Itelmen

Ит?м?н Ительмены
An Itelmen dance group, 2013
Total population
3,211
Regions with significant populations
Russia	3,193 [1]
Ukraine	18 [2]
Languages
Itelmen , Russian
Religion
Polytheism , Shamanism , Russian Orthodoxy
Related ethnic groups
Chukchi , Koryaks
↑ Russian Census 2010: Population by ethnicity Archived 2012-04-24 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian) ↑ State statistics committee of Ukraine - National composition of population, 2001 (Ukrainian)

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The Itelmens (Itelmen: Ит?нм?н, Russian: Ительмены) are a native population of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia . Itelmen call themselves itenme'n-itelmen , which means "an inhabitant of dry land", or "a human being." ^[1] They are also called Kamchadal . They are related to the Chukchi and Koryak peoples. ^[2]

Language [ change | change source ]

Itelmen spoke the Itelmen language . It is a Chukotsko-Kamchatsky language . ^[3] As of 2016, there are only about 5 native speakers of the language alive, and it is an endangered language . ^[4] Most Itelmen now speak Russian . There have been efforts to bring the language back since the 1980s. ^[4]

Pre-contact life [ change | change source ]

Kamchadal is the general term for the native peoples of Kamchatka Krai . This includes the Itelmen. Itelmen were called Kamchadals by Russian settlers until 1927. ^[5] They were fishermen and fur hunters. They were also herbalists , which means they used plants like herbs as medicine . ^[1]

Russian contact [ change | change source ]

Itelmens were being converted to Christians as early as the 1730s. ^[6]

The population of the native peoples of Kamchatka declined from 1769-1770. There were hundreds of Itelmen settlements in the 18th century, but there were only seven Itelmen-speaking villages by the 20th century. ^[6] Russian became the main language, and Russians spread diseases to the Itelmen, like smallpox . They also suffered from famine . ^[7]

Kamchadal people suffered from Russian rule. Cossacks kept Itelmen as slaves . ^[8] Some Itelmen who fought against the Russians were deported , or had their tribes separated. ^[1]

Related pages [ change | change source ]

• Indigenous peoples
• Kamchatka Peninsula
• Cossacks
• Colonialism

References [ change | change source ]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} "The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire: Itelmens" . www.eki.ee . Retrieved 1 March 2022 .
2. ↑ "Itelmen" . www.britannica.com . Retrieved 28 February 2022 .
3. ↑ "Itelmen" . www.encyclopedia.com . Retrieved 28 February 2022 .
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Degai, Tatiana S. (2016). " "IT?NM?N"-- "The One Who Exists": Sociolinguistic Life of the Itelmen in Kamchatka, Russia in the Context of Language Loss and Language Revitalization" . repository.arizona.edu . Retrieved 2022-03-01 .
5. ↑ Murashko, Olga (1997). "Itelmens and Kamchadals: Marriage Patterns and Ethnic History" . Arctic Anthropology . 34 (1): 181?193. ISSN   0066-6939 . JSTOR   40316432 .
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Koester, David (2005). "Global Movements and Local Historical Events: Itelmens of Kamchatka Appeal to the United Nations" . American Ethnologist . 32 (4): 642?659. doi : 10.1525/ae.2005.32.4.642 . ISSN   0094-0496 . JSTOR   3805353 .
7. ↑ Murashko, Olga; Krupnik, Igor I.; Davis, Eugenia W. (1994). "A Demographic History of the Kamchadal/Itelmen of Kamchatka Peninsula: Modeling the Precontact Numbers and Postcontact Depopulation" . Arctic Anthropology . 31 (2): 16?30. ISSN   0066-6939 . JSTOR   40316361 .
8. ↑ Steller, Georg Wilhelm; Falk, Marvin W (2003). Steller's history of Kamchatka: collected information concerning the history of Kamchatka, its peoples, their manners, names, lifestyle, and various customary practices . University of Alaska Press. ISBN   978-1-889963-49-5 . OCLC   49844675 .

Other websites [ change | change source ]

• Endangered Languages Archive: Itelmen Collection

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