How the Chukchi live in our time. Interesting Chukchi traditions

Nowadays it is very difficult to find real Chukchi who live the same way as their ancestors, which is why we next invite you to take a look at life modern Chukchi. The couple we will meet later still lives far from civilization, but actively uses its benefits in order to somehow make their life easier.

I remember in Pevek I tried to find real Chukchi. This turned out to be a difficult task, since almost only Russians live there. But in Anadyr there are many Chukchi, but they are all “urban”: reindeer husbandry and hunting have long been replaced by regular work, and yarangas by apartments with heating. They say that finding the most authentic Chukchi is extremely problematic. Soviet reforms in Chukotka greatly influenced the culture of the people. Small schools in villages were closed and boarding schools were built in regional centers, separating children from national traditions and language.

However, during our expedition cruise we landed near the island of Yttygran, where we met a real Chukchi Vladimir and his wife Faina. They live alone, at a decent distance from outside world. Of course, civilization has affected their way of life, but of all the Chukchi I have seen before, these are the most authentic.

The house of a Chukotka family stands on the shore of a bay protected from waves:

Faina was very happy about the guests. She said that they had not seen people except each other for a couple of months, and were very happy to communicate. In general, it’s hard for me to imagine what it’s like to live alone for months:

While we were inside, Vladimir looked outside, made sure his wife was busy with tourists, and pulled out a magazine from under the mattress. He showed me the cover with the words: “Look, what a beautiful Chukchi girl”:

Their kitchen is outside under a canopy. In winter, they cover the passage with a blanket and the heat inside becomes warm from the stove:

Vladimir is very proud of his smokehouse, which he built himself:

Smoked fish hanging in the barn:

Sometimes fishermen come to them and exchange deer meat for whale meat:

Vladimir has a tourist house. In the summer, foreigners rent it and live here for a couple of weeks. Enjoy the silence and watch the animals:

Everything inside is now littered with rubbish:

Some kind of ritual stick to protect the home from evil spirits, but Vladimir uses it mainly to scratch his back:

Another building. His relatives live here, but now they have left for a neighboring village, several tens of kilometers away, since their child went to school there:

Faina talked about the tree they planted next to their house. They surrounded it with a rope fence and made a sign: “Specially protected area.” Take a closer look at the photo. The Eurasian Eurasian lives next to this tree and often stands next to a sign, like a sentry:

Protects the tree from crows:

A couple of kilometers from the home of Vladimir and Faina, a hot spring gushes out of the ground.

A couple of years ago they built themselves a font here:

After the font, everyone goes down into the river, like after a bath:

There were few animals, so I switched to flora:

Ubiquitous mushrooms:

The entire tundra is strewn with berries:

This plant is called cotton grass vaginalis. I'm afraid to imagine why this name arose:

In general, as we see, globalization reaches even such remote corners of our planet. However, there may be no point in resisting these processes - during the existence of mankind, a huge number of cultures have arisen and disappeared into oblivion...

The Chukchi, Luoravetlans, or Chukots, are an indigenous people of the extreme northeast of Asia. The Chukchi genus belongs to the agnate, which is united by the community of fire, common sign totem, consanguinity in the male line, religious rites and ancestral revenge. The Chukchi are divided into reindeer (chauchu) - tundra nomadic reindeer herders and coastal, coastal (ankalyn) - sedentary hunters of sea animals, who often live together with the Eskimos. There are also Chukchi dog breeders who bred dogs.

Name

Yakuts, Evens and Russians from the 17th century began to call Chukchi with the Chukchi word chauchu, or I'm drinking, which translated means “rich in deer.”

Where live

The Chukchi people occupy a vast territory from the Arctic Ocean to the Anyui and Anadyr Rivers and from the Bering Sea to the Indigirka River. The bulk of the population lives in Chukotka and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.

Language

The Chukchi language in its origin belongs to the Chukchi-Kamchatka language family and is part of the Paleo-Asian languages. Close relatives of the Chukchi language are Koryak, Kerek, which disappeared by the end of the 20th century, and Alyutor. Typologically, Chukchi belongs to the incorporating languages.

A Chukchi shepherd named Tenevil created an original ideographic writing in the 1930s (although to date it has not been precisely proven whether the writing was ideographic or verbal-syllabic. This writing, unfortunately, has not been widely used. Chukchi since the 1930s They use an alphabet based on the Cyrillic alphabet with the addition of a few letters. Chukotka literature is mainly created in Russian.

Names

Previously, the Chukchi name consisted of a nickname that was given to the child on the 5th day of life. The name was given to the child by the mother, who could pass on this right to a person respected by all. It was common to carry out fortune telling on a hanging object, with the help of which the name for the newborn was determined. They took some object from the mother and called names one by one. If the object moves when the name is pronounced, the child was named it.

Chukchi names are divided into female and male, sometimes differing in endings. For example, the female name Tyne-nny and the male name Tyne-nkei. Sometimes the Chukchi, in order to mislead evil spirits, called male name a girl and a boy female name. Sometimes, for the same purpose, the child was given several names.

The names mean the beast, the time of year or day in which the child was born, the place where he was born. Names associated with household items or wishes for a child are common. For example, the name Gitinnevyt is translated as “beauty.”

Number

In 2002, the next All-Russian population census was carried out, according to the results of which the number of Chukchi was 15,767 people. After the All-Russian Population Census in 2010, the number was 15,908 people.

Lifespan

Average duration The life of the Chukchi is short. Those who live in natural conditions live up to 42-45 years. The main causes of high mortality are alcohol abuse, smoking and poor nutrition. Today, drugs have joined these problems. There are very few centenarians in Chukotka, about 200 people aged 75 years. The birth rate is falling, and all this together, unfortunately, can lead to the extinction of the Chukchi people.

Appearance

Chukchi belong to mixed type, which is generally Mongoloid, but with differences. The eye shape is often horizontal rather than oblique, the face is bronze in color, and the cheekbones are not very wide. Among the Chukchi there are men with thick facial hair and almost curly hair. Among women, the Mongolian type of appearance is more common, with a wide nose and cheekbones.

Women wear their hair in two braids on either side of their heads and decorate them with buttons or beads. Married women sometimes let their front strands of hair fall onto their foreheads. Men often cut their hair very smoothly, leaving a wide fringe at the front, and two tufts of hair in the shape of animal ears on the crown of the head.

Chukchi clothing is made from the fur of a grown autumn calf (baby deer). IN Everyday life the clothing of an adult Chukchi consists of the following elements:

1. double fur shirt
2. double fur pants
3. short fur stockings
4. fur low boots
5. double hat in the form of a women's bonnet

The winter clothing of a Chukotka man consists of a caftan, which is very practical. A fur shirt is also called iryn, or cuckoo. It is very wide, with spacious sleeves at the shoulder area, tapering at the wrist area. This cut allows the Chukchee to pull their arms out of their sleeves and fold them over their chest, taking a comfortable body position. Shepherds sleeping near the herd in winter hide their heads in a shirt and cover the opening of the collar with a hat. But such a shirt is not long, but reaches to the knees. Only old people wear longer cuckoos. The collar of the shirt is cut low and trimmed with leather, with a cord running inside. The bottom of the cuckoo is covered with a thin line of dog fur, which young Chukchi replace with wolverine or otter fur. As decorations, penakalgyns are sewn onto the back and sleeves of the shirt - long tassels, painted crimson, made from pieces of young seal skins. This decoration is more typical for women's shirts.

Women's clothing is also distinctive, but irrational and consists of one-piece sewn double trousers with a low-cut bodice that is cinched at the waist. The bodice has a slit in the chest area, and the sleeves are very wide. While working, women free their hands from their bodice and work in the cold with with bare hands or shoulders. Old women wear a shawl or a strip of deerskin around their necks.

In the summer, as outerwear, women wear robes made from deer suede or purchased variegated fabrics, and a kamleika of deer wool with thin fur, embroidered with various ritual stripes.

The Chukchi hat is made from fawn and calf fur, wolverine, dog and otter paws. In winter, if you have to go on the road, a very large hood, sewn mainly from wolf fur, is put on top of the hat. Moreover, the skin for him is taken together with the head and protruding ears, which are decorated with red ribbons. Such hoods are worn mainly by women and old people. Young shepherds even wear a headdress instead of a regular hat, covering only the forehead and ears. Men and women wear mittens made from kamus.

All inner clothing is put on the body with the fur inward, outer clothing - with the fur outward. In this way, both types of clothing fit tightly to each other and form an impenetrable protection against frost. Clothes made from deer skin are soft and do not cause much discomfort; you can wear them without underwear. Elegant clothes of the reindeer Chukchi white, among the Primorye Chukchi it is dark brown with sparse white spots. Traditionally, clothing is decorated with stripes. The original patterns on Chukchi clothing are of Eskimo origin.

As jewelry, the Chukchi wear garters, necklaces in the form of straps with beads, and headbands. Most of them have religious significance. There are also real metal jewelry, various earrings and bracelets.

Infants were dressed in bags made of deerskin, with blind branches for legs and arms. Instead of diapers, they used to use moss with reindeer hair, which served as a diaper. A valve was attached to the opening of the bag, from which such a diaper was taken out every day and replaced with a clean one.

Character

The Chukchi are emotional and psychologically very excitable people, which often leads to frenzy, suicidal tendencies and murders, even at the slightest provocation. These people love independence very much and are persistent in the struggle. But at the same time, the Chukchi are very hospitable and good-natured, always ready to help their neighbors. During times of hunger strike, they even helped the Russians and brought them food.

Religion

The Chukchi are animists in their beliefs. They deify and personify natural phenomena and its regions, water, fire, forest, animals: deer, bear and crow, celestial bodies: moon, sun and stars. The Chukchi also believe in evil spirits; they believe that they send disasters, death and disease to the Earth. The Chukchi wear amulets and believe in their power. They considered the creator of the world to be a Raven named Kurkyl, who created everything on Earth and taught people everything. Everything that exists in space was created by northern animals.

Each family has its own family shrines:

• a hereditary projectile for producing sacred fire by friction and used on holidays. Each member of the family had his own projectile, and on the bottom tablet of each was carved a figure with the head of the owner of fire;
• family tambourine;
• bundles of wooden knots “removing misfortunes”;
• pieces of wood with images of ancestors.

By the beginning of the 20th century, many Chukchi were baptized in Russian Orthodox Church, but among the nomads there are still people with traditional beliefs.

Traditions

The Chukchi have regular holidays, which are held depending on the time of year:

• in the fall - the day of deer slaughter;
• in spring - the day of horns;
• in winter - a sacrifice to the star Altair.

There are also many irregular holidays, for example, feeding the fire, commemorating the dead, votive services and sacrifices after the hunt, the whale festival, and the kayak festival.

The Chukchi believed that they had 5 lives and were not afraid of death. After death, many wanted to go to the World of their ancestors. To do this, one had to die in battle at the hand of an enemy or at the hand of a friend. Therefore, when one Chukchi asked another to kill him, he immediately agreed. After all, it was a kind of help.

The dead were dressed, fed and told fortunes, forcing them to answer questions. Then they burned it or carried it to the field, cut the throat and chest, pulled out part of the liver and heart, wrapped the body in thin layers of deer meat and left it. Old people often killed themselves in advance or asked close relatives to do so. The Chukchi came to voluntary death not only because of old age. Often the cause was difficult living conditions, lack of food and severe, incurable illness.

As for marriage, it is predominantly endogamous; a man could have 2 or 3 wives in a family. In a certain circle of brothers-in-arms and relatives, mutual use of wives is allowed by agreement. It is customary among the Chukchi to observe levirate - a marriage custom according to which the wife, after the death of her husband, had the right or was obliged to marry one of his close relatives. They did this because it was very difficult for a woman without a husband, especially if she had children. A man who married a widow was obliged to adopt all her children.

Often the Chukchi stole a wife for their son from another family. The relatives of this girl could demand that the woman be given to them in return, and not in order to marry her off, but because labor was always needed in everyday life.

Almost all families in Chukotka have many children. Pregnant women were not allowed to rest. Along with others, they worked and took care of everyday life, harvesting moss. This raw material is very necessary during childbirth; it was laid in the yaranga, in the place where the woman was preparing to give birth. Chukotka women could not be helped during childbirth. The Chukchi believed that everything was decided by a deity who knew the souls of the living and the dead and decided which one to send to the woman in labor.

A woman should not scream during childbirth so as not to attract evil spirits. When the child was born, the mother herself tied the umbilical cord with a thread woven from her hair and animal tendon and cut it. If a woman could not give birth for a long time, she could be given help, since it was obvious that she could not cope on her own. This was entrusted to one of the relatives, but after that everyone treated the woman in labor and her husband with contempt.

After the birth of the child, they wiped it with a piece of skin, which was soaked in the mother’s urine. On left hand and amulets bracelets were put on the baby’s leg. The baby was dressed up in a fur jumpsuit.

After giving birth, a woman was not allowed to eat fish or meat, only meat broth. Previously, Chukchi women breastfed their children until they were 4 years old. If the mother did not have milk, the child was given seal fat. The baby's pacifier was made from a piece of sea hare intestine. It was stuffed with finely chopped meat. In some villages, babies were fed their milk by dogs.

When the boy turned 6 years old, men began to raise him as a warrior. The child was accustomed to harsh conditions, taught to shoot a bow, run fast, wake up quickly and react to extraneous sounds, and trained visual acuity. Modern Chukchi children love to play football. The ball is made from deer hair. Extreme wrestling on ice or slippery walrus skin is popular among them.

Chukchi men are excellent warriors. For each success in battle, they applied a mark-tattoo to the back of their right hand. The more marks there were, the more experienced the warrior was considered. Women always had bladed weapons with them in case enemies attacked.

Culture

The mythology and folklore of the Chukchi are very diverse; they have much in common with the folklore and mythology of the Paleo-Asians and American peoples. The Chukchi have long been famous for their carved and sculptural images, made on mammoth bones, which amaze with their beauty and clarity of application. The traditional musical instruments of the people are the tambourine (yarar) and the harp (khomus).

Folk oral creativity The Chukchi are rich. The main genres of folklore are fairy tales, myths, legends, historical legends and everyday stories. One of the main characters is the raven Kurkyl; there are legends about wars with neighboring Eskimo tribes.

Although the living conditions of the Chukchi were very difficult, they also found time for holidays in which the tambourine was musical instrument. The tunes were passed down from generation to generation.

Chukchi dances are divided into several varieties:

• imitative
• gaming
• improvised
• ritual-ritual
• re-enactment dances or pantomimes
• dances of the reindeer and coastal Chukchi

Imitative dances that reflect the behavior of birds and animals were very common:

• crane
• crane flight
• running deer
• crow
• seagull dance
• swan
• duck dance
• bullfight during the rut
• looking out

A special place was occupied by trade dances, which were a type of group marriage. They were an indicator of the strengthening of previous family ties or were carried out as a sign new connection between families.

Food

Traditional Chukchi dishes are prepared from deer meat and fish. The basis of the diet of this people is boiled meat of whale, seal or deer. The meat is also eaten raw and frozen; the Chukchi eat animal entrails and blood.

The Chukchi eat shellfish and plant foods:

• willow bark and leaves
• sorrel
• seaweed
• berries

Among drinks, representatives of the people prefer alcohol and herbal decoctions similar to tea. The Chukchi are partial to tobacco.

In the traditional cuisine of the people there is a peculiar dish called monyalo. This is semi-digested moss that is removed from the stomach of a deer after killing the animal. Monyalo is used in cooking fresh dishes and canned food. The most common hot dish among the Chukchi until the 20th century was a liquid soup made from monyal with blood, fat and chopped meat.

Life

The Chukchi originally hunted reindeer, gradually they domesticated these animals and began to engage in reindeer husbandry. Reindeer provide the Chukchi with meat for food, skin for housing and clothing, and serve as transport for them. The Chukchi, who live along the banks of rivers and seas, hunt sea creatures. In spring and winter they catch seals and seals, in autumn and summer - whales and walruses. Previously, the Chukchi used harpoons with floats, belt nets and a spear for hunting, but already in the 20th century they learned to use firearms. Today, only bird hunting with the help of a “bol” has been preserved. Not all Chukchi have developed fishing. Women and children collect edible plants, moss and berries.

The Chukchi in the 19th century lived in camps, which included 2 or 3 houses. When the food for the deer ran out, they migrated to another place. IN summer period some lived closer to the sea.

Tools were made of wood and stone, which were gradually replaced by iron. Axes, spears, and knives are widely used in everyday life of the Chukchi. Utensils, metal cauldrons and teapots, weapons used today are mainly European. But to this day, in the life of this people there are many elements of primitive culture: these are bone shovels, drills, hoes, stone and bone arrows, spear tips, armor made of iron plates and leather, a complex bow, slings made from knuckles, stone hammers, skins, stems, shells for making fire by friction, lamps in the form of a flat round vessel made of soft stone, which were filled with seal fat.

Light sleighs of the Chukchi were also preserved in in its original form, they are equipped with arched supports. They harness deer or dogs. The Chukchi, who lived by the sea, have long used kayaks for hunting and moving on water.

Coming Soviet power affected the life of the settlements. Over time, schools appeared in them, cultural institutions and hospitals. Today, the literacy level of the Chukchi in the country is at an average level.

Housing

The Chukchi live in dwellings called yarangas. This is a tent large sizes, irregular polygonal shape. The yaranga is covered with panels of deer skins so that the fur is on the outside. The vault of the dwelling rests on 3 poles, which are located in the center. Stones are tied to the cover and pillars of the hut, which ensures resistance to the wind pressure. The yaranga is sealed tightly from the floor. Inside the hut in the middle there is a fireplace, which is surrounded by sleighs loaded with various household supplies. In the yaranga the Chukchi live, eat, drink, and sleep. Such a dwelling is well heated, so the inhabitants walk in it undressed. The Chukchi heat their homes with a fat lamp made of clay, wood or stone, where they cook food. Among the coastal Chukchi, the yaranga differs from the housing of reindeer herders in that it does not have a smoke hole.

Famous people

Despite the fact that the Chukchi are a people far from civilization, among them there are those who have become known throughout the world thanks to their achievements and talents. The first Chukchi researcher Nikolai Daurkin is a Chukchi. He received his name at baptism. Daurkin was one of the first Russian subjects who landed in Alaska, made several important geographical discoveries in the 18th century, and was the first to compile detailed map Chukotka and received noble title for his contribution to science. The peninsula in Chukotka was named after this outstanding man.

Candidate philological sciences Peter Inenlikey was also born in Chukotka. He studied the peoples of the north and their culture, and is the author of books on research in the field of linguistics. northern peoples Russia, Alaska and Canada.

Chastity doesn't count required quality the perfect bride. Indeed, in the Chukchi language there is no word to express this concept. There's not even a word for "girl". There is only one word - ŋəusqət ("woman"), in combination with other words also - ŋəw ŋaw, ŋe ŋa. The name anra-ŋaw - “special (living) woman” - is used for every girl who does not have a given time husband: for a girl, widow or divorce. To express the concept of “chastity” you can only use the descriptive form: jep ajaakə̄len (“not yet in use”). The Chukchi in general - both men and women - are very sensual. "This best thing in the world" (ъnan-tam-vaрgn), - everyone told me with confidence about sex life.
...
The position of illegitimate children is no different from the position of “legitimate” children. The Chukchi say: “If a child is already born, we are glad to see him.” In the area of ​​the Sukhoi Anyuya River, I saw one family consisting of an old father, a middle-aged daughter and four adult sons. The sister was significantly older than brothers. Since her mother died, about fifteen years ago, she has been running the entire household. As a child, her father made her the "primary heir" of the herd. At the time of my meeting with this family, two brothers were already married, and each had a child. The girl had a fifteen-year-old son. This boy was declared the "primary heir" of the herd. He was to inherit the oldest reindeer brand, which marked the bulk of the herd.
...
Group marriage

The Chukchee have a custom of group marriage. The marriage group sometimes includes up to ten married couples. Men belonging to such a marriage are called “wife mates” - ŋew tumgüt. Each of the “wives’ comrades” has the right to the wives of all the other “wives’ comrades,” but uses this right relatively rarely, only when he comes to such a comrade’s camp. Then the owner gives him his place in the sleeping canopy. He tries to leave the house that night, for example, he goes to the herd. After such a visit, the owner usually begins to look for reasons to go to the “wife’s mate” camp, in order to, in turn, exercise his right.

Such a marriage for the most part well-known people cū-tumgьt - “looking at each other (comrades)”, neighbors and relatives conclude. First and second cousins ​​are most often related through group marriages. Siblings, on the contrary, never enter into such an alliance. In the old days, this form of marriage apparently served as a bond between members of a kinship group. Over time, other people began to enter into such an alliance, connected not by kinship but only by friendship. The ritual that accompanies the conclusion of a group marriage is, as it were, intended to give the union the character of a connection between relatives. People in a group marriage perform blood anointing and sacrifice first in one tent, then in another. After this, they are considered to belong to the same fire, which makes them relatives in the male line.
...
Wedding ceremony

The most important part of the wedding ceremony among the Reindeer Chukchee is the anointing of the bride and groom with the blood of a sacrificed deer. This ceremony is performed in the groom's tent or, if he becomes an adopted son-in-law, in the bride's tent. The ritual is relatively simple: the groom goes to his father-in-law and takes the bride to his place. The bride, accompanied by her immediate family, rides on her own reindeer. The procession arrives at the groom's tent. The reindeer are being unharnessed. The small sleigh on which the tent poles are transported is placed behind the tent in the place where sacrifices are usually made. The bride and groom's sledges are placed on both sides, at some distance. Then a sacrificial deer is killed for anointing. They make sacrifices at sunset and dawn and perform other bloody and bloodless sacrifices. Wooden flints and bundles of guards are placed on the sleds. Then they produce va and bundles of guards. Then the bride and groom are anointed with the blood of the killed deer. The anointing is also done by one or two members of the groom's family so that the bride does not feel lonely. At the same time, the bride and groom apply the groom's family signs on their faces. Thus, the bride renounces her family, her hearth and kinship and moves on to another hearth and kinship. Next, the bride smears the reindeer blood on the sleigh and “feeds” homemade sacred objects with bone marrow. She approaches the hearth, sprinkles it with sacrificial blood, takes a handful of ash from it and rubs it between her palms. She says, turning to the hearth: “Nьmelew qatvarkьn! (Live well with me”).

A few days later, sometimes two or three weeks later, the second part of the wedding ceremony takes place - alarantourgün ("trip due to boredom"). The newlyweds, accompanied by several relatives, go to their father-in-law's camp. “We think,” the Chukchi told me, “that the young wife may miss the old things. Let her go and look at him again.” For this trip, they do not take the deer on which the bride came to the groom. She now rides on her husband's reindeer and brings with her many reindeer as a gift to her parents. This gift is called rinkur. The Chukchi insist that this is a gift and not a ransom, since it is given at the end of the wedding ceremony. The number of deer has not been established. If the groom's family is poor, then she gives only one team, that is, two deer. Usually it is supposed to give two or three teams. The number of deer intended for a gift may include calves, but they must be broken, fit for a team, in a word - what the Chukchee call gitli-qəjuut (“greedy calves”), that is, calves greedy for human urine. As is known, the domestication of deer among the Chukchee is based on the deer's addiction to human urine. In addition to deer, the newlyweds take with them koloboks made from crushed meat - a favorite delicacy of the Chukchi. The number of these koloboks corresponds to the number of deer, although sometimes the number of koloboks is two and three times greater. According to the Chukchi family and family-group way of life, to my young husband his closest relatives help select deer for a gift. But this help is voluntary. Usually one or two relatives along the male line (kрŋe-tumgьt – “relatives along the line of the sire”) or relatives by property (takalgьt – “brothers-in-law”) give one or two deer each. You are not supposed to accept help from more than two people. The rest of the deer are given by the groom himself. Along with the reindeer, relatives send the corresponding number of koloboks, and sometimes even two or three times more. These koloboks have symbolic meaning. If, for example, one of the relatives would like to send two or three reindeer, but is not able to do so at the time, he sends only koloboks. By doing this, he takes upon himself the obligation to deliver the deer to the bride’s father. In addition to koloboks, they also bring other Chukchi delicacies, such as frozen brain from leg bones, up to ten pounds in total, brains, also frozen, tongues, pieces of fatty meat. Arriving at the wife’s camp, the newlyweds again perform anointing, applying the wife’s family signs on their faces. The wife makes a sacrifice on the hearth of her tent. Then the feast begins, during which all the provisions brought are eaten. The next day, the newlyweds return home. Here they again repeat the ritual of anointing and smear the husband's family marks on their faces. Having thus left her native hearth and the family signs of anointing, the wife finally binds herself to the new hearth and finally becomes a member of the new family.

Kaydara holiday

According to the ancient ideas of the Chukchi, everything that surrounds a person has a soul. The sea has a soul, and so does the canoe, a boat covered with walrus skin, on which even today arctic sea hunters fearlessly go out into the ocean. Until recently, every spring, in order for the sea to accept the canoe, hunters organized a special holiday. It began with the boat being solemnly removed from the pillars made of the jaw bones of the bowhead whale, on which it had been stored during the long Chukchi winter. Then they made a sacrifice to the sea: pieces of boiled meat were thrown into the water. The baidara was brought to the yaranga - the traditional dwelling of the Chukchi - and all participants in the holiday walked around the yaranga. The first one was old woman in the family, then the owner of the canoe, the helmsman, the rowers, and the rest of the participants in the holiday. The next day the boat was carried to the shore, a sacrifice was made to the sea again, and only after that the canoe was launched into the water.

Whale Festival

At the end of the fishing season, late autumn or early winter, the coastal Chukchi held a whale festival. It was based on a ritual of reconciliation between hunters and killed animals. People dressed in festive clothes, including special waterproof raincoats made of walrus intestines, asked for forgiveness from whales, seals, and walruses. “It wasn’t the hunters who killed you! The stones rolled down the mountain and killed you!” - the Chukchi women sang, addressing the whales. The men staged wrestling matches, performed dances that reproduced full mortal danger scenes of hunting sea animals.
At the whale festival, sacrifices were certainly made to Keretkun, the owner of all sea animals. After all, the residents of Chukotka believed that success in hunting depended on him. In the yaranga where the holiday took place, a Keretkun net woven from deer tendons was hung, and figurines of animals and birds carved from bone and wood were installed. One of the wooden sculptures depicted the owner of sea animals himself. The culmination of the holiday was the lowering of whale bones into the sea. In sea water, the Chukchi believed, bones would turn into new animals, and next year Whales will appear off the coast of Chukotka again.

Festival of the Young Deer (Kilvey)

Just as solemnly as the coastal inhabitants celebrated the whale festival, Kilvey, the festival of the young deer, was celebrated on the continental tundra. It was held in the spring, during calving. The holiday began with the shepherds driving the flock to the yarangas, and the women laying out a sacred fire. Fire for such a fire was produced only by friction, as people did many hundreds of years ago. Deer were greeted with loud cries and gunshots to scare away evil spirits. Tambourines-yarars, which were played alternately by men and women, also served this purpose. Residents of coastal villages often took part in the festival together with reindeer herders. They were invited to Kilway in advance, and the more prosperous the family was, the more guests came to the holiday. In exchange for their gifts, residents of coastal villages received deer skins and venison, which was considered a delicacy among them. At the festival of the young deer, they not only had fun on the occasion of the birth of fawns, but also performed important work: they separated the females with calves from the main part of the herd in order to graze them on the most abundant pastures. During the holiday, some of the adult deer were slaughtered. This was done in order to prepare meat for future use for women, old people and children. The fact is that after Kilvey, the inhabitants of the camp were divided into two groups. Elderly people, women, and children remained in winter camps, where they fished and picked berries in the summer. And the men set off with the reindeer herds on long journeys to summer camps. Summer pastures were located north of winter nomads, not far from the coasts of the polar seas. The long journey with the herd was difficult, often dangerous business. So the holiday of the young deer is also a farewell before a long separation.

Every nation living far from civilization has traditions and customs that seem at least strange to the uninitiated. Now, in the era of globalization, the originality of small nations is rapidly eroding, but some centuries-old foundations are still preserved. For example, the Chukchi have a very extravagant system of marriage and family relations.

The Chukchi - the indigenous people of the Far North - live according to the laws of the levirate. This is a marriage custom that does not allow families that have lost their breadwinner to be left without support and livelihood. The brother or other close relative of the deceased man has the responsibility to marry the widow and adopt her children.


Obviously, the effect of levirate explains the popularity of the tradition of group marriage. Married men agree to unite families in order to provide each other with labor and material support. Of course, the poor Chukchi strive to enter into such an alliance with rich friends and neighbors.


Ethnographer Vladimir Bogoraz wrote: “When entering into a group marriage, men sleep without asking, interspersed with other people’s wives. The Chukchi wife exchange is usually limited to only one or two friends; however, examples are not uncommon when such close relationships are maintained with many.”


Children born into families in group marriage relationships are considered siblings. And all members look after them big family. So group marriage is a real salvation for childless couples: a friend will always help an infertile man to have children. And the birth of a baby for the Chukchi is always a very joyful event, regardless of who his biological father is.