LIFE
CHUKOTKA
at the Edge of the Sea
History Legends Dancing
Where is she
Chukotka?
Chukotka is the only part of continental Asia located in the Western Hemisphere
The distance from Chukotka to any U.S. city is shorter than the distance to Moscow
The area of the peninsula exceeds 721 thousand km²
Chukotka is a really big, remote and cold region of Russia. Almost the entire territory of the region is above the Arctic Circle, so winter here lasts almost 10 months
The Chukchi Peninsula was named after the Chukchi people, its indigenous inhabitants. In English it is so called - Chukchi peninsula, or "Chukchi Peninsula"
The region is incredibly beautiful and differs from most of Russia not
only in its rich fauna and flora, but also in its unique, distinctive sights
A man in Chukotka is neither a master nor
an adversary of nature, he is an integral part of it. This connection pervades all folklore, whether it be everyday tales or legends of the creation of the world..
Unlike the mysterious and mythical Atlantis, Beringia, which went under water about 10,000 years ago, is a historical reality
About 10,000 years ago, ice freed the valleys and plateaus of Chukotka, North America, and Beringia, which was slowly sinking. Ocean waves slammed into its vast expanses. As a result of the movement of the Earth's crust, the two oceans - the Arctic and Pacific - closed, forming the Bering Strait, and the two continents - Eurasia and America - were separated.
Who they are
Chukchi?
The Chukchi are the indigenous people of Chukotka, who settled here back in the fourth or third millennium B.C. The quiet life ended with the arrival of the Russian explorers in the late seventeenth century. Bloody battles lasted for almost a century, ending in a complete and unconditional victory of the indigenous people.
American scientists have discovered genes in them that allow the cells to release additional heat.
Why aren't the Chukchi freezing?
For centuries, the main food of the people has been boiled meat, plants, berries and roots. Until recently, the most common dish found in any family was monialo. This is half-digested moss extracted from the stomach of a killed deer. It was served together with blood, finely chopped meat and fat.
Chukchi names?
Chukchi believe very much in evil spirits, so they use different ways to deceive them. In the past, girls were often given male names and boys were given female names.
Typical male Chukchi names are Aleleke, Imryn, Atch-ytagyn, Alyapenryn; female names are Iv-navyt, Penr-ynna and Tyna-tval
The indigenous population of the peninsula, the Chukchi, use the decimal system of notation.
Food?
It is almost unique - only the Chukchi and Maya, the indigenous inhabitants of Central and South America, used it.
The cultural heroes of the mythical stories of the Nordic peoples are birds, animals, people, as well as mythical lords of the upper world, sea, wind and sun.
After finishing the day's activities, people gather around the fire to listen to the narrator. A beautiful legend about
a girl who fell in love with a whale and followed it out to sea? Or perhaps a funny story about a cunning raven?
Creator of Chukotka
The sun, moon and stars were hidden in leather balls and were in the spirit woman's yaranga.
The ancient Chukchi legends tell that the ancestor of the people was Kurkyl the raven.
Thanks to her and many northern animals, life appeared
on earth.
The Chukchi were created by Kurkyl first, and the other peoples (Koryaks, Evenks) appeared later, already as Chukchi helpers.
In order to free the luminaries, the hero went for
a trick and, turning into a needle, fell into the water, which the woman later drank.
After a while she gave birth to Raven, who later asked for balls to play with and tore open the shell, freeing the luminaries.
At the same time, Kuth himself turned black as he was scorched by the sun.
The tale of the whale, known throughout the Chukchi - the legend of the origin of the coastal people, the whale man Rheu and the girl Nau, his wife.
None of the people remembered how old she was. They only wondered at her immortality.
- I live because there is Great Love," said Nahu.
This legend was the basis for a work by the famous Chukchi writer Yuri Rytkheu When the whales go away.man
Rheu and the girl Nau, his wife.
Once upon a time, there lived a girl who couldn't speak and didn't understand what made her different from other animals and birds. But Great Love came into her life - she met a whale, which,
in the name of Love, gave up sea freedom.
He came out to Earth, turned into a man, and became the progenitor of all the seaside people. The first children of Nahu and Rheu were kittens, and like their father, they became inhabitants of the sea.
The other children were human, like Nau herself. Their parents taught their children and grandchildren that humans and whales were one people. Many years later, Rheu, died, leaving Nau alone.
Great Love
About dancing
The plasticity of Chukchi dances
is based on imitation, imitating the behavior of animals, which are the main object of hunting.
The Chukchi achieved true perfection in depicting animals and birds, being able to convey a precise idea of an animal with one or two movements.
According to fragmentary information, dances were performed in the cold part of the dwelling around the hearth on all days
of the feast.
The host started them, then his wife joined them,
and then all people present joined in.
The participants wore a top dress made of walrus entrails - kamleika. The host and hostess wore special ceremonial headdresses.
A comparison of the ceremonial dances of the reindeer
and coastal Chukchi shows that both were based on the
desire to placate the spirits.
The welfare of the former depended mainly on the state
of their herds and of the latter on the hunting of sea animals, hence the differences in the elements of rituals, including dances, the essence of which is the same.
A comparison of the ceremonial dances of the reindeer and coastal Chukchi shows that both were based on the desire to placate the spirits. The welfare
of the former depended mainly on the state of their herds
and of the latter on the hunting of sea animals, hence the differences
in the elements of rituals, including dances, the essence
of which is the same.
Dancing existed among Chukchi ancestors
as early as the first millennium B.C.
in pictures
Chukotka
Chukotka became for P. Kondratiev a cosmos, a kind of evolution of consciousness.
The magic of the epically boundless tundra and the cold Arctic Ocean, the images of the inhabitants of a distant land did not leave the artist for many years.
The artist brought home the word "ahna," meaning "he who is beyond the horizon" to the Chukchi, and often used it in reference to individual paintings and works.
On the basis of their mythology, it would be possible to develop more than one such system, the valor of the northern warriors does not pale in the least before the notorious "northern courage" (and do you call this the north?), and their fairy tales and myths can become material for an amazing fantasy that will have no equal.
Even a cursory review of the mythology, history and worldview of the Chukchi is enough to experience acute annoyance that this people did not receive the same popularity as the Indians of Don Juan, Vikings, or Celts.
Author of the project
Elena Lebedeva
This site was created as part of a course on creative layout
Melnik-Vasilyev for non-commercial use.
All materials are taken from the public domain. The nature photos are the author's and were taken in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
in the village of Beringovsky.
