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Sea hunters |
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The first nation meeting the new day on the territory of Russia is the Asian Eskimo (1292 people) who lives at the very edge of Chukotka - on the coast of the Bering Strait and the Gulf of Anadyr.
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Sea animals hunters near a kayak. Chukchi. Kamchatka region |
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Engraved walrus tusk. Chukchi. Primorsky territory. Chukotsky National District. Second half of the 20th century |
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| Sea hunter's robe of marine mammals intestines. Eskimo. The Far East. Chukhotka region. Early 20th century. |
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| Arrows and harpoons for hunting walruses. Aleutians. North-Western America. Late 19th century. |
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Protective cap (a peak) against the sun. Aleutians. Aleutian Islands. Late 19th - early 20th centuries |
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Box of wild rye stems for keeping sewing kit. Aleutians. Aleutian Islands. Late 19th - early 20th centuries. |
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Rug. Eskimo. Chukotka Peninsula. Early 20th century |
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Headdresses
Headdresses made of bird skins, fur or reindeer leg-fur were worn by men and women only when they set off on a journey. But the hunters wear camouflage hats made of hair-seal or seal skins cut from animals' heads.
Aleutian men's hunting headdresses of conic shape fit not only the practical purpose but also a ritual one. The front side protected face from the flecks of sunlight on water and eyes from inflammation. The upper side of such headdresses was usually decorated with the drawings, especially with the scenes of sea hunting, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figures made of bone and sea lion whisker. Number of whiskers was the sign of the hunter's strong points (dignity) because to hunt sea lion was a difficult task. It had only four whiskers and some of the headdresses were decorated with much more whiskers.
Holidays and rites
Sea animals, especially those who provided the people with everything needed for their life during the long period of time were the central figures of the rituals of the Aleutians, Asian Eskimo, Coastal Chuckchi and Koryaks.
The Eskimo, Coastal Chukchi and, partly, Coastal Koryaks venerated the whale. It was greeted as a dear guest, people watered him, fed him, danced in front of him, sang, they arranged a kind of farewell to him with presents and they asked him to bring his fellow whales with him next time.
Thanksgiving rites held in autumn at the end of the fishing and hunting season during several days by the members of each small family and large patriarchal family played an important role in the ritual tradition of the settled population. The central aim was to express gratitude to the "Master or Mistress" of the sea animals for the previous fishing and hunting season and to get luck in the future.
Nowadays, the majority of the holidays of the settled population in the North-Western Siberia is lost because of the significant change the economic activity. They are still in minds of the older generation and in the art pieces of bonecarving.
The Eskimo - the people who faces the early sun
The first people meeting the new day on the territory of Russia is the Asian Eskimo (1292 people) who lives at the very edge of Chukotka - on the coast of the Bering Strait and the Gulf of Anadyr. They are the small part of the numerous polar inhabitants who live beyond the Russian territory. The name of the Eskimo originates from the Indian word "eskimo" ("eating raw meat"). The Eskimo call themselves "yuit" ("people") and "yupiit" ("real people"). The language of the Asian Eskimo is included in the independent Eskimo-Aleutian language family. Their appearance shows that they are typical representatives of the arctic race.
The Aleutians
The Aleutians ("unangan" - this is how they called themselves; 300 people) inhabiting the Komandorskie Islands are their closest relative in language and culture. They are not the native inhabitants of this area; they were resettled there in early 19c. by the Russo-American company from the Aleutian Islands - motherland of the Aleutians.
The Coastal Chukchi
Side by side with the Aleutians there live the Coastal Chukchi ("an'kallyn" - "coastman") who borrowed the Aleutian sea animal fishing tradition. The majority of the chukchi (in general, there are 14,000 Chukchi) is the reindeer breeders and they inhabit the inner areas of the Chukotsky Peninsula, in the Northern Yakutiya and Kamchatka.
Koryaks
Koryaks are the southern neighbors of the Chukchi and they are very similar in culture, language (Chukotka-Kamchatka language group) and anthropological type. There are 7434 people.
Kereks - the mysterious people
The mysterious people -Kereks (about 100 people) - lives on the coast of the Bering Sea, between the capes Natalya and Navarin. Sea hunters and fishermen they are, similar to the Koryaks in culture and language, dissolved among the Chukchi.
Itelmens - Kamchadals
Itelmens (730 people) - fishermen and hunters - live next to the Koryaks , on the western coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. They are the descendants of the native inhabitants of the central and southern parts of Kamchatka, whose culture was well described by the famous researcher of 18 c., S.P. Krasheninnikov.
Hunting whales
People were hunting whales and walruses on certain seasons and seals and eared seals - all year long. Whale fishery was highly developed in The Bering Strait, Gulf of Saint Lawrence, in the Megchimen Bay and near the Chaplino Cape. The whale fishery was a collective occupation. When ice disappeared, sea animals' hunters took the sea in canoes and kayaks.
Hunting weapon was a harpoon with eared seal skin taken as a float.
The peculiarity of the individual minke whale hunting among the Aleutians was that they used plant poison - aconite - and covered spearheads with it.
Hunting seals and walruses
The important object of the Aleutian hunting was seals which fur was highly evaluated at the world's market.
During spring (April-May), summer and autumn (till October) people were hunting walruses, which tusks were very valuable.
In spring and in late autumn the Coastal Chukchi and the Asian Eskimo were hunting them on the floes. Hunters were secretly approaching floes and with spears killed walruses that were lying at the edge. The bodies of the dead animals cut other animals from the sea and they also became hunters' take. During summer walruses were caught afloat or on the rookery.
Hunting small pinnipeds
Eared seal, bearded seal and seals were being caught by stake net in early spring. The nets were pulled down under ice through a hole. As soon as an animal appeared near the breathing hole in ice, he was killed with spears. During the individual hunt the important role played the camouflage clothes.
Products of the sea fishery
Sea fishery gave people meat, edible fat and fat for heating, durable skins for clothes, footwear, housing, boats and belts. The Asian Eskimo in 18c. used strong long bones of whales' jaws as central and side posts, horizontal beams for laying the ceiling and fixing the walls of the half-underground house. Giant spinal bones served for the walls of a long entrance passage, and cranial bones and shoulders were used for the floor.
House
Later on, being influenced by the Chukchi who came from the inner territories and borrowed the culture of sea hunters from the Eskimo, so-called "half-dugout" was replaced by the "yaranga" with a carcass. It was bigger, almost could not be dismantled; its walls were turf-laid.
Utensils
Utensils were very simple. In vessels made of sea animal's float people kept fat, and in wooden tray they served meat. Pails made of sea animals' skins, whale fin or wood were used for water.
Food
Mainly people ate fresh, dried, frozen or sour meat of sea animals. Elastic whale skin was considered to be a delicacy. Plants and roots, laminaria and fresh shellfish supplemented their ration. Reindeer meat, received during goods exchange with the nomadic Chukchi, was highly estimated.
Clothes
Men and women's outer garments was without front cut and looked like a knee-length shirt. Even till 19 c. people wore clothes made of bird skins. Skins of seals and beavers were widely used for working clothes.
During summer and autumn while hunting sea animals people wore kamleika- a type of a hooded raincoat made of sea animals intestines and decorated with fringe made of eared seal fur, stripes of colored leather, bird skins and sea birds beaks.
The Aleutians who reached high level of mastery in producing various woven clothes, women's cloaks were especially beautifully made.
The Eskimo, Chukchi and Koryak women and 6-year-old children wore fur coveralls.
Footwear
Footwear worn in spring and autumn and working footwear had up-turned edges. While making these shoes women bent the edges with their front teeth what made them weak. Such footwear was very valuable and was an object of goods exchange with reindeer breeders as well as it was sold to the American whalemen who preferred this footwear to the European. To some extent this footwear served as a sample of the contemporary footwear on high sole worn all over the world.
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