Where do the Nivkhs live on the map. Nivkhs are the descendants of the first people. Meshtyb N.A. Religious representations of the Nivkhs

People in the Russian Federation. The indigenous population of the lower reaches of the Amur River (Khabarovsk Territory) and about. Sakhalin. The Nivkh language belongs to the Paleo-Asiatic languages. Number - 4631 people.

Nivkhs are a people in the Russian Federation. Settled in the northern part of Sakhalin Island and in the basins of the Tym River (more than 2 thousand people), as well as on the Lower Amur (2386 people).

The total number is 4631 people. They belong to the Central Asian type of the North Asian race of the great Mongoloid race. Together with the Chukchi, Koryaks and other peoples of the Northeast, they are part of the Paleo-Asiatic group. Self-name - nivkhgu (man). The old name is Gilyaki. This ethnonym was widely used until the 30s of the 20th century. Some of the old Nivkhs call themselves Gilyaks even today. In addition to the Nivkhs, the Russians also called Gilyaks Ulchi, Negidals and part of the Evenks.

They speak the Nivkh language, which has two dialects: Amur and East Sakhalin. The Nivkh language, together with the Ket language, belongs to isolated languages. The Russian language is widely spoken. In 1989, only 23.3% of the Nivkhs called the Nivkh language their native language. Writing was created in 1932 on the basis of the Latin alphabet, in 1953 it was translated into Russian graphics.

The Nivkhs are direct descendants of the ancient population of Sakhalin and the lower reaches of the Amur. In the past, they settled over a much larger area. The area of settlement of the Nivkhs extended to the Uda basin, as evidenced by toponymy data, archaeological materials and historical documents. There is a point of view that the ancestors of the modern Nivkhs, northeastern Paleo-Asians, Eskimos and Indians of America are links of one ethnic chain that covered the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean in the distant past. The modern ethnic image of the Nivkhs was greatly influenced by their ethno-cultural contacts with the Tungus-Manchurian peoples, the Ainu and the Japanese.

The first Russian explorers (I. Moskvitin and others) first met the Nivkhs in the first half of the 17th century. V. Poyarkov, during his Amur voyage, overlaid the Amur Nivkhs with yasak. The number of Nivkhs in the 17th century. Russians estimated at 5700 people. In the second half of the 17th century. direct contacts between the Russians and the Nivkhs were interrupted and were resumed only in the middle of the 19th century, when the Amur expedition of G. Nevelsky annexed Sakhalin to Russia. In the middle of the 19th century, the Nivkhs retained the remnants of the primitive communal system and tribal division. They had an Iroquois-type kinship system. Members of each genus had a common generic name. The genus performed the functions of self-government and consisted of large-family communities and individual families. The genus was exogamous. The classical form of marriage is marriage to the mother's brother's daughter. Each clan had its own territory. And at present, all Nivkh families remember well their generic names and territories that belonged to their clans. The Russian colonization of Sakhalin and the lower reaches of the Amur had a serious impact on the socio-economic and cultural life of the Nivkhs. An intensive disintegration of the tribal organization begins. Part of the Nivkhs is drawn into commodity-money relations, new types of economic activities appear - domestic cattle breeding, farming, commercial fisheries, and seasonal trades. Many elements of Russian material culture became widespread. The missionaries of the Russian Orthodox Church were active. By the end of the 19th century all Amur Nivkhs were baptized, but the ideas of Christianity did not have a significant impact on their consciousness.

The main branches of the Nivkh economy are fishing and sea fishing. Land hunting and gathering were of secondary importance. An especially important role in the life of the Nivkhs was played by the fishing of migratory salmon - pink salmon and chum salmon, which were caught in large quantities and from which yukola was prepared for the winter. They caught fish with seines, nets, hook tackle and various traps.

Sea animals (seals, seals, white whales) were caught with nets of leather belts, traps and a special tool - a long smooth harpoon. Fish and sea animals were fished all year round. In winter, fish were caught under the ice with fixed nets and fly-rods in the holes. Near the villages, sea animals were hunted individually, collective hunting was associated with going out to sea, going to distant islands and rookeries. It is known that for this purpose the Nivkhs made long expeditions to the Shantar Islands. Hunting for fur and meat taiga animals was individual. In some cases, especially when hunting for a bear in a den, several hunters went out. Forest animals were hunted with various traps and loops. Crossbows were mounted on otters, foxes, ungulates and bears. The bear was also hunted with a spear.

The sable was caught with a net. Bird hunting was widespread - ducks, geese, upland game. During the molting period, birds were caught with a net in small bays and bays. On the sea coast, with the help of a special hook, the eps caught seagulls. The gathering was done by women, children and teenagers. In addition to berries, nuts, edible plants, seaweed, especially seaweed, and mollusks were collected. Wild garlic, acorns, saran roots, nuts, and some types of berries were usually harvested for the winter. Mollusks and crustaceans were not only collected on the tidal strip, but also from the bottom. To do this, they used a long pole with a bunch of pointed sticks at the end.

Dog breeding was widely developed among the Nivkhs, animals were kept in cages, valuable plants - sarana, etc. were grown on family plots. At present, only a part of the Nivkhs are engaged in traditional sectors of the economy. The majority, especially young people, work in industry, various organizations and institutions. All Nivkh families in rural areas are engaged in domestic animal husbandry and gardening.

The Nivkhs led a sedentary lifestyle. Their villages were located on the high wooded banks of the Amur, at the mouths of spawning rivers, on the sea coast, close to fishing grounds. In April, they moved to summer villages, where they lived until late autumn. The villages were small - from 2 to 10 houses. By the beginning of the twentieth century. detached summer villages disappeared, they began to be placed together with winter dwellings. The traditional dwelling is a semi-dugout toryv in the form of a simple or truncated pyramid. The hearth-bonfire was in the center, along the walls - bunks. Another type of dwelling deepened into the ground (earthen house) was a log or frame-pillar sloping form. The ground building of the same design (lochurladyv) was heated with an iron stove. From the middle of the 19th century began to build winter houses veils. This is a rectangular above-ground house of a frame-and-pillar structure, built with a slotted technique, with a gently sloping gable roof. Summer dwelling - building on piles with a gable roof covered with birch bark. In the field, gable and spherical frame buildings were built as temporary housing.

Traditional outer clothing for men and women was made of fish skin, skins of marine animals, deer and elk and consisted of pants and a robe. In cold weather, they put on insulated dressing gowns, which were tied with sashes. A coat made of dog fur and sealskin without a collar and hood served as winter clothing. A sealskin skirt was worn over the fur coat. Headwear - a fur hat, headphones, in the summer - a birch bark or cloth hat. Shoes were made of sealskin and skins. An indispensable attribute of clothing is sleeves and knee pads. At present, most of the Nivkhs wear European clothes, which some craftswomen decorate with national ornaments.

Nivkhs are classic ichthyophages. Their main food is raw, boiled and dried fish.

An equally important role in nutrition was played by the meat of marine animals, which in recent decades has become a delicacy. Stroganina and mos (fish skin jelly with berries and seal fat) were considered tasty dishes. They remain a favorite food to this day. Tea was brewed from chaga, lingonberry leaves, wild rosemary shoots and berries.

In winter, skis served as a means of transportation - bare and sheathed with skins or sealskin, as well as dog teams. They traveled on the water in boats. There were two types of boats - boardwalks and dugouts. A large plank boat in the past could accommodate up to 40 people. Draft dog breeding of the Nivkhs of the Gilyak-Amur type. The characteristic features of the Nivkh sled are straight spears, runners bent on both sides and two horizontal arcs - in front and behind. The Nivkh dog team was also used to tow boats on the water.

According to their worldview, the Nivkhs were animists. In every object they saw a living principle and human traits. The cult of nature - water, taiga, earth - was widespread. In order to maintain good relations with their "masters" - spirits, the Nivkhs arranged sacrifices - "feedings". All rituals associated with fire were strictly observed, there were complex rituals associated with eating beluga whale meat, hunting bears and other animals. An important role in the spiritual life of the Nivkhs, in their worldview belonged to the dog. A beloved dog was killed after the death of the owner. There was a special kind of taboo dogs that were sacrificed. Two large folk holidays are associated with the religious beliefs of the Nivkhs - "feeding water" and the bear holiday, associated with the slaughter of a bear grown in a cage. It was accompanied by sports competitions, games, playing musical instruments. The main idea of the holiday is the veneration of nature and its inhabitants. Currently, attempts are being made to revive the bear holiday as the basis of national artistic creativity. In the folklore of the Nivkhs, 12 independent genres are distinguished: fairy tales, legends, lyrical songs, etc. The folklore hero of the Nivkhs is nameless, he fights evil spirits, defends the offended as a champion of goodness and justice. Decorative art is represented by ornaments, sculptural images, and carved objects. A special place is occupied by a sculpture depicting twins, the image of a bear on ladles and other objects. Spoons with carved ornaments, dishes and ladles for bear holidays have a complex plot.

A worthy place in sculptural art is occupied by wooden images of birds, figurines of the "masters" of water, fire and other guardians. Nivkh ornaments were used to decorate clothes, hats, shoes, wooden and birch bark utensils. The most ancient way of decorating birch bark products is embossing.

Among the motifs in the ornament, there are often tree leaves, a stylized image of birds, paired spirals and leaf-like patterns with symmetrically arranged curls. Currently, great efforts are being made to revive the entire complex of traditional spiritual culture. Folk holidays are regularly held, folklore ensembles have been created,

in which young people are involved.

Faces of Russia. "Living Together, Being Different"

The Faces of Russia multimedia project has existed since 2006, telling about Russian civilization, the most important feature of which is the ability to live together, remaining different - this motto is especially relevant for the countries of the entire post-Soviet space. From 2006 to 2012, as part of the project, we created 60 documentaries about representatives of various Russian ethnic groups. Also, 2 cycles of radio programs "Music and songs of the peoples of Russia" were created - more than 40 programs. Illustrated almanacs have been released to support the first series of films. Now we are halfway to creating a unique multimedia encyclopedia of the peoples of our country, a picture that will allow the inhabitants of Russia to recognize themselves and leave a picture of what they were like for posterity.

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"Faces of Russia". Nivkhs. "On the water", 2010

General information

N'ivhi, Nivkh (self-name - "man"), Gilyaks (obsolete), people in Russia. They live in the Khabarovsk Territory on the lower Amur and on Sakhalin Island (mainly in the northern part). The number of 4630 people. According to the 2002 census, the number of Nivkhs living in Russia is 5 thousand people, according to the 2010 census. - 4 thousand 652 people ..

They speak an isolated Nivkh language. The Russian language is also widespread.

It is assumed that the Nivkhs are direct descendants of the ancient population of Sakhalin and the lower reaches of the Amur, settled in the past much more widely than at present. They were in wide ethno-cultural contacts with the Tungus-Manchurian peoples, the Ainu and the Japanese. Many Nivkhs spoke the languages of the peoples of adjacent territories.

The main traditional occupations are fishing (chum salmon, pink salmon, etc.) and sea fishing (seal, white whale, etc.). They fished with seines, nets, hooks, set zaezdki, etc. They beat the sea animal with spears, clubs, etc. They made yukola from fish, rendered fat from the insides, and sewed shoes and clothes from leather. Hunting was of lesser importance (bear, deer, fur-bearing animal, etc.). The beast was mined with the help of loops, crossbows, spears, and from the end of the 19th century - guns.

Ancillary occupation - gathering (berries, sarana roots, wild garlic, nettle; on the sea coast - mollusks, seaweed, shells). Developed dog breeding. Dog meat was used for food, skins for clothing, dogs were used as a vehicle, for exchange, for hunting, and were sacrificed. Home crafts are widespread - the manufacture of skis, boats, sleds, wooden utensils, dishes (trough, tuesa), birch bark bedding, bone and leather processing, weaving of mats, baskets, blacksmithing. They traveled in boats (board or dugouts made of poplar), skis (blank or lined with fur), sleds with a dog sled.

In the former USSR, there were changes in the life of the Nivkhs. A significant part of them work in fishing artels, at industrial enterprises, in the service sector. According to the 1989 census, 50.7% of the Nivkhs are urban population.

In the 19th century, the remnants of the primitive communal system, tribal division were preserved.

They led a sedentary life. Villages were usually located along the banks of rivers and the sea coast. In winter, they lived in a semi-dugout of a quadrangular plan, deepened into the ground by 1-1.5 m, with a spherical roof. Above-ground dwellings of pillar construction with kans were widespread. Summer dwelling - building on piles or twisted stumps with a gable roof.

Traditional clothing (men's and women's) consisted of trousers and a robe made of fish skin or paper. In winter, they wore a fur coat made of dog fur, men put on a skirt made of sealskin over a fur coat. Headwear - headphones, a fur hat, in summer a conical birch bark or cloth hat. Shoes made of seal and fish skin.

Traditional food is raw and boiled fish, meat of sea animals and forest animals, berries, shellfish, algae and edible herbs.

They were officially considered Orthodox, but retained traditional beliefs (the cult of nature, the bear, shamanism, etc.). Until the 1950s, the Nivkhs of Sakhalin maintained a classic bear festival with the slaughter of a cage-bred bear. According to animistic ideas, the Nivkhs are surrounded by wildlife with intelligent inhabitants. There was a norm to take care of the environment and use its wealth wisely. Traditional environmental regulations were rational. Particularly valuable are the labor skills accumulated over the centuries, folk arts and crafts, folklore, musical and song creativity, knowledge about medicinal herbs and gathering.

At present, the process of returning the Nivkhs to their former places of settlement and the revival of old villages has begun. The intelligentsia has grown. Basically, these are employees of cultural and public education institutions. The Nivkh writing system was created in 1932. Primers are published in the Amur and East Sakhalin dialects, reading books, dictionaries, and the newspaper Nivkh Dif (Nivkh Word).

Ch.M. Dachshunds

Essays

Nivkhs- the indigenous people of the Far East, living in the lower reaches of the Amur, on the banks of the Tatar Strait (Ulchsky and Nikolaevsky districts of the Khabarovsk Territory) and in the northern part of Sakhalin Island. Nivkhs represent a special Amur Sakhalin anthropological type of the North Asian race. Number in the Russian Federation according to the 2002 census. - 5287 people. The Nivkh language has no parallels with the languages of other peoples of Eastern Siberia and belongs to the group of isolated languages, although modern researchers find elements of the South Altai, Manchu and Tungus language groups in it. There are Amur, North Sakhalin and East Sakhalin dialects. Writing - since 1932 on the basis of Latin, and since 1953. - Russian graphics. Religion - animism, shamanism.

just people

The mysterious Nivkhs (Nivkhgu - people) were called "gilyaks" until the 1930s. Their occupations, culture and way of life are similar to the rest of the peoples of the south of the Far East, and the language, unlike the dialect of their neighbors, is part of a small Paleo-Asiatic group that has survived from the times preceding the widespread use of the Tungus-Manchu languages in Eastern Siberia. The Nivkhs have always sought to settle down, and their traditional crafts (hunting and fishing) were year-round.

Tyf, dyf, taf or house

The winter dwelling of the Nivkhs - tyf, dyf, taf - is a large log house with a pillar frame and walls made of horizontal logs inserted with pointed ends into the grooves of vertical pillars. Its gable roof was covered with grass, there was no ceiling, inside there was an earthen floor and wide bunks along the walls, heated by chimneys from the hearth. Two or three families were usually accommodated in such a house, located on their bunks, and in the center, on a wooden flooring, arranged on high poles, sled dogs lived and fed in severe frosts. With the onset of heat, each family moved to their summer dwelling, which was built near the winter house or near the water, next to the fishery. Framed bark flyers, which had different shapes - gable, conical, rectangular - were most often placed on piles. Usually they consisted of two parts: a living room with an open hearth and a barn where nets, nets and fish were dried.

There was enough land for everyone

The location of winter and summer "villages" depended on fishing and geographical conditions. The winter village was traditionally located away from the seashore, in a place protected from the winds, in a forest, closer to hunting grounds or on the shore of a reservoir, not far from ice fishing holes. In summer, the Nivkhs sought to settle in the mouth of the river, where the fish came for spawning, or on the sea spit, where they caught salmon and caught sea animals - seals, bearded seals, sea lions. Settling in small communities, separated by considerable distances from each other and leading an integrated economy of fishermen, hunters of sea and forest animals, gatherers of berries, mushrooms, and plants, gave them the opportunity to develop territories that were optimal in size, maintaining a relatively high level of consumption. The fact that their lands did not have clearly defined boundaries, and the Nivkhs themselves did not come into conflict with other peoples, was largely due to the peculiarities of the location.

Sons-in-law and father-in-law

The Nivkh society was a solid structure, consisting of separate clans, which were bound by mutual obligations. Each clan (“khal” or in Russian “sheath”) took women from one specific clan and, in turn, gave their women to another, also precisely defined clan. In relation to one khal, he was "imkhi", that is, the family of sons-in-law, in relation to another - "ahmalk", the family of father-in-law. Agreements between members of various clans were not limited to the sphere of family and marriage norms, they extended to the entire area of diverse social relations, and this was their significance as a system of ties cementing society. Therefore, the Nivkhs did not quarrel and did not fight with relatives, but helped them in difficult times.

Nikolaevsk-on-Amur - the capital of the Nivkh land

The first mention of these peace-loving people is found in the report of Vasily Poyarkov, who commanded the Cossacks who came to the lower reaches of the Amur in 1643. In it, he informs his boss, the Yakut voivode Pyotr Golovin, about the Gilyaks, the local “people” who live in houses on stilts, ride dogs, fish in small birch bark boats (“mu”) and swim out on them even into the open sea. In 1849-1855. the expedition of Gennady Ivanovich Nevelsky worked in the same places, and according to the descriptions of the life and culture of the natives left by its members, it can be concluded that there have been no major changes in the way of life of the Nivkhs over the past two centuries. True, “crow” buttons appeared in the outfits of local fashionistas, which drew the attention of Nevelsky’s subordinate, Lieutenant Nikolai Boshnyak. The study of the material from which they were made, as well as the stories of the fishermen, allowed him to later discover a large coal deposit on Sakhalin. Also, the participants of the expedition on the lands of the Nivkhs founded the city of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, around which Russian peasants began to settle, and after the conclusion of the Aigun and Beijing treaties with China (1858-1860), these territories - mainland and island - officially became part of the Russian Empire.

Fire

According to their beliefs, the Nivkhs were animists: they animated living and inanimate nature, populated the world with good and evil spirits. They also included heavenly bodies, mountains, water, fire, which was also a symbol of the family, to the category of living beings. So, the Nivkhs, unlike other peoples of the Amur, often cremated the dead, believing that in this way their souls would freely ascend to the upper world. The conduct of this rite differed somewhat in form among different communities, but the main thing in its content was preserved: the corpse was burned on a huge funeral pyre in the taiga accompanied by ritual lamentation, the ashes were raked to the center of the fire and enclosed with a log house. Then a wooden doll was made, a bone from the skull of the deceased was attached to it, dressed, put on shoes and placed in a special house - raf, about a meter high, decorated with carved ornaments. Subsequently, regular funeral rites were performed near him (especially often in the first month after the funeral, then - about once a month for a year, after that - every year), they treated themselves, and they threw food into the fire for another relative who had gone into the world. If a person disappeared or drowned, and his body was not found, then a symbolic burial was arranged, when instead of him they buried a large, in the growth of the deceased, doll made of branches and grass. She was dressed in the clothes of the deceased and buried in the ground or burned, observing the prescribed ritual.

Water…

From the same animistic ideas arose the cult of the "masters of nature", closely connected with the fishing rituals. The Nivkhs prayed to the spirit master of the sky in their homes, in the forest near the sacred tree they called on the spirit master of the earth, turning to him with requests for health, good luck in crafts and in future affairs. Taiga, mountains, and especially the sea, rivers, lakes, that is, water as a source of life, largely determined their ritual practice. One of the central places in it was occupied by the celebration of the liberation of reservoirs from ice and the dedication to the spirits of water of special food and utensils - wooden troughs in the form of ducks and fish. Only after “feeding the water” did the Nivkhs start fishing for fish and sea animals, otherwise its “owner” (Tol Yz, or Tayraadz - killer whale) could not send a catch.

And bears

Another powerful spirit - the owner of the taiga Pal Yz, or "mountain man", was presented in the form of a huge bear, and each "ordinary" bear was considered his son. The hunt for him had to be accompanied by a special ritual, that is, the “bear game” - chkhif lerand. For example, after the successful completion of the campaign, the oldest hunter sat on the back of a dead bear and shouted: “Whoo!” three times if it was a male, and four times if it was a bear. To appease, they put tobacco in the left ear of the beast, after refreshing it, they delivered it to the village, and they carried it head first, warning their relatives with a cry. Women greeted the procession by playing on a musical log, the carcass was brought into the barn, the skin with the head was placed on the platform, where the bones, skulls, and genitals of previously mined bears were already stored. Hunting equipment was immediately piled up and refreshments were placed, including the fried meat of a killed animal, which was distributed to all those present, the meal itself was accompanied by musical accompaniment.

bear holiday

Also, the ritual of the bear holiday with a bear grown in a cage was developed among the Nivkhs in detail. It took place in January-February, during the full moon period, for two weeks. On the one hand, it was associated with a fishing cult, that is, it was accompanied by a rite of feeding the owners of the land, forests and mountains, on the other hand, with a wake for a deceased relative. A bear cub caught or found in the taiga was raised for three years in a special log cabin, and during the entire time the animal was kept, many rules and taboos were observed. For example, women were forbidden to approach him, although sometimes the hostess even breastfed him, calling him “son”. Usually, a holiday in memory of a deceased relative, whose soul, according to legend, passed into a bear, was divided into several stages: making sacred shavings (inau), killing a bear, placing his head on a platform, treating him to meat, sacrificing dogs and leaving guests. It happened like this: on the appointed day, the owner of the bear poured wine to the household spirit and turned to him with a request to forgive him for not being able to keep the bear anymore, although he treated him well all the time. He went to the cage and treated the bear, pouring wine in front of him, women danced here, and the hostess who nursed the bear cub expressed her sadness with crying and a special dance. The bear was led around the village, he was joyfully greeted in every house, treated to yukola, special fish skin jelly, wine and bowed to him - this was supposed to bring prosperity to the family. Everyone danced to the sounds of a musical log, pantomime depicting the future journey of the beast to its ancestors. Then, at the last house, the bear’s farewell began: like a dead person, they put on two belts woven from grass, to which they tied “travel food” and “travel items” - roots, tubers, berries, bags of tobacco.

And the funeral of the son of Pal Yz

The son-in-law or son-in-law of the owner of the beast killed the bear. This took place on a specially prepared area, fenced with chopped Christmas trees and decorated with ritual shavings. The bear was tied to carved poles, and the owner turned to him: “Now we are organizing a big feast in your honor, do not be afraid, we will not harm you, we will only kill you and send you to the owner of the forest who loves you. We're going to give you the best food you've ever had with us, we're all going to cry for you. The person who will kill you is the best shooter among us, he cries and asks for your forgiveness. You will hardly feel anything, it will be done quickly. We can't feed you forever, you understand. We have done all we can for you, and now it is your turn to take care of us - ask the Master to send more otters, sables for the winter, and seals and fish in abundance for the summer, do not forget our service. We love you very much, and our children will never forget you…” The playground and refreshments were prepared by the family that raised the bear. The carcass was skinned, the skin with the head was lowered into the house through a smoke hole on a long pole and laid on a platform on which dogs were sacrificed. Between meals, dancing, sled dog racing, fencing with sticks, archery continued, women played on a musical log. Bear meat was boiled over a fire made with a family flint, served in special wooden ladles made for the holiday, and also taken out with a special scoop-spoon with a carved image of a bear. The animal's head and meat were decorated with inau shavings, and all the bones were collected and given to the owners, attaching some gift to them: a spear, a knife, a belt, even dogs. They were allegedly sent to "forest people" - bears. On the eve of the end of the holiday, the old people sat all night near the skull of the beast, ate ritual dishes and had a conversation with him. Then, to the sound of music, in a barn or on a tree where other skulls were already stored, they put a new one, put food in front of it, said the words of farewell, and planted a spruce next to it, since the total number of trees should correspond to the number of dead bears ...

In studying the history of the culture of the past of their country, people, first of all, learn to understand and respect each other. The peoples of Sakhalin are especially interesting in this regard. Understanding a different mentality unites peoples and nations. And this is not surprising, because a nation without a cultural heritage is like an orphan without a family and a tribe that has nothing to rely on.

general information

Before the period when researchers and travelers from Europe appeared on Sakhalin, the indigenous population consisted of four tribes: Ainu (in the south of the island), Nivkhs (dwelled mainly in the northern part), Oroks (Uilts) and Evenks (nomads with deer herds).

A deep study of the features of life and life of the peoples of Sakhalin was carried out on the exhibits of the local museum of local lore. Here is a whole collection of ethnographic exhibits, which are the pride of the museum collection. There are authentic objects dating back to the 18th-20th centuries, which indicates the existence of original cultural traditions among the natives of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin.

Ainu people

Representatives of this nation are among the oldest descendants of the population of the Japanese, Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin. Historically, the lands of this tribe were divided into the possessions of Japan and the possessions of Russia in the Far East. This is due to the fact that Russian researchers studied and developed the Kuriles and Sakhalin at the same time as Japanese explorers who carried out similar work on the Pacific coast (Hokkaido Island). Closer to the middle of the 19th century, the Ainu people from the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin fell under the jurisdiction of Russia, and their fellow tribesmen became subjects of the Land of the Rising Sun.

Culture Features

The Ainu are the people of Sakhalin, one of the most mysterious and ancient nations on the planet. Representatives of the nationality radically differed from their Mongoloid neighbors in their physical appearance, unique spoken language, and many areas of spiritual and material culture. Fair-skinned men wore beards, while women had tattoos around their mouths and on their arms. Drawing the drawing was very painful and unpleasant. First, an incision was made above the lip with a special knife, then the wound was treated with a decoction of wormwood. After that, soot was rubbed, and the procedure could last more than one day. The result was something like a male mustache.

In translation, ain is a “noble person” belonging to the people. The Chinese called representatives of this nationality mozhen (hairy people). This is due to the dense vegetation on the body of the natives.

The warlike tribe used swords with plant belts, heavy batons with sharp spikes, as well as bows and arrows as the main weapons. The Sakhalin Museum has a unique exhibit - military armor, which is made by weaving from strips of bearded seal skin. This rarity reliably protected the body of a warrior. The surviving armor was found in the family of the headman on Lake Nevsky (Taraika) in the thirties of the last century. Additionally, the adaptation of the islanders to living conditions is evidenced by a variety of fishing tackle and tools for sea and land fishing.

Life of the Ainu

Representatives of this people of Sakhalin in hunting animals used arrowheads smeared with aconite poison. The utensils were mostly made of wood. In everyday life, men used the original item ikunis. He served to raise his mustache while drinking alcoholic beverages. This device belongs to the ritual artifacts. The Ainu believed that Ikunis is an intermediary between spirits and people. The sticks were decorated with all kinds of patterns and ornaments, symbolizing the daily life of the tribe, including hunting or holidays.

Shoes and clothes were sewn by women from the skins of land and sea animals. Capes made of fish skin were decorated with colored fabric appliqués at the collar and cuffs of the sleeves. This was done not only for beauty, but also for protection from evil spirits. Women's winter clothing was a dressing gown made of seal fur, decorated with mosaics and fabric patterns. Men wore robes of elm bast as everyday wear, and woven nettle suits for holidays.

Migration

About the small people - the Ainu - now only museum exhibits remind. Here, visitors can see a unique loom, clothes sewn by representatives of the nation many decades ago, and other items of culture and life of this tribe. Historically, after 1945, a group of 1,200 Ainu moved to Hokkaido as Japanese citizens.

Nivkhs: people of Sakhalin

The culture of this tribe is focused on the extraction of fish of the salmon family, marine mammals, as well as the gathering of plants and roots growing in the taiga. In everyday life, fishing tools were used (needles for weaving nets, sinkers, special hooks for hunting. The beast was hunted with wooden mallets and spears.

Representatives of the nationality moved on the water in boats of various modifications. The most popular model was dugout. To prepare a ritual dish called mos, scoops, troughs and spoons made of wood, decorated with figured carvings, were used. The basis of the dish included which was stored in the dried stomachs of sea lions.

Nivkhs are the indigenous peoples of Sakhalin, who made beautiful and unique things from birch bark. This material was used for the production of buckets, boxes, baskets. Products were decorated with a unique embossed spiral ornament.

Clothing and footwear

The wardrobe of the Nivkhs was different from the clothes of the Ainu. Bathrobes, as a rule, had a half-length (usually on the left). In the exposition of the museum on Sakhalin, you can see original capes made of fabric at the beginning of the 20th century. A skirt made of seal fur was considered the standard hunting clothing for men. Women's dressing gowns were decorated with patterned embroidery in the Amur style. Metal ornaments were sewn along the lower hem.

A winter headdress made of lynx fur was trimmed with Manchurian silk, which testified to the solvency and wealth of the owner of the hat. Shoes were sewn from the skins of sea lions and seals. It was distinguished by a high rate of strength and did not get wet. In addition, women skillfully processed fish skin, after which they made various items of clothing and accessories from it.

Many items characteristic of the indigenous peoples of Sakhalin, which are in the local museum, were collected by B. O. Pilsudsky (an ethnographer from Poland). For his political views, he was exiled to Sakhalin penal servitude in 1887. The collection contains models of traditional Nivkh dwellings. It should be noted that ground winter dwellings were erected in the taiga, and summer houses were built on piles at the mouths of spawning rivers.

At least ten dogs were kept in each Nivkh family. They served as a means of transportation, and were also used to exchange and pay a fine for breaking the religious order. One of the measures of the wealth of the owner was precisely the sled dogs.

The main spirits of the tribes of Sakhalin: Master of the mountains, Lord of the sea, Lord of fire.

Oroks

The Uilta people (Oroks) represent the Tungus-Manchurian linguistic group. The main economic direction of the tribe is reindeer breeding. were the main vehicle used for pack, saddle and sledges. In winter, nomadic routes ran through the taiga of the northern part of Sakhalin, and in summer - along the coast of the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk and in the lowlands of the Gulf of Patience.

Most of the time the deer spent on free grazing. This did not require special fodder preparation, the place of settlement simply changed as pasture plants and crops were eaten. From one female deer, up to 0.5 liters of milk was obtained, which they drank in its pure form or made butter and sour cream.

The pack deer was additionally equipped with various bags, a saddle, boxes and other elements. All of them were decorated with colored patterns and embroidery. In the Sakhalin Museum, you can see a real sled used to transport goods during nomadism. In addition, the collection contains hunting attributes (spearheads, crossbows, butchering knives, homemade skis). For the Uilts, winter hunting was one of the main sources of income.

economic part

Orok women skillfully dressed deer skin, getting blanks for future clothes. The pattern was carried out using special knives on the boards. Things were decorated with ornamental embroidery in the Amur and floral style. A characteristic feature for patterns is a chain stitch. Winter wardrobe items were made from deer fur. Fur coats, mittens, hats were decorated with mosaics and fur ornaments.

In the summer, the Uilts, like other small peoples of Sakhalin, were engaged in fishing, harvesting fish from the salmon family as a reserve. Representatives of the tribe lived in portable dwellings (chums), which were covered with deer skins. In summer, frame buildings covered with larch bark acted as houses.

Evenks and Nanais

Evenki (Tungus) belong to the Siberian small peoples. They are the closest relatives of the Manchus, they call themselves "Evenkil". This tribe, closely related to the Uilts, was actively engaged in reindeer herding. At present, the people live mainly in Aleksandrovsk and the Okinsky district of Sakhalin.

Nanais (from the word "nanai" - "local person") are a small group that speak their own language. The tribe, like the Evenks, belongs to an offshoot of mainland relatives. They are also engaged in fishing and deer breeding. After the Second World War, the resettlement of the Nanai people on Sakhalin from the mainland to the island was massive. Now most of the representatives of this nationality live in the Poronai urban district.

Religion

The culture of the peoples of Sakhalin is closely connected with various religious rites. The ideas of higher powers among the peoples of Sakhalin Island were based on magical, totemic and animistic views of the world around them, including animals and plants. For most of the peoples of Sakhalin, the cult of the bear was at the highest esteem. In honor of this beast, they even arranged a special holiday.

The cub was raised in a special cage for up to three years, fed only with the help of special ritual ladles. Products were decorated with carvings with elements of pictographic signs. The bear was killed on a special sacred site.

In the representations of the peoples of Sakhalin Island, the beast symbolized the mountain spirit, so most of the amulets contained the image of this particular animal. Amulets possessed great magical power, were kept for centuries in families, passed down from one generation to another. Amulets were divided into therapeutic and commercial options. They were made by shamans or people suffering from serious illnesses.

The attributes of the sorcerer included a tambourine, a belt with massive metal pendants, a special headdress, a sacred wand and a mask made of bear skin. According to legend, these items allowed the shaman to communicate with spirits, heal people and help fellow tribesmen overcome life's difficulties. The objects and remains of settlements found by the researchers indicate that the peoples of the Sakhalin coast buried the dead in different ways. For example, the Ainu buried the dead in the ground. The Nivkhs practiced the burning of corpses, setting up a commemorative wooden building at the cremation site. A figurine was placed in it, identifying the soul of a deceased person. At the same time, a regular ritual of feeding the idol was carried out.

Economy

For the peoples living on Sakhalin, trade between Japan and China played a huge role. The natives of Sakhalin and Amur were actively involved in it. In the seventeenth century, a trade route was formed from northern China along the Lower Amur through the territories of the Ulchi, Nanais, Nivkhs and other indigenous peoples, including the Ainu in Hokkaido. Metal products, jewelry, silks and other fabrics, as well as other items of trade became the subjects of exchange. Among the museum expositions of those times, one can notice Japanese lacquerware, silk decorations of clothes and headdresses, and many other items of this trend.

present tense

If we take into account the terminology of the United Nations, then indigenous peoples are nations living in a certain territory until the establishment of modern state boundaries there. In Russia, this issue is regulated by the federal law “On Guarantees of the Rights of Indigenous and Minorities of the Russian Federation Living in the Territory of Their Ancestors”. This takes into account the traditional way of life, types of economic and fishing activities. This category includes groups of people numbering less than 50 thousand people who are aware of themselves as an independent organized community.

The main ethnic groups of Sakhalin now include a little more than four thousand representatives of the tribes of the Nivkhs, Evenks, Uilts, and Nanais. There are 56 tribal settlements and communities on the island, located in places of traditional residence, engaged in typical economic and commercial activities.

It is worth noting that there are no purebred Ainu left on the territory of Russian Sakhalin. A census conducted in 2010 showed that three people of this nationality live in the region, but they also grew up in the marriage of the Ainu with representatives of other nations.

In conclusion

Honoring one's own people is an indicator of a high level of self-consciousness and a tribute to the ancestors. Indigenous peoples have every right to do so. Among the 47 indigenous nations in Russia, representatives of Sakhalin stand out prominently. They have similar traditions, conduct parallel economic activities, worship the same spirits and higher powers. However, there are certain differences among the Nanais, Ainu, Uilts and Nivkhs. Thanks to the support of small nationalities at the legislative level, they did not go into oblivion, but continue to develop the traditions of their ancestors, instilling values and customs in the younger generations.

Nivkhs, Nivkhs (self-name - "man"), Gilyaks (obsolete), people in Russia. They live in the Khabarovsk Territory on the lower Amur and on Sakhalin Island (mainly in the northern part). The number of 4630 people. They speak an isolated Nivkh language. The Russian language is also widespread.

It is believed that the Nivkhs are direct descendants of the ancient population of Sakhalin and the lower reaches of the Amur, settled in the past much more widely than at present. They were in wide ethno-cultural contacts with the Tungus-Manchurian peoples, the Ainu and the Japanese. Many Nivkhs spoke the languages of the peoples of neighboring territories.

In the former USSR, there have been changes in the life of the Nivkhs. A significant part of them work in fishing artels, at industrial enterprises, in the service sector. According to the 1989 census, 50.7% of the Nivkhs are urban population.

In the 19th century, the remnants of the primitive communal system, tribal division were preserved.

Traditional food is raw and boiled fish, meat of sea animals and forest animals, berries, shellfish, algae and edible herbs.

They were officially considered Orthodox, but retained traditional beliefs (the cult of nature, the bear, shamanism, etc.). Up until the 1950s. the Nivkhs of Sakhalin kept the classic bear festival with the slaughter of a bear grown in a cage. According to animistic ideas, the Nivkhs are surrounded by wildlife with intelligent inhabitants. There was a norm to take care of the environment and use its wealth wisely. Traditional environmental regulations were rational. Particularly valuable are the labor skills accumulated over the centuries, folk arts and crafts, folklore, musical and song creativity, knowledge about medicinal herbs and gathering.

Ch. M. Taksami

Peoples and religions of the world. Encyclopedia. M., 2000, p. 380-382.

Gilyaks in history

Gilyaks (self-named nib (a) x, or Nivkhs, that is, a person, people; the name "Gilyaks", according to Schrenk, comes from the Chinese "keel", "Kileng", as the Chinese used to call all the natives in the lower reaches Cupid) - few. nationality in Primorye. 19th century explorers (Zeland, Schrenk, and others) then brought the number of G. (according to various methods) to 5-7 thousand people. They also gave a detailed description of the G. themselves and their way of life: the average height for men is 160, and for women - 150 cm. They are most often “stocky, with a short neck and well-developed chest, with somewhat short and crooked legs, with small hands and feet, with a rather large, broad head, swarthy skin color, dark eyes and black straight hair, which is braided behind in men and in two braids in women. The features of the Mongolian type are noticeable in the face ... Shrenk refers G. to the Paleosites, to the mysterious “marginal” peoples of Asia (like the Ainu, Kamchadals, Yukagirs, Chukchi, Aleuts, etc.) and believes that G.’s original homeland was on Sakhalin, where they came from they crossed to the mainland under pressure from the south of the Ainu, who, in turn, were pushed back by the Japanese ... G. differ from their neighbors in that they do not practice tattoos at all and their women do not wear rings or earrings in the nasal septum. The people are healthy and hardy ... The main food of G. is fish; they eat it raw, frozen or dried (dried) ... they stock it up for the winter for people and dogs. They fish with nets (from nettles or wild hemp), forests or steeps. In addition, G. beat seals (seals), sea lions, dolphins or beluga whales, collect lingonberries, raspberries, rose hips, pine nuts, wild garlic ... They eat mostly cold ... They eat any meat, with the exception of only rats; until recently, they did not use salt at all ... both sexes smoke tobacco, even children; they have no utensils except for wooden, birch bark and iron cauldrons. G.'s villages were located along the banks, in low-lying places, but not accessible to high water. The winter huts of mainland towns had stoves with chimneys and wide bunks to accommodate 4-8 families (up to 30 people). Fish oil and a torch were used for lighting. For the summer, G. moved to barns, arranged most often high above the ground on poles. The weapons consisted of a spear, a harpoon, a crossbow, a bow and arrows. For movement in the summer, flat-bottomed boats in the form of a trough made of cedar or spruce boards, up to 6 m long, sewn with wooden nails and caulked with moss, served; instead of a rudder - a short oar. In winter, G. went skiing or rode sleds, to which 13-15 dogs were harnessed. Before the arrival of the Russians, Georgia's weaving and pottery were completely unknown, but they were very skillful in making complex patterns (on birch bark, leather, etc.). G.'s wealth was expressed in the ability to support several wives, in silver. a coin, in a greater number of clothes, good dogs, etc. There were almost no beggars, since they were fed by wealthier tribesmen; there was no privileged class; the most revered people are old people, the rich, famous brave men, famous shamans. At rare gatherings, important disputes were resolved, for example, the kidnapping of someone's wife. The guilty person could be sentenced either to the material satisfaction of the offended, or to exile from the village, sometimes, however, secretly - to the death penalty. “Ghilyaks generally live peacefully, take care of the sick in every possible way, but the dying are carried out, out of superstitious fear, and they also remove the puerperal to a special birch bark hut, even in winter, which is why there are cases of freezing of newborns. G.'s hospitality is highly developed, theft is unknown, deceit is a rarity, in general they are distinguished by honesty ... G. usually get married early; sometimes parents enter into marriages between children 4-5 years old; for the bride they pay kalym with various things ... and, in addition, the groom must arrange a feast that lasts from a week. Marriages with nieces and cousins are allowed. The treatment of his wife is generally mild. A marriage can easily be dissolved, and a divorced woman can easily find another husband. Often also the kidnapping of wives, with the consent of the kidnapped; the husband then demands the return of the bride price or persecutes and takes revenge (there are even cases of murder) ... A widow often goes to the brother of the deceased or to another close relative, but she can remain a widow, and relatives are still obliged to help her if she is poor. The property of the father passes to the children, and the sons receive more ... G. seem to be inactive, inquisitive, indifferent. They very rarely sing, do not know dances, and have the most primitive music, produced by blows of sticks on a dry pole hanging on ropes parallel to the ground ... ". G. had very few holidays; the most important - bearish, which lasted approx. 2 weeks in January. For him, they got from the den, and sometimes bought on Sakhalin, a bear cub, fattened it, drove it around the villages. In the end, they were tied to a pole, shot with bows, after which they were lightly roasted on a fire and eaten, washed down with an intoxicating drink and tea. G. worshiped wooden idols depicting a man or an animal. Usually idols were kept in barns and taken out only in exceptional cases. G. had sacred places where they asked their spirits for good luck or forgiveness. They believed in an afterlife. The dead were taken to the forest and burned at the stake, and the ashes were collected and laid in a small house near the village, in the forest, where the clothes, weapons and pipe of the deceased were also buried, sometimes they were laid in the house itself; the dogs that brought the corpse were also killed, and if the deceased was poor, then only the sledges were burned. Near this house, relatives made a wake, brought a pipe with tobacco, a cup of drink, wept and lamented. Communication with spirits was carried out through shamans. For the first time, the Russians heard about G. in the spring of 1640: from one captive, an Even, the pioneer Tomsk. Cossack I. Moskvitin learned about the existence in the south of the Sea of Okhotsk of the “Mamur River”, that is, the Amur, at the mouth of which the swarm and on the islands lived “sedentary revelers”. Moskvitin with a detachment of Cossacks went by sea to the south. direction and at the mouth of the river. Uda received an extra. information about the Amur and its tributaries - pp. Zeya and Amgun, as well as about G. and “bearded Daur people”. Yakut who participated in this campaign. Cossack N. Kolobov reports in his "tale" that shortly before the Russians arrived at the mouth of the Uda, bearded Daurs came in plows and killed approx. 500 Gilyaks: “... And they beat them with deceit; they had women in plows in one-tree rowers in rowers, and they themselves, a hundred and eighty men, lay between those women and how they rowed to those gilyaks and left the courts, and they beat those gilyaks ... ". The Cossacks moved further “near the coast” to the islands of “sedentary Gilyaks”, i.e. it is quite possible that Moskvitin saw small islands near the north. entrance to the Amur Estuary (Chkalova and Baidukov), as well as part of the north-west. the coast of Sakhalin: “And the Gilyak land appeared, and the smoke turned out, and they [Russians] didn’t dare to go into it without leaders [guides] ...”, apparently believing that a small detachment could not cope with numerous. the population of this region, and turned back. In 1644/45, a detachment of the written head V. D. Poyarkov wintered in the neighborhood of the Gilyak village, looking for silver reserves in those places. ores and scouting along the way "new lands" to collect yasak. The Cossacks began to buy fish and firewood from G., and during the winter they collected some information about Fr. Sakhalin. In the spring, leaving hospitable G., the Cossacks attacked them, captured amanats and collected yasak with sables. In 1652/53, a detachment of E. Khabarov wintered in the Gilyak land, and in June 1655, a united detachment of Beketov, Stepanov, and Pushchin cut down a prison there and stayed for the winter. Due to the lack of writing and a rich oral tradition, G. already by the 19th century. no recollections or legends about clashes with the first Russians who appeared in their area in the middle. 17th century

Vladimir Boguslavsky

Material from the book: "Slavic Encyclopedia. XVII century". M., OLMA-PRESS. 2004.

Nivkhs

Auto-ethnonym (self-name)

nivkh: Self-named n and v x, “man”, n and v x y, “people”.

Main settlement area

They settle in the Khabarovsk Territory (lower reaches of the Amur, the coast of the Amur Estuary, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Tatar Strait), forming a mainland group. The second, island group, is represented in the north of Sakhalin.

population

Census numbers: 1897 - 4694, 1926 - 4076, 1959 - 3717, 1970 - 4420, 1979 - 4397, 1989 - 4673.

Ethnic and ethnographic groups

On a territorial basis, they are divided into two groups - the mainland (the lower course of the Amur River, the coast of the Amur Estuary, the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk and the Tatar Strait) and island or Sakhalin (the northern part of Sakhalin Island). According to the tribal composition and some features of the culture, they were divided into smaller territorial divisions - mainland by 3, island by 4.

Anthropological characteristics

The Nivkhs are unique in anthropological terms. They form a local racial complex called the Amur-Sakhalin anthropological type. It has a mestizo origin as a result of the mixing of the Baikal and Kuril (Ainu) racial components.

Language

Nivkh: The Nivkh language occupies an isolated position in relation to the languages of other peoples of the Amur. It belongs to the Paleo-Asiatic languages and reveals closeness to the languages of a number of peoples of the Pacific basin, Southeast Asia and the Altaic language community.

writing

Since 1932, written in Latin script, since 1953, based on the Russian alphabet.

Religion

Orthodoxy: Orthodox. Purposeful missionary activity begins only from the middle of the 19th century. In 1857 a special mission for the Gilyaks was created. This fact does not exclude the earlier spread of Christianity among the indigenous population of Primorye and the Amur region from among the Russian settlers. The mission was engaged in the baptism not only of the Nivkhs, but also of the peoples neighboring with them - Ulchi, Nanais, Negidals, Evenks. The process of Christianization was more of an external, formal character, which is confirmed by the almost complete ignorance of the foundations of faith, the narrow distribution of cult attributes in the Nivkh environment, and the rejection of names given at baptism. Missionary activity relied on the network that was built near the settlements of the Nivkhs. In particular, there were 17 of them on Sakhalin Island. In order to familiarize the children of the indigenous inhabitants of the Amur region with literacy and faith, small, one-class parochial schools were created. The introduction of the Nivkhs to Orthodoxy was largely facilitated by their residence among the Russian population, from which the Nivkhs borrowed elements of peasant life.

Ethnogenesis and ethnic history

The differences between the Nivkhs and neighboring peoples are usually associated with the independent process of their ethnogenesis. Due to the peculiarities of their language and culture, the Nivkhs are Paleo-Asiatic, they belong to the most ancient population of the Lower Amur and Sakhalin, which precede the Tungus-Manchus here. It is the Nivkh culture that is the substrate on which the similar, in many respects, similar culture of the Amur peoples is formed.
Another point of view believes that the most ancient population of Aur and Sakhalin (archaeology of the Meso / Neolithic time) is not actually Nivkh, but is an ethnically undifferentiated layer of culture, which is substratum in relation to the entire modern population of the Amur. Traces of this substrate are recorded in anthropology, language, and culture of both the Nivkhs and the Tungus-Manchurian peoples of the Amur region. Within the framework of this theory, the Nivkhs are considered as migrating to the Amur, one of the groups of northeastern Paleo-Asians. The relative inconsistency of these ethnogenetic schemes is explained by the high degree of mixing and integration of the modern peoples of the Amur and Sakhalin, as well as the late time of their ethnic formation.

economy

In culture, the Nivkhs inherit the ancient Lower Amur economic complex of river fishermen and sea hunters, with the auxiliary nature of the taiga fishery. A significant role in their culture was played by dog breeding (Amur / Gilyak type of draft dog breeding).

traditional clothing

Nivkh clothing also has a general Amur basis, this is the so-called. East Asian type (overclothes with a double left hollow, kimono-shaped cut).

Traditional settlements and dwellings

The main elements of the material culture of the Nivkhs correspond to the general Amur: seasonal (summer temporary, winter permanent) settlements, dwellings such as dugouts, coexist with a variety of summer temporary buildings. Under the influence of the Russians, log buildings became widespread.

Modern ethnic processes

In general, the traditional and modern culture of the Nivkhs demonstrates its correspondence to the culture of the Tungus-Manchurian peoples of the Lower Amur and Sakhalin, which was formed both genetically and in the process of long-term ethno-cultural interaction.

Bibliography and sources

General works

Nivhgu. M., 1973 / Kreinovich E.A.
The peoples of the Far East of the USSR in the XVII - XX centuries. M., 1985

Selected aspects

Traditional Economy and Material Culture of the Peoples of the Lower Amur and Sakhalin. M., 1984 / Smolyak A.V.
The main problems of ethnography and history of the Nivkhs. L., 1975./Taksami Ch.M.

Nivkhs, Nivkhs (self-name - "man"), Gilyaks (obsolete), people in Russia.

Reference article from the almanac "Faces of Russia" from the site rusnations.ru/etnos/nivhi

Vainshtein S.I. Nivkhs

NIVKhI (former name - Gilyaks) - a people living in the basin of the lower reaches of the Amur River (Khabarovsk Territory of the RSFSR) and on Sakhalin Island. Number - 3.7 thousand people (1959). The Nivkh language occupies an isolated position in the group of Paleo-Asiatic languages. There are different points of view about the origin of the Nivkhs. In all likelihood, the Nivkhs are direct descendants of the most ancient Neolithic population of the Amur basin and the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. Before the October Revolution, the basis of the economic activity of the Nivkhs was: fishing, sea hunting, and hunting.

Basilov V. N., Sokolova Z. P. Religious beliefs of the Peoples of Siberia

More than 30 aboriginal peoples belonging to 9 language groups live in Siberia: 1) Samoyedic (Nenets, Enets, Nganasans, Selkups); 2) Ugric (Khanty, Mansi), Ugrians and Samoyeds are often included in one, Uralic, family of languages; 3) standing apart Kets (kets); 4) Tungus-Manchurian (Evenks, Evens, Ulchis, Nanais, Negidals, Udeges, Oroks, Orochs); 5) Paleoasian (Chukchi, Koryaks, Yukaghirs, Itelmens); 6) Eskimo-Aleutian (Eskimos, Aleuts); 7) Turkic (Altaians, Kumandins, Teleuts, Shors, Khakases, Dolgans, Yakuts, Tuvans, Tofalars, Siberian Tatars); 8) Mongolian (Buryats)

Meshtyb N.A. Religious representations of the Nivkhs

The traditional places of settlement of the Nivkhs are the Khabarovsk Territory (Nikolaevsky, Ulchsky districts) and Sakhalin Island. Their number in the Russian Federation is 4361 people. Religious ideas and cults of the Nivkhs were associated with the taiga, its flora and fauna, the water element, and the relationship of man to nature as a whole. According to the traditional views of the Nivkhs, the universe consists of several worlds - the world of earthly people - myth, the underwater world - tol, the heavenly world - ashes and the underworld - mly. In each world there was a deity - tayapan, who was the creator of the creatures of his world.

Taksami Ch. M. Nivkhi.

A shaman and a shaman among the Gilyaks.
Illustrated encyclopedia of the peoples of Russia. St. Petersburg, 1877.