanty live in the Tyumen (Khanty-Mansi – Yugra and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Districts) and Tomsk (Aleksandrovsky district) regions. In 2000, by a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation they were given the status of native small-numbered people.
Traditional occupations
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Khanty were fishermen (they were called “fish-eaters”, “fish-skinned”), as well as hunters, gatherers and reindeer breeders. Since the Khanty settled along rivers, this determined the diversity of the methods of fishing they used: for example, blocking, when a river or a creek was partitioned with a special block (obstruction) with openings into which traps for fish were inserted. They hunted moose, wild reindeer, squirrels, sable, foxes, etc. They also gathered cedar nuts and berries. The reindeer breeders let the reindeer graze by migrating with them from one lichen pasture to another.
Food
The main food source is fish, which is processed almost fully (what is not used for food is used to make glue, fat and utensils), and moose meat; for seasoning, berries are used, which also serve as pie filling. Grain products are mostly used as flour and flour-based dishes, more rarely as grits. The drinks are water, infusion of the chaga mushroom and tea. The use of tobacco became traditional; it is chewed, smelled and smoked.
