Kumandins of the Suzop local council after the Great Patriotic War: demographic characteristics

We present here the consequences of the Great Patriotic War for the demographic structure of Kumandins. The war impact on the demography of the indigenous peoples of Siberia and the North and on the ethno-cultural processes was not of research interest among native ethnographers. The study bases on the materials of household books from Suzop local council for the early 1950s. Materials of the “Book of condolence ” permit to determine the number of Kumandins killed in battles of Great Patriotic War (approximately 400 men), including Suzop Kumandins (52 men). Irrecoverable losses and increased mortality among indigenous people in consequence of deterioration of living condition in the rear led to transformation of Kumandin demography. An analysis of the population makeup according to sex and age as well as familiar structure suppose the crisis of ethno-local Kumandin group in early 1950s. There are gender disparity in favor of women, the regressive type of age structure of the population concerned, the small number of men of reproductive age, the prevalence of small families, archaism of familiar organization, the prevalence of households, consisting of married couples with children, or mother and children, or childless couples or single women. Conclusions about Suzop Kumandins can be applied to entire Kumandins and other indigenous people in this region. Correlation of demographic markers depends on the size of irrecoverable losses in the Great Patriotic War among the one or another group of the autochtonous population. In general, the demographic consequences of the war are comparable for all indigenous peoples of Siberia and the North.