#ulcha

Uilta Indigenous girl from Sakhalin Island of Siberia in traditional clothing.

Photo and text by: Alexander Khimushin, from "The World in Faces" photo project. Diversity of traditional cultures of the world through the portraits of Indigenous People.

"Uilta Indigenous People (also known as Orok) are one of the smallest ethnic groups of Siberia living the the Far East. There are only about 200 Uilta People living on this planet. The Uilta language that belongs to Tungusic language family is spoken today by just a very few elderly people.

Uilta Indigenous Peoples home is Sakhalin - the largest Island of Russia stretching for about 1000 km directly to the North of Hokkaido Island of Japan. Recent research indicates that Uilta People are related to Ulchi People and migrated to Sakhalin from Khabarovski Krai, the mainland Russia, around 17th century. At that point in time the Island was a sphere of influence of the Chinese Empire. A hundred years later Sakhalin become administered by both, the Russian Empire and Japan. A penal colony was established on Sakhalin bringing large numbers of Russian political exiles. One of them, Lev Sternberg, became an important early ethnographer on Uilta, Nivkh and Ainu People. After Japan-Russia war, in the 1920s, The Northern part of Sakhalin became part of Russia and the Southern Part became Karafuto Prefecture of Japan. This situation lasted until 1945, when Japan capitulated after the WWII. That's why Uilta People who lived in Poronaysk (also known by Japanese name of Sikuka) and born before 1945 have Japanese names.

My good friend and the spiritual leader of Uita People, Minato Siryuko, is one of them. Living on the shores of the Gulf of Patience every summer, Minato, an honorable elder of Uilta community, performs Feeding of the Spirit of The Sea ceremony, when all Uilta and Nivkh People gather together for an annual celebration that held at summer solstice. In the Sakhalin there were 3 Indigenous Ethnic groups - Ainu, Nivkh and Uilta. When Japan capitulated in 1945 Ainu People were taken by Japanese back to Hokkaido (the Ainu People historical homeland), the Nivkhs and Uilta were considered as natives of Sakhalin and left on the Island. Because of that some Nivkh and Uilta who served in the Imperial Japanese Army were held in Soviet work camps. There is a an abandoned memorial that Minato took me to, with the name of those Uilta who died at that turbulent time. In 2017 I was contacted by LeCiel Foundation team who were making a documentary about 12 highly spiritual elders of Indigenous People from all over the world. They wanted to include to the film Uilta People of Sakhalin as well. A Google search brought them my photos of Uilta. Guys from LeCiel called me from London and told me about their project, I thought it was really interesting and without much hesitation I agreed to take them to Sakhalin Island and to introduce them to Minato, acting as a local fixer and translator at the same time)) Then, during the filming, The LeCiel founders unexpectedly invited Minato to the United Nations. The invitation was also sent to all twelve Indigenous leaders who were filmed. She really wanted to travel there, but was afraid going alone, so I was offered to accompany her (I had to come back from Mongolia where I was filming my own project) This is how the Uilta Indigenous People spiritual leader from Siberia and a nomadic photographer, living in Australia at that time, ended up at the United Nations in New York City together!