What is "negidals"

Negidals (негидальцы in Russian; self designation: элькан бэйэнин, or elkan bayenin meaning "local people." The ethnonym Negidal is a Russification of the Ewenki term ngegida, which means "coastal people.") are a people in the Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, who live along the Amgun River and Amur River. Their language belongs to the Tungusic language family and is very close to the Evenk language. The Negidals are Evenks by origin, who settled along the Amgun and interbred with the Nivkhs, Nanais, and Ulchs. They are officially considered Orthodox Christians, but preserved their own animistic beliefs and shamanism. According to the 2002 census, there were 567 Negidals in Russia, 147 of which still spoke the Negidal language. According to the 2010 census there were 513 Negidals in Russia, 75 of which still spoke the Negidal language.

52 Negidals live in Ukraine. Of these, 31 declared Negidal as their native language, 11 are Russian speaking and for 9 the mother tongue is some other language.