Kamchadals

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (January 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Kamchadals

Regions with significant populations
Russia	1,927[1]
Languages
Russian, Kamchadal
Religion
Russian Orthodox

The Kamchadals (Russian: камчадалы) inhabit Kamchatka, Russia. The name "Kamchadal" was applied^{[by whom?]} to the descendants of the local Siberians and aboriginal peoples (the Itelmens, Ainu, Koryaks and Chuvans) who assimilated with the Russians. The descendants of the mixed-blood Russian settlers in 18th-19th century are called Kamchadals these days.^[timeframe?] The Kamchadals speak Russian with a touch of local dialects of the aboriginal languages of Kamchatka. The Kamchadals engage in fur trading, fishing, market gardening and dairy farming, and are of the Russian Orthodox faith.^{[citation needed]} The Kamchadal language was a Kamchatka creole with Russian and indigenous elements.

History[]

As a result of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875), the Kuril Islands were handed over to Japan, along with its Ainu subjects. A total of 83 North Kuril Ainu arrived in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on September 18, 1877 after they decided to remain under Russian rule. They refused the offer by Russian officials to move to new reservations in the Commander Islands. Finally a deal was reached in 1881 and the Ainu decided to settle in the village of Yavin, Kamchatka. In March 1881 the group left Petropavlovsk and started the journey towards Yavin by foot. Four months later, they arrived at their new homes. Another village, Golygino was founded later. Under Soviet rule, both the villages were forced to disband and residents were moved to the Russian dominated Zaporozhye rural settlement in Ust-Bolsheretsky Raion.^[2] As a result of intermarriage, the three ethnic groups assimilated to form the Kamchadal community.

According to Alexei Nakamura, Kurile Kamchadals along with Ainu living in Russia are fighting for official recognition.^[3][4] Since the Ainu are not recognized in the official list of the peoples living in Russia, some of them are counted as ethnic Kamchadals.^[5]

See also[]

• Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East
• Ainu in Russia

References[]