A short account of the clothes needed for survival in the tundra.

Evgeniya Taybarey

Galina Koreneva

The giant forest monsters

A folktale telling the story of an encounter between a human hunter and giant monsters of the forest.

The hare

A singing fable about a hare trotting through the forest.

The holy mountains

A short monologue in which a Nenets speaker talks about holy mountains in her neighbourhood.

How we met a bear

A story about an encounter with a bear at a campsite.

Lexe

A story about the death of a woman’s sister.

Lexical glosses for Tundra Nenets (English)

An index of the English translations of Tundra Nenets lexical words found in the transcribed texts.

Lexical glosses for Tundra Nenets (Russian)

An index of the Russian translations of Tundra Nenets lexical words found in the transcribed texts.

Life story

An autobiographical account of the life of an animal caretaker, Olga Taybarey.

Looking for a scoop

A short anecdote about a girl who was looking for a scoop.

Lullaby

A lullaby about a father who will come bearing gifts for his child.

Marriage

A short text about choosing between potential husbands.

The moon and the sun

A myth recounting how the moon and the sun were created from children by the sky father.

My childhood

An autobiographical account of the early life of a man with many siblings.

My family

A monologue in which a Nenets speaker talks about the composition of her family and the events that have shaped it.

My old boot

A short ditty about dressing up for a visit

My white boots

A little song about going to the Tundra.

Nelmin Nos

Nelmin Nos

Nelmin Nos

Nelmin Nos

Nelmin Nos

Nelmin Nos

Nelmin Nos

Nelmin Nos, the Pechora river mouth

Nenets girl

A song about one of three rich brothers asking a Nenets girl in marriage.

A Nenets joke

A joke about a Nenets man and his friend’s wife.

Nina Taybarey

No ladles under women’s hems

A very short story about a cheeky old Nenets man looking for water in a women’s tent.

The old man and his daughter-in-law

A short song about a woman living with her father-in-law.

Olga Taybarey

Olga Taybarey (on the right) with her grandson and Irina Nikolaeva in front of the traditional dwelling

on the right, Olga Tajbarej

Our new life

A short song contrasting life under the Tsar to life under Soviet power.

Published texts in Tundra Nenets

Texts published in Tundra Nenets include epic songs and folklore about the ancient people of the tundra.

Reindeer breeders in Nelmin Nos

Reindeer harness in Nelmin Nos

Reindeer harness in Nelmin Nos

A seagull’s song

A short Nenets folksong about a seagull’s wish to travel with its mother.

A seagull’s tale

A short Nenets tale about a seagull’s wish to travel with its mother.

The seven holy birch trees

A folk story about a man’s encounter at the site of the seven holy birch trees.

Speakers of Tundra Nenets in Nelmin Nos, on the right Evgeniya Taybarey

Speakers of Tundra Nenets in Nelmin Nos, second from the left Evgeniya Taybarey

Speakers of Tundra Nenets with traditional crafts

Suffix glosses for Tundra Nenets (English)

An index of the English glosses of Forest Enets suffixes found in the transcribed texts.

Suffix glosses for Tundra Nenets (Russian)

An index of the Russian glosses of the Tundra Nenets suffixes found in the transcribed texts.

Tamara Laptander

The three pikes’ sister and the Russian

A folk story focussing on the adventures of a young girl and her three pike brothers.

Traditional ornaments

Traditional ornaments made of reindeer skin and fur

Traditional summer clothing

Tundra Nenets

Tundra Nenets is a Uralic language spoken by about 21,000 people in north-western Siberia and the Arctic part of European Russia. It belongs to the Samoyedic branch of the family, along with Forest Nenets, Tundra Enets, Forest Enets, Nganasan and Selkup. It is presently the largest and most well preserved Samoyedic language.

The tundra of Malaya Zemlya

The Tundra of Malaya Zemlya

The tundra of Malaya Zemlya, lychen

The tundra of Malaya Zemlya, lychen

The two brothers and the old man of the earth

A Tundra Nenets myth about the creation of life and death.