Chukchee

By Maria Zhornitskaya (Translated by V. Wanner)

Chukchi

The Chukchee are native to the Chukchi Autonomous Okrug formed in 1930 in the Magaden Oblast of Russia. They also live in the Lower Kolyma District of the Yakut Republic and in the north of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug. The Chukchee refer to themselves as "Luoravetlan" ("genuine people"). According to the 1989 census, the Chukchee number 15,184.

The Chukchee language is related to the Chukchee-Kamchatka Family, found primarily in the extreme northeast of the former USSR. The Chukchee-Kamchatka Family also includes Koryak, Itelmen, and other languages. At first the Chukchee system of writing used the Latin alphabet. In 1930 the first Chukchee alphabet was developed. The following year it was institutionalized. The first primer was published in 1932 bv B. D. Bogoraz and I. S. Vdovin with the help of two Chukchee, Attuvgi and Anakymylgyn, students at the Institute of Northern Peoples in Leningrad. At present the Chukchee use the Cyrillic alphabet. The Chukchee language was taught by Chukchee who had been trained at the Anadyr Pedagogical College and at the pedagogical institutes of Magadan, Khabarovsk, and Leningrad and at Leningrad State University. The Magadan publishing house publishes political and literary works in Chukchee.

From the earliest times, the Chukchee were nomads and hunters of wild reindeer, whereas domesticated reindeer were used as a means of transportation through the tundra. These animals formed an essential part of their lives. They gave people food, warmth, and light. From reindeer hide they made clothes and footwear and covered their dwellings. Reindeer fat was used in lamps.

The first reference to the Chukchee as a rather numerous people in northeast Asia dates to 1641-1642. By that time the Chukchee were divided into two economic-cultural groups: "deer" Chukchee, who called themselves "Chauchu" or "Chavchu" and were nomadic reindeer herders of the tundra; and the maritime "settlers," the Ankalin Chukchee, who were sedentary hunters of sea animals. Sometimes another group of Chukchee is delineated, the "walkers," who were also hunters of sea animals. These groups maintained close trade relations with one another.

In the seventeenth and at the beginning of the eighteenth centuries the Chukchee gradually began to penetrate the coastal territories inhabited by the Eskimos. They changed to a sedentary way of life and began to engage in sea-animal trade and to assimilate some of the Eskimos. During this time, Chukchee culture was actively enriched by elements of Eskimo culture.

The Chukchee appeared in Yakutia comparatively recently. In the middle of the nineteenth century, with the permission of the authorities, they crossed the Kolyma River and began to migrate through the broad western tundra territory between the Kolyma and Indigirka rivers. This area attracted Chukchee reindeer breeders because it was rich in reindeer moss. By the nineteenth century the Kolymo-Indigirka Chukchee were separated from their eastern relatives, although they maintained ties with them. They became close to the Yukagir and Even. Western Chukchee were typical tundra reindeer herders, spending a large part of their time shepherding animals in the open tundra.

The Chukchee reindeer herders did not have permanent settlements. Rather, they made small nomadic camps of two to three families, usually not exceeding ten to fifteen people. In the nomadic camps there were from one to four yaranga, or tents, although some camps had up to ten. The large camps had from twenty to thirty people. Each camp was a self-sufficient unit. They maintained only loose, friendly relations with their neighbors, with whom they united for festivities or games. The herders who migrated to the coast traded with maritime Chukchee and Eskimos, whereas the Western Chukchee traded with Russians. For housing, the Chukchee herders used the yaranga a collapsable, cylindrical, cone-shaped tent covered with reindeer hide. Inside the tent they set up a bed made of fur, a big sack sewn from thin hides of young reindeer. The tent stretched over thin poles in the form of a large, four-cornered box without an opening for light. In such a "room" one could accommodate several people. the sleeping area was lit and heated by a fat-burning lamp.

Until the mid-nineteenth century the maritime Chukchee traditionally had a wooden type of house, the poluzemlyanka. The replacement of such houses by the yaranga was a large step forward, significantly facilitating their lives. Reindeer and draft dogs served the maritime Chukchee as a means of transportation.

Chukchee men mainly brought the herds to pasture, which meant that they constantly had to search for new pasture. They shepherded and protected the reindeer without the help of herder dogs, making their work difficult.

Visiting the Anadyr' Okrug in 1895, A. B. Olsuf'ev wrote of the difficult living conditions of the Chukchee: "In the most impossible of weather, they often spend several agonizing days with their herds without rest day or night, without fire, almost without food, and without any shelter. One must see these conditions and experience and terror of a northern blizzard in order to understand the incredible strength of these people." The life of the women was no easier. Their duties included the daily maintenance of the tent and sleeping area, preparing food, tanning hides, and sewing clothes and footwear.

Much time and effort of all inhabitants of the tundra is taken up by the extraction of roots from stunted willows. This is the only source of firewood on the open tundra. Only during the darkest and coldest winter months, December and January, would the Chukchee go to "the edge of the forest," as this area provided an abundance of firewood and cover from the wind. With the appearance of the sun they migrated more frequently and grazed the herds in the open tundra. But far from all reindeer Chukchee allowed themselves the luxury of moving into the "warm" forest tundra. Part of the herd spent the winter in the tundra. "During my trip through the tundra from Kolyma to Indigirka," wrote V. I. Iokhel'son in 1900, "around 30 Chukchee camps were mainly situated on the seacoast near the mouth of the river toward the west from Kolyma and Shadron. These are reindeer people but in winter they also trade in seal. In the absence of forest they use the fat from fish fins as fuel."

Coastal Chukchee mainly hunted sea animals. During the winter and spring they hunted seals and nerpas (freshwater seals). In the summer and spring they hunted walrus and whales. During a seal hunt maritime Chukchee crept up to the seals with surprising skill, imitating the movements of these animals. Walrus and whale hunting was done collectively. Usually, several canoes participated in the hunt. Hunting sea animals had great significance for the maritime Chukchee. Sea-animal meat was the basis of their diet. Fishing and the fur trade played a secondary role. The gathering of wild edible roots was also widely practiced.

In the 1940s the process of transition from simple production units to agricultural cooperatives gained momentum. This gave way to a rise in productivity in herding, fishing, and the trade of furbearing and marine animals.

In the past the Chukchee lived in large, extended families. The head of the family was the one who ensured subsistence for the family. Many social problems arose for the Chukchee in connection with the gender-age structure. (There were fewer girls than boys.) Although it has entirely vanished today, polygamy was practiced for a long time. The traditional Chukchee wedding ceremony was rather simple. The bride, accompanied by her close relatives, traveled by reindeer to the bridegroom. At the yaranga they slaughtered a sacrificial reindeer. The blood of the reindeer was used to mark the bride, the bridegroom, and relatives between Russian men and Chukchee women. For the majority of Chukchee, ethnicity is inherited through the mother.

A child is usually named two to three weeks after birth. According to Chukchee genealogies, Chukchee first names are extremely old. In each Chukchee settlement or nomadic camp there were a certain number of the most prevalent names. Today the Chukchee system of names follows the norms generally accepted in the Russian Federation (i.e., the family name is taken from the father, the parents give the child a first name, and the patronymic is formed from the father's first name).

In the beginning of the nineteenth century the fundamental units of socioeconomic organization for the coastal Chukchee were the canoe-making cooperatives. Relatives formed the core of a cooperative. Groups of relatives lived together and formed settlements. Sometimes all members of the settlement were related, whereas at other times they consisted of several groups of relatives. For quite some time a natural exchange existed between the herding and the maritime Chukchee.

In the early 1950s reindeer and maritime Chukchee households were united in large reindeer-herding industrial kolkhozy, from which a number of sovkhozy were created in the 1960s and 1970s. The life-style and culture of the Chukchee changed. Settlements were erected with well-built houses and multistory buildings made of concrete. Chukhotka became a region with a rapidly developing mining industry. A national intelligentsia was born, which included writers, doctors, teachers, scientists, livestock specialists, and others. Newspapers, a journal, and literature are published today.

In the past the religion of the Chukchee was shamanism (early forms) and hunting and family cults. Shamanism as a social phenomenon was formed and developed together with socioeconomic and cultural developments of the people. Ancestor worship of sedentary and nomadic Chukchee had a distinctively patriarchical character. The Chukchee attributed all kinds of illnesses and other misfortunes to evil spirits, kelet, which tirelessly hunted human spirits and human bodies to eat.

The basic and most important function of the shaman was healing. With the help of a tambourine and singing, the shaman made contact with protective spirits and with the spirits of the ancestors, and at the same time he exerted an influence over the psyche of those present. The shaman participated in almost all festivals and ceremonies when shamanistic séances were organized. Shamans skillfully imitated different animal and bird sounds, which helped them to establish contact with the spirits. Playing the tambourine, chanting, reciting texts or recitatives, and dancing, the shaman brought himself to an ecstatic state. Chukchee shamans did not have special costumes. Shamans of "inverted" gender (i.e., a man who had become like a woman and vice versa) were thought to be especially powerful.

The ethno-cultural contact of the Chukchee with neighboring peoples is reflected in their folklore. Many Chukchee myths are analogous to those of the Koryaks, Itelmen, Eskimos, and North American Indians (e.g., the image of the crow with chicken wings and others).

The work of cultural enlightenment took many forms among the Chukchee. At the beginning mobile red yarangis and red chyms were used. They brought the living word to the herders, showed films, and led discussions. They were later replaced by cultural agitation brigades, which not only fulfilled an enlightenment function as mobile clubs, but also served as a catalyst for the development of national culture.

The eradication of illiteracy, the introduction of universal education, the creation of a network of cultural institutions, the establishment of a local printing press, and the general growth of culture, all led to a rise in the modern professional forms of art and literature among the Chukchee. The name of the Chukchee writer Yuri Rytkheu, the author of a series of novels and stories and a prominent social activist, is widely known. His work has been translated into a number of foreign languages. The poets and writers V. Keul'kut, A. Kymytval', Arachaivyn, V. Tyneskin, and V. Yatyrgin all have won recognition.

Chukchee decorative folk arts for a long time included carving and engraving on bone, artistic appliqué on fur and sealskin hides, and embroidery with reindeer hair. The center of bone-carving art became the studio, which was created in 1931, in the village of Uelen. The best works of Chukchee bone-carving masters are exhibited at international expositions.

The centuries-old life of wild-reindeer hunters was reflected in the dance with which the ancient Chukchee used to try to influence the vegetal and animal world and solicit the benevolence of the spirits that were embodied in animal and vegetal forms. For the maritime as well as for the sedentary Chukchee, animist representations were characteristic. The age-old powerlessness of man in the fight with the harsh elements of nature was reflected in a cult of nature and the elements. It was entirely natural that this cult was represented in particular ritual dances.

They consisted mainly of movements that imitated certain household activities. The reason for this is that the ritual dances of the nomadic people are performed on specific holidays, celebrating the beginning or end of some important process: the mass slaughtering of reindeer in spring and fall, the winter solstice, the driving of the herd to summer pasture, the return of the herd at the end of summer, the calving of the reindeer, etc. In these festivities and corresponding ritual dances the Chukchee attempted to win over the spirits on which the well-being of the family and the prosperity of the reindeer herds presumably depended. Improvised ritual dances include "The Expulsion of Evil Spirits," "Vivrel'et" (the Trembling Knees), "Dance with Grimaces," and others.

The dances of the maritime Chukchee, like those of the reindeer herders, were linked to the major holidays of the year, which were devoted to the whale and Keretkun, the protective spirit of sea animals. In early spring they celebrated the holiday of the canoes. Dances were also performed on the holiday of the walrus in the middle of summer. The hunting holidays of the maritime Chukchee were in many ways similar to those of the Eskimos. Pantomimic dances represented all processes in whale hunting and the cutting up of whale meat. The dances were performed in a sitting position. Sometimes during the whale holiday the maritime Chukchee performed comic dances wearing masks. Sometimes the men imitated the sitting dances of the women.

As the maritime Chukchee adopted a sedentary life and took up sea-animal hunting, over time they lost their original holidays and dances, which were linked with reindeer herding, and adopted some ritual ceremonies and dances from the Asian Eskimos.

Especially noteworthy are the playful dances, which were performed at various times on any occasion "for the sake of having a good time." Some dances had no specific theme, others did, and still others were improvised. The Chukchee dance pich'einen, or as it is sometimes called, pilgeinen or pich'geinen, which in Chukchee means "wheezing throat," was one such dance without a specific theme. The dance is performed with guttural singing and outcries from the dancers. Men and women sometimes take part in it separately.

The movements of arms, shoulders, and head play a special role in the dance. Despite the fact that they are dancing in heavy costume (a double fur combination and fur shoes), the Chukchee women are noted for graceful coordination and agility of neck and head. All performers stand facing the hearth. The dance begins with slow squatting movements and simultaneous, arbitrary arm movements. Gradually the dynamic of the dance grows as the squatting movements become quicker and more abrupt. The dancers move their arms from one side to the other, simultaneously lifting and lowering their shoulders, gently turning their heads in various directions, moving their necks back and forth. The dances last as long as the performers sing. Even after ending, they often begin anew. It is not difficult to see an imitation of the reindeer gait in their dances.

The Chukchee are noted for skillfully imitating in their dances everything that surrounds them in nature and daily life. They created a pantomimic dance called "Fight of the Bulls [reindeer]," an imitative improvised dance called "Crane," the "Dance of the Seagull," "Duck Dance," and "Crows."

The transformations in the economic and cultural life of the Chukchee in the 1930s and 1940s also had an impact on their dance. The imitative dances of the Chukchee, while preserving their plasticity, continued to develop. The first scenic dances appeared. They entailed an exact fixation of the plasticity of movements and a musical accompaniment. Mass art forms exert a significant influence on the development of popular dance culture. In Chukchee settlements amateur performing ensembles were created. These ensembles blended traditional dances such as "Walrus Hunt," "Crow," "Crane," and others with many new ones, such as "The First Rays of the Sun," "Builders of Houses," "Workdays of the Housewife," "Sewing," and others.

In 1968 the first professional ensemble, Ergyron (Dawn), was founded. It spurred the establishment and flowering of professional singing and dancing in Chukhotka. Their songs and dances reflect the work and life of maritime-animal hunters and of reindeer herders. Particularly popular are the pantomimic dances of the Chukchee: "Faithfulness of the Cranes," "Dance with Snowplows," "Chattering Women," "Men's Games," "Family Talks," "A Holiday in the Tundra," "Reindeer Breeders," and others.

During the long winter nights the Chukchee listened to storytellers. A good storyteller could tell stories for many hours without interruption by stringing various episodes together.

The tambourine was for the Chukchee not only a ritual cult object, but also simply a musical instrument. Since ancient times the Chukchee played simple musical instruments made out of wood, willow, bone, whalebone, and metallic plates. Instruments that imitated various elements of nature and the sounds of certain birds and animals were especially widespread. One such instrument is the vargan, as it is called in Russian, or in Chukchee, vannyiarar, or dental tambourine. Other examples are the telitel, a vertical wind instrument, the v'yutkunen, a variation on the telitel, and various whistles made of willow, flutes, and other materials.

Songs and melodies accompanied the Chukchee throughout their whole life. Every Chukchee family had its own rather simple tunes, which were passed down from generation to generation. Among families that exchanged fire, there existed identical or very similar tunes. But together with shared melodies each family had its own songs, which were composed for their own use and frequently were improvised. The Chukchee also had a unique kind of singing competition. One such competition was wheezing. The winner was the one believed to be the most tireless.

Shamanistic ways of curing now belong to the remote past. From the 1930s on there was intensive building of schools and medical and cultural-educational centers. In the organization of public health care, traveling medical units, which served the nomadic and sedentary populations, played an important role. The first stationary medical institutions (hospitals and ambulatory units) were created in the cultural centers. In the past the most widespread illnesses among Chukchee were tuberculosis and consumption. The development of medical institutions (antituberculosis dispensaries, sanitary-epidemiological stations, hospitals, medical assistance units) allowed for earlier detection of illnesses. The use of the most effective methods of healing and the development of preventative treatment guaranteed a successful struggle with the threat of disease. Medical aviation developed. Births outside of a medical institution have now become a rare exception. Some Chukchee became doctors and nurses, receiving specialized education in medical institutes and colleges. The health of mothers and children among sedentary and maritime Chukchee populations is safeguarded by regular medical check-ups. In every national village day-care centers and nursery schools were opened, which children of herders and single mothers attended.

This summary was originally prepared by Maria Zhornitskaya (Translated by V. Wanner) for the Encyclopedia of World Cultures.

>In 2008 the Chukchee eHRAF Collection included 13 documents. HRAF staff amended this document in 2008.

Bogoras, Waldemar (1904-1909). The Chukchee. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Gurvich, I. S. (1966). {Transliterated title?} (Ethnical history of the North-East). Moscow. {Change Ethnical to Ethnic?}

Mitlyanskaya, T. B. (1976). {Transliterated title?} (The artists of Chukhotka). Moscow.

Vdovin, I. S. (1965). {Transliterated title?} (Sketches of the history and ethnography of the Chukchee). Moscow and Leningrad.

Zhornitskaya, M. Ya. (1983). {Transliterated title?} (Popular choreographical art of the indigenous population of northeastern Siberia). Moscow.

Zhornitskaya, M. Ya. (1987). {Transliterated title?} (The ethnic development of the peoples of the North in the Soviet period). Moscow.

Zhornitskaya, M. Ya. (1987) {Transliterated title?} (History and culture of the Chukchee). Leningrad.