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Nganasan people
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The '''Nganasans''' are one of the indigenous peoples of
Siberia. They are the northernmost of the
Samoyedic peoples, living on the
Taimyr Peninsula in the
Arctic Ocean. Their territory is part of the
Taimyr Autonomous Region of the
Krasnoyarsk district. Their "capital" is the village of
Ust-Avamsk. They speak a
Samoyed language (
Nganasan language).
The
Avam Nganasans live in the
Avam District in the western part of the Taimyr Peninsula, in the valleys of the rivers
Pyassina,
Dudypta and
Boganida. The speakers of the
Vadeyev dialect live in the
tundra and in the eastern parts of
Taimyr, in the
Khatanga District by the river
Heta,
Lake Taimyr and
Khatanga Bay. The Nganasans share their territory with the
Dolgans. Their southern and southeastern neighbours are the
Yakuts; in the southwest they border upon the
Enets.
The Nganasans are few in number - 834 (
2002 census). Throughout most of their history they have been
nomadic hunters, fishers, and herders of
reindeer. They have successfully resisted attempts at conversion to foreign religions until the Soviets. The biggest change in their history occurred in the
1940s, when the Soviet authorities decided to end the
shamanism shamanist beliefs of the Nganasans. Shamans were imprisoned and their holy artifacts confiscated. Since the
1960s, the nomadic life of the Nganasans has been ended and they have been settled in villages, where they live alongside
Russians and
Dolgans. These sudden changes caused depression for many Nganasans and
alcoholism is a big problem among them.
{{ethno-stub}}
Category:Ethnic groups in Russia
Category:Eurasian nomads
Category:Indigenous peoples of North Asia
de:Nganasanen
