Nenetses
overview
The name for the people n'enyt's' means 'the real people' in nenets language. In Russian language the name is Yurak Samoyed, where yurak might come from komi name for them jaran. The name Nenets came in public use in Soviet Union in 1920's. There are two main groups: the Tundra and Forest Nenets. The Tundra Nenetses are one of the most numerous northern peoples in Russia, while the Forest Nenets who live in Khanty-Mansi autonomous region are a quite small group. There are about 1500 of them. The home of the Nenets people are the tundra regions stretching from the Kola peninsula as far as the river Yenisei, and the taiga zone in the south, in the Pur river basin.
According to 2002 census 41 000 nenets were living in the Russian Federation.
Nenets life has been changed by the oil drilling in their native territory. The oil industry does not take into account the indeginous peoples lives in their planning.
The Nenets language primer for school (1895) was one of the first Samoyed books. The nenets had their Latin based alphabet which was changed to Cyrillic in 1938.
|
