The small people of the Chukchi are settled on a vast territory - from the Bering Sea to the Indigirka River, from the Arctic Ocean to the Anadyr River. This territory can be compared with Kazakhstan, and a little more than 15 thousand people live on it! (data of the Russian population census in 2010).
The name of the Chukchi is the name of the people "louratvelany" adapted for the Russian people. Chukchi means “rich in reindeer” (chauchu) – this is how reindeer herders introduced themselves to Russian pioneers in the 17th century. “Loutwerans” is translated as “real people”, since in the mythology of the Far North, the Chukchi are the “highest race”, chosen by the gods. In the mythology of the Chukchi, it is explained that the gods created the Evenks, Yakuts, Koryaks and Eskimos exclusively as Russian slaves, so that they would help the Chukchi trade with the Russians.
Ethnic history of the Chukchi. Briefly
The ancestors of the Chukchi settled in Chukotka at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. In such a natural geographic environment, customs, traditions, mythology, language and racial characteristics were formed. The Chukchi have increased thermoregulation, a high level of hemoglobin in the blood, a fast metabolism, because the formation of this Arctic race took place in the conditions of the Far North, otherwise they would not have survived.
Mythology of the Chukchi. world creation
In the mythology of the Chukchi, a raven appears - the creator, the main benefactor. Creator of the earth, sun, rivers, seas, mountains, deer. It was the raven that taught people to live in difficult natural conditions. Since, according to the Chukchi, Arctic animals participated in the creation of the cosmos and stars, the names of the constellations and individual stars are associated with deer and crows. The star of the chapel is a deer bull with a man's sleigh. Two stars near the constellation Eagle - "A female deer with a deer." The Milky Way is a river with sandy waters, with islands - pastures for deer.
The names of the months of the Chukchi calendar reflect the life of the wild deer, its biological rhythms and migration patterns.
The upbringing of children among the Chukchi
In the upbringing of Chukchi children, one can trace a parallel with Indian customs. At the age of 6, the Chukchi begin the harsh upbringing of warrior boys. From this age, boys sleep standing up, with the exception of sleeping on a yaranga. At the same time, adult Chukchi brought up even in a dream - they sneaked up with a red-hot tip of metal or a smoldering stick, so that the boy developed a lightning-fast reaction to any sounds.
Young Chukchi ran after reindeer teams with stones on their feet. From the age of 6, they constantly held a bow and arrows in their hands. Thanks to this eye training, the Chukchi's eyesight remained sharp for many years. By the way, that is why the Chukchi were excellent snipers during the Great Patriotic War. Favorite games are "football" with a ball made of reindeer hair and wrestling. They fought in special places - either on a walrus skin (very slippery), or on ice.
The rite of passage into adulthood is a test for the viable. On the "exam" they relied on dexterity and attentiveness. For example, a father sent his son on a mission. But the task was not the main thing. The father tracked down his son while he was walking to fulfill it, and waited for the son to lose his vigilance - then he fired an arrow. The task of the young man is to instantly concentrate, react and dodge. Therefore, to pass the exam means to survive. But the arrows were not smeared with poison, so there was a chance of survival after being wounded.
War as a way of life
The attitude towards death among the Chukchi is simple - they are not afraid of it. If one Chukchi asks another to kill him, then the request is easily fulfilled, without a doubt. The Chukchi believe that each of them has 5-6 souls, and there is a whole "universe of ancestors." But in order to get there, you must either die with dignity in battle, or die at the hands of a relative or friend. Your own death or death from old age is a luxury. Therefore, the Chukchi are excellent warriors. They are not afraid of death, they are ferocious, they have a sensitive sense of smell, a lightning-fast reaction, and a sharp eye. If in our culture a medal is awarded for military merit, then the Chukchi put a dot tattoo on the back of their right palm. The more points, the more experienced and fearless warrior.
Chukchi women correspond to severe Chukchi men. They carry a knife with them in order to slaughter their children, parents, and then themselves in case of serious danger.
"Home shamanism"
The Chukchi have the so-called "home shamanism". These are echoes of the ancient religion of the louravetlans, because now almost all Chukchi go to church and belong to the Russian Orthodox Church. But they are still "shamanizing".
During the autumn slaughter of cattle, the entire Chukchi family, including children, beats a tambourine. This rite protects deer from diseases and early death. But it is more like a game, like, for example, Sabantuy - the celebration of the end of plowing among the Turkic peoples.
Writer Vladimir Bogoraz, an ethnographer and researcher of the peoples of the Far North, writes that people are cured of terrible diseases and mortal wounds during real shamanistic rites. Real shamans can grind a stone into crumbs in their hands, “sew up” a lacerated wound with their bare hands. The main task of shamans is to heal the sick. To do this, they fall into a trance to "travel between the worlds". In Chukotka, they become shamans if a walrus, deer or wolf saves the Chukchi at the moment of danger - thereby “transferring” ancient magic to the sorcerer.
Chukchi reindeer herders do not live in tents, but in more complex mobile dwellings called yarangas. Further, we offer to get acquainted with the basics of construction and the arrangement of this traditional dwelling, which the Chukchi reindeer herders continue to build today.
Without a deer, there will be no yaranga - this axiom is true in the literal and figurative sense. Firstly, because we need material for "construction" - deer skins. Secondly, without deer, such a house is not needed. Yaranga is a mobile portable dwelling for reindeer herders, necessary for the territory where there is no timber, but there is a need for constant migration behind the reindeer herd. Poles are needed to build a yaranga. Birch is the best. Birches in Chukotka, strange as it may seem to some, are growing. In the continental part along the banks of the rivers. The limited area of their distribution was the reason for the emergence of such a thing as "deficit". The poles were taken care of, they were passed on and are still being inherited. Some yaranga poles in the Chukotka tundra are over a hundred years old.
camp
Yaranga frame prepared for the filming of the film "Territory"
The difference between the yaranga and the plague is the complexity of its design. It's like an airbus and a corncob. Chum is a hut, vertically standing poles, which are covered with waterproof material (birch bark, skins, etc.). The yaranga device is much more complicated.
Stretching a tire (retem) on a yaranga frame
The construction of the yaranga begins with the determination of the cardinal points. This is important because the entrance must always be in the east. First, they put three long poles (as in the construction of the plague). Then, around these poles, small wooden tripods are installed, which are fastened together with horizontal poles. From the tripods to the top of the yaranga there are poles of the second tier. All poles are fastened to each other with ropes or deerskin straps. After installing the frame, a tire (retem) is pulled from the skins. Several ropes are thrown through the upper poles, which are tied to the tire-awning and with the help of elementary laws of physics and the command "iii, once", only in the Chukchi version, the tire is put on the frame. So that the tire is not blown away during a snowstorm, its edges are covered with stones. Stones are also hung on ropes to tripod stands. As an anti-sail, poles and boards are also used, which are tied to the outside of the yaranga.
"Strengthening" the yaranga so that the tire does not blow off
Winter tires are definitely sewn from skins. One ratham takes 40 to 50 deer skins. With summer tires options are possible. Previously, old retems, sewn and re-sewn, with shabby wool, went on a summer tire. The Chukchi summer, although harsh, forgives a lot. Including an imperfect yaranga tire. In winter, the tire must be perfect, otherwise a huge snowdrift will blow into the small hole during a snowstorm inside the chottagin. In Soviet times, the lower part of the tire, the most exposed to moisture, began to be replaced with tarpaulin strips. Then other materials appeared, so today's summer yarangas are more like a colorful grandmother's blanket.
Yaranga in the Amguem tundra
The third brigade of the MUSHP "Chaunskoye"
Yaranga in the Yanrakynnot tundra
Outwardly, the yaranga is ready. Inside, a large 5-8 meters in diameter sub-hip space appeared - chottagin. Chottagin is the economic part of the yaranga. In the chottagin, the cold room of the yaranga, in winter the temperature is the same as outside, except that there is no wind.
Now you need to make a room for housing. On the wall opposite from the entrance, with the help of poles, a rectangular frame is attached, which is covered with skins, wool inside. This canopy is a dwelling in a yaranga. They sleep in the canopy, dry their clothes (through the natural evaporation of moisture), and eat in winter. The canopy is heated with a grease gun or a kerosene stove. Due to the fact that the skins are tucked inward, the canopy becomes almost airtight. This is good in terms of keeping warm, but bad in terms of ventilation. However, frost is the most effective fighter against natures with a refined perception of smells. Since it is impossible to open the canopy at night, the need, in a special container, is celebrated right there, in the canopy. Believe me, this will not bother you either if you find yourself in the tundra without transport for more than two days. Because one of the main human needs is the need for warmth. And it's warm in the tundra, only in the canopy. Currently, there is usually one canopy in a yaranga, earlier there could be two or even three. One family lives in the canopy. If adult children have appeared in the family who already have their own families, for the first time a second canopy is placed in the yaranga. But over time, young people will need to collect their yaranga.
canopy outside
Canopy inside. Illuminated and heated by a grease gun or kerosene stove
The hearth is organized in the center of the chottagin. The smoke from the fire escapes through a hole in the dome. But despite such ventilation, the chottagin is almost always smoky. Therefore, standing in a yaranga is not recommended.
Campfire
Where to get firewood for a fire if trees do not grow in the tundra? There really are no trees (with the exception of floodplain groves) in the tundra, but you can almost always find shrubs. Actually, the yaranga is mainly placed by the river with bushes. The hearth in the yaranga is bred exclusively for cooking. Heating chottagin is pointless and wasteful. Small twigs are used for the fire. If the branches of the shrub are thick and long, they are cut into small poles 10-15 cm long. As much firewood as a taiga man burns in a night will be enough for a reindeer herder for a week, or even more. What can we say about the young pioneers with their fires. Economy and rationality are the main criterion for the life of a reindeer herder. The same criterion is put in the device of the yaranga, which is primitive at first glance, but very effective upon closer examination.
The teapot is hung over the hearth on chains, the vats and pots are set on bricks or stones. Firewood is no longer added to the fire as soon as the container begins to boil.
Firewood
Utensil. Small tables and small stools are used as furniture in the yaranga. Yaranga is the world of minimalism. Of the furniture in yaranga, you can also see cabinets and shelves for storing food and utensils. With the advent of European civilization in Chukotka, especially in the Soviet period, such concepts as kerogas, primus, abeshka (generator) appeared in the life of reindeer herders, which somewhat simplified some aspects of life. Cooking, especially baking, is no longer done on a fire, but on stoves or kerosene stoves. In some reindeer farms, in winter, stoves are installed in the yarangas, which are heated with coal. Without all this, of course, you can live, but if it is, why not use it?
Afternoon
Evening leisure
In each yaranga, meat or fish is sure to hang on the upper and side poles. Rationalism, as I said above, is a key aspect of human life in a traditional society. Why is the smoke disappearing in vain? Especially if he, smoke, is an excellent preservative.
"Bin" yaranga
The northernmost region of the Far East is the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. On its territory there are several indigenous peoples who came there millennia ago. Most of all in Chukotka there are Chukchi themselves - about 15 thousand. For a long time they roamed all over the peninsula, herded deer, hunted whales and lived in yarangas.
Now many reindeer herders and hunters have turned into housing and communal services workers, and yarangas and kayaks have been replaced with ordinary houses with heating.
Cucumbers for 600 rubles per kilogram and a dozen eggs for 200 are modern consumer realities in remote areas of Chukotka. Fur production is closed, as it did not fit into capitalism, and the extraction of venison, although it is still going on, is subsidized by the state - reindeer meat cannot compete even with expensive beef, which is brought from the "mainland". A similar story is with the repair of housing stock: it is unprofitable for construction companies to take on repair contracts, since the lion's share of the estimate is the cost of transporting materials and workers off-road. Young people leaving the villages, and serious problems with health care - the Soviet system collapsed, and the new one was not really created.
The ancestors of the Chukchi appeared in the tundra before our era. Presumably, they came from the territory of Kamchatka and the current Magadan region, then moved through the Chukotka Peninsula towards the Bering Strait and stopped there.
Faced with the Eskimos, the Chukchi adopted their sea animal hunting, subsequently driving them out of the Chukchi Peninsula. At the turn of the millennium, the Chukchi learned reindeer husbandry from the nomads of the Tungus group - Evens and Yukaghirs.
“Now it is not easier to get into the camps of the reindeer herders of Chukotka than in the time of Tan Bogoraz (a famous Russian ethnographer who described the life of the Chukchi at the beginning of the 20th century).
You can fly to Anadyr, and then to the national villages by plane. But then from the village it is very difficult to get to a specific reindeer herding team at the right time,” explains Puya. Reindeer herders' camps are constantly moving, and over long distances. There are no roads to get to their places of parking: they have to move on caterpillar all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles, sometimes on reindeer and dog teams. In addition, reindeer herders strictly observe the dates of migrations, the time of their rituals and holidays.
Vladimir Puya
Hereditary reindeer herder Puya insists that reindeer herding is a “calling card” of the region and the indigenous people. But now the Chukchi basically do not live the way they used to: crafts and traditions are fading into the background, and they are being replaced by the typical life of remote regions of Russia.“Our culture suffered a lot in the 1970s when the authorities felt it was expensive to run high schools with full staff in every village,” says Puya. – Boarding schools were built in regional centers. They were classified not as urban institutions, but as rural ones - in rural schools, salaries are twice as high. I myself studied at such a school, the quality of education was very high. But the children were torn away from life in the tundra and the seaside: we returned home only for the summer holidays. And so they lost their complex, cultural development. There was no national education in boarding schools, even the Chukchi language was not always taught. Apparently, the authorities decided that the Chukchi are Soviet people, and we don’t need to know our culture.”
The life of reindeer herders
The geography of the Chukchi at first depended on the movement of wild deer. People wintered in the south of Chukotka, and in the summer they left the heat and midges to the north, to the shores of the Arctic Ocean. The people of reindeer herders lived in a tribal system. They settled on lakes and rivers. The Chukchi lived in yarangas. The winter yaranga, which was sewn from reindeer skins, was stretched over a wooden frame. Snow from under it was cleaned to the ground. The floor was covered with branches, on which skins were laid in two layers. An iron stove with a chimney was installed in the corner. They slept in yarangas in animal skins.
But the Soviet government, which came to Chukotka in the 30s of the last century, was dissatisfied with the "uncontrolled" movement of people. Indigenous people were told where to build a new - semi-stationary - dwelling. This was done for the convenience of transporting goods by sea. The same was done with the camps. At the same time, new jobs arose for the indigenous people, and hospitals, schools, and houses of culture appeared in the settlements. The Chukchi were taught writing. And the reindeer herders themselves lived almost better than all other Chukchi - until the 80s of the XX century.
Now residents of Konergino send letters by post, buy in two stores (Nord and Katyusha), call “to the mainland” from the only landline phone in the entire village, sometimes go to the local culture club, and use the outpatient clinic. However, the residential buildings of the village are in disrepair and are not subject to major repairs. “Firstly, we are not given much money, and secondly, due to the complex transport scheme, it is difficult to deliver materials to the village,” Alexander Mylnikov, the head of the settlement, said several years ago. According to him, if earlier the housing stock in Konergino was repaired by public utilities, now they have neither building materials nor labor. “It is expensive to deliver building materials to the village, the contractor spends about half of the allocated funds on transportation costs. The builders refuse, it is unprofitable for them to work with us,” he complained.
About 330 people live in Konergino. Of these, about 70 children: most go to school. Fifty local residents work in the housing and communal services, and 20 educators, teachers, nannies and cleaners work at the school, along with the kindergarten. Young people do not stay in Konergino: school graduates go to study and work in other places. The depressive state of the village is illustrated by the situation with the traditional crafts that the Konergins were famous for.
“We no longer have sea hunting. According to capitalist rules, it is not profitable,” says Puya. - The fur farms closed, and the fur trade was quickly forgotten. In the 1990s, fur production in Konergino collapsed.” Only reindeer breeding remained: in Soviet times and until the mid-2000s, while Roman Abramovich remained as governor of the Chukotka Autonomous District, it was successful here.
There are 51 reindeer herders in Konergino, 34 of them in teams in the tundra. According to Puyi, the incomes of reindeer herders are extremely low. “This is a loss-making industry, there is not enough money for salaries. The state covers the lack of funds so that the salary is higher than the subsistence minimum, which is 13,000 in our country. The reindeer farm, in which the workers are, pays them about 12.5 thousand. The state pays up to 20,000 extra so that the reindeer herders do not starve to death,” Puya complains.
When asked why it is impossible to pay more, Puya replies that the cost of venison production in different farms varies from 500 to 700 rubles per kilogram. And wholesale prices for beef and pork, which are imported "from the mainland", start at 200 rubles. The Chukchi cannot sell meat for 800-900 rubles and are forced to set the price at the level of 300 rubles - at a loss. “There is no point in the capitalist development of this industry,” says Puya. “But this is the last thing left in the national villages.”
Eugene Kaipanau, 36-year-old Chukchi, was born in Lorino in the family of the most respected whaler. "Lorino" (in Chukchi - "Lauren") is translated from Chukchi as "found encampment". The settlement stands on the shores of the Mechigmen Bay of the Bering Sea. A few hundred kilometers away are the American islands of Krusenstern and St. Lawrence; Alaska is also very close. But planes fly to Anadyr once every two weeks - and then only if the weather is good. Lorino is covered from the north by hills, so there are more calm days here than in neighboring villages. True, despite the relatively good weather conditions, in the 90s, almost all Russian residents left Lorino, and since then only the Chukchi live there - about 1,500 people.
The houses in Lorino are rickety wooden structures with peeling walls and faded paint. In the center of the village there are several cottages built by Turkish workers - thermally insulated buildings with cold water, which is considered a privilege in Lorino (if you run cold water through ordinary pipes, it will freeze in winter). There is hot water throughout the settlement, because the local boiler house is open all year round. But there are no hospitals and clinics here - for several years now people have been sent for medical care by air ambulance or on all-terrain vehicles.
Lorino is known for its sea animal hunting. It is not for nothing that in 2008 the documentary film "Whaler" was filmed here, which received the TEFI prize. Hunting for a sea animal is still an important occupation for local residents. Whalers not only feed their families or earn money by donating meat to the local community of hunters, they also honor the traditions of their ancestors.
From childhood, Kaipanau knew how to slaughter walruses, catch fish and whales, and walk in the tundra. But after school, he went to Anadyr to study first as an artist, and then as a choreographer. Until 2005, while living in Lorino, he often went on tour to Anadyr or Moscow to perform with national ensembles. Due to constant traveling, climate change and flights, Kaipanau decided to finally move to Moscow. There he married, his daughters are nine months old. “I strive to instill my creativity and culture in my wife,” says Evgeny. “Although a lot of things seemed wild to her before, especially when she found out in what conditions my people live. I instill traditions and customs in my daughter, for example, I show national clothes. I want her to know that she is a hereditary Chukchi.”
Evgeny now rarely appears in Chukotka: he tours and represents the culture of the Chukchi around the world together with his ensemble "Nomad". In the eponymous ethnic park "Nomad" near Moscow, where Kaipanau works, he conducts thematic excursions and shows documentaries about Chukotka, including those by Vladimir Puyi.
But life far from his homeland does not prevent him from knowing about many things happening in Lorino: his mother stayed there, she works in the city administration. So, he is sure that young people are drawn to those traditions that are lost in other regions of the country. “Culture, language, hunting skill. Young people in Chukotka, including young people from our village, are learning to hunt whales. We have people living this all the time,” says Kaipanau.
In the summer season, the Chukchi hunted whales and walruses, in the winter - seals. They hunted with harpoons, knives and spears. Whales and walruses were caught all together, and seals - one by one. The Chukchi fished with nets of whale and deer tendons or leather belts, nets and bits. In winter - in the hole, in summer - from the shore or from kayaks. In addition, until the beginning of the 19th century, with the help of a bow, spears and traps, they hunted bears and wolves, sheep and elks, wolverines, foxes and arctic foxes. Waterfowl were killed with a throwing weapon (bola) and darts with a throwing board. From the second half of the 19th century, guns began to be used, and then firearms for whaling.
Products that are imported from the mainland cost a lot of money in the village. “They bring “golden” eggs for 200 rubles. I generally keep quiet about grapes,” adds Kaipanau. Prices reflect the sad socio-economic situation in Lorino. There are few places in the settlement where you can show professionalism and university skills. “But the situation of the people is, in principle, normal,” the interlocutor immediately clarifies. “After the arrival of Abramovich (from 2001 to 2008), things got much better: more jobs appeared, houses were rebuilt, medical and obstetric stations were established.” Kaipanau recalls how whalers he knew “came, took motor boats from the governor for free for fishing and left.” “Now they live and enjoy,” he says. The federal authorities, he said, also help the Chukchi, but not very actively.
Kaipanau has a dream. He wants to create educational ethnic centers in Chukotka, where indigenous peoples could re-learn their culture: build kayaks and yarangas, embroider, sing, and dance.
“In the ethnopark, many visitors consider the Chukchi an uneducated and backward people; they think they don't wash and say "however" all the time. They even sometimes tell me that I am not a real Chukchi. But we are real people.”
Every morning, Natalia, a 45-year-old resident of the village of Sireniki (who asked not to be named), wakes up at 8 am to go to work at a local school. She is a watchman and a technical worker.
Sireniki, where Natalya has been living for 28 years, is located in the Providensky urban district of Chukotka, on the coast of the Bering Sea. The first Eskimo settlement appeared here about three thousand years ago, and the remains of the dwellings of ancient people are still found in the vicinity of the village. In the 60s of the last century, the Chukchi joined the indigenous people. Therefore, the village has two names: from the Ekimos it is translated as "Valley of the Sun", and from the Chukchi - "Rocky Area".
Sireniki are surrounded by hills, and it is difficult to get here, especially in winter - only by snowmobile or helicopter. From spring to autumn, ships come here. From above, the village looks like a box of colorful candies: green, blue and red cottages, administration building, post office, kindergarten and dispensary. There used to be a lot of dilapidated wooden houses in Sireniki, but a lot has changed, says Natalya, with the arrival of Abramovich. “My husband and I used to live in a house with stove heating, we had to wash the dishes outside. Then Valera fell ill with tuberculosis, and his attending physician helped us to get a new cottage due to illness. Now we have a renovation.”
Clothes and food
Chukchi men wore kukhlyankas made of double reindeer skin and the same trousers. They pulled a bag made of kamus with sealskin soles over siskins - stockings made of dog skins. A double fawn hat was bordered in front with long-haired wolverine fur, which did not freeze from human breath in any frost, and fur mittens were worn on rawhide straps that were drawn into the sleeves. The shepherd was as if in a spacesuit. Clothing on women fit the body, below the knees it was tied, forming something like pants. They put it on over the head. Over the top, women wore a wide fur shirt with a hood, which they wore on special occasions like holidays or migrations.
The shepherd always had to protect the livestock of deer, so the livestock breeders and families ate in the summer as vegetarians, and if they ate the deer, then completely, right down to the horns and hooves. They preferred boiled meat, but they often ate it raw: the shepherds in the herd simply did not have time to cook. The settled Chukchi ate the meat of walruses, which were previously killed in huge quantities.
How do people live in Sireniki?
According to Natalia, it's normal. There are currently about 30 unemployed people in the village. In summer they gather mushrooms and berries, and in winter they catch fish, which they sell or exchange for other products. Natalya's husband receives a pension of 15,700 rubles, while the cost of living here is 15,000. “I myself work without part-time jobs, this month I will receive about 30,000. We, no doubt, live averagely, but somehow I don’t feel that wages are rising,” - the woman complains, recalling the cucumbers brought to Sireniki at 600 rubles per kilogram.
Dome
Natalya's sister works on a rotational basis at the Dome. This gold deposit, one of the largest in the Far East, is located 450 km from Anadyr. Since 2011, 100% of Kupol's shares have been owned by the Canadian company Kinross Gold (ours is not up to such trifles).“My sister used to work there as a maid, and now she gives out masks to miners who go down into the mines. They have a gym and a billiard room there! They pay in rubles (the average salary at Kupol is 50,000 rubles - DV), they transfer it to a bank card, ”says Natalya.
The woman knows a little about production, salaries and investments in the region, but often repeats: "The 'Dome' helps us." The fact is that the Canadian company that owns the deposit created the Social Development Fund back in 2009, which allocates money for socially significant projects. At least a third of the budget goes to support the indigenous peoples of the Autonomous Okrug. For example, Kupol helped publish a dictionary of the Chukchi language, opened courses in indigenous languages, and built a school for 65 children and a kindergarten for 32 in Sireniki.
“My Valera also received a grant,” says Natalya. - Two years ago, Kupol allocated 1.5 million rubles to him for a huge 20-ton freezer. After all, the whalers will get the beast, there is a lot of meat - it will go bad. And now this camera saves. With the rest of the money, my husband and his colleagues bought tools for building kayaks.”
Natalya, a Chukchi and hereditary reindeer herder, believes that the national culture is now being revived. He says that every Tuesday and Friday at the local village club rehearsals of the Northern Lights ensemble are held; courses of Chukchi and other languages are being opened (albeit in the district center - Anadyr); competitions are held like the Governor's Cup or a regatta in the Barents Sea. “And this year our ensemble is invited to a grand event - an international festival! Five people will fly to the dance program. It will all be in Alaska, she will pay for the flight and accommodation, ”the woman says. She admits that the Russian state also supports the national culture, but she mentions the "Dome" much more often. Natalya does not know of a domestic fund that would finance the peoples of Chukotka.
Another key issue is healthcare. In Chukotka, as in other northern regions, says Nina Veysalova, a representative of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East (AMNSS and Far East of the Russian Federation), respiratory diseases are very common. But, according to available information, TB dispensaries are closing in national settlements. Lots of cancer patients. The previously existing health care system ensured the identification, observation and treatment of sick people from among small peoples, which was enshrined in law. Unfortunately, today this scheme does not work. The authorities do not answer the question about the closure of TB dispensaries, but only report that hospitals, outpatient clinics and feldsher-obstetric stations have been preserved in every district and locality of Chukotka.
There is a stereotype in Russian society: the Chukchi people drank themselves after the "white man" came to the territory of Chukotka - that is, from the beginning of the last century. The Chukchi have never drunk alcohol, their body does not produce an enzyme that breaks down alcohol - and because of this, the effect of alcohol on their health is more detrimental than that of other peoples. But according to Yevgeny Kaipanau, the level of the problem is greatly overestimated. “With alcohol [among the Chukchi], everything is the same as everywhere else. But they drink less than anywhere else,” he says. At the same time, says Kaipanau, the Chukchi really did not have an enzyme that breaks down alcohol in the past. “Now, although the enzyme has been developed, the people still don’t drink like the legends say,” sums up the Chukchi.
The opinion of Kaipanau is supported by Irina Samorodskaya, Doctor of Medical Sciences of the State Scientific Research Center for Criticism, one of the authors of the report “Mortality and the proportion of deaths in the economically active age from causes related to alcohol (drugs), myocardial infarction and coronary artery disease from all deaths aged 15-72 years” for 2013. According to Rosstat, the document says, the highest death rate from alcohol-related causes is indeed in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug - 268 people per 100,000. But these data, emphasizes Samorodskaya, refer to the entire population of the district. “Yes, the indigenous people of those territories are the Chukchi, but not only they live there,” she explains. In addition, according to Samorodskaya, Chukotka is higher in all indicators of mortality than other regions - and this is not only alcohol mortality, but also other external causes. “It’s impossible to say that it was the Chukchi who died from alcohol right now, this is how the system works. First, if people don't want their deceased relative's death certificate to show an alcohol-related cause of death, it won't be shown. Second, the vast majority of deaths occur at home. And there, death certificates are often filled out by a district doctor or even a paramedic, which is why other reasons may be indicated in the documents - it’s easier to write that way ”
Finally, another serious problem in the region, according to Veysalova, is the relationship between industrial companies and the indigenous local population. “People come as conquerors, disturbing the peace and tranquility of the locals. I think that there should be a regulation on the interaction of companies and nations,” she says.
Language and religion
The Chukchi living in the tundra called themselves "chavchu" (reindeer). Those who lived on the shore - "ankalyn" (pomor). There is a common self-name of the people - "luoravetlan" (a real person), but it did not take root. About 11,000 people spoke Chukchi 50 years ago. Now their number is decreasing every year. The reason is simple: in Soviet times, writing and schools appeared, but at the same time, a policy of destroying everything national was pursued. Separation from their parents and life in boarding schools forced Chukchi children to know their native language less and less.
The Chukchi have long believed that the world is divided into upper, middle and lower. At the same time, the upper world (“cloudy land”) is inhabited by the “upper people” (in Chukchi - gyrgorramkyn), or the “people of the dawn” (tnargy-ramkyn), and the supreme deity among the Chukchi does not play a serious role. The Chukchi believed that their soul was immortal, believed in reincarnation, and shamanism was widespread among them. Both men and women could be shamans, but among the Chukchi shamans of the "transformed sex" were considered especially strong - men who acted as housewives, and women who adopted the clothes, activities and habits of men.
All conclusions will be drawn by time and the Chukchi themselves.
The northernmost region of the Far East is the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. On its territory there are several indigenous peoples who came there millennia ago. Most of all in Chukotka there are Chukchi themselves - about 15 thousand. For a long time they roamed all over the peninsula, herded deer, hunted whales and lived in yarangas.
Now many reindeer herders and hunters have turned into housing and communal services workers, and yarangas and kayaks have been replaced with ordinary houses with heating. Residents of different regions of Chukotka told DV special correspondent Ivan Chesnokov how their people live now.
Cucumbers for 600 rubles per kilogram and a dozen eggs for 200 are modern consumer realities in remote areas of Chukotka. Fur production is closed, as it did not fit into capitalism, and the extraction of venison, although it is still going on, is subsidized by the state - reindeer meat cannot compete even with expensive beef, which is brought from the "mainland".
A similar story is with the repair of housing stock: it is unprofitable for construction companies to take on repair contracts, since the lion's share of the estimate is the cost of transporting materials and workers off-road. Young people leaving the villages, and serious problems with health care - the Soviet system collapsed, and the new one was not really created.
At the same time - the social programs of the Canadian mining company, the revival of interest in national culture and the favorable consequences of the governorship of Arkady Abramovich - the billionaire created new jobs and renovated houses, and whalers could easily give a couple of motor boats. From such a colorful mosaic, today's life of the Chukchi is formed.
Ancestors of the people
The ancestors of the Chukchi appeared in the tundra before our era. Presumably, they came from the territory of Kamchatka and the current Magadan region, then moved through the Chukotka Peninsula towards the Bering Strait and stopped there.
Faced with the Eskimos, the Chukchi took over their sea hunting, subsequently driving them out of the Chukchi Peninsula. At the turn of the millennium, the Chukchi learned reindeer husbandry from the nomads of the Tungus group - Evens and Yukaghirs.
Our first interlocutor is a documentary filmmaker, an experienced livestock specialist and a connoisseur of Chukotka, Vladimir Puya. In the winter of 2014, he went to work on the eastern shore of the Gulf of the Cross, part of the Anadyr Bay of the Bering Sea off the southern coast of the Chukotka Peninsula.
There, near the national village of Konergino, he shot a film about modern Chukchi reindeer herders, the richest in the past, and now almost forgotten, but who have preserved the traditions and culture of their ancestors, the inhabitants of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
“Now it is not easier to get into the camps of the reindeer herders of Chukotka than in the time of Tan Bogoraz (a famous Russian ethnographer who described the life of the Chukchi at the beginning of the 20th century - DV). You can fly to Anadyr, and then to the national villages by plane. But then it is very difficult to get from the village to a specific reindeer herding team at the right time,” Puya explains.
Reindeer herders' camps are constantly moving, and over long distances. There are no roads to get to their places of parking: they have to move on caterpillar all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles, sometimes on reindeer and dog teams. In addition, reindeer herders strictly observe the dates of migrations, the time of their rituals and holidays.
Hereditary reindeer herder Puya insists that reindeer herding is the "calling card" of the region and the indigenous people. But now the Chukchi basically do not live the way they used to: crafts and traditions are fading into the background, and they are being replaced by the typical life of remote regions of Russia.
“Our culture suffered a lot in the 1970s when the authorities felt it was expensive to run high schools with full staff in every village,” says Puya. — Boarding schools were built in regional centers. They were classified not as urban institutions, but as rural ones - in rural schools, salaries are twice as high. I myself studied at such a school, the quality of education was very high. But the children were torn away from life in the tundra and the seaside: we returned home only for the summer holidays. And so they lost their complex, cultural development. There was no national education in boarding schools, even the Chukchi language was not always taught. Apparently, the authorities decided that the Chukchi are Soviet people, and we don’t need to know our culture.”
The life of reindeer herders
The geography of the Chukchi at first depended on the movement of wild deer. People wintered in the south of Chukotka, and in the summer they left the heat and midges to the north, to the shores of the Arctic Ocean. The people of reindeer herders lived in a tribal system. They settled on lakes and rivers. The Chukchi lived in yarangas. The winter yaranga, which was sewn from reindeer skins, was stretched over a wooden frame. Snow from under it was cleaned to the ground. The floor was covered with branches, on which skins were laid in two layers. An iron stove with a chimney was installed in the corner. They slept in yarangas in animal skins.
But the Soviet government, which came to Chukotka in the 30s of the last century, was dissatisfied with the "uncontrolled" movement of people. The indigenous people were told where to build a new - semi-stationary - dwelling. This was done for the convenience of transporting goods by sea. The same was done with the camps. At the same time, new jobs arose for the indigenous people, and hospitals, schools, and houses of culture appeared in the settlements. The Chukchi were taught writing. And the reindeer herders themselves lived almost better than all other Chukchi - until the 80s of the XX century.
The name of the national village of Konergino, where Puya lives, is translated from Chukchi as “curved valley”, or “the only crossing”: sea hunters in kayaks crossed the Krest Bay in this place in one crossing. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were only a few yarangas in Konergino - traditional portable Chukchi dwellings - and dugouts. In 1939, the board of the collective farm, the village council, and the trading post were moved here from the village of Nutepelmen. A little later, several houses and a warehouse store were built on the seashore, and in the middle of the century a hospital, a boarding school, and a kindergarten appeared in the village. A school was opened in the 1980s.
Now residents of Konergino send letters by post, buy in two stores (Nord and Katyusha), call “to the mainland” from the only landline phone in the entire village, sometimes go to the local culture club, and use the outpatient clinic. However, the residential buildings of the village are in disrepair and are not subject to major repairs.
“Firstly, we are not given much money, and secondly, due to the complex transport scheme, it is difficult to deliver materials to the village,” Alexander Mylnikov, the head of the settlement, said several years ago. According to him, if earlier the housing stock in Konergino was repaired by public utilities, now they have neither building materials nor labor. “It is expensive to deliver building materials to the village, the contractor spends about half of the allocated funds on transportation costs. The builders refuse, it is unprofitable for them to work with us,” he complained.
The government of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug did not answer the question of the editors whether the residential buildings in Konergino are really in disrepair. However, Anastasia Zhukova, First Deputy Governor of the Okrug, said that state programs have been developed on the territory of Chukotka for resettlement from emergency housing stock, the development of the Okrug's infrastructure and the development of housing and communal services and the water management complex.
About 330 people live in Konergino. Of these, about 70 children: most go to school. Fifty local residents work in the housing and communal services, and 20 educators, teachers, nannies and cleaners are employed at the school, along with the kindergarten. Young people do not stay in Konergino: school graduates go to study and work in other places. The depressive state of the village is illustrated by the situation with the traditional crafts that the Konergins were famous for.
“We no longer have sea hunting. According to capitalist rules, it is not profitable, says Puya. - Animal farms closed, and the fur trade was quickly forgotten. In the 1990s, fur production in Konergino collapsed.” Only reindeer breeding remained: in Soviet times and until the mid-2000s, while Roman Abramovich remained as governor of the Chukotka Autonomous District, it was successful here.
There are 51 reindeer herders in Konergino, 34 of them in teams in the tundra. According to Puyi, the incomes of reindeer herders are extremely low. “This is a loss-making industry, there is not enough money for salaries. The state covers the lack of funds so that the salary is higher than the subsistence minimum, which is 13,000 in our country. The reindeer farm, in which the workers are, pays them about 12.5 thousand. The state pays up to 20,000 extra so that the reindeer herders do not starve,” the director complains.
When asked why it is impossible to pay more, Puya replies that the cost of venison production in different farms varies from 500 to 700 rubles per kilogram. And wholesale prices for beef and pork, which are imported "from the mainland", start at 200 rubles. The Chukchi cannot sell meat for 800-900 rubles and are forced to set the price at the level of 300 rubles - at a loss. “There is no point in the capitalist development of this industry,” says Puya. “But this is the last thing left in the national villages.”
When asked by the editors whether there really is no sea fur trade in the village of Konergino, and fur farms and complexes responsible for fur trade are closed, the government of the Chukotka Autonomous District did not answer.
At the same time, according to the first deputy governor, about 800 people work at 14 agricultural enterprises of the district. As of June 1 of this year, 148,000 reindeer were grazed in reindeer breeding brigades, and since May 1, reindeer herders in Chukotka have received an increase in wages - up to 30% on average. In addition, the Deputy Governor noted that the district budget will allocate 65 million rubles to raise wages.
Eugene Kaipanau, 36-year-old Chukchi, was born in Lorino in the family of the most respected whaler. "Lorino" (in Chukchi - "Lauren") is translated from Chukchi as "found encampment". The settlement stands on the shores of the Mechigmen Bay of the Bering Sea. A few hundred kilometers away are the American islands of Krusenstern and St. Lawrence; Alaska is also very close. But planes fly to Anadyr once every two weeks - and then only if the weather is good. Lorino is covered from the north by hills, so there are more calm days here than in neighboring villages. True, despite the relatively good weather conditions, in the 90s, almost all Russian residents left Lorino, and since then only the Chukchi live there - about 1,500 people.
The houses in Lorino are rickety wooden structures with peeling walls and faded paint. In the center of the village there are several cottages built by Turkish workers - thermally insulated buildings with cold water, which is considered a privilege in Lorino (if you run cold water through ordinary pipes, it will freeze in winter). There is hot water throughout the settlement, because the local boiler house is open all year round. But there are no hospitals and polyclinics here - for several years now people have been sent for medical assistance by air ambulance or on all-terrain vehicles.
Lorino is known for its sea animal hunting. It is not for nothing that in 2008 the documentary film "Whaler" was filmed here, which received the TEFI prize. Hunting for a sea animal is still an important occupation for local residents. Whalers not only feed their families or earn money by donating meat to the local community of hunters, they also honor the traditions of their ancestors.
From childhood, Kaipanau knew how to slaughter walruses, catch fish and whales, and walk in the tundra. But after school, he went to Anadyr to study first as an artist, and then as a choreographer. Until 2005, while living in Lorino, he often went on tour to Anadyr or Moscow to perform with national ensembles. Due to constant traveling, climate change and flights, Kaipanau decided to finally move to Moscow. There he married, his daughters are nine months old.
“I strive to instill my creativity and culture in my wife,” says Evgeny. “Although many things seemed wild to her before, especially when she found out in what conditions my people live. I instill traditions and customs in my daughter, for example, I show national clothes. I want her to know that she is a hereditary Chukchi.”
Evgeny now rarely appears in Chukotka: he tours and represents the culture of the Chukchi around the world together with his ensemble "Nomad". In the eponymous ethnic park "Nomad" near Moscow, where Kaipanau works, he conducts thematic excursions and shows documentaries about Chukotka, including those by Vladimir Puyi.
But life far from his homeland does not prevent him from knowing about many things happening in Lorino: his mother stayed there, she works in the city administration. So, he is sure that young people are drawn to those traditions that are lost in other regions of the country. “Culture, language, hunting skill. Young people in Chukotka, including young people from our village, are learning to hunt whales. We have people living this all the time,” says Kaipanau.
Hunting
In the summer season, the Chukchi hunted whales and walruses, in the winter - seals. They hunted with harpoons, knives and spears. Whales and walruses were caught all together, and seals - one by one. The Chukchi fished with nets of whale and deer tendons or leather belts, nets and bits. In winter - in the hole, in summer - from the shore or from kayaks. In addition, until the beginning of the 19th century, with the help of a bow, spears and traps, they hunted bears and wolves, sheep and elks, wolverines, foxes and arctic foxes. Waterfowl were killed with a throwing weapon (bola) and darts with a throwing board. From the second half of the 19th century, guns began to be used, and then firearms for whaling.
Products that are imported from the mainland cost a lot of money in the village. “They bring “golden” eggs for 200 rubles. I generally keep quiet about grapes,” adds Kaipanau. Prices reflect the sad socio-economic situation in Lorino. There are few places in the settlement where you can show professionalism and university skills.
“But the situation of the people is, in principle, normal,” the interlocutor immediately clarifies. “After the arrival of Abramovich (the billionaire was the governor of Chukotka from 2001 to 2008 - DV), things got much better: more jobs appeared, houses were rebuilt, medical and obstetric stations were established.”
Kaipanau recalls how whalers he knew “came, took motor boats from the governor for free for fishing and left.” “Now they live and enjoy,” he says. The federal authorities, he said, also help the Chukchi, but not very actively.
Kaipanau has a dream. He wants to create educational ethnic centers in Chukotka, where indigenous peoples could re-learn their culture: build kayaks and yarangas, embroider, sing, and dance.
“In the ethnopark, many visitors consider the Chukchi an uneducated and backward people; they think they don't wash and say "however" all the time. They even sometimes tell me that I am not a real Chukchi. But we are real people.”
Life under Abramovich
Having become the governor of Chukotka, for whom more than 90% of voters voted, Abramovich built several cinemas, clubs, schools, and hospitals at his own expense. He provided the veterans with pensions, organized recreation for Chukchi children in the southern resorts. The governor's companies have spent about $1.3 billion on the development of the economy and infrastructure of Chukotka.
The average monthly salary in the Autonomous Okrug under Abramovich increased from 5.7 thousand rubles in 2000 to 19.5 thousand in 2004. In January-July 2005, according to Rosstat, Chukotka, with an average monthly salary of 20,336 rubles, was in fourth place in Russia.
Abramovich's companies were involved in all sectors of the economy of Chukotka - from the food industry to construction and retail. Together with Canadian and British gold miners, gold deposits were developed.
The Far Eastern plenipotentiary of that time, Pulikovsky, spoke about Abramovich: “Our experts calculated that if he leaves, the budget will be reduced from 14 billion to 3 billion, and this is catastrophic for the region. Abramovich's team should stay, they have a plan according to which the economy of Chukotka in 2009 will be able to work independently.
Every morning, Natalia, a 45-year-old resident of the village of Sireniki (she asked not to be named), wakes up at 8 am to go to work at a local school. She is a watchman and a technical worker.
Sireniki, where Natalya has been living for 28 years, is located in the Providensky urban district of Chukotka, on the coast of the Bering Sea. The first Eskimo settlement appeared here about three thousand years ago, and the remains of the dwellings of ancient people are still found in the vicinity of the village. In the 60s of the last century, the Chukchi joined the indigenous people. Therefore, the village has two names: from the Ekimos it is translated as "Valley of the Sun", and from the Chukchi - "Rocky Area".
Sireniki are surrounded by hills, and it is difficult to get here, especially in winter - only by snowmobile or helicopter. From spring to autumn, ships come here. From above, the village looks like a box of colorful candies: green, blue and red cottages, administration building, post office, kindergarten and dispensary. There used to be a lot of dilapidated wooden houses in Sireniki, but a lot has changed, says Natalya, with the arrival of Abramovich.
“My husband and I used to live in a house with stove heating, we had to wash the dishes outside. Then Valera fell ill with tuberculosis, and his attending physician helped us to get a new cottage due to illness. Now we have a renovation.”
Clothes and food
Chukchi men wore kukhlyankas made of double reindeer skin and the same trousers. They pulled a bag made of kamus with sealskin soles over siskins - stockings made of dog skins. A double fawn hat was bordered in front with long-haired wolverine fur, which did not freeze from human breath in any frost, and fur mittens were worn on rawhide straps that were drawn into the sleeves.
The shepherd was as if in a spacesuit. Clothing on women fit the body, below the knees it was tied, forming something like pants. They put it on over the head. Over the top, women wore a wide fur shirt with a hood, which they wore on special occasions like holidays or migrations.
The shepherd always had to protect the livestock of deer, so the livestock breeders and families ate in the summer as vegetarians, and if they ate the deer, then completely, right down to the horns and hooves. They preferred boiled meat, but they often ate it raw: the shepherds in the herd simply did not have time to cook. The settled Chukchi ate the meat of walruses, which were previously killed in huge quantities.
About 500 people live in Sireniki, including border guards and the military. Many people are engaged in traditional sea animal hunting: they go to walruses, whales, and fish. “My husband is a hereditary sea animal hunter. He, along with his eldest son and other colleagues, is part of the Neighboring Community. The community is engaged in fishing for the residents,” says Natalia. - Meat is often given to non-working pensioners for free. Even so, our meat is not as expensive as imported from stores. And it’s also traditional food, we can’t live without it.”
How do people live in Sireniki? According to our interlocutor, it is normal. There are currently about 30 unemployed people in the village. In summer they gather mushrooms and berries, and in winter they catch fish, which they sell or exchange for other products. Natalya's husband receives a pension of 15,700 rubles, while the cost of living here is 15,000. “I myself work without part-time jobs, this month I will receive about 30,000. We, no doubt, live averagely, but somehow I don’t feel that salaries are rising,” - the woman complains, recalling the cucumbers brought to Sireniki at 600 rubles per kilogram.
Sister Natalia, like half of the villagers, works on a rotational basis at the "Dome". This gold deposit, one of the largest in the Far East, is located 450 km from Anadyr. Since 2011, 100% of Kupol's shares have been owned by the Canadian company Kinross Gold. “My sister used to work there as a maid, and now she gives out masks to miners who go down into the mines. They have a gym and a billiard room there! They pay in rubles (the average salary at Kupol is 50,000 rubles - DV), they transfer it to a bank card, ”says Natalya.
The woman knows a little about production, salaries and investments in the region, but often repeats: “The Dome helps us.” The fact is that the Canadian company that owns the deposit created the Social Development Fund back in 2009, which allocates money for socially significant projects. At least a third of the budget goes to support the indigenous peoples of the Autonomous Okrug. For example, Kupol helped publish a dictionary of the Chukchi language, opened courses in indigenous languages, and built a school for 65 children and a kindergarten for 32 in Sireniki.
“My Valera also received a grant,” says Natalia. “Two years ago, Kupol gave him 1.5 million rubles for a huge 20-ton freezer. After all, the whalers will get the beast, there is a lot of meat - it will go bad. And now this camera saves. With the rest of the money, my husband and his colleagues bought tools for building kayaks.”
Natalya, a Chukchi and hereditary reindeer herder, believes that the national culture is now being revived. He says that every Tuesday and Friday at the local village club rehearsals of the Northern Lights ensemble are held; courses of Chukchi and other languages are being opened (albeit in the district center - Anadyr); competitions are held like the Governor's Cup or a regatta in the Barents Sea.
“And this year our ensemble is invited to a grand event - an international festival! Five people will fly to the dance program. It will all be in Alaska, she will pay for the flight and accommodation, ”the woman says. She admits that the Russian state also supports the national culture, but she mentions the "Dome" much more often. Natalya does not know of a domestic fund that would finance the peoples of Chukotka.
“It cannot be said that the socio-economic situation of the Chukchi today is favorable,” says Nina Veysalova, First Vice President of the Association of Small Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East (AMNSS and Far East of the Russian Federation). According to her, an important problem is the closure of national settlements or their merger, which is being done to optimize government spending. Infrastructure and jobs are being reduced, which is why local residents are forced to move to regional centers, to cities: “The usual way of life is breaking down, it is difficult for migrants to adapt to a new place, find work, housing.”
The government of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug denied the fact of the reduction of national settlements to a DV correspondent: "This was not discussed either at the district or at the regional levels."
Another key issue is healthcare. In Chukotka, as in other northern regions, the representative of the Association says, respiratory diseases are very common. But, according to Veysalova's information, TB dispensaries are being closed in national settlements.
“A lot of cancer patients. The previously existing health care system ensured the identification, observation and treatment of sick people from among small peoples, which was enshrined in law. Unfortunately, today such a scheme does not work,” she clarifies. Zhukova, in turn, did not answer the question about the closure of TB dispensaries, but only said that hospitals, outpatient clinics and feldsher-obstetric stations were preserved in every district and locality of Chukotka.
There is a stereotype in Russian society: the Chukchi people drank themselves after the "white man" came to the territory of Chukotka - that is, from the beginning of the last century. The Chukchi have never drunk alcohol, their body does not produce an enzyme that breaks down alcohol, and because of this, the effect of alcohol on their health is more detrimental than that of other peoples. But according to Yevgeny Kaipanau, the level of the problem is greatly overestimated. “With alcohol [among the Chukchi], everything is the same as everywhere else. But they drink less than anywhere else,” he says.
At the same time, says Kaipanau, the Chukchi really did not have an enzyme that breaks down alcohol in the past. “Now, although the enzyme has developed, the people still don’t drink like legends say,” the Chukchi summarizes.
The opinion of Kaipanau is supported by Irina Samorodskaya, Doctor of Medical Sciences of the State Scientific Research Center for Criticism, one of the authors of the report “Mortality and the proportion of deaths in the economically active age from causes related to alcohol (drugs), myocardial infarction and coronary artery disease from all deaths aged 15-72 years” for 2013. According to Rosstat, the document says, the highest death rate from alcohol-related causes is indeed in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug - 268 people per 100,000. But these data, emphasizes Samorodskaya, refer to the entire population of the district.
“Yes, the indigenous people of those territories are the Chukchi, but not only they live there,” she explains. In addition, according to Samorodskaya, Chukotka is higher in all indicators of mortality than other regions - and this is not only alcohol mortality, but also other external causes.
“It’s impossible to say that it was the Chukchi who died from alcohol right now, this is how the system works. First, if people don't want their deceased relative's death certificate to show an alcohol-related cause of death, it won't be shown. Second, the vast majority of deaths occur at home. And there, death certificates are often filled out by a local doctor or even a paramedic, because of which other reasons may be indicated in the documents - it’s easier to write that way, ”explains the professor.
Finally, another serious problem in the region, according to Veysalova, is the relationship between industrial companies and the indigenous local population. “People come as conquerors, disturbing the peace and tranquility of the locals. I think that there should be a regulation on the interaction of companies and nations,” she says.
In turn, Vice Governor Zhukova says that the companies, on the contrary, care about the indigenous population and jointly finance the Kupol fund under a tripartite Memorandum of Cooperation between the Government, RAIPON and mining companies.
Language and religion
The Chukchi living in the tundra called themselves "chavchu" (reindeer). Those who lived on the shore - "ankalyn" (pomor). There is a common self-name of the people - "luoravetlan" (a real person), but it did not take root. About 11,000 people spoke Chukchi 50 years ago. Now their number is decreasing every year. The reason is simple: in Soviet times, writing and schools appeared, but at the same time, a policy of destroying everything national was pursued. Separation from their parents and life in boarding schools forced Chukchi children to know their native language less and less.
The Chukchi have long believed that the world is divided into upper, middle and lower. At the same time, the upper world (“cloudy land”) is inhabited by the “upper people” (in Chukchi - gyrgorramkyn), or the “people of the dawn” (tnargy-ramkyn), and the supreme deity among the Chukchi does not play a serious role. The Chukchi believed that their soul was immortal, believed in reincarnation, and shamanism was widespread among them. Both men and women could be shamans, but the shamans of the "transformed sex" were considered especially strong among the Chukchi - men who acted as housewives, and women who adopted the clothes, activities and habits of men.
Natalya, who lives in Sireniki, misses her son greatly, who studied nine classes at the Sireninsky school, and then graduated from the medical assistant's department in Anadyr and left for St. Petersburg. “I fell in love with this city and stayed. More, of course, those who are leaving,” Natalia sighs. Why did her son leave? It was boring. “I can only fly here on vacation,” said the young man. And it is difficult for Natalya to see him: an elderly father lives in Anadyr, you have to go to him. Because of the expensive tickets, the second flight - already to St. Petersburg - she will not pull.
“I thought that as long as my father is alive, I will go to him. It is important. And in St. Petersburg ... Yes, my son also misses me and is offended. But I am a tundra person - I need to go fishing, pick berries, go to nature ... To my homeland.
800 reindeer herders
counted the authorities of Chukotka in the region from 2011 to 2015. Today their average monthly salary is 24.5 thousand rubles. For comparison: last year, reindeer herders received a thousand less, and in 2011 their salary was 17 thousand rubles. Over the past five years, the state has allocated about 2.5 billion rubles to support reindeer breeding.
