Schoolchildren can easily answer the question “Where do the Chukchi live?” In the Far East there is Chukotka or the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. But if we complicate the question a little: “Where do the Chukchi and Eskimos live?”, difficulties arise. There is no region of the same name; we need to find a more serious approach and understand the national intricacies.
Are there any differences between the Chukchi, Eskimos and Koryaks?
Of course there is. These are all different nationalities, once tribes, having common roots and inhabiting similar territories.
The regions in Russia where the Chukchi or Luoravetlans live are concentrated in the north. These are the Republic of Sakha, Koryak Autonomous Okrug and Since ancient times, their tribes have inhabited the extreme regions of Eastern Siberia. At first they were nomadic, but after taming the reindeer they began to adapt a little. They speak the Chukchi language, which has several dialects. The Luoravetlans or Chukchi (self-name) divided themselves into sea hunters living on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, and reindeer hunters of the tundra.
Some anthropologists classify the Eskimos as a Mongoloid race of Arctic origin. This nation lives in the state of Alaska (USA), in the northern regions of Canada, on the island of Greenland (Denmark) and quite a few (1,500 people) in Chukotka. In each country, Eskimos speak their own language: Greenlandic, Alaskan Inuit, and Canadian Eskimo. All of them are divided into different dialects.
Who are the Chukchi and Koryak? The Luoravetlans first pushed back the Eskimo tribes, and then separated territorially from the Koryaks. Today, the Koryaks (a common people with the Chukchi) constitute the indigenous population of the autonomous district of the same name in the Kamchatka region in Russia. In total there are about 7,000 people. The Koryak language belongs to the Chukchi-Kamchatka group. The first mentions of the Koryaks are found in documents of the 16th century. People are described, some of whom were engaged in reindeer herding, and others in marine fishing.
Appearance
Where do the Chukchi live and what do they look like? The answer to the first part of the question is formulated above. More recently, scientists have proven the genetic relationship of the Chukchi and Indians. Indeed, their appearance has a lot in common. The Chukchi belong to a mixed Mongoloid race. They are similar to the inhabitants of Mongolia, China, Korea, but are somewhat different.
The eye shape of Luoravetlan men is more horizontal than slanting. The cheekbones are not as wide as those of the Yakuts, and the skin color has a bronze tint. Women of this nationality are more similar in appearance to Mongoloids: wide cheekbones, wide noses with large nostrils. Hair color for representatives of both Men cut their hair short, women braid two braids and decorate them with beads. Married women wear bangs.
Luoravetlan winter clothes are two-layer, most often sewn from fawn fur. Summer clothing consists of capes or jackets made of deer suede.
Character Traits
When drawing a psychological portrait of this nationality, they note the main feature - excessive nervous excitability. Luoravetlan are easily disturbed from a state of spiritual balance; they are very hot-tempered. Against this background, they have a tendency towards murder or suicide. For example, a relative can easily respond to the request of a seriously ill family member and kill him so that he does not suffer in agony. extremely independent, original. In any dispute or struggle they show unprecedented persistence.
At the same time, these people are very hospitable and good-natured, naive. They selflessly come to the aid of their neighbors and everyone in need. They take the concept of marital fidelity very lightly. Wives are rarely jealous of their husbands.
Living conditions
Where the Chukchi live (pictured below), there is a short polar summer, and the rest of the time is winter. To refer to the weather, residents use only two expressions: “there is weather” or “there is no weather.” This designation is an indicator of the hunt, that is, whether it will be successful or not. From time immemorial, the Chukchi have continued their fishing traditions. They love seal meat very much. A happy hunter catches three in one go, then his family with children (usually 5-6 of them) will be fed for several days.
Places for yarang families are most often chosen surrounded by hills so that there is more calmness. It is very cold inside, although the dwelling is lined length and breadth with skins. Usually there is a small fire in the middle, surrounded by round boulders. There is a hanging cauldron of food on it. The wife takes care of the housework, butchering carcasses, cooking, and salting meat. There are children near her. Together they collect plants in season. The husband is the breadwinner. This way of life has been preserved for many centuries.
Sometimes such indigenous families do not go to the villages for months. Some children don't even have a birth certificate. Parents then have to prove that this is their child.
Why is the Chukchi the hero of jokes?
There is an opinion that Russians composed humorous stories about them out of fear and respect, a sense of superiority over themselves. Since the 18th century, when Cossack troops moved across endless Siberia and met the Luoravetlan tribes, rumors began to circulate about a warlike nation that was very difficult to surpass in battle.
The Chukchi taught their sons fearlessness and dexterity from childhood, raising them in Spartan conditions. In the harsh terrain where the Chukchi live, the future hunter must be sensitive, be able to endure any discomfort, sleep standing up, and not be afraid of pain. The favorite national wrestling takes place on a slippery sealskin spread, with sharp claws sticking out along the perimeter.
Militant reindeer herders
The Koryak population, which before the Chukchi became part of the Russian Empire, fled from the battlefield if they saw at least several dozen luoravetlans. Even in other countries there were tales about militant reindeer herders who are not afraid of arrows, dodge them, catch them and launch them at the enemy with their hands. Women and children who were captured killed themselves to avoid being enslaved.
In battle, the Chukchi were merciless, accurately killing the enemy with arrows, the tips of which were smeared with poison.
The government began to warn the Cossacks not to engage in battles with the Chukchi. At the next stage, they decided to bribe, persuade, and then solder the population (more so in Soviet times). And at the end of the 18th century. A fortress was built near the Angarka River. Fairs were periodically held near it to trade with reindeer herders in exchange. Luoravetlans were not allowed into their territory. Russian Cossacks have always been interested in where the Chukchi live and what they do.
Trade affairs
Reindeer herders paid tribute to the Russian Empire in the amount they could afford. Often she was not paid at all. With the beginning of peace negotiations and cooperation, the Russians brought syphilis to the Chukchi. They were now afraid of all representatives of the Caucasian race. For example, they did not have trade relations with the French and British simply because they were “white”.
We were establishing relations with Japan, a neighboring country. The Chukchi live where it is impossible to extract metal ores in the depths of the earth. Therefore, they actively bought protective armor, armor, other military uniforms and equipment, and metal products from the Japanese.
The Luoravetlans exchanged furs and other extracted goods for tobacco with the Americans. The skins of blue fox, marten, and whalebone were highly valued.
Chukchi today
Most of the Luoravetlans mixed with other nationalities. There are almost no purebred Chukchi left now. The “ineradicable people,” as they are often called, have assimilated. At the same time, they preserve their occupation, culture, and way of life.
Many scientists are confident that the small indigenous ethnic group is threatened not by extinction, but by the social abyss in which they find themselves. Many children cannot read and write and do not go to school. The standard of living of the Luoravetlans is far from civilization, and they do not strive for it. The Chukchi live in harsh natural conditions and do not like having their own rules imposed on them. But when they find frozen Russians in the snow, they bring them to the yaranga. They say that they then put the guest under the skin along with his naked wife so that she can warm him up.
Place of residence- Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Chukotka and Koryak Autonomous Okrugs.
Language, dialects. The language is the Chukchi-Kamchatka family of languages. The Chukchi language is divided into eastern, or Uelensky (which forms the basis of the literary language), western (Peveksky), Enmylensky, Nunlingransky and Khatyrsky dialects.
Origin, settlement. The Chukchi are the oldest inhabitants of the continental regions of the extreme northeast of Siberia, bearers of the inland culture of wild deer hunters and fishermen. Neolithic finds on the Ekytikyveem and Enmyveem rivers and Lake Elgytg date back to the second millennium BC. e.
By the first millennium AD. e., having tamed deer and partially switching to a sedentary lifestyle on the sea coast, the Chukchi established contacts with the Eskimos. The transition to sedentary life occurred most intensively in the 14th–16th centuries after the Yukaghirs penetrated into the valleys of the Kolyma and Anadyr, seizing the seasonal hunting grounds for . The Eskimo population of the coasts of the Pacific and Arctic oceans was partially pushed out by continental Chukchi hunters to other coastal areas and partially assimilated. In the 14th–15th centuries, as a result of the penetration of the Yukaghirs into the Anadyr valley, the territorial separation of the Chukchi from the Chukchi, associated with the latter by a common origin, occurred.
According to their occupation, the Chukchi were divided into reindeer (nomadic, but still hunting), sedentary (sedentary, having a small number of tamed deer, hunters of wild deer and sea animals) and foot (sedentary hunters of sea animals and wild deer, not having deer).
By the 19th century, the main territorial groups had formed. Among the deer (tundra) are Indigirka-Alazeya, West Kolyma and others; among the sea (coastal) - groups of the Pacific, Bering Sea coasts and the coast of the Arctic Ocean.
Self-name. The name of the people, adopted in administrative documents of the 19th–20th centuries, comes from the self-name of the tundra Chukchi chauchu, chavchavyt- “rich in deer.” The coastal Chukchi called themselves ank'alit- "sea people" or ram'aglyt- "coastal residents". To distinguish themselves from other tribes, they use a self-name Lyo'Ravetlyan- "real people". (In the late 1920s, the name “Luoravetlana” was used as the official name.)
Writing since 1931 it has existed on a Latin, and since 1936 - on a Russian graphic basis.
Crafts, crafts and labor tools, means of transportation. There have long been two types of economy. The basis of one was reindeer husbandry, the other - sea hunting. Fishing, hunting and gathering were of an auxiliary nature.
Large herd reindeer herding developed only towards the end of the 18th century. In the 19th century, the herd numbered, as a rule, from 3–5 to 10–12 thousand heads. Reindeer husbandry of the tundra group was mainly focused on meat and transport. The deer were grazed without a shepherd dog, in the summer - on the ocean coast or in the mountains, and with the onset of autumn they moved inland to the borders of the forest to winter pastures, where, as necessary, they migrated 5-10 kilometers.
In the second half of the 19th century, the economy of the absolute majority of the Chukchi remained largely subsistence in nature. By the end of the 19th century, the demand for reindeer products increased, especially among the sedentary Chukchi and Asian Eskimos. The expansion of trade with Russians and foreigners from the second half of the 19th century gradually destroyed the subsistence reindeer herding economy. From the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, property stratification was observed in Chukotka reindeer herding: impoverished reindeer herders became farm laborers, while rich owners grew their livestock; The wealthy part of the sedentary Chukchi and Eskimos also acquired reindeer.
Coastal (sedentary) people were traditionally engaged in sea hunting, which reached a high level of development by the middle of the 18th century. Hunting for seals, seals, bearded seals, walruses and whales provided basic food products, durable material for making canoes, hunting tools, some types of clothing and footwear, household items, and fat for lighting and heating the home. Walruses and whales were hunted mainly in the summer-autumn period, and seals - in the winter-spring period. Whales and walruses were caught collectively, from kayaks, and seals - individually.
Hunting tools consisted of harpoons, spears, knives, etc., of different sizes and purposes.
Since the end of the 19th century, demand for the skins of marine animals grew rapidly on the foreign market, which at the beginning of the 20th century led to the predatory extermination of whales and walruses and significantly undermined the economy of the settled population of Chukotka.
Both the reindeer and coastal Chukchi caught fish with nets woven from whale and deer tendons or from leather belts, as well as nets and bits, in the summer - from the shore or from canoes, in the winter - in an ice hole.
Mountain sheep, moose, polar and brown bears, wolverines, wolves, foxes and arctic foxes were hunted with bows and arrows, spears and traps until the beginning of the 19th century; waterfowl - using a throwing weapon ( bola) and darts with a throwing board; eiders were beaten with sticks; Noose traps were set for hares and partridges.
In the 18th century, stone axes, spear and arrowheads, and bone knives were almost completely replaced by metal ones. From the second half of the 19th century, guns, traps and mouths were bought or exchanged. By the beginning of the 20th century, whaling firearms and harpoons with bombs began to be widely used in marine hunting.
Women and children collected and prepared edible plants, berries and roots, as well as seeds from mouse holes. To dig up roots, they used a special tool with a tip made of deer antler, which was later replaced with an iron one.
The nomadic and sedentary Chukchi developed handicrafts. Women tanned fur, sewed clothes and shoes, wove bags from fibers of fireweed and wild rye, made mosaics from fur and sealskin, embroidered with deer hair and beads. The men processed and artistically cut bone and walrus tusk. In the 19th century, bone-carving associations emerged that sold their products.
Deer bones, walrus meat, fish, and whale oil were crushed with a stone hammer on a stone slab. The leather was processed using stone scrapers; Edible roots were dug up with bone shovels and hoes.
An indispensable accessory of each family was a projectile for making fire in the form of a board of a rough anthropomorphic shape with recesses in which a bow drill (flint board) rotated. Fire produced in this way was considered sacred and could only be passed on to relatives through the male line. Currently, bow drills are kept as a cult item of the family.
The household utensils of the nomadic and sedentary Chukchi are modest and contain only the most necessary items: various types of home-made cups for broth, large wooden dishes with low sides for boiled meat, sugar, cookies, etc. They ate in the canopy, sitting around a table on low legs or directly around the dish. They used a washcloth made from thin wood shavings to wipe their hands after eating and sweep away any remaining food from the dish. The dishes were stored in a drawer.
The main means of transportation along the sled route were reindeer harnessed to sledges of several types: for transporting cargo, dishes, children (wagon), and poles of the yaranga frame. We walked on snow and ice on racket skis; by sea - on single and multi-seat kayaks and whaleboats. Rowing with short single-blade oars. Reindeer, if necessary, built rafts or went out to sea on the kayaks of hunters, and they used their riding reindeer.
The Chukchi borrowed the method of traveling on dog sleds drawn by a “fan” from the Eskimos, and in a train from the Russians. A “fan” usually harnessed 5–6 dogs, a train – 8–12. Dogs were also harnessed to reindeer sledges.
Dwellings. The nomadic Chukchi camps numbered up to 10 yarangas and were extended from west to east. The first from the west was the yaranga of the head of the camp.
Yaranga is a tent in the form of a truncated cone with a height in the center from 3.5 to 4.7 meters and a diameter from 5.7 to 7–8 meters, similar to. The wooden frame was covered with deer skins, usually sewn into two panels. The edges of the skins were placed one on top of the other and secured with straps sewn to them. The free ends of the belts in the lower part were tied to sledges or heavy stones, which ensured the immobility of the covering. The yaranga was entered between the two halves of the covering, folding them to the sides. For winter they sewed coverings from new skins, for summer they used last year's skins.
The hearth was in the center of the yaranga, under the smoke hole.
Opposite the entrance, at the back wall of the yaranga, a sleeping area (canopy) made of skins in the form of a parallelepiped was installed.
The shape of the canopy was maintained by poles passed through many loops sewn to the skins. The ends of the poles rested on racks with forks, and the back pole was attached to the yaranga frame. The average canopy size is 1.5 meters high, 2.5 meters wide and about 4 meters long. The floor was covered with mats, with thick skins on top of them. The bed head - two oblong bags filled with scraps of skins - was located at the exit.
In winter, during periods of frequent migrations, the canopy was made from the thickest skins with the fur inside. They covered themselves with a blanket made from several deer skins. To make a canopy, 12–15 were required, for beds - about 10 large deer skins.
Each canopy belonged to one family. Sometimes the yaranga had two canopies. Every morning, the women removed the canopy, laid it out on the snow and beat it out of the deer's antler with mallets.
From the inside, the canopy was illuminated and heated by a grease pit. To illuminate their homes, the coastal Chukchi used whale and seal oil, while the tundra Chukchi used fat rendered from crushed deer bones, which burned odorless and soot-free in stone oil lamps.
Behind the curtain, at the back wall of the tent, things were stored; at the sides, on both sides of the hearth, there are products. Between the entrance to the yaranga and the hearth there was a free cold place for various needs.
The coastal Chukchi in the 18th–19th centuries had two types of dwellings: yaranga and half-dugout. Yarangas retained the structural basis of the reindeer dwellings, but the frame was constructed from both wood and whale bones. This made the home resistant to the onslaught of storm winds. They covered the yaranga with walrus skins; it had no smoke hole. The canopy was made of large walrus skin up to 9–10 meters long, 3 meters wide and 1.8 meters high; for ventilation there were holes in its wall that were covered with fur plugs. On both sides of the canopy, winter clothes and supplies of skins were stored in large bags made of seal skins, and inside, along the walls, belts were stretched on which clothes and shoes were dried. At the end of the 19th century, the coastal Chukchi covered yarangas with canvas and other durable materials in the summer.
They lived in half-dugouts mainly in winter. Their type and design were borrowed from the Eskimos. The frame of the dwelling was constructed from whale jaws and ribs; The top was covered with turf. The quadrangular inlet was located on the side.
Cloth. The clothing and footwear of the tundra and coastal Chukchi did not differ significantly and were almost identical to those of the Eskimos.
Winter clothes were made from two layers of reindeer skins with fur on the inside and outside. Coasters also used durable, elastic, practically waterproof seal skin for sewing pants and spring-summer shoes; Cloaks and kamleikas were made from walrus intestines. The reindeer made trousers and shoes from old smoke-filled yaranga coverings that did not deform under the influence of moisture.
The constant mutual exchange of farm products allowed the tundra people to receive shoes, leather soles, belts, lassos made from the skins of marine mammals, and the coastal people to receive reindeer skins for winter clothing. In summer they wore worn out winter clothes.
Chukotka closed clothing is divided into everyday household and festive-ceremonial: children's, youth, men's, women's, old people's, ritual and funeral.
The traditional set of a Chukchi men's suit consists of a kukhlyanka belted with a belt with a knife and a pouch, a calico kamleika worn over the kukhlyanka, a raincoat made of walrus intestines, trousers and various headdresses: a regular Chukotka winter hat, a malakhai, a hood, and a light summer hat.
The basis of a woman's costume is a fur jumpsuit with wide sleeves and short, knee-length pants.
Typical shoes are short, knee-length, torbas of several types, sewn from seal skins with the hair outward with a piston sole made of bearded seal skin, from camus with fur stockings and grass insoles (winter tobos); from seal skin or from old, smoke-soaked coverings of yaranga (summer torbas).
Food, its preparation. The traditional food of tundra people is venison, while that of coastal people is the meat and fat of sea animals. Deer meat was eaten frozen (finely chopped) or lightly boiled. During the mass slaughter of deer, the contents of deer stomachs were prepared by boiling them with blood and fat. They also consumed fresh and frozen deer blood. We prepared soups with vegetables and cereals.
The Primorye Chukchi considered walrus meat especially satisfying. Prepared in the traditional way, it is well preserved. Squares of meat along with lard and skin are cut out of the dorsal and side parts of the carcass. The liver and other cleaned entrails are placed in the tenderloin. The edges are sewn together with the skin facing out - it turns out to be a roll ( k'opalgyn-kymgyt). Closer to cold weather, its edges are tightened even more to prevent excessive souring of the contents. K'opalgyn eaten fresh, sour and frozen. Fresh walrus meat is boiled. The meat of beluga whales and gray whales, as well as their skin with a layer of fat, is eaten raw and boiled.
In the northern and southern regions of Chukotka, grayling, navaga, sockeye salmon, and flounder occupy a large place in the diet. Yukola is prepared from large salmon. Many Chukchi reindeer herders dry, salt, smoke fish, and salt caviar.
The meat of sea animals is very fatty, so it requires herbal supplements. The Reindeer and Primorye Chukchi traditionally ate a lot of wild herbs, roots, berries, and seaweed. Dwarf willow leaves, sorrel, and edible roots were frozen, fermented, and mixed with fat and blood. Koloboks were made from the roots, crushed with meat and walrus fat. For a long time, porridge was cooked from imported flour, and cakes were fried in seal fat.
Social life, power, marriage, family. By the 17th–18th centuries, the main socio-economic unit was the patriarchal family community, consisting of several families that had a single household and a common home. The community included up to 10 or more adult men related by kinship.
Among the coastal Chukchi, industrial and social ties developed around the canoe, the size of which depended on the number of community members. At the head of the patriarchal community was a foreman - the “boat chief”.
Among the tundra, the patriarchal community was united around a common herd; it was also headed by a foreman - a “strong man”. By the end of the 18th century, due to the increase in the number of deer in the herds, it became necessary to split the latter for more convenient grazing, which led to a weakening of intra-community ties.
Sedentary Chukchi lived in villages. Several related communities settled on common areas, each of which was located in a separate half-dugout. The nomadic Chukchi lived in a camp also consisting of several patriarchal communities. Each community included two to four families and occupied a separate yaranga. 15–20 camps formed a circle of mutual aid. The Reindeer also had patrilineal kinship groups connected by blood feud, the transfer of ritual fire, sacrificial rites, and the initial form of patriarchal slavery, which disappeared with the cessation of wars against neighboring peoples.
In the 19th century, the traditions of communal living, group marriage, and levirate continued to coexist, despite the emergence of private property and wealth inequality. By the end of the 19th century, the large patriarchal family disintegrated and was replaced by a small family.
Religion. The basis of religious beliefs and cult is animism, a trade cult.
The structure of the world among the Chukchi included three spheres: the earth's firmament with everything that exists on it; heaven, where ancestors live who died a dignified death during a battle or who chose voluntary death at the hands of a relative (among the Chukchi, old people who were unable to earn a living asked their closest relatives to take their lives); the underworld - the abode of the bearers of evil - Kale, where people who died from the disease ended up.
According to legend, mystical host creatures were in charge of fishing grounds and individual habitats of people, and sacrifices were made to them. A special category of beneficent creatures were household patrons; ritual figurines and objects were kept in each yaranga.
The system of religious ideas gave rise to corresponding cults among the tundra people associated with reindeer husbandry; near the coast - with the sea. There were also common cults: Nargynen(Nature, Universe), Dawn, Polar Star, Zenith, constellation Pegittin, cult of ancestors, etc. Sacrifices were communal, family and individual in nature.
The fight against diseases, protracted failures in fishing and reindeer husbandry was the lot of shamans. In Chukotka they were not classified as a professional caste; they participated as equals in the fishing activities of the family and community. What distinguished the shaman from other members of the community was his ability to communicate with patron spirits, talk with ancestors, imitate their voices, and fall into a state of trance. The main function of the shaman was healing. He did not have a special costume; his main ritual attribute was a tambourine. Shamanic functions could be performed by the head of the family (family shamanism).
Holidays. The main holidays were associated with economic cycles. For reindeer - with the autumn and winter slaughter of reindeer, calving, migration of the herd to summer pastures and return. The holidays of the coastal Chukchi are close to the Eskimos: in the spring - the holiday of baidara on the occasion of the first trip to sea; in summer there is a festival of goals to mark the end of the seal hunt; in autumn it is the holiday of the owner of sea animals. All holidays were accompanied by competitions in running, wrestling, shooting, jumping on a walrus skin (a prototype of a trampoline), and racing deer and dogs; dancing, playing tambourines, pantomime.
In addition to production ones, there were family holidays associated with the birth of a child, expression of gratitude by aspiring hunters on the occasion of a successful hunt, etc.
During holidays, sacrifices are obligatory: deer, meat, figurines made of reindeer fat, snow, wood (among the reindeer Chukchi), dogs (among the sea).
Christianization almost did not affect the Chukchi.
Folklore, musical instruments. The main genres of folklore are myths, fairy tales, historical legends, tales and everyday stories. The main character of myths and fairy tales is Raven ( Kurkyl), demiurge and cultural hero (a mythical character who gives people various cultural objects, produces fire, like Prometheus among the ancient Greeks, teaches hunting, crafts, introduces various regulations and rules of behavior, rituals, is the first ancestor of people and the creator of the world). There are also widespread myths about the marriage of a person and an animal: whale, polar bear, walrus, seal.
Chukotka fairy tales ( lymn'yl) are divided into mythological, everyday and animal tales.
Historical legends tell of wars between the Chukchi and the Eskimos and Russians. Mythological and everyday legends are also known.
Music is genetically related to the music of the Eskimos and Yukaghirs. Each person had at least three “personal” melodies, composed by him in childhood, in adulthood and in old age (more often, however, a children's melody was received as a gift from his parents). New melodies also appeared related to events in life (recovery, farewell to a friend or lover, etc.). When performing lullabies, they made a special “murmuring” sound, reminiscent of the voice of a crane or an important woman.
The shamans had their own “personal chants”. They were performed on behalf of the patron spirits - “spirit songs” and reflected the emotional state of the singer.
Tambourine ( yarar) - round, with a handle on the shell (for coastal ones) or with a cross-shaped handle on the back side (for tundra ones). There are male, female and children's varieties of the tambourine. Shamans play the tambourine with a thick soft stick, and singers at festivals use a thin whalebone stick. The tambourine was a family shrine; its sound symbolized the “voice of the hearth.”
Another traditional musical instrument is the plate harp ( bathrooms) - a “mouth tambourine” made of birch, bamboo (floater), bone or metal plate. Later, an arc double-tongued harp appeared.
String instruments are represented by lutes: bowed tubular, hollowed out from a single piece of wood, and box-shaped. The bow was made from whalebone, bamboo or willow splinters; strings (1–4) - made of vein threads or guts (later made of metal). Lutes were mainly used to play song melodies.
Modern cultural life. In the national villages of Chukotka, the Chukotka language is studied until the eighth grade, but in general there is no national education system.
The supplement “Murgin Nuthenut” to the district newspaper “Far North” is published in the Chukchi language, the State Television and Radio Company prepares programs, holds the “Hey No” festival (throat singing, sayings, etc.), the television association “Ener” makes films in the Chukchi language.
The problems of the revival of traditional culture are dealt with by the Chukotka intelligentsia, the Association of Indigenous Minorities of Chukotka, the ethnocultural public association "Chychetkin Vetgav" ("Native Word"), the Union of Mushers of Chukotka, the Union of Sea Hunters, etc.
Everyone has heard the expression “naive Chukchi girl” and jokes about the Chukchi. In our understanding, this is a person far from the achievements of civilization. A symbol of naivety that borders on stupidity, starting any sentence with “however” and preferring vodka to their wives. We perceive the Chukchi as a distant northern people who are interested exclusively in deer and walrus meat. Who are the Chukchi really?
They know how to stand up for themselves
Valdis Kristovskis, a Latvian politician and leader of the Unity party, in an interview with the Latvian newspaper Delfi carelessly defended the phrase “Latvians are not Chukchi.” In response to this insult, the Diena newspaper published a response from Ooi Milger, a representative of the Louravetlan people (otherwise known as “Chukchi”). He wrote: “In your opinion, it turns out that the Chukchi are not people. This offended me very much. The Louravetlans are a people of warriors. Many books have been written about this. I have my father's carbine. Latvians are also a small people who had to fight for survival. Where does such arrogance come from? Here are the “naive” and stupid Chukchi for you.
Chukchi and all the “rest”
The small Chukchi people are settled over a vast territory - from the Bering Sea to the Indigirka River, from the Arctic Ocean to the Anadyr River. This territory can be compared with Kazakhstan, and just over 15 thousand people live on it! (Russian census data in 2010)
The name Chukchi is the name of the people “Louratvelans” adapted for Russian people. Chukchi means “rich in deer” (chauchu) – this is how northern reindeer herders introduced themselves to Russian pioneers in the 17th century. “Loutwerans” is translated as “real people,” since in the mythology of the Far North the Chukchi are the “superior race” chosen by the gods. Chukchi mythology explains that the gods created the Evenks, Yakuts, Koryaks and Eskimos exclusively as Russian slaves, so that they would help the Chukchi trade with the Russians.
Ethnic history of the Chukchi. Briefly
The ancestors of the Chukchi settled in Chukotka at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. In such a natural-geographical environment, customs, traditions, mythology, language and racial characteristics were formed. The Chukchi have increased heat regulation, a high level of hemoglobin in the blood, and a fast metabolism, therefore the formation of this Arctic race took place in the conditions of the Far North, otherwise they would not have survived.
Mythology of the Chukchi. Creation of the World
In Chukchi mythology, the raven appears - the creator, the main benefactor. Creator of the earth, sun, rivers, seas, mountains, deer. It was the raven who taught people to live in difficult natural conditions. Since, according to the Chukchi, Arctic animals participated in the creation of space and stars, the names of constellations and individual stars are associated with deer and ravens. The Capella star is a reindeer bull with a human sleigh. Two stars near the constellation Aquila - “A female deer with a fawn.” The Milky Way is a river with sandy waters, with islands - pastures for deer.
The names of the months of the Chukchi calendar reflect the life of wild deer, its biological rhythms and migration patterns.
Raising children among the Chukchi
In the upbringing of Chukchi children, one can trace a parallel with Indian customs. At the age of 6, the Chukchi begin the harsh education of boy warriors. From this age, boys sleep standing up, with the exception of sleeping supported by a yaranga. At the same time, adult Chukchi were raised even in their sleep - they sneaked up with a hot metal tip or a smoldering stick, so that the boy would develop a lightning-fast reaction to any sounds.
Young Chukchi ran behind reindeer teams with stones on their feet. From the age of 6, they constantly held a bow and arrow in their hands. Thanks to this eye training, the Chukchi’s vision remained sharp for many years. By the way, this is why the Chukchi were excellent snipers during the Great Patriotic War. Favorite games are “football” with a ball made of reindeer hair and wrestling. We fought in special places - sometimes on walrus skin (very slippery), sometimes on ice.
The rite of passage into adulthood is a test for those who are viable. The “exam” relied on dexterity and attentiveness. For example, a father sent his son on a mission. But the task was not the main thing. The father tracked his son while he walked to carry out his task, and waited until his son lost his vigilance - then he released an arrow. The young man’s task is to instantly concentrate, react and dodge. Therefore, passing the exam means surviving. But the arrows were not smeared with poison, so there was a chance of survival after being wounded.
War as a way of life
The Chukchi have a simple attitude towards death - they are not afraid of it. If one Chukchi asks another to kill him, then the request is carried out easily, without a doubt. The Chukchi believe that each of them has 5-6 souls, and there is a whole “universe of ancestors”. But in order to get there, you must either die with dignity in battle, or die at the hands of a relative or friend. Your own death or death from old age is a luxury. Therefore, the Chukchi are excellent warriors. They are not afraid of death, they are fierce, they have a sensitive sense of smell, lightning-fast reactions, and a sharp eye. If in our culture military merit is awarded with a medal, then the Chukchi put a dot tattoo on the back of their right hand. The more dots, the more experienced and fearless the warrior.
Chukchi women correspond to the harsh Chukchi men. They carry a knife with them so that in case of serious danger they can stab their children, parents, and then themselves.
"Home Shamanism"
The Chukchi have what is called “domestic shamanism.” These are echoes of the ancient religion of the Louravetlans, because now almost all Chukchi go to church and belong to the Russian Orthodox Church. But they are still “shamanizing” to this day.
During the autumn slaughter of livestock, the entire Chukotka family, including children, beats a tambourine. This ritual protects deer from disease and early death. But this is more like a game, like, for example, Sabantui - the holiday of the end of plowing among the Turkic peoples.
Writer Vladimir Bogoraz, ethnographer and researcher of the peoples of the Far North, writes that in real shamanic rituals people are cured of terrible diseases and mortal wounds are healed. Real shamans can grind a stone into crumbs in their hands and “sew up” a lacerated wound with their bare hands. The main task of shamans is to heal the sick. To do this, they fall into a trance in order to “travel between worlds.” In Chukotka, people become shamans if a Chukchi is saved in a moment of danger by a walrus, deer or wolf - thereby “transferring” ancient magic to the sorcerer.
A remarkable feature of the Chukchi shaman is that he can “gender me” at will. Men, at the behest of the spirits, become women, even get married. Bogoraz suggested that these were echoes of matriarchy.
Chukchi and humor
The Chukchi came up with the saying “laughter makes a man strong.” This phrase is considered the life credo of every Chukchi. They are not afraid of death, they kill easily, without feeling the burden. For other people, it is incomprehensible how you can first cry over the death of a loved one and then laugh? But despondency and melancholy for the Chukchi are a sign that a person has been “captured” by the evil spirit of Kele, and this was condemned. Therefore, the Chukchi constantly joke, make fun of each other, laugh. From childhood, Chukchi are taught to be cheerful. It is believed that if a child cries for a long time, then his parents raised him poorly. Girls for marriage are also chosen according to their liking. If a girl is cheerful and has a sense of humor, she has a better chance of getting married than one who is always sad, since it is believed that a sad girl is sick and therefore dissatisfied, because she thinks about illnesses.
Chukchi and jokes
Not only the Chukchi laugh, but they also like to make fun of the Chukchi. The topic of the Chukchi in Russian jokes is one of the most extensive. People have been making jokes about the Chukchi since the times of the USSR. Alexandra Arkhipova, Associate Professor at the Center for Typology and Semiotics of the Russian State University for the Humanities, associates the beginning of the appearance of jokes with the 60s film “Chief of Chukotka.” There, the familiar Chukchi “however” sounded for the first time. The image of the Chukchi in jokes is that of someone who doesn’t know Russian well, a wild, gullible person, he constantly reflects. There is also an opinion that we read the measure of our national superiority from the Chukchi. Like, the Chukchi are stupid and naive, but we are not like that. Today, the main topic of jokes has shifted towards the former Chukotka governor Roman Abramovich.
