ITELMENS AND KAMCHADALS - MARRIAGE PATTERNS AND ETHNIC HISTORY

This paper considers the demographic aspects of the ethnic history of two modern ethnic groups in Kamchatka. The Itelmens and Kamchadals, wh ose ancestors were the sedentary fishermen of Kamchatka, were referred to simply as Kamchadals since the eighteenth century. The primary met hod used to reconstruct the ethnic history of Kamchatka is a retrospec tive examination of the marital preferences and patterns of the sedent ary indigenous population. The factors which transformed the marital p atterns and preferences and affected the formation of the two distinct groups of Kamchadal descendants are examined. Among the constant fact ors were the distance isolation of certain Kamchadal regions and a pre ference for the preservation of ethnic endogamy. Temporal factors incl uded shifting relationships among the various ethnic groups, epidemiol ogical and ecological variables, and demographic indices.