Udege

Udege, known in Qing records as Qiakala, is a southern Tungusic language east of the Ussuri, from the Amur tributaries to the Sea of Japan. Its varieties form a dialect continuum with Oroch speech. The self-name Udege means people of the forest.

Jin documents mention the Udege people as the Udikai, Yuan sources as the forest Wild Jurchens, who rose against Mongol rule in the 1340s, and Ming accounts class them with the Wild Jurchens. Late in the Ming, Nurhaci campaigned among the Woji bands and brought their settlements under his sway.

Under the Qing their headmen were confirmed in office and every two years carried sable pelts to court, receiving silk and cloth, a system that ended after Russia seized the Ussuri country. They lived by hunting, fishing and ginseng gathering, and Udege had no script in this period.