The Eskimos are an amazing people whose culture is fully adapted to the conditions of the Far North. But what else do we know about them? Perhaps only that all their lives they have been constantly fighting against the harsh elements. Today we offer you to get acquainted with the amazing facts from the life of the indigenous people inhabiting the territories from the eastern edge of Chukotka to Greenland.
We have become accustomed to the fact that the term "Eskimo" is used in a neutral context. However, in English, another name for the people is used - "Inuit". The reason for this is that the Eskimos themselves perceive the name of their people as offensive - in translation, it supposedly means "one who eats raw meat."
Greenland
For the first time in the history of the island, a woman, the leader of the Siumut party, Aleka Hammond, won the parliamentary elections in Greenland.
Flag of Greenland Coat of arms of Genland
eskimo kiss- it's not even a kiss, but just a mutual touch and a little friction between the noses. It is assumed that in the cold, the Eskimos do not kiss on the lips because they can freeze to each other. But in fact, only their eyes and nose are not covered with clothes, which is why they greet each other with their help.
Nutrition. The Eskimos ate mainly products obtained as a result of hunting and gathering. The basis of the diet was the meat of walruses, beluga whales, seals, deer, polar bears, musk oxen, birds, as well as their eggs. Since it is impossible to farm in the Arctic climate, the Eskimos collected tubers, stems, roots, algae, berries, which can be found in very small quantities. Vegetarians in such conditions would have a very hard time. The Inuit believe that a diet consisting mainly of meat is healthy and helps to keep warm.
The traditional snow dwelling of the Eskimos is called "igloo". Built of snow "bricks" in the shape of a hemisphere, the igloo is the best option for spending the night in the mountains: no tent can be compared with it in terms of comfort and reliability. And, despite the fact that such a dwelling is made of snow, pleasant warmth reigns inside. The igloo is usually about 2 m high and 3-4 m in diameter.
Cosmogony of the Inuit. The Eskimos are afraid of the Kalupalik (or Kallupilluk) - a ghost that is just waiting to drag careless people to the bottom of the icy sea. At the same time, such fears are not without common sense - falling into the icy water in the north is tantamount to death.
General ideas about the existence of the world among the Eskimos
The Inuit are blond. In 1912, Canadian ethnographer and polar explorer Stefansson Villamour discovered the "blond Eskimos" on Victoria Island. This has become one of the biggest mysteries in the archeology of the North. Presumably, a tribe of Scandinavians lived on the island before, which was forced out by the Eskimos.
The Eskimo language has over 75 words for snow. In 1911, anthropologist Franz Boas pointed out that the Eskimos have 4 unrelated words for this white matter. Apparently, over time, this number has increased by several orders of magnitude.
The absence of iron armor among the Eskimos in ancient times is explained by only one completely obvious parameter: they had nothing to make them from. And there was a need for protection. Therefore, they made armor from what was at hand - from the bones and fangs of animals.
Contact with other cultures gave the Inuit access to firearms and other modern weapons, but traditional Inuit weapons were mostly made of wood and stone. The main weapon of the Eskimos for sea hunting was a harpoon with a swivel tip.
The Inuit, in fact, live in a similar way to semi-nomadic tribes, such as the Australian Aborigines. Many of them suffer from alcoholism. Harsh climatic conditions contribute to the development of numerous diseases, so the fact that the Eskimos still survive and continue to exist cannot but be surprising.
Inuit maps, Greenland.
These are the charts used by the Inuit to navigate the coastal waters. These devices are quite compact, fit in the hand and can be read quite easily even in the dark.
font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-align: center; margin: 0px padding: 0px border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(230, 67, 56); text-decoration: none; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.2s ease;">Three wooden maps show the path fromSermiligaaq's Kangertittivatsiaq(east coast of Greenland):
- The right map shows the islands along the coast of Greenland;
- The map in the center shows the coastline of Greenland itself;
- The left map shows the peninsula, which is located between the fjords.Sermiligaaq and Kangertivartikajik.
AND Nuit women carried their children in parks called amauti - amauti. Amauti were widespread in the Arctic, Greenland, Alaska, Labrador and in the north of Western Siberia..
Women's national costume - parka, decorated with beads, shorts and boots
Amudsen with Inuit children
We have developed an incorrect attitude towards small peoples. "Small people" does not mean "primitive people"!!What beauty women create with their own hands!!
Beads began to appear in Greenland in the early 18th century with the arrival of whaling ships and missionaries there. In western Greenland, beaded loops decorated the edges of "parkas" (jackets without fasteners with a hood), sleeves and edges of hoods. Over time, the shape of the women's parka changed, the hood became smaller, until all that was left of it was a wide standing collar.
Parkas began to be sewn from fabric instead of leather, beads began to be used much more. Wide beaded mesh ribbons appeared along the edges of the sleeves. Beaded fringe, which used to decorate the edges of the hoods, began to be sewn along the lower edge of the collar.
At the beginning of the 20th century, narrow mesh beaded ribbons appeared at the edges of the collars, gradually expanding until they turned into wide beaded capes up to the elbow. Geometric patterns of beaded collars were usually in tune with the pattern of leather appliqué on boots.
The earliest Inuit beaded collars I could find on the internet were from photographs of the British Arctic Expedition of 1930-31. There you can see both wide mesh beaded collars and beaded fringe decoration.
There are many pages with photographs in the archive, but there are not so many Inuit on them, I will show a few more pictures from the British archive
For example, the Danish royal family in Greenland. . And the event itself: Queen Margrethe of Denmark conveysofficial law on self-government to the chairman of the council of the island of Greenland, Joseph Motzfeldt. June 21, 2009.Queen Margrethe and Princess Mary appeared at the festive ceremony in national Eskimo costumes. The Queen formally remained the head of Greenland.
Inuit underwear -Eskimo fur thongs
TO as it turned out, the Eskimos invented the prototype of modern thongs in the distant 19th century. Then, during the period of short warm days, Eskimo women put on unusual linen for themselves and their husbands, reminiscent of modern strigs. This people called them "naatsit".
The Eskimos of Greenland sewed naatsit from fur seal skins and used beads for decoration.
Fur thongs were designed not only to be worn during intimate moments, but also for everyday use. Women did not hesitate to show their thongs to European researchers, who in turn tried to convince them that it would be much more convenient to wear European pantaloons indoors. But the Eskimos liked fur thongs more.
19th century underwear:
For the first time, fur thongs became known in 1892 thanks to the explorer Captain S. Ryder, who went on an expedition to Greenland.
THE DECOLONIAL ATLAS. all photos from internet
Modern Eskimos are settled in the northern parts of several continents. The number of this northern ethnic community is about one hundred and fifteen thousand people. Most of them live in Greenland, Alaska and the Canadian north. One and a half thousand Eskimos live in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
The Eskimos speak many dialects of two language groups (Inupik and Yupik) belonging to the Eskimo-Aleut family. The final ethnic formation of the Eskimos ended by the end of the second millennium BC. The ancestors of modern Eskimos came to Chukotka, Greenland and the Arctic coast of America in the first millennium of our era.
The Eskimos have lived in harsh arctic conditions for thousands of years. They created a culture that adapted to the cruelty of nature as much as possible. The result of a thousand years of struggle was the invention of igloos (domed snow dwellings), fat lamps, kayak boats, harpoons with swivel tips. Interestingly, the Eskimos did not have tribal relations (at least in the 19th century, when researchers became interested in them). Shamanism has been preserved in beliefs.
The Eskimos of Siberia call themselves Yugyt, which means "real people" and speak dialects of the Yupik language and Russian. Kinship was conducted through the father's line and the bride climbed into the house of her husband's family. Barter trade led to the emergence of property inequality and the emergence of large merchants who became "owners of the land."
Religious representations of the Eskimos
The religion of modern Eskimos is Christianity. But the beliefs of the ancestors are deeply rooted in the consciousness of the Eskimos. Therefore, beliefs are of a mixed nature and it is difficult to give the preponderance of any one worldview position. Cosmological representations are also quite interesting. Traditional beliefs are not religion in the usual sense.
Important!!!
Existing is not controlled by anyone - neither by God, nor by deities, and no one bears any punishment for what they have done. Thousands of years of life in harsh nature have taught these people not to believe, but to be afraid.
In the mythology of the Eskimos, there are living beings (mostly unkind) who are responsible for certain phenomena or a group of living beings (polar bears, marine fauna, etc.). Eskimo beliefs say that everything around has a soul (or breath) - anirniit. Related to this is the ritual throwing away of a part of the carcass of a dead animal for its restoration.
But Eskimos see spirits not only in animals. In the rain, they see the cry of the dead, inhabiting the upper world, and the northern lights are the heavenly game of children who have left this world. Similar groups of creatures (plants or animals living in the sea) belonged to the same class of spirits and they could be invoked through the master of these groups. The arrival of Christianity to the Eskimos anirniit began to be associated with the soul and other terminology of Christianity.
Evil spirits
They are called Tuurngait. They exist separately from the physical bodies, are very evil and are the cause of all misfortunes. Only shamans can fight them with the help of ritual actions. It is believed that shamans can enslave them to fight free tuurngait.
shamans
Angakuit is what the Eskimos call them. They act as healers and spiritual guides. They took a spirit to help them, through which they healed, advised how to act in everyday situations, called or drove away spirits, conjured, interpreted signs, called on the weather, etc. During ritual actions, tambourines, special songs and rhythmic movements were used.
How were shamans trained?
The shamans did not have any special training. They should already be born with the appropriate inclinations and inclinations. And you just have to wait for them to show up.
The world of spirits included good and evil, sending diseases and other misfortunes. Good spirits were associated with various animals. To protect against evil spirits, the Eskimos carried amulets with them. The shaman acted as an intermediary between spirits and people.
Rituals and holidays
The killer whale was the patron saint of hunters at sea. Hunters always carried her image with them. The raven was a frequent character in folk tales. All holidays and rituals concerned crafts. Holidays of Heads (dedicated to walrus fishing), a holiday dedicated to whale hunting (held at the beginning and end of hunting seasons), etc.
Funeral rite
The dead were dressed in new clothes and pulled together with belts, throwing reindeer skins over them. The deceased did not have to remember the last road, in order to exclude his return to the living. And they took him out of the dwelling into the passage made for this, which was then closed up. There was a meal before the ritual. After that, the deceased was taken out into the tundra, where they were left along with cut clothes and broken things, surrounded by stones.
fishing
The extraction of a sea animal was the main industry of the Eskimos, which provided them with food, skins for building housing and sewing clothes, bones for making tools and skeletons for dwellings, fat was used as fuel. Fishing was carried out with the help of harpoons with detachable float tips, seals were hunted with whalebone nets. They traveled on the water in canoes and kayaks.
Housing, cuisine and clothing
The dwelling with a frame made of stones and whale bones was twice lined with deer skins. There was an exhaust hole at the top. In winter, an underground corridor was built for the exit.
Clothes were sewn deaf with insulation from bird feathers or deer fur. Fur boots were worn on the feet. Practiced a tattoo on the face. Women were engaged in sewing clothes and cooking.
The diet consisted of the meat of marine animals, shellfish, roots, seaweed. Deer meat was exchanged, which was highly valued. Household utensils were scarce. Made from wood and skin of marine animals.
Conclusion:
The harsh conditions of existence left their mark on the way of life, beliefs and ideas of the Eskimos about the world around them. The main trade is sea hunting, which provided everything necessary for life. Direct life in nature led to a natural fear of natural phenomena, spiritualization and worship of them.
Ancient dwellings of the Eskimos of Chukotka.
Eskimos (a group of indigenous peoples that make up the indigenous population of the territory from Greenland and Canada to Alaska (USA) and the eastern edge of Chukotka (Russia). The number is about 170 thousand people. Languages belong to the Eskimo branch of the Eskimo-Aleut family. Anthropologists believe that the Eskimos - Mongoloids of the Arctic type. Their main self-name is "Inuit". The word "Eskimo" (eskimanzig - "raw eater", "one who eats raw fish") belongs to the language of the Abenaki and Athabaskan Indian tribes. From the name of the American Eskimos, this word turned into a self-name both American and Asian Eskimos.
Story
The everyday culture of the Eskimos is unusually adapted to the Arctic. They invented a turnable harpoon to hunt sea animals, a kayak, an igloo snow house, a yarangu skin house, and special deaf clothes made of fur and skins. The ancient culture of the Eskimos is original. In the XVIII-XIX centuries. a combination of hunting for a sea animal and a caribou deer, life in territorial communities are characteristic.
In the 19th century, the Eskimos did not have (except, perhaps, the Bering Sea) tribal and developed tribal organization. As a result of contacts with the alien population, great changes took place in the life of foreign Eskimos. A significant part of them switched from sea fishing to fox hunting, and in Greenland to commercial fishing. Many Eskimos, especially in Greenland, became wage laborers. The local petty bourgeoisie also appeared here. The Eskimos of Western Greenland formed into a separate people - the Greenlanders, who do not consider themselves Eskimos. The Eskimos of eastern Greenland are Angmassalik. In Labrador, the Eskimos have largely mixed with the old-timer population of European origin. Everywhere, remnants of traditional Eskimo culture are rapidly disappearing.
Language and culture
The language is Eskimo, of the Esco-Aleut family of languages. The Eskimo languages are divided into two large groups - Yupik (Western) and Inupik (Eastern). On the Chukchi Peninsula, Yupik is divided into Sirenik, Central Siberian, or Chaplin and Naukan dialects. The Eskimos of Chukotka, along with their native language, speak Russian and Chukchi.
The origin of the Eskimos is debatable. The Eskimos are the direct heirs of an ancient culture spread from the end of the first millennium BC. along the shores of the Bering Sea. The earliest Eskimo culture is the ancient Bering Sea (until the 8th century AD). It is characterized by the extraction of marine mammals, the use of multi-seat leather canoes, complex harpoons. From the 7th century AD until the XIII-XV centuries. there was a development of whaling, and in the more northern regions of Alaska and Chukotka - hunting for small pinnipeds.
Traditionally, the Eskimos are animists. The Eskimos believe in spirits living in various natural phenomena, they see the connection of a person with the world of objects and living beings around him. Many believe in a single creator, Silya, who controls everything that happens in the world, all phenomena and laws. The goddess who gives the Eskimos the riches of the deep sea is called Sedna. There are also ideas about evil spirits, which were presented to the Eskimos in the form of incredible and terrible creatures. The shaman who lives in every Eskimo village is an intermediary who establishes contact between the world of spirits and the world of people. The tambourine for the Eskimos is a sacred object. The traditional greeting, called the "Eskimo kiss", has become a world famous gesture.
Eskimos in Russia
In Russia, the Eskimos are a small ethnic group (according to the 1970 census - 1356 people, according to the 2002 census - 1750 people), living mixed or in close proximity with the Chukchi in a number of settlements on the eastern coast of Chukotka and on Wrangel Island. Their traditional occupations are marine hunting, reindeer herding, and hunting. The Eskimos of Chukotka call themselves "yuk" ("man"), "yuit", "yugyt", "yupik" ("real person"). The number of Eskimos in Russia:
The number of Eskimos in settlements in 2002:
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug:
Novoye Chaplino village 279
Sireniki village 265
Lavrentia village 214
Provideniya 174
city of Anadyr 153
Uelkal village 131
Ethnic and ethnographic groups
The Asian Eskimos in the 18th century were divided into a number of tribes - the Uelentsy, the Naukans, the Chaplins, the Sirenik Eskimos, who differed linguistically and in some cultural features. In a later period, in connection with the processes of integration of the cultures of the Eskimos and the coastal Chukchi, the Eskimos retained the group features of the language in the form of the Naukan, Sirenikov and Chaplin dialects.
Along with the Koryaks and Itelmens, they form the so-called "continental" group of populations of the Arctic race, which by origin is associated with the Pacific Mongoloids. The main features of the Arctic race are presented in the north-east of Siberia in the paleoanthropological material at the turn of the new era.
Writing
In 1848, the Russian missionary N. Tyzhnov published an ABC book of the Eskimo language. Modern writing based on the Latin alphabet was created in 1932, when the first Eskimo (Yuit) primer came out. In 1937 it was translated into Russian graphics. There is modern Eskimo prose and poetry (Aivangu and others). The most famous Eskimo poet is Yu. M. Anko.
The modern Eskimo alphabet based on the Cyrillic alphabet: A a, B b, C c, G g, D d, E e, E e, F f, Z s, I i, Y y, K k, L l, L l l, M m, N n, Nb nb, O o, P p, R r, C s, T t, U y, Ў ў, F f, X x, C c, H h, Sh w, Sh sch, b, Y s, b, e e, yu yu, I am.
There is a variant of the Eskimo alphabet created from the Canadian syllabary for the indigenous languages of Canada.
Eskimos in Canada
The Eskimo people of Canada, known in this country under the self-name "Inuit", achieved their autonomy, with the creation on April 1, 1999 of the territory of Nunavut, allocated from the Northwest Territories.
The Eskimos of the Labrador Peninsula now also have their own autonomies: in the Quebec part of the peninsula, the Eskimo district of Nunavik is gradually increasing its level of autonomy, and in 2005, in the part of the peninsula that is part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Eskimo Autonomous District of Nunatsiavut was also formed. Inuit receive official payments from the government for living in difficult climatic conditions.
Eskimos in Greenland
Greenlanders (Eskimos of Greenland) - Eskimo people, the indigenous population of Greenland. In Greenland, between 44,000 and 50,000 people consider themselves "kalaallit", which is 80-88% of the island's population. In addition, about 7.1 thousand Greenlanders live in Denmark (2006 estimate). They speak Greenlandic, Danish is also widely spoken. Believers are mostly Lutherans.
They live mainly along the southwestern coast of Greenland. There are three main groups:
western Greenlanders (actually kalaallit) - southwest coast;
eastern Greenlanders (angmassalik, tunumiit) - on the east coast, where the climate is mildest; 3.8 thousand people;
northern (polar) Greenlanders - 850 people. on the northwest coast; the northernmost aboriginal group in the world.
Historically, the self-designation "kalaallit" referred only to the western Greenlanders. East and North Greenlanders called themselves only by their self-names, and the North Greenlandic dialect is closer to the Inuit dialects of Canada than to the West and East Greenlandic dialects.
eskimo cuisine
The Eskimo cuisine consists of products obtained by hunting and gathering, the basis of the diet is meat, walrus, seal, white whale, deer, polar bears, musk oxen, poultry, as well as their eggs.
Since agriculture is impossible in the Arctic climate, the Eskimos collect tubers, roots, stems, algae, berries and either eat them or harvest them for future use. Eskimos believe that a diet consisting mainly of meat is healthy, makes the body healthy and strong, and helps to keep warm.
The Eskimos believe that their cuisine is much more useful than that of the "white man".
One example is the consumption of seal blood. After eating blood and seal meat, the veins increase in size and darken. The Eskimos believe that the blood of seals strengthens the blood of the eater by replacing depleted nutrients and renewing blood flow; blood is an essential element of the Eskimo diet.
In addition, the Eskimos believe that a meat diet will keep you warm if you constantly eat Eskimo style. One Eskimo, Oleetoa, who ate a mixture of Eskimo and Western food, said that when he compared his strength, warmth and energy with those of his cousin, who ate only Eskimo food, it turned out that his brother was stronger and more enduring. Eskimos in general tend to blame their illnesses on the lack of Eskimo food.
The Eskimos choose food by analyzing three links: between animals and people, between body, soul and health, between the blood of animals and people; as well as in accordance with the selected diet. Eskimos are very superstitious about food and its preparation and eating. They believe that a healthy human body is obtained by mixing human blood with the blood of prey.
For example, the Eskimos believe that they have made an agreement with seals: the hunter kills the seal only to feed his family, and the seal sacrifices himself in order to become part of the hunter's body, and if people stop following the ancient agreements and precepts of their ancestors, then the animals will be offended and stop breeding.
Freezing is a common way to preserve meat after hunting. Hunters eat part of the prey right on the spot. A special tradition is associated with fish: fish cannot be cooked within a day's journey from the place of fishing.
The Eskimos are famous for the fact that each hunter shares all the prey with everyone in the settlement. This practice was first documented in 1910.
Eating meat, fat, or other parts of an animal is preceded by laying out large pieces on a piece of metal, plastic, or cardboard on the floor, from where anyone in the family can take a serving. Since the Eskimos eat only when they are hungry, family members should not go “to the table”, although it happens that everyone in the settlement is invited to eat: a woman goes out into the street and shouts: “Ready meat!”.
The food after the hunt is different from the usual meal: when the seal is brought into the house, the hunters gather around it and are the first to receive portions as the most hungry and cooled down after the hunt. The seal is butchered in a special way, ripping open the stomach so that hunters can cut off a piece from the liver or pour blood into a mug. In addition, fat and brain are mixed and eaten with meat.
Children and women eat after the hunters. First of all, the intestines and the remains of the liver are chosen for eating, and then the ribs, the spine and the remains of the meat are distributed throughout the settlement.
The division of food was necessary for the survival of the entire settlement, young couples give part of their catch and meat to the elderly, most often to their parents. It is believed that by eating together, people become bound by bonds of cooperation.
The traditional dwelling of the Eskimos
The igloo is a typical place of residence for the Eskimos. This type of building is a building that has a domed shape. The diameter of the dwelling is 3-4 meters, and its height is about 2 meters. Igloos are built, as a rule, from blocks of ice or blocks of snow compacted with the help of wind. Also, the needle is cut out of snowdrifts, which are suitable in density, as well as in size.
If the snow is deep enough, then they break through the entrance in the floor, and also dig a corridor to the entrance. In the case when the snow is still not deep, then the front door is cut into the wall, and a separate corridor built of snow bricks is attached to the front door. It is very important that the front door to such a dwelling be below the floor level, as this ensures good and proper ventilation of the room, and also retains heat inside the igloo.
Lighting in the dwelling comes from snow walls, but sometimes windows are also made. As a rule, they are also constructed from ice or seal guts. In some Eskimo tribes, entire villages of igloos are common, which are interconnected by passages.
From the inside, the igloo is covered with skins, and sometimes the walls are also hung with the igloo. To provide even more illumination, as well as more heat, special devices are used. Due to heating, part of the walls inside the igloo can melt, but the walls themselves do not melt, due to the fact that the snow helps to bring excess heat out. Thanks to this, the temperature in the dwelling is maintained at a comfortable temperature for the existence of people. As for moisture, the walls also absorb it, and because of this, the inside of the igloo is dry.
The first non-Eskimo to build an igloo was Williamour Stefanson. It happened in 1914, and he talks about this event in many articles and in his own book. The unique strength of this type of dwelling lies in the use of uniquely shaped slabs. They allow you to fold the hut in the form of a kind of snail, which gradually narrows upwards. It is also very important to take into account the method of installation of these improvised bricks, which involves the support of the next slab on the previous brick at three points at the same time. In order to make the structure more stable, the finished hut is also watered from the outside.
05/07/2018 Sergey Solovyov 3044 views
Eskimo plague. Photo: Konstantin Lemeshev / TASS Russian Eskimos live in the Chukotka Autonomous District of the Magadan Region. Less than two thousand Eskimos live in Russia.
The origin of the Eskimos is not known for certain. Some researchers consider them to be the heirs of an ancient culture that was spread as early as the first millennium BC along the shores of the Bering Sea.
It is believed that the word "Eskimo" comes from "eskimantsik", that is, "raw foodist", "chewing raw meat, fish." Many hundreds of years ago, the Eskimos began to settle in vast territories - from Chukotka to Greenland. At present, their numbers are small - around 170 thousand people around the world. This people has its own language - Eskimo, it belongs to the Esko-Aleut family.
The historical connection of the Eskimos with other peoples of Chukotka and Alaska is obvious - it is especially noticeable with the Aleuts. Also, the proximity to another people of the North - the Chukchi - had a great influence on the formation of the Eskimo culture.
Eskimos traditionally hunt fur-bearing animals, walruses and gray whales, handing over meat and fur to the state. Photo: Konstantin Lemeshev / TASS
The Eskimos have long been engaged in whaling. By the way, it was they who invented the rotary harpoon (ung`ak`), the bone tip of which is separated from the shaft of the spear. For a very long time, whales were the main source of food for these people. However, gradually the number of marine mammals decreased markedly, so the Eskimos were forced to "switch" to the extraction of seals and walruses, although they, of course, did not forget about hunting for whales. The Eskimos ate meat both in ice cream and salted form, it was also dried and boiled. For a long time, the harpoon remained the main weapon of this people of the North. It was with him that the Eskimo men went on a sea hunt: in kayaks or on the so-called canoes - light, fast and stable boats on the water, the frame of which was covered with walrus skins. Some of these boats could carry twenty-five people or about four tons of cargo. Other kayaks, on the contrary, were built for one or two people. As a rule, the prey was divided equally among the hunters and their numerous relatives.
On land, the Eskimos traveled on dog sleds - the so-called arc-dust sleds, in which the dogs were harnessed with a "fan". In the 19th century, the Eskimos slightly changed the technique of movement - they also began to use short, dust-free sleds, in which the runners were made from walrus tusks. To make it more convenient to walk in the snow, the Eskimos came up with special “racquet” skis, which were a small frame with fixed ends and transverse struts intertwined with leather straps. From below they were lined with bone plates.
Indigenous inhabitant of Chukotka. Photo: Konstantin Lemeshev / TASS
The Eskimos also hunted on land - they mainly shot reindeer and mountain sheep. The main weapon (before the advent of firearms) was a bow with arrows. For a long time, the Eskimos were not interested in the production of fur-bearing animals. He was mostly beaten in order to make clothes for himself. However, in the 19th century, the demand for furs increased, so the “chewing raw meat”, who by that time had firearms, began to actively shoot these animals, and exchange their skins for various goods that were brought from the mainland. Over time, the Eskimos turned into unsurpassed hunters, the fame of their accuracy spread far beyond the borders of the places where they lived. The Eskimos' methods of hunting arctic fox and fox are very similar to those used by the Chukchi, who are also excellent hunters.
Back in the 18th century, the Eskimos “peeped” from the Chukchi on the technology of building frame yarangas. Previously, they lived in semi-dugouts with a floor deepened into the ground, which was lined with whale bones. The frame of these dwellings was covered with deer skins, then it was covered with turf, stones, and the skins were again laid on top. In the summer, the Eskimos built light quadrangular buildings with shed roofs on wooden frames, which were covered with walrus skins. At the very end of the 19th century, the Eskimos had light wooden houses with gable roofs and windows.
It is believed that it was the Eskimos who were the first to build snow huts - igloos, domed buildings with a diameter of two to four meters and a height of about two meters from compacted snow or ice blocks. Light entered these structures either directly through the snow blocks of the walls, or through small holes that were closed with dried seal guts.
The Eskimos also adopted the style of clothing from the Chukchi. In the end, they stopped sewing clothes from bird feathers and began to make better and warmer things from deer skins. Traditional Eskimo shoes are high boots with a false sole and a slanting top, as well as fur stockings and seal torbasa (kamgyk). Eskimo waterproof shoes were made from seal skins. The Eskimos did not wear fur hats and mittens in everyday life, they were worn only during long journeys or wanderings. Festive robes were decorated with embroidery or fur mosaics.
Eskimos speak to members of the Soviet-American expedition "Bering bridge" on the island of Little Diomede (USA). 1989 Photo: Valentin Kuzmin/TASS
Modern Eskimos still honor the old traditions, deep down believing in spirits, the kinship of man with animals and objects that surround him. And shamans help people communicate with this world. Once upon a time, each village had its own shaman, but now there are fewer people capable of penetrating into the worlds of spirits. Living shamans enjoy great respect: they are brought gifts, they are asked for help and well-being, they are the main figures at almost all festive events.
One of the most revered animals among the Eskimos has always been the killer whale, she was considered the patroness of sea hunters. According to the beliefs of the Eskimos, the killer whale could turn into a wolf, helping hunters in the tundra.
Another animal that the Eskimos treated with special respect is the walrus. Around the middle of summer, a period of storms set in, and hunting at sea was temporarily stopped. At this time, the Eskimos held a holiday in honor of the walrus: the carcass of the animal was pulled out of the glacier, the shaman began to frantically beat the tambourine, calling all the inhabitants of the village. The culmination of the holiday is a joint feast, where walrus meat was the main dish. The shaman gave part of the carcass to the spirits of water, calling them to join the meal. The rest went to the people. The skull of a walrus was solemnly placed on a sacrificial place: it was assumed that this was a tribute to the main patroness of the Eskimos - the killer whale.
Many fishing holidays have been preserved among the Eskimos to this day - in the fall, for example, "seeing off the whale" is celebrated, in the spring - "meeting the whale." The folklore of the Eskimos is quite diverse: all oral creativity is divided into two types - unipak and unipamsyuk. The first is directly “news”, “news”, that is, a story about recent events, the second is heroic legends and stories about events of the distant past, fairy tales and myths.
The Eskimos also love to sing, and their chants are also divided into two types - public hymn songs and "songs for the soul", which are performed individually, but always accompanied by a tambourine, which is considered a family heirloom and is passed down from generation to generation - until until it completely fails.
STILL THERE IS NO ONE OPINION AMONG SCIENTISTS REGARDING their origin and distribution. There is an assumption that the current Eskimos are descendants of a people that arose in the third millennium BC. and that they come from the Pacific coast of East Asia, from where the ancestors of the Eskimos reached the Bering Sea through Kamchatka. Then, in the first millennium of our era, they settled in Chukotka and along the Arctic coast of America to Greenland. Their main self-name is Inuit (in Canada) and Yupigyt (in Siberia). The Chukchi call them "ankalyn", which means "Pomors".
The Eskimo language belongs to the Eskimo branch of the Eskimo-Aleut family. The Eskimos are divided into 15 ethnic and cultural groups: the Eskimos of Alaska, the Siberian Eskimos, the Eskimos of Canada, Greenland, etc. By the middle of the 20th century. four independent communities were formed: the Eskimos of Greenland, Canada (Inuit), Alaska, Asian (Siberian).
Greenland has two official languages - Eskimo and Danish. The writing of the Greenlandic Eskimos has existed since the 18th century. This is due to the activities of Danish and German missionaries and the colonial administration. During the twentieth century. Greenlandic Eskimo writers created a very significant amount of fiction in various genres. Most of the population of modern Greenland is a mixed Mongoloid-Caucasoid type (from white men and Eskimo women). Therefore, the indigenous inhabitants of the island consider themselves Greenlanders (kalatdlit), and not Eskimos, which emphasizes their difference from the Eskimos of Canada and Alaska, and also indicates the fact of the emergence of a new people in Greenland. Canadian Eskimos have their own written language based on the Canadian syllabary. However, English and French are also widely spoken.
The Eskimos of Canada have their own autonomous territories within the northwestern regions of the country and certain parts of the Labrador Peninsula. The Eskimos of Alaska are distinguished by the greatest degree of preservation of their language along with knowledge of English. In Russia in 1848, the Russian missionary N. Tyzhnov published an ABC book of the Eskimo language. Modern writing based on the Latin script was created in 1932 (the first Yuite primer). In 1937, the writing of the Russian Eskimos was transferred to the Russian graphic basis. In the modern language of the Russian Eskimos, the influence of vocabulary, elements of morphology and syntax of the Chukchi and Koryaks living next to them is felt. They also speak Russian and Chukchi. There is modern Eskimo prose and poetry.
TODAY THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ESKIMOS IN THE WORLD IS 170 thousands of people. Of these, about 56,000 people live in the United States (48,000 in Alaska, the rest in California and Washington), just over 50,000 in Canada, about 50,000 in Greenland, and about 19,000 more on the Jutland Peninsula. In Russia, mainly in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Magadan Region, mixed or in close proximity to the Chukchi - just over 1,700 people.
Eskimos are unusually adapted to life in the Arctic. They invented a turnable harpoon for hunting sea animals, a kayak, an igloo snow house, special clothes made of fur and skins, adopted from the Chukchi the art of building a house from skins - yaranga.
The Eskimos believe in spirits living in various natural phenomena, they see the connection of a person with the surrounding world of objects and living beings. In their opinion, there is a single creator Silya, and the mistress of sea animals Sedna endows the Eskimos with all the riches of the sea. Bears are owned by Nanuk, deer by Tekkeitsertok. The Eskimos greatly revere the killer whale, the patroness of sea hunting. In the view of the Eskimos, evil spirits are incredible and terrible creatures. Every Eskimo village has a shaman, and the tambourine is considered a sacred object.
The Eskimos have their own funeral ritual. When the Eskimo died, he was buried immediately, after being wrapped in the skins on which he slept, and additional clothes were added so that the soul of the deceased would not freeze. Then the body was tied up with a rope and dragged head first from the dwelling of the deceased to a place where many stones can be found to cover the body. The corpse was surrounded by a sufficient number of stones to protect it from dogs, arctic foxes and crows. This was the end of the burial, because in permafrost conditions it is almost impossible to dig a hole of sufficient depth. Near the grave (stone mound) they usually left the things of the deceased that he might need in the afterlife - a sled and a kayak, along with weapons, if the deceased was a hunter; a lamp, a needle, a thimble and other accessories for sewing, a little fat and matches if a woman was dying.
There is every reason to recognize the Eskimos as the most peaceful people. According to custom, disputes between them are resolved, so to speak, by a "vocal competition" - whoever sings better is right.
Among the Eskimos, there was a custom of working for a wife, a custom of wooing children, marrying a boy to an adult girl, the custom of "partnership in marriage", when two men exchanged wives as a sign of friendship. In wealthy families there was polygamy.
THE MAIN ACTIVITY OF THE ESKIMOS TODAY IS THE HUNT OF THE SEA BEAST - THE WARALUS AND THE SEAL. Until the middle of the XIX century. they were also engaged in the extraction of whales, hunted reindeer and mountain sheep, and from the middle of the 19th century. They began to earn their living by hunting fox and fox. They are also engaged in fishing and gathering (collect tubers, roots, stems, algae, berries). Eskimos breed sled dogs. Carving on walrus bone and whalebone is developed. Today, many Eskimos work in construction, in mines, oil fields, in Arctic trading posts, etc. The Greenlanders and Alaska Eskimos have a wealthy stratum and a national intelligentsia.
Eskimos are surprisingly tactful. In the relationship between a man and a woman, there is a special respect for the hunter, who provides food for the family at a constant risk to life. Perhaps it was this perception of a man, combined with the peculiar beauty and sophistication of national clothes, that often attracted European travelers who willingly married Eskimos.
The Eskimos have their own traditional diet, which is dominated by the meat of walruses, seals, whales. An obligatory element of the diet is seal blood. Venison is especially valued - the meat is tasty, but dryish, devoid of fat, as well as the meat of polar bears and musk oxen. Seasoning for meat are seaweed, shellfish. They believe that meat warms and gives strength. Rotten seal fat with cloudberries is considered a delicacy. Eskimos also eat birds, bird eggs. Traditionally, meat was eaten raw, dried, frozen, dried, boiled, or prepared for the winter: it was fermented in pits and eaten with fat, sometimes semi-cooked. Revered raw whale fat with a layer of cartilaginous skin. The fish was dried and dried, and in winter they were eaten fresh-frozen.
Previously, the Eskimos lived in large settlements in semi-dugouts. In the XVII - XVIII centuries. they adopted from the Chukchi the method of constructing frame yarangas covered with reindeer skins, and they became the main type of dwelling for them. Until the beginning of the nineteenth century. the Eskimos retained communal houses - large semi-dugouts in which several families lived, meetings and holidays were held.
The Eskimos built the igloo house from snow blocks. Inside the igloo was covered, and sometimes the walls were covered with the skins of marine animals. The dwelling was heated with fat pans. The inner surfaces of the walls melted as a result of heating, but the walls did not melt, because. snow easily absorbed excess moisture.
Today, the life of the Eskimos has changed in many ways. They gained access to the benefits of civilization. However, life in the Arctic requires courage and constant composure from them. You can’t relax, the North does not forgive this. The courage of the Eskimos deserves special respect. This is life in constant struggle, overcoming difficulties and finding harmony with harsh nature.
