Chukchi (self-name - lyg'o ravetl'an) is a distorted Chukchi word "chavchu" (rich in deer), which Russians and Lamuts call a people living in the extreme north-east of Russia. The Chukchi were divided into reindeer - tundra nomadic reindeer herders (the self-name Chauchu - “reindeer man”) and coastal - sedentary hunters of sea animals (the self-name Ankalyn - “coastal”), living together with the Eskimos.

The Chukchi encountered Russians for the first time back in XVII century. In 1644, the Cossack Stadukhin, who was the first to bring news of them to Yakutsk, founded the Nizhnekolymsk fort. The Chukchi, who at that time were wandering both east and west of the Kolyma River, after a persistent, bloody struggle, finally left the left bank of the Kolyma, pushing the Mamalli 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 the Kolyma River in the west and Anadyr in the south, from the Amur region, have not stopped. In 1770, after Shestakov’s unsuccessful campaign, the Anadyr fort, which served as the center of the Russian struggle against the Chukchi, was destroyed and its team was transferred to Nizhne-Kolymsk, after which the Chukchi began to be less hostile towards the Russians and gradually began to enter into trade relations with them.

In 1775, the Angarsk fortress was built on the Angarka River, where, under the protection of the Cossacks, an annual fair for barter trade with the Chukchi took place. Since 1848, the fair was moved to the Anyui fortress (250 versts from Nizhne-Kolymsk, on the banks of the Maly Anyui). The Chukchi brought here not only the everyday products of their own production (clothing made from reindeer furs, reindeer 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 nose Chukchi exchanged for tobacco with the inhabitants of the shores of the Bering Sea and the northwestern coast of America.

TO end of the XVIII century, the territory of the Chukchi extended from Omolon, Bolshoy and Maly Anyuy in the west to the Penzhin and Olyutor nomads in the southeast. Gradually it increased, which was accompanied by the identification of territorial groups: Kolyma, Anyui, or Maloanyu, Chaun, Omolon, Amguem, or Amguem-Vonkarem, Kolyuchino-Mechigmen, Onmylensk, Tumansk, 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. Reindeer provide the Chukchi with almost everything they need: meat for cooking, skins for clothing and housing, and are also used as traction animals.

The main occupation of the coastal Chukchi is hunting sea animals: in winter and spring - seals and seals, in summer and autumn - walruses and whales. 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. To this day, only bird hunting with the help of a “bol” has been preserved. Fishing is developed only among some Chukchi. Women and children also collect edible plants.

Traditional Chukchi dishes are mainly prepared from venison and fish.

The main dwelling of the Chukchi is a collapsible cylindrical-conical tent-yaranga made of reindeer skins among the tundra Chukchi and walrus among the coastal Chukchi. The vault rests on three poles located in the center. The home was heated with a stone, clay or wooden fat lamp, on which food was also prepared. The yaranga of the coastal Chukchi differed from the dwellings of the reindeer herders in the absence of a smoke hole.

The Chukchi type is mixed, generally Mongoloid, but with some differences. Eyes with an oblique cut are less common than eyes with a horizontal cut; the width of the cheekbones is smaller than among the Tungus and Yakuts, and more often than among the latter; there are individuals with thick facial hair and wavy, almost curly hair on their heads; complexion with a bronze tint.

Among women, the type with wide cheekbones, a blurry nose and everted nostrils is more common. The mixed type (Asian-American) is confirmed by some legends, myths and differences in the peculiarities of life of the reindeer and coastal Chukchi.

Chukchi winter clothing is of the usual polar type. It is sewn from the fur of fawns (grown up autumn calf) and for men consists of a double fur shirt (the lower one with the fur towards the body and the upper one with the fur outward), the same double pants, short fur stockings with the same boots and a hat in the form of a woman's bonnet. Women's clothing is completely unique, also double, consisting of seamlessly sewn trousers together with a low-cut bodice, cinched at the waist, with a slit on the chest and extremely wide sleeves, thanks to which the Chukchi can easily free their hands while working.

Summer outerwear includes robes made of reindeer suede or colorful purchased fabrics, as well as kamleikas made of fine-haired deer skin with various ritual stripes. Most of the Chukchi jewelry - pendants, headbands, necklaces (in the form of straps with beads and figurines) - have religious significance, but there are also real jewelry in the form of metal bracelets and earrings.

The original pattern on the clothes of the coastal Chukchi is of Eskimo origin; from the Chukchi it passed to many polar peoples of Asia. Hair styling 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 onto 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.

According to their beliefs, the Chukchi are animists; they personify and deify certain areas and natural phenomena (masters of the forest, water, fire, sun, deer), many animals (bear, crow), stars, sun and moon, believe in hosts of evil spirits causing all earthly disasters, including diseases and death, have whole line regular holidays (autumn festival of deer slaughter, spring festival of antlers, winter sacrifice to the star Altair) and many irregular ones (feeding the fire, sacrifices after each hunt, funeral services for the dead, votive services).

The 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 observed in it. Phonetics is very difficult for the European ear.

The main mental traits of the Chukchi are extremely easy excitability, reaching the point of frenzy, a tendency to murder and suicide at the slightest provocation, love of independence, perseverance in the fight; At the same time, 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 Chukchi, became famous for their sculptural and carved images of mammoth bone, striking in their fidelity to nature and boldness of poses and strokes and reminiscent of the wonderful bone images of the Paleolithic period. Traditional musical instruments - jew's harp (khomus), tambourine (yarar). In addition to ritual dances, improvised entertaining pantomime dances were also common.

Chukchi, Chukots or Luoravetlans. A small indigenous people of the extreme northeast of Asia, scattered over a vast territory from the Bering Sea to the Indigirka River and from the Arctic Ocean to the Anadyr and Anyui rivers. The number according to the All-Russian Population Census of 2002 is 15,767 people, according to the All-Russian Population Census of 2010 - 15,908 people.

Origin

Their name, which the Russians, Yakuts and Evens call them, was adapted in the 17th century. Russian explorers used the Chukchi word chauchu [ʧawʧəw] (rich in deer), by which name the Chukchi reindeer herders call themselves in contrast to the coastal Chukchi dog breeders - ankalyn (seaside, Pomors - from anki (sea)). Self-name - oravetӓеt (people, singular oravetғеt) or ԓыгъоруватӓет [ɬəɣʔoráwətɬʔǝt] (real people, singular ԓыгъорува policies [ɬəɣʔoráwətɬʔǝn] - in Russian translation luora vetlan). The neighbors of the Chukchi are the Yukaghirs, Evens, Yakuts and Eskimos (on the shores of the Bering Strait).

The mixed type (Asian-American) is confirmed by some legends, myths and differences in the peculiarities of life of the reindeer and coastal Chukchi: the latter, for example, have an American-style dog harness. Final decision The question of ethnographic origin depends on a comparative study of the Chukchi language and the languages ​​of nearby American peoples. One of the language experts, V. Bogoraz, found it closely related not only to the language of the Koryaks and Itelmens, but also to the language of the Eskimos. Until very recently, based on their language, the Chukchi were classified as Paleo-Asians, that is, a group of marginal peoples of Asia, whose languages ​​stand completely apart from all other linguistic groups of the Asian continent, pushed out in very distant times from the middle of the continent to the northeastern outskirts.

Anthropology

The Chukchi type is mixed, generally Mongoloid, but with some differences. Racial type The Chukchi, according to Bogoraz, are characterized by some differences. Eyes with an oblique cut are less common than eyes with a horizontal cut; there are individuals with thick facial hair and wavy, almost curly hair on their heads; face with a bronze tint; body color is devoid of a yellowish tint; large, correct features face, forehead high and straight; the nose is large, straight, sharply defined; the eyes are large and widely spaced. Some researchers noted the height, strength and broad shoulders of the Chukchi. Genetically, the Chukchi reveal their relationship with the Yakuts and Nenets: Haplogroup N (Y-DNA)1c1 is found in 50% of the population, and Haplogroup C (Y-DNA) (close to the Ainu and Itelmen) is also widespread.

Story

The modern ethnogenetic scheme allows us to evaluate the Chukchi as the aborigines of continental Chukotka. Their ancestors formed here at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. e. The basis of the culture of this population was hunting for wild deer, which existed here in fairly stable natural and climatic conditions until late XVII- beginning of the 18th century. The Chukchi first encountered Russians back in the 17th century on the Alazeya River. In 1644, the Cossack Mikhail Stadukhin, who was the first to bring news of them to Yakutsk, founded the Nizhnekolymsk fort. The Chukchi, who at that time were wandering both east and west of the Kolyma, after a bloody struggle finally left the left bank of the Kolyma, pushing back 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 have continued between the Russians and the Chukchi, whose territory bordered on the Russian along the Kolyma River in the west and Anadyr in the south, from the Amur region (for more details, see Annexation of Chukotka to Russia).

In 1770, after a series of military campaigns, including the unsuccessful campaign of Shestakov (1730), the Anadyr fort, which served as the center of the Russian struggle against the Chukchi, was destroyed and its team was transferred to Nizhnekolymsk, after which the Chukchi became less hostile to the Russians and gradually began to join into trade relations with them. In 1775, on the Angarka River, a tributary of the Bolshoi Anyui, the Angarsk fortress was built, where, under the protection of the Cossacks, an annual fair for barter trade with the Chukchi took place.

Since 1848, the fair was moved to the Anyui fortress (about 250 km from Nizhnekolymsk, on the banks of the Maly Anyui). Until the first half of the 19th century century, when European goods were delivered to the territory of the Chukchi by the only land route through Yakutsk, the Anyui Fair had a turnover of hundreds of thousands of rubles. The Chukchi brought for sale not only ordinary products of their own production (clothing made from reindeer fur, reindeer skins, live deer, seal skins, whalebone, polar bear skins), but also the most expensive furs - sea otters, martens, black foxes, blue foxes, which the so-called nose Chukchi exchanged for tobacco with the inhabitants of the shores of the Bering Sea and the northwestern coast of America.

With the advent of American whalers in the waters of the Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean, as well as with the delivery of goods to Gizhiga by ships of the voluntary fleet (in the 1880s), the largest turnover of the Anyui Fair ceased, and to end of the 19th century century, it began to serve only the needs of the local Kolyma trade, with a turnover of no more than 25 thousand rubles.

Farm

Initially, the Chukchi were simply reindeer hunters, but over time (shortly before the arrival of the Russians) they mastered reindeer husbandry, which became the basis of their economy.

The main occupation of the coastal Chukchi is hunting sea animals: in winter and spring - seals and seals, in summer and autumn - walruses and whales. They hunted seals alone, crawling up to them, camouflaging themselves and imitating the movements of the animal. The walrus was hunted in groups of several canoes. Traditional hunting weapons are a harpoon with a float, a spear, a belt net; since the second half of the 19th century, firearms have spread, and hunting methods have become simpler.

Life of the Chukchi

In the 19th century, Chukchi reindeer herders lived in camps of 2-3 houses. Migrations were carried out as the reindeer food became depleted. In the summer, some go down to the sea. The Chukchi clan is agnatic, united by a commonality of fire, consanguinity in the male line, common totem sign, ancestral revenge and religious rites. Marriage is predominantly endogamous, individual, often polygamous (2-3 wives); among a certain circle of relatives and brothers-in-arms, mutual use of wives is allowed, by agreement; levirate is also common. Kalym does not exist. Chastity does not matter for a girl.

The dwelling - yaranga - is a large tent of irregular polygonal shape, covered with panels of reindeer skins, with the fur facing out. Resistance against wind pressure is provided by stones tied to the pillars and cover of the hut. The fireplace is in the middle of the hut and surrounded by sleighs with household supplies. The actual living space, where the Chukchi eat, drink and sleep, consists of a small rectangular fur tent-canopy, fixed at the back wall of the tent and sealed tightly from the floor. The temperature in this cramped room, heated by the animal warmth of its inhabitants and partly by a fat lamp, is so high that the Chukchi strip naked in it.

Until the end of the 20th century, the Chukchi distinguished between heterosexual men, heterosexual men who wore women's clothing, homosexual men who wore women's clothing, heterosexual women and women who wore men's clothing. At the same time, wearing clothes could also mean performing corresponding social functions.

Chukchi clothing is of the usual polar type. It is sewn from the fur of fawns (grown up autumn calf) and for men consists of a double fur shirt (the lower one with the fur towards the body and the upper one with the fur outward), the same double pants, short fur stockings with the same boots and a hat in the form of a woman's bonnet. Women's clothing is completely unique, also double, consisting of seamlessly sewn trousers together with a low-cut bodice, cinched at the waist, with a slit on the chest and extremely wide sleeves, thanks to which Chukchi women can easily free their hands while working. Summer outerwear includes robes made of reindeer suede or colorful purchased fabrics, as well as kamleikas made of fine-haired deer skin with various ritual stripes. The infant's costume consists of a reindeer bag with blind branches for the arms and legs. Instead of diapers, a layer of moss with reindeer hair is placed, which absorbs feces, which are removed daily through a special valve attached to the opening of the bag.

Women's hairstyles consist of braids braided on both sides of the head, decorated with beads and buttons. 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.

Wooden, stone and iron tools

In the 18th century stone axes, spear and arrowheads, and bone knives were almost completely replaced with metal ones. Utensils, tools and weapons are currently used mainly European (metal cauldrons, teapots, iron knives, guns, etc.), but even today in the life of the Chukchi there are many remnants of recent primitive culture: bone shovels, hoes, drills, bone and stone arrows, spearheads, etc., a compound bow of the American type, slings made of knuckles, armor made of leather and iron plates, stone hammers, scrapers, knives, a primitive projectile for making fire by means of friction, primitive lamps in the form of a round flat vessel made of soft stone, filled with seal fat, etc. Their light sleds, with arched supports instead of spears, adapted only for sitting astride them, have been preserved primitive. The sled is harnessed either to a pair of reindeer (among the reindeer Chukchi), or to dogs, according to the American model (among the coastal Chukchi).

With the advent of Soviet power, schools, hospitals, cultural institutions. A written language was created. The Chukchi literacy level (ability to write and read) does not differ from the national average.

Chukotka cuisine

The basis of the Chukchi diet was boiled meat (reindeer, seal, whale); they also ate leaves and bark of the polar willow (emrat), seaweed, sorrel, shellfish and berries. In addition to traditional meat, the blood and entrails of animals were also used as food. Raw-frozen meat was widespread. Unlike the Tungus and Yukagirs, the Chukchi practically did not eat fish. Among the drinks, the Chukchi preferred herbal decoctions such as tea.

A unique dish is the so-called monyalo - half-digested moss extracted from a large deer stomach; Various canned food and fresh dishes are made from monyal. Semi-liquid stew made from monyal, blood, fat and finely chopped meat until very recently was the most common type of hot food.

Holidays

The reindeer Chukchi held several holidays: the slaughter of young reindeer in August, the installation of a winter home (feeding the constellation Pegyttin - the star Altair and Zore from the constellation Eagle), the division of herds in the spring (separation of the female deer from the young bulls), the festival of horns (Kilvey) in the spring after the calving of the female reindeer, sacrifices to fire, etc. Once or twice a year, each family celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday.

Chukchi religion

The religious beliefs of the Chukchi are expressed in amulets (pendants, headbands, necklaces in the form of straps with beads). Painting the face with the blood of the murdered victim, with the image of a hereditary-tribal sign - a totem, also has ritual significance. The original pattern on the quivers and clothes of the coastal Chukchi is of Eskimo origin; from the Chukchi it passed to many polar peoples of Asia.

According to their beliefs, the Chukchi are animists; they personify and idolize certain areas and natural phenomena (masters of the forest, water, fire, sun, deer, etc.), many animals (bear, crow), stars, sun and moon, believe in hosts of evil spirits that cause all earthly disasters, including illness and death, have a number of regular holidays (the autumn festival of deer slaughter, the spring festival of antlers, the winter sacrifice to the star Altair, the ancestor of the Chukchi, etc.) and many irregular ones (feeding the fire, sacrifices after each hunt, funerals of the dead, votive ministries, etc.). Each family, in addition, has its own family shrines: hereditary projectiles for producing sacred fire through friction for famous festivals, one for each family member (the bottom plate of the projectile represents a figure with the head of the owner of fire), then bundles of wooden knots of “misfortune removers”, wooden images of ancestors and, finally, a family tambourine, since the Chukchi ritual with a tambourine is not the property of only specialist shamans. The latter, having sensed their calling, experience a preliminary period of a kind of involuntary temptation, fall into deep thought, wander without food or sleep for whole days until they receive real inspiration. Some die from this crisis; some receive a suggestion to change their gender, that is, a man should turn into a woman, and vice versa. Those transformed take on the clothing and lifestyle of their new gender, even marrying, getting married, etc.

The dead are either burned or wrapped in layers of raw deer meat and left in the field, having first cut into the throat and chest of the deceased and pulled out part of the heart and liver. First, the deceased is dressed, fed and told fortunes, forcing him to answer questions. Old people often kill themselves in advance or, at their request, are killed by close relatives.

A baydara is a boat built without a single nail, effective for hunting sea animals.
Most Chukchi by the beginning of the 20th century were baptized in Russian Orthodox Church However, among the nomadic people there are remnants of traditional beliefs (shamanism).

Voluntary death

Difficult living conditions and malnutrition led to such a phenomenon as voluntary death.

Anticipating many speculations, the ethnographer writes:

The reason for the voluntary death of old people is not a lack of good attitude to them from relatives, but rather the difficult conditions of their life. These conditions make life completely unbearable for anyone who is unable to take care of themselves. Not only the elderly resort to voluntary death, but also those suffering from some incurable disease. The number of such patients dying a voluntary death is no less than the number of old people.

Folklore

The Chukchi have a rich oral folk art, which is also expressed in the art of stone bone. The main genres of folklore: myths, fairy tales, historical legends, tales and everyday stories. One of the main characters was the raven - Kurkyl, a cultural hero. Many legends and fairy tales have been preserved, such as “Keeper of the Fire”, “Love”, “When do the whales leave?”, “God and the Boy”. Let's give an example of the latter:

One family lived in the tundra: a father, a mother, and two children, a boy and a girl. The boy herded the reindeer, and the girl helped her mother with housework. One morning, the father woke up his daughter and ordered her to light a fire and make tea.

The girl came out of the canopy, and God caught her and ate her, and then ate her father and mother. The boy returned from the herd. Before entering the yaranga, I looked through the hole to see what was going on there. And he sees God sitting on an extinguished fireplace and playing in the ashes. The boy shouted to him: “Hey, what are you doing?” - Nothing, come here. A boy entered the yaranga and they began to play. The boy plays, and he looks around, looking for his relatives. He understood everything and said to God: “Play alone, I’ll go to the wind!” He ran out of the yaranga. Untied the two most angry dogs and ran with them into the forest. He climbed a tree and tied the dogs under the tree. God played and played, he wanted to eat and went to look for the boy. He goes and sniffs the trail. I reached the tree. He wanted to climb a tree, but the dogs caught him, tore him into pieces and ate him.

And the boy came home with his herd and became the owner.

Historical legends have preserved stories about wars with neighboring Eskimo tribes.

Folk dances

Despite the difficult living conditions, the people found time for holidays, where the tambourine was not only a ritual, but also simply a musical instrument, the tunes of which were passed on from generation to generation. Archaeological evidence suggests that dances existed among the ancestors of the Chukchi back in the 1st millennium BC. This is evidenced by petroglyphs discovered beyond the Arctic Circle in Chukotka and studied by archaeologist N. N. Dikov.

All dances can be divided into ritual-ritual, imitative-imitative dances, staged dances (pantomimes), playful and improvisational (individual), as well as dances of the reindeer and coastal Chukchi.

A striking example of ritual dances was the celebration of the “First Slaughter of the Deer”:

After the meal, all the tambourines belonging to the family, hanging on the poles of the threshold behind a curtain of raw skins, are removed, and the ritual begins. The tambourines are played by all family members in turn for the rest of the day. When all the adults finish, children take their place and, in turn, continue to beat the tambourines. While playing tambourines, many adults call upon “spirits” and try to induce them to enter their body….

Imitative dances were also common, reflecting the habits of animals and birds: “Crane”, “Crane looks for food”, “Crane Flight”, “Crane looks around”, “Swan”, “Seagull Dance”, “Raven”, “Bull (deer) fight )", "Dance of the Ducks", "Bullfight during the Rut", "Looking Out", "Running of the Deer".

Trade dances played a special role as a type of group marriage, as V. G. Bogoraz writes, they served on the one hand new connection between families, on the other hand, old family ties are strengthened.

Language, writing and literature

Main article: Chukchi writing
By origin, the Chukchi language belongs to the Chukchi-Kamchatka group of Paleo-Asian languages. Closest relatives: Koryak, Kerek (disappeared at the end of the 20th century), Alyutor, Itelmen, etc. Typologically, it belongs to the incorporating languages ​​(a word-morpheme acquires a specific meaning only depending on its place in the sentence, and can be significantly deformed depending on the conjugation with other members of the sentence).

In the 1930s The Chukchi shepherd Teneville created an original ideographic writing (samples are kept in the Kunstkamera - Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences), which, however, never came into widespread use. Since the 1930s The Chukchi use an alphabet based on the Cyrillic alphabet with the addition of a few letters. Chukotka literature is created mainly in Russian (Yu. S. Rytkheu and others).

Every nation living far from civilization has traditions and customs that seem at least strange to the uninitiated. Now, in the era of globalization, the originality of small nations is rapidly eroding, but some centuries-old foundations are still preserved. 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 responsibility 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 strive to enter into such an alliance with rich friends and neighbors.


Ethnographer Vladimir Bogoraz wrote: “When entering into a group marriage, men sleep without asking, interspersed with other people’s wives. The Chukchi wife exchange is usually limited to only one or two friends; however, examples are not uncommon when such close relationships are maintained with many.”


Children born into families in group marriage relationships are considered siblings. And all members of the extended family take care of them. So group marriage is a real salvation for childless couples: a friend will always help an infertile man to have children. And the birth of a baby for the Chukchi is always a very joyful event, regardless of who his biological father is.

The northernmost region of the Far East is the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Its territory is home to several indigenous peoples who came there thousands of years ago. Most of all in Chukotka there are Chukchi themselves - about 15 thousand. For a long time, they roamed throughout the peninsula, herding deer, hunting whales and living in yarangas.
Now many reindeer herders and hunters have turned into housing and communal services workers, and yarangas and kayaks have been replaced by ordinary houses with heating.
Cucumbers for 600 rubles per kilogram and a dozen eggs for 200 – modern consumer realities in remote areas of Chukotka. Fur production is closed, as it does not fit into capitalism, and the extraction of venison, although still going on, is subsidized by the state - deer meat cannot compete even with expensive beef, which is brought from the “mainland”. A similar story is with the renovation of housing stock: it is not profitable 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 healthcare - the Soviet system collapsed, and a new one has not really been created.

The ancestors of the Chukchi appeared in the tundra before our era. Presumably, they came from the territory of Kamchatka and the present Magadan region, then moved through the Chukchi Peninsula towards the Bering Strait and stopped there.

Faced with the Eskimos, the Chukchi adopted their marine hunting trade, subsequently displacing them from the Chukotka Peninsula. At the turn of the millennium, the Chukchi learned reindeer husbandry from the nomads of the Tungus group - the Evens and Yukaghirs.

“Now it is no easier to get into the reindeer herders’ camps of Chukotka than in the time of Tan Bogoraz (the 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 national villages by plane. But then from the village to get to a specific reindeer herding brigade in right time very difficult,” explains Puya. Reindeer herders' camps are constantly moving, and over long distances. There are no roads to get to their camp sites: they have to travel on tracked all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles, sometimes on reindeer and dog sleds. In addition, reindeer herders strictly observe the timing of migrations, the time of their rituals and holidays.

Vladimir Puya

Hereditary reindeer herder Puya insists that reindeer husbandry is “ business card» region and indigenous people. But now the Chukchi generally live differently from how they used to: crafts and traditions fade into the background, and they are replaced by the typical life of remote regions of Russia.
“Our culture suffered greatly in the 70s, when the authorities decided that it was expensive to maintain high schools with a full complement of teachers 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 were 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 summer holidays. And therefore they lost comprehensive, 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 there is no need for us to know our culture.”

Life of reindeer herders

The geography of the Chukchi initially depended on the movement of wild reindeer. People spent the winter in the south of Chukotka, and in the summer they escaped 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 along lakes and rivers. The Chukchi lived in yarangas. The winter yaranga, which was made from reindeer skins, was stretched over a wooden frame. The snow from under it was cleared to the ground. The floor was covered with branches, on which skins were laid in two layers. An iron stove with a pipe was installed in the corner. They slept in yarangas in dolls made of 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 new – semi-permanent – ​​housing. This was done for the convenience of transporting goods by sea. They did the same with the camps. At the same time, new jobs arose for indigenous residents, and hospitals, schools, and cultural centers 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 20th century.

Now residents of Konergino send letters at the post office, shop in two stores (Nord and Katyusha), call “the mainland” from the only landline telephone in the entire village, sometimes go to the local cultural club, and use the medical outpatient clinic. However, the residential buildings of the village are in disrepair and major renovation are not subject to “Firstly, they don’t give us much money, and secondly, due to the complex transport scheme, it is difficult to deliver materials to the village,” said the head of the settlement, Alexander Mylnikov, several years ago. According to him, if previously the housing stock in Konergino was repaired by utility workers, now they have neither building materials nor labor. “It is expensive to deliver construction materials to the village; the contractor spends about half of the allocated funds on transportation costs. The builders refuse, it is not profitable for them to work with us,” he complained.

About 330 people live in Konergino. Of these, there are about 70 children: most go to school. Fifty people work in housing and communal services local residents, and the school - together with the kindergarten - employs 20 educators, teachers, nannies and cleaners. 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 for which the Konergins were famous.

“We no longer have marine hunting. According to capitalist rules, it is not profitable,” says Puya. “The fur farms closed, and the fur trade was quickly forgotten. In the 90s, fur production in Konergino collapsed.” All that remains is reindeer husbandry: in Soviet times and until the mid-2000s, while Roman Abramovich remained as governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, it was successful here.

There are 51 reindeer herders working in Konergino, of which 34 work in brigades in the tundra. According to Pui, reindeer herders' incomes are extremely low. “This is an unprofitable industry, there is not enough money for salaries. The state covers the lack of funds so that the salary is higher than the subsistence level, which in our case is 13 thousand. The reindeer farm that employs the workers pays them approximately 12.5 thousand. The state pays up to 20 thousand extra so that the reindeer herders don’t die of hunger,” complains Puya.

When asked why it is impossible to pay more, Puya replies that the cost of producing venison on 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 300 rubles - at a loss. “There is no point in capitalist development of this industry,” says Puya. “But this is the last thing left in the national villages.”

Evgeny Kaipanau, a 36-year-old Chukchi, was born in Lorino into the family of the most respected whaler. “Lorino” (in Chukchi – “Lauren”) is translated from Chukchi as “found camp”. The settlement stands on the shore of Mechigmenskaya Bay of the Bering Sea. Several 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 only if the weather is good. Lorino is covered from the north by hills, so there are more windless days here than in neighboring villages. True, despite relatively good weather conditions, in the 90s almost all Russian residents left Lorino, and since then only Chukchi have lived there - about 1,500 people.

The houses in Lorino are rickety wooden buildings with peeling walls and faded paint. In the center of the village there are several cottages built by Turkish workers - insulated buildings with cold water, which in Lorino is considered a privilege (if you run cold water through ordinary pipes, it will freeze in winter). There is hot water in the entire settlement, because the local boiler house is working all year round. But there is no hospital or clinic here - for several years now people have been sent for medical care by air ambulance or on all-terrain vehicles.

Lorino is famous for its marine mammal hunting. It’s not for nothing that the documentary film “Whaler” was filmed here in 2008, which received the TEFI prize. Hunting sea animals is still an important activity for local residents. Whalers not only feed their families or earn money by selling meat to the local trapping community, they also honor the traditions of their ancestors.

Since childhood, Kaipanau knew how to properly 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 travel, climate change and flights, Kaipanau decided to finally move to Moscow. There he got married, his daughter was nine months old. “I try to instill my creativity and culture in my wife,” says Evgeniy. “Although many things seemed wild to her before, especially when she found out the conditions in which my people live. I instill traditions and customs in my daughter, for example, showing national clothes. I want her to know that she is a hereditary Chukchi.”

Evgeny now rarely appears in Chukotka: he tours and represents the Chukchi culture around the world together with his ensemble “Nomad”. In the ethnopark “Nomad” of the same name near Moscow, where Kaipanau works, he conducts thematic excursions and shows documentaries about Chukotka, including Vladimir Pui.

But living far from his homeland does not prevent him from knowing about many things happening in Lorino: his mother remains there, she works in the city administration. Thus, he is sure that young people are drawn to those traditions that are being lost in other regions of the country. “Culture, language, hunting skill. Young people in Chukotka, including young people from our village, are learning to catch whales. Our people live with this all the time,” says Kaipanau.

IN summer season The Chukchi hunted whales and walruses, and in winter, seals. They hunted with harpoons, knives and spears. Whales and walruses were hunted together, but seals were hunted individually. The Chukchi caught fish with nets made of whale and deer tendons or leather belts, nets and bits. In winter - in an ice hole, in summer - from the shore or from kayaks. In addition, until the beginning of the 19th century, bears and wolves, rams and moose, wolverines, foxes and arctic foxes were hunted with bows, spears and traps. Waterfowl were killed with a throwing weapon (bola) and darts with a throwing plank. From the second half of the 19th century, guns began to be used, and then whaling firearms.

Products imported from the mainland are available in the village huge money. “They bring “golden” eggs for 200 rubles. I’m generally silent about grapes,” adds Kaipanau. Prices reflect the sad socio-economic situation in Lorino. There are few places in the settlement where one can show professionalism and university skills. “But the situation of the people is, in principle, normal,” the interlocutor immediately clarifies. “After Abramovich’s arrival (from 2001 to 2008), things became much better: more jobs appeared, houses were rebuilt, and first aid stations were established.” Kaipanau recalls how whalers he knew “came, took the governor’s motor boats for free and left.” “Now they live and enjoy,” he says. The federal authorities, according to him, 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 relearn their culture: build kayaks and yarangas, embroider, sing, dance.
“In the ethnopark, many visitors consider the Chukchi to be an uneducated and backward people; They think that they don’t wash and constantly say “however.” They even sometimes tell me that I am not a real Chukchi. But we are real people.”

Every morning, Natalya, a 45-year-old resident of the village of Sireniki (who asked that her last name not be used), wakes up at 8 a.m. to go to work at the local school. She is a watchman and technical worker.
Sireniki, where Natalya has lived for 28 years, is located in the Providensky urban district of Chukotka, on the shores of the Bering Sea. The first Eskimo settlement appeared here about three thousand years ago, and in the vicinity of the village remains of the dwellings of ancient people are still found. In the 60s of the last century, the Chukchi joined the indigenous people. Therefore, the village has two names: from Ekimo it is translated as “Valley of the Sun”, and from Chukchi – “Rocky Terrain”.
Sireniki is surrounded by hills, and it is difficult to get here, especially in winter - only by snowmobile or helicopter. From spring to autumn, sea vessels come here. From above, the village looks like a box of colorful candies: green, blue and red cottages, an administration building, a post office, kindergarten and an outpatient clinic. Previously, there were many dilapidated buildings in Sireniki wooden houses, 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 dishes outside. Then Valera fell ill with tuberculosis, and his attending physician helped us get a new cottage due to his illness. Now we have a European-quality renovation.”

Clothing and food

Chukchi men wore kukhlyankas made of double reindeer skin and the same trousers. They pulled a boot made of camus with soles made of seal skin over siskins - stockings made of dog skin. The double fawn hat was bordered at the front with long-haired wolverine fur, which does not freeze from human breath in any frost, and fur mittens were worn on rawhide straps that were pulled into the sleeves. The shepherd was as if in a spacesuit. The clothes the women wore were tight-fitting to the body and tied below the knees, 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 such as holidays or migrations.

The shepherd always had to protect the number of deer, so livestock breeders and families ate vegetarian food in the summer, and if they ate deer, then it was completely, right down to the antlers and hooves. They preferred boiled meat, but often ate it raw: the shepherds in the herd simply did not have time to cook. The sedentary Chukchi ate the meat of walruses, which were previously killed in huge quantities.

How do they live in Sireniki?

According to Natalya, it’s normal. There are currently about 30 unemployed people in the village. In the summer they pick mushrooms and berries, and in the 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, undoubtedly, live an average life, but somehow I don’t feel that salaries are increasing,” – the woman complains, remembering the cucumbers brought to Sireniki for 600 rubles per kilogram.

Dome

Natalya’s sister works on a rotational basis at Kupol. This gold deposit, one of the largest in the Far East, is located 450 km from Anadyr. Since 2011, 100% of the shares of Kupol have been owned by the Canadian company Kinross Gold (ours have no time for such trifles).
“My sister used to work there as a maid, and now she gives 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), transferred to bank card“says Natalya.

The woman knows 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 a Fund back in 2009 social development, he allocates money for socially significant projects. At least a third of the budget goes to support indigenous peoples small peoples 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 him 1.5 million rubles for a huge 20-ton freezer. After all, the whalers will get the animal, there is a lot of meat - it will spoil. And now this camera is a lifesaver. With the remaining money, my husband and his colleagues bought tools to build kayaks.”

Natalya, a Chukchi and hereditary reindeer herder, believes that the national culture is now being revived. He says that every Tuesday and Friday the local village club holds rehearsals for the Northern Lights ensemble; courses of Chukchi and other languages ​​are opening (albeit in the regional center - Anadyr); competitions like the Governor's Cup or the Barents Sea regatta are held. “And this year our ensemble is invited to a grandiose event - international festival! Five people will fly to the dance program. It will all be in Alaska, she will pay for the flight and accommodation,” says the woman. She admits that Russian state supports 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 Veisalova, a representative of the Association of Small Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East (AMKNSS and FERF), respiratory diseases are very common. But, according to available information, tuberculosis dispensaries are closing in ethnic villages. There are many 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, such a scheme does not work today. The authorities do not answer the question about the closure of tuberculosis dispensaries, but only report that in every district and locality In Chukotka, hospitals, medical outpatient clinics and medical and obstetric stations have been preserved.

There is a stereotype in Russian society: the Chukchi people drank themselves to death after they came to the territory of Chukotka " a white man” – that is, since the beginning of the last century. The Chukchi never drank 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 Evgeniy 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 actually did not have an enzyme that breaks down alcohol in the past. “Now, although the enzyme has been developed, people still do not drink as the legends say,” sums up the Chukchi.

Kaipanau's opinion is supported by Dr. medical sciences GNICP Irina Samorodskaya, one of the authors of the report “Mortality and the share of deaths in economically active age from causes related to alcohol (drugs), MI and IHD from all deaths aged 15-72 years” for 2013. According to Rosstat, the document says, the most high level Indeed, mortality from alcohol-related causes in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is 268 people per 100 thousand. But these data, Samorodskaya emphasizes, apply to the entire population of the district. "Yes, indigenous people those territories are the Chukchi, but they are not the only ones who live there,” she explains. In addition, according to Samorodskaya, Chukotka is higher in all mortality indicators than other regions - and this is not only alcohol mortality, but also other external causes. “It is now impossible to say that it was the Chukchi who died from alcohol, this is how the system works. First, if people do not want an alcohol-related cause of death on their deceased relative's death certificate, it will not be listed. Secondly, the vast majority of deaths occur at home. And there, death certificates are often filled out by a local 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 Veisalova, is the relationship between industrial companies and the indigenous local population. “People come like conquerors, disturbing the peace and quiet of the local residents. I think there should be regulations on the interaction between companies and peoples,” she says.

Language and religion

The Chukchi, living in the tundra, called themselves “chavchu” (deer). Those who lived on the shore were “ankalyn” (Pomor). There is a common self-name of the people - “luoravetlan” ( real man), but it didn’t catch on. 50 years ago, approximately 11 thousand people spoke the Chukchi language. 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 was pursued of the destruction of everything national. 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 (“cloud land”) is inhabited by the “upper people” (in Chukchi - gyrgorramkyn), or “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, they believed in reincarnation, and shamanism was widespread among them. Both men and women could be shamans, but among the Chukchi the shamans of the “transformed sex” were considered especially powerful - men who acted as housewives, and women who adopted the clothes, activities and habits of men.

Time and the Chukchi themselves will draw all the conclusions.

We are all accustomed to considering representatives of this people as naive and peace-loving inhabitants of the Far North. They say that throughout their history the Chukchi grazed herds of deer in permafrost conditions, hunted walruses, and played tambourines as entertainment. The anecdotal image of a simpleton who keeps saying the word “however” is so far from reality that it is truly shocking. Meanwhile, the history of the Chukchi has many unexpected turns, and their way of life and customs still cause controversy among ethnographers. How are representatives of this people so different from other inhabitants of the tundra?

Call themselves real people
Chukchi - the only people, whose mythology openly justifies nationalism. The fact is that their ethnonym comes from the word “chauchu”, which in the language of the northern aborigines means the owner of a large number of deer (rich man). The Russian colonialists heard this word from them. But this is not the self-name of the people.

“Luoravetlans” is how the Chukchi call themselves, which translates as “real people.” They always treated neighboring peoples arrogantly, and considered themselves special chosen ones of the gods. In their myths, the Luoravetlans called the Evenks, Yakuts, Koryaks, and Eskimos those whom the gods created for slave labor.

According to the 2010 All-Russian Population Census, the total number of Chukchi is only 15 thousand 908 people. And although this people was never numerous, skilled and formidable warriors, in difficult conditions, managed to conquer vast territories from the Indigirka River in the west to the Bering Sea in the east. Their lands are comparable in area to the territory of Kazakhstan.

Painting faces with blood
The Chukchi are divided into two groups. Some are engaged in reindeer herding (nomadic herders), others hunt sea animals, for the most part they hunt walruses, since they live on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. But these are the main activities. Reindeer herders also engage in fishing; they hunt for arctic foxes and other fur-bearing animals of the tundra.

After a successful hunt, the Chukchi paint their faces with the blood of the killed animal, while depicting the sign of their ancestral totem. These people then make a ritual sacrifice to the spirits.

Fought with the Eskimos
The Chukchi have always been skilled warriors. Imagine how much courage it takes to go out into the ocean on a boat and attack walruses? However, not only animals became victims of representatives of this people. They often made predatory expeditions against the Eskimos, moving to neighboring North America through the Bering Strait on their boats made of wood and walrus skins.

From military campaigns, skilled warriors brought not only stolen goods, but also slaves, giving preference to young women.

It is interesting that in 1947 the Chukchi once again decided to go to war against the Eskimos, then only by a miracle was it possible to avoid an international conflict between the USSR and the USA, because representatives of both peoples were officially citizens of the two superpowers.

Koryaks were robbed
Over the course of their history, the Chukchi have managed to quite annoy not only the Eskimos. So, they often attacked the Koryaks, taking away their reindeer. It is known that from 1725 to 1773 the invaders appropriated about 240 thousand (!) heads of other people's livestock. Actually, the Chukchi took up reindeer herding after they robbed their neighbors, many of whom had to hunt for food.

Having crept up to the Koryak settlement in the night, the invaders pierced their yarangas with spears, trying to immediately kill all the owners of the herd before they woke up.

Tattoos in honor of slain enemies
The Chukchi covered their bodies with tattoos dedicated to their killed enemies. After the victory, the warrior applied as many dots to the back of the wrist of his right hand as the number of opponents he sent to the next world. Some experienced fighters had so many defeated enemies that the dots merged into a line running from the wrist to the elbow.

They preferred death to captivity
Chukotka women always carried knives with them. They needed sharp blades not only in everyday life, but also in case of suicide. Since captured people automatically became slaves, the Chukchi preferred death to such a life. Having learned about the victory of the enemy (for example, the Koryaks who came to take revenge), mothers first killed their children, and then themselves. As a rule, they threw themselves with their chests on knives or spears.

Losing warriors lying on the battlefield asked their opponents for death. Moreover, they did it in an indifferent tone. My only wish was not to delay.

Won the war with Russia
The Chukchi are the only people of the Far North who fought with the Russian Empire and won. The first colonizers of those places were the Cossacks, led by Ataman Semyon Dezhnev. In 1652 they built the Anadyr fortress. Other adventurers followed them to the lands of the Arctic. The warlike northerners did not want to coexist peacefully with the Russians, much less pay taxes to the imperial treasury.

The war began in 1727 and lasted more than 30 years. Heavy fighting in difficult conditions, partisan sabotage, cunning ambushes, as well as mass suicides of Chukchi women and children - all this made the Russian troops falter. In 1763, the army units of the empire were forced to leave the Anadyr fort.

Soon British and French ships appeared off the coast of Chukotka. There is a real danger that these lands will be captured by long-time opponents, having managed to come to an agreement with the local population without a fight. Empress Catherine II decided to act more diplomatically. She provided the Chukchi with tax benefits, and literally showered their rulers with gold. The Russian residents of the Kolyma region were ordered, “... so that they should not irritate the Chukchi in any way, under pain, otherwise, of liability in a military court.”

This peaceful approach turned out to be much more effective than a military operation. In 1778, the Chukchi, appeased by the imperial authorities, accepted Russian citizenship.

They coated the arrows with poison
The Chukchi were excellent with their bows. They smeared the arrowheads with poison; even a slight wound doomed the victim to a slow, painful and inevitable death.

Tambourines were covered with human skin
The Chukchi fought to the sound of tambourines covered not with deer (as was customary), but with human skin. Such music terrified enemies. Russian soldiers and officers who fought with the aborigines of the north spoke about this. The colonialists explained their defeat in the war by the special cruelty of the representatives of this people.

Warriors could fly
The Chukchi, during hand-to-hand combat, flew across the battlefield, landing behind enemy lines. How did they jump 20-40 meters and then be able to fight? Scientists still don't know the answer to this question. Probably, skilled warriors used special devices like trampolines. This technique often made it possible to win victories, because the opponents did not understand how to resist it.

Owned slaves
The Chukchi owned slaves until the 40s of the 20th century. Women and men from poor families were often sold for debt. They did dirty and hard work, just like the captured Eskimos, Koryaks, Evenks, and Yakuts.

Swap wives
The Chukchi entered into so-called group marriages. They included several ordinary monogamous families. Men could exchange wives. This form of social relations was an additional guarantee of survival in the harsh conditions of permafrost. If one of the participants in such a union died while hunting, then there was someone to take care of his widow and children.

A nation of comedians
The Chukchi could survive, find shelter and food, if they had the ability to make people laugh. Folk comedians moved from camp to camp, amusing everyone with their jokes. They were respected and highly valued for their talent.

Diapers were invented
The Chukchi were the first to invent the prototype of modern diapers. They used a layer of moss with reindeer hair as an absorbent material. The newborn was dressed in a kind of overalls, changing an improvised diaper several times a day. Life in the harsh north forced people to be inventive.

Changed gender by order of the spirits
Chukchi shamans could change gender at the direction of the spirits. The man began to wear women's clothes and behave accordingly, sometimes he literally got married. But the shaman, on the contrary, adopted the style of behavior of the stronger sex. According to Chukchi beliefs, spirits sometimes demanded such reincarnation from their servants.

Old people died voluntarily
Chukotka elders, not wanting to be a burden to their children, often agreed to voluntary death. The famous ethnographer Vladimir Bogoraz (1865-1936) in his book “Chukchi” noted that the reason for the emergence of such a custom was not a bad attitude towards older people, but difficult living conditions and lack of food.

Seriously ill Chukchi often chose voluntary death. As a rule, such people were killed by strangulation by their closest relatives.