Siberian Yupik
Юпик, йупигыт | |
|---|---|
A Siberian Yupik woman holding walrus tusks, photo by Nabogatova | |
| Total population | |
| c. 2,828 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Chukotka in the Russian Far East, St. Lawrence Island in Alaska | |
Russia:
| 1,728 |
| United States:
| 1,100 |
| Languages | |
| Siberian Yupik, Russian, English | |
| Religion | |
| Shamanism Christianity (Moravian church and Russian Orthodox Church) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Alutiiq, Central Alaskan Yup'ik | |
Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits (Russian: Юиты), are a Yupik people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far northeast of the Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Central Siberian Yupik (also known as Yuit), a Yupik language of the Eskimo–Aleut family of languages.
Sirenik Eskimos also live in that area, but their extinct language, Sireniki Eskimo, shows many peculiarities among Eskimo languages and is mutually unintelligible with the neighboring Siberian Yupik languages.
Siberian Yupik communities actively maintain their language as a symbol of cultural identity. A significant resource is the 2008 St. Lawrence Island/Siberian Yupik Eskimo Dictionary. This 10,000-entry work covers dialects from both Alaska and Russia. It records traditional spiritual terms alongside new vocabulary for technology and healthcare. The dictionary is a key educational tool for the younger generations.