Kamchatka’s first people
Early Kamchatka
Archaeological evidence shows settlement of Kamchatka began about 15,000 years ago. These hunters and gatherers lived in large semi-subterranean dwellings during winter. The ancestors of modern Itelmen, Eskimo, Koryak, Chukchi, and Aleut people appeared about 10,000 years ago fishing and hunting bison, horses, and other land mammals.
As the Itelmen developed their culture to a moresedentary lifestyle along the mouths of riversrich in fish, the Koryak of the north took a more semi-nomadic way, followingtheir reindeer herds and in coastal areas also hunting seals and other sea mammals.
Linguistic and lifestyle similarities between Koryak and Eskimo give evidence of contact between these peoples since ancient times.
At the time of contact by Russians in the 17 th century the aboriginal people on Kamchatka are said to have numbered about 25,000 people.
Koryak seal hunters and reindeer herders of the north
Koryak people were both sea mammal hunters and reindeer herders, living in the northern parts of Kamchatka. The Reindeer Koryak, closest to the Chukchi of Chukotka, represented almost half the population of Kamchatka when Russians came. "Koryak" isn't a native word but Russians made the word from the root kor meaning "reindeer." The Koryak people didn't have a global name for themselves. Reindeer Koryak called themselves Chavchuv , and Maritime Koryak called themselves Numulu, "the village inhabitants."
Reindeer Koryak herded on foot, moving seasonally to tundra pastures usually locating camps near fish-loaded rivers. Fish were important for all the Koryak people. The Maritime Koryak hunted seals on ice with dogsleds or from kayaks and umiaks. They also hunted small whales in the ocean, chasing the whale into a large net tied to the shore. Then they attacked and killed the whale with spears and harpoons.
All Koryak ate reindeer meat as a staple, some raw, some boiled. Trade among the Koryak provided Reindeer Koryak with seal meat and marine mammal products. The Koryak ate many wild plants gathering roots, plants, and berries. The shamans used the strong Amanita muscaria mushroom to induce trances.
Most of the modern Koryak population lives in the Koryak Autonomous District north of the Kamchatka Region. Until the last 30 years, many Koryak people of northern Kamchatka retained their language and many traditions. While the Koryak have held onto traditions, now many traditions are lost and few people remain who speak the language fluently.
Itelmen primary inhabitants of southern Kamchatka
Contemporary Itelmen only retained their native language and traditions in isolated villages in the south of the Koryak Autonomous District. The formerly large population of Itelmen was almost entirely assimilated into a mix with Russian Cossacks in the 18th century. These people are called Kamchadal.
Stepan Krashninnikov, who participated in the 2 nd Kamchatka Expedition, wrote about the Itelmen culture, describing their skills as fishermen using hooks and nets of nettle fibers.
Huge amounts of salmon were caught, dried, and fermented for winter. Fermented fish heads were a delicacy. They didn't rely much on land mammal hunting and were very knowledgeable about edible and medicinal plants to supplement their diet and for healing. Winter transportation was by dogsleds and they traveled the rivers in dugout canoes. Today, Itelmen people fish, hunt, and are fully assimilated into Russian life. Kovran, a village on the west coast of Kamchatka, is one of the most traditional Itelmen villages remaining.
Even reindeer herders of the Bystrinsky District
The Yakut people named the Evens lamut whereas they call themselves "Even". The Even are mainly settled on the northern coast of the Okhotsk Sea and in northern Kamchatka. They only came to Kamchatka 150 years ago. Their cultural heritage springs from ancient Siberian groups. Even culture is based on reindeer herding and hunting. Unlike the Koryak and Chukchi, the Even raised smaller numbers of reindeer and prized them mostly for transportation. Their large, strong reindeer could be exchanged for two Koryak reindeer. They experimented with saddled reindeer and developed this way of transportation. They didn't tend to slaughter their reindeer for meat but hunted the forests and tundra for wild reindeer, fox, and mountain sheep. They skillfully used dogs in hunting. Even didn't fish large scale as fishing interfered with a nomadic herding life, until they were organized into Soviet collectives.
Today most of the Even people live in the Bystrinsky District in the villages of Anavgai and Esso but some are returning to live on the west side of the Sredinny Range on traditional lands. Summer transportation in their wilderness home areas is often by horseback.
