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Peoples of Russia
Nganasans
Nganasans are a native Samodian people in Siberia. The name of the people, Nganasans, which was adopted in the 1930s, is formed from the word “nganasa” – “human, man”; their self-designation is Nya, “comrade”. They are also known in literature by the name of their most numerous groups as Tavg, Avam, Vadeevo Samoyeds or simply Samoyeds.
Language
The Nganasan language belongs to the Samodian branch of the Ural-Yukagir language family. Language connections with Selkups can be found, which are evident in the presence of a common stratum of non-Samodian vocabulary.
Dispersion
Currently they have settled in two groups: in the Khatanga district (the Vadeevo Nganasans) and in the Dudinsky municipal council territory (the Avam Nganasans). In 2000, by a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation they were given the status of native small-numbered people.
Traditional occupations
Hunting, reindeer breeding, fishing. Economic activities have a seasonal nature. The main hunting period was in summer and autumn (from July to November). They hunted wild deer, wild geeze, ducks, partridges, polar foxes, hares. During the season when animals were raising their offspring, hunting was regulated by the custom (karsu) that forbid killing female animals and birds during their pregnancy and when they were nursing their offspring.
Dwellings
The traditional dwelling – a conical chum (ma) is close in construction to the Nenets one. Its size depended on the number of people living in it (usually from one to five families) and on the average was from 3 to 9 m in diameter. The frame of the chum consisted of 20 to 60 long poles which were installed in the form of a cone and covered by nyuks. For a summer chum, old worn-out nyuks were laid out in one layer, in winter they used double ones. The door was made from two deer skins sewn inner sides together. The door was opened depending on the direction of the wind, from the right or from the left. In winter they made a mound (tokeda) outside of the chum, which served as a screen from the wind. In the center of the chum, in front of the entrance, the tori hearth was placed, over which hooks for kettles and cauldrons were hung. In the upper part of the chum there was a funnel opening. Behind the hearth was the “clean place” (sieng) which the women were forbidden to enter. The places for women (batu) were near the entrance, the household items were also laid out here. The right side from the entrance was the living space, the left one was where the guests were placed and the household items were kept. The floor was covered with osier mats (tola) and planks (lata). On the sleeping bunks, undressed skins were laid over planks and mats first, and then scraped honsu bedding. For the night, a canopy was lowered over the sleeping bunks so that it could be tucked under the bedding. After the night the canopy was taken off, thoroughly beaten, folded and put under the nyuk. Since the 1930s the balok adopted from the Dolgans comes into use as a dwelling; it is a rectangular closed sleigh on skids with a frame covered by reindeer skins or canvas. Throughout the year the reindeer breeders change three types of dwelling: balok in winter, chum in summer, a canvas tent in autumn. The entrance of the dwelling usually looks to the southeast. In the late 19th - early 20th century the Nganasans did not have permanent settlements. The migration routes were preliminarily agreed with the neighbors.
Clothes
The traditional clothes were made from reindeer pelts. The male costume consisted of a closed double parka (lu), made from a white reindeer pelt and edged by white fur of dogs bred specifically for this purpose. In especially cold weather, people wore over the parka a sokuy (khie) coat with a hood, with a tall fur plume over the forehead, when they planned to travel. Women’s clothes consisted of a fonie jumpsuit made from rovduga (a deerskin chamois) with metallic bodyamo lunulas sewn on the breast and an unbuttoned parka (lifarie). Instead of a hood, women wore a bonnet hat (s’mu) made from white reindeer pelt edged with black dog fur. Unlike the past, now people usually wear underwear under their clothing. Besides, in summer men wear store-bought European clothes. Clothes were decorated with geometric ornaments (muli) which permitted to determine to which social or age group their wearer belongs (man, woman, child, unmarried woman, married woman, mother, shaman, etc.) Decorating clothes was a labor-heavy process, so the applications were removed from old clothes and used several times. Footwear (faymu) was made from white kamus (skin from deer legs), and soles, from deer forehead or kamus skins cropped unevenly (so that they would not slide when walking). It did not have a cut in the instep and constituted a kind of a cylindrical slipover. It was worn over fur stockings (tangada). Women’s footwear has shorter bootlegs. Instead of ordinary trousers, men wore very short thigh-cover ningka trousers made from rovduga (colored chamois) or fur, over them a belt was worn with rings on the side to which bootlegs were tied and a tinderbox (tuuy), a knife in a sheath, a pipe case and a tobacco pouch were hung. In spring, to protect eyes from blinding light snow glasses (seymekunsyda) were worn, that is, a bone or metal plate with a cut-through on leather straps. Both women and men wore their hair in two braids, greasing them with deer fat. They wove metallic pendants (nyaptukhyay) into their braids.
Food
The basis of the diet was deer meat and fish. In summer and autumn, women preserved meat for future use. In winter they froze deer blood and chipped off pieces as needed to make soup (dyama). They ate fish raw, frozen and cured. They also used the meat of geeze, partridges, polar foxes, hares and bighorns and bird eggs. Unleavened scones from store-bought flour (kiriba) were considered to be a delicacy. The list of favorite dishes also included chirima kiriba – scones from flour with caviar and chirime dir – cured fat cooked with caviar. The imported products that Nganasans used were tea and tobacco.
