Oultches

The Ulch people, also known as Ulch or Ulchi, (ульчи, obsolete ольчи; Ulch: нани, nani) are an indigenous people of the Russian Far East, who speak a Tungusic language known as Ulch. Over 90% of Ulchis live in Ulchsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. According to the 2002 census, there were 2,913 Ulchs living in Russia—down from 3,173 recorded in the 1989 census, but up from 2,494 recorded in the 1979 census, and 2,410 recorded in the 1970 census. According to the 2010 census there were 2,765 Ulchs in Russia. The Ulch people descend from the autochthonous Paleolithic population of coastal Northeast Asia and were found to be very similar to ancient samples found in this region from about 8000 years ago. The Ulch people are often classified as one of the ancient Paleosiberian peoples, which is however not an ethno-linguistic group but a term applied to various ethnic groups of Siberia which do not belong to the bigger Northeast Asian populations (such as Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic populations). Others classify them as one of the Tungusic peoples as their language belongs to the Tungusic languages. The first mention of the Ulchi is from the Russians and dates back to the 17th century. The Ulchi led a sedentary lifestyle in small villages of two to five houses. The villages had both winter and summer dwellings. The ancient winter dwelling, the "hagdu", was a ground frame structure made of pillars and logs with a gable roof without a ceiling, and an earthen or clay floor. The house was heated by two kanovye hearths. In extreme cold, the Ulch also used large metal braziers on three legs with burning coals. A characteristic feature of the Ulch winter dwelling is the presence of a "dog table", or uycheu - a low platform on which sled dogs were fed. Summer dwellings were of two types - quadrangular made of poles with gable roofs, covered with bark (daura) and pile letniki (gengga). While fishing, the Ulchi built small cylindrical homiran huts. Fishing is the main branch of their traditional economic complex.