12 People You May Have Heard Of, But Maybe Know Little About

Perhaps, when speaking of indigenous peoples, many only imagine chiefs with feathers on their heads and paint on their bodies. Still others associate gypsies only with women in long colored skirts and scarves around their necks. However, behind these stereotypes, there are cultures that are often little discussed.

We, from awesome.club, we like to talk about diversity. For this reason, we decided to present some facts and curiosities about some peoples, about which very little is debated. Follow!

Gypsies are a very closed people: generally, they prefer to get involved and marry people of the same ethnic group. In the old days, it was common to find many women and girls in long skirts on the streets of cities, but today, it is rare for gypsies to practice the art of reading the fortunes of others in public places.

In addition, gypsies are less and less wearing their typical clothing on a daily basis. Therefore, it is possible that you will not recognize one on the street, by the way it is dressed. For example, the photo on the right shows the winner of a beauty contest among women in this community.

Chukchis live in Northeast Asia, and their population is about 16 thousand people. That is, the probability of meeting a representative of this ethnic group is quite low. Also, not much is known about their lives. Some of the most characteristic traits: they are nomadic, they herd reindeer and live in portable dwellings called spiders🇧🇷

Many have heard of the Kurds, but did you know that they are the largest ethnic group in the world that does not have a state of their own? Its representatives inhabit mountainous regions spread mostly across Turkey, Iraq and Iran.

The mysterious inhabitants of the Carpathians are known for their wild parties and the deep, piercing sound of the giant trumpet, called a trembita. The Hutsuls were believed to attract many adventurers because, until recently, there were many shamans among them, known as molfares.

The good news is that Samaritans still exist (and so do “Good Samaritans”). The bad thing is that it is very difficult to find them. Only about 800 representatives of this ethno-religious group remain in the world. Israeli actress Sofi Tsedaka, for example, is of Samaritan descent.

The Berbers are the indigenous population of North Africa and the second largest ethnic group, after the Kurds, that does not have an autonomous national entity. They are usually found in Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Mauritania. One of the Berber representatives, perhaps the most famous, is the football player Zinedine Zidane.

Tuaregs are one of the most curious peoples that make up the African Berber population, so we decided to talk about them separately. In principle, they are Muslims, however, appearing in public with one’s face uncovered is curiously considered inappropriate, especially for men. Another interesting tradition of this ethnic group is the respect for fidelity: a true Tuareg will marry only once in his life.

In fact, the Papuans are not just one people, but a collection of aboriginal nationalities from New Guinea, Melanesia and Indonesia. Until recently, these tribes could not communicate properly, since they speak different languages, nothing similar to each other. However, today there is already a universal creole language, Tok Pisin, based on English.

What some people know about the Basques is that very little is known about them. Linguists rack their brains trying to determine the origin of this people and why their language does not resemble any other: it is an isolated language, that is, it has no kinship with any registered language. Another interesting feature of the Basques is that many of their rituals curiously resemble the rituals of the Finno-Ugric and Caucasian peoples.

The Zulu national clothing is very striking and unique: leather loincloths, aprons and, in the shoulder and neck region, animal tails. It is worth mentioning, however, that nowadays these traditional costumes are mostly used by actors looking to entertain tourists. Furthermore, the national language is also special: due to the influence of other languages ​​in the area, Zulu contains click sounds in its phonetics.

Representatives of this people refer to themselves as Inuit. It was believed that in Eskimo languages ​​there were a huge number of words for snow, but this is not quite true. The Inuit language has a similar amount of radicals to English, for example. The difference is in the morphology, which allows for a freer formation of words, so the impression is created that they can say “snow” in several different ways without repetition.

The Inuit’s closest neighbors are the North American Indian people, whom we know from the novels of Fenimore Cooper and Mayne Reid. Cherokees, Mohicans, Iroquois, Apaches, all are tribes that many have heard of in childhood. These peoples still live in their respective indigenous reserves, but are increasingly integrating into urban life.

For example, Robin Maxkii (pictured left) is an information technology expert and advocate for Native Americans’ rights to Internet access. She even won the title of “Miss Indian of the North American Peoples”. In the picture on the right, we see George Tahdooahnippah, who is a professional super middleweight boxer and former American continental champion.

Which of the people above did you not know? And which ones did you find most interesting to read about? Comment!