#khanty

[tinyuglyworld]

Khanty girls, Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, west Siberia, 2006

[aroundtheworldinstamps]

I know this might not look too flashy, but this might be my favourite stamp sheet. These Estonian stamps are a language tree of the Uralic languages.

Going anti-clockwise from the bottom middle stamp, we have:

The Samoyedic Languages: Nenets, Enets, Nganasan, Selkup, and Kamasin

The Ugric Languages: Hungarian, Khanty and Mansi

The Permic Languages: Komi and Udmurt

The Mari and Mordvinic (Erzya and Moksha) Languages

The Sami Languages (Nortern, Southern, Skolt, Inari, Lule, Ume, Pite, Ter and Kildin Sami)

The Baltic-Finnic Languages: Veps, Karelian, Izhorian, Livonian, Finnish, Estonian and Votic

Languages in brackets weren't mentioned in the stamp, but I thought I'd elaborate anyway

Edit: put Ingrian instead of Izhorian. Should've known better, sorry

[thenuclearmallard]

"Native smile from a Khanty girl,

Khanty Mansia, Northwest Siberia

The Khants are indigenous to north-west Siberia in the Khanty-Mansi and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Districts that are located in the Tyumen region of the Russian Federation.

They are calling themselves Khanti, Khande, Kantek (Khanty) which is derived from the combination "Khondy-Kho" (in the Khant language "man from the river Konda") and it has also been explained as meaning "Khan (King) people" and connected with the name of the ancient Huns.

(Milittary expeditions by the Russians took place in the 16th century, so they also started to strengthen their power over the Khants' lands.

The Khant elders managed to retain their position and began to collect tribute from their subordinates. Gradual Christianization continued. The Khants have officially been regarded as 'Christians' since the year 1715 after the extensive baptisms of monk Fyodor. Nevertheless, the ancient spiritual belief of their forfathers ('shamanism') have persisted, even to this day.

The Khants were also economically subjugated. With the help of liquor the Khants were commercially exploited by Russian traders eager for cheap furs. The predatory policy of Russian merchants and officials was so efficient that by the end of the 19th century the Khants, harassed by economic difficulties, were broken and close to ruin. The colonizers had seized their best lands as well as their incomes, and had brought along dangerous diseases and destructive habits (liquor being the biggest curse). It was commonly thought that the Khants would survive for no more than a couple of decades...

The arrival of Soviet power was accompanied by great promises and expectations for the Khants and other northern peoples. In 1925 a Northern Committee was founded with the intention of leading the Khants, Mansis and Nenets along the road of progress. In 1930 the Ostyak-Vogul National District (renamed in 1940 the Khanty-Mansi National District) was formed. This new life was no less disturbing to the Khants, causing only fear and bewilderment. The establishment of collective farms followed accompanied by severe repressions. By attacking the traditions of the people the new ideology of communism incited the persecution of shamans and the destruction of sacred groves and burial grounds. Khant children were forcibly removed to boarding schools. The largest outburst of resistance, led by the elders, became known as the Kazym rebellion. The opposition was ferociously suppressed by the Soviet-Russian army;

Khant villages were burnt and much of that connected with the culture of the Khants was destroyed altogether. Cultural centres and 'red tents' were built to propagate the Soviet way of life and its accompanying customs. From then on, anyone who took part in the customary bear funeral rites could be subject to ten years' imprisonment. Bear hunting was also forbidden. (The Bear Celebration is being celebrated occasionally after a successful hunting of a bear. The bear celebration continues 5 or 6 days. Over 300 songs and performances occur during a Bear Celebration)

In the 1950s and 60s the Soviet-Russians discovered vast gas and oil reserves in western Siberia. The Khants, hardly recovered from the blows of communism, now found themselves at the mercy of technocrats. The piratic economy has been ruthless and greedy. Oil has polluted pastures and waters once filled with fish, the gas and oil lines have blocked the paths of the reindeer, wildfires have destroyed forests.

Still, every year 20,000--25,000 tons of oil pollutes the soil, spilled in technical failures (at least one accident every three days). 50 % of the natural gas is simply consumed in senseless burning brands. Industrial pollution reduces the fishing grounds by about 10,000 hectares every year. In the district of Nizhnevartovsk alone a fire destroyed 260,000 hectares of forest in 1989. At the same time there has been an explosive increase in population (mainly due to urban migration). In 1969, 289,000 inhabitants lived in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District, by 1979 the number of inhabitants was already 596,000 and in 1989, 1,268,000 (a growth of one million in 20 years). The frailty of the northern biosphere and its resources has been totally ignored.

The overwhelming pressures of industry and alien ways of life have cast doubt on the further existence of the Khants as a nation. As early as the 19th century, M. A. Castrén and K. F. Karjalainen were recommending that the Khants should be educated in a native spirit and in native surroundings, teaching them to respect their people and customs. In fact, the authorities have "developed and raised" the level of the Khant's economic and cultural life but taking into consideration only the authorities' own needs. This has deprived the Khants of any self-confidence of determination and furthered their decline.

Economic, cultural and linguistic discrimination of the Khants has taken the form of public harassment. They are referred to as dogs, and derisive remarks are made about their dark skin. They are not allowed to work in the mines in case "they break something" or "earn too much". The rapid regression in the living conditions of the Khants is reflected in the decline of industry and in heavy drinking which has an all too common tendency to lead to suicide...)"

[paganimagevault]

Siberian snow goggles from the Khanty, Nganasan, & Sakha

Toying with an idea here. The concept of the one-eyed Arimaspians has me curious if this was a nickname for people from the north who lived in places where snow goggles may have given the appearance of having a single eye. Given a far enough physical distance and passing through the gossip of enough different languages, by the time this info made it to the Greeks what began as a nickname may have sounded like these people were literal cyclopes. Just a thought. I assume people back then used eye protection from the snow, in some manner, just like people do today. Some of the snow goggles (both modern and historical) do give the appearance of a single giant eye, while others have two eye spots. I wasn't able to find much on this as far as historical info goes, and unfortunately I couldn't find images of the ancient grave finds the article talked about. The oldest of the discovered snow goggles being 2,000 years old from northeast Asia. I'm not sure if the initial black and white sketch is of the ancient goggles or not, the post didn't explicitly say. Below is whatever info I could find on historical snow glasses in Eurasia: 

"In ancient times, like today, these goggles were made by skilled masters to combine effectiveness in blotting out the blinding light in some cases looking amazing.

Different ethnic groups across polar regions evolved their own distinctive style in snow goggles.

The most ancient known eyewear belong to the Old Bering Sea culture, the sites of which are located on the both sides of Bering Strait.

The oldest date for the culture - around 400 years BC - was obtained on Russian side, at Ekven graveyard, in Chukotka.

The peak of the culture is considered to be in second and third centuries AD. 

At Ekven and also Uelen graveyards snow goggles made of bone were found, dating from the first to the fifth centuries AD.

Some were decorated with carvings, some not, and examples are shown here in these drawings.

Later the snow goggle tradition by Eskimos, for example the Inuits and Yupik, and the Chukchi people.

While there was an obvious practical use for the goggles, a variant of these ‘spectacles’ xxxx is believed to have been used by traditional shamans; for example a pair of goggles without holes of slips was found at Ekve

The Event and Dolgans people turned to metal in making the eyewear with copper or tin or silver goggles inserted into a half-mask made of reindeer skin or other pelt, or, later, cloth obtained from Russian incomers. Decorations with beads was also a feature.

The same type of goggles was also used by other Arctic people such as the  Nganasan or Khanty. The British Museum even has some examples.

The tradition continues to this day and is thriving in Yakutia - also known as Sakha Republic, the largest region in the Russian Federation. 

Going back in time, the Yakut people used a wide range of materials to make goggles - metal, birch bark, wood, bone, skin, and horsehair. 

The goggles created from horsehair comprised strips of intricate net. A surviving 19th century example comes not from Yakutia but Tuva, the mountainous region in southern Siberia, now in a collection in the Irkutsk Museum of Local History. 

Most of the metal goggles in Yakut collections are dated from between the 18th and early 20th centuries. 

Again, some definitely had ritualistic uses: they were deployed by shamans, and not in everyday day life for use in snow.

Many Yakuts recall that their grandfathers had very simple goggles made of birch bark. 

Local historian Prokopy Nagovitsyn said: 'The round shaped silver goggles began to make an appearance in 19th century, when there appeared many rich people. 

‘The shape had a symbolic meaning - cross in the circle had been the symbol of the sun since neolithic times. 

‘Yet the cross-shaped cuts are convenient not when you are in tundra, but when you, for example, climb steps.’

Most of the older goggles look rather simple - for example a metal strip with the small deepening for the nose and slots for sight. Others have  two round metal discs with a slit to see through while blotting out most of the glare; these were fixed into a the mask of skin or fur."

-taken from SiberianTimes

[hyddedraws]

Traditional outfit commissions: batch #3

[folkfashion]

Khanty girl, Russia, by Antoine Boureau

[uralic-canvas-culture]

The Controversy of Uralic Peoples as Mongoloids

During the age of European nationalism, Finns, Hungarians, and Estonians have often had the concept of their Whiteness challenged. Some individuals have even gone out of their way to classify these three collectives as a part of the Mongoloid (East Asian) race. The strongest evidence for this claim had to do with linguistics. In the 21st century, many individuals only recognize language to be a fluid construct that has no indication of race. However, Europeans of the late 19th and early 20th century perceived language as an ethno-racial marker.

Some Western Chauvinists theorized that their shared identity of whiteness was partly ingrained in their common linguistic heritage. A broad language family identified as "Indo-European" is what loosely bound the white race together. The Finnish and Estonian tongues, however, are derived from the "Finno-Ugric" or "Uralic" language family. Because of this discrepancy, the Uralic peoples were considered Orientalized by their lack of linguistic kinship. In addition to a difference in language, certain Uralic populations also possessed physical features similar to that of East Asians. Most notably, ethnic groups like the Khanty and Mansi have pronounced epicanthic folds and maintain distinct linguistic ties with the Hungarians. These linguistic and phenotypic attributes indicated that, although the Finns, Hungarians, and Estonians appeared to be white Europeans, they were, in actuality, descendants of the Mongoloid race. These racial designations were not merely trivial ideological conflicts either. We see its impacts demonstrated when, in the United States, early Finnish immigrants were not considered white. In their book, Peter Kivisto and Johanna Leinonen note how a Finnish gentleman was denied American citizenship due to his Mongoloid origins.

This condescending view of the Finns was even shared by their fellow kin from Central Europe, the Hungarians. But why? Why would the Hungarians, a fellow Uralic-speaking people, deny any sort of linguistic/lineage tie with the Finns? This rejection is rooted in several factors tied to race, culture, and politics. In terms of politics, Hungarians have often tried to ease themselves into the sphere of pan-Turkism. This was especially prominent during the era of European nationalism when pan-Slavism was perceived as a threat to Hungary. In a reaction to Pan-Slavism, the Hungarians have often hearkened to their steppe ancestry as proof to be included as a part of a Turkic union. In addition to political factors, Hungarian history has instilled a strong sense of pride in their descent from hardened steppe warriors. The Hungarian nationalists envision themselves as the perfect syncretism of equestrian valor and catholic glory. However, this romantic imagery is removed by asserting that Hungarians are related to the Uralic people. Uralic people, who were not steppe warriors, but lowly fishermen from the baron reaches of northern Europe.  

The Nordicists sought to reinforce Hungary's shared origin with the Finns by emphasizing their cranial similarities. In his work Intra-Nordic Differences, Suvi Keskinen writes:   

"Anders Retzius, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology,

developed a skull index to investigate “longskulls” and “shortskulls,”

coming to the conclusion that the Finns, the Sámi, and Hungarians

were to be placed among the Turanian type, understood as of Asian

origin" 

Finland's history of being colonized by Sweden only added to the narrative that Uralic people were naturally meant to exist as subjugated people. This was in no way appealing to the Hungarians who sought independence from the Austrian Empire. This degrading portrayal of Finns as a subjugated and primitive race caused Hungarians to distance themselves from any sort of shared identity. In the book Languages and Publics, by Susan Gal and Kathryn Woolard, the authors note that a certain linguist was disgusted at the notion of having any sort of ancestral lineage to the Finns. In contemporary times, however, Hungarians have largely come to accept their place as members of the Uralic language family. Though others may stress the possibility of Turkic roots, one cannot deny the distant Siberian influence present across all Uralic peoples.  

As the era of nationalism waned, the focus on race and ethnicity also diminished. The tumultuous aftermath of World War 2 prompted European nations to reconsider their relationships with neighboring countries. This shifting landscape gradually relieved the burden on Finns, Hungarians, and Estonians to constantly affirm their place within the Western sphere. The post-war period brought a nuanced perspective, allowing these nations a respite from the need to continually assert their Western identities.

Book Sources:

Kivisto, Peter, and Johanna Leinonen. “Representing Race: Ongoing Uncertainties about Finnish American Racial Identity.” Journal of American Ethnic History 31, no. 1 (2011): 11–33. https://doi.org/10.5406/jamerethnhist.31.1.0011.

Map Sources:

Morton, Samuel George. 1839. Crania americana or, A comparative view of the skulls of various aboriginal nations of North and South America. To which is prefixed an essay on the varieties of the human species. Illustrated byseventy-eight plates and a colored map., Philadelphia : J. Dobson; London : Simpkin.Marshall & co.

Map of human races (Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 1885–1890)

[bones-n-bookles]

Photos from Охотничьи Лайки (Hunting Laiki) by А. Т. Войлочников (A. T. Voylochnikov) and С. Д. Войлочникова (S. D. Voylochnikova).

Top two images are of West Siberian Laika heads, first a "highbred" one (per DeepL translation) and then a Khanty type WSL.

Below is a East European Laika from the Evenki National District.

I'm only able to roughly translate russian currently so *please* correct me if I make any errors on these!