Ostyak
Historical name for several indigenous peoples of Siberia, Russia
Ostyak (Russian: Остя́к) is a name formerly used to refer to several Indigenous peoples and languages in Siberia, Russia. Both the Khanty people and the Ket people were formerly called Ostyaks, whereas the Selkup people were referred to as Ostyak-Samoyed.
01Khanty
The Khanty people, who also call themselves Khanti, Khande, or Kantek were known to the Russians as Yugra in the eleventh century, with the name Ostyak first appearing in the sixteenth century. The Soviet Union began using the endonym Khant or Khanty during the 1930s.
As of 2002 some 28,000 people identify as Khanty, primarily in Tyumen Oblast, which includes the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.
The Khanty languages, also known as Hanty, Khant, Xanty, or Ostyak, are a Uralic language group with about 9,500 native speakers.
02Ket
The Kets historically lived near the Yenisei River in the Krasnoyarsk Krai district of Russia. The Imperial Russians originally called them Ostyak, and later Yenisei Ostyak. Fewer than 1,500 people identified themselves as Ket during the 2002 Russian census.
The Ket language, also known as Imbatski-Ket or Yenisei Ostyak, is a Yeniseian language. It is considered severely endangered to moribund.
03Selkup
The Selkup people were known as Ostyak-Samoyeds until the 1930s. They are descended from both Yeniseian and Samoyedic peoples, and live in the northern parts of the Siberian plain. About 4,000 people identified as Selkup during the 2002 Russian census.
The Selkup language, also known as Selkups, Chumyl' Khumyt, Shöl Khumyt, Shösh Gulla, Syusugulla, or Ostyak Samoyed, is a Uralic Samoyedic language with perhaps two thousand or more native speakers. The northern dialect is taught in some schools.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Ostyak”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- 023 Description of all the Russian state-dwelling peoples - Ein Ostiakischer Hermelin-Fänger, 1790 (crop).jpg by Johann Gottlieb Georgi (1738-1802), Public domain
- View of Beryozovo, 18th century.jpg by unknown (Life time: 18th century), Public domain
- P170b At Levinski Pesok. A civilized Yenisei Samoyede and a Yenisei-Ostiak.jpg by Fridtjof Nansen, Public domain
- Selkup man.jpg by Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
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