Nivkhs

LOCATION: Russia (Siberia, Sakhalin Island, Amur Estuary region)
POPULATION: 5,162 (2002)
LANGUAGE: Russian, Nivkh
RELIGION: Traditional form of shamanism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity

INTRODUCTION

The Nivkhs are an indigenous people of extreme southeastern Siberia (also called the Russian Far East) who inhabit the island of Sakhalin and the Amur River Valley. Their traditional economic occupations are fishing and, to a lesser extent, hunting. It is believed on the basis of archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic evidence that they are the descendants of the earliest inhabitants of the region. Archaeologists have found evidence of ancient settlements on Sakhalin dating from the Neolithic era (5,000 bc-1,000 ad) and is quite possible that their inhabitants were the ancestors of the Nivkhs. The Nivkhs' affiliation, if any, to other ethnic groups of northeastern Asia has long been a matter of speculation. Some scholars have concluded that the Nivkhs may be ethnically and linguistically related to the Koriaks and Chukchi of far northeastern Siberia and perhaps some native peoples of Alaska. Other researchers have tentatively suggested possible links between the Nivkhs and the ancient inhabitants of Southeast Asia.

The Nivkhs call themselves Nivkh (plural Nivkhgu), which simply means "person." The term Nivkhi, which is the Russian plural of Nivkh, is often used as both a singular and plural form in Western ethnographic literature. Russian and Western ethnographers formerly called the Nivkhs the Gilyaks or Giliaks. There has been considerable disagreement among scholars as to the origin of the name Gilyak. Some suggest that it is derived from Kile, the name of a nearby Tungusic-speaking group whom early Russian explorers may have mistaken for Nivkhs, while others believe that it may be an obsolete Tungusic name for Nivkh.

Although linguistically isolated from their neighbors, the Nivkhs maintained trade and marriage relations for centuries with the Nanais and other Tungus-speaking peoples of the Amur and the Ainu of southern Sakhalin. Contacts with the Ainu were sometimes hostile; the two groups occasionally raided each others' settlements and took slaves. Contacts between the Nivkhs along the Amur and the Chinese began as early as the 12th century ad: Nivkhs exchanged furs for Chinese cloth (mainly silk, cotton, and brocade), alcohol, tobacco, beads, and metal disks that were fashioned into jewelry. During the 18th century, Chinese officials claimed control over Nivkh territory and appointed headmen in the Nivkh village communities to serve as liaisons between the Nivkhs and the Chinese government and to collect taxes from their compatriots. These headmen had no real authority among the Nivkhs, however, as they merely served as ceremonial figureheads in dealings with Chinese officials. Nivkh-Japanese trade, which became extensive in the early 19th century, involved the exchange of sea-eagle feathers gathered by the Nivkhs and used by the Japanese in certain religious rituals for Japanese metal goods such as cooking pots and knives. Nivkh blacksmiths often melted down metal trade items into various tools, arrowheads, spear and harpoon points, hooks, and earrings.

The first Russian-Nivkh contacts began in the 17th century, when Russian explorers encountered Nivkh settlements along the Amur; these meetings were not always cordial, and the Nivkhs earned a reputation among the Russians as ferocious warriors. During the 19th century, the Nivkhs became Russian subjects: treaties between Russia and China in the late 1850s and early 1860s gave Russia control over the Amur River valley, and several decades of conflicts and negotiations between Russia and Japan resulted in Russia's acquisition of Sakhalin in 1876. (Russia ceded the southern half of Sakhalin to Japan in 1905, when it lost the Russo-Japanese War; southern Sakhalin did not return to Russian/Soviet control until Japan's defeat at the end of World War II.) Henceforth, Nivkh territory was flooded by tens of thousands of Russian colonists, and the Nivkhs became a minority in their own land. The Russian government encouraged the colonization of both areas of Nivkh settlement–the lower Amur and Sakhalin-but for different reasons. Since the Amur River basin bordered on China, it was considered an area of strategic significance, and the Russian government did not wish to leave it sparsely populated by non-Russian natives. Sakhalin's damp, cold climate and poor soil provided little attraction for colonists, but it was geographically isolated not only from Central Russia but also from the Far Eastern mainland, so it presented a suitable location for a prison colony. By the end of the 19th century, the Russian population of Sakhalin included almost twice as many prisoners and exiles as free colonists.

Both along the Amur and on Sakhalin, Russian newcomers seized Nivkh lands and cheated the Nivkh out of their furs and other goods; at the same time, extensive commercial fishing by Russian and Japanese firms caused fish stocks to decline. As a result, poverty and hunger became widespread in Nivkh communities. The Nivkhs on Sakhalin faced additional dangers from escaped prisoners and ex-convicts, who often robbed Nivkh households, beat or killed Nivkh men, and raped Nivkh women. Some Sakhalin Nivkhs were forced by economic necessity to work as prison guards or to track escaped prisoners for the Russian prison administration; this naturally caused friction between Nivkhs and local Russians, many of whom were themselves former prisoners. During the Civil War that followed the Bolsheviks' seizure of power in October 1917, the Nivkhs were drawn into bloody conflicts between supporters of the Communist Red Army and the anti-Communist White Army and Japanese forces who saw in the prevailing chaos an opportunity for Japan to gain territory and influence in Russia's eastern borderlands.

During the 1920s, the Nivkhs' situation improved somewhat. The Bolshevik government provided economic relief and basic Western medical care and established a few schools in Nivkh territory. (Nevertheless, the Nivkhs had little influence on local government, which was, as before, dominated by Russians.) Economic exploitation of Nivkh lands by Russians-particularly the overfishing that had led to Nivkh famines before the Revolution-lessened during the first decade of Soviet rule. Ethnographers and Bolsheviks sympathetic to the Nivkhs and other numerically small nationalities persuaded the central government to put native needs before the state's interest in developing the area economically. After Stalin's rise to power in 1929, however, this policy was abandoned. Many Nivkhs were forced out of their widely scattered settlements and shipped to a handful of larger villages. The government's economic planners assumed that this form of centralization would render fishing and hunting more efficient and productive; instead, it resulted in the depletion of fish and other natural resources (besides disrupting Nivkh communities). The Nivkhs suffered, along with the other peoples of the USSR, from the widespread political hysteria and mass arrests of the Stalinist purges. Local agents of the NKVD (the forerunner to the KGB) filled their arrest quotas by seizing Nivkhs on false charges of espionage for Japan (particularly among the Sakhalin Nivkhs), anti-Soviet sentiments, and economic sabotage. Forestry, mining, oil-drilling, and industry were developed in the Amur region and on Sakhalin without considering the economic consequences, which caused serious environmental damage to Nivkh territory.

The 1930s policy of resettlement was resumed with increased vigor in the 1960s, when government officials embarked upon a campaign of closing settlements they considered lacking in economic potential. However, the towns to which the Nivkhs were relocated offered few economic opportunities; dispersed among Russian majorities and denied instruction in Nivkh language and culture in local schools, many young Nivkhs were robbed of their cultural heritage. The Nivkhs had to bear in silence the economic and cultural damages wrought by the resettlements until Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's relaxation of censorship allowed them to air their grievances.

LOCATION AND HOMELAND

According to the 1989 Soviet census, the Nivkhs numbered 4,631, practically all of whom live in the Russian Far East. There were 2,008 Nivkhs living on the island of Sakhalin, and an additional 2,368 Nivkhs inhabited the lower Amur River valley in the Nizhne-Amurskii and Takhtinskii Districts (Russian raion) of Khabarovsk Territory (Russian krai). The remaining 255 Nivkhs lived scattered throughout the Russian Federation. As of the 2002 Russian census, the number of Nivkhs topped 5,000.

In the territory of the Amur Nivkhs, winters are characterized by high winds and heavy snows. January temperatures usually range between –28° and –20°C (–18.4° and –4°F). Summers are damp and moderately warm, averaging between 16° and 20°C (60.8° and 68°F). Rains are heavy in late summer and early fall, thanks to Pacific monsoon winds, and flooding along the Amur is common. Larch, yew, birch, maple, lilac, honeysuckle, and swamp grasses predominate in low-lying areas; at higher elevations, mixed forests of larch, spruce, fir, ash, lime, maple, and walnut are the most common forms of vegetation. (The tops of the highest mountains are covered by cedar and lichens). Rivers have traditionally teemed with fish (particularly salmon) and otters. Foxes, bears, squirrels, sables, hares, boars, Siberian tigers, elks, grouse, and deer are the most typical animals along the lower Amur.

The climate in which the Sakhalin Nivkhs live is quite harsh. Winters are long and cold, with average temperatures of –19.6°C (–3.3°F) in the north and –13.2°C (8.2°F) in the south. Summers are much warmer-median temperatures are 15.2°C (59.4°F) in the north and 17.8°C (64°F) in the south-but the climate is unstable, so temperatures often drop significantly without warning. The northernmost part of the island consists of barren tundra with sparse stands of larch and birch trees and various grasses; rugged mountainous taiga forests of larch, birch, spruce, and fir predominate further to the south. Sakhalin is very damp and windy, and violent hurricanes and blizzards frequently lash the island. Bears, foxes, otters, lynx, and reindeer are Sakhalin's most typical forms of wildlife; its rivers, particularly the Tym' and Poronai, are rich in fish, especially salmon. Seals and sea lions are found along Sakhalin's coastline.

LANGUAGE

The Nivkh language is sometimes classified together with Chukchi, Koriak, Kamchadal, and several other Siberian languages in the Palaeoasiatic language family, but in reality it shares few features in common with them. In fact, Nivkh is an isolate—a language that cannot be proven to be related to any other known tongue. The grammar of Nivkh is quite complex. For example, numerals can take more than 20 different forms depending on the characteristics of the items being counted. Small, round objects; long objects; large, round objects or objects with an indeterminate shape; thin, flat objects; animals and insects; humans and spirits with human-like forms; objects that occur in pairs; and so on—all of these use different words for the same number. Thus, one person (nivkh) is nivkh nin; one dog (kan) is kan n'yn'; and one tree (tig'r) is tig'r nekh. The Nivkh language is divided into two dialects: the Amur dialect, which is spoken along the Amur River and on northern Sakhalin; and the Eastern Sakhalin dialect, which is spoken by the remainder of the Sakhalin Nivkhs. The Nivkh language was unwritten (except for the academic transcriptions of linguists and ethnographers) until 1931, when Soviet linguists created a Nivkh writing system based on the Amur dialect and written in the Latin alphabet. Publications in the new alphabet (chiefly schoolbooks) soon began to appear, and literacy in the native language began to spread. However, the new alphabet was banned five years later: the Russian chauvinism typical of the Stalinist regime had led the government to oppose the use of the "foreign" Latin alphabet. A new alphabet based on the Cyrillic (Russian) alphabet was to have been adopted in 1936, but for reasons that are unclear, it does not seem to have come into widespread use until the 1940s or 1950s. (The Stalinist suspicion of non-Russian peoples and their cultures and languages may have in some way been behind this delay). Nivkh is now written in the Cyrillic alphabet, with numerous extra letters and diacritics to represent specifically Nivkh sounds. Until 1979, only the Amur dialect of Nivkh had a written form. In that year, a separate writing system (also based on the Cyrillic alphabet augmented with special letters and diacritics) was developed for the Eastern Sakhalin dialect; this form of written Nivkh is used mainly in textbooks for Nivkh children.

Nivkh personal names are usually formed by adding special suffixes to nouns, verbs, and adjectives or their roots. Male personal names use suffixes ending in -n, while female names are formed by adding suffixes that end in -k. Many Nivkh personal names reflect the Nivkhs' natural surroundings, such as the male names Kharkhin (derived from khar, "wasp") and Tutin (from tu, "lake"), and the female names Chryguk (from chry, "river bank, beach") and Chngyruk (from chngyr, "grass"). Some names refer to a pleasant item or reflect a physical or moral characteristic that the parents wish the child to have-e.g., the female names Aisik (from ais, "gold") and Iazruk (from iazrud', "to respect"), and the male names Pilgun (from pila, "big") and Smedun (from smod', "to love"). Other names refer to a person's behavior or appearance in infancy: examples of this type of name are Togun (male) and Toguk (female), which are based on the verb tod, "to cry"; Vadun (male) and Vaduk (female), which are derived from vad', "to fight"; and Ngokhtik (female, from ngokh, "fat"). A child may be named in reference to an event that took place at the time of his or her birth. Thus, if a dogsled broke down when a girl was born, she might be named Myiguk (from myid', "to go to ruin, to fall down"). It is for this reason that there are many Nivkh names of otherwise inexplicable origins-for example Taligun (male, from tali, "bag, sack") and Chvark (female, from chvar, "chain"). Russian personal names such as Vladimir (male) and Zoya have become common in the 20th century. The Nivkhs did not use surnames until the Soviet period, when the government demanded that they, along with the other Siberian and Far Eastern Peoples, adopt surnames in the interest of bureaucratic convenience: Nivkh surnames are based on the personal name of the male who was the head of the family at that time.

FOLKLORE

The Nivkhs possess a rich heritage of oral literature that has been passed on from generation to generation since time immemorial. Besides riddles, songs, and short folk tales, there are longer, more elaborate forms of folklore, such as the t'ylgund and ngastund. T'ylgund (singular t'ylgu, t'ylgursh), or myths, describe the creation of the universe and man, the origins of the Nivkh clans and ancient wars between them, and the adventures of fantastic heroes, spirits, and beasts. In traditional Nivkh society, the t'ylgund were considered to be true. The t'ylgund have a fixed form and are not subject to improvisation or embellishment. (Some scholars, such as the Russian ethnographer Lev Shternberg, have compared the Nivkh t'ylgund to the mythological stories of the ancient Greeks and Romans on these grounds.) The ngastund (singular, ngyzit), or mythological tales, also center on mythical heroes. In some of the ngastund, the protagonist is a hunter who defeats evil spirits, cold, and hunger to survive and prosper; in others, he is a warlike hero who avenges wrongs done to his relatives or rescues women taken as brides against their will. Unlike the t'ylgund, the ngastund were not considered to be accurate representations of prehistoric events, even in traditional Nivkh society. They were told for amusement, not enlightenment, and were consciously embellished and altered by adding and changing details and plots.

RELIGION

The traditional Nivkh religion is a form of shamanism. Nivkh shamanists believe that fire, mountains, stars, constellations, forests, and rivers have spirits, and that man's survival and prosperity require that these spirits be respected. Certain animals, such as bears, dogs, and whales, are also considered sacred and are eaten only at ritual meals. The Nivkhs divide the universe (kurng) into three parts: the Upper World (Tly Vo) is the domain of the Master of the Heavens (Tly Nivukh). Humans, animals, and various deities such as the Master of the Mountains and Forests (Pal Ys) and the Master of the Waters (Tol Ys) dwell in the Middle World (Mif, or "Earth"). The Lower World (Mly Vo) is inhabited by the dead and is believed to more or less exactly resemble the world of the living. The Nivkh shaman (ch'am) communicates with the spirits by chanting and singing prayers while dancing and beating a large, flat, round drum called a k'as during rituals intended to ward off bad fortune and heal the sick. Nivkh shamans can be either men or women, but they must be chosen by the spirits. Shamans are respected but feared, because they are believed to have the ability to use magical powers for evil purposes if they so choose. During the imperial Russian era Russian Orthodox missionaries were active among the Nivkhs, converting a portion of the population. However Orthodox Christianity continued to coexist with the older beliefs. Many Nivkh shamans were imprisoned and executed during Stalin's anti-religious campaigns; as a result, shamanism was driven underground. The Nivkhs have practiced their religion more openly since Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ended the Soviet government's persecution of religion during the 1980s.

MAJOR HOLIDAYS

The most important Nivkh holiday is the Bear Festival (Chkhyf-Lekherno; literally, "bear game"), a shamanist ceremony held to honor the bear-spirit and the memories of departed ancestors. The Bear Festival does not have a fixed date, but in pre-Soviet society it was usually held in January or February and was celebrated separately by each clan. Preparations for a Bear Festival sometimes took several years. Each celebration required a live bear, which was sometimes captured or purchased while still a cub. The bear was held in captivity in a small log building and fed by the clan's members. (TraditionalNivkh villages usually had several such cages, each holding an animal to be used in future Bear Festivals). A few months before the festival was to take place, the participants gave the bear's master food and money to be used in preparing a feast. On the day of the ceremony, the bear was tied between several elaborately carved poles or trees, killed with a bow and arrow, and butchered in a lengthy and complex ceremony. Dogs were also sacrificed at this time. The clan feasted on the bear's meat and celebrated with games, music, and dancing. Observance of the Bear Festival sharply declined during the Soviet period as a result of anti-religious persecution and the dispersal of Nivkh communities, but it was revived in the 1980s. The Bear Festival is celebrated by modern Nivkhs less as a religious ceremony than as an expression of Nivkh cultural identity.

RITES OF PASSAGE

In the traditional societies of the Nivkh and other Amur-dwellers, all couples wished to have many children, since this was considered a sign of prestige, especially for men. At the same time, pregnancy and childbirth were viewed as dangerous. (This is understandable, given the absence of medical care beyond shamanist rituals and certain herbal medicines.) For this reason, there were a host of taboos intended to ensure a safe delivery. Pregnant women were forbidden to sew clothing and footwear, repair fish nets, set animal traps, or perform any other activity that involved "tying" or "closing." In the last few months of pregnancy, this prohibition extended to other members of the household. Childbirth took place in a small temporary lean-to called a lanraf, from which men were barred. (Menstruating and birthing women were considered to bring bad fortune; they were forbidden to touch fishing and hunting equipment, and their husbands were not allowed to hunt or fish). Upon delivery, mother and child remained in the birthing hut for several days before returning to the family household. Both parents were forbidden to work for the time it took the child's umbilical cord to wither and drop off.

Cremation is the traditional form of burial among the Nivkhs. (In pre-Soviet society, Nivkhs who died in infancy were not cremated; instead, they were placed in coffins in the forks of trees in the hope that their spirits might fly off, to return one day to the clan.) Soon after death, the deceased is dressed in fine clothing (usually white), and a white cloth band called a niakh tiakh was used to cover their eyes. Food, drink, and tobacco are placed next to the body and periodically consumed by the mourners. After several days have passed, the body is removed from the house and cremated outdoors. The ashes and remaining bones are collected and placed in a raf— a small raised house a few feet square—in the settlement's graveyard.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

In view of the harsh environment of the territory occupied by the Nivkhs, it is not surprising that hospitality has long been an esteemed trait. In traditional society, it was expected that any Nivkh experiencing economic hardship could receive food and shelter at any home for an indefinite time and that the favor would be returned when needed. Travelers to the Nivkh lands in the 19th century reported that this practice was often extended to strangers as well, even though the Nivkhs regarded outsiders with a certain degree of suspicion. (Nivkhs who abused this system of mutual aid were, however, roundly despised.) Elderly people, especially old men, were held in high esteem. Although they held no special positions in the community (there was no traditional post of "elder") and enjoyed no special privileges, their advice was often sought on important personal and community matters. The forced dispersal of most Nivkh communities in the Soviet period has undoubtedly done much to lessen the influence of these values on everyday behavior.

LIVING CONDITIONS

Because of the Nivkhs' reliance upon fish for most of their food, their settlements were traditionally established along rivers or seashores. High ground was chosen to provide protection from tides and floods. Most villages contained five or fewer extended-family households, although some had as many as 20. In addition to residential buildings, Nivkh villages contained doghouses; elevated sheds for storing weapons, tools, and preserved food; platforms and racks for drying fish; and raised log houses called lezng that held the skulls and bones of bears sacrificed during the Bear Festival. The Nivkh were semi-nomadic and had separate winter and summer settlements. Winter houses (t'ulf tyf) were built near hunting grounds and occupied from October until April or May. There were two basic types of winter dwelling. The most ancient was called a to ryv in the Amur dialect, and a to in the Eastern Sakhalin dialect. The to ryv was a round dugout about 23 feet in diameter shored up by wooden poles and covered with packed earth and grass. Wide, low benches along the walls also served as beds. A fireplace in the center of the to ryv provided heat and light, and a smokehole in the center allowed smoke to escape and light to enter. The other type of Nivkh winter house was the chad ryv. The chad ryv, like the Nanai dio, was modeled after Chinese or Manchu houses of the Amur region. It was a large, rectangular house of dried earth with wooden supports and a grass or bark roof. Adobe stoves on either side of the door provided warmth, and the inhabitants sat and slept on benches lining the walls. The windows of the chad ryv were covered with fishskin. Summer houses, or ke ryv, were built along fishing grounds and were occupied from May until September. The ke ryv were rectangular wooden buildings between 36 and 45 feet long that were raised several feet above the ground on poles. Entry was by way of a notched log used as a ladder. Virtually all Nivkhs now live in one-story Russian-style wooden houses or prefabricated concrete apartment buildings.

Prior to the 20th century, dogsleds and skis were the most common form of Nivkh winter transportation. In summer, journeys were made on foot, in light bark boats (hivmu), or in long, flat-bottomed wooden boats (kylmr mu). Dogsleds, skis, and traditional boats are now used much less frequently than motorboats, automobiles, trucks, and buses.

FAMILY LIFE

Traditional Nivkh society was divided into several dozen clans (k'al) of related nuclear families that took part in the Bear Festival and other religious rituals, avenged wrongs done to their members by members of other clans, and shared hunting and fishing grounds. Two clans often formed pandf, marriage alliances according to which each agreed to give wives to, or receive wives from, only the other clan. Because this practice resulted in a high degree of interrelatedness among the Nivkhs, there were strict and very complex rules on the degree and type of blood relationship permitted between marriage partners. Although the complex obligations and rules surrounding the clan system are no longer observed, the Nivkhs are still conscious of their clan affiliations and the locations of traditional clan territories. Since the Second World War Nivkh family life has generally followed the same patterns as Soviet and Russian family life.

CLOTHING

The traditional Nivkh garments for both men and women were robes (siky for men, hukht for women) that fastened on the left side of the body with three buttons and were worn with trousers (varsh). Winter garments were made of fish-skin, seal-skin, sable, otter, lynx, fox, and dog furs; summer garments were sewn from cotton and silk cloth purchased from Japanese, Russian, and Chinese traders. (Only wealthy Nivkhs wore silk.) Women's hukht extended below the knee and were made of light or multicolored furs, skins, or cloth, while the siky worn by men were slightly shorter, used dark materials, and had pockets built into the sleeves. The collars, hems, and sleeve ends of women's robes were elaborately ornamented with beads, Chinese coins, or other metal disks, glass trade beads, embroidery. and appliqué. Men's robes were decorated more modestly and only on the sleeve ends and the left lapel. Boots (myn'd'kh) were made of fish-skin, seal-skin, or deer-skin; stockings (kanyng kamys) were made of dog fur. Fur hats (hak) were worn in winter. Women were particularly fond of tlyhi hak, hats whose crown and back were decorated with, respectively, the ears and tail of the animal that had provided the fur. In summer, Nivkhs wore conical birch-bark hats called hif hak. Men always wore seal-skin belts from which hung knives, tools, amulets, and pouches for tobacco, flint, and tinder. (Although women also wore belts on occasion, belts were generally considered a sign of manhood.) Men's siky were protected from water damage while hunting and traveling by dog-sled by a loose kilt called a kosk. Underclothing consisted of skin loincloths or cloth undershorts and undershirts; in winter, women wore richly embroidered fur and cloth chest coverings for additional warmth. Today, the Nivkhs usually wear Western clothing (cloth dresses, shirts, trousers, stockings, socks, and underclothes, and leather shoes), but traditional clothing is worn on holidays and other special occasions. Modern Nivkh women sometimes sew traditional patterns onto store-bought cloth dresses.

FOOD

Fish, particularly salmon, is the mainstay of the traditional Nivkh diet and is usually eaten raw, dried, or boiled. Dried fish (ma) is prepared by hanging fresh fish in the wind and sun. Seaweed, wild garlic and onions, caviar, wild apples, cedar nuts, hazel nuts, cranberries, cloudberries, whortleberries, and edible roots, fungi, and grasses add variety to Nivkh national cuisine. In traditional society, meat was consumed much less frequently than fish and usually consisted of deer, elk, seal, sea lion, and dolphin; bears and dogs were almost never eaten outside of shamanist rituals. A favorite Nivkh dish is mos', which is made by pulverizing dried fish and mixing it with fish skins, water, seal fat, and berries until the mixture has the consistency of sour cream. Salt, sugar, rice, millet, legumes, liquors, and tea entered the Nivkh diet within the last few centuries as a result of contacts with Chinese, Japanese, and Manchu traders; Russian/Soviet influence has led the Nivkhs to adopt bread and flour, vodka, potatoes, butter, and canned vegetables, fruits, and meats. Prior to the Soviet era, the Nivkhs stored food in birchbark or wooden containers, cooked in iron kettles of Chinese manufacture, and ate from wooden platters and bowls with wooden spoons; now, they use mass-produced metal, plastic, china, and enamel vessels, utensils, and plates.

EDUCATION

Education and literacy were unknown among the Nivkhs until the Soviet government began to establish public schools in the 1920s; these schools used Russian textbooks and teachers and operated in Russian until the creation of a Nivkh alphabet in 1931. Primary schooling is now universal among the Nivkhs; almost all attend at least some secondary school, and many go on to college. All Nivkhs are fluent in spoken and written Russian, knowledge of which is essential for entry into institutions of higher learning. Because teaching in native Siberian languages was neglected, and often officially discouraged, during much of the Soviet period, many young and middle-aged Nivkhs have little or no understanding of their own people's language. According to information from 2006 only 23.3% of the Nivkhs speak Nivkh as their mother tongue. (In some Nivkh communities, fewer than one in ten speak Nivkh as their first language). The remainder speak Russian as their first language, although at least some in this group know Nivkh at varying levels of fluency.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

The cultural heritage of the Nivkhs includes thousands of songs, most of which have yet to be recorded or written down. Some Nivkh songs are of great antiquity and have been sung for centuries. The ability to improvise new songs is also highly valued among the Nivkhs. Nivkh women are considered especially talented at composing beautiful and poetic songs on a moment's notice. The most popular Nivkh songs are the alkhtund (singular: alkhtursh), or love songs. The alkhtund usually concern the tragic consequences of an ill-fated love: a typical theme is the suicide of two lovers who cannot marry either because they are members of the same clan or because the woman has been given in marriage to another man.

Nivkh songs are often accompanied on the t'yngryng, a violin-like one-stringed instrument with a round, hollow birch-bark body and a fish-skin soundboard. The t'yngryng is played with a bow made of wood and horsehair. Another Nivkh instrument is the kangga, a copper, iron or wooden mouth instrument that resembles a jaw harp. A log was sometimes suspended between two trees and beaten like a drum during the Bear Festival. During the Soviet period, these instruments were largely replaced by European instruments (guitars, wind instruments, accordions, etc.), but they are still played at public performances by Nivkh folklore ensembles.

WORK

Fishing has traditionally been the Nivkhs' primary economic activity, and they have developed a variety of skillful methods of netting, hooking, and trapping fish, particularly salmon. Nets were formerly made by hand from nettle fiber but now mass-produced rope or plastic-filament nets are purchased in stores. Nets are sometimes used in conjunction with an L-shaped trap called a myr, or chkhyl'. The myr is placed in a river or stream at a right angle to the riverbank in such a manner as to force schools of fish to run into it; when they attempt to turn, they are caught in a net. By using this combination of trap and net, a fishing expedition of three to ten men can catch four or five thousand fish in the space of a few days.

SPORTS

Nivkhs have long enjoyed dogsled racing, boat racing, archery contests, and fencing with sticks. These sports are an integral part of Bear Festival celebrations. Children play tug-of-war and ball games (for example, one player tosses a grass ball to another player, who attempts to catch it on a stick). Curiously, although the Nivkh have traditionally lived near rivers and other bodies of water, swimming did not become popular in the Soviet period.

ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION

Most Nivkh households now own televisions and radios with which they receive news and entertainment broadcasts in Russian from both Moscow and local stations. Nivkh cultural activists have recently begun to suggest that local studios also produce native-language programs on Nivkh cultural themes. Modern Nivkhs also enjoy attending concerts of classical, popular, and Nivkh traditional music and Russian and Nivkh plays.

FOLK ART, CRAFTS, AND HOBBIES

Nivkh men have traditionally been skilled at engraving intricate decorations on wooden spoons, storage trunks, knife handles and sheaths, and metal knife blades and spear tips. Women's artistic skills find expression in embroidery and appliqué, with which they adorn clothing and blankets. Common themes of Nivkh engraving and sewing are symmetrical spirals and other abstract geometric designs, fish, dragons, deer, bears, birds, snakes, and turtles. Sculpture in wood and bone originally centered around the representation of shamanist spirits, such as the "Master of the House" (Tyv ys) that protected each family. In the 20th century, its repertoire has expanded to include animal and human figures as well as hunting scenes and other themes from traditional life.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

The modern Nivkhs face a number of problems shared to one degree or another by all of Russia's Siberian and Far Eastern Peoples. Alcoholism, pollution, and a low standard of living exacerbated by late Soviet and post-Soviet economic upheavals have resulted in poor health and a low life expectancy. Nivkhs are sometimes subject to economic discrimination in the areas where they live; that is, they are paid less than Russians for equivalent work or find it more difficult to obtain well-paying employment. Overfishing and ecologically unsound fishing, logging, and industrial practices have caused significant environmental damage to the Nivkh lands. Issues of cultural survival, too, present a formidable challenge. Soviet policies toward minority peoples after the 1920s tended more and more to suppress their cultures and languages in favor of Russian culture and language. The "small peoples" of Siberia and the Far East in particular saw their histories, cultural achievements, and languages steadily and inexorably removed from educational institutions and public life. By the 1970s, the Nivkh language was no longer even taught as an elective subject in local schools, as Soviet officials had decided that such a "backward" people's language was not worthy of preservation. Since perestroika, Nivkh teachers, activists, journalists, and scholars have achieved some success in expanding knowledge of Nivkh history, language, folklore, and arts. A small but vigorous native rights movement led by Nivkh author Vladimir Sangi emerged during the glasnost' era with the long-term goal of a Nivkh autonomous territory inside the Russian Federation; it has already obtained the return of some Nival lands to communities dispersed during the 1960s resettlements. Perhaps the most prominent Nivkh cultural figure today is the novelist Vladimir Sangi, who in the late 1990s was openly critical of Russian cultural and economic policies regarding the Nivkhs, including issuing a call for reparations from the Russian government to the Nivkh community.

GENDER ISSUES

Men and women had separate economic roles in the Nivkh community, and children were taught early on how to perform the activities suitable for their sex. Women processed skins and furs, cleaned fish and game, sewed clothes, and cleaned house; men hunted, fished, built homes, carved household items from wood, and made various weapons and tools. Boys and girls were considered of marriageable age at puberty. Young men and women were often sexually active before marriage, although this was often frowned upon (at least as far as the behavior of young women was concerned).

During the Soviet era, particularly following collectivization and during the Second World War, the full incorporation of Nivkh economic life into the Soviet system resulted in the gradual integration of Nivkh women into the Soviet workforce. In addition, Nivkh women were granted access to Soviet educational opportunities.

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—revised by A. Frank