Society-CHUKCHEE

In the extreme northeastern reaches of Siberia, partly within the
Arctic Circle, lie the lands inhabited by the Chukchee, or Luoravetlan,
as they are sometimes called by the Russians. Most of the Chukchee
are concentrated in the Chukchi National Okrug of Magadanskaya Oblast,
although a few reside in the Yakut ASSR or the Koryak National Okrug.
Over the past few decades, the Chukchee have been settled and organized
by the government of the Soviet Union. Census figures indicate that
the group has maintained a level of about 12,000 persons throughout
the twentieth century (Bogoraz-Tan 1904:32; Antropova and Kuznetsova
1964: 800; Keefe et al. 1971: 172). This may represent a decline from
earlier times, but there are no reliable population data from earlier
periods.

The Chukchee region is marked by an extremely harsh climate, the yearly
average temperature being -12 degrees C. The winters are long and
snowy. Snow and ice melt in the short summer season, when the temperature
average 10 degrees C. There are environmental variations throughout
the region, but in general the area is mainly tundra, which gives
way to northern forest in the more inland reaches.

How the Chukchee came to this area and their relationships to other
people in northeastern Siberia as well as the northwestern part of
North America are matters on which more research needs to be done.
The Chukchee language, by which the group is defined, is part of the
larger Chuckchee-Kamchatkan family the Paleosiberian language group.
This larger language group is phyletically grouped with the American
Arctic languages, such as Eskimoan and Aleutian (Raun et al. 1965:
125-134). Physically and culturally, the Chukchee share affinites
with the Koryak, Eskimo, and other neighboring groups. In short, the
question of Chukchee origins is linked not only to the study of population
movements into Siberia but also with the question of population movements
across the Bering Straits.

Until their recent reorganization by the government, the Chukchee
were divided into two groups, based on their adaptive strategies.
The most numerous were the Reindeer Chukchee, who spent the year moving
about the tundra with their herds. The other group, the Maritime Chukchee,
lived in more permanent base camps along the coast and depended primarily
on hunting sea mammals (walrus, whale, and seals) for their subsistence.
Both groups supplemented their subsistence with collecting wild plants
and berries, land mammal hunting, fowling, and fishing. These differing
adaptive modes were marked by a number of differences in cultural
traits and social behavior. The annual round, diet, and technical
inventory of the groups of course differed. The nomadic herders used
reindeer products to make tools, clothing, tents, sleds, and so on.
Reindeer were their dietary staple and served as traction animals.
The Maritime people used sea mammal products for diet and items of
material culture, and they traveled by dogsled or boat. Trade between
the two groups assured the tundra travelers of coastal products, such
as blubber for food and fuel, and assured the coastal people of useful
reindeer products.

Contrary to earlier statements, recent linguistic studies indicate
that there were also dialect differences between these two groups
(Raun et al. 1965: 133). Nevertheless, they were not mutually exclusive
groups. There was some flow of people between the groups, either through
marriage or migration, and there were some Chukchee camps so located
that their members practiced a mixed strategy of reindeer herding
and coastal exploitation.

Chukchee camps were composed of both related and unrelated families,
each with its own tent. (It might also be noted here that Maritime
Chukchee had semisubterranean sod houses in precontact times.) Among
the Reindeer nomads, 2 to 10 tents were found in a base camp, and
the base camp was moved frequently. The Maritime group, with their
more localized subsistence economy, had somewhat larger base camps
of from 2 to 20 tents, to which they returned from occasional season
wanderings. Camps were fluid, and there was considerable movement
of people from one camp group to another. Neighboring camps engaged
in visiting, and on occasion aided each other. Despite the tendency
for camp groups to exploit the same territory from year to year, there
were no formal territorial rights held by the group or by individuals.
Neither group had formal leaders; decisions were reached on the basis
of suggestion and consent. Although there were wealth differences
between individual Chukchee (measured by number of reindeer or boat
ownership, depending on the group) these did not translate into authority.
Disputes were settled by the parties involved, often backed by their
kin. In the case of murder, the dispute might be resolved by an avenging
murder or by acceptance of a wergild payment. Lesser disputes were
usually resolved amicably or by the movement of one of the parties
to another camp.

Descent was reckoned bilaterally, although the Chukchee expressed
sentiments of feeling closer to their fathers' lines. Kinship terminology
was of the Eskimo type. Beyond prohibitions pertaining to near kin,
the choice of marriage partners was open to kin and non-kin alike.
While the prevailing pattern was marriage within the Reindeer or the
Maritime group, there are records of intergroup marriage, as well
as marriage of Chukchee with neighboring Koryak, Chuvantsy, Eskimo,
Tungus, Lamut, and Yukaghir. Bride service, or infrequently bride
payment, was practiced. Newly-married couples set up their own tents,
usually in the camp of the groom, but this was not a requirement.
Sometimes the bride's family wanted the couple to live with them,
and in these cases the bride service was suspended. Polygyny was practiced,
but limited to those men able to afford more than one wife. Several
people who studied the Chukchee report that there were group marriages.
Since the group seldom lived together, however, this may have been
the sort of wife-sharing hospitality recorded among the Eskimo rather
than true group marriage. Divorce was uncomplicated and could be initiated
by either husband or wife. The existence of the practice of infanticide
is disputed in the literature, but all accounts note that old, infirm,
or depressed people had the right to request their relatives to put
them to death. Widows and orphans were taken care of by relatives,
and the levirate was generally practiced. Inheritance usually followed
the male line, and distribution among brothers was fairly equitable.

The cosmological world of the Chukchee was full of spirits, both good
and bad. Future events were foretold by various methods, including
dream interpretation and scapulimancy. The role of shaman was open
to both males and females, and these specialists practiced curing,
divination, and sorcery, including in their performances ventriloquism
and a number of special-effects tricks.

The Chukchee did not engage in large-scale warfare. Small-scale fighting
and raiding did take place, however, and captured enemies were enslaved.

Beginning in the middle 1600s, with the arrival of the Russians, the
Chukchee experienced increasing contact with the outside world. Traders,
hunters, government officials, settlers, explorers, and missionaries
from several countries all played roles in the contact period. The
introduction of firearms and the trade demands for skins affected
many of the Chukchee hunting patterns, while the increased hunting
pressure by Chukchee and outsiders on the sea mammals nearly caused
extinction of these animals. Alcohol and new diseases took their toll,
tribute was exacted from the native population, and Chukchee were
killed in outbreaks of violence.

After the Russian Revolution, the Soviet government gained control
of the Chukchee Peninsula and excluded all other outside influences
from the area. Since then, the Chukchee have undergone a process of
Sovietization, as the government has educated them and organized them
into settled collectives. Modern-day reindeer herders live in collectives,
the herd is owned in common rather than individually, and the Russians
have introduced modern methods of herd breeding and management. The
Maritime groups are organized into hunting and fishing collectives
and have been supplied with modern equipment for these tasks.

Bogoraz-Tan (1904-1909) is the basic source on Chukchee traditional
life.

Culture summary by Eleanor C. Swanson



Antropova, V. V. The Chukchi.
 By V. V. Antropova and V. G. Kuznetsova.
 Based on pre-Revolutionaryt data by G. I. Mel'nikov.
 In M. G. Levin and L. P. Potapov, eds.
 The Peoples of Siberia.
 Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1964: 799-835, 917-918.
 Bogoraz-Tan, Vladimir Germanovich.
 The Chukchee.
 By Waldemar Bogoras.
 Leiden, E. J. Brill;
 New York, G. E. Stechert, 1904-1909.
 2 v. (17, 733 p.) illus., map Keefe, Eugene K. Area handbook for the Soviet Union.
 By Eugene K. Keefe et al.
 Washington, D.C., U.S.
 Government Printing Office, 1971.
 Raun, Alo.
 Languages of the world: Boreo-Oriental fascicle one.
 By Alo Raun, David Francis, Carl F. Voegelin, and Florence M. Voegelin.
 Anthropological Linguistics, Vol.
 7, No.
 1, 1965.


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