Indigenous peoples of the Arctic. What people are the indigenous people of the Arctic?

The Arctic is the territory of the Arctic Ocean with the outskirts of the continents and the seas. Most of the region is covered by glaciers. Indigenous peoples of the Arctic are already accustomed to severe polar conditions. In this article, we will discuss in more detail how the territory was mastered, who inhabited it, and what the local population lives.

Description of the territory

Before talking about which people are the indigenous people of the Arctic, you need to describe the region. In translation from Greek, "Arctic" means "bear". The greater part of the island is the Greenland Ice Sheet. Indigenous peoples of the Arctic adapted to severe frosts and a long winter. For example, in the Taimyr Peninsula the temperature reaches -50 degrees Celsius. Winter can last up to 9 months. Summer can not be warmed in the sun, as the maximum temperature reaches +10 degrees. Everyone knows that it is in the Arctic that there is a polar night and a polar day.

The territory of the Arctic is conventionally divided into three parts:

• Shrub tundra;
• Typical tundra (lichen-moss);
• Arctic.

Development process

Formation of the network of indigenous peoples' organizations in the Arctic falls on the 20th century. However, the process of development began much earlier. More than 30,000 years ago, the ancient people first stepped on these lands. Then thousands of heads of deer and bulls roamed the territory of the Arctic. Ancient people slowly reached the Arctic, crossing the borders of Asia, China and Mongolia.

The first signs of life of ancient people were found in the lower reaches of the Yana River. Archaeologists assume that the first inhabitants of the harsh land lived here about 37,000 years ago. Ancient people left rock paintings and ornaments on the surfaces of figures from mammoth and stones. They depicted hunting scenes on them.

Arctic and Indigenous Peoples

The first inhabitants who came to this land more than 30,000 years ago, have remained here. According to statistical data, indigenous residents of the Arctic are representatives of 17 different peoples. These social groups differ from each other in their own native language, traditions, attachments, cultural and sociological institutions and values. As a rule, indigenous peoples of the Arctic are few. Their number rarely exceeds 50,000 people.

The list of indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic was regulated by the state, it includes:

• Veps;
• Aleuts;
• The Nenets;
• Chum salmon;
• Eluci;
• Алюторцы;
• Eskimos;
• Sami;
• Oroki;
• Duty;
• Entsy;
• Ulchi;
• Chukchi;
• Kamchadals and others.

Indigenous peoples of the Arctic exist in relatively small numbers. According to the latest census, there are about 260,000 people.

The way of life of the indigenous population

Those who are the indigenous people of the Arctic usually lead a semi-nomadic way of life. This is considered normal for the local population. Permanent migrations from the tundra to the forest-steppe zones are a traditional way of life. In their majority, indigenous peoples of the Arctic are engaged in:

• Reindeer herding;
• Hunting;
• Gathering;
• Fisheries.

This way of life gives the Arctic population special ethnic characteristics. The identity of peoples is similar to other cultures of the Far East, Siberia and the Far North. A similar way of life occurs in the Pomors, the Yakuts, the Karelians, the Old Believers and the Komi, as their livelihoods are directly dependent on environmental conditions, weather, etc. According to statistics, about 1.5 million people live in the north. A few decades ago this figure was 10 times less. This change is directly related to the move to the north of Russians, whose main goal is to earn extra money. After all, in recent years a huge number of enterprises for extraction, processing and transportation of raw materials have been opened here.

Climate change and adaptation of local people

Indigenous peoples of the Arctic have gone through a difficult path to adapt to the environment. Centuries have gone to get used to the conditions of the north. Due to this, local residents have minimal impact on nature, use its resources in a sparing manner. Only a traditional way of life helps indigenous peoples cope with such a complex process as adaptation. The main goal of people living in the Arctic is to maintain the productivity of the land and monitor biological diversity. Only due to their care and sensitivity to the surrounding world, the indigenous people were able to adapt to the harsh conditions of existence. In this they were helped by their customs, festivals and rituals, which are passed on from generation to generation.

Traditions

Any name of the indigenous people of the Arctic itself is respected by the rest. They were able to survive in such harsh conditions and still exist. It is traditional knowledge passed down from generation to generation that helped to do this. These include:

• Conducting business calendars. Fishermen and hunters determined the optimum production sites and terms. The regulations of the caught animals and fishes were made. Depending on the growth in numbers, the northerners made a load on the populations of certain animals.
• Preservation of domestic aboriginal breeds of animals.
• Protection of reproduction sites for commercial animal species.
• Cleaning of spawning grounds, pastures, spawning rivers and animals.
• Transfer of traditional knowledge about treatment and psychoenergetic methods of influence on people. The elders and shamans had this information. In addition, the indigenous people mastered the technology of hardening from childhood, practiced and trained. Having reached the age of ten, the children were able to perform multiple production processes.

How has climate change affected the indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic?

Millenia was needed for the northerners to adapt to the harsh natural conditions. Statistics show that the local people have experienced the warming and the cooling of the climate more than once. But they were able to pass the adaptation to such vagaries of nature. Peoples for years worked out strategies for nature management and ways of habituation. These include:

1. Disinterested help to the needy. Neighbors-neighbors helped each other in difficult situations.
2. Mobility. Indigenous peoples of the Arctic could quickly move to other places if necessary. This is considered the main way to adapt to the climate of local residents.
3. Study of new ways of nature management. For example, local residents of Chukotka eventually learned to grow potatoes and raise horses.

Living in such harsh conditions is not easy. However, the northerners do an excellent job of this task. Of course, the strongest frosts, polar nights, precipitation often interfere with the functioning of the production complex, the work of many enterprises for this time is suspended. But it helps the given region to develop and find all new ways of development of the environment.