Editing Chelkans

| group = Chelkans

| native_name = Чалканду, Шалканду <br>''Chalkandu, Shalkandu''

| native_name_lang = atv

* {{flag|Altai Republic}}

| ref1 = <ref>[http://www.perepis-2010.ru/results_of_the_census/tab5.xls Russian Census 2010: Population by ethnicity] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424113952/http://www.perepis-2010.ru/results_of_the_census/tab5.xls |date=April 24, 2012 }} {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

| languages = [[Northern Altai language|Northern Altai]], [[Chelkan_language|Chelkan]], [[Altai language|Altai]], [[Russian language|Russian]]

| religions = [[Russian Orthodoxy|Russian Orthodox]], [[Burkhanism]], [[Shamanism in Siberia|shamanism]]

| related = [[Khakas people|Khakas]], [[Kumandins]], [[Shors]], [[Teleuts]]

The '''Chelkans''' (native name—''Chalkandu, Shalkandu'') are a small group of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] [[Indigenous peoples of Siberia|Indigenous people of Siberia]]. They speak the [[Northern Altai language|Northern Altai]] Chelkan language.<ref name="Tazranova">{{cite web |url=https://lingsib.iea.ras.ru/en/languages/chelkan.shtml |author=Tazranova A.R. |title=The Chelkan Language |work=Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |access-date=2021-07-15}}</ref> Those residing in [[Altai Republic]] are sometimes grouped together with the [[Altai people|Altai]] ethnic group and those in [[Kemerovo Oblast]] are grouped with the [[Shors]]; however, they are recognized as a separate ethnic group within the list of [[Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East]] by ethnographers and the Resolution of the Government of the [[Russian Federation]] No. 255 dated March 24, 2000, and [[Russian Census (2002)]]. But, during the [[Russian Census (2002)|2010 census]], they were again "united" with the Altaians. According to the 2010 census, there were 1,181 Chelkans in Russia.

The Chelkans emerged from the mixing of Turkic clans with [[Ket people|Ket]], [[Samoyedic peoples|Samoyed]], and other [[Indigenous peoples of Siberia|native Siberian groups]]. This was a process that began as early as the period when the [[Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate|Yenisei Kygryz]] dominated the region. The Mongols then ruled over the region and people from the 13th to 18th centuries. The [[Dzungar Khanate|Dzungars]] then briefly controlled the area until the Chelkans (along with other [[Altai people|Altaians]]) submitted to the Russians.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the world's minorities|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|others=Skutsch, Carl., Ryle, Martin (J. Martin)|isbn=1-57958-392-X|location=New York|pages=82–83}}</ref>

== Language ==

The Chelkans speak the [[Chelkan language|Chelkan]] language sometimes classified as a [[dialect]] of Northern Altai. The language was counted as separate in the [[2002 Russian census|2002 Russian Census]] but not the [[2010 Russian census|2010 census]] which counted 2000 speakers, a writing system was developed in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Челканцы – АРКТИЧЕСКИЙ МНОГОЯЗЫЧНЫЙ ПОРТАЛ |url=https://arctic-megapedia.com/en/chelkans/ |access-date=2024-03-25 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chelkan language and alphabet |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/chelkan.htm |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=www.omniglot.com}}</ref>

The Chelkans originally mainly hunted local animals, who were vital to their subsistence lifestyle.<ref name=":0" /> Around the 19th century, the Chelkans took up [[Pine nut|cedar nut]] picking as an additional economic activity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Altaics |url=https://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/altaics.shtml |access-date=2022-10-08 |website=www.eki.ee |publisher=[[The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire]]}}</ref>

== External links ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060101025005/http://www.iassa.gl/newsletter/newss01.htm International Arctic Social Sciences Association, 2001]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060714081751/http://lingsib.unesco.ru/en/languages/chelkan.shtml.htm The Chelkan Language] page of [https://archive.today/20061031064058/http://lingsib.unesco.ru/en/ Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia]

{{Turkic peoples}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Altai people]]

[[Category:Indigenous peoples of Siberia]]