Yukaghir languages once were spoken all over the vast expanses of Eastern Siberia, but they were replaced by Yakut and Tungusic languages almost everywhere over the last millenium. The culture of Yukaghirs has some remarkably archaic traits (i.e. some remnants of matriarchy), which are thought to be the legacy of very ancient inhabitants of Siberia. Genetically, they exhibit roughly equal frequencies of Y-DNA haplogroups N1c (typical for Uralic peoples), Q (typical for Native Americans and Paleo-Asiatic/Siberian peoples), and C2 (typical for Altaic and Paleo-Siberian peoples, and some Native Americans like Na-Dene). The origins of Yukaghirs can be traced back to Neolithic Ymyyakhtakh culture (2200-1300 BCE) which was spread across Eastern Siberia, with some Ymyyakhtakh-like artifacts found as far as in Alaska and northern Scandinavia. After a series of smallpox epidemics, the total Yukaghir population dropped under 1 thousand by the end of XIX century, and survived only in two remote regions in the extreme north of eastern Russia. Long considered an ethnic group soon to be extinct, the Yukaghir population is now fairly stable in numbers, although they remain one of the smallest minority ethnic groups in Russia, and not many of them still speak their language.
Much like the language, the Yukaghir culture is quite unique, although sharing many elements in common with other indigenous cultures around the Arctic Circle. Yukaghirs are known for their surprisingly vast medical knowledge, for their pecular pictographic writing system (a very specialized one, mostly used in love letters and improvised maps), and a great degree of equality between men and women. The traditional lifestyles of Tundra and Kolyma Yukaghirs differ significantly, the former being nomadic reindeer herders, and the latter - sedentary hunters and fishermen.
Yukaghir languages have no apparent affinity to any other language family, although they do have some similarities to Uralic, Tungusic, and other Paleo-Siberian languages. A distant relationship to Uralic (Finno-Ugric & Samoyedic) languages had been proposed by several linguists, but it's far from proven. Out of the linguists whose works I've read, Vladimir Napolskikh is a supporter, and Ante Aikio is a critic. I'm not competent enough to judge on this matter, but from what I know about Uralic and Yukaghir languages, it isn't hard to believe that they're connected in some way. In particular, these Yukaghir songs remind me of Mari ethno-pop for some reason, and the singer herself reminds me of Marina Sadova :)
She's also a winner of numerous local beauty contests, and rightfully so, even if her appearance is definitely not something I used to see everyday. Look how beautiful she is in the beginning of the video above, when she appears on the stage in a short blue ethnic-themed dress which perfectly matches her appearance... Additionally, she has appeared in a music video filmed in Nelemnoye - the very first MV for an Yukaghir song:
These two songs are the only ones in Yukaghir I know. I could find another two songs of her in Yakut, and one more song that's standard Russian pop. By the way, she was happy to know that I'm going to post her songs on here (even if my blog isn't about such kind of music in general).
