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Selkup
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Map of the Arctic region showing the distribution of Arctic peoples and their culture areas, outlined by a red line. The map labels groups such as the Inuit, Chukchi, Sami, Yakut, and others across North America, Greenland, northern Europe, and northern Asia, distinguishing between the American Arctic culture area and the Eurasian Arctic and subarctic culture area.
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Also called:
Ostyak Samoyed
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Selkup

people
Also known as: Ostyak Samoyed
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History

Selkup, an indigenous Arctic people who traditionally resided in central Russia between the Ob and the Yenisey rivers. They numbered more than 4,000 in the Russian census of 2002.

The Selkup language, divided into several dialects, is one of the few surviving languages of the Southern Samoyedic group of Uralic languages. Selkup has been written in both Latin and Cyrillic scripts, but little is known of its actual use. The people were once seminomadic fishers and hunters, but, since Russian domination, they have settled and many cultural features have weakened or disappeared.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Elizabeth Prine Pauls.