Russia is |
Peoples of Russia
Enets people
Enets people are one of the native small-numbered Samodian peoples of Russia. The name Enete/Enneche (Enets people) appeared in the 1930s, it means “human”. In 2000, by a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation they were given the status of native small-numbered people.
Language
The Enets language belongs to the Samodian branch of the Ural language family. It is divided into two dialects: tundra (Madu Bada) and taiga (Bay Bada), which correspond to two territorial subdivisions of the Enets people.
Dispersion
The Enets people have a compact settlement on the southwest of Taymyr, in the settlements on Yenisey: Potapovo, Levinskiye Peski, Baykalovsk, Karaul, Vorontsovo. Some Enets people live in the national settlements of the Central Taymyr – Ust-Avam and Volochanka, and also in the city of Dudinka.
Ethnic groups
Despite their small numbers, the Enets people have always been divided into two groups, forest tundra and tundra. The first were called Bay and Muggadi, and the second, Somatu (Mando).
Traditional occupations
Reindeer breeding and fishing. The main dynamic of the Enets economy consists in the tundra Enets people switching from the economy of nomadic occupations, “the culture of wild reindeer hunters”, to the home-based large herd reindeer breeding, and the forest Enets people preserving the taiga nomadic occupations.
Dwellings
The main dwelling of the Enets people is a conical chum close to the Nenets one but distinguished by the smaller size of its nyuk cover (so to cover the chum the Enets people needed four nyuks, not two, like in the Nenets chum). As a winter dwelling they used a sled chum, close to the Dolgan in its construction, but with a door on the left side.
Clothes
The traditional complex of Enets clothes differs for the two ethnoterritorial groups: for the forest Enets the Nenets clothes became more widespread, and for the tundra Enets the clothes were more similar to the Nganasan one: they were based on the parka (closed for men and open for women) consisting of two coats, the inner (knee-length with fur outwards) and the outer (longer and with fur inwards); both coats were made from reindeer pelts with dog fur edging on the hem. The men’s parka was combined with trousers, and women’s, with overalls. Currently the Enets clothes are completely out of use.
Food
The basis of the diet of the Enets was fresh and frozen meat and fresh fish. They used fish to make yukola and fish flour porsa.
