Wandering-Places of the Reindeer Koryak 431
Settlements of the Maritime Koryak 436  
Estimate of the Number of Koryak 445

III. — HABITAT  AND   VILLAGES.

         Wandering - Places of the Reindeer Koryak. — At the present time, Reindeer Koryak are found mainly in two of the four districts into which, for administrative purposes, the Russians have divided the northeastern part
of the Maritime Province; namely, in the Gishiga and Kamchatka districts. Only five families were found in the Anadyr district, while in the Okhotsk district but a few  men  were left.

         The greater part of the Reindeer Koryak roam over the Gishiga district. They keep to the interior of the country, and frequent mainly elevated, treeless tundras covered with lichen. During severe frosts they come down to the valleys, where the trees offer protection from the winds, and supply fuel for their fires. In summer the Reindeer Koryak ascend with their herds to the summits or high mountain slopes. The winds that blow freely there, the low temperature, and the never-melting snow of the gorges and ravines, free those locations from mosquitoes, which in summer are so abundant in low and woody places. For the same reason the Chukchee of the extreme north drive their herds in summer to the open tundras of the cold shores of the Arctic Ocean.

         The   Reindeer   Koryak   usually   wander   in   groups   consisting   of  a   few families.     There   are   no   definite boundaries between the wandering-places of the   various   groups.     It sometimes happens that separate families wander far from their native places,  leaving the groups to which they originally belonged for   one   reason   or   another;   as,  for instance,  on account of quarrels,  lack of pastures   in   the   old   places   for   their   reindeer,   or the establishment through marriage   of new family ties.     I  met families on the  Palpal  Mountains whose native place was on the Taigonos Peninsula, while, on the other hand, among the   Taigonos   Koryak   there   are   people who  have come from the  Far East. According   to   Patkanov's   statement,   some   members   of the  Opuka Reindeer Koryak   are   found   on   the   Gishiga River,  and a few families of the Gishiga Reindeer   Koryak   wander   on   the   Palpal   Mountains.     On   the  whole, every group   has   its   own   wandering-places, though the limits are not well  defined. Within   this   region,   single   families,   or   small   groups   of families,  have their chosen places where they spend certain seasons of the year.

         Thus   the   Reindeer   Koryak   form   territorial   groups.      For   purposes   of taxation the  majority of these  groups are called "clans" (Роды) by the Russian Administration,   and the tribute levied on  them  was formerly paid off in furs only,   but   at   present   they   are at liberty to pay either in  money or in furs. Elders   are   appointed   for   each   of  these   clans.     The  Koryak themselves do

55—JESUP  NORTH   PACIFIC   EXPED.,   VOL.   VI.   PART   2.                    [431]


432

JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

not know the names of the clans. On a part of the Reindeer Koryak, as we shall see later on, no tribute has been levied as yet, and they have not been given any clan-name.

         The number of Koryak, Reindeer as well as Maritime, may be gathered from old official data, from those of the 1897 census, and from data collected by Mr. Bogoras and myself. The old official data — reprinted from year to year in the government reports, almost without change — relate to those groups only which were assessed for tribute, and the numbers there given are less than  the actual  numbers.

         The statistics of the census of 1897 are more reliable.1 This census was supposed to be taken on the same day over the entire empire; but in the sparsely settled districts of Siberia the enumerators spent several weeks covering each territory. Some of the remote places — for instance, the northern part of the Palpal, or the centre of the Parapol Dol — were never visited by enumerators, but they obtained their information second-hand.
Nevertheless, the data of the census of 1897 are very nearly correct. The census bulletins of 1897 relating to northern Siberia have been worked up at the Central Statistical Bureau of the Ministry of the Interior in St. Peters- burg by S. K. Patkanov, the first editor of that Bureau; but the results have not been published as yet. Mr. Patkanov, 2  however, has published a brief summary, based on the census, of the statistical and geographical data of the palaeasiatic tribes, among which are the Koryak. I shall quote further from these data under the name of Patkanov. Mr. Patkanov also had the kindness, at my request, to send me from his material more detailed statistical data on the Koryak,  of which also  I  shall  make use.

         The data collected by Mr. Bogoras and myself refer merely to those places which we visited personally, and will serve in verifying statistics relating to certain groups only.

         We must distinguish the following groups of Reindeer Koryak. 

 

Gishiga District. — 1. The Koryak of the Taigonos Peninsula (Taigono'- talu, i. e., "the people of Taigonos"). They spend the winter seasons along the valleys of the rivers Topolovka (Maka'la'nu-ve'yem 3), Kilimadja (Kili'- macwon-ve'yem), Matuga (Ma'tukan-ve'yem), Chaibuga Poye'm-ya'nm), and Avekova (ilä'taña-ve'yem4 ). Three or four families only roam in winter along the valley of the Gishiga River (Wui'vo-ve'yem5 ). In summer they ascend the mountains where these rivers have their sources.     For the purpose


1  This  census  was  the  first   general  enumeration  of the   people   of the Russian Empire, not for purposes of
taxation, but for statistical purposes only.

2  See Part I, list of authorities quoted, p.  10.

3  "River  of the  poplar  people,"   from   ma'kan  ("poplar");   the   Russian   word   "topol"   (Toполь)   also   means

"poplar."    The banks of this river abound in poplar-groves.
4
   Ilä'taña means "eye-woman."

5  Wu'ivo  formerly  meant   a   fortified   settlement,   later  on   it   was  applied   to   Russian  fortresses   and also to
Russian houses.    Wu'ivon is now the Koryak name of the town of Gishiginsk.

 


433

JOCHELSON, THE   KORYAK.

of fishing, and hunting sea-mammals, a few families only, or members of families, remain during summer, without reindeer, at the mouths of these rivers. Officially these  Koryak are  called the "Taigonos Clan"

         According to old official statistics (a census taken in 1882 by the chief of the district), there were in this clan sixty-nine families (121 men and 130 women, making a total of 251 persons);1 according to Patkanov (1897), the number of Taigonos Koryak was 381 persons (202 men, 179 women); while according to my own enumeration (1901), there were seventy-three families (168 men, 150 women, or 318 persons in all). The difference between Patkanov's figures and mine may be accounted for by the fact that, according to information gathered by myself, 97 of the Taigonos clan died of measles in 1900. Adding 97 to 318 would give 415; but at the time of my enumeration about 20 persons from other clans were included. The remaining difference  may be ascribed  to the natural  increase from   1897  to   1900.

         2.    The three "clans," called by the Administration the First, Second, and Third Gishiga Clans Although they wander in  different places,  they keep  within the limits of a certain area; namely,   north   of   Gishiga   and    Penshina   Bays,   between   the   Penshina   and Varkhalam  Rivers,  and  partly on the Parapol tundra to the south of Penshina River.     The families of these clans often intermingle; but, as a rule, the First Gishiga   Clan   wanders   principally   between   the  Varkhalam and  Paren  Rivers and   their   valleys;  the Second,  along the  Tilqai and  Mikina  Rivers;  and the Third,   along   the   Oklan,   a   tributary   of the  Penshina  River,  and the tundra between the Penshina River and the village of Pustoretsk (Ewle'wun).     During the   winter   some families of the  First  Gishiga  Clan  wander with the Tungus up   the   Varkhalam,   Gishiga,   and   Paren   Rivers,   across  the Stanovoi  Ridge, and go as far as the Omolon and Korkodon, tributaries of the Kolyma River.

         According to old official statistics, these clans consisted of 423 persons (152 of the First Clan, 167 of the Second, and 104 of the Third). Patkanov's figures show 531 persons (280 men and 251 women).2   I succeeded in 1901 in enumerating the group of the Second Gishiga Clan only, which roamed along the Tilqai River, consisting of twelve families (or 63 persons) living in five tents.     In these  five tents   11   persons died of measles in   1900.

           3.    The  Opuka Clan  wandering in  the northeastern part of the district,  in  the northern  part of the  Parapol  tundra,  and  partly on the Palpal   Ridge.      According   to   the old  figures there were  206  of them,  while according to  Patkanov there  were  43 1   persons;3   but it seems to me that this


1 According to the census of 1850, the Taigonos clan consisted of 235 persons (104 men,  131   women).

2 According to Mr.  Patkanov's written information, there were in the First Gishiga Clan 115 persons (70 men,
45   women);   in   the   Second,   279   persons  (140   men, 139 women); in the Third,  137 persons (70 men, 67 women);
but  in   Mr.  Patkanov's   published work (see p.  20) the total number for the three Gishiga Clans shows 590 persons.

3  See   Patkanov,   p.   20.    In his written information Mr. Patkanov gives the total number of this clan as 396.
persons (222 men, 174 women).


434

JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

figure is below their actual number. On the Palpal Ridge the Reindeer Koryak move from place to place together with the Chukchee, and many of them do not pay any tribute.

     4. The group of the Gishiga district, wandering chiefly upon the Parapol Dol (Парапольскiй Долъ) between the rivers Talovka, Lesna, and Vivnik. This group is not recognized at all in the old official reports. According to information gathered by me at second-hand, there are over sixty families in it. Patkanov says (p. 20) that, with reference to 566 Reindeer Koryak of the Gishiga district, there is no indication in the census as to the clan to which they belong; but he does not say in what locality these 566 persons are entered. It is likely that these may be the Koryak of the group here men- tioned.1

In this connection it should be mentioned, that, according to data gath- ered by me from the Gishiga archives, there was up to 1850 a Vetvei- Alutor clan of Reindeer Koryak assessed with fur-tribute (yasak); but since that year no tribute has been returned from them. In 1859, at the time  of the tenth census "revision" (ревизская сказка), the Russian census taken for fiscal purposes, for purposes of assessment), no trace of this clan could be found, and at present it is not mentioned anywhere.2  In the archives of 1873  I again came across an inquiry, by the provincial Administration, about this clan of the Reindeer Koryak. In reply to this inquiry, the chief of the Gishiga district reported that the Koryak of this clan had gone to the Reindeer Koryak, near Tighil, of the Petropavlovsk district. The chief of the Petropavlovsk district, in his turn, reported that the clan in question had moved back to the Gishiga district. Since then no mention of this clan has been made in the archives.

         Besides the Reindeer Koryak proper of the Gishiga district, enumerated in the above four divisions, there are small detachments of Koryak, who, though wandering with reindeer, do not constitute independent reindeer groups. The families of these detachments are connected by family ties with the in- habitants of one or another of the villages of the Maritime Koryak near which they wander and with which they form an administrative unit. Frequently one part of the family lives in the settlement, while another part wanders with the herd; or a family wandering with reindeer will have in its herd reindeer belonging to relatives living permanently in a settlement. We find this class of Reindeer people in northern Kamchatka and along the shores of Bering Sea. Mr. Patkanov informs me, however, that, according to the census of  1897, 31   Reindeer people (16  men,   15  women) who  wander in the valley


1  According to written statements of Mr. Patkanov, the total number of Reindeer Koryak of the Gishiga
district which do not belong to any officially recognized clan is 590 persons (324 men, 266 women). They wander
in different localities of the northeastern part of the district.

2   Mr. Patkanov mentions in his written information a Vetvei clan (Ветвейскiй род) consisting of 21 persons
(8 men,  13 women), but its wandering-p ace is designated as unknown.


 435

JOCHF.LSON, THE   KORYAK

of Avekova River belong to the Maritime Koryak of the Second Paren clan, and 14 Reindeer people (9 men, 5 women) of Parapol Dol are of the First Kamenski clan. I myself have not heard that the Paren people have relatives among the Reindeer Koryak; but I know three Koryak in the Kamenskoye settlement, who, being traders, have purchased reindeer. However, they themselves do not take them out to pasture, but leave them in the care of permanent Reindeer Koryak.

         The total number of Reindeer Koryak of the Gishiga district, united by ties of kinship with the villages of the Maritime Koryak, or originating from them, and considered as belonging to those settlements, consists, according to Patkanov's information, of 461 persons (236 men, 225 women). Detailed numbers of the groups of these Reindeer Koryak will be given in enumerating the villages and clans of the  Maritime Koryak of the Gishiga district.

         Thus we see that the data relating to the numbers of the Reindeer Koryak of the Gishiga district are both incomplete and contradictory; but it may be said in general that 2389, 1   the total figure of Patkanov for the number of the Reindeer Koryak in the Gishiga district, is approximately correct.

Petropavlovsk District. — The Reindeer Koryak of the Petropavlovsk district wander over the mountains, from the boundaries of the district, almost to the  55th degree north  latitude.     They may be divided into two groups.

1?      The first group, consisting, according to official statistics, of two clans: the   First   Nomadic   Clan  (Первый кочевой родъ) of 272   persons; the Second Nomadic Clan   (Второй кочевой родъ) of 284 persons.     This makes a total of 556   persons.     According to  Patkanov, the first clan  consists of 444 persons, and the second of 312  persons,  or  756 persons all together.

2?      The second group, to which belong 528 Reindeer Koryak enumerated in   the   census   of   1897. These  include,   according   to   Patkanov,2   Reindeer people   belonging   to   the   settlements   of the  Maritime Koryak, and  Reindeer Koryak   proper   who   moved   thither   from   the   Gishiga   district.     No detailed information as to   the respective numbers of each separate group is given, but it is pointed out that the latter are the more numerous.

         In all probability, the Reindeer Koryak proper, or a part of them, who had wandered thither from the Gishiga district, constitute the clan of the Gishiga district, which, as we saw, seems to have disappeared in 1850. As to the Reindeer Koryak of the Petropavlovsk district classed by the Admin- istration as belonging to the settlements of the Maritime Koryak, we find, according to Mr. Bogoras, that there are 61 nomad Koryak belonging to the Lesnovskoye settlement. The total number of Reindeer Koryak in the Petropavlovsk  district is,  according to the last census,   1284 persons.3


1  See Patkanov, p.  17.                              2 See  Patkanov, p. 20.                              3 See Patkanov, p.  18.


436 

JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

         Anadyr and Okhotsk Districts. — According to the last census, there were found in the Anadyr district five tents of Reindeer Koryak, or 75 persons (33 men, 42 women), wandering, together with the Chukchee, in the southern part of the Anadyr district, on the northern slope of the Palpal Ridge. In the Okhotsk district 13 persons were found, apparently a camp of Koryak wandering together with the Tungus.

         Settlements of the Maritime Koryak. Okhotsk District. — In the Okhotsk district, Maritime Koryak are found in two settlements only, — in the villages of Yamsk and Tumansk. They are Christians, and have become Russianized. They have forgotten the Koryak language, and speak Russian as well as Tungus. Physically they represent a blood mixture of Russians, Tungus, and Yakut. According to official data there are 205 Koryak in the village of Yamsk, and 26 Koryak in the village of Tumansk, or 66 per cent of the total number of inhabitants of those two villages. All together, there are 231   Maritime Koryak in the Okhotsk district.

         Gishiga District. — The settlements of the Maritime Koryak of the Gishiga district are situated along the shores of the Okhotsk and Bering Seas. I begin with the villages on the Okhotsk Sea.

       I. The settlement Nayakhan (Koryak E'igival, "West") is at the mouth of the Nayakhan River, in Gishiga Bay. Officially the clan is called the "Germanda Clan" from the Germanda River (Koryak Ligi'cmanä1), on the banks of which the Koryak used to live. These Koryak, like those of the Okhotsk district, have become Russianized. They are of the Orthodox faith, and some of them are related to Russians. Although the Koryak language is still in use, it is spoken imperfectly, and not by all. Like the Koryak of the Okhotsk district, they have formed a peculiar dialect of the Russian language. They also speak the Tungus language, as they often come in contact with the Tungus, who in summer come to the Nayakhan settlement to attend the fair. The Nayakhan Koryak, like those of the Okhotsk district, live in log-cabins built after the Russian fashion. Their summer settlement is at the very mouth of the river;   in winter they locate about four miles up the river.

         The statistics of 1850 show that in the Germanda Clan there were twenty families, or 125 persons (65 men, 60 women); according to Patkanov (1897), there were only 42 persons (27 men, 15 women); while my figures (1901) show that there were eight families, or 35 persons (21 men, 14 women). Apparently the clan is becoming extinct. Nayakhan is at present the only Koryak settlement in Gishiga Bay.2


1  From Li'gun, "stone-birch."    Birch-lrees, apparently, are found along the banks of this river.

2  Until recently there was another small settlement of Maritime Koryak near the mouth of the Avekova
River, but no permanent houses are to be found there any longer. In summer some families of Reindeer Koryak
and   lungus fish there.    In the town of Gishiginsk proper there were, according to the  1897 census, 17 Koryak.


437

JOCHRLSON, THE  KORYAK.

         2-4.    The   first   Koryak   settlements   on   the   western   shore   of Penshina Bay   are  found  on  Cape Itkana,  where there are three settlements, —  Little Itkana (Neni'yigicun), Middle Itkana (Osgi'nco), and Big Itkana (itkanu).     Little Itkana is situated  thirteen  miles and a half from Middle Itkana, and the latter thirty   miles   from   Big Itkana.     I  mention these settlements together,  as they constitute officially the single "Itkana Clan" Besides, families often  move from  one settlement to another.     During my winter sojourn there, all   the   inhabitants   of  Middle   Itkana   moved   over   to   their   relatives in Big Itkana.    Three families who lived permanently in Middle Itkana were afraid, after the epidemic of measles in 1900, to stay at the settlement in such small numbers.

          According to statistics of 1886, the three settlements consisted of eighteen families,  or   157  persons (63   men,   94 women);  according to Patkanov (1897), there   were   155   persons   (65   men,  90 women);  while,  according to my own figures (1901), there were fifteen families, or 117 persons (59 men, 58 women). Besides   these   117   Itkana   people,   there lived among them,  in the winter of 1901,    11  Koryak   from   Paren.      In    1900   they   lost   32  persons (7  men,   25 women)   from   measles.     Of the above total figure of 1901,  93  persons lived in   Big   Itkana,   and  35  in  Little  Itkana.     If the enumeration of 1886 and of the   census   are   correct,   then  the people of Itkana are decreasing in  number but   I   should   state   here that the Itkana people,  from their size, constitution, and appearance, gave me the impression of being physically the best represent- atives among the  Koryak that I  saw.

         5-8. Four settlements — Paren (Po'itin), Kuel, Khaimchiki, and Tilgovo — form one group of Maritime Koryak, known under the name of "Paren people" (Паренцы). Officially they form at present three clans, — First, Second, and Third Paren Clans (Первый, Второй, и Третiй Паренскiй родъ).  In the 1897 census they were divided into two clans, — First and Second;1 but in 1900 I found among them three elders (two in Kuel and one in Paren) who collected tribute.

        Of the above four settlements, Paren and Tilqovo are winter settlements; Khaimchiki,  a summer settlement;  and  Kuel,  a permanent village. 

         Paren (Po'itin), the larger winter settlement, is situated on the bank of the Paren River (Po'itu-ve'yem), about thirteen miles from its mouth. In summer most of the inhabitants live near the mouth of the river, in the summer settlement  Khaimchiki;  but a part of them  stay in  Kuel. 

         Kuel, near the mouth of a small river of the same name, is situated on the seashore,  about ten  miles  north of Paren.

         Tilqovo had in 1900-01 one house, where a family from Kuel lived during the winter. Some winters there are two houses here. It is on the Tilqai  River, a little over fourteen  miles from the sea.


1  According to Patkanov's written information.


438

JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

         According to official statistics (1850), there were fifty-four families, or 300 persons (156 men, 144 women), in the Paren clans. Patkanov's enumer- ation (1897) is  247  persons (110 men, 137 women); 1  and, according to my own census (1901), 199 persons lived in their own settlements, 11 lived with the Itkana people, and they lost 24 in the measles epidemic of 1900. From these data we may draw the conclusion that the Paren people are also decreasing in  number.

9 -16. The so-called "Kamenski people" (Каменцы) live in the following settlements: Mikino (Me's'-ken), Shestakovo (Le'ñleñcan), Yagach, Levati, Yarnochek, Kamenskoye (Va'ikenan), Talovka (Xes'-xe'n), and Ma'mec (Russian Мамечи). They are divided officially into three clans, — First, Second, and Third Kamenskoye Clans  (Первый, Второй и Третiй Каменскiй родъ). The Third Kamenskoye Clan is in some official documents called the "Yagach Clan" (Ягачинскiй родъ), and is so registered in the census of 1897. Outside of the settlements enumerated above, three families of Kamentsi live in the Rekinniki settlement.

         According to official data of 1850, the Kamentsi numbered 437 persons (242 men, 195 women), or sixty-seven families; the census of 1897 gives 431 persons (202 men, 229 women); and from my own data (1901) there were 317 persons (153 men, 164 women). According to information gathered by myself, 65 persons died of measles in   1900.

         All these settlements are situated on the seashore. Shestakovo, Kamen- skoye, and Talovka are at the mouths of the rivers Shestakovka (Egac), Penshina (Ma'gitkin-ve'yem), and Talovka (Xes'-xe-ve'yem). All these set- tlements of the Kamenski people are permanent; that is, they live there summer and winter.

         Migration from one settlement to another occurs quite frequently, on account of change of season, requirements of the hunt, or for family reasons, so that the population of the settlements is changeable. Moreover, some families of the Kamentsi have, during the summer hunting-season, summer underground houses on the seashore, outside of their permanent dwelling- places; but they have no particular names. The Kamenskoye settlement is
always the most populous. To give an idea of the relative number of inhabi- tants in the settlements of the Kamentsi, I will give the number of people in each at the time  of my census-taking.

         Mikino   had   28   inhabitants;   Shestakovo,    18;   Yagach, 2   21;  Yarnochek, 22;  Levati, 24;  Kamenskoye,  162; Talovka, 42; Ma'mec,  25; Rekinniki,  15.  3


1   Not including the 31  nomadic people (see p. 434).

2   The village Yagach (Koryak Ega'c) is also the name of the river on which Shestakovo lies. The route
between Shestakovo and Kamenskoye, leading over the Kamenski Ridge, turns away from the seashore. The villages
Yagach, Yarnochek, and Levati are situated on the bold rocky shore between the mouths of Shestakovka (Ega'c)
and Penshina Rivers, and therefore are not visited by travellers.

3   See Fig. 251.


 439

JOCHELSON, THE   KORYAK

         .All the Kamentsi are Pagans. In the Kamenskoye settlement there are two persons who are nominally considered Christians, and in Ma'mec and Rekinniki there are three  Christian families.

         The official  clans  are  distributed  as follows: 

         The First Kamenskoye Clan (191 persons, census of 1897; and 139 persons of my census) live in the settlements Kamenskoye, Talovka, Ma'mec, and Rekinniki. The Second Kamenskoye Clan (81 persons, census of 1897; and 69 persons of my census) live in the settlements Kamenskoye and Talovka.

         The Third Kamenskoye or Egac Clan (154 persons, census of 1897; and 109 persons of my census) live in the settlements Kamenskoye, Levati, Yarnochek,  Egac,  Shestakovo,  and  Mikino.

         The   rest   of  the   clans   in  the Gishiga district,  on  Penshina Bay,  are —

17, 18. The inhabitants of the villages of Pustoretsk (Ewle'wun) and Rekinniki (Rekmnok), with the exception of 15 Kamentsi living at Rekinniki, as pointed out above, constitute officially the Pustoretsk clan (Пусторецкий родъ)According to the report of the chief of the Gishiga district of 1867,1 there were 110 persons (62 men, 48 women) in this clan. According to the census of 1897,2 the clan of Pustoretsk consisted of 99 sedentary persons (50 men, 49 women) living in the villages of Rekinniki and Pustoretsk, and of 63 persons (29 men, 34 women) wandering with reindeer over the tundra in the vicinity of the villages here named. The enumeration of Bogoras (1901) shows for the village of Rekinniki 87 inhabitants (including 15 persons belonging to the Kamentsi), for the village of Pustoretsk 54 persons, and 25 Reindeer people belonging to the village of Rekinniki. The majority of Koryak of this clan have embraced  Christianity.

19. Podkaguirnoye (Pitka'hen) village, whose inhabitants constitute officially a separate Podkaguir clan numbered, according to the report of 1867 before mentioned, 65 persons (35 men, 30 women); the census of 1897 shows 51 persons (28 men, 23 women), 34 of whom live in the village, and 17 wander with reindeer. According to Mr. Bogoras (1901), there were only 25 persons in the village. Apparently this clan is on the decline. Unfortunately I have no information as to the number of people who died  during the epidemic of measles  in   1900.

         In enumerating the settlements of Maritime Koryak of the Gishiga district along the shores of Bering Sea, I shall start from the most northern settlement of the  Kerek,  and proceed  southward.

         The official border-line between the Gishiga and Anadyr districts passes through the Kerek territory.     Before the visit of the Jesup  Expedition,  not a


1 In the year 1867 the Administration of the Koryak of the clans Pustoretsk, Podkaguirsk, and of the villages
of the Alutor Koryak, was transferred from the chief of the Petropavlovsk district to that of the Gishiga district.
Therefore I could not find in the  archives of Gishiga earlier data concerning those clans.

2  Patkanov's written information.

56 - JESUP   NORTH   PACIFIC  EXPED.,   VOL.   VI.   PART   2.


440

JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

single white person  had traversed the entire Kerek territory.     From the south the  Russians communicated with the Kerek of the  villages Kavacat and  Ilpi.

         Ankudinov, the assistant of the chief of the Anadyr district, was the first one to reach (1897) the first Kerek settlements in the north, going from the mouth of the Anadyr River; but Mr. Bogoras was the first (1901) to pass with dog-sledges along the seashore,  and  visit all the Kerek settlements.

         A part of the southern Kerek have been assessed for tribute only recently, but official data concerning them are very much confused. The same may be said with reference to the settlements and numbers of the Opuka and Poqa'c Koryak, the nearest neighbors of the Kerek. I shall therefore at first proceed with the data relating to the settlements of the Kerek as well as to those of the Opuka, Poqac, and Oa'yilin Koryak, from north to south, according to the data collected by Mr.  Bogoras.

         Kerek Villages. 20-32. Hachatahin  and Ke'ñiun have one house each with 25 inhabitants. Vati'rkan has three underground houses with about 50 persons. The settlements Annon, lan, Yagnon, and Ukilan, have one house each with 25 inhabitants. Ilpi (on the mouth of the river of the same name) has three houses with 50 persons approximately. The settlements Mecivnen, Tapan, Vaimentahin, and Tapatahin have one house each, contain-ing about 25 persons. Kavacat has 21 inhabitants. According to these data, the total number of Kerek is 371   persons.

         The settlements of the Opuka and Poqac Maritime Koryak, according to Mr. Bogoras, are the following.

33, 34. The Opuka Koryak live in two villages on the Opuka River, — Cimi'tqa with five underground houses; and Opuka, near the mouth of the river, with four houses.    The inhabitants number about 90.

35?    The Poqa'c Koryak live along the Poqac River.    Their underground houses,   nine   in   number,   are   scattered   along  the river, and their population is about 90.

36?    Khailino (Russian Хаилино, Koryak Oa'yilin) is situated on the upper course   of the   Vivnik  River.     According to the data of Mr.  Bogoras (1901), there   were    in    Khailino   seven   underground   houses;   but   he   counted   the inhabitants  of five   of them only, in which he found 67  persons.    From the statistical   report   for   1898  of the governor of the  Maritime  Province we also see   that   the   Khailino   settlement   had   seven   underground   houses   with   93 inhabitants.     Thus   the   figure  of 1898  may agree  with  that of Mr.  Bogoras.

         The number of the Kerek, together with the number of the Opuka, Poqa'c, and Khailino Koryak, shows, according to the enumeration of Mr. Bogoras, 1  a total of 644 persons. I take this total in order to be able to compare the data of Mr.  Bogoras with those of the census of 1897.


1  For the village of Qa'yilin only, I take the figure 93 of the report of the governor.


441

JOCHELSON, THE   KORYAK. 

         Under the name of "Kerek" are quoted in the census of 1897 only the inhabitants of the five northern Kerek villages, apparently numbered by Ankudinov, mentioned above. There were twenty-four families, or 102 persons (52 men, 50 women).1 They are placed in the territory of the Anadyr district. The inhabitants of the Kerek village Ilpi (Russian Khatyrka, Хатырка)2 are counted as belonging to the Khatyrka clan of Koryak, and the inhabitants of the Kerek village Kavacat on Cape Anannon as belonging to the Kovacha Clan of Koryak. All other Kerek villages visited by Mr. Bogoras were not enumerated by the census of 1897.

         Thus we have in the northeastern part of the Gishiga district, according to the census of 1897, three "clans" of Maritime Koryak, in which, as we have seen,  was included also a part of the Kerek.     These three clans are 3 — 

         The Khatyrka Clan (Хатырскiй родъ), showing 66 persons (35 men, 31 women) living in the villages of Khatyrk (Ilpi) and Kovacha (Ковача), evidently the Kerek Kavacat) on the river Opuka,4 — 44 persons in the former village,  and  22   in the  latter.

        The Kovacha Clan (Ковачинскiй родъ)  showing 104 persons (54 men, 50 women) living in the villages of Kovacha4 (apparently the Kerek Kava'cat) and  Khatyrka (Ilpi), —  91  persons in the former village, and  13 in the latter.

         The Pokhacha Clan (Похачинский родъ) showing 178 persons (90 men, 88 women), — living in the villages of Pokhacha (evidently Paqac of the Koryak) on the river Pokhacha (Poqac), 71 persons; of Pokhacha 5  on the river Opuka, 47 persons; of Khailino (Oa'yilin), 60 persons. Thus, according to the census of 1897, the total number of inhabitants of the five northern Kerek villages — of the villages of Ilpi (Khatyrka) and Kava'cat (which are placed by Mr. Bogo- ras also among the Kerek settlements), and of the Opuka, Paqac, and Qa'yinin Koryak — is 450 persons. If we add to this figure the number of inhabitants of the Kerek settlements (evidently the settlements Yagnon, Ukilan, Mecivnen, Tapan, Vaimentahin, and Tapatahin), not numbered by the census of 1897, but visited by Mr. Bogoras, namely 150 persons, we receive the total of 600 persons, which total is lower than the figure 644 of the Bogoras census mentioned above. In view of the fact that the census of 1897 was made before the last epidemic of measles (1900) ravaged the country, we way draw the conclusion that the official data concerning the Kerek and the Koryak of Opuka, Poqac, and Qa'yilin, are incomplete. Besides, the official designation of the settlements is confused.

 

           The so-called  Alutor  Koryak (in  Russian Olutortsi, Олюторцы) inhabit the


       

1 See Patkanov, p.  18.                2 For the name "Khatyrka" see Part I, explanatory note to the map.

3   According to written information of Mr. Patkanov.

4   According  to   Mr. Bogoras,  the Kerek village Kavacat does not lie on the Opuka River (see map, Part I).
In the census of 1897 two villages named Kovacha are enumerated.

5   According  to Mr. Bogoras, there is no such village on the Opuka River.    The Opuka village at the mouth
of the river is evidently the one meant.    It may also be noted here that the village Cimi'tqa, on the Opuka River,
indicated by Mr. Bogoras, is not mentioned in the census of 1897.


442

JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

villages (37-42) of Alut (Russian Olutorsk, Олюторскъ), ilir (Russian Kultusno or Kultusnoye, Култусное), Tilliran (Russian Tilechiki, ), Vetvey (Ветвей), Vivnik (Вывнуки), Kièhin (Russian Kichiga, Кичига), and Timlati (Тымлаты). To the group of Alutor Koryak belong also a certain number of people who wander with reindeer.

         The data on the Alutor Koryak at my disposal belong to two lines of information. The census of 1897 enumerates them by clans, according to written information of Mr.  Patkanov, and Mr. Bogoras by villages.

          According to  the census of 1897,  we have  the following clans: 

         Alutor Clan which includes 117 sedentary persons (61 men, 56 women) and 81 nomads (43 men, 38 women), a total of 198 persons. Of the sedentary people, 101 (52 men, 49 women) lived in the Alut village, and   16 (9 men,  7  women) in the Kichin village.

         Kultusno Clan (Култусный родъ), which consists of 202 sedentary persons (96 men, 106 women) and 149 nomads (73 men, 76 women), a total of 351 persons. The sedentary people lived in the villages of Vivnik and Tilliran. No separate numbers are given.

         Tilliran or Tilechinski Clan (Тилечинскiй родъ) which comprises 84 sedentary persons (46 men, 38 women) and 8 nomads (3 men, 5 women), a total of 92 persons. Of the sedentary people, 61 (31 men, 30 women) lived in the Tilliran village, and  23  (15  men,  8  women) in  Vivnik.

          Vivnik Clan (Вывнукскiй родъ) consisting of 96 sedentary people (54 men, 42 women) and 14 nomads (10 men, 4 women), a total of 110 persons. Of the sedentary people, 79 (44 men, 35 women) lived in Vivnik village, and  17 (10 men,  women) in the Kichin village.

         Kichin Clan (Кичигинскiй родъ),  which consists of 95 sedentary persons (56 men, 39 women) and 63 nomads (34 men, 29 women), a total of 158 persons. Of the sedentary people, 86 (50 men, 36 women) lived in Kichin, and 9 (6  men,  3  women)  in  Tilliran.

         The whole number of the five clans of the Alutor Koryak, according to the census of 1897,  shows  909 persons  (476  men,  433   women). 

         In the manuscript notes of Mr. Patkanov the villages of Vetvey and Timlati are not mentioned at all.

         The census of Mr. Bogoras, of the Alutor Koryak, was made by villages.  For purposes of comparison  I  will  quote also available  older official  data.

         37. The village Alut, according to the census of 1859, had 147 inhabit- ants (79 men, 68 women); according to the report of the governor (1898), 101 persons (52 men, 49 women), with eleven underground houses. The data of Mr. Bogoras, however (1901), show only 80 persons with seven underground houses. This decrease is apparently to be ascribed to mortality from disease. The inhabitants of Alut have recently been converted to the
Greek Orthodox faith.


 443

JOCHF.LSON, THE   KORYAK.

         38.   Kultusnoye  (ilir),  by the census of  1859, had 222 persons (119 men, 103    women).      According   to   the   report   of  the   governor   of  the   Maritime Province   (1898),   there were twelve  underground  houses with   144 inhabitants (66   men,    78    women).      In . the   data   of   Mr.   Bogoras   (1901),   only   eleven underground  houses are indicated,  and three  camps,  or 25 nomads, belonging to the ilir village.

         39.   Tilliran  or Tilechiki had  57  inhabitants (30  men, 27 women) accord- ing to the data of 1859,   98  (51   men,  47  women) according to the report of the governor of 1898,  and  only 42  persons according to Mr. Bogoras (1901).

         40.   Vetvey had  20  inhabitants (11  men,  9 women) according to the data of   1859,   10 (6  men,  4 women) according to those of 1898.     In the data of Mr.  Bogoras (1901) only three underground houses are indicated.

         41.   Vivnik   had   88   inhabitants   (53   men,   35   women) according to the data of 1859,  102 (59 men, 43 women) according to the report of the governor (1898), with eight underground houses, while according to Mr. Bogoras (1901). there   were   only   four underground houses with one camp of nomadic people belonging to this village.

         42.    Kichin   consisted,   according   to   the   data   of   1859,   of 145  persons (81   men,  64 women); according to the report of the governor of the Maritime Province (1898),  of 170 persons (95 men, 75 women) with fifteen underground houses;  and,  according to  Mr.   Bogoras (1901),  of 113 sedentary persons with 12  camps or   120 persons of nomadic people belonging to the village.

         43.    Timlati   is not mentioned in  the census of 1859.     According to the governor's report (1898), this village had 48 persons, while Mr. Bogoras found seven underground houses there, but he does not indicate the number of people.

In comparing the different data concerning the Alutor Koryak, we may draw the conclusion that the data of Mr. Bogoras are incomplete, and there- fore we cannot say in how far the number of the Alutor Koryak has diminished since the census of 1897  and older data.

Petropavlovsk District. — The Maritime Koryak of this district are Russianized, like the Kamchadal. The official reports do not divide them now into clans, as they do arbitrarily with the Koryak of other districts. Even the groups of Reindeer Koryak of the Petropavlovsk district are at present often designated in official reports as "nomadic communities" (кочевое общество), and not as clans (родъ). The census of 1897 indicates every settlement of the Maritime Koryak of the Petropavlovsk district as a "village community" (сельское общество) by itself, in the Russian sense of this word. Thus, concerning the sedentary Koryak of the Petropavlovsk district, we have to do only with an enumeration of villages, and not of clans. The villages Nos.  44 -49 are on  Bering Sea,  and  Nos.   50-54 on the Sea of Okhotsk.

         44.    Karagha   (Koryak   Qare'ñin).     According to the statistical report of the governor of the Maritime province (1898), this village had  168 inhabitants


444

JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

(87 men, 81 women) with twenty houses. Patkanov (census of 1897) informs me that there are only 103 persons (56 men, 47 women). It is difficult to explain the difference between these figures.

         45.  Dranka. Here are found, according to Patkanov (census of 1897), 82 persons (36 men, 46 women); the governor's report (1898) gives 86 persons (38 men,  48  women) with  thirteen  houses.

         46.    Ivashka.     Here,  according to  both  sources named,  were  37  persons (19  men,   18  women) with six houses.

         47.    Khalula  or   Khalulinskoye.      Here, according to both sources, were 21   persons (11   men,   10 women) with three houses.

         48.    Uka.      According   to   both   sources,    10   persons  (5   men,   5   women) with three houses were found here.

         49.    Osernoye or Oserna.     According to the census of  1897,  46 persons (25  men,   21   women) lived here,  while the governor's report gives 43 inhabit- ants (23 men,  20 women) living in six houses.

         Mr. Bogoras does not furnish any information with reference to the above six villages. The inhabitants of the villages 44-49 are also known under the name of "Uka people" or Ukintsi (Укинцы).

         50.    Voyampolka.     According to the census of 1897  and the governor's report of 1898, there were   127  inhabitants (63  men,  64 women) with seven- teen houses, while according to Mr. Bogoras (1901) there were only 93 persons (50 men,  43  women).

         51.    Kakhtana.     Here were found, according to the census of 1897  and the  governor's  figures of 1898,  235  inhabitants (115  men,   120 women);  but Mr.   Bogoras   found   only   163   persons   (84   men,   79   women).      During   the epidemic of measles in   1900, they lost, according to Mr. Bogoras, 36 persons.

         52.    Pallan.    This settlement had, according to the census of 1897,  203 persons   (100   men,   103   women);   the   governor's   report   of 1898 gives  226 inhabitants   (112   men,   114   women);   while   Mr.   Bogoras   (1901)  found here only  132 Koryak (63 men, 69 women) and 20 Russians.     In  1900, 35 persons died here of measles.

         53.     Kinkil.     According to both  the census of 1897  and the governor's report   for   1898,   133   persons   (67   men,   66   women)   were   found here;  but Mr.  Bogoras found only  89 (50 men,  39  women).     In   1900,  42 persons died here of measles.

         54.     Lesna   or   Lesnovskoye.      By   both   the   census   of   1897   and   the governor's report (1898) there were  180 inhabitants here (86 men, 94 women) with   nineteen   houses;   but   Mr.    Bogoras   (1901)   found   only    146   persons (71   men,  75  women).     In this settlement 70 persons died of measles in  1900.

         The  inhabitants of the last five villages are known under the name of the "Pallan people" or Pallantsi (Паланцы). Their total number, according to the census of 1897,  shows  878  persons,  while Mr. Bogoras (1901) found only


445

JOCHF.LSON, THE  KORYAK.

621, but he gives the number of persons who died of measles in 1900 as 183. If we add this figure to the 621 living persons, we find a total of 804, which is less than the figure of the census of 1897. Evidently the Pallantsi are decreasing in numbers. According to Mr. Bogoras, 61 nomadic people (31 men, 30 women) belong to the community of Lesna village, and I cannot say whether this group of nomads is included in the number of Reindeer people of the  Petropavlovsk  district of the  census  of  1897   given above.

         Estimate of the Number of Koryak. — It is difficult to give the exact number of Koryak at present, on the basis of the above figures, which are taken from various sources. The figures from the last census, however, which follow below, are approximately correct. If a part of the Kerek, and small groups of Reindeer Koryak, not assessed for payment of tribute, are not included in the census figures, this deficiency, no doubt, will be more than covered by the numbers that died in the epidemic of 1900, since the mortality at that time in settlements and camps was from ten to thirty-three per cent. Thus the data of the census, even taking into consideration the increase of population in the last seven years, will be somewhat higher than the actual number of members of the Koryak tribe. We have compiled the following table on the basis of the census figures.

          The greatest number of Koryak, 59 per cent, falls to the Gishiga district. The total numbers of Reindeer and Maritime Koryak are about equal, — 3748 and 3782. The number of women is less among the Reindeer Koryak than it is among the Maritime division. The number of women among the former is less than that of the men, — 90.8 women to 100 men. The number of women among the latter exceeds that of the men, — 102.6 women to 100 men.     The   difference in the  number of women  in these two groups may be


  1  I do not include here the 13 Reindeer Koryak scattered over the Okhotsk district, since I believe that this group is either a part of the Gishiga Reindeer Koryak, or that they are the group of Reindeer Koryak who have been assimilated by the Tungus, and are considered officially as belonging to the Koryak of the Yamsk settlement. On the Korkodon River I once met with a Koryak family from the Okhotsk district who could not speak the Koryak language, but who spoke the Tungus, as well as the Russian language.


446

  JOCHELSON, THE KORYAK.

explained by the fact that the life of a Reindeer Koryak woman is much harder than that of her Maritime sister. The hard work incident upon their wandering and the pitching of tents, which duty devolves upon the women, and the constant struggle with cold and inclement weather, are unknown in the life of the  Maritime  Koryak  women.

         Without available correct data as to the numbers of Koryak in earlier times, it is hard to say whether, as a tribe, they are on the increase or not. If we take the figures of 1852 given by Dittmar,1 — 235 Kamentsi and Paren people, 2   872 Pallan people, 413 Ookintsi, and 1750 Reindeer Koryak assessed for fur-tribute, making a total of 3270 persons, — we see plainly that they do not represent even half of the present number of Koryak. Dittmar himself estimates the number of Reindeer Koryak not assessed at about 1000. He does not indicate the number of the Alutor people, although he mentions them. Furthermore, he does not even mention the Kerek, the  Itkana people, and the Russianized Koryak west of the Gishiga district.

         Personally I am inclined to believe that the number of Maritime Koryak is at present smaller than that of the not remote period of 1852. Such a conclusion with reference to some groups may be drawn from the data quoted by me in enumerating clans and settlements. Besides, I saw, between the mouths of the Gishiga and Nayakhan Rivers, traces of old dwellings of a few rather large settlements whose inhabitants had disappeared completely; and I was told that such ruins are found in other places on the shores of Okhotsk and Bering Seas.

         As will be seen from the last chapter, the number of Maritime Koryak killed in wars with the Russians was considerable; and since peaceful relations with the Russians have been established, frequent epidemics and famines have deprived the Koryak of a part of their population. The decline is particu- larly noticeable among the  Russianized  settlements;  for instance,  Nayakhan.

         The Reindeer Koryak who have not been in such close contact with the Russians have preserved their primitive vigor to a greater degree. Disease may carry off the increase of more favorable years. Of course, we cannot say that the number of Reindeer Koryak is greater at present than it was in preceding periods: but the fact that they are nearly equal in number to the Maritime Koryak indicates that conditions are now more favorable among the former than among the latter, since in olden times, I believe, the Maritime population was greater than that of the  Reindeer division.  


1   Die Koräken, pp. 8,  12, 14, 28.

2   With reference to the subdivision of the Koryak into groups, by Dittmar, see above, p. 429.