Хасанова М., Певнов А. The Negidals: Language and Folklore

Hokkaido Universiry Collection of Scholarly and Acdemic Papers: HUSCAP 2003. — 21 p. The Negidals is one of the smallest groups (along with the Oroks and the Orochis) among the small-numbered peoples of the Manchu-Tungus language family. Their self-designation (native name) is elkan beyenin, nābeyenin ~ nābēn, or emŋun beyenin, which means ‘man from the River Amgun'’. Russian oldtimers still call all the peoples of the Lower Amur “the Gilyaks” (Rus. гиляки). The majority of the Negidals live on the banks of the Amur, close to the mouth of the river Amgun', and on the river Amgun', the left confluent of the Amur. Before the 1940s, the Negidals used to inhabit the Lower Amgun' and its middle reaches. According to the official data of the year 1989, there were 622 Negidals, including 502 those who live in the Khabarovsk Territory.