Number -15184 people. The language is the Chukchi-Kamchatka family of languages. Settlement - the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Chukotka and Koryak Autonomous Okrugs.
The name of the people, adopted in administrative documents XIX - XX centuries, comes from the self-name of the tundra Chukchi I will teach, chavcha-vyt - “rich in deer”. The coastal Chukchi called themselves ank "al'yt -" sea people "or ram" aglyt - "coastal inhabitants".
Distinguishing themselves from other tribes, they use the self-name Lyo "Ravetlyans -" real people. "(In the late 1920s, the name Luoravetlans was used as an official one.) western (Pevek), Enmylen, Nunlingran and Khatyr dialects.Writing has existed in Latin since 1931, and on a Russian graphic basis since 1936. The Chukchi are the oldest inhabitants of the continental regions of the extreme north-east of Siberia, carriers of the inland culture of hunters of wild Neolithic finds on the rivers Ekytikiveem and Enmyveem and Lake Elgytg date back to the second millennium BC By the first millennium AD, having tamed deer and partially switching to a settled way of life on the sea coast, the Chukchi establish contacts with the Eskimos.
The transition to settled life took place most intensively in XIV - XVI centuries after the Yukaghirs penetrated the Kolyma and Anadyr valleys, seizing the seasonal hunting grounds for wild deer. The Eskimo population of the coasts of the Pacific and Arctic Oceans was partially forced out by continental Chukchi hunters to other coastal regions, partially assimilated. IN XIV-XV centuries as a result of the penetration of the Yukagirs into the Anadyr valley, the territorial separation of the Chukchi from the Koryaks occurred, associated with the latter by a common origin. By occupation, the Chukchi were divided into "deer" (nomadic, but continuing to hunt), "sedentary" (sedentary, having a small number of tamed deer, hunters of wild deer and marine animals) and "foot" (sedentary hunters of sea animals and wild deer without deer). TO XIX V. formed the main territorial groups. Among the deer (tundra) - Indigirsko-Alazei, West Kolyma, etc.; among marine (coastal) - groups of the Pacific, Bering Sea coasts and the coast of the Arctic Ocean. Since ancient times, there have been two types of farming. The basis of one was reindeer husbandry, the other - marine hunting. Fishing, hunting and gathering were of an auxiliary nature. Large-herd pastoral reindeer husbandry developed only towards the end 18th century In XIX V. the herd consisted, as a rule, from 3 - 5 to 10 - 12 thousand heads. Reindeer breeding of the tundra group was mainly meat and transport. Reindeer were grazed without a shepherd dog, in the summer - on the coast of the ocean or in the mountains, and with the onset of autumn they moved deep into the mainland to the borders of the forest to winter pastures, where, as needed, they migrated for 5 - 10 km.
camp
In the second half XIX V. the economy of the vast majority of the Chukchi retained a mostly subsistence character. By the end XIX V. the demand for reindeer products increased, especially among the settled Chukchi and Asian Eskimos. Expansion of trade with Russians and foreigners from the second half XIX V. gradually destroyed the subsistence reindeer husbandry. From the end XIX - early XX V. In the Chukchi reindeer herding, property stratification is noted: impoverished reindeer herders become farm laborers, livestock grows among rich owners, deer are acquired and the prosperous part of the settled Chukchi and Eskimos. Coastal (sedentary) traditionally engaged in marine hunting, which reached the middle XVIII V. high level of development. Hunting for seals, seals, bearded seals, walruses and whales provided the main food, durable material for the manufacture of canoes, hunting tools, some types of clothing and footwear, household items, fat for lighting and heating the home.
Those who wish to download the album of works of Chukchi and Eskimo art for free:
This album presents a collection of works of Chukchi and Eskimo art of the 1930s - 1970s of the Zagorsk State Historical and Art Museum-Reserve. Its core is made up of materials collected in Chukotka in the 1930s. The museum's collection widely reflects the Chukchi and Eskimo art of bone carving and engraving, the work of embroiderers, and the drawings of bone carvers.(PDF format)
Walruses and whales were hunted mainly in summer-autumn, seals - in winter-spring. Hunting tools consisted of harpoons of various sizes and purposes, spears, knives, etc. Whales and walruses were caught collectively, from canoes, and seals - individually. From the end XIX V. in the foreign market, the demand for the skins of marine animals is rapidly growing, which at the beginning XX V. leads to predatory extermination of whales and walruses and significantly undermines the economy of the settled population of Chukotka. Both deer and coastal Chukchi fished with nets woven from whale and deer tendons or leather belts, as well as nets and bits, in summer - from the shore or from a canoe, in winter - in the hole. Mountain sheep, elk, polar and brown bears, wolverines, wolves, foxes and arctic foxes right up to the beginning XIX V. they mined with a bow with arrows, a spear and traps; waterfowl - with the help of a throwing tool (bola) and darts with a throwing board; the eider was beaten with sticks; traps were placed on hares and partridges.
Chukchi weapons
In the XVIII V. stone axes, spear and arrowheads, bone knives were almost completely replaced by metal ones. From the second half XIX V. bought or bartered guns, traps and graze. In marine hunting to the top XX V. began to widely use firearms whaling weapons and harpoons with bombs. Women and children collected and prepared edible plants, berries and roots, as well as seeds from mouse holes. To dig out the roots, they used a special tool with a deer horn tip, which was later changed to iron. The nomadic and settled Chukchi developed handicrafts. Women dressed fur, sewed clothes and shoes, weaved bags from fibers of fireweed and wild rye, made mosaics from fur and sealskin, embroidered with reindeer hair and beads. Men processed and artistically cut bone and walrus tusk
In XIX V. bone carving associations arose that sold their products. The main means of transportation along the sleigh path were reindeer harnessed to several types of sleds: for the transport of cargo, dishes, children (kibitka), poles of the yaranga frame. On snow and ice they went on skis - “racquets”; by sea - on single and multi-seat canoes and whaleboats. They rowed with short single-bladed oars. The reindeer, if necessary, built rafts or went out to sea on canoes of hunters, and they used their riding deer. The Chukchi borrowed the method of movement on dog sleds pulled by a "fan" from the Eskimos, and the train from the Russians. "Fan" was usually harnessed 5 - 6 dogs, in a train - 8 - 12. Dogs were also harnessed to reindeer sleds. The camps of the nomadic Chukchi numbered up to 10 yarangas and were stretched from west to east. The first from the west was the yaranga of the head of the camp. Yaranga - a tent in the form of a truncated cone with a height in the center from 3.5 to 4.7 m and a diameter of 5.7 to 7 - 8 m, similar to Koryak. The wooden frame was covered with deer skins, usually sewn into two panels. The edges of the skins were laid one on top of the other and fastened with straps sewn to them. The free ends of the belts in the lower part were tied to sleds or heavy stones, which ensured the immobility of the covering. They entered the yaranga between the two halves of the cover, throwing them to the sides. For winter they sewed coverings from new skins, for summer they used last year's ones. The hearth was located in the center of the yaranga, under the smoke hole. Opposite the entrance, at the rear wall of the yaranga, a sleeping room (canopy) was made of skins in the form of a parallelepiped. The shape of the canopy was maintained thanks to poles passed through many loops sewn to the skins. The ends of the poles rested on racks with forks, and the rear pole was attached to the frame of the yaranga. The average size of the canopy is 1.5 m high, 2.5 m wide and about 4 m long. The floor was covered with mats, on top of them - with thick skins. The bed headboard - two oblong bags stuffed with scraps of skins - was located at the exit. In winter, during periods of frequent migrations, the canopy was made from the thickest skins with fur inside. They covered themselves with a blanket sewn from several deer skins. For the manufacture of the canopy, 12 - 15 were required, for the beds - about 10 large deer skins.
Yaranga
Each canopy belonged to one family. Sometimes there were two canopies in the yaranga. Every morning the women took it off, laid it out in the snow and beat it out with mallets from a deer antler. From the inside, the canopy was illuminated and heated with a grease gun. Behind the canopy, at the back wall of the tent, things were kept; at the side, on both sides of the hearth, - products. Between the entrance to the yaranga and the hearth there was a free cold place for various needs. To illuminate their dwellings, the coastal Chukchi used whale and seal fat, while the tundra Chukchi used fat melted from crushed deer bones that burned odorless and soot in stone oil lamps. Among the coastal Chukchi in XVIII - XIX centuries there were two types of dwellings: yaranga and semi-dugout. The yarangas retained the structural basis of the deer dwelling, but the frame was built from both wood and whale bones. This made the dwelling resistant to the onslaught of storm winds. They covered the yaranga with walrus skins; It didn't have a smoke hole. The canopy was made from a large walrus skin up to 9-10 m long, 3 m wide and 1.8 m high, for ventilation there were holes in its wall, which were covered with fur plugs. On both sides of the canopy, winter clothes and stocks of skins were stored in large bags of seal skins, and inside, belts were stretched along the walls, on which clothes and shoes were dried. At the end XIX V. the coastal Chukchi in the summer covered the yarangas with canvas and other durable materials. They lived in semi-dugouts mainly in winter. Their type and design were borrowed from the Eskimos. The frame of the dwelling was built from whale jaws and ribs; covered with turf on top. The quadrangular inlet was located on the side. The household utensils of the nomadic and settled Chukchi are modest and contain only the most necessary items: various types of home-made cups for broth, large wooden dishes with low sides for boiled meat, sugar, biscuits, etc. They ate in the canopy, sitting around the table on low legs or directly around the dish. With a washcloth made of thin wood shavings, they wiped their hands after eating, swept away the remnants of food from the dish. The dishes were stored in a drawer. Deer bones, walrus meat, fish, whale oil were crushed with a stone hammer on a stone slab. The skin was dressed with stone scrapers; edible roots were dug up with bone shovels and hoes. An indispensable accessory for each family was a projectile for making fire in the form of a rough anthropomorphic board with recesses in which a bow drill (fire board) rotated. The fire produced in this way was considered sacred and could only be passed on to relatives through the male line.
Flint
At present, bow drills are kept as a cult belonging to the family. The clothing and footwear of the tundra and coastal Chukchi did not differ significantly and were almost identical to those of the Eskimos. Winter clothes were sewn from two layers of reindeer skins with fur inside and out. Coastal also used strong, elastic, almost waterproof seal skin for sewing pants and spring-summer shoes; cloaks and kamlikas were made from the intestines of the walrus. From the old smoky coatings of yaranga, which do not deform under the influence of moisture, reindeer sewed pants and shoes. The constant mutual exchange of products of the economy allowed the tundra to receive shoes, leather soles, belts, lassoes made from the skins of marine mammals, and the coastal - deer skins for winter clothing. In the summer, worn out winter clothes were worn. Chukchi blind clothing is divided into everyday and festive ritual: children's, youth, men's, women's, old people's, ritual and funeral. The traditional set of the Chukchi men's costume consists of a kukhlyanka belted with a belt with a knife and a pouch, a chintz kamlika worn over a kukhlyanka, a raincoat made of walrus guts, trousers and various headgear: an ordinary Chukchi winter hat, malakhai, a hood, a light summer hat. The basis of the women's costume is a fur overall with wide sleeves and short, knee-length pants. Typical shoes are short, knee-length, torbasas of several types, sewn from seal skins with wool on the outside with a piston sole made of bearded seal skin, made of kamus with fur stockings and grass insoles (winter torbasas); from sealskin or from old, smoky coverings of yarangas (summer torbasas).
Deer hair embroidery
The traditional food of the tundra people is venison, the coastal people eat the meat and fat of marine animals. Reindeer meat was eaten frozen (finely chopped) or slightly boiled. During the mass slaughter of deer, the contents of deer stomachs were prepared by boiling it with blood and fat. They also used fresh and frozen deer blood. Soups were prepared with vegetables and cereals. The Primorsky Chukchi considered walrus meat to be especially satisfying. Harvested in the traditional way, it is well preserved. From the dorsal and lateral parts of the carcass, squares of meat are cut out along with lard and skin. The liver and other cleaned entrails are placed in the tenderloin. The edges are sewn with the skin outward - it turns out a roll (k "opalgyn-kymgyt). Closer to the cold weather, its edges are tightened even more to prevent excessive acidification of the contents. K" opal-gyn is eaten fresh, sour and frozen. Fresh walrus meat is boiled. Beluga and gray whale meat, as well as their skin with a layer of fat, are eaten raw and boiled. In the northern and southern regions of Chukotka, chum salmon, grayling, navaga, sockeye salmon, and flounder occupy a large place in the diet. Yukola is harvested from large salmon. Many Chukchi reindeer herders dry, salt, smoke fish, salt caviar. The meat of sea animals is very fatty, so it requires herbal supplements. The reindeer and coastal Chukchi traditionally ate a lot of wild herbs, roots, berries, and seaweed. Dwarf willow leaves, sorrel, edible roots were frozen, fermented, mixed with fat, blood. From the roots, crushed with meat and walrus fat, they made koloboks. From ancient times, porridge was cooked from imported flour, and cakes were fried on seal fat.
rock drawing
K XVII - XVIII centuries The main socio-economic unit was a patriarchal family community, consisting of several families who had a single household and a common home. The community included up to 10 or more adult men connected by kinship. Among the coastal Chukchi, industrial and social ties developed around the canoes, the size of which depended on the number of members of the community. At the head of the patriarchal community was a foreman - "boat chief". Among the tundra, the patriarchal community united around a common herd, it was also headed by a foreman - a "strong man". By the end XVIII V. due to the increase in the number of deer in the herds, it became necessary to split the latter in order to more convenient grazing, which led to a weakening of intracommunal ties. The settled Chukchi lived in settlements. Several related communities settled on common plots, each of which was located in a separate semi-dugout. The nomadic Chukchi lived in the nomad camp, which also consisted of several patriarchal communities. Each community included two to four families and occupied a separate yaranga. 15-20 camps formed a circle of mutual assistance. The deer also had patrilineal kinship groups connected by blood feuds, the transfer of ritual fire, sacrificial rites, and the initial form of patriarchal slavery, which disappeared along with the cessation of wars against neighboring peoples. IN XIX V. traditions of communal life, group marriage and levirate continued to coexist, despite the emergence of private property and property inequality.
Chukchi hunter
By the end of the XIX century. the large patriarchal family broke up, it was replaced by a small family. Religious beliefs and cult are based on animism, a trade cult. The structure of the world among the Chukchi included three spheres: the earthly firmament with everything that exists on it; heaven, where ancestors live, who died a worthy death during the battle or chose voluntary death at the hands of a relative (among the Chukchi, old people, unable to hunt, asked their closest relatives to take their lives); the underworld - the abode of the bearers of evil - kele, where people who died of illness fell. According to legend, mystical host creatures were in charge of fishing grounds, individual habitats of people, and sacrifices were made to them. A special category of beneficent beings are household patrons; ritual figurines and objects were kept in each yaranga. The system of religious ideas gave rise to the corresponding cults among the tundra associated with reindeer herding; near the coast - with the sea. There were also common cults: Nargynen (Nature, the Universe), Dawn, the North Star, Zenith, the Pegittin constellation, the cult of ancestors, etc. The sacrifices were communal, family and individual. The fight against diseases, protracted failures in fishing and reindeer husbandry was the lot of shamans. In Chukotka, they were not singled out as a professional caste; they participated equally in the fishing activities of the family and community. What distinguished the shaman from other members of the community was the ability to communicate with patron spirits, talk with ancestors, imitate their voices, and fall into a state of trance. The main function of the shaman was healing. He did not have a special costume, his main ritual attribute was a tambourine
Chukchi tambourine
Shamanic functions could be performed by the head of the family (family shamanism). The main holidays were associated with business cycles. For deer - with the autumn and winter slaughter of deer, calving, herd migration to summer pastures and return. The holidays of the Primorsky Chukchi are close to those of the Eskimos: in the spring - the canoe festival on the occasion of the first going to sea; in summer - a feast of heads on the occasion of the end of seal hunting; in autumn - the holiday of the owner of marine animals. All holidays were accompanied by competitions in running, wrestling, shooting, bouncing on the skin of a walrus (a prototype of a trampoline), racing deer and dogs, dancing, playing tambourines, pantomime. In addition to production, there were family holidays associated with the birth of a child, expressions of gratitude on the occasion of a successful hunt by a novice hunter, etc. Sacrifices are obligatory during holidays: deer, meat, figurines made of reindeer fat, snow, wood (for reindeer Chukchi), dogs (for sea dogs). Christianization almost did not affect the Chukchi. The main genres of folklore are myths, fairy tales, historical legends, legends and everyday stories. The main character of myths and fairy tales is Raven Kurkyl, a demiurge and a cultural hero (a mythical character who gives people various cultural objects, makes fire like Prometheus from the ancient Greeks, teaches hunting, crafts, introduces various prescriptions and rules of behavior, rituals, is the ancestor of people and creator of the world).
There are also myths about the marriage of man and animal: a whale, a polar bear, a walrus, a seal. Chukchi fairy tales (lymn "yl) are divided into mythological, everyday and animal tales. Historical legends tell about the wars of the Chukchi with the Eskimos, Koryaks, Russians. Mythological and everyday legends are also known. Music is genetically connected with the music of the Koryaks, Eskimos and Yukagirs. Every person had at least three "personal" melodies composed by him in childhood, in adulthood and in old age (more often, however, a children's melody was received as a gift from parents). saying goodbye to a friend or lover, etc.) When performing lullaby songs, they made a special “buzzing” sound, reminiscent of the voice of a crane or an important woman. Shamans had their own “personal melodies.” They were performed on behalf of patron spirits - “songs of spirits” and reflected the emotional state of the singer.Tambourine (yarar) - round, with a handle on the side (for coastal) or a cruciform handle on the back (for tundra).There are male, female and children's varieties of the tambourine. Shamans play the tambourine with a thick soft stick, and singers on holidays - with a thin whalebone stick. Yarar was a family shrine, its sound symbolized the "voice of the hearth." Another traditional musical instrument is the lamellar jew's harp of the yarar bath - a "mouth tambourine" made of birch, bamboo (floating water), bone or metal plate. Later, an arc bilingual jew's harp appeared. String instruments are represented by lutes: bowed tubular, hollowed out of a single piece of wood, and box-shaped. The bow was made from whalebone, bamboo or willow splinters; strings (1 - 4) - from vein threads or guts (later from metal). The lutes were mainly used for song melodies.
Modern Chukchi
Max Singer describes his journey from the Chaun Bay to Yakutsk in his book 112 Days on Dogs and Deer. Moscow Publishing House, 1950
Those who wish to download the book for free
Chukchi letter
Chukchi writing was invented by a Chukchi reindeer breeder (state farm shepherd) Teneville (Tenville), who lived near the settlement of Ust-Belaya (c. 1890-1943?) around 1930. To this day it is not clear whether Teneville's writing was ideographic or verbal-syllabic. Chukchi writing was discovered in 1930 by a Soviet expedition and described by the famous traveler, writer and polar explorer V.G. Bogoraz-Tan (1865-1936). The Chukchi letter was not widely used. In addition to Teneville himself, this letter was owned by his son, with whom the former exchanged messages while herding deer. Teneville put his signs on boards, bones, walrus tusks and candy wrappers. He used an ink pencil or a metal cutter. The direction of the letter is unsettled. There are no phonetic graphemes, which indicates the extreme primitivism of the system. But at the same time, it is extremely strange that Teneville, through pictograms, conveyed such complex abstract concepts as "bad", "good", "be afraid", "become" ...
This suggests that the Chukchi already had a certain written tradition, similar, perhaps, to the Yukaghir. Chukchi writing is a unique phenomenon and is of particular interest when considering the problems of the origin of written traditions among peoples at the pre-state stages of their development. The Chukchi script is the northernmost of all developed anywhere by the indigenous people with minimal outside influence. The question of the sources and prototypes of Teneville's letter has not been resolved. Given the isolation of Chukotka from the main regional civilizations, this letter can be seen as a local phenomenon, exacerbated by the creative initiative of a lone genius. It is possible that the drawings on shaman tambourines influenced Chukchi writing. The very word "letter" kelikel (kaletkoran - school, lit. "writing house", kelitku-kelikel - notebook, lit. "written paper") in the Chukchi language (Luoravetlan language ӆygʻoravetӆen yiӆyiiӆ) has Tungus-Manchurian parallels. In 1945, the art historian I. Lavrov visited the upper reaches of the Anadyr, where Teneville once lived. It was there that the "Teneville archive" was discovered - a box covered with snow, in which monuments of Chukchi writing were kept. 14 boards with Chukchi pictographic texts are stored in St. Petersburg. Relatively recently, a whole notebook with Teneville's notes was found. Teneville also developed special signs for numbers based on the vigesimal number system characteristic of the Chukchi language. Scientists count about 1000 basic elements of Chukchi writing. The first attempts to translate liturgical texts into the Chukchi language date back to the 20s of the 19th century: according to the investigations of recent years, the first book in the Chukchi language was printed in 1823 in an edition of 10 copies. The first dictionary of the Chukchi language, compiled by the priest M. Petelin, was published in 1898. In the first third of the 20th century. among the Chukchi, experiments were noted on the creation of mnemonic systems similar to logographic writing, the model for which was Russian and English writing, as well as trademarks on Russian and American goods. The most famous among such inventions was the so-called writing of Teneville, who lived in the Anadyr river basin, a similar system was also used by the Chukchi merchant Antymavle in Eastern Chukotka (the Chukchi writer V. Leontiev wrote the book "Antymavle - a trading man"). Officially, Chukchi writing was created in the early 30s on a Latin graphic basis using the Unified Northern Alphabet. In 1937, the Latin-based Chukchi alphabet was replaced by a Cyrillic-based alphabet without additional characters, but the Latin-based alphabet was used in Chukotka for some time. In the 1950s, the characters k’ were introduced into the Chukchi alphabet to denote a uvular consonant, and n’ to denote a back-lingual sonant (in the first versions of the Cyrillic Chukchi alphabet, the uvular sonant did not have a separate designation, and the back-language sonant was denoted by the digraph ng). In the early 60s, the styles of these letters were replaced by қ (ӄ) and ң (ӈ), however, the official alphabet was used only for the centralized publication of educational literature: in local publications in Magadan and Chukotka, the alphabet was used using an apostrophe instead of individual letters. In the late 80s, the letter l (ӆ "l with a tail") was introduced into the alphabet to denote the Chukchi voiceless lateral l, but it is used only in educational literature.
The origin of Chukchi literature falls on the 30s. During this period, original poems appeared in the Chukchi language (M. Vukvol) and self-recordings of folklore in the author's processing (F. Tynetegin). In the 1950s, the literary activity of Yu.S. Rytkheu. At the end of the 50s-60s of the 20th century. the heyday of original poetry in the Chukchi language falls (V. Keulkut, V. Etytegin, M. Valgirgin, A. Kymytval, etc.), which continues in the 70s - 80s. (V. Tyneskin, K. Geutval, S. Tirkygin, V. Iuneut, R. Tnanaut, E. Rultyneut and many others). The Chukchi folklore was collected by V. Yatgyrgyn, also known as a prose writer. At present, the original prose in the Chukchi language is represented by the works of I. Omruvie, V. Veket (Itevtegina), as well as some other authors. A distinctive feature of the development and functioning of the written Chukchi language must be recognized as the formation of an active group of translators of fiction into the Chukchi language, which included writers - Yu.S. Rytkheu, V.V. Leontiev, scientists and teachers - P.I. Inanlikey, I.W. Berezkin, A.G. Kerek, professional translators and editors - M.P. Legkov, L.G. Tynel, T.L. Yermoshina and others, whose activities greatly contributed to the development and improvement of the written Chukchi language. Since 1953, the newspaper “Murgin Nutenut / Our Land” has been published in the Chukchi language. The well-known Chukchi writer Yuri Rytkheu dedicated the novel “Dream at the Beginning of the Fog”, 1969, to Teneville. Below is the Chukchi Latin alphabet, which existed in 1931-1936.
An example of the Chukchi Latin alphabet: Rðnut gejüttlin oktjabrаnak revoljucik varatetь (What did the October Revolution give to the peoples of the North?) Kelikel kalevetgaunwь, janutьlн tejwьn (Book for reading in the Chukchi language, part 1).
The specificity of the Chukchi language is incorporation (the ability to convey whole sentences in one word). For example: myt-ӈyran-vetat-arma-ӄora-venrety-rkyn "we guard four vigorous strong deer". Also noteworthy is the peculiar transmission of the singular through partial or complete reduplication: league-league egg, nym-ny village, tirky-tir sun, tumgy-tum comrade (but tumgy-comrades). Incorporation in the Chukchi language is associated with the inclusion of additional stems in the word form. This combination is characterized by a common stress and common formative affixes. Inclusive words are usually nouns, verbs, and participles; sometimes adverbs. The stems of nouns, numerals, verbs and adverbs can be included. For example: ga-poig-y-ma (with a spear), ga-taӈ-poig-y-ma (with a good spear); where poig-y-n is a spear and ny-teӈ-ӄin is good (the base is teӈ/taӈ). You-yara-pker-y-rkyn - come home; pykir-y-k - to come (base - pykir) and yara-ӈy - house, (base - yara). Sometimes two, three or even more of these bases are included. The morphological structure of a word in the Chukchi language is often concentric; cases of a combination of up to three circumfixes in one word form are quite common:
ta-ra-ӈy-k build-house (1st circumfix - verbalizer);
ry-ta-ra-ӈ-avy-k to force-build-a house (2nd circumfix - causative);
t-ra-n-ta-ra-ӈ-avy-ӈy-rky-n I-want-to-make-him-build-a-house (3rd circumfix - desiderative).
The ordinal model has not yet been built, but, apparently, in the verbal word form, the root is preceded by 6-7 affixal morphemes, followed by 15-16 formants.
The ethnonym Chukchi is a distorted local word for Chauchu “rich in deer”, which is the name the Chukchi reindeer herders call themselves, as opposed to the coastal Chukchi dog breeders. The Chukchi themselves call themselves Lygoravetlian "real people." The racial type of the Chukchi, according to Bogoraz, is characterized by some differences. Eyes with an oblique incision are less common than those with a horizontal incision; there are individuals with dense facial hair and with wavy, almost curly hair on the head; face with a bronze tint; body color is devoid of a yellowish tint. There were attempts to correlate this type with the Amerindian: the Chukchi are broad-shouldered, with a stately, somewhat heavy figure; large, regular facial features, forehead high and straight; the nose is large, straight, sharply defined; eyes large, widely spaced; expression is gloomy.
The main mental traits of the Chukchi are extremely easy excitability, reaching a frenzy, a tendency to kill and commit suicide at the slightest pretext, love for independence, perseverance in the fight. The Primorsky Chukchi became famous for their sculptures and carvings from mammoth ivory, striking in their fidelity to nature and bold poses and strokes and reminiscent of the wonderful bone images of the Paleolithic period.
The Chukchi encountered the Russians for the first time back in the 17th century. In 1644, the Cossack Stadukhin, who was the first to bring news of them to Yakutsk, founded the Nizhnekolymsky prison. The Chukchi, who at that time roamed both east and west of the Kolyma River, after a stubborn, bloody struggle, finally left the left bank of the Kolyma, pushing the Eskimo tribe of Mamalls from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Bering Sea during their retreat. Since then, for more than a hundred years, bloody clashes between the Russians and the Chukchi, whose territory bordered on the Russian-populated Kolyma River in the west and Anadyr in the south, did not stop. In this struggle, the Chukchi showed extraordinary energy. In captivity, they voluntarily killed themselves, and if the Russians had not retreated for a while, they would have completely emigrated to America. In 1770, after the unsuccessful campaign of Shestakov, the Anadyr prison, which served as the center of the struggle between the Russians and the Chukchi, was destroyed and his team was transferred to Nizhne-Kolymsk, after which the Chukchi became less hostile to the Russians and gradually began to enter into trade relations with them. In 1775, the Angarsk fortress was built on the Angarka River, a tributary of the Great Anyui.
Despite the conversion to Orthodoxy, the Chukchi retain the shamanic faith. The painting of the face with the blood of the murdered victim, with the image of the hereditary-tribal sign - the totem, also has ritual significance. Each family, in addition, had its own family shrines: hereditary projectiles for obtaining the sacred fire through friction for certain festivities, one for each family member (the lower plank of the projectile represents a figure with the head of the owner of the fire), then bundles of wooden knots of "disasters of misfortunes", wooden images of ancestors and, finally, a family tambourine. The traditional hairstyle of the Chukchi is unusual - men cut their hair very smoothly, leaving a wide fringe in front and two tufts of hair in the form of animal ears on the crown of the head. The dead used to be either burned or wrapped in layers of raw reindeer meat and left in the field, after cutting through the throat and chest and pulling out part of the heart and liver.
In Chukotka, there are original and original rock paintings in the tundra zone, on the coastal rocks of the river. Pegtymel. They were researched and published by N. Dikov. Among the rock carvings of the Asian continent, the petroglyphs of Pegtymel represent the northernmost, pronounced independent group. Pegtymel petroglyphs were discovered at three points. In the first two, 104 groups of rock paintings were recorded, in the third - two compositions and a single figure. Not far from the rocks with petroglyphs on the edge of the cliff, the sites of ancient hunters and a cave containing cultural remains were discovered. The walls of the cave were covered with images.
Pegtymel rock carvings are made in various techniques: they are embossed, rubbed or scratched on the surface of the rock. Among the images of the rock art of Pegtymel, the figures of reindeer with narrow muzzles and characteristic outlines of the lines of horns predominate. There are images of dogs, bears, wolves, arctic foxes, elks, bighorn sheep, sea pinnipeds and cetaceans, birds. Anthropomorphic male and female figures are known, often in mushroom-shaped hats, images of hooves or their prints, footprints, two-bladed oars. Plots are peculiar, including humanoid fly agarics, which are mentioned in the mythology of the northern peoples.
The famous bone carving in Chukotka has a centuries-old history. In many ways, this craft preserves the traditions of the Old Bering Sea culture, characteristic animalistic sculpture and household items made of bone and decorated with relief carvings and curvilinear ornaments. In the 1930s fishing is gradually concentrated in Uelen, Naukan and Dezhnev.
Numerals
Literature:
Diringer D., Alfavit, M., 2004; Friedrich I., History of writing, M., 2001; Kondratov A. M., The book about the letter, M., 1975; Bogoraz V. G., Chukchi, part 1-2, 1. , 1934-39.
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Yuri Sergeevich Rytkheu: The end of permafrost [journal. option]
Chukotka plan
Map on a piece of walrus skin, made by an unknown inhabitant of Chukotka. At the bottom of the map are three ships heading to the mouth of the river; to the left of them - hunting for a bear, and a little higher - an attack by three Chukchi on a stranger. A row of black spots depicts hills stretching along the shore of the bay.
Chukotka plan
Plagues are visible here and there among the islands. Above, a man walks along the ice of the bay and leads five reindeer harnessed to sleds. On the right, on a blunt ledge, a large Chukchi camp is depicted. Between the camp and the black chain of mountains lies a lake. Below, in the bay, the Chukchi hunt for whales is shown.
Kolyma Chukchi
In the harsh North, between the Kolyma and Chukochya rivers, there is a wide plain, the Khalarcha tundra - the birthplace of the western Chukchi. The Chukchi as a large nationality was first mentioned in 1641-1642. From time immemorial, the Chukchi have been a warlike people, people hardened like steel, accustomed to fighting the sea, frost and wind.
They were hunters who attacked a huge polar bear with a spear in their hands, sailors who dared to maneuver in fragile leather boats in the inhospitable expanse of the polar ocean. The original traditional occupation, the main means of subsistence for the Chukchi, was reindeer herding.
At present, representatives of the small peoples of the North live in the village of Kolymskoye, the center of the Khalarchinsky nasleg of the Nizhnekolymsky district. This is the only region in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) where the Chukchi live compactly.
Kolyma along the Stadukhinskaya channel is located 180 km from the village of Chersky, and 160 km along the Kolyma River. The village itself was founded in 1941 on the site of the Yukagir nomadic summer, located on the left bank of the Kolyma River opposite the mouth of the Omolon River. Today, just under 1,000 people live in Kolyma. The population is engaged in hunting, fishing and reindeer herding.
In the 20th century, the entire indigenous population of Kolyma went through sovietization, collectivization, the elimination of illiteracy and resettlement from inhabited places to large settlements that perform administrative functions - regional centers, central estates of collective farms and state farms.
In 1932, Nikolai Ivanovich Melgeyvach, who headed the Native Committee, became the first chairman of the nomadic council. In 1935, a partnership was organized under the chairmanship of I.K. Vaalyirgin with a livestock of 1850 deer. After 10 years, during the most difficult war years, the number of herds was increased tenfold thanks to the selfless heroic work of reindeer herders. For the collected funds for the Turvaurginets tank for the tank column and warm clothes for front-line soldiers, a telegram of gratitude came to Kolyma from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin.
At that time, such reindeer herders as V.P. Sleptsov, V.P. Yaglovskiy, S.R. Atlasov, I.N. Sleptsov, M.P. Sleptsov and many others. The names of representatives of the large reindeer-breeding families of the Kaurgins, Gorulins, and Volkovs are known.
Collective reindeer breeders at that time lived in yarangas, food was cooked on a fire. Men followed the deer, each woman sheathed from head to toe 5 - 6 reindeer herders and 3 - 4 children. Plague workers sewed new beautiful fur clothes for each corral and holiday for all children and shepherds.
In 1940, the collective farm was transferred to a settled way of life, on its basis the village of Kolymskoye grew up, where an elementary school was opened. Since 1949, the children of reindeer herders began to study at a boarding school in the village, while their parents continued to work in the tundra.
Until the 1950s, there were two collective farms Krasnaya Zvezda and Turvaurgin on the territory of the Khalarchinsky nasleg. In the early 1950s, income from deer slaughter raised the standard of living of the population.
The collective farm "Turvaurgin" thundered throughout the republic as a collective farm-millionaire. Life was getting better, equipment began to arrive at the collective farm: tractors, boats, power plants. A large building of a secondary school, a hospital building was built. This period of relative prosperity is associated with the name of Nikolai Ivanovich Tavrat. Today, his name has been given to the national school in the village of Kolymskoye and a street in the regional center of the village of Chersky. In the name of N.I. The tugboat of the Zelenomyssk seaport is also named Tavrata, a student scholarship.
Who was Nikolai Tavrat?
Nikolai Tavrat began his career in 1940 in the Khalarcha tundra, he was a shepherd, then an accountant on a collective farm. In 1947, he was elected chairman of the Turvaurgin collective farm. In 1951, the collective farms merged together, and in 1961 they were transformed into the Nizhnekolymsky state farm. The village of Kolymskoye became the center of the Kolyma branch of the state farm with 10 herds (17 thousand deer). In 1956, in Kolyma, the construction of modern residential buildings began with the efforts of the collective farmers themselves. According to the memoirs of old-timers, three 4-apartment Houses, a kindergarten, and later a canteen of the Kolymtorg trading office and an eight-year school were built very quickly, since the collective farmers worked in three shifts. In the same way, the first two-story 16-apartment house was built.
Nikolai Tavrat knew his native tundra well. Many times he rescued Nizhnekolyma aviators, helping them find reindeer herders' camps in the vast expanses and difficult weather conditions. At one of the Soviet film studios in 1959, a documentary film was shot about the Turvaurgin collective farm and its chairman N.I. Tavrate. In one of the conversations, the chairman said: “My father's house is unusual. It travels thousands of kilometers. And there is, perhaps, no other place on earth where a person would be so closely connected with nature, as in the tundra ... "
From 1965 to 1983 N.I. Tavrat worked as chairman of the Nizhnekolymsk regional executive committee, was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of the 5th convocation (1959), a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the I ASSR (1947 - 1975). For his labor activity he was awarded the Orders of the October Revolution and the Order of the Badge of Honor.
Local historian and local historian A.G. Chikachev wrote a book about him, which he called "Son of the Tundra".
In the Kolyma National Secondary School. N.I. Tavrat students study the Chukchi language, culture, customs, traditions of this people. The subject "Reindeer herding" is taught. Students go to reindeer herds for practical training.
Today, Nizhnekolymsk residents deeply honor the memory of their fellow countryman, a prominent representative of the Chukchi people, Nikolai Ivanovich Tavrat.
Since 1992, on the basis of state farms, the nomadic community "Turvaurgin" has been formed, a production cooperative whose main activities are reindeer herding, fishing, and hunting.
Anna Sadovnikova
Schoolchildren can easily answer the question "Where do the Chukchi live?". In the Far East there is Chukotka or the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. But if we complicate the question a little: "Where do the Chukchi and Eskimos live?", difficulties arise. There is no area of the same name, you need to find a more serious approach and understand the national subtleties.
Are there any differences between the Chukchi, Eskimos and Koryaks
Certainly there is. All these are different nationalities, once tribes that have common roots and inhabit similar territories.
The regions in Russia where the Chukchi or Luoravetlans live are concentrated in the north. These are the Republic of Sakha, the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, and since ancient times, their tribes have inhabited the extreme regions of Eastern Siberia. At first they wandered, but after taming the deer, they began to adapt a little to them. They speak the Chukchi language, which has several dialects. Luoravetlans or Chukchi (self-name) divided themselves into sea hunters living on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, and deer, tundra.
Some anthropologists classify the Eskimos as a Mongoloid race of Arctic origin. This nationality lives in the state of Alaska (USA), in the northern regions of Canada, on the island of Greenland (Denmark) and quite a bit (1500 people) in Chukotka. In each country, the Eskimos speak their own language: Greenlandic, Alaskan Inuit, Canadian Eskimo. All of them are divided into different dialects.
Who are the Chukchi and Koryaks? The Luoravetlans first pushed back the Eskimo tribes, and then territorially separated from the Koryaks. Today, the Koryaks (a common ethnic group with the Chukchi) make up the indigenous population of the autonomous district of the same name in the Kamchatka region in Russia. In total there are about 7000 people. The Koryak language belongs to the Chukchi-Kamchatka group. The first mentions of the Koryaks are found in the documents of the 16th century. People are described, some of whom were engaged in reindeer herding, and the other - in sea fishing.
Appearance
Where do the Chukchi live and what do they look like? The first part of the question has been answered above. More recently, scientists have proven the genetic relationship of the Chukchi and Indians. Indeed, their appearance has a lot in common. The Chukchi belong to the mixed Mongoloid race. They are similar to the inhabitants of Mongolia, China, Korea, but are somewhat different.
The section of the eyes of Luoravetlan males is more horizontal than oblique. The cheekbones are not as wide as those of the Yakuts, and the skin color is with a bronze tint. Women of this nationality in appearance have more similarities with the Mongoloids: wide cheekbones, swollen noses with large nostrils. The hair color of the representatives of both Men cut their hair short, women braid two braids and decorate them with beads. Married - wear bangs.
The winter clothes of Luoravetlans are two-layer, most often sewn from fawn fur. Summer clothes are capes or jackets made of deer suede.
Character traits
Drawing a psychological portrait of this nation, they note the main feature - excessive nervous excitability. Luoravetlan is easy to bring out of a state of spiritual balance, they are very quick-tempered. Against this background, they have a tendency to murder or suicide. For example, a relative can easily respond to the request of a seriously ill family member and kill him so that he does not suffer in agony. extremely independent, independent. In any dispute or struggle, they show unprecedented perseverance.
At the same time, these people are very hospitable and good-natured, naive. They selflessly come to the aid of their neighbors and anyone in need. Very easy to relate to the concept of marital fidelity. Wives are rarely jealous of their husbands.
living conditions
Where the Chukchi live (pictured below), there is a short polar summer, and the rest of the time is winter. To indicate the weather, residents use only two expressions: "weather is" or "weather is not." This designation is an indicator of the hunt, that is, whether it will be successful or not. From time immemorial, the Chukchi have continued their fishing traditions. They love seal meat very much. A happy hunter gets three in one outing, then his family with children (usually 5-6 of them) will be fed for several days.
Places for yarang families are most often chosen surrounded by hills, so that there is more calmness. It is very cold inside, although the dwelling is lined up and down with skins. Usually in the middle there is a small fire surrounded by rounded boulders. On it is a suspended cauldron with food. The wife is engaged in housekeeping, butchering carcasses, cooking, salting meat. Beside her are the children. Together they gather plants in season. Husband is a provider. This way of life has been preserved for many centuries.
Sometimes such indigenous families do not go to villages for months. Some children don't even have a birth certificate. Parents then have to prove that this is their child.
Why is the Chukchi a hero of jokes?
There is an opinion that humorous stories about them were composed by Russians out of fear and respect, a sense of superiority over themselves. Since the 18th century, when Cossack detachments moved across boundless Siberia and met the Luoravetlan tribes, there was talk of a warlike people, which is very difficult to beat in battle.
From childhood, the Chukchi taught their sons fearlessness and dexterity, raising them in Spartan conditions. In the harsh area where the Chukchi live, the future hunter must be sensitive, be able to endure any discomfort, sleep standing up, and not be afraid of pain. The beloved national wrestling takes place on a spread slippery sealskin, along the perimeter of which sharp claws stick out.
Militant reindeer herders
The Koryak population, which had become part of the Russian Empire before the Chukchi, fled the battlefield if they saw at least a few dozen luoravetlans. Even in other countries there were stories about militant reindeer herders who are not afraid of arrows, evade them, catch and launch them at the enemy with their hands. Captured women with children killed themselves so as not to fall into slavery.
In battle, the Chukchi were merciless, accurately hit the enemy with arrows, the tips of which were smeared with poison.
The government began to warn the Cossacks not to fight the Chukchi. At the next stage, the population decided to bribe, persuade, then solder (more in Soviet times). And at the end of the XVIII century. a fortress was built near the Angarka River. Fairs were periodically held near it to trade with reindeer herders in exchange. Luoravetlans were not allowed into their territory. Russian Cossacks have always been interested in where the Chukchi live and what they do.
Trade affairs
Reindeer herders paid tribute to the Russian Empire in the amount they could afford. Often they weren't paid at all. With the beginning of peace negotiations and cooperation, the Russians brought syphilis to the Chukchi. They were now afraid of all representatives of the Caucasian race. For example, they did not have trade relations with the French and the British just because they were "white".
Settled with Japan, a neighboring country. The Chukchi live where it is impossible to mine metal ores in the bowels of the earth. Therefore, they actively bought protective armor, armor, other military uniforms and equipment, metal products from the Japanese.
With the Americans, the Luoravetlans exchanged furs and other mined goods for tobacco. The skins of blue fox, marten, and whalebone were highly valued.
Chukchi today
Most of the Luoravetlans mixed with other nationalities. There are almost no purebred Chukchi now. The "ineradicable nationality," as they are often called, assimilated. At the same time, they retain their occupation, culture, and way of life.
Many scientists are sure that the small indigenous ethnos is more threatened not with extinction, but with the social abyss in which they find themselves. Many children cannot read and write and do not go to school. The standard of living of the luoravetlans is far from civilization, and they do not aspire to it. The Chukchi live in harsh natural conditions and do not like it when their orders are imposed on them. But when they find frozen Russians in the snow, they bring them to the yaranga. They say that they then put the guest under the skin along with his naked wife so that she warms him.
Every nation living far from civilization has traditions and customs that seem at least strange to uninitiated people. Now, in the era of globalization, the identity of small peoples is rapidly eroding, but some centuries-old foundations still remain. 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 obligation 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 seek to conclude such an alliance with rich friends and neighbors. 
The ethnographer Vladimir Bogoraz wrote: “When entering into a group marriage, men sleep, without asking, mixed with other people's wives. The exchange of Chukchi wives is usually limited to only one or two friends, however, examples are not uncommon when this kind of close relationship is maintained with many. 
Children born in families in a group marriage relationship are considered siblings. And all members of a large family take care of them. So group marriage is a real salvation for childless couples: a barren man will always be helped to have children by his friend. And the birth of a baby for the Chukchi is always a very joyful event, regardless of who his biological father is.
Now it is very difficult to find real Chukchi who live the same way as their ancestors, which is why we further offer you a look at the life of modern Chukchi. The couple, whom 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 there are many Chukchi in Anadyr, but they are all "urban": reindeer herding and hunting have long been replaced by regular work, and yarangas - to apartments with heating. They say that it is extremely problematic to find the real Chukchi. Soviet reforms in Chukotka greatly influenced the culture of the people. Small schools in the villages were closed and boarding schools were built in regional centers, tearing children away from national traditions and language.
However, during our expedition cruise we landed near Yttygran Island, where we met the real Chukchi Vladimir and his wife Faina. They live alone, at a decent distance from the outside world. Of course, civilization has also affected their way of life, but of all the Chukchi I have seen before, these are the most authentic.
The house of the Chukchi family stands on the shore of a bay protected from waves:
Faina was very happy with the guests. She said that for a couple of months they had not seen people other than each other, 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 out into the street, made sure that 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 shed. In winter, they close the passage with a blanket and inside it becomes warm from the stove:
Vladimir is very proud of his smokehouse, which he built himself:
Smoked fish hangs in the barn:
Sometimes fishermen come to them and exchange reindeer 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:
Inside, everything 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 gone to a neighboring village, several tens of kilometers away, since their child went to school there:
Faina told about the tree they had planted next to their house. They surrounded it with a rope fence and made a sign: "Specially protected zone." Take a look at the photo. An evrazhka lives next to this tree and often stands next to the sign, like a sentry:
Protects the tree from crows:
A couple of kilometers from the dwelling of Vladimir and Faina, a hot spring springs from the ground.
A couple of years ago they built a font for themselves here:
After the font, everyone descends into the river, as after a bath:
There were few living creatures and I switched to flora:
The ubiquitous mushrooms:
The whole tundra is strewn with berries:
This plant is called vaginal cottongrass. I'm afraid to imagine why this name arose:
In general, as we see, globalization reaches even to such remote corners on our planet. However, it may not make sense to resist these processes - during the existence of mankind, a huge number of cultures have arisen and gone into oblivion ...
Chukchi (self-name - lygyo ravetlan) - a distorted Chukchi word "chavchu" (rich in deer), which the Russians and Lamuts call the people living in the extreme north-east of Russia. The Chukchi were subdivided into deer - tundra nomadic reindeer herders (self-name chauchu - "deer man") and seaside - sedentary hunters of sea animals (self-name ankalyn - "coastal"), living together with the Eskimos.
The Russian Chukchi encountered for the first time back in the 17th century. In 1644, the Cossack Stadukhin, who was the first to bring news of them to Yakutsk, founded the Nizhnekolymsky prison. The Chukchi, who at that time roamed both east and west of the Kolyma River, after a stubborn, bloody struggle, finally left the left bank of the Kolyma, pushing the Mamalla tribe from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to.
Since then, for more than a hundred years, bloody clashes between the Russians and the Chukchi, whose territory bordered on the Kolyma River in the west and Anadyr in the south, from the Amur Territory, did not stop. In 1770, after the unsuccessful campaign of Shestakov, the Anadyr prison, which served as the center of the struggle between the Russians and the Chukchi, was destroyed and his team was transferred to Nizhne-Kolymsk, after which the Chukchi became less hostile to the Russians and gradually began to enter into trade relations with them.
In 1775, the Angarskaya fortress was built on the Angarka River, where, under the protection of the Cossacks, an annual fair for barter with the Chukchi took place. Since 1848, the fair has been moved to the Anyui fortress (250 versts from Nizhne-Kolymsk, on the banks of the Small Anyui). The Chukchi brought here not only the ordinary products of their own production (clothing made of deer furs, deer skins, live deer, seal skins, whalebone, polar bear skins), but also the most expensive furs (beavers, martens, black foxes, blue foxes), which the so-called nasal Chukchi exchanged for tobacco among the inhabitants of the shores of the Bering Sea and the northwestern coast of America.
By the end of the 18th century, the territory of the Chukchi stretched from Omolon, Bolshoi and Maly Anyuev in the west to the Penzhin and Olyutor camps in the southeast. Gradually, it increased, which was accompanied by the allocation of territorial groups: Kolyma, Anyui, or Maloanyui, Chaun, Omolon, Amguem, or Amguemo-Vonkarem, Kolyuchi-Mechigmen, Onmylen, Tuman, or Vilyunei, Olyutor, Bering Sea and others. In 1897, the number of Chukchi was approximately 11 thousand people. In 1930, the Chukotka National Okrug was formed, and since 1977 it has been an autonomous okrug. According to the 2002 census, the number of Chukchi was 16 people.
The main occupation of the tundra Chukchi is nomadic reindeer herding. Deer give the Chukchi almost everything they need: meat for cooking, skins for clothing and housing, and are also used as draft animals.
The main occupation of the coastal Chukchi is hunting for sea animals: in winter and spring - for seals and seals, in summer and autumn - for walrus and whale. At first, traditional hunting weapons were used for hunting - a harpoon with a float, a spear, a belt net, but in the 19th century, the Chukchi began to use firearms more often. So far, only hunting for birds with the help of the "bol" has been preserved. Fishing is developed only among some Chukchi. Women and children also collect edible plants.
Traditional Chukchi dishes are mainly made from venison and fish.
The main dwelling of the Chukchi is a collapsible cylindrical-conical yaranga tent made of deer skins among the tundra and walrus - among the coastal Chukchi. The arch rests on three poles located in the center. The dwelling was heated with a stone, clay or wooden fat lamp, on which food was also cooked. The Yaranga of the coastal Chukchi differed from the dwellings of reindeer herders by the absence of a smoke hole.
The type of Chukchi is mixed, generally Mongoloid, but with some differences. Eyes with an oblique incision are less common than those with a horizontal incision; the width of the cheekbones is less than that of the Tungus and Yakuts, and more often than that of the latter; there are individuals with thick hair on the face and wavy, almost curly hair on the head; complexion with a bronze tint.
Among women, the type is more common, with wide cheekbones, a swollen nose and twisted nostrils. The mixed type (Asian-American) is confirmed by some legends, myths and differences in the life of the deer and coastal Chukchi.
Chukchi winter clothes are of the usual polar type. It is sewn from the fur of fawns (grown up autumn calf) and for men it consists of a double fur shirt (the lower fur to the body and the upper fur out), the same double trousers, short fur stockings with the same boots and a hat in the form of a female bonnet. Women's clothing is quite original, also double, consisting of one-piece sewn trousers along with a low-cut bodice, pulled together at the waist, with a slit at the chest and extremely wide sleeves, thanks to which the Chukchi easily free their hands during work.
Summer outerwear is robes made of reindeer suede or colorful purchased fabrics, as well as kamlikas made of fine-haired deer skin with various ritual stripes. Most of the Chukchi jewelry - pendants, bandages, necklaces (in the form of straps with beads and figurines) - have a religious significance, but there are also real jewelry in the form of metal bracelets and earrings.
The original pattern on the clothes of the Primorsky Chukchi is of Eskimo origin; from the Chukchi, he passed to many polar peoples of Asia. Hair dressing is different for men and women. The latter braid two braids on both sides of the head, decorating them with beads and buttons, sometimes releasing the front strands on the forehead (married women). Men cut their hair very smoothly, leaving a wide fringe in front and two tufts of hair in the form of animal ears on the crown of the head.
According to their beliefs, the Chukchi are animists; they personify and deify certain areas and phenomena of nature (masters of the forest, water, fire, sun, deer), many animals (bear, crow), stars, sun and moon, they believe in hosts of evil spirits that cause all earthly disasters, including diseases and death, have a number of regular holidays (autumn holiday of slaughtering deer, spring holiday of horns, winter sacrifice to the star Altair) and many non-regular ones (feeding the fire, sacrifices after each hunt, commemoration of the dead, votive services).
Folklore and mythology of the Chukchi are very rich and have much in common with those of the American peoples and Paleo-Asians. The Chukchi language is very rich in both words and forms; the harmony of sounds is quite strictly carried out in it. Phonetics is very difficult for the European ear.
The main mental traits of the Chukchi are extremely easy excitability, reaching a frenzy, a tendency to kill and commit suicide at the slightest pretext, love for independence, perseverance in the fight; along with this, the Chukchi are hospitable, usually good-natured and willingly come to the aid of their neighbors, even Russians, during hunger strikes. The Chukchi, especially the coastal ones, became famous for their sculptures and carvings from mammoth bone, striking in their fidelity to nature and bold poses and strokes and reminiscent of the wonderful bone images of the Paleolithic period. Traditional musical instruments are vargan (khomus), tambourine (yarar). In addition to ritual dances, impromptu entertaining pantomime dances were also common.
