Transcript Sustainability and Survival for Tuvan and Saami

Sustainability and Survival for Tuvan
and Saami Reindeer Herders
Libby Amaya
Eliot Raynor
Purpose
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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
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“One of the major questions of
world history” – S. Vainshtein
Ancient petroglyphs in SayanAltai region suggest reindeer
domestication goes back until at
least 1st century AD
Eminent scholars (Laufer, Leimbach, MänchenHelfen) say Tuvinian style of deer-herding could
be oldest form in Eurasia
Reindeer-herding: origins
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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
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Sayan (used by modern Tuvinians):
Pack-carrying; riding allowed
with saddle and stirrups; used for
milk;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
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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
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“Tyva” – ethnonym first associated with
Turkic Uigurs in Sayan-Altai
Typically divided into two groups:
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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
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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 mountaintaiga, Sayans area, overthrowing the Samodi
people
Tuvan: history
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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
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Turkic language
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200,000 speakers in Tuvan ASSR (majority
language: 63% Tuvan-speakers)
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Also some 3,000 speakers in China and around
20,000 in Mongolia
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Closely related to Todzhin  severely endangered
due to shift to Russian and Tuvan
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99% of Tuvans living in rural communities are
monolingual in Tuvan; only 9% in cities
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16% living in cities are monolingual in Russian
Tuvan: language
Proliferation of lexical items referring to sex and age of deer:
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ivi ‘deer (general)’
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kyzyr myndy ‘dry doe’
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kolchangy ‘doe in fawn’
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myndy ‘doe after fawning’
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eder chary ‘buck’
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anai ‘fawn up to 6 months’
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kuu anai ‘fawn from 6-12 mths’
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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’
Tuvan: language
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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
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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: colonialization
and modernization
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In Middle Ages Saami were mobile,
sparse, divided into villages  siida
Partly due to mobility and scattering,
were susceptible to encroachment by
settlers
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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
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Saami splits into two distinct cultures:
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Reindeer Saami: focused primarily on reindeer
husbandry; based on nomadic lifestyle
Forest Saami: mixed economy, partly reindeerkeeping but also hunting and fishing; seminomadic
20th century: Reindeer Saami become
semi-nomadic, build fixed dwellings, turn
to cattle-keeping
Saami: language
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Finno-Ugric: closest to Finnish
4-10 different languages (7, traditionally)
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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
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Reindeer-herding
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Ice and snow
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’
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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
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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
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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
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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.