Selkup

The Selkup (Russian: сельку́пы), until 1930s called Ostyak-Samoyeds (остя́ко-самое́ды) are a people in Siberia, Russia. They live in the northern parts of Tomsk Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and Nenets Autonomous Okrug. They speak the Selkup language, which belongs to the Samoyedic languages of the Uralic language family. Selkups as a people formed as a result of a long interaction and interbreeding between the Yeniseian aboriginal population of the middle basin of the Ob River and Samoyedic peoples, who had come to this region from the Sayan Mountains in the beginning of the 1st millennium. In the 17th century, some of the Selkups relocated up north to live along the Taz River and Turukhan River. They were mainly engaged in hunting, fishing, and reindeer breeding. In the 18th century, Selkups were subjected to a massive baptism campaign. However, they managed to keep their ancient religious beliefs and customs.

According to the 2002 Census, there were 4,249 Selkups in Russia (4,300 in 1970).

There were 62 Selkups in Ukraine, of whom only one is a native speaker of the Selkup language (Ukrainian Census 2001).

Further reading

• Sobanski, Florian (March 2001). "The southern Selkups of Tomsk Province before and after 1991". Nationalities Papers 29 (1): 171–179. doi:10.1080/00905990120036448. 

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