Chelkans

Chelkans
Чалканду, Шалканду
Chalkandu, Shalkandu
Regions with significant populations
 Russia 1,181[1]
Languages
Northern Altai (Chelkan), Altai, Russian
Religion
Russian Orthodox, Burkhanism, shamanism
Related ethnic groups
Khakas, Kumandins, Shors, Teleuts

The Chelkans (native name—Chalkandu, Shalkandu) are a small group of Turkic Indigenous people of Siberia. They speak the Northern Altai Chelkan language.[2] Those residing in Altai Republic are sometimes grouped together with the 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 2010 census, they were again "united" with the Altaians. According to the 2010 census, there were 1,181 Chelkans in Russia.

  1. ^ Russian Census 2010: Population by ethnicity Archived April 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
  2. ^ Tazranova A.R. "The Chelkan Language". Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia. UNESCO. Retrieved 2021-07-15.