Nivkh people

Nivkh (plural Nivkhgu in the Nivkh language), an endonym, means "person" in the Nivkh language. They may also be referred to as Nivkhi in 1920s Western literature, due to the romanization of the Russian term plural "" from "" (nivkh). In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Russian explorers first termed the group Gilyak (also Giliaks or Giliatski). The etymology of the name "Gilyak" is disputed by linguists, with some believing the name originated from an exonym given to the Nivkhs by a nearby Tungusic group. Other scholars believe that "Gilyak" derives from Kile, another nearby Tungusic group that the Russians had mistakenly named Nivkhs. "Gilyak" is the Russian rendering of terms derived from the Tungusic "Gileke" and Manchu-Chinese "Gilemi" (Gilimi, Gilyami) for culturally similar peoples of the Amur River region, and was applied principally to the Nivkh in Western literature. ==Origins==

File:Delisle - Carte d'Asie (Compagnieland).jpg|thumb|left|Giliaki or Yupi (meaning "[people wearing clothes made of] fish-skin"; a Chinese exonym also used for the Nani people) on an early-18th-century French map depicting the Vries Strait and the Strait of Tartary. The origins of the Nivkh are hard to discern from current archaeological research. Their subsistence by fishing and coastal sea-mammal hunting is very similar to the Koryak and Itelmen on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The rigging of dog-sledges is also similar to these Chukotko-Kamchatkan groups. Spiritual beliefs are similar to those of the Northwest Coast Indians of North America, whose ancestors migrated from this area. The microlithic culture was technologically adept in the harsh climate of Siberia during the last ice age. After the ice receded, Tungusic peoples from the south pressed into the warmer northern areas, soon dominating the settled peoples. The Nivkh are considered the last surviving ethnic group able to adapt to the warmer climate and not be assimilated or squeezed out by the newcomers, hence the Nivkh isolate language. The earliest archeological radiocarbon dating for Northern Sakhalin as of 2004 is the Neolithic Age Imchin Site 2, dated to 4950–4570 BC near the Tym' River estuary on the west coast. Michael Fortescue suggests that Nivkh might be related to the Mosan languages of North America (however, Mosan is generally considered a Sprachbund rather than a language family). Fortescue also presents evidence that Nivkh is related to the Chukotko-Kamchatkans, forming a Chukotko-Kamchatkan–Amuric family, though the evidence was judged to be "insufficient" by Glottolog. More recently, Sergei Nikolaev argued in two papers for a systematic relationship between Nivkh and the Algic languages of North America and a more distant relationship between these two together and the Wakashan languages of coastal British Columbia. ==History==

Pre-modern history The Sakhalin Nivkhs populated the island during the Late Pleistocene period, when the island was connected to the Continent of Asia via the exposed Strait of Tartary. When the ice age receded, the oceans rose and the Nivkh were split into two groups. It is suggested that the Nivkh people were present in a wide area of Northeast Asia and influenced other people and their cultures. Nivkhs may be related to the Susuya, Okhotsk, and Tobinitai culture that reached Hokkaido and met the Satsumon culture. Several historians suggest that the Nivkh were present in the kingdom of Goguryeo. There are indications that the ancestors of the Nivkh may have played a much more prominent role in pre- and protohistorical Manchuria. Nivkh lands extended along the northern coast of Manchuria from the Russian fortress at Tugur Bay eastward to the mouth of the Amur River at Nikolayevsk, then south through the Strait of Tartary as far as De Castries Bay. Formerly their territories had extended westwards at least as far as the Uda river and the Shantar Islands until pushed out by the Manchus and, later, the Russians. The earliest mention of the Nivkh in history is believed to be a 12th-century Chinese chronicle, referring to a people called Jílièmí (), who were in contact with the Mongol rulers of Yuan China. Nivkh women in Sakhalin married Han Chinese Ming officials when the Ming took tribute from Sakhalin and the Amur river region. Local Sakhalin native chiefs had their daughters taken as wives by Manchu officials, as sanctioned by the Qing dynasty when the Qing exercised jurisdiction in Sakhalin and took tribute from them. Tsarist Russia and Imperial Japan For many centuries, the Nivkh were tributaries of the Manchus. After the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689, they functioned as intermediaries between the Russians, Manchu and Japanese, and also the Ainu, who were vassals of the Japanese. Early contact with the southern Sakhalin Ainu was generally hostile, although trade between the two was apparent. The Nivkh suffered severely from the Cossack conquest and imposition of Tsarist Russians; they called the latter (devils). The Russian Empire gained complete control over Nivkh lands after the 1858 Treaty of Aigun and the 1860 Convention of Peking. The Russians established a penal colony (katorga) on Sakhalin, which operated from 1857 to 1906. They transported numerous Russian criminal and political exiles there, including Lev Sternberg, an important early ethnographer of the Nivkh. The Nivkh were soon outnumbered; they were sometimes employed as prison guards and to track escaped convicts. Though the Empire of Japan never controlled the northern part of Sakhalin, Japan and Russia jointly ruled the island as part of the 1855 Treaty of Shimoda. From the 1875 Treaty of Saint Petersburg until the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth, Russia governed all of Sakhalin. From 1905 to 1945, Sakhalin was partitioned between Russia and Japan along the 50th N parallel. Russia allowed Japanese entrepreneur fishermen in Nivkh lands from the 1880s until 1948. The Russian Priamur governor-generalship had difficulty finding Russian labour and allowed Japanese and Nivkh fishermen to develop the area, though they were heavily taxed. Russian authorities prevented the Nivkh from fishing in prior coastal and river systems via bans and high taxes from cached fish. The first of many incidents of over-exploitation of fisheries by the Japanese (and later the Russians) on the Tartar Strait and lower Amur occurred in 1898. It drove many Nivkhs into starvation if they could not import expensive Russian foods. Under Soviet rule Russia underwent the October Revolution forming the Soviet Union in 1922. The new government altered prior Russian Imperial policies towards the Nivkh that were in line with communist ideology. Soviet officials embraced the autonym Nivkh to replace the old term Gilyak, as a hallmark for new native self-determination. A brief autonomous okrug was created for the Nivkh. The government granted them extensive fishing rights, which were not rescinded until the 1960s. According to "Modern Ainu: The Romance of Ethnic Migration" (現代のアイヌ : 民族移動のロマン, by Kosuge Sugawara, 1966 under Genbunsha), these Nivkh people in Japan resided in Abashiri, Hakodate, and Sapporo. One notable displaced Nivkh from Karafuto to Abashiri was Chiyo Nakamura (1906–1969), a shaman from Poronaisk (). By 2004, the Nivkh-Orok community in Abashiri had apparently vanished. Chuner Taksami, an anthropologist, is considered the first modern Nivkh literary figure and supporter of Siberian rights. This relocation was accomplished via the Soviet collectives that the Nivkh had become so dependent on. The closure of state-funded amenities such as a school or electricity generator prompted citizenry to move into government-preferred settlements. At present, the Nivkh living in the north of Sakhalin see their future threatened by the giant offshore oil extraction projects known as Sakhalin-I and Sakhalin-II. Since January 2005, the Nivkh, led by their elected leader Alexey Limanzo, have engaged in non-violent protest actions, demanding an independent ethnological assessment of Shell's and Exxon's plans. Solidarity actions have been staged in Moscow, New York City and later in Berlin. The monthly Nivkh newspaper, Nivkh Dif, established in 1990, is published in the West-Sakhalin dialect and is headquartered in the village of Nekrasovka. ==Society==

Village life The Nivkh were semi-sedentary hunter-gatherers with summer and winter settlements. Nivkh villages consisted of three to four households shared by several families with larger villages rare, and mostly located on the Amur estuary. A clan would cooperate with other members on hunts and fishing when away from the village. Marriage Marriage tended to be exogamic unlike many paleo-Siberian groups. Although within the clan, marriage is endogamic, while sub-clans are exogamic. Nivkh marriage customs were very complicated and controlled by the clan. Cross-cousin marriage seems to be the original custom with the clan, a latter necessity when the clan was unable to marry individuals without breaking taboo. The bride price was probably introduced by the Neo-Siberians. The dowry was shared by the clan. The number of men generally exceeded the number of women. It was hard to gain wives, as they were few and expensive. This led to the wealthier men having more than one wife and poor men being unable to obtain wives. ==Religion==

Nivkh's traditional religion was based on animist beliefs, especially via shamanism, before colonial Russians made efforts to convert the population to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Nivkh animists believe the island of Sakhalin is a giant beast lying on its belly with the trees of the island as its hair. When the beast is upset, it awakens and trembles the earth causing earthquakes. Nivkhs' have extensive folklore, songs, and mythos of how humans and the universe were created, and of how fantastic heroes, spirits and beasts battled with each other in ancient times. Some Nivkhs have converted to Russian Orthodoxy or other religions, though many still practice traditional beliefs. Fire is especially venerated. It is the symbol of the unity of the clan. Fire is considered a deity of their ancestors, protecting them from evil spirits and guarding their clan from harm. An open flame would be "fed" a leaf of tobacco, spices, or a tipple of vodka in order to please the spirits for protection. Nivkhs would also frequently offer items to the deities by 'feeding'. The sea would be "fed" an item of importance in order that the sea god protects the travellers. Shamanism Shamans' (''ch'am'') main role was in diagnosing and curing disease for the Nivkh. The rare shamans typically wore an elaborate coats with belts often made of metal. Remedies composed of plant and sometimes animal matter were employed to cure sickness. Talismans were used or offered to patients to prevent sickness. The bear was considered a sacred earthly manifestation of Nivkh ancestors and the gods in bear form (see Bear worship). During the festival, the bear would be dressed in a specially-made ceremonial costume. It would be offered a banquet to take back to the realm of gods to show benevolence upon the clans. After the banquet, the bear would be sacrificed and eaten in an elaborate religious ceremony. Dogs were often sacrificed as well. The bear's spirit returned to the gods of the mountain 'happy' and would then reward the Nivkh with bountiful forests. The festival typically would be arranged by relatives to honour the death of a kinsman. Generally, the Bear Festival was an inter-clan ceremony where a clan of wife-takers restored ties with a clan of wife-givers upon the broken link of the kinsman's death. The Bear Festival was suppressed during Soviet occupation though the festival has had a modest revival since the decline of Soviet Union, albeit as a cultural instead of religious ceremony. A very similar ceremony, Iomante, is practiced by the Ainu people of Japan. ==Environment==

The Russian Far East has a cold and harsh climate. In the fish-rich Amur River estuary in the districts of Nixhne-Amruskii and Takhtinskii, winters have high winds and heavy snows with mid-winter usually averaging from . Summers are wet and moderately warm ranging between . The area's biome is characterized as Taiga and evergreen coniferous forests consisting of larch, yew, birch, maple, lilac, honeysuckle, and extensive low-lying swamp grasses. Higher elevations have spruce, fir, ash, lime, walnut and mountain tops have cedar and lichens. Bears, foxes, sables, hares, Siberian tigers, elks, grouse, and deer typical near the Amur outlet which usually floods during the rainy season. Northern Sakhalin is harsher ecologically with mostly Taiga. Winters are longer, with a mean temperature of , however, short summers are warmer averaging due to warmer Pacific Ocean currents moving around the island. Heavy snows blanket the island of Sakhalin (Yh-mif in Nivkh) during winter, due to monsoon winds blowing from Siberia, drawing humidity as they pass over the Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan, and the Strait of Tartary. Barren tundra dominates the north, with sparse trees such as larch, birch and various grasses, while moving southward, spruce and fir are seen. Bears, foxes, otters, lynx, and reindeer are common wildlife. The Island's major rivers are the Tym' and Poronai, rich in fish, especially salmon. Before Russian colonization, Nivkh villages could be found on these rivers approximately every 5 km. The Strait of Tartary is currently only wide and is shallow enough that an ice bridge forms during the winter that can be traversed by foot or dog-sledge. At the glacial maximum of the Ice Age, sea levels were lower than they are today. The Eurasia continent was connected to Sakhalin via the Strait of Tatar and Hokkaidō via the Soya Strait of which humans migrated. This connection explains the similarities of trees, plants, and animals including now-extinct mammoths. The receding ice age warmed the area, allowing greater tree cover and wildlife, thus new resources for the Nivkhs to exploit. The opening of the Soya and then the shallower Strait of Tartary allowed warm pacific currents to bathe the island and the lower Amur River. ==Technology==

Dwellings Nivkhs lived in two types of self-built winter dwellings. The most ancient of these was the (or to). The dwelling was a round dugout about 7.5 meters (23 feet) in diameter, shored up by wooden poles and covered with packed dirt and grass. The had a fireplace in the centre and a smoke hole for light and smoke escape. The other type of dwelling used for winter is the similar to the Nanai dio which was modelled after Manchurian and Chinese dwellings of the Amur. The were one-room structures with a gable roof and a kang (Chinese furnace) for heating. A nearby shed held sledges, skis, boats, and dogs. Clothing Nivkhs traditionally wore robes (skiy for men, for women) having three buttons, fastened on the left side of the body. Winter garments were made of skins from fish, seal, sable, and furs from otter, lynx, fox, and dog. Women's extended below the knee and were light multicoloured with intricate embroideries and various ornaments sewed on the sleeves, collar and hem. Ornaments were coins, bells, or beads made of wood, glass, or metal mostly originating from Manchurian and Chinese traders. Men's skiy were darker coloured, shorter, and had pockets built into the sleeves. Men's clothing were less elaborate with ornaments on the sleeve and left lapel. Men would also wear a loose kilt called a kosk when hunting or travelling on dog-sledge. Boots were made of fish-, seal-, or deerskin, and very watertight. Fur hats (hak) were worn in winter, with the furry tails and ears of the animal often adorning the back and crown of the hat. Summer hats (hiv hak) were conical and made from birch-bark. Since Soviet collectivization, Nivkh mostly wear mass-produced Western clothing, but traditional clothing is worn for holidays and cultural events. ==Diet==

, a traditional Nivkh dish The Nivkh had a diverse diet, as they were semi-sedentary before colonization. Fish was the main source of food for the Nivkh, including pink, Pacific, and chum salmon as well as trout, red eye, burbot and pike found in rivers and streams. Saltwater fishing provided saffron cod, flatfish, and marine goby caught on the littoral coasts of the Strait of Tartary, Sea of Okhotsk, and the Pacific Ocean, though over fishing by Russian and Japanese trawlers has depleted many of these fish stocks. Additionally, industrial pollution such as phenols and heavy metals in the Amur River have devastated fish stocks and damaged the soil of the estuaries. There is a traditional preservation process called yukola, involving slicing the fish in a particular way and drying the strips by hanging them in the frigid air, without salt. The preservation process created a lot of dried fish waste, unpalatable for human consumption but utilized for dog food. Pulverizing dried fish and mixing it with fish skins, water, seal fat, and berries until the mixture had a sour cream consistency is a favorite Nivkh dish called mos. Nivkhs would hunt seal (larga, ringed, ribbon, sea lions), duck, sable, and otters. They would gather various berries, wild leeks, lily bulbs, and nuts. ==Population genetics==

man (left) and a Nivkh couple (right) Y-chromosomal DNA haplogroups Lell et al. (2002) tested a sample of seventeen Nivkh males and found that six of them (35%) belonged to Haplogroup C-M48, six of them (35%) belonged to haplogroup P-M45 (xQ-M3, R-M17), two of them (12%) belonged to haplogroup C-M130 (xM48), two of them (12%) belonged to haplogroup K-M9 (xO-M119, O-M122, N-Tat, P-M45), and one of them (6%) belonged to haplogroup O-M119. Tajima et al. (2004) tested a sample of twenty-one Nivkh males and found that eight of them (38%) belonged to haplogroup C-M217, a haplogroup which is also common among Koryaks, Itelmens, Yukaghirs, Tungusic peoples, and Mongols; six (29%) belonged to haplogroup K-M9 (xO-M122, O-M119, P-P27), four of them (19%) belonged to haplogroup P-P27 (xR-SRY10831.2), two of them (9.5%) belonged to R-SRY10831.2, and one of them (4.8%) belonged to Haplogroup BT-SRY10831.1 (xC-RPS4Y711, DE-YAP, K-M9). According to the abstract for a doctoral dissertation by Vladimir Nikolaevich Kharkov, a sample of 52 Nivkhs from Sakhalin Oblast contained the following Y-DNA haplogroups: 71% (37/52) C-M217 (xC-M77/M86, C-M407), 7.7% (4/52) O-M324 (xO-M134), 7.7% (4/52) Q-M242 (xQ-M346), 5.8% (3/52) D-M174, 3.8% (2/52) O-M175 (xO-P31, O-M122), 1.9% (1/52) O-P31, and 1.9% (1/52) N-M46/M178. Kharkov et al. (2024) examined the Y-chromosome haplogroups of 37 Nivkh males in the Okhinsky District of Sakhalin Oblast, who were estimated to have no paternal admixture with other ethnic groups. The results showed that 43.2% (16/37) belonged to haplogroup C2a1a2b-B90, 32.4% (12/37) to C2a1a1b1a-F13958, 10.8% (4/37) to C2a1-ACT1942, 8.1% (3/37) to Q1a1a1-M120, and 5.4% (2/37) to O2a1b1a2a-F238. Mitochondrial DNA haplogroups Torroni et al. (1993) reported collecting blood samples from 57 "unrelated and unhybridized Nivkh individuals living in Rybnovsk and Nekrasovka villages in northern Sakhalin Island." According to Starikovskaya et al. (2005) and Bermisheva et al. (2005), the members of this sample of Nivkhs belong to haplogroup Y (37/57 = 64.9%), haplogroup D (16/57 = 28.1%), haplogroup G1 (3/57 = 5.3%), and haplogroup M (xC, Z, D, G) (1/57 = 1.8%). In another sample of Nivkhs, possibly "those living on the continent" (although there appears to be an error in the original text), Bermisheva et al. (2005) have found the following mtDNA haplogroups: 67.3% (37/55) haplogroup Y, 25.5% (14/55) haplogroup G, 3.6% (2/55) haplogroup D, 1.8% (1/55) haplogroup M (xC, Z, D, G), and 1.8% (1/55) haplogroup N or R (xA, B, F, Y). One identical Y1a haplotype was shared by eight Nivkh individuals, another Y1a haplotype was shared by six Nivkh individuals, and two other Y1a haplotypes were shared by three Nivkh individuals each, indicating a low genetic diversity of this population. As for G1b, the other mtDNA haplogroup found among Nivkhs, Duggan et al. (2013) also have found it in their samples of Kamchatka Evens (6/39 = 15.4%), Koryaks (2/15 = 13.3%), Yukaghirs (2/20 = 10.0%), Iengra Evenks (2/21 = 9.5%), and Tompo Evens (1/27 = 3.7%), and they have cited Starikovskaya et al. (2005) as evidence for their statement that haplogroup G1 is also common in the Negidal. According to YFull and Dryomov et al. (2020), two members of haplogroup G1b from the Nivkh sample of Duggan et al. (2013) belong to G1b-G16129A!*, whereas the remaining member of haplogroup G1b from that sample belongs to G1b1a-G16244A. М. А. Gubina et al. (2013) examined the mitochondrial DNA of a sample of seventeen Nivkhs from the village of Nogliki, Nogliksky District, Sakhalin Oblast and found that they belonged to haplogroup Y (8/17 = 47.1%, all Y1a+T16189C!), haplogroup D (3/17 = 17.6%, including 2/17 D4e5b and 1/17 D4j4a), haplogroup G (3/17 = 17.6%, including 2/17 G1b1-16207 and 1/17 G1b1a-16244), haplogroup H (2/17 = 11.8%), and haplogroup U5 (1/17 = 5.9%). Besides the Western Eurasian influence apparent in the presence of haplogroups H and U5 among Nivkhs of Nogliki, it is also notable that there is no overlap between the Nivkh samples of Duggan et al. (2013) and Gubina et al. (2013) in regard to the subclades of haplogroups D4 and G1b to which they belong except for a single member of G1b1a-G16244A in each sample. ==Notable Nivkhs==

• Chiyo Nakamura (1906–1969), Japanese Nivkh writer • Chuner Taksami (1931–2014), Russian Nivkh ethnographer • Vladimir Sangi (b. 1935), Russian Nivkh writer, publicist • Alexey Limanzo, President of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of North Sakhalin Region ==See also==