World Studies 101
Inside the Polar Circle
Nenet

INDIGENOUS RUSSIA
Before we turn south, away from the Arctic Ocean and its indigenous Polar Tribes, we gaze amongst the other Northern European territories at the “top of the World”. As we pass, we notice those living in several Indigenous Russian areas. These are linked to the early tribes from the Far North, Central and Southern Siberia and the Far East. These hardy people have lived in the same territories and have kept the same way of life and traditions for thousands of years, just as the Sami have – inside the Arctic Circle.

There are 41 of these tribes that have been recognized by Russian law in 2000 as “Minor Indigenous People of Russia”. These are the only groups that are legally protected in Russia as Indigenous people. To meet the requirements, a group of people must number fewer than 50,000 people, maintain a traditional way of life as they do, inhabit certain remote areas of the country, and identify as a distinct ethnic group.

These are those people.
We are here to take a more personal look at the Nenet.

Previously known as the “Samoyed”, a derogatory term, these people have a more proper name: Nenet. It is NOT the Samo – “self”; yed “eater” in Russian tongue that was perhaps given in an error of judgment at seeing the Nenet survive from eating raw fish and drinking warm reindeer blood (just as the Sami) while on the tundra. This pejorative term is even harsh to the beautiful Animal Allies that come from here, such s the “Samoyed” canine, which is ACTUALLY a Nordic Spitz. These traditional nomadic ways that were observed were mistaken as cannibalism, not Ritual, or Gratitude for the animals sacrificed for them to eat and sustain their lives.

None the less, the word Nenet is derived from a Nenet noun for “human being.” Sound familiar?

The Nenets people speak either the Tundra or Forest Nenets languages, which are unintelligible to those outside of their tribes but is seemingly similar to Finnish, Russian and several languages found in Zhong Guo. Other tribes that speak a related Uralic language are the Nganasans, Enets, and Selkups peoples. When you look upon them, do you see the faces of any others we have passed along the way?

NENET BELIEFS
The belief system of the Nenet people is similar to that of the previous indigenous people we have encountered, in that it is Shamanic and Animistic. They too believe that every part of the natural world has spirits. The animals, plants, rivers, lakes, hills, and all other parts of the natural world have their own 'spirit masters ' as well. This really gives pause for Elemental concepts and what role they may play in the Nenet day to day life.

They believe the Earth and all living things were created by the Sky God Num. It has many similarities with other Siberian shamanistic religions as well. They have several categories of shaman, worship spirits in the form of wooden idols and offer sacrifices or fish and reindeer meat. The Nenets are reluctant to talk to outsiders about their spiritual beliefs. Nomads carry a sacred sleigh full of sacred dolls. It is considered a taboo to sit in the sacred sled. It is essentially a mobile altar.

The Nenets believe that their harsh life on the tundra mirrors the spiritual cosmos between the Sky God Num and Underworld God Nna. (Remember “Nanna” of “Innana”? How close the pronunciations of early people and their divine energies seem to be. Do you hear it? How easy would it be for an outsider to mistake this “one people” of the globe?)

This balance sets the rhythm of the seasons with Num prevailing in the summer and Nna holding sway in the winter.

To the Nenets, nothing is simply beautiful. There is no such thing as a beautiful moon. The Nenet believe that this is an oversimplification of a greater force. The moon is a power that deserves respect as it has the ability to effect the tides, their affairs every month and shows them how to live. For them, “beauty” is the basic building block of what makes the world, the stars, move.

Scattered across the tundra are sites where herders go to sacrifice Animal Allies such as Deer to the Gods to ensure there will be enough food. They go to say prayers for the sick and make offerings of other Animal Allies such as Fox via pelts and Reindeer via antlers. When someone dies, their body is placed underneath an overturned sled because it is considered sacrilegious to place someone in the ground. Furthermore, they deeply believe in Ancestor Veneration.

OTHER RUSSIA
Sadly, as the Russians moved into Siberia and other remote parts of the land, indigenous people were forced to move as encroaching on Nenet land began. During the 1930s, Nenet spiritual leaders and shamans were exiled. The Communists forced nomads into barracks, required Nenet children to attend Russian boarding schools, and organized reindeer herders into collectives. (Remember how the Sami had to “pay tribute” to the colonizing powers? Both the United States and Canada did very similar cruelties to its indigenous.) Outwardly, the Nenets played along with Communists and organized their herds into brigades and sold their reindeer meat to the state but they kept alive their customs, clan alliances and migration routes.

Despite their best efforts to protect their land, Mother Earth, over 120 underground and atmospheric nuclear tests were conducted on the Arctic Novaya Zemlya Island. The reindeer and Nenets people that remain there have abnormally high cancer rates from this assault on the environment.

It is also noted, archaeologically, the Nenets are of particular interest to anthologist because a group of about 1,000 Nenets found in 1994, which had almost no contact with the outside world, used tools and sleds that were almost identical to those found in 8,000-year-old archeological sites. The anthropologists reasoned that the lifestyle, customs and culture of these people is also similar to that of the people from the archeological dig.

The Nenets found by the archeologists drive their herds of reindeer about 1,600 kilometers every year on the Yamal Peninsula. Almost everything they owned, with the exception of ceramic tea cups, is made by hand. Some of the Nenets apparently had never even heard of the Soviet Union at that time.

Archeologists hope that this group of Nenets will help answer a question that thus far is unanswered: whether people of the Arctic, such as Anuk of Greenland and Canada, are related to people of polar Russia like the Nenets. To date, they have found that Siberian and East Asian populations share around 38% of their ancestry with a 45,000-yr-old Ust’-Ishim individual who was previously believed to have no modern-day descendants. They were wrong.

Western Siberians can now trace 57% of their ancestry to ancient North Eurasians, represented by the 24,000-yr-old Siberian Mal'ta boy MA-1. Eastern Siberian populations formed a distinct sublineage that separated from other East Asian populations ∼10,000 yr ago. (Remember where we started our walk?) In addition, scientists have uncovered admixtures between Siberians and Eastern European hunter-gatherers from Samara, Karelia, Hungary, and Sweden (from 8000–6600 yr ago); Yamnaya people (5300–4700 yr ago); and modern-day Northeastern Europeans. These results provide new insights into genetic histories of Siberian and Northeastern European populations and evidence of ancient gene flow from Siberia into Europe.

As stated, in the Russian Federation they have a status of indigenous small-numbered peoples. Seemingly protected, the Nenets people face numerous challenges from the state, as well as oil and gas companies that threaten the environment and their way of life. As a result, many cite a rise in locally based activism. Globally, the tribesman of our world are trying to speak out, speak up, and band together.