Yeniseian people facts for kids

A Yenisei-Ostiak (Ket) woman in Russia

Map showing where Yeniseian languages were spoken in the past.

The Yeniseian people are groups of people from Siberia who speak or used to speak Yeniseian languages. Long ago, Yeniseian people lived across Central Siberia and Northern Mongolia. Today, only two groups remain: the Ket and the Yugh people.

Most modern Yeniseians live along the middle part of the Yenisei River in Northern Siberia. In 2021, there were 1,088 Kets and 7 Yughs in Russia. Experts believe the Yeniseian people originally came from the area around the Sayan Mountains and Lake Baikal. They likely moved north over time, with the Kets being the furthest north today. This move might have happened after the Xiongnu group broke apart. Some historians think the Xiongnu leaders might have spoken a Yeniseian language.

The Jie people, a group related to the Xiongnu, may have also spoken a Yeniseian language. They even formed a state called Later Zhao in China.

Interestingly, the Yeniseian languages might be connected to the languages of some Native Americans, especially the Athabaskan groups. This idea is part of the proposed Dené–Yeniseian language family. Some think Yeniseians moved back to Siberia from the Bering land bridge. Others believe both groups came from Central Siberia, with some moving to America and others staying in Siberia.

A Look at Yeniseian History

Not much is known about the early history of the Yeniseian peoples. They were probably part of the powerful Xiongnu group and might have been important leaders. Some even think they helped form the Hunnic Empire. The Jie people, who might have been ancient Yeniseians, created the Later Zhao dynasty in northern China. They were likely a group called Pumpokolic, and they lived in northern Mongolia for a long time. Eventually, they were defeated and joined the larger Han society in China.

Like the Jie, most other Yeniseian-speaking groups were absorbed by other peoples, especially Turkic and Mongolic peoples.

Yeniseian Languages Over Time

When the Russian conquest of Siberia began, only six Yeniseian languages were still spoken. These included Ket and Yugh in the north, Kott and Assan in the south, and Arin and Pumpokol in the middle.

A researcher named Edward Vajda believes that the Yeniseians moved north into Siberia recently. They left their original home in northern Mongolia and near Lake Baikal. He noticed that river names in the far north are Turkic or Mongolic. But river names south of Lake Baikal clearly come from Yeniseian languages. Russian records show that even after the 1600s, the Ket people kept moving north along the Yenisei River. The area where Kets live today shows how far north they traveled.

Sadly, most of these languages from the 1600s eventually died out. The Kott and Assan people started speaking Khakas. The Arin and Pumpokol people began speaking either Khakas or Chulym Tatar. Today, only the Ket and Yugh people remain. The Ket are a recognized minority group in Russia. However, many young Kets are now learning and speaking Russian instead of their own language.

The word "Yeniseian" was first used in 1823 by Julius Klaproth. He used it to describe all these groups together.

Connecting Yeniseians to Native Americans

Edward Vajda was the first to suggest that Yeniseians are directly related to some Native Americans. Specifically, they are thought to be close to the Na-Dene groups in Canada and Alaska.

Some people think both groups came from the Bering land bridge, with Yeniseians moving back to Siberia. But more and more evidence suggests that both Yeniseians and Na-Dene speakers came from Central-South Siberia. This idea supports the proposed Dené–Yeniseian family.

Yeniseian Ethnic Groups

Modern Yeniseian Groups

Today, there are two main Yeniseian ethnic groups:

• Ket people
• Yugh people

Historical Yeniseian Groups

Many Yeniseian groups from the past no longer exist:

• The Asan or Assan people lived in Siberia and spoke the Assan language. They were absorbed by the Evenks in the 1700s and 1800s.
• The Kott people were also from Siberia and spoke the Kott language. This language and the Kott people died out in the mid-1800s. They called themselves kottuen.
• The historical Jie tribe of the Xiongnu might have been a mix of Yeniseian and Iranian origins.

Yeniseian Languages

Yeniseian languages are considered unique because they are not related to any other known language families in the "Old World" (Europe, Asia, Africa). However, recent ideas suggest they might be distantly related to Na-Dené languages in North America, forming the hypothetical Dené–Yeniseian language family.

The Yeniseian language family is in danger of disappearing. The Ket language, the northernmost Yeniseian language, had only about 213 native speakers in 2010. In Russia, Ket is taught in schools only in Kellog. Special books are available for grades two to four. After that, students read Russian books about Ket culture. There are no known people who speak only Ket today.

Even so, Yeniseian languages played a big role in the history of China, Mongolia, and Central Asia. The leaders of both the Xiongnu and the Later Zhao dynasty might have spoken Yeniseian languages. Some believe that part of the Xiongnu group switched from speaking Yeniseian to Turkic. Also, some words in the Hungarian language might come from Yeniseian, suggesting a Yeniseian presence within the Hun group.

Many well-known Turkic and Mongolic words might have come from Yeniseian. These include royal titles like Khan, Khagan, and Tarqan. Even the word for "sky" and later "god," Tengri, might be from Yeniseian.

Yeniseian Genetics

Yeniseian Ket fisher folk in 1913. Photographer: Fridtjof Nansen

The Yeniseian people seem closely related to other Siberians, East Asians, and Native Americans. They often have a specific paternal haplogroup Q-M242.

A 2016 study suggests that the Ket and other Yeniseian people likely came from near the Altai Mountains or Lake Baikal. Some parts of the Altaians are thought to be mostly of Yeniseian origin and closely related to the Ket people. The Ket people are also closely related to several Native American groups. This study links the Yeniseians to ancient Paleo-Eskimo groups.

The ancestors of Yeniseian peoples might be connected to the Syalakh culture in ancient Yakutia. Yeniseian people, especially the Ket, also show strong links to Tuvans and other peoples of Siberia. This suggests that Yeniseian ancestry is tied to Paleo-Siberians. These Paleo-Siberians replaced earlier groups and were later absorbed by new groups from Northeast Asia.

Ancient Yeniseian speakers might be linked to people from the Late Neolithic/Bronze Age in the Baikal area. These people were hunter-gatherers of the local Glazkovo culture. This type of ancestry has also been found in small amounts among Athabaskan speakers. This supports the idea of a Dene-Yeniseian connection.

Some researchers even believe that the Yeniseian people are a result of a "reverse migration." This means their ancestors might have moved from America back to Asia. While modern Kets come from a similar ancient source, they also show connections to groups linked to Uralic peoples.