Yukaghir

Yukaghir

Yukaghirs from Yakutia, 1905.
Regions with significant populations
Russia	1,603
Ukraine	12
Languages
Yukaghir, Russian, Yakut
Religion
Shamanism, Russian Orthodoxy
Related ethnic groups
Evens

The Yukaghir, or Yukagir (Russian: юкаги́ры; self-designation: одул (odul), деткиль (detkil)) are a people in East Siberia, living in the basin of the Kolyma River.

The Tundra Yukaghirs live in the Lower Kolyma region in the Sakha Republic; the Taiga Yukaghirs in the Upper Kolyma region in the Sakha Republic and in Srednekansky District of Magadan Oblast. By the time of Russian colonization in the 17th century, the Yukaghir tribal groups (Chuvans, Khodyns, Anaouls, etc.) occupied territories from the Lena River to the mouth of the Anadyr River. The number of the Yukaghirs decreased between the 17th and 19th centuries due to epidemics, internecine wars and Tsarist colonial policy. Some of the Yukaghirs have assimilated with the Yakuts, Evens, and Russians.

Currently, Yukaghirs live in the Sakha Republic and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation. According to the 2002 Census, their total number was 1,509 people, up from 1,112 recorded in the 1989 Census.

According to the latest 2001 all Ukrainian census, 12 Yukaghirs are living in Ukraine. Only 2 of them indicated Yukaghir as their native language. For the remaining others (6) it is Russian and for 1 it is some other tongue.