Cape of Elisabeth Sakhalinskaya Oblast Russia

The Nivkh (formerly called Gilyak), a Mongoloid people indigenous to the northern half of Sakhalin Island and the region of the Amur River estuary in Russia's Khabarovsk Krai, probably descend directly from the semilegendary Tonchi, the earliest Neolithic inhabitants of this region.

The Nivkh are physically and genetically different from the surrounding peoples and it is believed the Nivkh are the original inhabitants of the area.

Linguistically Paleo-Asiatic, the Nivkh are short, stocky people with flat, rectangular faces and dark hair and beards.

Racially, they form a unique Mongoloid subgroup.

The origins of the Nivkh, who may have occupied their present homeland as early as 3000 BCE or as late as CE 1000, are obscure and hard to discern from current archaeological research.

Their subsistence by fishing and coastal sea-mammal hunting is very similar to the Koryak and Itelmen on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The rigging of dog sleds is also similar to these Chukotko-Kamchatkan groups.

However, spiritual beliefs are similar to the Northwest Coast Indians of North America.

The current archaeological model suggests that a sub-Arctic technological culture, originating from the Transbaikal region, and termed the microlithic culture, migrated across Siberia and populated the Amur and Sakhalin region during the Late Pleistocene, perhaps earlier.

It is also believed the microlithic (small tool) culture were the first to move into the Americas.

The microlithic culture was technologically adept for the harsh climate of Siberia during the ice age.

After the Ice age receded, Tungusic people from the south pressed into the warmer northern areas, soon dominating the settled peoples.

The Nivkh are considered the last surviving ethnic group able to adapt to the warmer climate and not be assimilated or squeezed out by the new comers, hence the Nivkh isolate language.

The earliest archaeological radiocarbon dating for Northern Sakhalin as of 2004 is the Neolithic Age-Imchin Site 2, dated at 4950-4570 BCE near the Tym' River Estuary on the west coast.

The Sakhalin Niviks populated the island during the Late Pleistocene period when the island was connected to the Continent of Asia via the exposed Strait of Tartary.

When the ice age receded the oceans rose and the Nivkh were split into two groups.

The earliest mention of the Nivkh in history is believed to be a twelfth century Chinese chronicle to a people called Gilyemi, who were in contact with the Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty of China.