Sustainability and Survival for Tuvan and Saami Reindeer Herders

Libby AmayaEliot Raynor

Purpose

Language loss is not just a problem for linguists

Traditional ways of life and systems of knowledge – ie. reindeer-herding – are encoded in language

Therefore, loss of languages like Saami and Tuvan is equivalent to the loss of this knowledge (or at least an efficient and culturally-valued way of organizing it).

Both languages have seen significant lexical innovation as a result of the processes of urbanization and modernization

Reindeer-herding: origins “One of the major questions of

world history” – S. Vainshtein

Ancient petroglyphs in Sayan-Altai region suggest reindeer domestication goes back until at least 1st century AD

Eminent scholars (Laufer, Leimbach, Mänchen-Helfen) say Tuvinian style of deer-herding could be oldest form in Eurasia

Reindeer-herding: origins

Possibly originated under influence of Turkic pastoralists: reindeer domestication taken up by Turkic or Mongolian tribes and later abandoned but not before being adopted by the Samodi who carried it North

However, lack of Turkic words in southern Samodi herding terminology (and Samodi borrowings in Turkic-speaking herding communities) may suggest that Samodi reindeer herding developed independently

Reindeer-herding: styles

Sayan (used by modern Tuvinians): Pack-carrying; riding allowedwith saddle and stirrups; used formilk;no dogs nor decoys

Tungus / Siberian: carry packs; allow riding with saddle but no stirrups; drag sleds; milked; no dogs for herding

Reindeer-herding: styles

Reindeer-herding: styles

Western Siberian / Samodi: carry supplies by draught; use decoys, dogs; no milking

North-Eastern: tow sleds; use decoys; no dogs for herding

Saami: reindeer carry food/ supplies on back, also dragged by harness on sled; used for milk; dogs, lassos for pasturing; decoy-deer used

Reindeer-herding: styles

Tuvans

“Tyva” – ethnonym first associated with Turkic Uigurs in Sayan-Altai

Typically divided into two groups: Western: pastoralists of steppe regions Eastern*: reindeer-herding, hunting people of

the taiga regions

Situated at the crossroads of China, Mongolia, Russian Siberia

Tuvan: location

Tuvan: history Ruins of ancient settlements in Tuva date back to

Paleolithic era

Inhabitants of the taiga area near Sayan Mountains were hunters and fishers

2nd century BC: Hun empire spreads pastoralism

After 500 AD: Turkic settlers begin to inhabit the region as part of the early-medieval Turkyut state

1000 AD: Tuba (Dubo) tribes settle in mountain-taiga, Sayans area, overthrowing the Samodi people

Tuvan: history 1207: Tuva subjugated by Genghis Khan, and

Mongol influence would increase in the area, eventually becoming part of the Mongol state

1634: Mongol leader Ombo Erdeni swears allegiance to Russia

18th century: Manchu/Ch’ing dynasty rules over Tuva; by end of 1800’s Tuvan people become unified ethnic group

1914: First declaration of Tuvinian People’s Republic, precursor to the Tuvan ASSR, and modern-day Tyva Republic

Tuvan: language Turkic language

200,000 speakers in Tuvan ASSR (majority language: 63% Tuvan-speakers)

Also some 3,000 speakers in China and around 20,000 in Mongolia

Closely related to Todzhin severely endangered due to shift to Russian and Tuvan

99% of Tuvans living in rural communities are monolingual in Tuvan; only 9% in cities

16% living in cities are monolingual in Russian

Tuvan: language

ivi ‘deer (general)’ kyzyr myndy ‘dry doe’ kolchangy ‘doe in fawn’ myndy ‘doe after fawning’ eder chary ‘buck’ anai ‘fawn up to 6 months’ kuu anai ‘fawn from 6-12 mths’

dongur ‘male fawn’ daspan ‘young buck (1-2 yrs)’ myndychak ‘female up to 2 yrs’ düktüg myiys ‘male up to 2 yrs’ eder düktüg myiys ‘buck after 3 yrs’ munar chary ‘riding-buck’ kuddai ‘castrated deer’ döngür ‘any deer after 4 years’

Proliferation of lexical items referring to sex and age of deer:

Tuvan: language

mašina ‘automobile’ demir-orok ‘railroad’ xyycaa ‘deadline’ pulemyot ‘machine gun’ mooda ‘motorcycle’ magnito(f)on ‘tape recorder/player’ televizor ‘television’ universitet ‘university’ arbus ‘watermelon’ zoopark ‘zoo’

Saamis

Saami: history

Uncertainty over the nature of Saami arrival in modern-day Scandinavian nations, as well as whether language is original or acquired from Finnish

Biological/genetic attempts at ethnic classification have proved ambiguous

“The Saami have never heard that they came here from elsewhere”

Saami: colonializationand modernization

In Middle Ages Saami were mobile, sparse, divided into villages siida

Partly due to mobility and scattering, were susceptible to encroachment by settlers Forced to merge or move North Unable to defend against tax collectors Overhunting, overfishing, and slash and burn

farming by newcomers

Saami: colonialization and modernization

Saami splits into two distinct cultures: Reindeer Saami: focused primarily on reindeer

husbandry; based on nomadic lifestyle Forest Saami: mixed economy, partly reindeer-

keeping but also hunting and fishing; semi-nomadic

20th century: Reindeer Saami become semi-nomadic, build fixed dwellings, turn to cattle-keeping

Saami: language

Finno-Ugric: closest to Finnish 4-10 different languages (7, traditionally)

South (Norway, Sweden) Lule (Norway, Sweden) North (Norway, Sweden, Finland) Inari (Finland) Skolt (Finland, Russia) Kildin (Kola Peninsula, Murmansk Oblast,

Russia) Ter Saami* (Kola Peninsula)

Saami: language

Reindeer-herding boazu ‘reindeer’ čearpmat ‘reindeer calf (from

first fall to the next)’ eallu ‘herd of hundreds of

reindeer’ goddi ‘wild reindeer’ heargi ‘reindeer bull’ spáillit ‘male reindeer

castrated in previous year’ áldu ‘calved reindeer’ binna ‘small herd of reindeer’

Ice and snow bievla ‘bare spot where

snow has melted’ cuoŋo ‘crusted snowdrift

(heavy things can be carried over)’

čiegar ‘old snow dug up by a reindeer during grazing’

láhttu ‘track made in snow by skis’

Saami: language

Saami: language

dážaluvvat ‘to become Norwegian; to trade in Sámi values’

mohtorgielká ‘snowmobile’ skierročuojanas ‘record player’ dihtor ‘computer’ dihtorbiebmu ‘input (computer)’ dihtorčollu ‘output (computer)’ dihtorterminála ‘computer terminal’ globála liegganeapmi ‘global warming’ zip-fiila ‘zip file (computers)’

Saami

Language endangerment and indigenous peoples

Both Tuvan and Saami people have developed a unique and, for the most part, sustainable way of interacting with a harsh environment this is encoded in their languages

Threats to the survival of these languages are almost always linked to the shift away from traditional reindeer-herding practices and towards urbanization and modernization

Bibliography

Sustainable Reindeer Husbandry. Jernsletten and Klokov. Artic Council 2000-2002.

Family-Based Reindeer Herding and Hunting Economies, and the Status and Management of Wild Reindeer/Caribou Populations. Ulvevadet and Klokov.

Nomads of South Siberia. Vainshtein, Sevyed. Cultural Minorities in Finland. Pentikäinnen and Hiltunen. The Sami People. Veli-Pekka Lehtola. University of Alaska

Press, 2004. Tyvan. Gregory David Anderson and K. David Harrison.

Lincom Europa, 1999. Tuvan Dictionary. Gregory D. S. Anderson and K. David

Harrison. Lincom Europa, 2003. “Sami Grammar – Vocabulary”. Kimberli Mäkäräinen, 1999–

2003. http://www.uta.fi/~km56049/same/svocab.html The Laplanders: Europes Last Nomads. Per Høst. Dreyers

Forslag-Oslo.