The Chukchi originated from the people living around the Okhotsk Sea The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaido to the south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west …Sea of Okhotsk
What kind of people are the Chukchi?
Chukchi people. The Chukchi, or Chukchee (Russian: Чукчи, sg. Чукча), are an indigenous people inhabiting the Chukchi Peninsula and the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean within the Russian Federation. They speak the Chukchi language. The Chukchi originated from the people living around the Okhotsk Sea.
What is the status of Chukchi women today?
The status of Chukchi women has improved in the twentieth century as a result of Soviet policies of sexual equality, and women now serve as administrators, teachers, and doctors. Chukchi women traditionally wore a kerker, a knee-length coverall made from reindeer or seal hide and trimmed with fox, wolverine, wolf, or dog fur.
How did the Chukchi interact with the Russians?
Most Chukchi contact with the Russians came through trade, in which the Chukchi received knives, kettles, and other cooking utensils, vodka, tea, tobacco, and sugar in exchange for their fox furs and ivory. American whaling ships also participated in this kind of barter with the Chukchi in the late 1800s.
What kind of houses did the Chukchi live in?
Reindeer-herding Chukchi were nomadic and lived in settlements of two or three families. The traditional Chukchi form of housing was the yaranga, a conical or rounded reindeer-hide tent with a box-shaped inner sleeping chamber made of fur that was large enough for several people.
What race is Chukchi?
The Chukchi originated from the people living around the Okhotsk Sea. According to recent genomic research, the Chukchi are the closest Asiatic relatives of the indigenous peoples of the Americas as well as of the Ainu people.
Where are Chukchi from?
SiberiaChukchi, also spelled Chukchee, also called Luorawetlan, people inhabiting the northeasternmost part of Siberia, the Chukotskiy (Chukotka) autonomous okrug (district) in Russia. They numbered 14,000 in the late 20th century and are divided into two chief subgroups, reindeer Chukchi and maritime Chukchi.
Do Chukchi people still exist?
Today some Chukchi live in cities, working primarily as teachers, journalists, artisans, administration functionaries, wage laborers, and in museums and cultural centers. Most, however, live (as they did in the past) in small villages or in the tundra, tending herds of domestic reindeer, catching fish, and hunting.
Are Chukchi related to Native Americans?
In this case, the Na-Dene, Eskimo, and also the Chukchi were all very closely related among themselves and more distantly related to the Amerind. The intermatch between the combined east Central Asian population and the Native Americans (Fig.
What language do the Chukchi speak?
Chukotko–Kamchatkan languageChukchi /ˈtʃʊktʃiː/, also known as Chukot, is a Chukotko–Kamchatkan language spoken by the Chukchi people in the easternmost extremity of Siberia, mainly in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
What is the meaning of Chukchi?
Definition of Chukchi 1 : a member of a Siberian people inhabiting the Chukchi Peninsula. 2 : the language of the Chukchi people.
What homes do Chukchi live in?
Life of Chukchi Coastal Dwellers Coastal Chukchi used to live in wooden, semi-subterranean houses called “poluzemlyanka”. Later they lived into yarangas, which gave them more flexibility in chasing sea animals. Now many Chukchi live in Russian -style wooden houses.
What do the Chukchi tribe eat?
The diet of the coastal Chukchi consists primarily of sea mammals, particularly walrus, whale and seal meat and fat. The Inland Chukchi' staple food was reindeer meat. Both groups also collect berries, mushrooms and other plants like wild sorrel and roseroot to eat in the summer.
Which American Indian tribe is related to the Chukchi of Siberia?
The Siberian Yupiks live along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula.
Are Native Americans from Asia?
Genetically, Native Americans are most closely related to East Asians. Native American genomes contain genetic signals from Western Eurasia due in part to their descent from a common Siberian population during the Upper Paleolithic period.
Where does Native American DNA come from?
Most Amerindian groups are derived from two ancestral lineages, which formed in Siberia prior to the Last Glacial Maximum, between about 36,000 and 25,000 years ago, East Eurasian and Ancient North Eurasian.
What race are people from Siberia?
The vast majority of the Siberian population (over 85%) is Slavic and other Indo-European ethnicities, mainly the Russians, including their subethnic group Siberians, Ukrainians, and Germans. Most non-Slavic groups are Turkic. Smaller linguistic groups are Mongols (ca.
What language group is the Chukchi?
Russia: Other groups. The Chukchi, Koryak, and Itelmen (Kamchadal) belong to a group known as Luorawetlan, which is distinct from the Eskimo-Aleut group. The languages of the Nivkh (Gilyak) along the lower Amur and on Sakhalin Island, of the…. Asia: Early population distribution.
Where are Chukchi located?
Chukchi, also spelled Chukchee, also called Luorawetlan, people inhabiting the northeasternmost part of Siberia, the Chukotskiy (Chukotka) autonomous okrug (district) in Russia. They numbered 14,000 in the late 20th century and are divided into two chief subgroups, reindeer Chukchi and maritime Chukchi. The reindeer Chukchi inhabit the interior of ...
What language do Chukchi speak?
Both speak a Luorawetlan language of the Paleosiberian language group and are linguistically and culturally related to the Koryak and Itelmen (Kamchadal). Chukchi reindeer herder in Siberia. Sovfoto. The reindeer Chukchi formerly lived mainly off of domesticated herds of reindeer.
What did the reindeer Chukchi do?
These herds supplied them with means of transport, milk and meat for food, and pelts for clothing and shelter. The maritime Chukchi lived by huntingArctic sea mammals, chiefly walrus, seals, and whales, and by fishing.
What was the transportation of the Chukchi?
Transportation depended on sledges pulled by reindeer or dogs harnessed in pairs. The maritime Chukchi traveled in boats with wooden frames and skin covers. The basic socioeconomic unit of the maritime Chukchi was the boat team of several related families; it sometimes included neighbours.
What did the Chukchi do for food?
These herds supplied them with means of transport, milk and meat for food, and pelts for clothing and shelter. The maritime Chukchi lived by hunting Arctic sea mammals, chiefly walrus, seals, and whales, and by fishing. Their traditional dwellings varied according to their subsistence pattern.
What were the traditional dwellings of the Chukchi?
Their traditional dwellings varied according to their subsistence pattern. Maritime Chukchi lived in fixed villages; their houses were semisubterranean. Reindeer Chukchi were nomadic and lived in tents, changing residence according to seasonal change in pasture. Transportation depended on sledges pulled by reindeer or dogs harnessed in pairs. The maritime Chukchi traveled in boats with wooden frames and skin covers. The basic socioeconomic unit of the maritime Chukchi was the boat team of several related families; it sometimes included neighbours. The village was a territorial association of related and unrelated families. Among the reindeer Chukchi, the encampment of families who herded together was the basic economic unit.
Where are the Chukchi?
The Chukchi are an Arctic people who chiefly inhabit the Chukchi peninsula, or Chukotka, in the extreme northeastern section of Siberia that faces North America across the Bering Strait.
Why did Chukchi have only one name?
Until well into the 20th century, most Chukchi had only one given name. The practice of using a surname came only after an increased Russian presence led to pressure to adopt a family name (based on the father's given name) to facilitate school registration and other bureaucratic paperwork.
What are some of the Chukchi myths?
Chukchi folklore includes myths about the creation of the earth, moon, sun, and stars; tales about animals; anecdotes and jokes about foolish people; stories about evil spirits called kelet, which traditional Chukchi beliefs hold responsible for disease and other misfortunes; and stories about shamans with supernatural powers. Many Chukchi myths and stories have close equivalents among the neighboring Koriaks, Eskimos, Itelmen (Kamchadal), and even some Native American peoples. The Chukchi also possess numerous historical legends about ancient battles between the Chukchi and the Koriaks and Eskimos.
What is the difference between a chukchi and a chukchee?
The word "Chukchi"—sometimes spelled "Chukchee"— is itself a plural form of the Russian word Chukcha (feminine: Chukchanka ), which is their word for an individual Lygoravetlan. The reindeer Chukchi also call themselves Chavchu ("rich in reindeer"), whereas the coastal Chukchi call themselves the Ankalit ("sea people").
Why do Chukchi children go to school?
Most Chukchi children study in primary and secondary boarding schools, because their settlements are too small and far apart to allow a school to be built in each one. Literacy in the Russian language is now virtually universal, but because the Soviet government discouraged cultural differences, not everyone can read and write in the Chukchi language.
What animals do chukchi hunt?
The Chukchi who live in the interior of the Chukchi peninsula have traditionally been herdsman and hunters of reindeer; those who live along the coasts of the Arctic Ocean, the Chukchi Sea, and the Bering Sea have customarily hunted sea mammals such as seals, whales, walruses, and sea lions.
Why were the Chukchi afflicted?
Later in the Soviet era, the Chukchi were culturally afflicted as the frequent subjects of ethnic stereotype jokes told by Russians.
Where did the Chukchi come from?
The Chukchi are traditionally divided into the Maritime Chukchi, who had settled homes on the coast and lived primarily from sea mammal hunting, and the Reindeer Chukchi, who lived as nomads in the inland tundra region, migrating seasonally with their herds of reindeer. The Russian name "Chukchi" is derived from the Chukchi word Chauchu ("rich in reindeer"), which was used by the 'Reindeer Chukchi' to distinguish themselves from the 'Maritime Chukchi,' called Anqallyt ("the sea people"). Their name for a member of the Chukchi ethnic group as a whole is Luoravetlan (literally 'true person').
What were the Chukchi's activities?
Beginning in the 1920s, the Soviets organized the economic activities of both coastal and inland Chukchi and eventually established 28 collectively run, state-owned enterprises in Chukotka. All of these were based on reindeer herding, with the addition of sea mammal hunting and walrus ivory carving in the coastal areas. Chukchi were educated in Soviet schools and today are almost 100% literate and fluent in the Russian language. Only a portion of them today work directly in reindeer herding or sea mammal hunting, and continue to live a nomadic lifestyle in yaranga tents.
Why were the Chukchi ignored?
The Chukchi were generally ignored for the next 50 years because they were warlike and had few furs. Fighting flared up around 1700 when the Russians began operating in the Kamchatka Peninsula and needed to protect their communications from the Chukchi and Koryak. The first attempt to conquer them was made in 1701.
When did the Chukchi start using Latin?
In 1926, there were 72 literate Chukchis. The Soviets introduced a Latin alphabet in 1932 , replacing it with Cyrillic in 1937. In 1934, 71% of the Chukchis were nomadic. In 1941, 90% of the reindeer were still privately owned. So-called kulaks roamed with their private herds up into the 1950s. After 1990 and the fall of the Soviet Union, there was a major exodus of Russians from the area.
What happened to Chukotka after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the state-run farms were reorganized and nominally privatized. This process was ultimately destructive to the village-based economy in Chukotka. The region has still not fully recovered. Many rural Chukchi, as well as Russians in Chukotka's villages, have survived in recent years only with the help of direct humanitarian aid. Some Chukchi have attained university degrees, becoming poets, writers, politicians, teachers, and doctors.
What awaits the Chukchi in the near future?
What awaits the Chukchi in the near future? Despite the financial assistance from the Russian government and certain production companies operating in the region, the socio-economic situation in Chukotka is more difficult than in other Russian regions.
How long do Chukchi live?
And due to the severe climate, poor health system and low social living standards the average life expectancy for a Chukchi is still only 45 years.
What did the Chukchi call themselves?
The Chukchi appeared in the tundra before the Christian era and called themselves the Luoraveti – “real people.” Some time ago this people wandered through the peninsula with thousands of deer, hunted whales and lived in a yaranga, an original transportable tent made of deer hide.
How far to fly to Anadyr?
In order to reach Anadyr, the administrative center of the Russian region of Chukotka, you need to fly more than 4,000 miles east from Moscow. Here, at Russia’s easternmost extremity, facing Alaska, in the area of permafrost and winds blowing from the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea, the temperature in the winter reaches -50 degrees Celsius.
What is the temperature in Russia in winter?
Here, at Russia’s easternmost extremity, facing Alaska, in the area of permafrost and winds blowing from the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea, the temperature in the winter reaches -50 degrees Celsius .
Who was the governor of Chukotka?
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was occupied with the region's affairs for almost 13 years. First he was governor of the Chukotka Autonomous District (2001-2008) and then Chairman of the Chukotka Autonomous District Duma (2008-2013). The residents of Chukotka have only fond memories of their former governor. During his governorship the region's gross product increased by five times and the average salary also grew significantly. Abramovich sometimes even used his own funds to give the residents generous gifts in the form of double-glazed windows and summer travels.
Do Chukchi still hunt whales?
Despite the difficult life of the Chukchi, there are those who try to preserve their traditions. For example, residents of the settlement of Lorino, which is located on the Barents Sea coast, still hunt whales. Several years ago a documentary film about these people received the prestigious Russian TEFI Award.
What is the Chukchi way of life?
Historically their way of life was based on the hunting of sea mammals and reindeer husbandry. They were forcibly collectivized by the Soviet state in the 1930s, and subsequent industrial development increased pressures to assimilate. In September 1990, the Chukchi Autonomous Okrug (AOk) Soviet proclaimed autonomy and in March 1991 decided to separate from Magadan Oblast. In May 1993, the Russian Constitutional Court supported the right to secede.
Why are there national parks in Chukchi?
Chukchi leaders have called for the creation of national parks in the Chukchi republic in order for traditional reindeer herding to be preserved. According to a study on indigenous reindeer husbandry, submitted for the 11th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in 2012, reindeer herders in the Sakha Republic face numerous financial difficulties. Around 75 per cent of reindeer pastures in the Sakha Republic are located in the forests; since forestry is managed on the federal level, all the reindeer herders have to register their pastures and pay rental fees that are very high in some regions.
Where do Chukchi live?
Chukchi live primarily in the Chukchi Republic, formerly the Chukchi Autonomous Okrug (AOk) in the north-eastern part of Magadan Oblast and in adjacent areas and in the Koryak AOk.
When did the Chukchi Autonomous Okrug secede?
In September 1990, the Chukchi Autonomous Okrug (AOk) Soviet proclaimed autonomy and in March 1991 decided to separate from Magadan Oblast. In May 1993, the Russian Constitutional Court supported the right to secede.
Where are the Chukchi from?
Native Folks of Siberia: with photographs of the Chukchi of Northeast Siberia, and the Ainu, Itelmen and Nivkh of Kamchatka and the Lower Amur River region, with photos of sled dogs of the Itelmen
What is the culture of Chukchi?
Chukchi Culture: tents of Chukchi and Siberian peoples, tattooing among Eskimo and Chukchi, a leather mask, sleighs & tools , rituals plus more on rituals, rock carving and myths of the reindeer Chukchi
What is the name of the river that the reindeer chukchi ceremony took place on?
Reindeer Chukchi Rituals: rituals of the fall celebration, use of fly agaric, elder "reads" reindeer shoulder blade to determine night of the ceremony - transcript of documentary "Pegtymel," named for northeast Siberia's Pegtymel River, site of ancient rock art
How many Chukchi speak their own language?
Chukchi Language & People: 70% of Chukchi speak their own language, and more on the Chukchee & Language and Eastern & Western dialects
What are the Native people of Kamchatka?
Native Peoples of Kamchatka: brief introductions to the Koryak, Itelmen, Evens and Evenki, Chukchi and Aleuts
Where are the Chukchi located?
Chukotka, including the Chukchi Peninsula, is region of Asia separated from Alaska at the Bering Strait. The Chukchi are both coastal hunters of sea mammals and interior reindeer breeders and herders. Dogs played a role in the historic cultures of both groups.
What are the indigenous people of Siberia?
Indigenous People of Siberia & Russian Far East: click on Peoples for map showing homelands of Chukchi, Even, Evenk, Sami, Yukagir, many more
Introduction
Location and Homeland
- The Chukchi presently number slightly over 15,000, all of whom live in the Russian Federation. About 11,900 Chukchi live in the Chukchi Autonomous Okrug (Russian for "district") within the Magadan Oblast (Russian for "region," but similar in structure to a province). Almost all of the remainder dwell in the northernmost reaches of the Koriak Autonomous District (1,500) and in th…
Language
- The Chukchi language belongs to the Paleoasiatic language family's Chukotka-Kamchatka (or Chukotic) group, which includes other languages spoken in far northeastern Siberia such as Itelmen (Kamchadal) and Koriak. The speech of women differs phonetically from that of men: for example, the sound "r" in male pronunciation becomes "ts" in female pronunciation. Thus, the wo…
Folklore
- Chukchi folklore includes myths about the creation of the earth, moon, sun, and stars; tales about animals; anecdotes and jokes about foolish people; stories about evil spirits called kelet,which traditional Chukchi beliefs hold responsible for disease and other misfortunes; and stories about shamans with supernatural powers. Many Chukchi myths and stories have close equivalents am…
Religion
- Chukchi religious beliefs and practices are often described as a form of shamanism. Animals, plants, heavenly bodies, rivers, forests, and other natural phenomena are considered to have their own spirits. Fire created by friction (instead of matches or lighters) and the tools used to make it are considered sacred. Although both men and women can become shamans (tribal priests simi…
Major Holidays
- The most important traditional Chukchi holidays were festivals in which sacrifices were made to the spirits the Chukchi depended upon for success in their livelihoods. Among the reindeer Chukchi, these sacrifices took place in autumn. After shouting and firing guns to frighten away kelet(evil spirits), participants slaughtered some reindeer and used their blood to anoint themsel…
Rites of Passage
- The birth of a Chukchi child has traditionally been surrounded by many rituals and rules, although the degree to which these are observed has probably lessened as a result of modernization. After a woman has discovered that she is pregnant, she must go outside every day as soon as she awakens, look at the rising sun, and circle her dwelling in the direction of the sun's movement. W…
Interpersonal Relations
- Because of the harsh climate and difficulty of life in the tundra, hospitality and generosity are highly prized among the Chukchi. It is forbidden to refuse anyone, even a stranger, shelter and food. The community is expected to provide for orphans, widows, and the poor. In general, stinginess is considered the worst character defect a person can have. For example, it is unthink…
Living Conditions
- Reindeer-herding Chukchi were nomadic and lived in settlements of two or three families. The traditional Chukchi form of housing was the yaranga, a conical or rounded reindeer-hide tent with a box-shaped inner sleeping chamber made of fur that was large enough for several people. Maritime Chukchi originally lived in semi-underground houses made of earth or sod with whaleb…
Family Life
- Traditionally, Chukchi lived in encampments of several nuclear families who were usually related to each other and who shared reindeer herds or sea-mammal-hunting equipment. Polygamy was widespread, especially among wealthy Chukchi, until it was banned by the Bolshevik government. The nuclear family with one or two children living in its own dwelling is now typical of the Chukc…