Sustainability and Survival for Tuvan and Saami Reindeer Herders

1. Sustainability and Survival for Tuvan and Saami Reindeer Herders Libby Amaya Eliot Raynor

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. Reindeer-herding: styles

7. 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

8. Reindeer-herding: styles

9. 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

10. Tuvan: location

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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’ Tuvan: language Proliferation of lexical items referring to sex and age of deer:

15. 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’

16. Saamis

17. 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”

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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)

21. 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

22. Saami: language

23. 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)’

24. Saami

25. 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

26. 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.