The Chukchee

The religious ideas of both branches of the Chukchee are so much alike,
that they can be described together.' Minor differences will be pointed out
in the following discussion.
In studying the religious ideas of the Chukchee I gradually formed a
simple theory about the first development of the religious concepts of primitive
man in general. I give it here, in the beginning of this chapter, in order to
make what follows easier to understand. Its value for me is the help it was
to me in arranging the material in a systematic way.
Primitive man, conscious of life, which is the source of his actions, attributes similar life and inherent virtue to all surrounding objects of nature that
have attracted his attention by their activity, by some striking feature of their
outward appearance, or, indeed, by any other circumstance. This attribution
of life similar to his own' forms the basis of his religious concepts; and
primitive mythology develops from it by gradual ramification and working-up
of details.
STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMITIVE RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS. The primary
development of the attribution of life here described presents five stages, more
or less distinct, which are as follows: The first stage relates only to that qualitative similarity of man and objects
which consists in the belief that life is their common property. The form of the
objects and the degree of their supposed adaptation to the actions of life are

1 The material presented in this chapter was collected principally from shamans, and aged people versed
in "old tidings" (tele'nkin pi'iIlt),e as the Chukchee call everything relating to their mythology or history.
These data were supplemented from their folk-tales, to which, in many cases, no specific references can be given,
since the larger part of them are not yet published. The tales, however, were used only so far as they yielded
new details regarding the characters and mythical beings known to the Chukchee. Stories like those about the
creation of the world and the part that the raven and other birds and animals played -in it will be treated

separately.
The Chukchee conception of various supernatural beings treated of in this chapter is illustrated by a
number of pencil-sketches which I requested several natives in various parts of the country to make for me.
It seemed to me that graphic representation of things previously described merely in words would add new
details which otherwise would be out of the reach of the investigator. Care was taken, in comparing details
given by different men, to eliminate those differing from the general character of the description. Nevertheless,
the sketches remain individual, and they are of scientific value only so far as they help to an understanding of
the forms which present themselves to the mind of the Chukchee. I shall speak of them again when referring
to Chukchee art; but I take up a few of them here to illustrate the religious ideas of the people.
2 I avoid using the term "animism," because it presupposes the conception of the human soul, which,
in my opinion, belongs to a later stage. E. B. Tylor says that animism includes two great dogmas, forming
parts of one consistent doctrine; first, concerning souls of individual creatures capable of continued existence
after the death or destruction of the body; second, concerning other spirits, upward to the rank of powerful
deities (Primitive Culture, p. 426). According to my theory, these two dogmas belong to the last stage of
development. On the whole, my plan must be considered as an attempt to outline the way in which primitive
man (Chukchee) reached the stage of animism.

[277]
36-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

not taken into consideration, and not included as yet in the field of view.
A stone, a tree, a hill, or a cloud, also phenomena of nature (wind, rain,
thunder), are considered simply as living, no matter what their form may be.'
The well-known instance given by Darwin,2 of the dog which barked at an
open umbrella occasionally moved by a breeze, represents evidently the same
state of mind. An object moves, and is alive. Likewise, primitive man will
take for living the tree that rustles, the wind that passes by, the stone that
waits silently lying upon the ground, but makes the passing man stumble
over itself, the lake, the river, the brook, the hill that towers over the plain
and throws its shadow upon it. Man may struggle with the objects, and
vanquish or kill them; he may sacrifice to them, and ask them for protection;
and he may pick up the smaller ones and use them as his amulets. These,
carried about his body, would insure to him safety against all hostile forces.3
Development begins with the first effort to find points of resemblance
between the forms of objects and the parts of the human body, which would
make the concept of inner similarity more detailed and more plausible. Even
slight resemblances of this kind are seized readily, and a mouth, a head, or
arms may be recognized in the accidental forms of objects that are already
believed to be endowed with life. In amulets especially, a very vague resemblance is quite sufficient to give them rank as anthropomorphous beings. A
small wooden crotch, or a narrow strip of leather cut in two on the base to
represent the legs, is regarded as a human-like figure.3 This is the second
stage, which is the first attempt at transforming the primitive concept of similarity, which is amorphous and qualitative only, into a more precise objective
and formal shape.
When this vague outward resemblance ceases to give satisfaction to the
mind, there arises an idea that material objects have two shapes, - their
ordinary form and a transformed form more or less human-like. Both forms
are material, and the objects can at will change one for the other. Thus,
stone mauls of the household transform thernselves into men, and shortly
afterward drop on the ground in their former shape. On the other hand,
men may transform themselves at will into animals or inanimate objects. In
I Daniel G. Brinton says, "To the mind of the savage, whatever displayed movement, emitted sound or odor,
or by its defined limits and form indicated unity, was to him a manifestation in personality of that impersonal
spiritual Power of which he felt himself but one of the expressions. All other expressions shared his powers,
and did not in essence differ from him. The brute, the plant, the stone, the wandering orbs of night, the

howling wind, the crackling fire, the towering hill, - all were his fell-creatures, inspired by the same life as
himse.f, drawing it from the same universal font of Life" (Religions of Primitive Peoples, p. 136).
This - if we except the uimpersonal spiritual Power" and the "universal font of life," which seem to be
rather too abstract for the lowest stage of primitive religious thought - is nearly what was said above.
Andrew Lang says still more definitely, "The savage draws no hard line between himself and the things
in the world he regards himself as literally akin to, - animals and plants and heavenly bodies. He attributes
sex and procreative powers even to stones and rocks, and human feelings to sun and moon and stars and wind,
no less than to beasts, birds, and fishes" (Myth, Ritual, and Religion, I, p. 47).
2 Descent of Man, p. 67.
3 Compare Chapter. XIII.

2`79

their transfigured shape, inanimate objects acquire life and are able to perform
human-like actions. Ihis view of the subject, however, adapts itself much
better to animals; and instances to be given later on contain ample evidence
of the idea held by the natives regarding the double nature of the animal
world. This is the third stage of development of the primitive conception
of nature.
As a natural deduction from the concept of the existence of objects in
two forms, follows a surmise that one of the forms is exterior while the other
is interior, hidden within its cover. Since it is hidden, it is supposed to be
generally invisible, but also capable at will of casting off the outward shell
and appearing as a human being. Thus arises the first hypothesis admitting
the distinction between the material shape of the object and the life supposed
to be contained in it. The latter becomes a spirit, or rather a "genius" of
human-like form. He is invisible, and the material object is his usual abode,
which, however, he may leave, and assume his own human-like shape. In
this shape he may appear to shamans or to other persons of his own choice.
This is the fourth stage. It presupposes the co-existence of the material
object and its "genius," while in the third stage the two forms of the object
could change only from one to the other. The separation of the "genius"
from his material object is, however, -potential in a degree. In leaving it the
"genius" must not move too far away, and after a while he must re-enter his
material abode. To him are attributed all the material and spiritual qualities
of an ordinary man.
The conception of the "genius" is very well expressed by the AmericanEskimo term inua, "its man" (in Asiatic-Eskimo, yu'wa). It clearly implies
that a human-like spirit is supposed to live within the object. Animals, in
accordance with this idea, are supposed to be men covered with skin garments,
and able to lay them aside at will. Men, on the other hand, may transform
themselves into animals or inanimate objects by covering themselves with
skins or with garments resembling the outward appearance of the objects.
Then, by casting aside their mask, they may re-assume their human shape.
To this stage belongs the origin of the conception of the human soul, which
is distinct from the body, and is able to leave it temporarily in sleep. In the
more primitive stages, man, probably, was unable to analyze his dreams, and
simply considered them as a peculiar mode of life of his person as it existed
in its entirety.
In the fifth stage the "genii" gradually become free from their objects,
acquire freedom of motion, and thus become actually spirits. Their human
characteristics become more accentuated and acquire new details. Many of
them receive individual features and enter into varied relations with one another.
Thus grows up the first mythology, which forms a series of stories about
spirits endowed with special power, invisible, and able to fly, but, on the

whole, quite similar to men, even in their need of food and susceptibility to
death. The origin of the belief that the deceased, after their bodies are
destroyed, continue to exist, invisible to us, belongs to this last stage. It
develops from the conception of the human soul abiding in the body, just as
naturally as the conception of free-moving spirits evolves from the idea of the
"genii" of the objects.
Thus gradually arises the idea of the deceased living in the "other world,"
in the "world beyond," having there villages, houses, families, hunting game,
etc. The parallelism between the development of the conceptions of spirits
and deceased men gives rise to the idea that the deceased live in one world
and the spirits in another, or that there are several worlds situated at regular
intervals above and below the earth, and inhabited alternately by deceased
men and spirits. From another point of view the conception of the deceased
is different from that of the human soul. The latter is represented as small,
timid, helpless, liable to persecution by hostile spirits, and asking for the
protection of those well disposed to men. The deceased one, on the contrary,
is represented as an invisible spirit, great and powerful, with more power
than man has. He is considered dangerous, capable of doing harm to the
living, or, on the other hand, as benevolent, and willing to protect his mortal
descendants. Thus the ancestral cult arises, which, however, supposes several
stages of development to have supervened, and the ability to form more complicate and specialized ideas to have been acquired.'
The characteristics of the five stages of primitive religious, thought were
necessarily given in a schematic shape. In reality, all five stages, being very
elementary, spring up almost simultaneously, and co-exist side by side. Nevertheless, on a more careful study of primitive mythology, one may notice that
the earlier stages gradually become extinct, while the later stages develop
more fully, down to the last, which, in the present period, prevails among
the most primitive tribes.
In arranging, according to the plan proposed, the material collected in
connection with the religious ideas of the Chukchee, we find that the whole
background is occupied by conceptions belonging to the first stage, where the
attribution of life, to nature is simple, and devoid of personal form.
MATERIAL OBJECTS CONSIDERED AS ALIVE. - Generally speaking, the
Chukchee believe that all nature is animated, and that every material object
can act, speak, and walk by itself. Of such objects the Chukchee sometimes
I Even Herbert Spencer, who, on the whole, considers ancestor-worship to be the principal source of
religion, admits in his Principles of Sociology (I, p. 305) that it arises only when the notion of ghosts passes
from its first vagueness and variability into a definite and avowed faith.
The tendency to follow the example of the forefathers, which has contributed so much to the consolidation
of primitive institutions, seems to have originated from ancestor-worship. I mention it here because it plays a
very important part in the religious life of the Chukchee, and, other explanations lacking, is always brought
forward as an explanation of various rites and p.rformances.

28 I

say that they are geti'nvilenat ("having a master"); but more often they call
them gequli'linet ("having a voice"), implying that they are endowed with life,
which, however, is not separable from them. Objects "having a voice" will
keep some, at least, of their material qualities and features. For instance, a
stone endowed with a voice would simply roll down and, crush a man against
whom it had a grudge, or it would induce another man to pick it up in order
to become his amulet.
In the cosmogonical statements of the Chukchee shamans (so-called
ene'nilina lo'9o, "things seen by a shaman"), we find that the life which they
believe to be diffused throughout nature is described in its' relation to the
shamanistic spirits in the following manner:
"On the steep bank of a river there exists life. A voice is there, and speaks aloud. I saw
the 'master' of the voice and spoke with him. He subjected himself to me and sacrificed to me.
He came yesterday and answered my questions. The small gray bird with the blue breast sings
shaman-songs in the hollow of the bough, calls her spirits, and practises shamanism. The woodpecker strikes his drum in the tree with his drumming nose. Under the axe the tree trembles and
wails as a drum under the baton. All these come at my call.
"All that exists lives. The lamp walks around. The walls of the house have voices of their
own. Even the chamber-vessel has a separate land and house. The skins sleeping in the bags talk
at night. The antlers lying on the tombs arise at night and walk in procession around the mounds,
while the deceased get up and visit the living." I

In another statement of a similar kind a small bird is practising in the
hollow of the bough on a drum of grass. His sacrifice is small beetles or
worms, the best of his food. The thievish raven, alighting on the top of the
tree, listens to the bird's songs, and takes possession of them by drawing
them in with his breath.
In still another statement of this character, everything has its own voice
(ge'mge-kuli'lin) or its own master (ga'mga-eti'nvilin). Skins ready for sale
have a "master" of their own. In the night-time they turn into reindeer and
walk to and fro. The trees in the forest talk to one another. Even the
shadows on the wall constitute definite tribes and have their own country,
where they live in huts and subsist by hunting. The rainbow and sun-rays
have "masters," who live above on the highest part of the rainbow and at
the place where the sun's rays emanate, and descend to earth along these
paths of light.
In one Chukchee story the evil spirit (ke'lE) puts his chamber-vessel near
the body of a captive boy who pretends to be dead. The evil spirit defecates
into the vessel, and bids it keep watch over the body. After' a while the
boy moves, and the chamber-vessel immediately gives alarm by its cries.
The spirit, who was asleep, awakes and comes to inspect the prisoner; but
the boy is again quite motionless. The spirit, angered, reproves the vessel,
.and urinates into it. The next time the vessel gives an alarm, its cries, coming
I Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 385.

from under the water, are quite faint. The boy gets up quickly and fills the
vessel with his own excrement, smothering the remnant of the voice.' Here
we have a very vivid description of a chamber-vessel as being alive without
change of its material form.
The application of this simple idea to inanimate objects, however, presents
many difficulties, because those objects have not the limbs and organs necessary for the actions of life. In surmounting these difficulties, the religious
concept of the Chukchee passes to the second stage, and tries to point out
every accidental resemblance between the outer forms of objects and the limbs
of the human body.
Thus, for instance, the intoxicating mushrooms of the species fly-agaric2
are a "separate tribe" (ya'nvra-va'rat). They are very strong, andwhengrowing
up they lift upon their soft heads the heavy trunks of trees, and split them
in two. A mushroom of this species grows through the heart of a stone and
breaks it into minute fragments. Mushrooms appear to intoxicated men in
strange forms somewhat related to their real shapes. One, for example, will
be a man with one hand and one foot; another will have a shapeless body.
These are not spirits, but the mushrooms themselves. The number of them
seen depends on the number of mushrooms consumed. If a man has eaten
one mushroom, he will see one mushroom-man; if he has eaten two or three,
he will see a corresponding number of mushroom-men. They will grasp him
under his arms, and lead him through the entire world, showing him some
real things, and deluding him with many unreal apparitions. The paths they
follow are very intricate. They delight in visiting the places where the dead
live. These ideas are illustrated
in a sketch (Fig. 200) drawn by
a Chukchee.
The concepts characteristic of
the third stage are also numerous.
In this stage, as said before, objects are supposed to have two
shapes, - their ordinary form
and their anthropomorphous
form, in which they are suscepFig. 200. Chukchee Sketch illustrating the Paths followed by tible of human-like life.

Mushroom-Men.

Thus,

the wooden amulets that lie
motionless in leather bags suddenly transform themselves into herdsmen and
go out in the night-time to protect the herd from the wolves. Early in the
morning they return to their former places and again become pieces of wood.
Such transformation does not prevent the objects from keeping some of their
essential features and qualities. "People of wood' (u'tti-re'mkin) personify
I Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p.

193.

2 Compare p. 205.

trees. They appear in a multitude at the call of a shaman, and while they
are in his presence they continually protest that they are afraid of the fire,
lest it might burn some of them. Excrement appears as a boastful old man
clad in a garment of sleek brown fur. He is, however, afraid of dogs, because
they may eat him.'
The concepts of the second and third stages, however, are much better
adapted to animals than to inanimate objects.
ANIMALS AS MEN. - All kinds of wild animals are supposed to have a
country and to keep households of their own. I have mentioned the fact
that the hunters on the Chukchee Peninsula are unwilling to dig out young
foxes, because foxes "have a household of their own" (geni'mlinet), and might
take vengeance by means of their household charms.
Black and polar bears are also supposed to have households. Black
bears live in underground houses, and polar bears have a country of their
own on the ice in the open sea. They live by hunting seal and walrus, and
engage in quite extended expeditions for this purpose. They also build snow
houses, which are lighted by oil-lamps, and have other human-like pursuits.
Eagles have a separate country. One family of eagles has a slave called
Riru'ltet, whom they stole from the earth a long time ago. He prepares
food for all of them, and his face has become blackened with soot.
The smallest birds also have a country of their own, from which they
go out in small toy-like skin boats to hunt worms and mussels.2
Sea-mammals have a large country of their own far away in the open sea.
It is located on both sides of the earth, and is separated from the land by a
long narrow strip of water, which, they say, constantly "quakes like a bottomless mire." This is impassable for all beings that come from the land.
Animals, when personating human beings, can change their shape and
size quite as easily as spirits do. The ermine, for example, appears as a stately
warrior clad in white armor, while the legs of mice he has killed turn into
reindeer-hams. The owl, also, becomes a warrior. Mice are people living in
underground houses, who use the root of Polygonum vizip5arum or Polyg-onum
polymorphum as their reindeer, and have sledges of grass. By a sudden
transformation they become real hunters with regular sledges, and hunt polar
bears. When they want to carry the dead bear home, the sledge returns to
I In some Chukchee tales, even the sun, the sea, and the sky figure as beings who retain accessories of
their material nature. In one tale, the Sun, while taking part in a shamanistic match with other competitors,
appears with his luminary, and burns those present; the Sea drowns them (in another tale, he crushes them
with ice); and the Sky also crushes them by the falling of his upper crust. It is worthy of note that such
incidents occur only in shamanistic performances, while at all other times the sun, the sky, and the sea appear
as actual men. They also have a double nature, which they may change at will. Compare Bogoras, Chukchee
Materials, p. 285.
2 Krasheninnikoff (I, p. 228) mentions a similar idea among the Kamchadal. They believe that, when
no mice are to be seen, they have gone into the open sea for seal-hunting. Their boats are certain shells
which resemble in shape human ears. These are therefore called mice-boats.

its former size, and the bear turns into a lemming. Some of these details, it
will be observed, are the same in regard to the owner of game (Picvu'cin).'
A shaman who visits the land of mice finds that their ways of life are
quite human. He is requested to help a woman who is suffering from a
severe cold and sharp pain in her throat. When looking at her, he notices
on her neck a thin noose of grass, such as Chukchee children make to catch
mice. He destroys the noose, and the Mouse-Woman recovers. In return
for his services, the Mouse-People give him the choicest fawn-skins. On his
return to our world, however, these prove to be dry leaves and pieces of bark.
In most cases, animals, while personating human beings, retain some of
their former qualities, which identify them as beings of a special class acting
in a human way, but different from mankind. For instance, a whale, when
carrying away a young woman, continues to be a whale, and even makes her
pick out the barnacles from his skin; polar bears have diving-matches, and
catch seals with their paws; Fox-Woman keeps her strong smell, and GooseWoman, her aversion to animal food, which may soil her clean white dress.
Amulets of animal origin - for instance, a dried skin, a head or a skull,
a claw or a feather - are also considered susceptible of like sudden transformation, in which they acquire the qualities of living animals of a corresponding species, and perform certain tasks. Afterward they return to their
former shape. In one tale, a dried skin of an ermine transforms itself into a
living ermine, which, in turn, transforms itself into a large polar bear. In
this shape the amulet is sent by its "owner" across the sea to harm an enemy.
When unable to do this, it comes back, and is blamed by its "owner."'
The next stage (the fourth), as said before, supposes a complete distinction
between the two forms of the object; and the idea of the transfigured form
is replaced by the conception of a certain anthropomorphous "genius," who
co-exists with the object, and lives within its material shape, but may at will
leave it, and appear separately. In studying this stage we must, however,
distinguish between the smaller material objects (such as stones, trees, etc.) and
the larger unities, as forests, lakes, rivers, mountains, and other localities.
In the development of the religious ideas of the Chukchee, the conception
of smaller material objects belonged to the more primitive stages (first or
second), and separable "genii" were not attached to them: at least, the development in this direction is not very clear. Thus, as mentioned before, smaller
material objects are sometimes called geti'nvien ("having a master"); but, as
will be shown, the Chukchee conception of a "master" coincides with the
Eskimo "its man" (inua), and represents the "genius." In reference to smaller
objects, this idea remained undeveloped, and the objects were more frequently
called simply gequli'lin ("having a voice"), which corresponds to a more primitive

conception.
ompare p. 286.

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, P. 219.

It seems that the ideas of the American Eskimo are clearer about "masters"
living within material objects. Thus among the Central Eskimo, according to
Professor Boas,' large bowlders scattered over the country are considered to
have spirits of their own. Such a'spirit is represented as a woman with a
single eye in the middle of her forehead. Others live in stones that roll down
the hill in spring. When, however, a' stone like that is met by a native,
and is asked to become his supernatural assistant, it simply has to accompany
him, wobbling along because it has no legs.
The idea of bowlders being the habitation of spirits of human form is
foreign to the mind of the Chukchee.2 The bowlders of their own country,
numbers of which are to be met with everywhere in the mountains, are considered
by the Chukchee as beings which were formerly alive, but were subsequently
turned into stone. They were the first attempts of the Creator to form living
beings, but they proved so clumsy in shape that he transformed them into
stone, and then created actual men and animals. Those bowlders are'called
pe'rkat (p1. of perka'per). Some of them represent petrified houses or tents:
others are animals or men (perka`1-la'ul, "bowlder-man"). The latter are supposed to have preserved a mysterious life of their own. For instance, in one
tale a shaman' wants to try a wrestling-match with a Bowlder-Man, and comes
very badly out of his stony embrace. In another tale a group of Bowlder-Men
become alive and talk among themselves. The difference between this view
and the Eskimo idea of "masters" in bowlders is very apparent.
The second Eskimo detail about stones wobbling down after a man in
order to become his supernatural assistants resembles more closely the Chukchee
presentation of the subject.
OWNERS OR MASTERS. - Larger material unities, such'as forests, rivers,
lakes, etc., have special "owners" (eti'nvit, pf. of e'tIn), who are also called
"masters" (aunra'lit, pl. of aunra'lin, literally, "chief [in the] house").
Various classes of animals and trees also have their "masters," who live
in the forest with them. Each species of tree has a separate "master." The
birch alone has none, and for that-reason, men handle it without precaution,
as "their equal." The latter conception is clearly connected with the yearly
expeditions of the Reindeer Chukchee into the woods to procure birch, of
which they make their sledges, the shafts of spears, etc. Each species of
wild animal - fox, wolf, reindeer - has a "master" of its own.3
The Chukchee often call all these "masters" simply "spirits" (ke'let).
I Boas, Central Eskimo, p.

591.

a story of Alaskan Eskimo (Nelson, p. 465), a whale has a "master" living inside its body, and
controlling its motions. The whale is a female, and so is its "master," a point of similarity between the two.
The idea of an animal having an "owner" spirit within its body, however, does not occur among the Chukchee.
2 In

3 This latter conception has developed, perhaps, from the idea of the "master" of the forest, who owns
all game living within the limits of his dominions. Thus, according to the Russo-Yukaghir belief, the "master"
of the forest has absolute power over his animals. He may give them away as presents, lose them in cardplaying, make them gather in herds and depart from the country, etc. Compare p. 287.

3 7-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

This latter term is 'specially applied to spirits of a harmful kind, of which I
shall treat farther on in this chapter; but the Chukchee apply it also to the
"masters," implying that these "spirits" are harmless.
I obtained several sketches of "spirits" of this kind. Fig. 20I, a, is the
"lake-spirit" (hitha'-kal) of one small lake lying near the seacoast in Anadyr
13ay. He has the shape of a seal and the hands of a man. His head is
shaggy, and he comes out of the lake bolt upright. Fig. 201, 6, is the "spirit"

Fig. 201. Chukchee Sketches representing Spirits, a, "Lake-Spirit"; b, "Spirit" of Holy Cross Bay;
c, "Spirit" of the E'stuary of the Anadyr; d, "Spirit" of the Middle Course of the Anadyr; e, "'Spirit" living
in the Sea.

of Holy Cross Bay. He has one hand with only three fingers. Fig. 20I, C,
is the "spirit" of the estuary of the Anadyr. His hair stands erect, and, like
the last, he has only one hand with three fingers. I was told that the "spirit"
of the middle course of the Anadyr has one eye and three-fingered hands.
In Fig. 20I, d, the "spirit" of the middle course of the Anadyr is thus
represented. He has a vertical mouth, one eye, and three-fingered hands.
Fig. 20I, e, a "spirit" living in the sea (a'nqa-kal), has the body of a fish,
with a very large shaggy head. On another sketch is represented a large
sea-spirit, who has very long hair on both his head and his buttocks.
The "master" of the fish of mountain-brooks is said to have a long thin
body and a face covered with hair. The "master" of the forest has a body
of wood, without arms or legs. His eyes are on the crown of his head. He
moves from place to placq, rolling along like a log of wood.
Picvu'cin is a special "owner" of wild reindeer and of all land-game. He
lives in deep ravines, and stays near the forest-border. From there he sends
reindeer-herds to the hunters; but when he is angered he withholds the supply.
He is especially strict in demanding the performance of all ancient customs
and sacrifices connected with the hunt, and resents every slight neglect' of
them. He is represented as very small, not larger than a man's finger, and
his footprints on the snow are like those of a mouse. The Maritime Chukchee
say that Pi6vu'cin has influence with sea-game also. Sometimes he may be

seen passing the entrance of a house in the shape of a small black pup.
An inspection of his footprints will reveal his identity. Then the people
must immediately offer him a sacrifice, and the next year a large whale will
be drifted to that part of the shore. Picvu'cin's sledge is very small, and
made of grass. Instead of a reindeer, he may drive a mouse or a small
root of Polygonum vivijarum. He himself is sometimes represented as such
a root driving a mouse. The lemming is his polar bear. He kills it, and
loads it on his sledge. On the other hand, he is very strong, and can
wrestle with giants, or load a real polar bear on his small sledge. He
takes no solid food, and lives only on odors. All these details are repeated
in several Chukchee tales.
" Mouse-Driver" (PIpE'kIlhA-heke'iilin) forms one of the favorite figures
of cat's-cradles among Chukchee children (Fig. 202). One of the reindeerdrivers of the constellation Lynx is also called by this name. 1

Fig. 202. Chukchee Cat's-Cradle representing "Mouse-Driver."

The conception of "owners" of places is more highly developed among
the Russianized Yukaghir of the Kolyma and Anadyr. This is probably
because the ancient native elements have been mixed with Russian mythological ideas. According to their belief, the "masters" of the places live like
men, but are more powerful. They have houses and villages, travel about
the country with sledges, and drive foxes and wolves instead of dogs.
Every "master" of a particular forest owns all the game living in that forest;
the "master" of a river owns the fish living in it, etc.
"Masters" of the forest are, in the Russo-Yukaghir conception, exceedingly fond of drinking brandy and of playing cards. Even now those
I According to some descriptions, Picvu'cin rides the largest bucks in his herds: therefore wild reindeer
bucks are found with the hair on their shoulders all roughened up. This detail is probably borrowed from
the Lamut, who also know about the small forest-spirit herding wild reindeer.

hunters who are most successful in trapping are reputed by the Russianized
natives to have bought their luck from the "master" of the forest with
brandy and packs of cards. The "masters" of forests are constantly playing
cards with one another. The stake is some species of game, which may
then have to pass from one to another after the play is over. This
accounts for the migrations of game. N. Dyachkoff, whose book has already
been mentioned,' not only repeats these stories, but is somewhat inclined to
believe them.
The -"master" of the river has very white thick skin. His wife has
remarkably long hair, which floats around her on the water. Whoever sees
her, or hears her loud, piercing cry, goes raving mad. The "master" of the
forest hunts the "master" of the river in order to obtain his skin, of which
he makes for himself the "magic" boots (in local Russian, tieTepi, "fourfold").
These are the well-known "four-leagued" boots of the fairy-tales of the
civilized world, which enable their wearers to make four miles at every step.
The "master" of the river retaliates by catching the feet of the "master" of
the forest, or those of members of his family who happen to cross the river
upon the ice. Once, when the "master" of the forest and his pregnant wife
were running a race on the ice of the Kolyma River, near the cliffs of
Khandgiboy, the "master" of the river caught the wife by the feet, and
dragged her down into the water. Her husband, with the assistance of his
brother, tried to pull her out, but they succeeded only in tearing off her
head. They placed this on the top of Khandgiboy, where it may still be
seen, turned to stone.
The "master" of the river or the "owner" of the lake does not like iron
tools. When an axe or an ice-pick is accidentally dropped into the water,
the "master" gets angry, and stops the supply of fish for several years. In
the same way, these "masters" are also very jealous concerning ancient
customs connected with hunting and fishing. Both the Chukchee and the
Russianized natives, when they go to a new place for a protracted stay,
offer a little sacrifice to the "master" of the place, especially if they intend
to hunt or fish in his dominions. Otherwise he would appear to them in
their sleep, and demand the sacrifice. The best material for this sacrifice is
tobacco. On the whole, the natives in many cases prefer to sacrifice imported provisions, Russian or American, supposing that the local "masters"
and deities need them much more than ordinary food, which is abundant.
The Russianized natives, as well as the Chukchee, often call the "master"
of the place simply "the old man."
On the other hand, there are in Yukaghir folk-lore several instances in
which mountains themselves, instead of having their particular "masters," act
I See p. i8.

like living men, and at the end of the story they are petrified. 1 In various
parts of the territory of the Koryak, mountains, mainly detached cliffs on
steep rocky capes, usually called "grandfather" (epe'pil, apa'pel 2), are pointed
out. These are often considered as the ancestors of the tribe, mostly BigRaven (Kuyqinn-a'qu), turned to stone.
The same belief exists also among the Kamchadal, who point out among
the mountains their petrified ancestor Kutq, together with his house, his
sledge, his hammer, etc. The Kamchadal in former times brought sacrifices
to all these stones, as do the Koryak now.
Among the Chukchee the belief is less apparent. However, one cliff on
the middle of the Anadyr River is called Peru'ten, which is one of the
names of the sea-god Kere'tkun. It is told that the latter, when ascending
the Anadyr River, was so tired that he sat down to rest, and turned to
stone. Cliffs with the name Epe"pil are also found in the territory of the
Chukchee. One, for instance, is situated in the north of Anadyr, not far
from Mariinsky Post. I am not sure, however, that this idea is free from
foreign influence. Even the word "epe'pil" is rather Koryak than Chukchee.
In Koryak it signifies "little father," "grandfather:" in Chukchee it belongs
to the trading-jargon, and signifies the Russian "priest."
In the last stage (the fifth) the personified vital force become completely
separated from the material objects, and independent of them. There is
developed a conception of supernatural beings who fill the whole exterior
world, and move freely within its limits. These beings are anthropomorphous,
but more powerful than men; they are invisible, but may appear at will to
various persons, or are seen by shamans even, against their own will.
1 See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 643; Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, p. 10I. Stories about
the mountains, quite similar to those of the Yukaghir, were in vogue among the Aleut. Thus, according to a
native story in Veniaminoff (cited from Elie Reclus, Les Primitifs, p. 59), the mountains on Unimak and
Unalashka once wrestled, and threw fire and stones at one another. Several smaller volcanoes, who could not
fight against the larger ones, split, and were extinguished. Only two large mountains were left, Makushin and
Retcheshnoy. Stones, fire, and ashes killed every living thing. Retcheshnoy was vanquished, and, when he
saw his defeat, he mustered his remaining force, and swelled himself to the utmost. Then he burst and was
extinguished. Makushin went to sleep, and now only a light smoke sometimes issues from him. This tale is
quite similar to that told by Jochelson.
2 Compare p. I9, Footnote 2.
3 The Russo-Chukchee trading-jargon is a kind of broken dialect, with simplified grammar and pronunciation,
adapted to the use of both parties. The vocabulary is Chukchee with a slight admixture of Russian words. It
uses also a few dozen other alien words, which the Chukchee call "words of Ta'nniiit" (Ta'nfiiin-w&'thaw), meaning,
by this name, likewise the Russians. Nevertheless, these words have nothing in common with the Russian language,
and, on examining them, I found that four-fifths of them belong to the language of the Koryak, who also are
called by the Chukchee by the name "Genuine Ta'nniiit" (see p. I9). Such words are, for instance:
Meaning in
Meaning in

Russo-Chzukehee Yargon.
Epe'pil,
Ka'mak,
Kaitaka'lhin,
Rihna'lhIn,
Pafikai'pirkin,

Priest,
Death,
Brother,

Wolf)
He marries by Christian rite,

Koryak.
Little father, grandfather.
Evil spirit.
Brother.
Wolf.
He puts on a hat (nuptial crown).

Stories about such beings form the greater part of the folk-lore and
mythology of the Chukchee.' Most prominent among them are the ke'let
(pc. of ke'lE). Of these there are several classes, all of which may do harm
to mankind. Sometimes, however, all kinds of spirits, harmful or harmless,
are referred to as ke'let; but, strictly speaking, this use of the term is incorrect. An accurate speaker will distinguish at least two separate classes of
the harmful ke'IE or evil spirit and the benevolent
supernatural beings,
va'irgin.

Many times when witnessing sacrifices made by the common people,
who know little of spiritual matters, I asked to whom the sacrifice was being
proffered. The answer was, "Who knows! To the va'Irgin, to the ke'lE
("Qo! vairge'ti, kalagti'"). Both names were intended for the class of beings
friendly to man, because no Chukchee will openly confess to having made
sacrifices to evil spirits, except under extraordinary circumstances.
The word "va'Irgin" (p1. va'Irgit) signifies simply "being," and therefore
ke'let may also be called by this name. In this case some additional identification is usually desired. For example, aqa'm-va'IrgrIt indicates "bad
beings;" pagce'm-va'irgit, "meddling beings;" while va'irgit without any
addition signifies "benevolent spirits."
I mentioned also that the "owners" of the rivers, lakes, etc., are also
called ke'let. This is analogous to the fact that nymphs, dryads, and other
genii of the Greeks and Romans, were also called gods, and were supposed
to have various relations with higher deities, even to have sexual intercourse
with them. All three classes of supernatural beings are also called by the
Chukchee "the clever ones" (gitte'picit), as people versed in magic are called
"the knowing ones."
COMPARATIVE NOTES. - Judging from my own information and that
collected by Mr. Jochelson, the religious ideas of the Koryak present many
close similarities to those of the Chukchee, not only in their general character,
but also in their way of development. Thus, Mr. Jochelson says that
"household utensils, implements, parts of the house, the chamber-vessel, and
even excrement, have an existence of their own. They may warn their
'masters' of danger, and attack their enemies."' This, corresponds to what
I call the "first stage of development." Mr. Jochelson also mentions that
the "anthropomorphic ideas of the Koryak are schematic and incomplete,"
though, "on the other hand, the vagueness of their notions does not prevent
them from being material." 2 He points out this vagueness in regard particularly to their wooden images of a religious kind, whose outlines are very
crude. I rank such vague attempts in the second stage and in the first step of
development of the anthropomorphic conception. Mr. Jochelson says, also, that
aall objects appear in two states. One corresponds to the exterior form of
Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 117.

2 Ibid., p. II 5.

29 I

things, serving as a cover, and the other, to the interior, anthropomorphic."
Among the numerous instances of this kind contained in his material,
however, some imply a simple exchange from one form to another without
indicating that the first is, to use the words of Mr. Jochelson, "cast off like
a shell." Thus, the stone hammers in Tale No. 48, who act like men,
retain their hard stone heads.2 When I'lla undertakes to bring his stonehammer wife to his own house, he remarks in the middle of his journey,
that one half of her face became human, while the other remained stone.
This corresponds to what I call the "third stage." In accordance with this,
transformed objects retain some of their former material properties. Thus,
in one story, a man whom Big-Raven made from a rag has the peculiarity
of constantly moving his bowels. In another story, Eme'mqut comes to the
village of the Cloud-People, and notices that the people there, their reindeer,
their houses, and the pots that hang over the hearth, expand and contract
like clouds.3
Other instances given by Mr. Jochelson refer to the transformation of
inanimate objects into human beings by the taking-off of their outward cover.
"The bear, the wolf, the ermine, the moose, the raven, and other birds and
animals, are described as taking off their skins and becoming men, and vice
versa. Kilu', a niece of Big-Raven, put on a bear-skin, and turned into a
bear. Eme'mqut and his wives put on wide-brimmed, spotted hats, resemble
fly-agaric, and turned into those poisonous fungi." 4 I rank such transformations
as the fourth stage of development.
Koryak and Kamchadal stories of such transformations of animals are
numerous, and recall the tales of the American Indians, where the animal
almost always is simply a man covered with a skin blanket. The Chukchee
stories of animals represent them, in most cases, simply as having two
shapes, animal and anthropomorphous, interchangeable (my third stage, see
p. 278). In this they resemble the stories of the Eskimo. This agrees with
other facts which show, that, while the Chukchee folk-lore is closely connected
with that of the Eskimo, the tales of the Koryak and the Kamchadal have
a closer affinity with those of the North-Pacific Indians of America.5 The
Koryak admit "owners" or "masters" of localities and of classes of animals,
who are quite similar to those of the Chukchee, and, indeed, are called by
the same name. Eti'nvala"n corresponds to the Chukchee eti'nvilin, an adjective from e'tin ("master"). In the same way the Koryak ka'la corresponds
to the Chukchee ke'lE.
/ KE'LET. - The ke'let proper may be divided into three classes more or
1 Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p.

3 Ibid., pp. II7, 1 33.

II5.

2 Ibid., p. 202.
4 Ibid., p. 149.

Compare Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 683; Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp.

357 et seq.

less distinct, though often merging into one another. The first class consists
of evil spirits who walk about invisibly, bringing disease and death, and
preying on human souls and bodies. The second category is made up of
blood-thirsty cannibals who lived, or still live, somewhere on the distant
shores, and always fight against the Chukchee warriors. The third class includes the "spirits" that come at the call of the shamans, and help them in
their magic and medical practices.' The first class of "spirits" are often
called "genuine spirits" (li'i-ke'let), or "murderers" (tei'ninicit), or "meddling
beings" (pag'e'm-va'Irgit) because they interfere so much with human affairs.
The last name is given chiefly to the "spirits" of mysterious nervous diseases
"subject to shunning."2 They usually come from the confines of the territory
occupied by the Chukchee tribe. For instance, the "spirits" of contagious
diseases (such as small-pox or grippe) usually come from the sunset, out of
the "country belonging to the Sun Chief" (Tirk-e'rmin nu'tenut). By this
latter name the Chukchee, in common with many other tribes of Siberia,
designate the Russian Emperor. Contagious diseases actually come to the
Chukchee from the west. I was repeatedly asked by the natives whether
all Russia was occupied by ke'let, and why the Sun Chief is unable to get
rid of them.3
Ke'let are also supposed to come from under ground, and sometimes
even from above, where they have a separate world of their own. They
never come from the sea, because, according to a proverb of the Reindeer
Chukchee, "nothing evil can come from the sea." This is additional proof
of the opinion expressed before, that the maritime element in former times
preponderated in Chukchee life.
Within the limits of the Chukchee land, ke'let live in desert places far
away from human villages. There they attack and catch the lonesome
traveller, or cling to him invisibly, and are carried to human dwellings, where
they can find victims in plenty. They hide in little hollows of the ground,
in crevices of the rock, or in cracks along the river-banks, where they waylay
the unsuspecting traveller who tries to drink from a hole in the ice, or who
I Regarding deceased people who come back as "spirits," see Chapter XVII.
2 See p. 42.
3 The ideas of the Chukchee about the country of the Sun Chief present many peculiarities. Among
others I will mention the belief, current among the Reindeer and the Maritime people, as to the use to which

are put the tributes in peltry coming to the Sun Chief from arctic Siberia. In the country of the Sun Chief
there is supposed to exist a great hole, from which boiling water continually flows, forming a whirlpool, and
threatening to submerge the whole world. The "spirit" of the whirlpool has to be propitiated with sacrifice of
peltries thrown into the water. The best combination is white and red foxes in equal numbers. When the
latter are deficient, the whirlpool turns angrily, refusing to accept the sacrifice. Therefore, when peltries are
scarce, the Sun Chief has to give, for those lacking, an equal number of cossack children. Besides this, every
tenth year he must throw in either two black foxes or his eldest son.
This is the only explanation that the mind of the Chukchee was able to work out in accounting for the
exceeding greed of the Russians in acquiring the smaller peltries, which, from the Arctic point of view, are
much inferior to the common fawn-skins. The legend probably originated in certain Russian folk-stories heard
from the cossacks or Russianized natives.

sleeps on the bare ground. These evil spirits will scare men into fits, or
violate every woman whTom they find sleeping alone in the open.
On account of these beliefs, the Chukchee are extremely afraid to travel
alone, and, when passing the night in the open, protect themselves against
the ke'let with various devices to be described later.
The ke'let who live in deserts are called by a common name, "groundspirits" (nota's-qa-ka'lat) or "ground-beings" (nota's qa-va'irgIt). The fiercest
and most dreaded of them is Iu'metun, who causes a nervous disease bearing
the same name.' He lurks in the place of his abode, ready to spring, on
every man who passes by without necessary magic precauitions. He is
represented as having a black face and a large mouth full of big strong teeth.
This latter feature is common to every form of ke'lE. On some Chukchee
pencil-sketches, Iu'metun (Fig. 203, a)
and other "spirits" of a similar char-,
acter are represented merely as faces
without bodies. This is explained by 1
the statement that their faces only
pop out of their places of concealment.
Another of the "ground-spirits"
is Ite'yun (Fig. 203, 1), the "spirit" of* 'D
I
epilepsy, who is represented by a face
with distorted features. Ite'yun, when
Z4,
fj;!
C
the shamans see him, will suddenly
ti'
change his appearance and put on
another face (Fig. 203, c). Among b
the other "ground-spirits" are "Hang- Fig. 203. Chukchee Sketches illustrating Grounding-Eyes" (Lili'lhik), Fig. 204, a, with Spirit, a, Iu'metun; b, Ite'yun; c, Ite'yun changing
eyes hanging down on thin threads;
and "One-Eyed" (Qon-lelo), Fig. 204, b, who has one eye only.
Most of the "ground-spirits" have no special names; but the Chukchee
agree that they are numerous, and have faces
which are "of different sort" (a'lvam-va'ht), not
\
resembling anything else on earth. In dreams
a
and visions they often appear as a crowd of
black beings, and act collectively, even when
204. Chukchee Sketches illustratconcluding a special compact with a shaman. ingFig."Ground-Spirits."
a, Hanging-Eyes;
Other spirits," on the contrary, when appearing b, One-Eyed.
in dreams and contracting a league with shamans,
act individually and mistrust one another. Some of the "ground-spirits" are
described as very small, not larger than a human finger, naked, and of the
color of raw meat. They penetrate the human body, and break out in abI See p. 42.

38-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

and ulcers. An old man who in a single week had lost all his
family by small-pox ,' and who was dangerously ill himself, told me that
when he began to recover he saw the "spirit" of the disease escaping from
his right side. Then another small "spirit" bright as fire entered his body.
With a little silver knife he cut out the bad places of the intestines. His
hand, when thrust out of the body of the patient, became so long that it
reached the ground, and could wipe off the blood and pus on the grass.
Other "spirits" of this class are gaunt, and black of face. They are
clad in black garments of foreign material, such as cotton or broadcloth.
According to a more common belief, they wear the worn-out clothes of the
deceased, which the Chukchee usually cut to pieces and leave in a heap
The "spirits" pick them up, and mend them with
near the naked corpse.
the sinew of the corpse. In the sketches drawn by natives, which were
mentioned above, these "spirits" are represented by a number of strange
faces and figures. Some of them have only half-bodies (Fig. 205, a), a
detail which is also met with
scesses

among
^:<
/eS
rr_
<}
j
5Ae

+

2-

K/+

objects

de-

signed to work a spell ;2 others

~~~have

X

.;

artificial

the

ears

and

tail

of

a

dog (Fig. 205, 6), or many
insect (Fig. 205,
like
~~~~~~~~~~~feet,
have the body
others
still
c));
an

of
N~~~~~~N

fox

a

fish,

seal,

(Fig.

205,

dog, bird, or
d-g), always

with long hands armed with
claws,t and with

a

large mouth

~full of teeth.

:tf d

J

Xff

y

The majority of the ke'let
do not stay in their own reFig. 205. Chukchee Sketches representing "Ground-Spirits."
treats. They prefer to visit
human villages, and wander about seeking human prey. They live very
much like human beings, and are considered a tribe by themselves. They
have villages or camps, and move about the country with reindeer or dogs.
They marry, and have children. Their young people go hunting and fishing,
and the old men sit at home and try to read the future by the aid of
divining-stones. The object of their hunts is exclusively man, whom they
usually call "a little seal." Their divining-stone is a human skull, while men
often use for this purpose the skull of some animal. It is said in a tale,e

"The ke'let will come in the night-time to a dwelling, put their nets across the entrance, and
then poke with long poles under the sides of the tent in order to drive the little souls of the sleepers
away from under the protecting cover of the inner room."
II

tundra.
the western
western Kolyma
Kolyma tundra.
In 1884,
1884, on
on the
In

41.
p. 41compare PCompare

xvi.
See chapter XVI.
22 See

Chapter

After catching a soul, they chop it to pieces, cook it in a kettle, and
feed their children with it.' A shaman said to me,
"We are surrounded by enemies. 'Spirits' always walk about invisibly with gaping mouths.
We are always cringing, and distributing gifts on all sides, asking protection of one, giving ransom
to another, and unable to obtain anything whatsoever gratuitously."

Aifianwa't,W in his curious description of the "bad years of small-pox" on
the western tundra of the Kolyma, says as follows:
"Then I had a dream. A cloud came from above, like darkness. It approached slowly, like
a thick fog. I saw it approaching, and all grew dark around me. It was a black crowd, a gathering
of men clad in black. In the bright mid-day they darkened the sun completely. I asked those
nearest, 'What are you coming for?' They answered, 'We came to devour you!' - 'Oh,' I said,
'let me help you at first.' I picked up from the ground a piece of wood, and suddenly I saw
myself soaring upwards. Then I began moving to and fro, and struck with the stick upon the top
of all tents of my camp. I struck down all the tents, but these were in reality the souls of my
wife and children whom I struck down. Thus I killed all of mine with my own hand. And from
the time of that dream the disease could seize all of xny family." 3

"Spirits" like the inner organs of the human body, - the heart, the
kidneys, and especially the liver. "Ke'lE is fond of liver" (Ke'lE ponta'Irinken),
says a proverb. The following tale is given as the reason for their peculiar
longing for human liver: "Once upon a time an old woman ke'lE lived with her little son near a village of men. She
had nothing to eat, and every time the villagers happened to kill a seal or a walrus, she asked for
its liver, and she and her child lived on that. At last the villagers got weary of the tribute.
They enticed her son to accompany them for a drive across the ice, and killed him. Then,
bringing back his liver, they gave it to the ke'lE-woman. She did not recognize it, and, taking it
home, roasted a portion over her lamp. The remaining portion she laid down near by. Suddenly
it turned into live lice, which crawled away in all directions. After that, the ke'let, in revenge,
began to seek for human liver."

The same taste for liver is ascribed by the Koryak to their ka'la.4
The ke'let are not exempt from the attacks of shamans, who can deal
with them in the same way as they deal with men. The ke'let, on their
part, call shamans ke'let. If a "spirit" drives with a reindeer-team and a
shaman steps on the rear part of the runners of his sledge, the team will
immediately stop, because the reindeer are aware of the presence of the
shaman. The "spirits," unable to understand what has happened, will seek
for some natural cause. The same thing happens to men whose sledges may
be stopped by "spirits." I collected numerous stories about "spirits" attacking
human villages, and about shamans retaliating in exactly the same way.
The ke'let are subject to sudden changes of size. Several shamans have
said to me, It is intended to publislh these Tales in Vol. VIII.
3 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 37.
4 See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 295.
1 Taken from a Tale.

2 See

p. 46.

"It is puzzling to understand the size of the ke'let. You look at a ke'lE, and he is smaller
than a mosquito; again you look, and he is of the size of an ordinary man, and then, behold! he is
sitting on a cliff, and his feet touch the sandy beach below. Look at him closely, and he is not
larger than a finger: look at him at some distance through the fog, and he will loom up like a
mountain."

On the Pacific side, these "spirits" are usually called re'kkenit (sing.
re'kkeni), while in the Kolyma country a re'kkein is a monster with a bear s
body and very large ears. I obtained several curious details about the
supposed ways of the re'kke-n tribe. They cannot fly. Even when pursued
by a shaman, they only dive underground, making the earth near them
soften and give way like water. They have red canoes, in which they
ascend even the shallowest waters, also large skin boats with crews of eight
oarsmen and a boat-master (agtw-e'rmecIn), after the manner of men. When
hunting from these boats, they lay their nets for men, who are their only
game. Their houses are underground dwellings. Their kettles are made of
grass. Their fire is snow-white in the day-time and blood-red in the evening,
when it may be seen in the west after sunset.
The outward appearance of the re'kkenit and of their reindeer and dogs
is unlike that of man and his animals. It is "of different form" (a'lvam-va'lin).
Some of them have only one eye, in their foreheads, and long braided hair.
They wear loose garments with very long sleeves trailing on the ground,
while their hands are thrust out through openings in the middle. These
latter details are repeated in the description of other supernatural beings.
The breath of re'kkeiiit, and also that of their reindeer, is thick smoke
containing sparks of fire. The women are very stout, and have long loose
hair reaching to the ground. The tips of the hair glow in the dark. Their
breasts are under their arms.
The Chukchee sacrifice to the re'kkeiit, and to any other ke'let, any
animal that is "of different form;" for
a example, reindeer with antlers of un-

usual form or white reindeer vith black

p

ear-points, or those having a white
k kong one
spot
g - side resembling in its

outline a Chukchee drum, or new.,yborn fawns with misshapen mouths,
N@
or black pups with white spots over
'~~
the eyes, etc.

Ke'let, in their turn, when caught
Fig. 206. Chukchee Sketch representing a Ke'lE's Dog. flagrante delicto by a shaman, often

give in ransom one of their dogs.
When a ke'lE comes to a human
black.
These are very small and quite
house on a hunting-expedition, his dog (Fig. 206) slips in at his side,

invisible, like a shadow, and snatches up the souls, bringing them to his
master. This dog is subject to the same puzzling changes of size as is his
master. If met singly in the open, he may appear as large as a bear, with
A dog to be
a great mouth full of large teeth, ready to devour his victim.
given over to a man in ranson for his ke'lE "master" is only one born of an
ordinary bitch; but when he grows up he will be distinguished by his large
size, black hair,. and sullen temper. Often he has white spots over his eyes,
which are considered an additional pair of eyes, capable of seeing the ke'let
in the dark: He is thus "double-eyed." Such a dog will keep watch against
ke'let, and drive them away from the dwelling; or, if he is afraid of their
strength, he will awaken his master, and suggest by his barking either flight
or other means of protection, according to circumstances.'
In one of the sketches a re'kkein is represented with a long thin tongue
protruding from his mouth (Fig. 207). He is pursuing a human soul. Another sketch shows a large hairy ke'lE 2 who stole an infant
from its father and mother, and is about to swallow it (Fig. <
208). Another ke'lE is striving to get a share, while in the
original the parents are represented above in earnest discussion.
The ke'let of several diseases have special names, and are
described in detail.

The "cough-spirit" (Te'ggi) is an old man

Fig. 207. Chuk-

driving a single white reindeer, and all the time coughing cheeSketcRe'kkepr.
violently. In one of the sketches he is represented with a
piece of cord on which are strung the souls of several mortals, who offer
him a reindeer "of different
The
form" in ransom.
"rheum-spirit" (Pi'ti) is
an-

other old

of small size,

man

with red inflamed eyes, and
filled

nose

with

"Syphilis-spirits" (E'tel) are
small red people moving
about

with

small

!

;

X

I,

mucus.

V
,/'. 4

reindeer,

and pitching their tents on
human bodies. Sometimes i: 2
.Ij'il
they hide in the red juice
of the cloud-berry, and are
swallowed with it. Accord- Fig. 208. Chukchee Sketch representing Two Hairy Cannibal Ke'let.
ing to other information,
these "spirits" have no skin, and their raw, red flesh is left bare. They
I

From a tale.

2 In describing the sketches, I use the names re'kkeii or

sketchers and describers.

ke'lE according as they were used by the native

\.

wear black capes with ear-flaps hanging down to the ground. On one of
the sketches, "syphilis-spirits" are represented by two red foxes walking on
their hind-legs (Fig. 209, a, b). One of the foxes has lost a foot, having
been caught in a steel trap, and on his
escape he sought revenge by becoming a
"syphilis-spirit." The "colic-spirit" (Ehre'er or
E'hrip) is represented with a large beak tied
\
11~ta
to his face (Fig. 209, C). He is also del
b
C
scribed as a large wooden ball having a face
a,
Fig. 209. Chukchee Sketches representing on one side.
Disease-Spirits. a, b, "Syphilis-Spirits;" c,
An ivory carving (Fig. 2 IO) obtained
"Colic-Spirit.

from the Maritime Koryak at Baron Korff's
Bay represents the "spirit" of contagious diseases, much like that shown in
the drawings of the Chukchee. The aspirit" has a very
X <:> W large mouth full of teeth; and his hands are armed with
claws, one of wich is broken.
As a defence against a 'spirit, the spoon is very efficient, because this utensil has eaten so much of the bloodt
t
gsoup used for sacrifice. The snow-beater is another favorite
/ ~1
weapon, because it rattles all the time. It is especially
efficacious when it has a guardian image on its handle.
XThe "spirits" fear the chamber-vessel most of all. Human
urine poured over a "spirit's" head will immediately drive
him back. Urine freezes on a "spirit's" clothes, and turns
to hoar-frost: therefore a "spirit" is sometimes said to have
Fig. 2I0 ( D.) Kor- ice-covered clothes. The oil dripping from a lamp is also
yak Ivory Carving representing the "Spirit" of said to be highly efficacious against "spirits:" therefore it is
Contagious Diseases. used by shamans when performing incantations, in drawing
magic circles around the house.
The Chukchee have little conception of death by natural means. When
a man dies, he is supposed to be killed either by 'spirits," or by an evil
shaman through the influence of charms. In one tale the Creator, angered
by the bloodthirstiness of the "spirits," gives them a severe lesson on their
own children. They repent, and for a while stop killing. Then death ceases
in the whole world, until the "spirits," incited by hunger, return to their former
pursuit.
One of the chief features of the funeral ceremonial with the Chukchee
consists in ripping open the abdomen of the corpse, and carefully searching
the internal organs, especially the liver, to discover, if possible,- which "spirit"
or shaman may have killed the deceased.
The second division of the ke'let, the cannibal giants who make war
against the Chukchee warriors, are heard of chiefly in the folk-tales. They

are described as having fabulous features, but in all cases they are earthly
and mortal beings. Man can deal with them, using ordinary weapons, while
against the "genuine spirits" it is necessary to use incantations, magic spells,
and shamanistic power. These giants are always very poor. They have no
reindeer and use dogs only to a limited extent. In several tales the "spirit"
has only a single dog, used for hunting-purposes, and carries his fuel and
quarry on his own shoulders, or hauls them on a sled. In the Yukaghir
folk-lore these beings are simply called "legendary old men," ' which characterizes them perfectly.
The transition from the first to the second class of ke'let is quite gradual
and almost imperceptible. One shaman of the Reindeer people in the Telqa'p
tundra told me that a few years before, when he was visiting at the secluded
house of a Ke'rek family,2 a ke'lE came at dusk to the dwelling, and called
from the outside for his wife to come out. He had evidently lost his way
and had mistaken this for his own house. He went on to tell his supposed
wife that he had caught all the fish in the nearest two rivers, and he flung
down his load with such force that the ground trembled. Then he thrust a
pair of boots made of stone into the sleeping-room, and asked for dry shoes.
When he tried to creep into the sleeping-room, the inmates potured the
contents of the chamber-vessel on his head, and he immediately fled, gibbering
away at a furious rate. The fish remained behind, and afforded sufficient
food for all the people of the near-by villages for half a year. It will be
seen that this ke'lE is described as an unfriendly spirit and at the same time
as an earthly being living by catching real fish.
Another story relates that a ke'lE tribe lived somewhere on the Arctic
shore. The Chukchee led a war of extermination against them, and at last
the "spirits,' unable to continue the strife, made themselves invisible.
I have already spoken of the traditioni according to which several human
tribes are supposed to have emigrated in ancient times from the Chukchee
country.' These tribes correspond to the Eskimo tornit (p1. of tuneq).'
Cannibal giants similar to those of the Chukchee appear also in Eskimo tales.
The tribes which emigrated are supposed to have been of ordinary stature.
The Chukchee also believe in the existence of a race of giants, who,
unlike the ke'let, do not harm men. They are called lo'lgilit. The tales
about them are somewhat similar to those found among the Eskimo. The
giants are said to live on the other shore of the sea, inside of large tent-like
mountains. When they make a fire, the smoke escapes through the opening
on the top of the mountains.
One of the sketches mentioned (Fig. 2I I) represents a giant called
"One-with-a-Walrus-Blubber-Skin" (Kopa'lha-he'lhelin). This giant came from
I Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, Introductory, p. iv.
2 See p. I9.
3 See p. 22.
4 See Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 634.

across the sea to the land of the Ke'rek. He was so heavy that he left the
footprints of his steps everywhere, and even the impression of his private
parts. One night he
went to sleep in an
open place. Three
men saw him, and
succeeded in tying
him with ropes to
stakes driven into
the ground. After
t
that they killed him
with their spears.

>o
t

His bleached bones

may be seen even
\ canow on the Pe'qulAnei' Mountains.
The third cate-

\

gory of ke'let consists
of the "spirits" that
come at the call of
the shamans. They
Fig. 211. Chukchee Sketch r:epresenting a Giant being killed by Men.
are often called "separate spirits" (ya'nvra-ka'lat) or 'separate vioces" (ya'nvra-ko'let), because their
voices seem to come from different directions. The shamans produce these
voices by ventriloquism. Another name for these "spirits" is eine'niit, from
which the shaman is called eine'nilin ("having e'inein"). The word "e'inein" is
applied also to all kinds of medicines, including the pills and powders of the
civilized world. The Christian God is called E'nien, and so also are the
crucifix, images of saints, etc.
The shamanistic "spirits" are for the most part material objects of various
kinds, - animals, such as wolves, reindeer, walrus, whales; birds; plants;
icebergs; household utensils, such as pots, hammers, needles, and needle-cases.
The chamber-vessel and urine are also shamans' "spirits." I was told of an
old man who met a fox defecating in the open (see Fig. 2I2, d). The fox
ran away, and the old man took its excrement for his own "spirit." Another
old man, when practising shamanism, called his own penis as a "spirit."
Sometimes household objects, etc., are described as calling, without invitation,
on the shaman during a manifestation. They put on mysterious airs, and
assume fine-sounding names. The needle, for instance, appears as a man,
and calls itself "the long one" (iwcu'wgi). The work-bag is called by other
"spirits" "[home] sitting bag" (wake'tva-ta'-iocgin). The antler ladle appears
as a ribald old man, and boasts that all women love him. The excrement

30 I

boasts that he is clad in a nice black garment, but other "spirits" reveal his
identity. The shamanistic "spirits" are described as very small, and timid
in the presence of unfamiliar objects and surroundings. They belong to the
houseless world, say the Chukchee, just as do wild animals. It is no easy matter
to allure them to human houses and to tame them, even partially. They
approach warily, and are ready to run away at any moment. They come
only in the darkness. By listening, one can sometimes hear the tapping of
their tiny feet as they trot across a drum. When moving in the dark, they
produce a sound similar to the droning of a beetle or the buzzing of a
mosquito.' Their voices are, however, strong. They are supposed to be
subject to sudden changes of size, and able, in case of need, to grow to giant
proportions. An ermine invoked as a shamanistic "spirit," or as a guardian
spirit of an ordinary man, will, if need be, assume the shape of a polar bear.
A pebble will appear as a mountain. A small wooden figure representing a
supernatural dog will increase in size until it is larger than a bear.' Nevertheless, the shamanistic "spirits" are smaller than the "genuine spirits." In
some of the native sketches where a "genuine spirit" is represented side by
side with "separate spirits" invoked by a shaman to give protection against
the first "spirit's," attacks, the shamanistic "spirits" are drawn considerably
smaller than the "genuine spirits.",
The sketches shown in Fig. 2I2 are copied from a native drawing
representing various
shamanistic "spirits."
a is a man who
carried his own excrement, laid on a
paddle, out of the
house, and it became a "spirit;" b
represents a man
b
who called to himself a "spirit" in the
/
shape of a centipede;
c represents a man
c
+
/ ]
to whom a "benevolent being" (invisiFig. 212. Chukchee Sketches representing Shamanistic "Spirits."
ble on the sketch)
offered the choice between two shamanistic coats, red and black (good and
bad shamanism),. he chose the red; d represents a man who met in the open
a fox defecating, over which he brandished his spear, whereupon the fox fled,
and the excrement became a "spirit."
I The same, also, in tales.
39-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

The shamanistic "spirits" are very ill tempered, especially toward the
shaman with whom they are connected. If he does not carry out implicitly
all the suggestions they make about his dress, mode of living, and the details
of ceremonials, they become angry and chastise him, or punish him otherwise.
If he continues to disobey, they kill him. If the "spirits" are displeased with
any of the listeners at a ceremony, they usually take vengeance on the
shaman. For this reason, outsiders must be very quiet, and careful not to
pry into the work of the "spirits."
On the other hand, when the shaman has kept faithfully his compact
with the "spirits," they must come at his call, and must assist him in all
troubles and difficulties. "These are my people, my own little 'spirits,'" said
one shaman when I expressed a doubt as to whether his "spirits" would come
or not. "They will not leave me, but will seek me all the time, as a fawn
seeks its mother."
Stories of Chukchee folk-lore are full of episodes in which shamanistic
"spirits" come at the call of the shaman when he is in difficulty, and deliver
him from imminent peril. One old shaman, A'nika by name, who lived in
the village of Nu'nligren, told me that when he was still newly inspired, he
happened to travel by sea in a skin boat with seven other men, all of whom
were shamans, and each one older than himself. Suddenly the boat sprung a
leak. The owner, who was steering, exclaimed, "Stop that leak, some of you!'
but no one was able to do anything. Then he himself called a "seaweed.
spirit" who happened to be among his supernatural assistants, and told him
to stick to the leak. Thus the boat came to shore. When they were near
to the landing, A'nika exclaimed, "I have done enough in taking care of
you (by stopping the leak)! Now, if you are really shamans, save yourselves
from destruction!" The "seaweed-spirit" dropped off, and the boat began to
sink. A'nika and the owner of the boat were able to reach the shore by
swimming, but all the others were drowned.
This story is analogous in many respects to a folk-lore story that I
collected in the village of (Ve'cin. In that story also, a young shaman with
the aid of a "seaweed-spirit" saves a boat. Then he bids defiance to those
in the boat, and, suddenly turning into a hawk, seizes the boat-owner and
carries him to land, while all the others perish.
Shamanistic "spirits," as a rule, do not like one another. When they
meet near a shaman, they are said to quarrel and to abuse one another in
a most violent manner. The shaman, however, brings about a reconciliation,
and prevails upon them to act harmoniously. Thus, in the story of the
"Two Rival Shamans," the house of one of them is covered on all sides
with a number of "spirits," and a "spirit" of another shaman, who comes for
assault, cannot find an opening through which to enter.'
I Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 217.

BENEVOLENT BEINGS. - Supernatural beings which are benevolent in nature
are called "beings" (va'Irgit), as I have stated before. This word in the verbform is t-it-va'rkin ("I exist," "I am"). The noun va'Irgin signifies "existence,"
"being," "way of living," "acting force," "substance."
Directions. -While there are numerous varieties of "benevolent spirits,"
the most prominent are the "benevolent spirits sacrificed to" (taaro'nyo
va'irgit), those to whom people bring 'sacrifices. They live in all "directions"
of the compass, or are even themselves the "directions" of the compass in
their connection with a special stage of sunlight and of day-time which
corresponds to each separate "direction." The Chukchee distinguish twentytwo "directions" of the compass, as represented in Fig. 2 I 3. Of these
"directions," only mid-day and midnight are unchanging. All others change
their positions according to change of season. The zenith and the nadir are
also considered to belong to this group.
Sacrifices may be made to every one of these "directions," if it is so
directed in a dream. As objects for receiving sacrifices, the "dire-ctions" of
the compass are called "[directions] sacrificed to" (taaro'iigirgit). Usually only
the principal "directions" are taken into consideration. That pointing to the
zenith is considered to be the most important of all. It is called "being a
crown" (kano'irgin), or "middle crown" (gino'n-kano'n), or "middle being"
(gino'n-va'irgin). Mid-day, the sun, and particularly the polar star, around
which the Chukchee well know all other stars move, are often considered
identical with the "middle crown." Of all others, Morning-Dawn (Tnba'irgin)
is the most important. Mid-day and dawn are sometimes spoken of as
identical. Together they receive nearly all the sacrifices offered to "spirits
of directions."
The shamans speak about several divisions of the Morning-Dawn,
the "Top of the Dawn" (Tnie's'qAn), "Right-hand Dawn" (Mrat-na'irgin).
"Genuine Dawn" (Li'e-tia'irgin), and "Left-hand Dawn" (f%a'chi-tia'irgin).
The last-named is considered to be the brother of Darkness (Wu's-quus-).
The name of Dawn's wife is given as Dawn-walking-Woman (Tiie-cei'vuine).
Besides all these, two mountains are' mentioned as standing at either side of
the Dawn; also a little old woman, Dawn-Top-Woman (Tfie's-qA-fie), who
lives in a dwelling apart by herself, after the manner of such old women in
Chukchee tales. The Chukchee -say the Dawn and the Twilight are "wife
companions" (Tfia'irgin E'rri ri'thilin gefiewtu'mga); that is, have a wife in
common. Some of the tales describe their common life with this woman in
crude detail.
In one tale a shaman ascends to their' dwelling in order to rob them of
their wife. He creates a girl out of snow and grass, which he pretends is his
sister. The snow girl is given in exchange for the wife of the hosts, but in
the morning they find that she is dissolved. Then a shamanistic contest

begins. Among other feats, the contestants have to run along a thin pole
over a boiling-hot river. The shaman does not wait for his turn, but starts

w

B

A
Fig. 213. I)irections of the Compass.
ti'rki-re'ic or terk-ameKa'tye' ("sun has come in" or
totInto'ev ("darkness has gone").
"sun has gone out of sight").
taii-irgIro"ec ("it has well dawned").
tirk-iini'is ("sun has risen").
alco'pta ("it is still day').
em-gi'thili-ne'lyi ("twilight has come").
tW'rkI-gIrgola'tye' ("sun has ascended").
ti'rki-keulke'tyic ("sun has climbed [towards the top]").
gitg:luwe'tyis ("twilight has become narrow").
ge'th6lu-waiiie'es ("twilight has been extinguished").
am-gino't-a1lo'wti t;le'hti ne'lyic ("to the mid-day it
ai've&ha ("in the evening") or tun-nikiru'ig ("night
has gradually approached").
recently came"').
am-gIno't-aclo' ne'lyic ("mid-day has come").
em-ginu'n-niki'tta ne'lyis ("midnight has come"').
am-gino't-aclo' hala'ec ("mid-day has passed by").
em-ginu'n-niki'tii hala,'U ("midnight has passed by").
t-arkichawe'q ne'lyit ("sun descending has come").
eime'wkwic ("[dawn] has approached").
t-arkicha'wkwe or tirk-iwtitvi'is ("sun has descended"
1'priiigec ("[light] has burst forth").
or "sun has become low").
tiie'ic ("it has dawned") or tiia'irgin ("morning-dawn").

from the opposite end at the same time as the other competitors. When he
meets them, he jumps over their heads and runs on. Next they have to

leap over a chasm bristling with projecting knives. The shaman performs
this feat backwards. Then a huge kettle filled with boiling water is placed
by the side of a larch-tree. A thin pole with a sharp end protrudes from
the water. The competitors have to catch the end of a rope which hangs
from the larch-tree. Then they must jump into the kettle, alighting on the
end of the pole, and finally land safely on the ground. Other trials follow.
T he shaman overpowers his supernatural competitors, robs them of' the
woman, and finally kills them.'
The "directions" of the evening are classed together as "Darkness"
(Wu's-quus-). They are not given separate sacrifices, except in special cases.
After the usual sacrifice to the Dawn, the Chukchee man will often sprinkle
a few drops of blood in the four principal "directions." The darkness and
the midnight "directions" are frequently confused with the nadir (nota's qa-va'irgin). Nota's qa-va'irgin signifies literally "earth-being," and the sacrifice in
that "direction" is sometimes meant as a sacrifice to the earth.'
Sun and Moon.
The Sun is generally described as a separate
va'IRgIN. He is represented as a man in bright garments wandering around
the sky, drawn by dogs or reindeer. His reindeer are sometimes described
as having antlers of copper. He descended to earth along one of his own
rays, and married a girl, whom he carried with him to heaven by the same
road.3 He also brought to men a herd of white reindeer. The brown and
the gray reindeer come from under the ground, somewhere beyond the limits
of the peltry-bearing country (avi'rI-nu'tenut), at the place where the sky
touches the earth. There a large hole is bored through the ground, and
through that hole herds of reindeer pass continually, followed by wolves. In
this way the number of reindeer on earth increases.
The Sun goes down every evening to his wife, whose name is Walkingaround-Woman (Kavra'-iTna). According to another somewhat disconnected
version, Sun's wife is called Rejoicing-Woman (Ko'rgi-fia). This name was
given to her because she bore a son to her husband, and then said to him,
"Rejoice, I have a son!" The son was soon stolen by Stuck-Staff-Woman
(U'npinie), who may sometimes be heard weeping in the open on very dark
nights at the end of summer. The Sun-People sought for the lost boy, but
the thief destroyed all traces of herself by sticking her magic staff across her
trail. This is how she received the name of Stuck-Staff-Woman. This episode
seems to be a fragment of some old tale.
The Moon is also considered a man, and to. a certain extent holds a
position in contrast to that of the Sun. He is called the Sun of the ke'lE.
The suns of lower worlds are often quite similar to our moon. Shamans
apply to the Moon for evil spells and incantations. A person who looks too
I Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 227.

For the ke'let who are called nota's qa-va'IrgIt, compare p. 293.

3 From tales.

,30o6

hard at the Moon may be bereft of his wits, or be carried away altogether.
The Moon has a lasso with which he catches such people, and hauls them
upward. He thus captured a boy or a girl, or both, according to different
versions of the story. They may now be seen on the moon, by the side of
-the Moon-Man. Other informants said that the Moon carried away the boy
because he was ill-treated by his step-mother. Because the Moon has a
lasso, he accepts offerings of small pieces of thong. The Moon is also said
to have attempted to ravish a girl, and to have been prevented by her
pinioning his arms to his sides until he had to plead to be released.
In one tale a shaman named Atti'gitki went with his cousin to the sea.
On the open sea they saw a small old man sitting on the water with legs
crossed, and covering the entrance to the world under water. By promising
to give him, on their return home, an old blind she-dog, gray with age, they
were permitted to enter. Descending to the world under water, they walked
along and found still another world supported in the air on the end of a
long needle. They turned into mosquitoes, flew upward, and slipped through
the needle's eye into that world. Then they became men again.
The owner of that world is the Earth (Nu'tenut). He sits in a large
iron house surrounded by Sun, Moon, Sky, Sea, Dawn, Darkness, and
World, who are suitors for his beautiful daughter. Their hands are covered
with scars, because at each meal, when the tray with the meat is brought
in, the master strikes with a long knife at every hand that reaches out for
the food. The guests, however, being powerful shamans, immediately heal
their wounds by breathing on them. Atti'gitki sits down by himself, puts
his cap on his lap, and draws in his breath. Plenty of meat jumps over
into the cap, and Nu'tenut has no occasion to interfere.
After the meal the suitors are sent to fetch fuel. A large tree-trunk
stands up in the middle of the sea. As soon as a suitor climbs it and
begins to cut its branches with an axe, the "spirit" that lives in the treetrunk shakes it, and the wood-cutter falls down and is drowned. The suitors,
being shamans, rise again, and come back to the shore. Atti'gitki and his
cousin bring a quantity of food and drop it on the tree-trunk. While the
"spirit" is busy eating the food, they succeed in cutting off a piece of wood
as large as a house. After a while a shamanistic contest begins in the
sleeping-room. The lights are extinguished. Sun brings his luminary, and
scorches the people. Sea brings the flood, and drowns everything. Moon
brings the "shutting rocks," and crushes the competitors. Dawn brings two
polar bears, which eat everybody. Darkness brings two black bears, which do
the same. Sky makes its upper hard crust fall down and crush the people.
Worlds brings a blizzard, and freezes them. After each performance, all the
rival shamans come to life again. The two men remain unhurt, because
they turn, now into red worms, then into ermines or into wagtails, and in

this shape escape from danger. Finally Atti'gitki, in his turn, begins to
perform. He lifts his staff, and touches the competitors one by one. Half
of the body of each is burned, shrunken, or weakened. They fly away terrified, and Atti'gitki carries off the bride.'
Stars and Constellations. - Stars and constellations also belong to
the va'IrgIt. The most important is the Polar Star, which is called in the
Chukchee language Ilu'kalin e'nier or Ilu'k-e'iner ("motionless star"), or Aglqe'pe'ner ("nail star"), or Unp-e'nier ("the pole-stuck star"). This latter name
occurs throughout Asia. It suggests the existence of a simile in which all
other stars move around the Polar Star as horses or reindeer move around
a pole to which they are tethered. The house of the Polar Star stands in
the zenith. Directly under it is a hole through which it is possible to pass
from one world to another. Through a series of these holes the Polar Star
can be seen in all the lower and higher worlds, while the other constellations
change with the different worlds. Carrying this idea further, the house of
the Polar Star is supposed to be higher than that of any other star. It is
made of a material similar to ice,2 and on the top of it is set the beaconlamp of the star.
Next in importance to the -Polar Star are Arcturus and Vega, which are
called "Heads" (Le'utti). Arcturus is called "Front Head" (YanoLa'ut), and
Vega is called "Rear Head" (YaaLa'ut). They are said to be brothers or
cousins. In the night-time, when travelling through the open tundra, the
Chukchee find their direction by comparing the position of both "Heads" to
each other and to the Polar Star. The "Front Head," Arcturus, is often
called the "chief" or the "guide" of the stars.
The stars Altair and Tarared of the constellation Eagle are combined
by the Chukchee into a separate constellation, and are called Pehi'ttin. This
constellation is believed to usher in the light of the new year, because it
begins to appear above the horizon at the time of the winter solstice. The
Reindeer Chukchee and most of the families of the Maritime Chukchee sacrifice to Pehi'ttin at the time of his first appearance. I was told, both on the
Kolyma and the Anadyr, that Pehi'ttin was a forefather of the tribe, who,
after death, ascended to heaven; but I could not procure any further details.
Other stars and constellations known to the Chukchee are not considered
special va'Irgit. The principal ones are described below.
Orion, which is called Rulte'nnin, is said to be an archer with a
crooked back. His name is derived from the same root as the adjective niru'ltA-qin ("crooked"). Star X of the constellation forms his head; a and ^,
his shoulders; X and , his feet. Orion's belt is the crooked back of
1 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 235.
("similar to ice"). The Chukchee use the same word (ti'ntin) for "ice" and "glass." The
term "similar to ice" is also applied to rock-crystal.
2 Tin-wu'rrin

Rulte'nnin. Two large stars- extending downward from the belt form his
membrum virile.
Leo is called V"'t'a-fie'ut ("standing-woman"). This name is usually
given to women taking part in certain -ceremonial dances.' The woman
is considered to be Orion's wife, and she sleeps on the bare ground. In a
quarrel she struck Orion on the back with her tailoring-board, causing his
back to become crooked. After that he drove his wife out, and she lay
down to sleep in the middle of the sky. Leo is formed of seven stars. The
star E of Leo represents the head of the woman; Y, her neck; Regulus, her
knee. A small star between E and e; represents the sleeve on which rests
the head of the sleeping woman. Other stars outline her body.
The Pleiades are called Naus-qajo'mkin ("group of women"). They
are six young women waiting for husbands. Orion, after his quarrel with
his wife, offered to marry one of them; but they rejected his offer,
considering his membrum virile to be too big for them. The incensed suitor
caught up his bow and began to shoot at the women, who turned and fled.
Aldebaran is considered to be the copper-tipped arrow of Orion, and is
called :e½'Lo-ma'"qIm ("copper arrow"). The rear end of its wooden shaft is
represented by the double star not far from Aldebaran. The arrow fell short
of the fleeing women, and stuck in a mossy bog. The bow of Orion is
represented by a number of stars in front of the constellation, which form a
figure somewhat resembling a bow. The Kolyma Chukchee say that the
"group of women" stand quiet, and protect themselves with nets, which
are represented by a number of small stars. The "copper arrow" sticks in
the net.
The three constellations described by the Chukchee are shown in Fig.
2I4. Orion is standing with shoulders squared and legs wide apart, and is
bending his bow for another shot.
The star o! (Capella) of the Wagoner is a reindeer-buck which is tied
behind the sledge of a man (E) who is driving two reindeer. All four stars
are called curima-nlete'tilin ("buck-carriers"). 3 of the same constellation is
supposed to be a scarf lost by another reindeer-driver, who now comes back
for it. This driver has behind his sledge another extra buck (star G), which
is walking sidewise. A fox is approaching the scarf- from the other side.
The whole constellation is represented in Fig. 2I5.
Ursa Major does not play a conspicuous part among the other constellations. Six of its stars are supposed to be men shooting with slings, and
are called accordingly "sling-throwers" (wiyotkina'ulit). The seventh star,
which is double, is supposed to be a gray fox gnawing at a pair of antlers.
Castor and Pollux are two elks running away from two hunters who are
driving two reindeer-teams represented by the stars -,, x, and ?;, y of the
I

See Chapter XIV.

constellation Lynx. One of the hunters has a dog tied behind his sledge.'
The relative positions of these constellations are represented in Fig. 2I6.
Corona Borealis is supposed to be the paw of a polar bear.

JYlez;ad
** 4ldebarawz

Oruorn

al

i

7~

Leo
*

-la .;X

/

-I,

Fig. 214. Chukchee Constellations.

The constellation Dolphin is considered a seal, with the
star 4 representing its head, and four other stars its flippers.
The Milky Way is supposed to be a river, called Pebbly
River (tigei'-ve'em), which is believed to flow toward the
west and to contain numerous islands.
The five large stars in the constellation Cassiopeia are
five reindeer-bucks standing in the middle of the river.
?/Jrzfrdmaoyr

/

11~ct
a

Fig. 215. Chukchee
Constellations.

Ca,or

Lynx
..PoUua&

Vt

*

.6

Fig. 2I6. Chukchee Constellations.

In general, the names of constellations given by Lieutenant Nordquist2
differ from mine only in the method of transcription; but he calls Cassiopeia
I Both drivers are called "elk-hunters" (gu'pkA-velerkile'lIt). The driver without a dog, however, is

often called also the "mouse-driver" (compare p. 287).
2 Vega Expeditionens Vetenskapliga jakttagelser, I, p. 397.
40-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

,3IO0

"melotamkin," which, with a proper change of vowels in the root,' must be
read milute'mkin ("group of hares"). I have hnever heard Cassiopeia spoken
of as hares instead of reindeer.
Two small stars near Pehi'ttin are called "reindeer-dam" (veinke'nvru), the
second star being a reindeer-calf. They are approaching Pehi'ttin to be
sacrificed.
The Chukchee sketch (Fig. 2I7) represents the starry sky. Pebbly River
flows across it. The
in the midit,dle. exactly
Below the Polar
d

;

t.

;
b
Fig. 217. Chukchee Sketch representing Stars.

Star, on the right, are
and on the left (c),
the Elk-Hunter (Lynx).
Above Pebbly River,
on the left, is Ursa
Major (d) with its eight
stars; and above, in a

vertical row, three stars
The
group on the right hand repre(e) which represent Pehi'ttin (Eagle).
sents Orion (f) and the Pleiades (g); three stars a little above that group
represent Corona Borealis (h). The stars i and j represent the "Heads."
The Moon is in the first quarter.
In another sketch representing the sky (Fig. 2I8) the Polar Star is
placed in the middle. Four lines extend from it in the main directions of
the compass. The Dawn, the Evening, and the Darkness have worlds of
their own, represented as large mountains. The Dawn (in the left-hand
corner, below) has rays around his head. He holds in his left hand a tray,
which was offered to him with a sacrifice, and in his right hand a fox, which
he is going to give in exchange. From his left, another fox is approaching;
and on his right a dog which had been sacrificed by men sits looking up at
him. These two animals are also to be exchanged. Two other sacrificial
trays lie on the ground. The Evening and his family (in the opposite corner,
above) are celebrating the feast of the sea-god. They wear ceremonial headbands. A large wand stands in their midst. The Darkness is shown in
the lower right-hand corner, in the form of a human being coming out of
the trees with many branches. The Sun and the new Moon stand opposite
each other. Among the stars can be discerned the outlines of Orion and of
Compare p. i9, Footnote 2.
man who drew the sketch could give no reasons why he put in Pehi'ttin three stars instead of
two (see p. 307). Perhaps it was only an accidental mistake.
2 The

3I I

the Pleiades, the Milky Way, "Heads," etc. The large star in the upper
left-hand corner is Venus.
On another sketch (Fig. 2 I 9) three worlds are represented by three
concentric circles. Our world is the innermost. The Polar Star again stands
in the centre. On the left hand are the Sun and the Moon. The latter is

Fig. 2I8. Chukchee Sketch representing the Sky and the Lower Worlds.

represented as a man holding a lasso, with two human captives standing
beside him. Between the Sun and the Moon are the stars of Pehi'ttin.'
Beneath the Moon is located the black mountain of Darkness. At the
bottom stands a house made of earth belonging to the ke'let. Two ke'let
walk on all-fours. A large worm 2 wriggles above the house, its tail armed
with a long sting. The Left-hand Dawn has a low wooden house with two
"murderers, one tied on each side. The Genuine Dawn has a house
raised on a platform, which is supported by a single pole. Four dogs are
tied on the sides of the house. In the region of the Right-hand Dawn, at
the left side of the sketch, lives Dawn-Top-Woman (Tnie's qA-nie) ' in a small
house, which is also supported on a single pole. Under her feet is Venus.
The next sketch (Fig. 2 20 a) shows the Moon with the lasso in his
hand. The captive girl stands by his side. He is displeased with two
shamans because of the many evil charms they have created, with his aid,
to destroy other people. He paralyzes them by binding their heads and
hands with invisible strings, and pulling them upward (Fig. 220, 6, c). The
Moon's wife is represented with her face half blackened with soot (Fig. 220, d).
I ISee p.
307P- 307.

See p. 13.
22 See
p. 13-

See

p.

292.

3 See P. 292.

See

p.

303.

4 see p. 303-

3I2

In Koryak, ke'let of all kinds are called ka'la, ka'la, ka'lak, ka'mak, also fii'nvit, fe'nve'ti'ciin. The word ka'mak is used also in Chukchee for the "spirit of disease," and in the RussoChukchee jargon for "death" or "dying." With the Yukaghir, as noted before, a being similar to
the second class of ke'let is called a "legendary old man." 1

.a ai.

Rut.

n

n

sc

le

Fig. 2i9. Chukchee Sketch representing the World.
I'
I

The Asiatic Eskimo call the ke'IE tornirak (.p1. tornirat), which is apparently derived from the

same root as tornak of the American Eskimo. The second class of ke'let are called by the Asiatic
Eskimo mira'xpak, evidently an augmentative. The mira'xpahit live somewhere on the seashore,
although it is hard to find their places of habitation. Their footprints, however, are often visible
on the snow, and are enormously large; but the mira'xpahit step no farther than an ordinary man.
The name re'kkefi is borrowed by the Eskimo from the Chukchee, and becomes ra'kka in

the second form of the stem. 2 With proper phonetical change, va'irgin of the Chukchee becomes
vahi'yfiin in the northwestern dialect of the Koryak. In Eskimo it is called kiya'rnarak, signifying
also "being," and derived from the verb kiyar-na-ku'iia ("I exist", "I am"). Tfia'Irgin ("MorningDawn") of the Chukchee becomes Tfiahi'tfiin in Koryak. Pic'vu'6in is known to the Koryak under
the same name, and to the Kamchadal under the name of Pila'x6uc'. Steller and Krasheninnikoff
call him Bilukai.
In Koryak several of the stars have names similar to those in Chukchee. The Polar Star is
called "nailed star" (aGlka'p-afiai; according to Mr. jochelson,

'a.ka'p

3 See Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 105.
2 See p. i9, Footnote 2.
The Koryak, P. 123. The difference in the transcription of Koryak names by Mr.
j ochelson and myself corresponds to the difference between the dialects of the localities where the notes were
taken respectively. My notes come mainly from the village of Kamenskoye and the country lying southeast of
it; that is, from the Pacific coast and northern Kamchatka. The notes of Mr. j ochelson be'long, likewise, to

1 See p. 299.

4 See Vol. VI

3I3

in various dialects Rulte'yet, Rulte'yelin, Yulta'yat, or Wolva'ki-r-imti'lin ("Crosswise-bow-carrier"),
which suggests the same tale. For this last, Mr. Jochelson has Ulveiyinitilagn, with the same
meaning. Aldebaran is called Cici'lo-xma ("Copper-arrow-head"). This name, with slight changes,
is repeated in several dialects.

jtA,
.,''s

\a

j
X?'4

I~~~~~~~V

c~~~~r
Fig. 220. Chukchee Sketches representing, a, the Moon with Lasso; b, c, Shamans
captured by the Moon; d, the Moon's Wife.

Pehi'ttin is called Pa'hittin. According to Mr. Jochelson, Pe'geten, meaning "suspended
breath," is the name of the morning-star. I was unable to find out the derivation of this word.
Orion's Belt is called KIlu'-ena'nvenafi ("scraper of KYIlu"'), Kliu' being the name of a mythical
personage, niece of Big-Raven. I Corona Borealis is called Kilu'-pla'kilhin ("boot of KXlu"'). The
name iawisqa'timkin ("group of women") is applied in different localities to the Pleiades or to
Cassiopeia. The Milky Way is also called Pebbly River ((2ehai'-va'yam), or Muddy River (Aruve'yem), or Clay River (Yag-ve'yem). The Ursa Major, however, is ilva'-kyi ("wild reindeer-buck;"
according to Mr. Jochelson, elwe'kyefn). In most localities the Pleiades are called Ka'tmac, Ke'rmis
("little sieve"); according to Mr. Jochelson, Ke'tmet. In some places they are considered as a
group of reindeer at which the celestial archer Rulte'yet takes aim. The names of constellations
and stars among the Ai'wan Eskimo are almost all literal translations from the Chukchee. For
instance, Le'utti ("Heads") are called Na's-kut, which means the same; the Pleiades are called
Arnaraye'it, which, again, signifies "group of women," etc.
the village of Kamenskoye and to the country west of it; that is, to the villages of Paren, Itkana, etc., and to
the Reindeer Koryak of the peninsula of Taigonos. Now, the dialects of the eastern Koryak substitute r for y
wolva'ki-r-imti'lin). The dialect of Paren substitutes t for r (Ke'tmet). The dialect of Kamenskoye substitutes
a for e (1ehai'-va'yam), etc.
I See Vol. VI, p. i I6.

3I 4

Comets are called "smoking-stars" by the Chukchee. The word "smoke"
indicates that they suppose much cooking is being done there. Planets are
called "crooked-way stars," because of their irregular path. Among these,
Venus has a separate name, HIto'-Lap. The first part of this name means
" large," "extensive."
The Chukchee could not explain the second root of
this name; but probably it agrees with the Koryak word Lela'pican ("star"),
which, in its turn, is derived from the verb lela'pekin ("to look on"), and
means literally "one looking on." The Chukchee name of Venus, therefore,
means "large star." Venus, when the morning-star, is also called Kergana'LInIn ("bright star"). The Chukchee say that Venus is mtuk-avi'rinle"n
("with many clothes"), because she shines with changing colors. Shootingstars are said to be stars that go coasting down hill on sleds. The Koryak
suppose that they take alms to the needy in heaven. Those that shoot away
from land toward the sea carry reindeer-meat, while those that move in an
opposite direction carry whale-blubber. The Asiatic Eskimo say of shootingstars, that they have diarrhcea.1 When there is an eclipse of the moon, the
Chukchee say that a ke'lE wants to swallow the moon.
O/her "Beings." - The "Beings" (va'Irgit) of indefinite character
such as T-enan-temgini2 ("Creator"), (Girgo'l-va'irgin ("Upper Being"), §4a'rginen
("World," literally, "the outer one"), Yai'vac-va'irgin ("Merciful Being"),
Yagta'c-va'Irgin ("Life-giving Being"), Kinta'-va'irgin ("Luck-giving Being")
are but little more than names. These names may replace one another.
The first name is used chiefly in cosmogonical tales; the second, and more
particularly the third, in prayers and incantations.
All of these "Beings" are powerful, and just and benevolent toward man.
They represent a very loose and indefinite personification of the creative
principle of the world, and are similar to Great Manitou or to Wakanda of
the Indians, which are quite as indefinite in meaning. The Zenith, the Midday, the Dawn, are also often considered identical with the Creator of the
world. With those who have been baptized, the Christian God, under the
name of E'nen,3 has taken a place side by side with these vague superior
beings. The Chukchee, however, point out that the Creator does not belong
to those sacrificed to. They say there is no need to sacrifice to the Creator.
Upper Being, Merciful Being, Life-giving Being, Luck-giving Being, may receive
sacrifices, though these sacrifices are not included in the yearly cycle of ceremonials. More often sacrifices to Dawn, Zenith, and Mid-day are at the same
time offered to the benevolent "Beings" mentioned before.
(p. 449) says that the shooting-stars are termed "star-dung" by the Alaskan Eskimo.
T-enan-temgIfi, literally, "one who induces the things to be created," from the verb temga'-arkin

1 Nelson

("to arise," "to spring to life"). T-4nan are two prefixes. In the same way, for instance, t-8nan-a9qal1e`'ii
means "one who causes [others] to become frightened," "a bugbear," from the verb iatqaili?ie'erkin ("to be
frightened").
3 See p. 300.

31I5

On a curious sketch (Fig. 22I) which forms part of a large drawing in
my collection, Luck-giving Being is represented as a raven. He looks at a
man shooting at a seal, and claims beforehand a part of its meat.
The Reindeer people mention also the "Reindeer Being" (Qo'ren va'irgin),
who looks after the welfare of the
herds. On one hand, this name,
can be replaced by "Creator" or
"Merciful Being," and on the other
hand it is connected with special
A
amulets and images, each of which
protects a separate herd.'
representing Luck-giving Being
Sketch,
Some Of
of these
these names
names exist
Suome
exist also
also Fig. 22I. Chukchee
in the
Form of a
Raven.
InteFr
faRvn
among the Koryak. With them,
Tenanto'm-ni is also the Creator, though he is often identified with the BigRaven (Kuyqinn-a'qu2), who represents the chief Deity. In Chukchee tales,
on the contrary, the Raven (Ku'utkil, corresponding to Kuyqinn-a'qu), even
in his name, plays a less important part, and is almost always distinguished
from the Creator.3 In the tales collected among the camps of the Telqa'p
tundra and Big-River, Ku'urkil, however, plays a more important part, owing
evidently to the influence of Koryak neighbors. His sons and daughters,
little known to the other Chukchee, appear on the scene with names analogous
to those of the Koryak. Eme'mqut, for instance, is reputed to be the ancestor
of the reindeer-breeding people. He created reindeer by kicking a heap of
boughs, and taught the people the art of herding the animals. According
to other tales, he married among the Reindeer Chukchee, who, on this ground,
are called Va'irgi-mata'li-ra'mkin ("to the deities-allied-by-wife-people"). The
"Upper One" (Gicho'lken) or the "Upper Master" (Qichol-eti'nvilan) corresponds to the "Upper Being" of the Chukchee.
The "Beings of the Sea" (A'niqa-va'irgit) have little connection with the
others. They are known only to the Maritime Chukchee, who make regular
sacrifices to them. Of the Reindeer division of the tribe, only those families
sacrifice to the "Beings of the Sea" whose ancestors were of Maritime
extraction.
The Chukchee know the powerful old woman, so familiar to the Eskimo,
who owns all sea-game and lives at the bottom of the sea. She is called
by the Chukchee the "Mother of Walrus," and is supposed to have two
walrus-tusks. In recent times one of her tusks was broken. This so incensed
I

See Chapter XIII.

pronunciation of this name varies greatly in different localities (cf. Bogoras, American Anthropologist, p. 637). The transcription adopted here corresponds to the pronunciation in the village of Kamenskoye.
Even there it is also pronounced QuyqInn a'qu. In Chukchee, this name is Ku'rkil on the Kolyma, and
Ku'urkil on the Pacific side. Compare also p. 312, Footnote 4.
3 See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 640.
2 The

3I6

the old woman that she has limited the supply of game. When the other
tusk breaks, all sea-game will disappear from the surface. In one of the
native sketches, drawn with seal-blood on a small wooden plank, the woman
is represented in the shape of a large walrus with one of its tusks broken.
A similar idea is expressed in another sketch, in which the "Reindeer Being"
is represented with one eye closed, as a sign that he has lessened the supply
of reindeer to mankind. When he closes his other eye, all reindeer will vanish.
One of the shamanistic statements of which I spoke before' mentions a
mighty woman who sits on an island in the middle of the ocean, surrounded
by large piles of costly pelts.2 Whether the Mother of Walrus is connected
with Sedna of the Eskimo, I am not certain. Some Chukchee tales tell of
a young girl who was thrown overboard by her father. When she tried to
catch the bow of the boat, she had her fingers chopped off with an adze.
After that the girl turned into a walrus, and upset the boat. This walrus
girl, however, has never been identified with the Mother of Walrus, as far
as I could find out.
A "sea-spirit" with walrus-tusks is also mentioned. He comes out of the
sea in the night-time and crawls to human houses, intending to do harm.
Fig. 222 represents this "spirit" when he wants to enter a large house on

Fig. 222. Chukchee Sketch representing Dogs driving away the Walrus-Spirit
who attacks a House.

the shore, but is frightened away by dogs. Neither of these walrus "Beings"
receives regular sacrifices from the Chukchee. Walruses, moreover, are very
often called in as assisting ke'let by shamans of both the Reindeer and the
Maritime Chukchee.
The chief "Beings of the Sea" are Kere'tkun and his wife, who is
sometimes called (,iiifei'-niew. They live on the sea-bottom or in the open
sea, where they have a large floating house. They are larger than men,
have black faces, and head-bands of peculiar form, and are clad in long
white garments made of walrus-guts, adorned with many small tassels. In
connection with this garment, Kere'tkun is sometimes called Peru'ten3 (" one
I See p. 28I.

2 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 380.

3 Compare p. 289.

clad in walrus-gut"). Kere'tkun owns all sea-game, especially walrus. When
these come to the shore, a call may come suddenly from the open, making
them all turn back. It is Kere'tkun's voice. He is very fierce, and feeds
on the bodies of drowned men. He often takes boats and canoes from men
to use them in his own dominions. In spite of this, he is counted among
the "Beings," and even gives very efficient help against the ke'let. In one
incantation, his house is called a "shield against ke'let." Its door is a mouth.
Every ke'lE who dares to enter is eaten up, and later thrown out as excrement.
He then becomes an "excrement-spirit." When Kere'tkun's wife shakes her
house, ke'let fall down, like so many mosquitoes. She catches them, and
drowns them in the sea.
The autumn ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee and of the Asiatic
Eskimo are, for the most part, consecrated to Kere'tkun. To simulate the
god, the people put on loose white garments, and narrow head-bands of a
peculiar form. In one of the native sketches (Fig. 2 23) a ceremonial is
represented taking place in a tent.
A net of special form, adorned,
according to the custom, with painted images of paddles, hangs above.
Near it are fastened a lamp and a
NM
pair of reindeer-antlers. Three vessels filled with offerings, and two
/ >
more lamps, stand on the ground.
'
Kere'tkun and his wife are represented
J
I
in the right-hand upper corner. Their
white
representing a Ceremonial.
Sketch
Fig. 223. Chukchee
faces are black, and they wear
garments and special head-bands.
Kere'tkun holds a wand and a painted paddle used
in the ceremony. His wife holds a vessel for sacrifices.
The people in the tent have the same kind of garments
and head-bands. One of them beats the drum while the
woman dances to it. Another man dancesbentover the
lamps. Flying shamanistic "spirits" are seen on the left
side of the picture. They are a "bird-spirit," a "foxspirit," and a peculiar being composed of the two "limbsouls ;" namely, souls of hands lost by a man. The
significance of these will be discussed later.
Fig24CuceSt
224. Chukchee Sketch
Fig.
On another sketch (Fig. 224) a female belonging representing a "Being of the
to the class of "Beings of the Sea" is represented. Sea."
The man who drew the sketch claimed that he met her once on the sea-ice.
He represented what he believed he had seen. He said that she came running toward him, her long, fringed mantle trailing behind her on the ice. In
41-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED.7 VOL. VII.

3I8

one hand she held a staff, in the other an empty vessel. All the time she
cried loudly for some tallow.
Some of the Asiatic Eskimo also bring sacrifices to Kere'tkun and to
his wife. By them, Kere'tkun is called Ka'cak. Allowing for the necessary
phonetical changes, it is probably the same name.
It is hard to tell with which tribe this idea of the sea Deity originated.
The Eskimo at Indian Point assert that the Chukchee sacrifices to Kere'tkun
are more complicated, though I am not sure that such is really- the case.
Furthermore, most of the religious ideas of the Maritime Chukchee are
related to those of the Reindeer branch, while Kere'tkun and his ritual stand
quite apart. The Reindeer people do not consider Kere'tkun a Chukchee
Deity proper, and assert that he is a sea-god, and that he belongs to the
Maritime people, particularly to the Eskimo. The Eskimo of Indian Point
sacrifice also to the old woman living at the bottom of the sea. She is
called Nuli'rahak ("big woman"). She has also another name, which it is
considered sinful to pronounce outside of the ceremonials, and which I could
not ascertain by any means I could devise.
"House-beings" (ya'ra-va'Irgit) are the "spirits" of tents or of houses, and
exist more or less independent of the family living in the house. They outlive
generations of inmates of the house; but, if the house itself is destroyed,
they perish with it. If the tent is forsaken by the inhabitants, and left in
the open, as sometimes happens with the Reindeer Chukchee, the "housespirits" turn into very dangerous "earth-spirits." According to the Chukchee,
this is because everything that has been connected with man, and has broken
away from this relation, becomes spoiled and wicked.
"House-spirits" have names that are derived from stems which mean
"absence of motion." They usually live in pairs, as husband and wife, and
have children, who are liable to disease and are mortal. For instance, a
shaman of the country of Anadyr told me that the "spirit" of his house had
the name Olva'irgin ("motionless"), and his wife was called Ve'tca-nie'ut
("standing-woman").' Both of these were young. Three years ago they had
a son, whom the shaman himself unintentionally killed in the following
manner. One night, hearing the sound of walking in the outer tent, and
believing it to come from "ke'let," he threw out of the sleeping-room some
urine from the chamber-vessel as an effective means of -driving them off. Then
he heard the low groan of a child, and knew that something was wrong
with his own "house-spirits.". In the morning his little child, who had been
slightly ailing for a few days, suddenly died. Both he and his "house-spirit"
thus became childless. The "house-spirit," in order to replace his loss, had
recourse to the method usual among the Chukchee, - that of concluding a
bond of friendship with another, and allowing him to have acquaintance with
I

See p. 308.

his wife. The wives of "house-spirits" are also supposed to have clandestine
lovers among the "re'kkein-spirits" that roam about.
Another man, of the Kolyma country, called his "house-spirit" Wolva'5la'ul ("motionless man"), and his wife Wu'lve-fie'ut ("motionless woman").
"House-spirits" live in the dark storage-place in the rear of the tent
(ya'inan). At night they come out around the corners of the sleeping-room.
They receive a small share of every larger sacrifice, which is placed on
the ground, near the corners of the sleeping-room.
Some of the "Beings" have so-called "assistants" (vI'yolit). For instatice,
the Creator, or the Spirit of the Zenith, has an "assistant," who was described
to me as having a raven's head. This feature is evidently connected with
the Raven myth.' The "assistant" receives a part of the sacrifices that are
directed upward. On account of his beak he is called "Raven's-Beak"
(Valviya'k). In one sketch (Fig. 2 25, a) he is represented as having a
raven's beak painted on his face. On
another sketch made on a board with a
sharp instrument (Fig. 225, 6) he is represented as having a raven's head and feet,
one wing, and one human hand.
\
The Raven mentioned in different inK
$
/
cantations is also supposed to be Valviya'k,
I
9 2
"assistant" to the Creator or to the Zenith.
According to the shamans, he usually as- Fig. 225. Chukchee Sketches representing the
"Assistant" of the Spirit of the Zenith.
sumes the shape of a raven, and lives in
the region of the sky, near the Polar Star. This region abounds with worms
of a peculiar kind (not the one mentioned on p. 3 II), which form a part of
his food. When called by shamans to cure their patients, he devours the
disease as a bird devours worms. One of the shamans, however, distinguished
between this Raven and the Raven who restored to the earth the sources
of light. The latter was called by him a very mighty "Being," who had dealings with mankind only at the time of the creation, but, after that, transformed himself into thunder, and became invisible.
Kere'tkun has an "assistant," who has a wife of his own. I could not
ascertain his name, perhaps he has none. He is always mentioned as Kere'tkun's "assistant." He suepervises the construction of Kere'tkun's boats. Special
sacrifices and ceremonials are made for him. These will be described later.
Even ke'let and other spirits occasionally have "assistants." In one of
the sketches, such an "assistant" is represented crawling on his knees toward
a victim that he wants to kill for his master.
The name vi'yolin is also applied in incantations to various "spirits" who
are called to give help. For instance, the man repeating an incantation says,
See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 636.

I want to employ you as an 'assistant.' To be sure, whom else can I
employ? You are the best for me." From this point of view, every protecting or helping "spirit," or even its image or a protecting amulet, would
be called vi'yolin.' Fig. 226, for example, is an image of a helping "spirit"
belonging to Tiwlilku't, a Chukchee
of the Anadyr. It has a human
face, and is arranged to be used
"

~~like

a

can

be

divining-stone;

suspenided

that

and

is,

it

used

fo r

foretelling the future by the way it
The owner called the image

swings.
his

for

"assistant"

hunting

He said that the
in

the

region

walrus.

assistant" lived

of the

sky,

and

that

his name was Te'gret ("the descen~~~~ding one").

ga>>
i, ---~-~

System of Winds. -The winds
also are classed with the "Beings,"
and some of them are mentioned
in incantations.
The Maritime
Chukchee,

saying,

:\~
S

tions,

instead

moreover,

"to

say,

sacrifice

to

all

of

direc-

"to sacrifice to all the

~~~~~~~winds."

q'era'lhin.
In the Kolyma country it is the
west wind; in the Chukchee Penin/s;t
Fig. 226
. Image of a Helping "Spirit." Length 20 cm. sula, the southwest wind. In both
cases it is the most violent wind
of the country. The names of the winds in the Kolyma country are given
The

chief

wind

is

in Fig. 227.

The names of the winds on the Chukchee Peninsula are given in Fig. 228.
The sketch (Fig. 229) represents the system of winds at the mouth of the
Anadyr River, and is copied from a drawing made by a native. It is identical
with the system of winds on the Chukchee Peninsula, though the man who
drew it could, of course, represent only the approximate direction of each
wind. The directions of the winds on the Chukchee Peninsula are much
more accurately observed, because many of the Maritime Chukchee and the
Asiatic Eskimo are well acquainted with the use of the compass, and carry,
on their travelling-expeditions in winter and in summer, compasses bought from
whalers.
I

Compare Chapter XIII.

32 I

The apparent difference which exists between the wind systems of the
peninsula and of the Kolyma country can be explained, to a considerable
degree, by the different position of land and sea in the two countries. Thus,
the sea-winds (aniqai'hit) which on the Arctic Sea come from the north, on
the Pacific come from the east. Near the mouth of Kolyma River the wind
qera'lhin comes from the large open tundra of the west: on the Pacific, near
Indian Point, it is of the same nature, but comes from the southwest. The

'~ /

Fig. 227. The Winds of the Kolyma Country.
e?ie'nene or e'mnuin-i'hIn ("from the land-wind").
amno'f-q6ra'lhin ("coming from the land qera'lhIn").

aiiqai'hit ("sea-winds").
ginu'n-i'hin ("from the open wind").

wind qaache'hin, which, near the mouth of Kolyma River, comes along the
seashore from the northeast, on the Pacific, near Indian Point,' also comes
along the seashore, but from west-southwest.
The Koryak names of winds as diagrammed for me in the village of Va'ikenan, on Penshina
Bay, are for the most part identical with those of the Pacific-coast Chukchee. Thus, qeya'lhin,
corresponding to the Chukchee qera'lhin, signifies "southwest;" efie'nenfe signifies "southeast;" but
empei'kin, probably corresponding to yamwa'ihin of the Kolyma, which refers to the same wind,
signifies "northeast."
Other winds among the Koryak of that village are hisho'lan ("up-[stream wind]") for the east
wind, e'wtelan ("down-[stream wind]") for the south-southwest wind, onm-e'wtelan ("inner down-

32 2

[stream wind]") for the south wind. Names like these last are used also by Russians in both Europe
and Asia, and by Russianized natives everywhere in northeastern Siberia.

The Chukchee assert that, in the Arctic system of winds, qera'lhin and
enenei'ne are husband and wife. Although they constantly desire to meet,
they are prevented, and obliged to pass each other in the air. Others say,
on the contrary, that, passing each other, they exchange mutual abuse.
The cold winds are said to be produced by giants who live on the border
of our earth, and spend their time shovelling snow with huge shovels made

W'

ewamno$z- _ '

n

X

Fig. 228. The Winds of the Chukchee Peninsula.
gino'nhiupu anqai'hin ("from the open sea-wind").

qi'ti-nike'en ("cold nike'en").

of the shoulder-blades of whales. Sometimes the winds are said to have an
old mistress, who causes snow-storms, by shaking the snow from her dwelling.
Thunder is said to be produced by the passing of the thunder-bird.
Others attribute it to the rattling noise made by girls playing on a spread sealskin. Rain is the urine of one of the girls. In one tale the lightning is
described as a one-sided man who drags his one-sided sister along by her
foot. She is intoxicated with fly-agaric. The noise caused by her back as it
strikes the floor of heaven is thunder, her urine is rain. Obsidian is said to
be the stone of the thunder, which falls from the sky in round balls, or
even in roughly chipped arrow-heads and lances. Perhaps the idea of stone
arrow-heads falling from the sky, so common in the Old World, is borrowed
from the Tungus or from the Russianized natives.

Intoxicating mushrooms are neither ke'let nor va'Irgit. They form a
"separate tribe" (ya'nrva-va'rat).' We have already noted that they are very
strong, and that, when
coming out of the earth,
they can lift a large
tree-trunk on their head,
' .
or shatter a rock into
'.
pieces. They appear to
intoxicated men in strange
, ,?O\
shapes.
\ /e, ,
On one sketch (Fig.
230) there are represented
the tracks of a man who
is led around by mushrooms. He thinks that
e
he is a reindeer, then
'
he is "submerged," and
after a while he comes
out laboring under the
s
same idea. The path
of his tracks connects all
men and all beasts seen

Fig. 229. The Winds of the Mouth of the Anadyr River.
yahna'ihin ("counter-wind").

during the trance.2
MONSTERS. - Besides ke'let and va'Irgit, we hear of several kinds of
monsters. Among these are the killerwhales, which are said to be seawerwolves. They are called

eIGnipvci'kIt (literally, "long-nosed
birds"). No reason is given for
applying this name. In summer

l

these monsters assume the shape
of killer-whales, and in winter
they come to the shore, transform themselves into wolves, and
hunt theChukcheereindeerherds.
In accordance with this belief,
Fig. 230. Chukchee Sketch illustrating the Paths followed by
wolvesare
th
are
thought to be endowed ~~~Mushro'om-Men.
wolves
with supernatural powers.'
While in the sea, the killer-whales form themselves into parties of eight,
I Compare p. 282.
2 The word an

na'arkIn ("to be submerged") is applied to those trances which are connected with the
that
is, trances of shamans, etc.
supernatural world;
3 See p. 8I.

who act as the crew of a boat. They hunt all kinds of large sea-game,
especially walrus. On one of the sketches (Fig. 23I) a hunt of this kind is
represented. Killer-whales have surrounded some walruses. The large figure
on the left-hand side is the
"master" of killer-whales,
who is looking on the
struggle. At the top of the
sketch a killer-whale is askG
G

/

ing

for

the

human

boat

some

tobacco

crew

passing

by

from

a

skin

on

the

of

surface.

The killer-whale plays
an -important part in the
mythology of some other
tribes of northeastern Asia.
I heard in Vladivostok a
Fig. 23I. Chukchee Sketch representing Killer-Whales hunting walrus.

Gilyak tale in which killer-

whales are said to be the
"assistants" of the sea-god. When they attack a whale, and tear pieces of
flesh from its body, they carry them to the sea-god. They also bring to him
for inspection the shoals of sea-fish that want to ascend the rivers. The
Asiatic Eskimo consider the killer-whale to be protected by a taboo. Everybody who kills one may be sure of dying a violent death within a very short
time.' Teeth of the killer-whale are considered an effective protection against
headache, and especially against toothache. Krasheninnikoff says' that the
Kamchadal sealers were afraid of killer-whales, and, on meeting one, offered
it sacrifices, lest it should do them harm. Nothing is known of this at present.
The re'kken of the Kolyma country is quite different from the re'kkeni
of the Pacific. It is a bear-like monster with very large ears that catch even
the slight sound made by the wings of a mosquito flying by.
In a tale of the Kolyma Chukchee, two such re'kkeinit are tied as doorkeepers to the entrance of the house of a ke'lE. An incantation obtained in
the same part of the country mentions the advantage of using the large ears
of the re'kkein for a tent, to protect the conjurer from evil spirits.
Kova'tko is a giant polar bear with a body of solid ivory (Fig. 232).
Sometimes he is said to have eight paws. He is much stronger and fiercer
than the ordinary polar bear. Mirg-u'mki (literally, "bald polar bear")
I The

death of the late Missionary Campbell of St. Lawrence Island, who with his family perished in a

shipwrick while returning from a trip to San Francisco, was attributed to the fact that the captain of the ship
had killed a killer-whale the previous year.
2 Krasheninnikoff, I, p. 302.

is a fierce man-eating bear. During tempestuous nights he lies on his back
on an ice-floe, and swings his paws, beckoning to travellers to come to him.
At the same time he calls with a wailing voice, in imitation of a distressed
traveller who has lost his
way. Any one who hears
these calls, and approaches
the monster, will be immedevoured.
diately caught and
Black bears are generally
considered akin to man, or,
more directly, as men clad in
bear-skin. A skinned bear is
Fig. 232. Chukchee Sketch representing a Fabulous Bear.
said to closely resemble a man.
Bears are believed to be
shamans, able to divine the intentions of men, even at a considerable distance:
therefore it is not safe to talk ill of a bear. He may catch the words and
retaliate for the detraction. Likewise, it is not safe to set traps for bears or
to plot for their harm.
These ideas about the black bear, however, do not seem to have
originated with the Chukchee, but were probably borrowed from the Lamut
and Yukaghir, with whom the black bear is an object of superstitious veneration.
Thus, the northern Lamut say that the bear is the elder brother of Torga'nra,
the ancestor of the Lamut tribe. They consider him to be a shaman and a
sorcerer, and in hunting him, they perform many ceremonies for the purpose
of appeasing his anger.
The Russianized- Yukaghir of the Kolyma, when speaking of the bear,
use the words "grandfather," "old man," or, still shorter, "he." Fear of the
bear, even among the cossacks and Russian creoles, is excessive. Even the
tales circulated among the Chukchee, in which the black bear figures, seem
for the most part borrowed from the same source.
The conception of a supernatural animal, derived from the obscure idea
of the black bear, like the agdlak of the American Eskimo, does not exist
among the Chukchee, since they live too near the forest border, while even
in the southern part of the tundra the bear is met with occasionally.' Among
the American Eskimo, on the contrary, several branches live so far to the
north, that they have no chance to meet a black bear.
The Chukchee, on their part, notwithstanding the frequent hunts for the
bear by the Arctic villagers, are inclined to a mythical conception of the
animal. Thus, the Chukchee idea of the great polar bear Koca'tko is more
or less parallel to the Eskimo conception of the agdlak. I will mention also,
among other beliefs of the Chukchee, the curious one, that a tribe of polar
1 Compare p. 142.
A .....qTTP

NTORTI- PAC.TFTC. 1F.3PF.Tl.

VOL. VII.

bears with human faces and gentle customs lives somewhere on the American
shore. This tribe is described as corresponding somewhat to the bear-clad
Central Eskimo of America. This difference between the Chukchee and
Eskimo ideas is quite significant, the more so as it is corroborated by other
parallel facts, all of which tend to show that the Chukchee are not a tribe
of such strongly developed arctic character as are the Eskimo.
The mammoth is believed to be the ke'let's reindeer. He lives underground,
and moves about through narrow passages. His big tusks, which are considered horns, stand off from his shoulders, or protrude from his nose. When
a man sees a mammoth-tusk protruding from the ground, he must dig it up
immediately, or at least cut a notclh on its end: otherwise, the tusk will sink
back into the earth. A story is told of a man who saw two mammoth-tusks
protuding from the ground on the shore of a lake. While he was looking
at them, they began suddenly to move. He became so frightened, that he
ran away as fast as he could. Soon after, he lost his wits, and died.
According to another story, some Chukchee men found two mammothtusks protruding from the earth. They began to beat the drum, and performed several incantations. Then the whole carcass of the mammoth came
to sight. The people ate the meat. It was very nutritious, and they lived
on it all winter. When the bones were stripped of all the meat, they put
them together again, and in the morning they were again covered with meat.
Perhaps this story has for its foundation the finding of a mammoth-carcass
good for eating, as happened on the Obi in the eighteenth century, and also
more recently in the Kolyma country.
Because of these beliefs, the search for ivory of the mammoth was
tabooed in former times. Even now, a man who finds a mammoth-tusk has
to pay for it to the "spirit" of the place by various sacrifices. The search
for such tusks is considered a poor pursuit for a man, notwithstanding the
high price which the ivory brings.
Several neighboring tribes consider the mammoth to be an animal used
by evil spirits. In 1897 I found the dress of a shaman and several drums
in an old, long-forgotten storehouse near the village of Pyatistennoye, on the
Large-Anui River. The district has a scanty population, a mixture of
Yukaghir and Yakut, by this time thoroughly Russianized. With the drums
was a birch plank covered with drawings scratched in with the sharp point
of a knife. The plank was an elongated rectangle divided into two equal
parts. One part was painted with red ochre, and represented day; and the
other, painted with graphite, represented night. With the drawing in proper
position, the red part would'be at the right hand of a person looking down
on the plank, and the black at his left hand. On the border, two indentations
were scraped out for the insertion of pieces of silver, according to the
statement made by some old men of the village. On the red part were

327'

scratched animals, birds, and plants, and in front of them a human figure
riding a reindeer. On the black part were images of a dog and a horse,
and on the front of them a mammoth with a strange figure standing on its
back. The figure had two birds in its hands. The plank was presented by
As may
me to the Museum of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.
be seen from the sketch (Fig. 233), which is made from a photograph, the
outlines of the figure holding the birds are zigzag.
According

to

the

explana-

tion given by the villagers 1
this figure
repmentioned,
b ye
villag her
tioen tsgiv

>

<

)

en

resents the being with the

Fig.

233.

Shaman's Plank with Representation of Mammoth.

iron teeth which is spoken
of in several tales of the Yukaghir of the Kolyma. I was told that the
board was used by shamans for calling the spirits. The red part represented
white shamanism, and was used for cures; and the dark one represented
black shamanism, and was used for evil charms.
It is curious that all the animals, birds, and plants with a reindeer rider
in front, should represent good shamanism, while two domesticated animals
of the north, the dog and -the horse, together with the mammoth, should
represent darkness and evil-doing. Perhaps it is significant of a desire to
accentuate the contrast between the reindeer-breeders and the dog-driving
fishermen. The figure of the mammoth, as represented in the sketch, has a
short mane, indicated by a number of small straight lines. It also has a
long tail, thick at the end. Long, extremely curved tusks, which are commonly believed by the natives to be horns, protrude from the mouth. The
trunk is missing.

I mentioned the celestial worm, which is described with the features of
a boa-constrictor.' On the sketch (see Fig. 2I9) the worm is represented as
having a sting in its tail. Another "giant worm" lives in the sea. It is so
strong that it can kill a whale by squeezing it between its coils. A third
great worm also figures in the tales. It is owned by a ke'lE, and sent by
him to drive back the captive maidens who fled from his house. Its tail is
fastened in the sleeping-room of the ke'lE; but its body is so long that its
head can overtake the fugitives and turn them back.' The agile monster
Keli'lhu has already been mentioned.'
Somewhere inside of the rocks overhanging the shores of the Arctic
Ocean lives a monstrous beast with the shape of an ermine, but so large,
that, when he walks into the sea, his legs reach the bottom, even in the
deepest places. He sometimes emerges suddenly from the rocks, near a
human village, and fiercely attacks the inhabitants. Perhaps the idea that
I ISee pp.
pp. 13
and 3311.
II
I13 and

Materials, p. i..
22 Bogoras,
Jiogoras, chukchee
Chukchee Materials,
p. I94-

.'

See

p.

3 See p.

14.

14.

the ermine, known as a guardian spirit, can transform itself, if need be,
into a polar bear, has something to do with this belief.
A "giant thunder-bird" is sometimes regarded as the same as the supernatural Raven; but more frequently it is a kind of "giant eagle" of supernatural strength. In one tale a female "giant eagle" appears as mistress of
good and bad weather. When visited in her own world by two mortals, she
undertakes, at their request, to clear the sky, and begins to scrape it with a
large brass scraper. Noticing that one of the visitors looks at her naked
legs, she grows angry, and hurls them both back into our world. Even now
the eagle is protected by a taboo, and the killing of one is supposed to
bring on bad weather and famine.
The Asiatic Eskimo also say that the thunder-bird is a "giant eagle." After the death of
such an eagle, Upper Being takes his heart, which is immortal, and suspends it on a thread from
the sky. The suspended heart beats on, producing thunder. After'a while the eagle revives. Accordiing to Koryak beliefs, the souls of deceased persons are suspended on cords, in the house of
the Upper Being, till their return to earth-for a new life.t

Another "giant bird" is "middle [sea] bird" (GIno'n-ga'LE). He lives
only in the open sea. He is so large, that, when floating on the billows,
he can stretch his long neck so as to swallow easily a whale-boat, which will
glide safely through his alimentary canal and come out again without much
damage. Some features of this bird, perhaps, connect him with the albatross.
At least I was told, that, on a recent occasion, seal-hunters carried away by
a storm, together with their canoe, saw this bird soaring high in the heavens,
with wings so broad that they covered the sun. The ke'lE-bird will be
mentioned later in describing the Chukchee beliefs concerning the fate of the
souls of the deceased.
*
On the Pacific shore, Tui'ketui signifies a pike; but in the Kolyma
country it means a "giant fish" ' which lives in some inland lakes. It is a
man-eater, and occasionally takes people while bathing and devours them. Once
it caught a young man who came to the shore to catch fish. His father,
seeking revenge, loaded four sledges with deer-meat, tied them together,
securing them with a very strong double-twisted hide cable, and sank them
to the bottom of the lake. The fish bit into the bait; but its teeth became
wedged among the broken ribs of the sledges, and it might have been hauled
in by the united force of several men.
Other tribes of northeastern Asia have the same belief,
that
"giant pikes" live in some unknown lakes on the tundra. The Russianized
Yukaghir, for instance, tell of a man who went out in a wooden canoe to
inspect his nets, and suddenly spied in the water on either side of the canoe
I Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 26.

Pike, in the Kolyma country, is called "biting fish" (Yu'utku-nnZ'n).

two large eyes. The distance between the eyes was equal to the length of
the double paddle. It was a "giant pike" standing motionless in the water.
Chukchee incantations mention another "giant fish," called Kaina'olhin.
The name is used to designate sculpin; but the giant Kaina'yolhin has existed
as a separate fish from "the first limit of creation." It lies motionless in the
middle of the sea. Its body has become an island, and moss grows on its
back. The latter details have a marked resemblance to the description of a
fabulous whale in the nursery tales of the Old World.
Va'amen is a kind of triton which exists apparently somewhere in the
waters of northeastern Siberia, on the Arctic or on the Pacific shore, though
I have never seen a specimen, but have heard a description of it from members of various tribes. An image of it, made of antler (Fig. 234), which
comes from the country near the mouth of the Anadyr, gives it a human
head. Many superstitious beliefs are connected with this animal. The
Chukchee say that it appears only
to a man who will die in a short
time. If caught, it must be cut to
AK
pieces. If the cuts bleed, the luckless man is in no immediate danger;
but, if they are bloodless, death awaits
Fig. 234 C74T).
Carving representing a Triton.
him. The Russianized Yukaghir
Length, 7 cm.
have the same belief. Steller mentions ' that the Kamchadal believed that a lizard must be killed whenever met,
and as promptly as possible: otherwise death would ensue the same year.
The "mountain echo" (E'nmi-ta'ani) lives in the open, among the mountains.
Its body is of stone, and its mouth and eyes are located on its breast. The
"mountain echo" is also described as a young, pretty woman wandering about
among the rocks. In one tale, she marries a man, but, on account of jealousy,
is killed by his former wife.2 The "echo of the wood" (e'tti-ta'afi) lives in the
poplar-forest. It has a wooden body, without hands or feet, and resembles
the old trunk of a tree.
The "black bear" is a wife who was forsaken by her husband for another woman. She revenged herself by killing him and her rival.2 The
"mountain sheep" is also a woman forsaken by her husband. She threw
herself from a steep rock, and was dashed against the stones, thus becoming
a sheep. Her braided hair was turned into horns.
The "black beetle," called in Chukchee Ta'qI-fie'ut (the name means literally
"shining black woman"), affords a third story of an unfortunate wife. When
her husband forsook her, she killed him by pouring into his ear water taken
from a piece of old sea-ice. According to one tale, the "black beetle" overpowered the young wife of the Sun, flayed her alive, and put on her skin,
I

Steller, p. 282.

2 From a tale.

but was recognized by her husband, and burnt on a pyre. After that, she
was sent back to this world in the shape of a beetle to announce to mankind the coming of death. She also created and spread abroad contagious
diseases.
The Spider-Woman (Ku'rgu-nie'ut) descended from heaven on a long thin
thread. She plays an important role in tales and incantations.
Butterflies were created from autumn leaves scattered by the wind;
mosquitoes, out of dirt that the Creator, after finishing his work, rubbed
between his palms.
COSMOGONICAL BELIEFS. - According to the cosmogonical beliefs of the
Chukchee, there are several worlds situated one above another, in such a
manner that the ground of one forms the sky of the one below. The number of these worlds is stated as five, seven, or nine. These worlds are
arranged symmetrically above and below the earth, each of the lower worlds
having a corresponding one above it.
According to a statement in the tale of "The Scabby Shaman,"1 which
gives many curious details of the subject, there are four large worlds besides
the earth. Those nearest to the earth are occupied by ke'let; the next, by
men. In the upper and lower worlds there are the same number of animals
on the land, birds in the air, and fish in the sea, so that the amount of
life is the same above and below the earth.
According to other statements, the lowest world is occupied by those
who have died twice, and therefore cannot return to earth. Some of these
worlds have several suns, the number of which varies from two to eight.
When it is winter in our world, it is summer in the next, and vice versa.
According to the belief of the Koryak, the spirits in the world under us have day when it is
night here.2 Likewise, the Oltcha of the Amur country believe that the "land of the deceased"
has winter when we have summer, and night when we have day. The inhabitants of the "land of
the deceased" have, moreover, plenty of game when it is scarce on the earth, and vice versa.3

These worlds are not very far apart. In the tale of "The Shaman with
Warts,"4 a shaman, while struggling with his rival, is hurled through two
worlds, piercing the heaven of one head foremost, and that of the next feet
foremost; then he lands in the third world on the moving ground of the
clouds. In another tale, a young man bereft of his senses by an old witch
rushes out of the sleeping-room, then out of the tent, each of these representing a world.
There is a tale, however, of a shaman, who, desiring to reach the sky,
travelled upward for many years, until he met a gray-haired shaman who
I Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 597.
2 Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 27.
3 L. Schrenck, Die Volker des Amur Landes, Zweite Hdlfte, p. 762.
4 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 220.

331I

told him that he started on the same enterprise when he was a young man,
and that he was now returning without having attained his purpose. These
different views of the distances between worlds may be accounted for by the
fact that the tale was obtained from the Reindeer Chukchee on Omolon
River, who live side by side with the Lamut, from whom they may have
borrowed it.
All these worlds, as said before,1 are joined by holes situated under the
Polar Star. Shamans and spirits while going from one world to another slip
through these holes. The heroes of several tales fly through them while
riding on an eagle or a thunder-bird. Another way to reach the upper world
is to go in the direction of the dawn, and ascend a long, steep path that
leads to the sky. The hero of one tale uses a needle and thread in ascending
to the upper world. He throws the needle upward, like a dart, and it sticks
in the sky; then he ascends, using the thread as a rope-ladder. One may
also ascend to the upper world along the path of the rainbow, or along the
sun's rays. The dead ascend to it with the smoke of the funeral pyre.2
The clouds are also considered a kind of aerial ground upon which one
may repose while ascending to the sky. In several tales, travellers who
make a journey upward stop for a night's rest on the aerial ground of clouds,
pitching there their tents, and in the morning they continue their journey.
Some tales even say that the ground of the clouds is inhabited by Upper
People, thus confounding the upper world of the sky with the ground of
the clouds.
The inhabitants of the upper world are called "Upper People" (Girgo'rra'mkin) or "Dawn-People" (Tfia'irgp-ra'mkin). They live exactly like men.
By the inhabitants of the upper world, men are called "Lower People"
(Iu'tir-re'mkin). In some tales, instead of the Upper People there is mentioned one mighty Being,3 called "Upper Being" or "Dawn," also "Creator,"
"Polar Star," "Zenith," "Noon."' This Being gives protection and assistance
to men, who, oppressed by their foes in their earthly life, come to him. He
keeps them in his world for a while, and then sends them back with large
presents and provisions. He has near his house several holes, closed with
stoppers, through which he can observe all earthly doings and pursuits. In
one tale, a woman who had come to the upper world is allowed to look
through such a hole. She feels a yearning for her earthly home, and drops
a tear through the opening. The women below, who are busy scraping
skins, think it is raining, and hasten to their houses.
Besides these, there exist other worlds, for instance, one in each direction
of the compass, which represent receiving-places for sacrifices, mentioned
before; a separate world under water; and a small dark world, belonging
1 See p. 307.
3 See p. 314.

2 See Chapter XVI.
4 See p. 303.

to the female ke'lE-bird, situated somewhere above, and apart from all others.
In one tale, the hero and his companions descend to another world through
a whirlpool. In the story of Atti'gitki,' two brothers wandering in the open
sea descend to a special world under water.
Some of the constellations are described as distinct worlds with a separate people, or with a Supreme Being who has large herds of reindeer, etc.
For instance, each of the "Heads" has a mankind of its own. Pehi'ttin has
an innumerable herd in the region of the star HIto'-Lap. His reindeer have
no antlers. He can inflict misfortune on man by sending down to him one
of his herdsmen with a part of the herd. The reindeer cannot be shot, and,
by taking the place of the earthly game in the man's neighborhood, they
deprive him of any chance of killing a reindeer. Moreover, they may induce
an earthly herd to join them, and lead it away. Such an incident is related
of both "Heads," the Dawn and the Evening, also of the "master" of landgame, Picvu'cin.
In our world the sky is supposed to touch the earth on all sides of the
horizon. Each border of the horizon is called "Attainable Border of the
Sky" (Ye"-pket-ta'gin). On the four corners of it, the rocks of the sky come
down to the rocks of the earth, like moving gates, shutting and opening
alternately. According to the Chukchee belief, the birds, when flying to their
own world every fall, have to pass between these rocks: therefore the gates
are called "Attainable Border of the Birds" (Ga'lha-pket-ta'gin). The rocks
shut so quickly that birds lagging behind are caught, and crushed between
them. Their incessant movement, similar to the movement of bellows, produces winds, which blow from all sides of the horizon. The ground around
the rocks is covered a fathom deep with bloody mud of pounded bird-flesh;
and feathers fly about like snow. These moving gates have existed from the
time of the first creation. In some tales, men are said to have originated
from the fragments produced by the friction of the "Attainable Border of the
Sky" against the rocks of the earth. The peltry-bearing country, from which
come all animals with rarefur, and also wild reindeer, lies on this side of the
border of the sky.
The soul is called uvi'rit, or more rarely uve'kkirgIn. Both
SOUL.
words are probably from the same root, uvi'k ("body"). Uve'-kkirgin may
mean "belonging to the body." Tetke'yu-n means the "vital force of a living
being." Its seat is the heart or the liver. Animals and even plants possess
it. Very little, however, is said about it, and its name even is mentioned in
only a few incantations.
According to Chukchee beliefs, man has several souls besides the one
pertainig to the whole body. There are special "limb-souls" for the hands
and feet. Occasionally these latter may be lost, then the corresponding limb
1 See p. 306.

begins to ache, and gradually withers.' The Chukchee call a man whose
nose is easily frost-bitten "short of souls" (uviri'tkilin), meaning that some part
of his vital force must have left his body unawares. The "limb-souls" stay
on the spot where they were lost. A shaman, however, can call them to
himself, and they become his "assistant spirits' (ya'nvra-ka'lat). The "souls"
are very small. When passing by, they produce a sound like the humming
of a bee or the droning of a beetle.
One or all of the "souls" of the whole person may be stolen by the ke'let,
then the man becomes sick, and finally dies. The shaman can find and
restore a missing "soul." The "soul when found by a shaman, often
assumes the shape of a black beetle. When put on the body of the patient,
it will crawl all over his head, trying to find a hole into which to slip.
Then the shaman will open the skull, and put the beetle in its proper place.
The beetle may enter through the mouth, the armpit, the intestines, the toes
and fingers, etc.
If the shaman fails to find the "soul," he can blow into the person a
part of his own spirit to become a "soul;" or he may give him one of his
"assistant ke'let' to replace the missing "soul."2
Ke'let, when getting possession of a "soul," often take it to their world
and pinion its hands, of bind all its limbs separately with, strong bands. Then
they put it behind the lamp, in the place where many small things are
usually kept. In the tale of "The Scabby Shaman," the female ke'lE-bird,
after having brought home the "soul" of Ri'ntew, secures it with iron bands,
puts it behind the lamp, and feeds it with choicest meat and tallow in order
to fatten it and make it fit to be eaten.
In another tale, a ke'lE forces a stolen "soul" to watch his lamp and
trim it; in still another, he uses it as a trimming-stick.
"Souls" are liable to injury even from material weapons. I know of a
case where a man struck his wife with a firebrand. The woman died in two
days. The relatives, after ripping up and investigating the-dead body, said
that none of her vital organs were injured, but that probably the man
wounded her "souls" with the blow. Ke'let, also, have "souls" of their own,
which may be lost, or spirited away by shamans.
REGIONS OF T.HE DECEASED. - There are several places where the
deceased abide. They lead a life similar to that on earth. They are often
confounded with the Upper People, or with the Lower People of the underground world. They say to an earthly visitor, "We are people that have
I The Eskimo of eastern Greenland have similar beliefs.
According to them, man has several souls.
The largest dwell in the larynx and in the left side, and are tiny men, about the size of a sparrow. The
other souls dwell in other parts of the body, and are of the size of a finger-joint. If one of them is taken
away, the member to which it belongs sickens (Holm, Meddelelser om Gr0nland, Part X, p. I I 2 cited
from Fritjof Nansen, Eskimo Life, p. 227).
2 The Eskimo of Greenland have similar beliefs. Compare Fritjof Nansen, Eskimo Life, p. 298.

43-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

lived on earth." Children that die here are born there, and vice versa. In
one tale it is related how a wanderer comes to the upper world, where he
is kindly received, and treated to the best of everything. After a while
his host offers to get him a bride. The youth assents. His host opens a
hole in the ground by pulling out the stopper, and the lower world is in full
view. Five girls are playing ball near a lake. The host angles for one of
them with a sharp fish-hook. He succeeds in catching her by the navel,
and drags her up; but he has caught only her "soul," the body is left down
below. Her companions wail because of her sudden death. The girl marries
the youth, and they live for a while with their heavenly host. In the end
he gives them permission to leave, and he himself lets them down to earth.
Another way for the dead to ascend to heaven is to follow the smoke
of their funeral pyre. This is given as a reason for burning dead bodies.
In one tale a shaman, every time he wishes to visit the upper world, is
killed and burned on' his pyre, and then ascends with the smoke. He comes
down again in a whirlwind. The reindeer of his sleigh must be caught by the occupants of his house as he rushes by: otherwise he will pass by, and never return.
The Aurora Borealis is chiefly the place of abode for those who die a
sudden or violent death. The whitish spots are the people who died from
contagious diseases; the red spots are those stabbed with a knife; the dark
spots are those strangled by the "spirits" of nervous diseases; the changeable
rays are deceased people running about and playing ball with a walrus-head
which is alive. It roars when in motion, after it has been tossed. It wants
to strike with its tusks anybody who tries to catch it.' Men who have been
strangled with a slip-noose at their own request, have honorary places among
the spectators; or thev themselves may play, but do so in a very awkward
manner, because of the rope dangling behind them on the ground. According
to the belief of the Gilyak of the Amur country, the souls of those who die
a violent death, including suicides, ascend directly to heaven; while those
who die a natural death remain on earth, or descend underground.2
One of the sketches (Fig. 235) represents the Aurora Borealis. Two
cross-lines divide the sky into four equal portions. The centre is the zenith.
It is surrounded by a circle, which represents its house. The region of
Dawn is in the left-hand corner, below. In the lower part of the picture
lies the land of Darkness. The sky is studded with stars. The Aurora
Borealis is represented by several parallel bands. In the region of the uppermost band abide the "genuine dead" (li'i-vi"'1it); that is, those who died an
ordinary death. The second band is heavier. There abide "[through] ke'lE
dead" (ke'le-vi'"lt). The third band is thin. There live the "strangled ones'
(ilhi'pilit). In the region of Darkness, near the Moon, abide those killed
I See also Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p.
2 L.

146.

Schrenck, Reisen und Forschungen im Amur-Lande, Vol. III, Part II, p. 65o.

;'

with cudgels; for instance, black shamans caught while working spells. In
the region of Dawn abide the "bloody ones" (moLI'ynlt); that is, all killed
with sharp weapons, especially those who were killed at their own request.

i

k,

A.r-

If
W01'''S
S
tW0XW@y
m
,
:,Nf

/7~~~~~~~~1
Fig. 235. Chukchee Sketch representing the Aurora Borealis.

Deceased women who have no husbands go to a world of their own.
They live there, catching reindeer with nooses and nets as they come to
cross Pebbly River. Their world is situated in the lower portion of the sky,
and it is much less important than the first upper world.
While some of the dead are in these
upper worlds, the usual place of abode for
the deceased is underground. Their country
is very extensive, and full of intricate paths
which puzzle new-comers. The sketch Fig.
236 represents the paths in the world of the
been
dead as they are claimed to have
seen,
in a deep swoon, by the man who drew it.
->
The circular marks represent holes through
which new-comers enter. The smallest of
them are intended for those who died by

strangulation..
A new-comer to the world of the dead
has to pass at first through a region inhabited.
by dogs, who live in small earth huts of their Fig. 236. Chukchee Sketch representing
Paths in the World of the Dead.
own. Men who during their lives were unkind
to dogs, and habitually beat them, will be attacked by the dogs underground,
and bitten severely.' The forefathers and relatives of a new-comer meet
I The

same is believed among the Koryak. See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 103.

him, and lead him to their place: otherwise he would be unable to find his
way. Other dead people will also come out to watch him, and investigate
everything that he has brought. For this reason, no dead man is provided
with reindeer taken from another's herd, with clothes made at a strange hearth,
or with anything stolen or obtained unlawfully. In the underground world
all such things would be seized by the family of their lawful proprietors. A
poor man with no reindeer of his own fares best if he walks to the underground country, supporting himself with a staff and wearing clothes cut and
made by his own women.
The houses of the deceased are said to be large round tents without
any seams, and shining like bubbles of saliva. Their reindeer-herds are numerous, and consist of animals brought for sacrifice or slaughtered for meat,
and of wild reindeer killed in the hunt. Some of the inhabitants, however,
live by sea-pursuits on the shores of an ocean which abounds with walrus.
The men and the walrus play a kind of game in which the walrus pop up
out of the water, then dive again, while the men try to shoot them. When
an animal is shot, it is hauled a-shore and eaten: then the bones are thrown
back into the water, and it comes to life again.
Some of the beliefs concerning the condition of the deceased in the
world beyond the grave seem to be contradictory. For instance, the assertion
that people, when they die, are killed by ke'let or shamans, and their souls
are eaten by ke'let, is hard to harmonize with the detailed description of the
life which different groups of the deceased lead in the other world. I
believe, however, that these apparently contradictory ideas represent the feeling of the Chukchee, from different points of view, toward death and the
world beyond the grave. Immediately after the death of a relative, under
the weight of the great sorrow, the Chukchee inclines to consider it a murder,
and tries to find out the one who caused the death, that he may place the
responsibility for it on men or spirits. When time has weakened the first
impression, he forgets the part the ke'lE is supposed to have taken in the
death, and endeavors to picture to himself various features of the life the
deceased lead in their own dominions.
Another important seeming contradiction refers to the influence which
the deceased may have on the good or bad fortune of living human beings.
One line of native thought is inclined to consider the deceased as benevolent
protectors of their descendants. Some details in the arrangement of the
household charm-string 1 show elements of a real cult of ancestors.
A complete stranger, even, when passing by chance a graveyard where
a corpse is exposed, may assure himself of the protection of the deceased,
provided he is deferential, and gives proper offerings in crumbs of meat and
tobacco.
1 See Chapter XIII.

According to another belief, spread much more widely among the Chukchee, the deceased become, after death, a kind of ke'let hostile to man, and
inclined to do harm. The ke'let in question are of course those of the first
class, called "genuine ke'let."
A corpse lying in the open will stand up and give pursuit when a lone
traveller passes by. The deceased is also inclined to come back to his own
house, and to harm the people thereof. I shall speak of this in more detail
later on.

While the religious rites of both branches of the Chukchee tribe are
comparatively homologous, their material accompaniment presents many striking differences, conformable to the material life of the maritime and inland
branches of the tribe.
Thus we find that, while the individual charms of both branches of the
Chukchee tribe and of the Asiatic Eskimo are quite similar to each other,
the family charms are arranged according to their connection with the pursuits of their material life. The families of reindeer-breeders use charms and
amulets to protect their herds; while those of the maritime people use them
to secure success in hunting.
The same may be said regarding the ceremonials. The individual ceremonials - those connected with death, burial, and marriage - are much the
same among the two branches of the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo.
The family ceremonials are arranged in a regular cycle, are celebrated
from season to season throughout the year, and are directly connected with
the pursuits of material life: therefore those of the reindeer-breeders differ
from those of the maritime people. In this respect the difference between
the Reindeer Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo is still greater. Some of the
ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee bear a resemblance to those of the
Reindeer people, and show only such changes as result from their diversity
in material culture. Many of their ceremonials are similar to the religious
rites of the Asiatic Eskimo. In this respect, as in many others, the customs
of the Maritime. Chukchee occupy a middle ground between those of the
Asiatic Eskimo and those of the Reindeer Chukchee. Each family, moreover,
has its peculiar groups of images and ceremonials, characterized by special
details, and differing from those used by neighboring families. These differences develop continually under orders received from shamans, or directly
from spirits through dreams. In this way, even the chief ceremonials of the
year come to be observed somewhat differently by neighboring camps and
by different families in the same villages.
AMULETS. - The charms of both the Reindeer and the Maritime Chukchee are used as amulets; that is, as objects having peculiar power, which
they may use for the benefit of a person who has possession of them.
It is probable that primitive man began to use amulets very early, in
the first stage of religious development. Regarding all surrounding objects,
animate -and inanimate, as living and powerful enemies, he, from the very

[338]

-3 3 9

first, thought it necessary to propitiate the good-will of the most important
of them, and to rely upon their protection against all others.
Thus originated sacrifice to the mountains, rivers, etc., and to the chief
phenomena of nature, such as thunder or wind. These, however, could not
be used as amulets by man, because of their size; and their protection,
therefore, could not be considered as quite secure. Man from the beginning,
probably, would pick up some of the smaller objects which struck his fancy
by the singularity of their outward appearance or by the circumstances under
which they were found in the wilderness. From this singularity he assumed,
first, that they had peculiar force, and, second, that they wished him to take
them for his protectors.
Thus Urey Lisiansky says of the inhabitants of Kadiak, that as soon as
spring comes their whale-hunters wander over the mountains in search of
eagle-feathers, bear's hair, stones of unusual shape, roots, bird-skulls, and
such like, for use as amulets.' The same thing is told by Veniaminoff,
regarding the Aleuts, in his "Notes on the Islands of the Unalashka
District."
To illustrate the primitive conception of amulets, a story from Krasheninnikoff may be given. It refers to a native, a member of a Maritime
Koryak tribe, who lived in the village Uka, on the eastern shore of northern
Kamchatka. The native in question had suffered for several years from an
obnoxious disease, probably syphilis.
One day, while walking along the bank of the little river A'dka, he
found a stone. When he picked it up, the stone blew on him as if with
human breath. He threw it away, and his illness increased to such an extent
that he kept to his bed through the summer and winter. The next year he
went to look for the stone, and after a long search found it several miles
distant, lying on a flat stone slab. Close to it lay another stone of smaller
size. He picked up both, took them home, and made clothes for them.
Shortly after that, he recovered entirely from his illness. Ever after, he kept
the larger stone as his wife, and the smaller one as his son, and took the
latter with him on all his hunting-trips.
I have heard stories of the same character from the Chukchee, and
have met persons who had picked up amulet wives or husbands in the same
way. The amulets had nothing peculiar in their outward shape; but they
desired special people to pick them up, and made this clear to them by
some sign or action. One man stumbled against a stone and nearly sprained
his ankle, and thus learned that the stone wanted to become his amulet.
Another, while sleeping on the tundra, found the amulet under his pillow, etc.
Primitive man, in selecting his amulets as well as in offering sacrifices
to surrounding objects, must have adopted very early some simple rites,
1 Urey Lisiansky, Voyage around the World (in Russian), St. Petersburg,

1812, II, p. 93.

which were suggested at first by various accidents, but which were soon looked
upon as quite indispensable. The more vague and unsettled the primitive
conception of the mysterious force of surrounding objects, the greater was the
tendency of man to have some stable element of his religious conceptions in
the manner, at least, of carrying out the rites.- Thus we find that, while the
average Reindeer Chukchee is quite unable to explain who the beings are to
whom he sacrifices, he is very positive about the details of the sacrifice and
about various acts connected with it. There is a marked tendency to'maintain
the observance of these performances, which have obtained a firmer hold
than the, ideas they' represent, and which the people continue to observe
even when their original purport is greatly changed, or even wholly lost and
forgotten.
Primitive magic performances include certain acts, and utterances of
verbal formulas which tend to acquire an established text that is learned by
heart. A verbal formula with its prescribed act forms an incantation, and
one is rarely used without the other. An incantation is thought to increase
the mysterious force of an amulet and make it more permanent. The Koryak
give expression to this idea by calling their amulets "fixed by an incantation'
(ewya'nwIcU5).1 They even say that the force of the amulets and of the
incantations is weakened by age, and that they must be renewed from time
to time. With the Chukchee, however, incantations have not such prominence, and the chief potency of amulets lies in the inherent power the natives
ascribe to them.2
In selecting amulets, primitive man is not satisfied with objects as
they present themselves to him naturally. Actuated by a general desire to
accentuate the anthropomorphous qualities of the objects of his veneration, he
very early undertakes to improve them with his own hand and to give them
a human-like form. In this, however, he does not go beyond the first steps,
because the power of a belief once established hinders further innovation.
Thus, among the Chukchee as among the Koryak, the anthropomorphous
amulets are shaped very crudely, while children's toys are often made in a
truly artistic manner.
We find among the Chukchee both classes of amulets, - those of
natural shape, and those worked up by man. To the first class belong
stones, pieces of bone, and other objects, which are picked up under various
circumstances, as was said before. For purposes of divination, stones are
generally used, as will be explained in Chapter XV. Amulets of animal
provenience belong to the same class. These may consist of dried skins, or
be represented by a small part of a skin, by a skull, by the tip of the nose,
by a single claw, or by a tuft of hair. A bird is represented by a feather.
"Wooden Spirits." - The amulets wrought into human shape appear as
'Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 44.

2 See Chapter XV, section on incantations.

small human images roughly shaped out of various material. Some are
made of wood, and usually consist of a small branch. of wood forked at one
end so as to represent the legs (Fig. 237, a). Sometimes two other branches
represent the arms (Fig. 238). Others are
made of leather, or are painted in color on
leather or wood, or are even pricked into the
skin of the face or hands with a needle. All/
are very imperfectly shaped, and consist
usually of a straight line with a mere suggestion of a head and four extremities.
Those made of wood are called ok-ka'A
mak (p1. ok-ka'makit), which means literally
"wooden spirit." It is interesting to note that
the word "ka'mak" is Koryak, and is rarely
I
used by the Chukchee.1 On the whole, human
'!
X
images of this shape have no special names.
Some amulets are carved by the Chukchee out
of wood or ivory, and with more care than
these rough images. They are called "faces"
(lu'"lqilti), because they consist chiefly of a
( ,
head or a face. The term "face" is also applied by the Koryak to small carved amulets.
They call such amulets "spirit faces" (ka'maklu"u). Some of the faces also represent animals or birds.
a, Male
Fig. 237
Charm-String.
b
Fox's
Man's
Funeral
c,
b,
Skull;
Guardians.
The comimon Chukchee Guardian;
for
these charms is "watch-keeper" Belt; d, Fur Trimming from Woman's Funame for
allall
these charms iS "watch-keeper" neral Collar. Length of figure, 47 cm.
(ginrire'tilin) or "guardian" (inend u'lin). Their
function is to protect objects and persons to whom they are attached. They
are also called "assistant" (vi'yolin), "helper" .(vinre'tilin), or "assisting companion" (vinre't-tu'mgin).2 Most of them are carried by their owners on the
body, and their protection is considered especially desirable when travelling
in unknown parts. They are therefore called "that used in travel" (lei'gukin),
or "travelling companion" (lei'gu-tu'mgin). The form of these is practically
identical with the form of those of the Koryak.5
Each man has one or several "guardians." They are worn on the necklace, or are fastened to the belt. Among the amulets of animal provenience,
preference is given to the ermine, because it is so nimble and active. Other
r

1 See p. 289, Footnote 3. Ka'mak means in Koryak "evil spirit," and is identical with ka'la (Chukchee,
ke'lE). It is used in Russo-Chukchee jargon with the meaning "to die," "death," "devil." In genuine Chukchee also, kama'gritin ("ka'mak's tooth") means "mammoth's tusk," "mammoth ivory." Ok-ka'mak with the
Xtoryak is the name of a large wooden pole representing the "guardian of the village."
2 Compare p. 319.
3 See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak) pp. 32 et seq.
44-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

small skins, skulls, claws, and feathers of birds, are also used.' These charms
are supposed, in case of need, to turn into living animals, and to give
required help. In many tales the owner puts on the skin or the feather, and
turns temporarily into the animal or the bird fromn which
they were taken. In actual life this may be done
symbolically by means of an incantation.
Rude human images made of wood ("wooden
spirits'), which represent the "guardians," are worn on
tthe necklace, hidden generally in a small leather pouch.
,'t
They are fastened to the collar or to the back of the
dress of a new-born infant (Fig. 239). Rude
figures cut out of curried leather, and
similar in shape to the wooden crotches,
/%n
t;r

clothing in various places,

fastened to the
scabbard

the

to

are

of

the

knife,

to

the walls

ceiling of the sleeping-room, to the clothes-

Fig. 238

(r4n)

or
bag, etc.

/

Amulet

representing a Human Being.
Length, I9 cm.

They are called ki'pur or kepro'lhin.

When adorned with beads, they form a
conspicuous ornament (Fig. 240). Sometimes

-- |

~~an

image

the

walls

like
of

this

the

is

painted

sewed

on

sleeping-room, painted

on

or

the boats on both sides, near the bow, or
pricked with a fine needle into a person's
cheeks,

forehead,

or

arms.

In an underground house in Nu'nligren I
saw two human faces roughly scratched on
top of one of the whalebone uprights near
the entrance. The owner of the house called
them also "guardians," and, while showing
me the house, offered a sacrifice of tallow
and tobacco to them. Faces of similar character were

also

found

scratched

on

the

top

of the ladder-tree in a Koryak winter house.
On the face

or

hands of a sick person a

figure like Fig. 24I is tattooed to provide
the sick one with a new "assistant."

Fig. 240.

Fig. 239.

v a).
Fig. 239
presenting a"Guaidian." Length, 6 cm.
Leather Ornament
Fig. 240 (
Wooden

Figure

re-

done

especially

in

nervous

This is

diseases.

In

other maladies the aching limbs are tattooed.
Tattooing is also resorted to by murderers,
who will mark signs of this kind on their shoulders, hoping by this means

presenting

a

"Guardian."

Length, 25

re-

CM.

I Skins of small birds and animals are also in use as amulets among the American Eskimo.
Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 137.

Compare

to appropriate the soul of the murdered man, and turn it from a possible foe
into an "assistant," or even cause it to become a part of himself.
I think it probable that the marks seen by Mr. Nelson 1 on arrow and
spear heads at East Cape, and supposed to represent the raven's foot, and
symbolize the raven totem, were in reality
simply sketches of "guardians." It is
N
E '
still more probable that two supposed
N
'
raven-marks seen by him on a boy's
forehead at Plover Bay 2 were nothing
/
,
but these marks of a "guardian." Their
position is quite similar to those reprel-. \
sented in Fig. 241, though I have never
seen a "guardian" mark with a round
head at the top of it. It is clear, however, that they are intended for human
a
figures.
The small circular marks tattooed
7K
on the cheeks of many male Maritime
acand
are,
Asiatic
Eskimo
Chukchee
/
cording to the explanation by the natives,
a kind of prevention against attacks by
the ke'let, though originally they may
b
have been only substitutes for labrets.3
Fig. 24I. Tattoo-Marks representing
The
samecustompreailsamongthe
custom
The same
prevails among the
"'Guardians."
Aleuts. Sarytcheff mentions4 that the
women of the Andreyanoff Islands had on their cheeks small double circles
tattooed with black. Hooper 5 speaks of tattoo-marks which he has seen
among the Asiatic Eskimo in Plover Bay. He gives a facsimile of two
marks which were on the breast of a native, and which represent two fighting
men. The general character of these marks is similar to those described
above. The figures, however, have in their hands objects which resemble
shields. No tribe of that country has ever known the use of the shield.
Some of the human images are considered as supernatural husbands or
wives of their owners. At the time of ceremonials they are called "ceremonial husband" (mnii'kin uwa'quc) or "ceremonial wife" (mnii'qin ine'wan).
During the performance they are placed on the floor in an upright position.
The owner steps forward and performs the usual dance opposite to his ceremonial mate, who is supposed to share in the action.
The figures of these mates are considered highly effective in cases where
I NelsonI p. 324.
4 Sarytcheff, I, p. I26.

2 Ibid.) p. 325, Fig. II5.
5 Hooper, p. 150.

3 Compare p. 254.

help is needed and for divination, especially when used by persons having skill
in magic, who consider themselves shamans. A female shaman in the Kolyma
country showed me a stone of a strange form, with two projections at one
end, similar to the two branches of a "wooden spirit." It had a string tied
around it, and could be used as a divining-stone. The woman called it her
husband, and said she loved it much more than she did her living mate.
She assured me that most of her children were conceived from this stone.'
Some personal "guardians" made of wood are carved with more care
than the usual crude wooden crotches. Some of these are represented in
Fig. 242. The second figure has a dog attached to it for hunting. We shall

Fig. 242. Wooden Figures representing "Guardians." a () length, I4 cm.;
b (g 0gb), length, iI cm. and 7.5 cm.

find numerous figures of a similar character on the family charm-strings of
the Chukchee. Among carved animal faces we find the walrus, the polar
bear, the black bear, the wolf, and the raven. The dog is also a favorite,
because, as I have said before,° the dog or its image is supposed to give
protection against evil spirits.

When necessary, the figures can not only acquire life, but grow to very
large proportions. A woman who had two small figures of black bears told
me that ordinarily she kept them in her work-bag; but whenever she thought
she was in danger from spirits (for instance, if a contagious disease broke
out in the vicinity), she took the bears from the bag and put them on the
ground on either side of the entrance to the house. They were supposed to keep
watch in the way described in the folk-tales, and represented in pencil-sketches.
I compare
Compare p.

339.
339-

p.

13.

2 Compare p.

13-

Compare

A necklace to which is attached a walrus-head carved in ivory is represented in the chapter on clothing.' Another amulet of this kind is shown in
Fig. 243, a. It consists of a double-headed dog carved in ivory and made like

4b

Fig. 243. Amulets. a (WT7T)1 Ivory Carving representing Double-headed Dog (length of buckle,
Snow-Beater with "Guardian's" Face
4e5 cm.); b (4rX), Canoe and Paddle (length, 3 cm.); c (

(length, 5 I cm.).

small toggle. The image and a single bead are tied to the back of the
leather belt.2 This is considered an especially suitable place for wearing
amulets. The ermine-skin amulet which is sometimes attached to the neckis a
lace is often fastened to the back of the belt instead.8 Fig. 243,
similar amulet worn on the belt of a Chukchee. It is made of wood, and
represents a canoe with paddle. The shape is quite similar to a wooden
button of the Baffin-Land Eskimo described by Boas.4
Human or animal "faces" are frequently carved on the handles of snowbeaters for the purpose of giving protection to their owners. The snowbeaters are then called "having a face" (gelu'"lqALin), Fig. 243, c.8 A
snow-beater with a carved face is especially important for a man who has to
live alone in the wilderness, like a herdsman or a hunter.
Fig. 244 is a "guardian" in the shape of a dog, but with a human face
on the front of the muzzle.
It is covered with a coat made of skin. Combinations of animal figures with additional human faces are often met with on
the carvings of the American Eskimo.6
a

6,

i87,

1 See p. 256, Fig.
2 Compare Fig. 259.
b.
3 See also the belt amulet, p. 244, Fig. I76.
4 Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 52, Fig. 76.
5 Compare also p. 176, Fig. 98.
6 Compare Nelson, p. 448, Figs. I62-I64.

Beads. - Beads are usually substituted for small images and faces of
every kind, and they are transformed into charms by means of incantations.
The virtue of the bead is twofold, since it may at the same time be considered a charm and an offering
to the spirits. A- thin strip ot
leather or sinew with a bead
strung on one end of it is a

Inmanycasesiisputothelefwrist,

~~~~~~~~~typicalsingle charm.
In the chapter on clothing'
I spoke of the way in which
beads are arranged for orna-

ments, while at the same time
of them serve as charms.
infant ria many
putn
Fig. 244 (ch"Guardian"
A narrow strip of leather with
Fig 244
a ofsa Dog-Ma.
it.) "Guadian"in Shape
a single bead fastened to it is
tied as a bracelet around one of the wrists of an infant shortly after its
birth, and is worn throughout life. It is called "hand-wrapper'
(ming-a'aaw).
In many cases it is put on the left wrist, because the left hand is a hand of
bad luck and the spirits are supposed to approach man from the left side.
When the charm is put on an infant's wrist the infant is said to be "swallowed" by it. This implies a wish to proclaim that there is nothing left for
the "spirits" to swallow. Similar ideas are expressed in incantat'ons, as will
be explained later.
Many people, especially women, wear bands of similar shape tied around
their arms. These are called "arm-wrappers" (ronm-a'vvaw).
Pendants made of a bead strung on a strip of leather are sewed to
various parts of the clothing, especially that of women and children. Thubs
they are made to serve as charms and ornaments at the same time. A
head-band with a few beads fastened on it, "head-wrapper" (e'w evew), likewise has protective power. In the Kolyma country the beads on such headbands are sometimes replaced by tiny bits of wood. This was probably the
Whenare called "manikins"
older form of this charm. They
(qla'ulqait.).
ever disease comes, it is sure to strike one of them. In several tales the
hero, when fighting with a supernatural being, is saved from death by his
head-band, because every blow aimed at him can only strike one of the
manikins.
After the death of a near relative, if it ,is feared that the " spirit of
disease," or that the deceased, will come for new victims,, the Chukchee
fasten a bead on the head, stringing it on a lock of hair without any thread
or leather.
A bead which has become a charm may be put in a tiny bag, and
I

See P. 258.

worn in place of a necklace. Sacrifices of beads strung on leather or thread
are frequently presented to "spirits" as expiatory offerings to ward off disease.
On a big whale's rib stuck into 'the ground, which represents the local deity
in the village of (,e'vin,l I found many such offerings (Fig. 245). Single
beads strung on a thread are exchanged in
concluding a bond of friendship between
strangers. When I came to Indian Point, we
concluded a bond of this character with the
trader Kuwar, and exchanged a coil of thong
with a bead fastened at one end.
In taking anthropological measurements,
we met with cases in which the people
Fig. 245. Bead used as an Offering.
measured declared on the next morning that
they felt ill. This was, of course, ascribed to
our malevolent instruments. The affected party, to prevent more serious
consequences, would usually ask for a bead strung on a piece of sinew, in
order to make an expiatory sacrifice of it to the "spirits." They could not
tell, however, what particular kind of "spirits" it -was necessary to appease,
nor did they think it of any importance, if only he required sacrifice were
performed.
Some amulets consist of pieces of skin tied in various knots, without
any likeness to living figures, as may be seen on the necklace of Fig. I90
(p. 258), and on the back of the belt, Fig. I76 (see p. 244). These knots
are usually tied by a shaman, who imparts to them some of his magic
power. They may, however, be fashioned by a man himself according to a
shaman's directions, or after orders received in a dream.
There are, however,' persons who do not wear amulets at all. Some
are forbidden by the "spirits" to avail themselves of this kind of protection.
Others abstain from following the usage on the ground of philosophical
reasoning. "I do not wear anything upon my body," said such a person to
me, "because I am convinced that protection by such small objects must be
a mere delusion." A shaman by the name of Scratching-Woman even went
further, and declared that all sacred things made by man are good for
nothing. He said that the fire-tool boards, strings of images, and dolls are
of no real use. "Nothing created by man has any power. On the contrary,
ali power is in the deity, who created man himself and the objects of his hunt."
Amulets are also attached to the various implements used in fishing and
huntinfg. Thus, wooden images of seals are fastened to a seal-net among its
floats, for the purpose of drawing to it other seals and capturing them.
Sometimes all the floats of a seal-net are in the form of such images.2 At other
times a gay-colored bead forms the amulet. The large bag-net represented on
I See Fig. 285.

2 Compare Nelson, p. i88.

P. I49, Fig. 63, has an amulet like this strung on one of its meshes. Small
pieces of red cloth or curried leather, roughly fashioned like human figures,
are often attached to nets, fishing-tackle, rifles, and self-acting bows. They
represent "assistants," which were spoken of before.
FAMILY CHARMS OF THE REINDEER CHUKCHEE. - The family charms are
more complicated than the individual ones, but we shall see that they consist
chiefly of amulets of the various kinds described. These amulets are joined
together and form a sacred object, protecting the material welfare of the
family, and guarding it against attacks by evil spirits.
I have mentioned that the family charms of the Reindeer Chukchee
differ from those of the Maritime people. The family charms and sacred
things in use among the Reindeer Chukchee protect their material welfare,
particularly in regard to whatever affects the herd.
Hear/k. - The chief place among the sacred things of the household
belongs to the hearth itself, to the fire of which a spark is added from each
of the hereditary fire-tools at every ceremonial. Each family has a fire of
its own, and interchange of fire is strictly prohibited. Families whose fires
are derived from different lines of ancestors, even though living for years in
the same camp, will carefully guard against any contact of their fires. To
borrow a neighbor's fire is held to be one of the greatest sins. If a camp
is pitched on the spot formerly occupied by another family, the Chukchee
woman, in order to start a new fire, will not avail herself of the coal or
wood that was left. Even when camped on the treeless tundra, she will
break up the sledges for fire-wood rather than take a single splinter bearing
marks of an alien fire. Interchange of household utensils connected with the
hearth
is also
like kettles, dishes, lamps, receptacles for meat, etc.
It
is
even considered sinful to warm at one hearth a piece
strictly forbidden.
of cold meat which has been boiled at another. All these restrictions, however, refer only to the "genuine fire," obtained for a native hearth by means
of a wooden drill and the sacred fire-board.
On the other hand, the strike-a-light, sulphur-dish, and matches may be
freely borrowed and interchanged, because they have nothing to do with the
sacred family fire. A Chukchee woman will also take from a neighbor of
her tribe a match, or flint and steel, because these have nothing to do with
the sacred family fire; but she will not take willow tinder, because it is mixed
with coal, and the coal was taken from the alien hearth. She will show the
same aversion to the fire of the Reindeer Koryak, who also have sacred
fire-tools; but she will not hesitate to borrow a firebrand or burning coals
from a Russian or from a Lamut.1
'I met, however, among the Anui camps, especially ln the more remote parts of the country, people who would
not allow even a match struck in their sleeping-room, fearing contamination of their household penates. No alien man
would be allowed to busy himself around their fire, not even to put in place a brand or a kettle with food to be cooked.

During my travels I had much trouble with women on account of the
fire. Many of them had no teakettles of their own, and yet refused to boil
water in mine because it had stood by an alien hearth. Sometimes their
scruples would give way at the prospect of drinking hot tea. In other cases
we had to make a separate fire, and drink our tea outside of the tent.
Brothers, cousins, and relatives of male descent, while living in the same
camp, or at least in the same neighborhood, may freely interchange fire. If
one of them has moved to a distant country, his fire gradually becomes
estranged from the primary hearth, because it consumes strange fuel, and
inhales alien and unseemly odors. In this way, even brothers who have been
separated for a long term of years may lose the right to interchange their fires.
When there are two or more fires of different family descent in the same
camp, a community fire may result, if the children playing together should
happen to mix one fire with another. The respective families will then bring
a common sacrifice, and for the future will keep up a common fire. The
community of related people who use fire from a common source are called
"those having the same fire" (Enna'n-yI'nlIt). This term is equivalent to another
one which designates kinship in the male line, - "old buck-fellow community"

(kirine'-tu'mgi-ret).
Most of the camps have a common fire because their inhabitants belong
to related families. Difficulties regarding the fire arise in the camps of rich
reindeer-breeders, who hire poor assistants (coming often from a quite distant
country), and also among very poor families, who not infrequently are heedless
of the ties of relationship when they join their herds together to watch them
more effectually. Sometimes near relatives, even brothers, will sever their fire
from the family fire. When a house has been visited by misfortune and the
anger of "spirits," - for instance, when many grown people or male children
belonging to it have died, - it may suddenly be cast out from the community of fire. In this case the man who pronounces the protecting incantation'
may cut off the fire of the stricken family during the funeral ceremony, so
that others may not share in its bad fortune.2
The hearth is closely connected with the herd. The chief ceremonial of
the year, held early in the fall, represents the meeting of hearth and herd
after the summer's separation. A large sacred fire is built, and the animals
are driven to it from the leeward side, so that the breath of the fire may
drive away the evil "spirits" that might come with the herd from the wilderness. For the same purpose, burning fire-brands are thrown against the reindeer.
Wooden Fire-Tool. - The most important sacred objects of the household connected with the hearth and the herd are wooden fire-tools, strings of
family charms (tai'niikut), and family drums.
1 Compare, Chapter XVII.
2 For a description of the defiling of the family hearth by

45-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

syphilis, see p. 41.

The wooden fire-tool has already been described. The board in which
the drill revolves is roughly shaped into a human form. Usually it represents
only a head and shoulders, though legs are sometimes added (Fig. 246).
Eyes, nose, and mouth are indicated by cuts of appropriate form and position.
At every sacrifice its mouth is greased with tallow or with the marrow of
bones. This image is called "reindeer fire-tool" (in Chukchee, gI'rgir, t/.,
gi'rgitti; in Koryak, gi"Cgi'C; and also qa'a-me'lhimel), indicating its direct
connection with the herd. The holes made by drilling are considered the

tik X
Fig. 246, a

W

b (u,,). Sacred Fire-Boards.

Length, 36 cm., 43 cm.

eyes of the fire-board; and the squeaking noise produced by
the drilling, its voice. In those camps where the wooden
fire-tool is still daily employed for lighting fires, the
sacred fire-boards are often reserved for ceremonials, and
for regular use a substitute is made (Fig. 247). Sometimes
this is merely a board; in other cases it is given the
shape of a human figure, and after several years' use it Fig. 247 (CT0-). Fireis laid aside with other fire-boards. Its sacredness is goard for Ordinary Use.
derived from its daily connection with the fire of the hearth.
Many families have several fire-boards. Some of them are comparatively
new; others, inherited from preceding generations, are often quite ancient.
Each is associated with the ownership of a certain portion of the herd, marked
with its own brand. These brands pass with the sacred fire-board from generation
to generation. Each boy born to the family is given, when he is four or five

35 I

old, a fire-board and a reindeer brand from the family heirlooms.
If the number of ancient fire-boards is insufficient, a new one is made
and a new brand established, to be given to the son. If the forefathers were
poor and the herd is beginning to increase, the owner, unwilling to unite the
poor luck of his ancestors with his own prosperity, will make for his sons new

years

fire-boards,

and

establish

new brands for the reindeer.

On the other hand,

people who remain poor in reindeer do not keep all of their fire-boards, because it would be inconsistent with the lack of increase of the herd. Even
those boards that are kept are assigned new functions.
One of the fire-boards, usually the most ancient, is considered the protector of the herd; another protects the hunting-pursuits; a third guards the
sacrifices. Some families do not make new fire-boards for their children, even
though the family has inherited but a few. Only when the family separates
and the herd is divided between the heirs, when each portion must have at
least one fire-board, do they make new ones.
In every case the oldest fire-board, and with it the oldest brand of the
reindeer, and the house and its belongings, are assigned to one of the possible
heirs, usually either to the oldest or to the youngest son. He is the principal heir, and is called "one with the principal fire-tool" (e'un mi'lhilin), or
"one with the fire-tool" (mi'lhilin).
He takes a prominent part in slaughtering
reindeer and offering sacrifices. IIis place in the sleeping-room is on the
left-hand side.' The parents often move to the right-hand side, leaving the
left-hand side to him, so that he may sleep there
alone.

The Chukchee consider that the best time to
destroy an antiquated or superfluous fire-board is in
the spring, at the ceremonial of the antlers. Then
the fire-board is burned in the ceremonial fire. Its
head may be cut off and joined to the string of
family charms; but oftener the fire-board is completely burned, and replaced in the string by a small
wooden

'

image (Fig. 248).

Fire-boards are supposed to actually keep guard
over the herd.
One tale relates that two wooden
men without feet, who looked like fire-boards,
came

to a reindeer-breeder whose animals were very restive.

(0). Image from
aFire-Board.
representing a
Charm-String,
Length, 12 cm.
Fig. 248

The herdsman fed them with tallow. Before going
'If the herd becomes
suddenly frightened and tries to run away, it would be better for you to
waken us at once." When they had spoken, the master asked, "How shall
I waken you?"
"Take the bow," they replied, "and turn the drill in one
to sleep, they said to the host,

1 Compare p. I 73.

35 2

of our eyes. When the drill begins to sing, the herd will stand still, and
then return to the house."l
During the calving-season the fire-boards are taken from the bag in
which they are kept and placed behind the frame in the outer tent, so that
they may protect the calving dams. Pieces of sinew (see Fig. 246) are put
around the necks of the fire-boards to represent lassos. Sometimes these are
provided with small bone rings resembling those through which the rope of
If the herd is divided into two
a regular lasso slips in forming the noose.
parts for fawning, a separate lasso is tied around the neck of every fire-board
for each part of the herd. During the ceremonial in the fall, these lassos
are changed for new ones; but later in the winter they are taken off and
burned in the fire. If a part of the herd goes astray, the owner will take
out his fire-boards and request them to find the lost animals. Household
property (extra tents, sledges, etc.) piled up out of doors may have a fireboard fastened to it in some conspicuous place, which will act as a "guarSuch a fire-board may be seen on Plate XXXII, Fig.
dian."
When a new fire-board is made,
wa short ceremony is performed over it,
Ii
which shows clearly that it is looked
upon as a supernatural herdsman. The
*_.tA-'
_s ,*t s;i<9>-2board is brought home and put behind
the tent in the usual place of sacrifices.
X
i.

The

master

1l!

W

v

aloud,

'I

have

(melha"4~a'ul).
Then a reindeer is killed and the fire-

brought

_@

declares

fire-tool man"

a

though
usually fire-boards are smeared only with

board

is

smeared

tallow

or

bone-marrow.

While

your

blood,

smearing it with blood, the

master says to it
abode

with

"Enough! Take up

here!"

Then

other

fire-

boards are brought to the same place
and set side by side on the ground.
The master says, "Ho! These are
See that I always
your companions.
find easily every kind of game!" Then
Charm-String. a, Raven's head; he slaughters another reindeer and says,
Fig. 249 (
Fox's skull; c, Carving representing dog; d, Stone "Hi! Since you are one of my asrepresenting the ground. Length of figure, 54 cm.
b,

sistants (literally, 'one of my young
men'), go and drive the herd hither." After a little while he asks him, "Have
you -brought it?" and he himself answers, "I have." -"Then catch some reindeer!
I See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. Io6.

Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Vol. VII.

Plate XXXII.

bflO
* -I

ci

a)

FM

;-4

z

c=

S

vd

el

I=I
.-4

a)

a)

s-q

a)
CI)

4>

.5
bJJ

2-

$, ,
**1
,

$"

I

r-4

a)
rc2

v

U]
I._

bb

The Chukchee.

3 53

It seems that you will keep a good watch over the herd. There, from the
actual chief of the fire-boards, you may learn wisdom." This short dialogue
is a good example of the dramatized incantations of the Chukchee.
Charm-Strings. - The family charms (Fig. 249, see also Fig. 237)
tied on strings are called tai'-nikut (sing., tai'iiikulhin, which, however, is rarely
used). This word means literally " misfortune-protectors." The common string
includes articles of a heterogeneous nature. In my opinion the charms are
tied together simply to guard against possible loss during the multitudinous
travels of the family.
The greater part of the string of charms is taken up with simple wooden
images which are used singly as amulets, and which were described above as
"wooden spirits." When tied on a family string, these wooden images are
meant to be the protectors of the reindeer-herd, and in this sense they are
called "masters of reindeer" (qaa'ken ktI'nvit).

e

A

Fig. 250,

(,13611-)), b (w

c

from Charm-Strings, representing Female "Guardians."
(Tj4). Figures
II
I

Length,

cm., 9 cm., 14 cm-;

The tale alluded to before' goes on to tell that. the fire-tool men created
several herdsmen, and sent them to watch the herd. The next morning the
herdsmen vanished, and in their stead a string of charms was left. The
number of wooden images corresponded to the number of herdsmen.
Another episode often occurring in the tales is that of a young man,
who, desiring to create herdsmen for his reindeer, kicked a number of dry
boughs lying on the ground among the bushes. Some of these branches then
turned to herdsmen. This probably refers to the same idea.
' Compare P. 352.

The number of wooden images in a set varies from a few to a score
or two.
New images are cut every spring from willow-branches used in the
ceremonial of the antlers. Sometimes five, or even ten, are made at once,
especially when the family is about to divide the herd and the household
amulets. Each party returning from a hunting or trading expedition brings
with it at least one bough from the forest of the country it visited. Figures
cut from these are added to the other images. If there are too many
charm-strings, some of the old ones are burned during the ceremonial of the
antlers.
There are also special images on the charm-strings. One of these is
the "wooden woman" (u'tti-niew), also called "mistress" (fiew-e'rmecin). This
is a wooden figure having some indication of her sex, or often simply a
forked bough wrapped in a piece of skin which represents the skin dress (Fig. 250).
is a wooden woman with a human face and the body of a
Fig. 250,
seal. She has a skin wrapping and a ladle for receiving sacrifices. Small
sacrificing-vessels are attached to several other images. This female figure was
also considered the chief "mistress" of the house and the protectress of the herd.
Another special image is the
"wooden man" (otta"'-la'ul or ottora'wtLan). This is a human
figure made of wood, and regarded
c,

as the husband of the "wooden
~~~~~~~woman." It is always without

z

clothes.

S

'6

The shape of the figure

according to the fancy of its

varies

maker. Sometimes it is only a
head, and is called "wooden head"

/;A; W(u'tti-le'ut).

/

In

other

cases

a

forked

branch is furnished with a

rou

face,

and is then supposed

to be the chief of the herd and the

Other
fiursnthcam-trns

husband

of

the

"mistress"

Sometimes

the

(Fig.

"wooden

of
th
cifigrs.Thswape.nkman" and the "woman"
called
kama-taahin
and
kama-fria'ut,
in
are

imitation
Fig.

25I,

a

(X4I),b ().Figures

representing

Other
of
are

the

Male

figures

chief

male.

"Guardians."

figures.
The

are

wrapped,
the

of the

most

common

of

the Chukchee names. These mean

CM.
"s

charm-strings

Those

latter

Charm-Strings,

Length, 15 cm-,

the

on

from

in

more

are

t-

an

considered

skin

are

numerous.

1 Concerning the stem kama (kamak), compare p. 34I.

children

female;
All

those
these

prt

n.

and relatives

wrapped
figures taken
not

See also p. 289, Footnote 3.

35 5

together are called "men of the charm-strings" (tai'inikut ora'weLat). Among
the Reindeer people of the Kolyma I saw several times small wooden images
of canoes fastened to the charm-strings. This is the more remarkable, as
those people do not build canoes, and rarely buy them from the Russians,
as they have but little opportunity to use them. The canoe-image of the
charm-strings thus adds new proof to the conjecture that the maritime mode
of life predominated in ancient times with the whole Chukchee tribe.
Ena'att6 (pf. of Ena'al) are parts of the funeral clothes, which are taken
from every grown member of the family shortly before the final ceremony,
and added to the family string of charms. From the men's clothing are taken
their belts (see Fig. 237, c); from the women's, narrow strips of the fur trimming of the collars (see Fig. 237, d). These pieces are wrapped or sewed
together in a small parcel, and tied to the string. They also represent the
chief masters of the herd, and are often more or less confounded with the
wooden images. In connection with this, the charms are considered to represent more or less directly the ancestors of the family. As such they are
called in common conversation "the ancient ones," or even "the deceased ones."
A raven's head (ve'lvi-le'ut) is used in its natural form (see Fig. 249)
or as a wooden image (Fig. 252, a). A
wolf s head (eiSh-le'ut) is used only as a
wooden image. The real skulls of the fox
(see Figs. 237 1, 249 6), hare, and wolz
A
verene, are used, or they are represented
by images. The image of the head of the6
polar bear is also employed (Fig. 25 2, 6)
Wooden dogs are found in the shape comX
mon among various other- charms of the'~
I4
Chukchee (see Fig. 249, c).
UI
\ rI
Among the skulls, those of the white
I
fox are the most numerous. Rarely are all
R
of these skulls and' images joined on the
\
$1
same set, and each string usually includes
an assortment of the various forms. Details
in the form of these private charms,' as in
Fi. 252, a (-). Amulet representing
Head (length, IO c.); b () Amuthe rites, depend with the Chukchee upon Raven's
Head of Polar Bear (length,
let
representing
chance influences, such as dreams, the ~~~~~~~~9
cm.).
meeting of wild animals, or other prophetic
signs, or the command of an old man or a shaman. These variations are in
accord with the vague religious views of the Chukchee, which have not taken
fixed forms, and indicate in general a primitive state of religious culture.
From sacrificed reindeer, especially from those which have a strange or
misshapen feature, there is taken for this string of charms a piece of the skin

I

I

from the head, with part of the velvet, or one of the dew-claws. Pieces of
skin covering the nose are cut from fur animals or sea-mammals, and tied
to the charm-string. Stones of strange form - for instance, those with a
natural hole through them - are also tied to the string. Occasionally a
curiously shaped piece of petrified wood or bone is added.
Taken in connection with the human-like images on the string, the raven's
head represents the "assistant" in the upper regions; the wolf's head, the
"assistant" on earth; the head of the fox, hare, wolverene, and polar bear,
and the noses of their peltries, are charms for hunting these animals. Stones
(see Fig. 249, d) represent the ground upon which the men of the charmstrings walk (te'ntin, "walking-ground"). Since the skulls of animals and stones
are used for divining the future, those on the string are thought to be used
for that purpose by the "men of the charm-string."
A wooden image of a dog is supposed to represent the dog belonging
to the chief master of the string of charms, and is used for hunting-purposes.
The part the charm-string plays in relation to the herd and the house
is similar to that of the fire-boards. Both figure in all sacrifices and ceremonies. When the family want to separate, the charm-strings are cut into as
many pieces as there are heirs, and a piece is given to each.
Occasionally, in times of disease, the fire-boards and the charm-strings
are presented to the spirits as expiatory sacrifices. For this purpose all
members of the family, one by one, shake their imaginary diseases down on
their sacred objects, which are spread on the ground to receive them. Then
the objects are taken away and left in the wilderness. By this act the family
are considered to have given to the "spirits of disease" all the luck and protection they possessed, and they must collect new charms, which is to easily done.
Drum. - The drum used by the Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee is
of the same shape and size as that employed by the Asiatic Eskimo. Its
form is markedly different from the more southern type adopted in northeastern
Asia by the Yakut, Tungus, Koryak, Kamchadal, and Yukaghir.
The southern drum' is large, somewhat oval in shape, and has a grip
formed by four loose bands. These are fastened to the hoop of the drum
on the inner side. The other ends meet in the middle, where they are tied
to a small wheel or a cross, which is without other support. When the grip
is grasped by the hand, the drum hangs loosely, and it may be shaken and
its position changed at will. The drum-stick is made of wood, and covered
with skin or with curried leather.
The Chukchee drum (Fig. 25 3) is similar to that of the American
Eskimo.2 It has a wooden handle, which is fastened with sinew lashings to
the wooden hoop. The diameter of the hoop is from forty to fifty centimetres; breadth of the rim, four centimetres. It is nearly circular in shape.
1 See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 55 et seq.

2 Compare, Boas, Central Eskimo, Fig. 538, p. 602.

Thlle head is made of very thin skin, usually the dried skin of a walrus-stomach.
The curried skin of a young fawn is often used by the Reindeer Chukchee
of the interior, but it is not considered as good. To fasten the skin, it is
moistened witlh water or urine, and the edg,e is then tied with sinew cord in
a circular groove at the outer surface of the hoop. The ends of this cord
are fastened to the hlandle. The drum is very light, some specimens weicxhiinc not more than half a pound, and otlhers xveighing d
from a pound to a pound and a half.
The drum-stick varies with the use to wlhich the instrument
is put. It is either a narroxv, light strip of whalebone' from
thirty to forty centimetres long, or a piece of wood (Fig. H
253. b) from sixt) to seventy centimetres long, which is
sometimes adorned wTith
fur tassels. The former
is used in maglcal performances, when the
'it
k 4'1
druim is beaten inside
of the sleeping-room; the
I
Jpj/i: K
latter, chiiefly in cere....
s
monials, when the drum
..sX.ii.Si.n.
is beaten in the outer
MI
tenit.
d
i
When the whalebone
I
stick is used,
the drum

a~

is held in the left hand,
strikes with the stick
that the
olin
middle
the
hanti
drummeof soit
hits the rim of the drum t
or
knuckles
the
and the
dthle
drumeofusin
so
the
hand
holdinge
drum.
The end of the stick thus

"4

Fig. 253, a ( I%,landle Part of Drum: b (
~~~~~(length, 59 cmn.).
vibrateslightlyagainst
t~~~~~~~l

o

w

t

Dt,Jrum-Stick

the drum-hliead. In using
a wooden drum-stick, the drum is held horizontally, with the cover upwards.
TIhe stick is grrasped in the middle; and the hoop is struck from beneath,
first on one side, then on the other.
The Reindeer Chukchee keep the cover on the drum only when they
stay, in the wlinter hiouse. The drum is then uisually placed behinid the frame
of the sleepingT-room; at other times, on its ceiling, ready for use henever
w%anted. \Vhen the family i's moving about, the cover is removed, folded,
1 See Voi. VI, jochelson, The Koryak, Fig'. 24i P. 58.

46-JES LP NORTH PAtIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

and tied to the hoop, near the handle. When thus taken apart, the drum
is put away in the family bag. It is but little work to soak the drum-head
and fasten it on, so that this is not done until just before the drum is wanted.
During the season of ceremonials the drum is hung on the frame of the outer
tent, ready for use. It is placed near the fire-board, because it plays an
important role in the performance.
With the Kolyma Chukchee the drum is. considered of less importance
than the fire-board and charm-string. On the Pacific side the reverse is true.
There the drum is called the "voice of the hearth, and it is more difficult
to obtain a drum which has been in use than to get a fire-board.
In the Kolyma and Anadyr countries, drums belonging to strange families may be brought at least into the outer tent, and there played upon. At
the season of great ceremonials, as many as ten drums are sometimes beaten
at once in the same tent.
House. - The covering of the house and the sleeping-room, the poles
of the frame, the bedding and the pillow-bags, and the sledges on which
these things are carried, - all are considered to belong to the hearth. They
pass on to the heirs with the fire-boards and charm-strings, and with the latter are divided among the relatives.
When building a new tent, one man goes out into the woods and cuts
the three principal poles. After fastening them together and bringing them
home, he kills a reindeer and smears the poles with the blood of the sacrifice. Every year the poles receive a further sacrifice in midsummer, as will
be described later.
The house with its belongings, the hearth with the fire-tools, and other
sacred objects, are thus all regarded as a unit. It is not very sinful to part
with some of these things (the Chukchee will sell, for example, a part of the
tent-covering to the Russians, or even give away charm-strings to the spirits);
but it is unpardonable to take any part of the home unit belonging to a
stranger, and use it in one's own house. For this reason, though I was able
to procure (but not without some difficulty) a few fire-tools and charm-strings,
on bringing them into the tent which was my shelter for the night, I invariably had trouble with the Chukchee tent-owners, who were unwilling to
have alien sacred things enter their dwelling. This peculiarity sometimes led
to disagreeable consequences, as, for instance, in the episode described on p. 38.
Sledges, however, may be used, provided they are not taken into the
tent. If a tent-pole which some one has lost on the road is found, it may
be used for fuel. No other part of the home unit can be used in any way.
If a house is left without a male heir, nobody will touch it, and it is left to
rot on the spot where it stands.
CARE OF SACRED OBJECTS.
All sacred objects of the household, as
well as the house itself, are in the care of the women. The Reindeer Chuk-

chee call the woman of the house the "hearth-keeper." The women prepare
the sacred objects for the ceremonial, feed them with tallow, etc.: consequently
the women are more expert than the men in the details of ceremonials.
Even the incantations and spells which are connected with household charms
are better known by the women. The same is true, also, among the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo. An old man, one of the Eskimo at Indian
Point, said to me, "It is a mistake to think that women are weaker than
men in hunting-pursuits. The home incantations are stronger than those pronounced in the wilderness. In vain man walks around, searching; but those
that sit by the lamp are really strong, for they know how to call the game
to the shore."
Among the Reindeer Chukchee, even the smallest house cannot be kept
without a woman to attend to it. When a family is left without any woman,
it folds up its house, and packs away the household things and the sacred
objects until a female keeper of the hearth is secured by marriage.
When a woman marries into another family, she renounces her former
hearth and house, and takes allegiance with those of her husband: therefore a
daughter who marries into a strange family has no share in the property of
her former household. Even when a house is left without any male heir, a
married daughter has no right to the heritage, unless her husband and she
renounce his house and acknowledge that of his father-in-law.
When a family has no male children, one of the daughters may be
chosen to become the principal heir, the future possessor of the principal
brand and fire-board, the permanent keeper of the family house. Then she
also is called "the one with the principal fire-tool" (e'un-mi'lhilin).' The
mother turns over to her care all the sacred objects of the household, and
in the ceremonies she plays the part of the principal heir and the female
keeper of the hearth. Of course such a female heir will not be led in
marriage out of her house. Her husband renounces his own hearth and
house, and is adopted into her family. When a man has several wives, the
oldest, who has the care of the household sacred things, is also called "one
with fire-tool."
If a male child is born to the family after a daughter has been elected
principal heir, they may change places, and the boy become the heir. Even
then the girl will be married in her own house, and her husband will be

adopted.
Poor young men often apply for the position of herdsmen to rich
reindeer-breeders who have many daughters. From this position they may
marry into the family and be adopted. Iheir own house is often brought
along, and kept by a mother or aunt. When the elder brother leaves, the
house is then given over to a younger brother, who becomes the principal heir.
I

See p. 351.

1/

0g

the one having a son, the other a
It may happen that two families
daughter
agree to have their children marry when older. If no children
are born afterwards
there is some dispute
as to whose house
shall

renounced.

be

,, of
@ the
houses is actually forsaken, with everything
belonging to it. Much
more frequently the
family that gives way
finds some poor relaSometimes

,3
C
$
"9
-'

male

tive,

secures

/'0(
'V '
)4N\)(((
,

one

or

female,
for

spouse

a

that person, and adopts

Wthe
young couple
fuiture

~~its

)g
g
H
t1 -/ ,:,,

?

as

house-

keepers.
PAINTING

WITH

Special

BLOOD.

painted marks go with

each

of sacred

set

These

family objects.
are

painted

of all

IIm
i2I

|

on

the faces

members

of the

family

each

year,

during

the fall

cere-

monial.
fawn

is

A reindeerslaughtered,

and its blood is used
for this purpose. The
marks are quite simple,
only

Fig. 254. Designs of Facial Painting.

a

few

lines

spirit

protecting

deer-breeding (qo'ren va'Irgin).' Dots over the eyes represent its eyes.
1 Compare

p. 315.

or

thick dots on the forehead and cheeks (Fig.
254). They are meant
to make the face
similar to that of the
rein-

Two

36I

dots or lines on the cheeks represent ears. Lines across the cheeks are
meant to enlarge the mouth, because the spirit is large-mouthed. A native
sketch (Fig. 254, e) also represents the face of a Reindeer Chukchee woman
with blood-marks on it. The woman is tattooed. The marks on the sketch
were made with real blood.
Every family has marks of its own, which, with the sacred objects of
the household, pass to the children. When the family is divided, the identity
of these marks is preserved for a couple of generations, but in course of
time they gradually change.
No person may paint himself. The mistress of the house usually does
the painting for the whole family, beginning with her husband. Then he in
turn paints her. If several adult women belong to the same hearth, they
usually paint one another. Argentoff says that the wife paints her husband
and children on the forehead, breast, and soles of the feet, and afterwards is
painted by her husband in the same way; 1 but I have never heard of painting any part of the body except the face. Mr. Jochelson, however, was told
that the Reindeer Chukchee and the Reindeer Koryak of the Palpal Mountains paint forehead and abdomen during the ceremony.
The daughter who has been made the principal heir performs the ceremony instead of her mother. When the principal heir, - son or daughter,
even though not at the age of maturity - is married and lives in the same
tent with the parents, the latter often take no part in the ceremony. Then
the painting is performed by the young mistress, though she may be no more
than ten years old.
Painting with the blood of the sacrifice is symbolical of the membership of
all members of the family in the same hearth. For this reason it is an essential
part of the marriage ceremony. A fawn is killed as usual; and the bridal pair,
with at least one female member of the family, perform the ceremony of
painting. The woman paints the bride and groom, and then she is painted
by the groom. The same ceremony is gone through in the case of adoption.
When two men enter into a bond of brotherhood and companionship in
marriage, as is often done amona the Chukchee, the act is sometimes accompanied by a double painting ceremony. This is performed in the house of
each party in turn. It signifies that from that time forth their hearths are
united. Carrying this idea still further, the ceremony is accompanied by a
free interchange of fire.
SONGS. - In connection with sets of charms and painted marks, each
family has special songs, or rather tunes, which are used during the ceremonials. Part of these are hereditary, and therefore have been preserved for
some time; but after a generation or two they change, or are crowded out
by the tunes that each man composes for himself.
1 Argentoff, I, p. 58.

On the whole, the charms of
CHARMS OF THE MARITIME CHUKCHEE.
the Maritime Chukchee are quite similar to those of the Reindeer people.
The differences discoverable are largely due to differences in their mode of life.
In olden times, both the Maritime Chukchee and the
Family Charms.
Eskimo used the wooden fire-drill; but at present it is never used, even for
ceremonial purposes. Nevertheless, the Maritime Chukchee guard against an
interchange of fire, although the observance of this interdiction is more lax with
them than it is among the Reindeer people, and in recent years it is neglected
to a considerable degree. The bringing into the house of utensils or sacred
images belonging to an "alien" house is likewise forbidden, as I had occasion
to notice while making the collections for the Museum. Even while travelling
in a skin boat it is reprehensible to take fire from an "alien" hearth, or to
borrow kettles, because of the soot that covers them. So great is the value
of skins and timber (the materials for house-building) among the Maritime
people, in consequence of their scarcity, that a house the owner of which has
died, leaving no direct heirs, is not left untouched, as is the case with the
Reindeer people. Some distant relatives will surely come, tear down the house,
and divide the spoils; but they will be careful not to set foot within the house
while it is being demolished.
Many of the Maritime Chukchee also have the charm-strings (Fig. 255),

d

Fig. 255 (ffW).

Charm-String of Maritime Chukchee (length, 25 cm.).
armed with knife; c, Dog; d, Fire-board.

a,

Guardian; b, Guardian

but they do not attach the importance to them that the reindeer-breeders do.
The images of their charm-strings, on the whole, are similar to those of the
reindeer-breeders; but they are intended to help their owners in hunting-pursuits,
not to protect their herds. These images are usually human figures roughly
cut out of wood or curried leather, and similar to those previously described.
Many of the charm-strings also have figures of dogs attached to them, which
serve likewise for hunting-charms.
The human figures are called "guardians" or "assistants."' Sometimes
I Compare pp. 34I et seq.

they represent the image of the Upper Being; at other times, the image of
the Sea Being, though they are not identified with Kere'tkun.
Among the symbols of game killed, there are to be found, besides the
animals already mentioned, parts of the nose of the walrus, the skulls of various
sea-birds (for example, of murres and eider-ducks), as well as their wooden
images. Seals and other sea-animals are represented by images of wood.
The charm represented in Fig. 25 5 has two "guardians" (a, b), one of
which is armed with a knife, a small dog (c), a small image of the fire-drill
board (d), and two pieces of wood without any definite signification.
The charm shown in Fig. 256 contains a part of the upper lip of a

Fig. 256 (A415

Charm-String of Maritime Chukchee. Length, 57 cm.

walrus (a), a rough leathern image of a 'guardian" (b), a wooden image of
a sea-spirit with human head and the tail of a fish (c), a wooden bird (d), a
round piece of wood representing a divining-tool (e), an image of the head
of a fire-drill board charred in the fire to make the likeness more apparent (f),
a piece of bone forming a divining-tool (g), a leathern image of a "guardian" (h),
and three claws of a seal (i, j, k).
In Fig. 257,a and b represent an image of a sea-spirit and its dog, both
parts of charm-strings; c shows a double-headed image which belonged to a charmstring of an inhabitant of Mariinsky Post, a sort of Chukchee blacksmith with
very little skill. He told me that one of the heads represented himself, and
the other his "assistant" in the blacksmith's craft. This "assistant," among other
things, attended very carefully to securing prompt payment for the blacksmith's
work. In the case of slow payments, he punished both the workman and the
customer. He was apparently jealous because his activity as "assistant" was
slightingly treated: therefore he was angry with both parties. In one case,
when the blacksmith failed to collect the fee for mending a kettle, the
"assistant" became so angry, that while the blacksmith was at work he jumped
into his left eye in the form of a red spark. As a result, the eye was
seriously hurt, and the dilatory customer was soon afterward stricken with palsy.

I bought the charm-string, with the image tied to it, from the blacksmith;
but, after accepting the price, he said he would sleep over the absence of his
charm, and see in his
dreams during the first
night whether the "assistant" was angry with him
over the transaction. The
next morning, however,
the blacksmith was taken
suddenly ill with influenza,
which at that time prevailed in the country, and
within twenty-four hours
he was dead. His ne'igh-

X

il

bors firmly believed that
his death was caused by
the revengeful "assistant."
The above story is a good

t egillustration of the way in
which the Chukchee invent* their own particular
"assistants, and of their
ideas regard'ing them.
In some cases the
"guardian" is represented

Fig. 257. Figures from Charm-Strings. a (4$) sea-spirit (length,
Double-headed figure
~.T), Its dog ((length, 22
22CM.);c ((T,,-,fgr

28 cm.); b (

simply by a head cut out

of wood or leather (Fig.
258). A simple line even,
roughly stitched or cut through a piece of leather, and representing the mouth,
is sufficient for an image of a "guardian." The mouth is considered the chiet
feature of the image, because it is needed for swallowing the sacrifice. Not
infrequently the dog is represented by a small piece of wood or ivory with a
head on each end (Fig. 259). The two heads are supposed to protect at
the same time both the front and the rear. Sometimes the image of the
"guardian" is also given two heads or two sets of hands for the same purpose.
Charms of the Boat. - Many of the families among the Maritime
Chukchee have no charm-strings. Another form of charm, however, tied on
a string, is found among the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo. Such
charms are connected with the hunting of sea-mamrnals, and belong to the
family boat. They consist of old worn-out harpoon-heads, a few worn-out
tools used in the construction of the boat, a couple of heads of the large
gull Larus argentatus, a divining-stone, and small pieces taken from various
,

representing a man and his guardian (length, I7 cm.).

parts of a whale's body and sewed in a small skin bag which has been used
in a whale ceremonial. This string of charms is called yore'lhin. Its use is
evidently founded on the same ideas as those
on which the use of the family charms of
the reindeer-breeders is based, with the important difference that objects referring to
deceased ancestors do not form part of it.
Painting-Ceremony. - Among the
Maritime Chukchee also, the painting-ceremony forms the chief part of the marriage\ V~
rite; but instead of blood they use red ochre.
Those families who own a few reindeer in
'1f
some friend's camp perform the same painting
with ochre during the time of the fall ceremonial of the Reindeer Chukchee. Sometimes, if many reindeer are owned by a
of
Maritime
a
friend
from
the
family
people,
reindeer-breeders, after performing the cere- Fig. 258
Leather Figure representing
monial in his own camp, will come over with
Head of a Guardian. Length, 9 cm.
his herd as near to the Maritime village as he
can without encou'ntering danger from dogs in the vicinity.
There he will kill the fawn required for the sacrifice, and
then repeat the ceremony in company with his Maritime
friends. This is done in order- to secure for them a
share of the good luck in reindeer-breeding which the
owner of the larger herd has received. Even those of zK
the Ai'wan Eskimo who have reindeer perform the same
ceremony carefully.
Fig. 259 (W#T). Charm repDouble-headed Dog.
B
Both the Maritime Chukchee
and the Asiatic Eskimo resenting
Length, 5 cm.

paint with red ochre as a safeguard against contagious
diseases. This painting is not done regularly, but only when danger is feared.
It is generally connected with the tossing on blankets, which is a sort of
cereinonial with both tribes that will be described later. After the performance,
the master of the house or a special shaman paints all those present. Various
marks are used, but on the whole they are quite similar to those of the
Reindeer Chukchee.
As a precaution against contagious diseases, we find also that the
Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee, the Asiatic Eskimo, and even the inhabitants
of the Diomede Islands and of certain parts of the American shore, paint
their faces with graphite. They do this also when coming to a new country,
to keep off the "ground-spirits," or, if a visitor arrives at night, to ward off
those "spirits" that might have come with him.
47-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOl. VII.

3),66

Some of the Chukchee say that ochre comes from the va'Irgit, and
graphite from the ke'let. Thus, in one tale, a boy and a girl, coming home
from a long journey, are painted,
the boy with ochre, and the girl
with graphite. The former lives, but the latter dies.
The marks used by the Maritime Chukchee on these occasions are a
simple combination of dots and lines, and are quite similar to those described
as found among the Reindeer Chukchee.
A sample of the marks made with graphite, and in use among the
Asiatic Eskimo and the inhabitants of the Diomede Islands, is given in Fig. 260.
I must mention here
wooden
model of
/-e
hand
\a
(Fig. 26 I), which I found

a

the Chukchee

in

village of

Chikayloa, on the Middle
Anadyr. This image was
used in various ceremonies,
for throwing sacrifice into
the fire. In several localities I was told of a similar custom among both the
Maritime and the Reindeer people, but I had no other opportunity of seeing
the image. So I think it must
Fig. 260. Facial Painting of Asiatic Eskimo.

be

nearly

3-=.itshaving

Fig. 261i

Wood-Carving representing a

Hand, used in Sacrifices.

Length, 25 cm.

obsolete.

The

been

existence

in

fact of

is,

however,

important for comparison

with the

images

painted

on

cloth

of human
or

on

the

hands,
skin

of

the human body, which are used by the Indian shamans of North America to
indicate their alliance with the "spirits." Recently Captain Comer brought to
the Museum, from Iglulik, a village of the Central Eskimo on Fury and
Hecla Strait, a shamanistic coat of somewhat peculiar appearance, which
has, among other things, images of human hands in white reindeer-skin sewed
on the skirts of the garment.'
I am not aware of any use of masks in the ceremonials of
Masks.
either the Chukchee or the Asiatic Eskimo. I found, indeed, among the
Maritime Chukchee, a couple of masks made of reindeer-skin (Fig. 262), which
were called "hairy face" (rinilu'2), after the manner of the Koryak, who call
their wooden masks, used in performances of a somewhat ceremonial character,
"wooden face." The "hairy faces" of the Chukchee, however, have no connection with their ceremonials, at least not at the present time. According
to an explanation of their owners, such masks are simply used by mothers to
frighten refractory children into obedience.2 For this purpose the mother puts
I See F. Boas, The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay, Part II (Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. XV).
2 The

same is true among the Reindeer Koryak (see Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 86).

the mask, and pretends to be a ke'lE who has come to carry away the
naughty child. I witnessed a scene in which a Chukchee woman tried to
silence her rebellious and crying boy by a -similar
method. She pretended to be a ke'lE, and howled
like one possessed, and made frightful grimaces; but
this was done without the use of a "hairy face."
(For a presentation of shamanistic performances during
the thanksgiving ceremonial performed on killed '>7;\
game, see the next chapter.)
Dolls.
Some of the dolls with which the girls
play are used also as charms to procure future fertility for their owners. Such dolls pass from mother
V
to daughter, and are kept carefully patched and
mended, so as to last for an indefinite time. The bride
brings this doll to her new house, and keeps it in
her bag. In due time she gives it to her oldest
daughter to play with and to keep. When other
:CW>;$'
are
a
little
is
daughters
born,
stuffing taken out of
the hereditary doll and put into a new one, which
is then supposed to possess all the qualities of the
on

first doll.

Dolls of this kind are usually shaped like

Fig. 262 (

Mask. Height,

38 cm.

new-born babies. Incantations are recited over them
by each generation, so that their force is supposed to increase continually.'
The peculiar feature of this kind of charm is, that it passes in the female
line, and therefore continually changes from one family to another. The
Chukchee women value such dolls highly. In the Kolyma country, when
stopping for a night in a Chukchee tent, I bought an hereditary doll from
the mistress. On the second day, after we had gone a long distance, the
woman suddenly changed her mind and started to overtake us, so that she
might return the price and recover her heirloQm. She found us in a camp
fifty miles from her home, and no persuasion could prevent her from annulling
the bargain.
Compare p. 276.

THE ceremonials of the Chukchee, as said before, have for their chief
purpose the protection of the material welfare of the family. Most of them
form a yearly cycle, recurring from season to season with befitting changes.
The reindeer-breeders and the maritime people have their separate cycles
somewhat different from each other.
CEREMONIALS OF THE REINDEER CHUKCHEE. - The Reindeer Chukchee,
in their ceremonials, differentiate those that are connected with the reindeerherd from all others, and call them "sacrifices" (taaro'ngirgit) or "genuine
sacrifices" (l'ie-taaro'ngirgit). Their essential feature is the slaughtering of
reindeer for sacrifice. These are the only ceremonials that are considered to
belong to the regular cycle.' The other ceremonials refer to various subjects,
such as giving thanks for success in hunting, the fulfilment of orders received
in dreams, engaging in ceremonial sports, etc.
I shall observe the above distinction in describing the ceremonials, though
I consider some of the second class fully as important as those of the first.
For instance, the ceremonial of giving thanks for success in hunting is conspicuous among the ceremonials celebrated by the Maritime Chukchee and
the Eskimo. It is likewise very important in the life of the Reindeer Chukchee,
and is accompanied by sacrifices, but they are of only secondary importance.
The ceremonials connected with birth and death, which are similar among
the reindeer-breeders and the maritime people, will be described in a separate
chapter.
Strictly speaking, every slaughtering of reindeer is a sacrifice, and is
performed according to certain rules. After the animal is stabbed, the Chukchee watch carefully to see on which side it falls. To fall on the wounded
side is a less favorable omen than to fall on the other; and to fall backwards
is still worse, and forebodes misfortune. The man who holds the halter often
tries by a dexterous jerk to make the animal fall in a favorable position.
The carcass is pointed with its head in the direction which is to receive the
sacrifice, and a small branch of stunted willow is put under the hind-quarters
to serve as bedding. Then blood is taken from the wound- and sprinkled, first
in the direction toward which the offering is made, then in other directions.
The antlers are cut away, together with the top of the skull, and the carcass
is then ready to be skinned and cut up.
The antlers are placed in an upright position on the ground in front of
1 Mr. Jochelson, in his work on Koryak religion (p. go), points out the important difference between
bloody and bloodless sacrifices. The point of view of the Reindeer Chukchee corroborates his opinion.

[368]

the camp, in a line pointing in the "direction" of the dawn. When a new
residence is to be made, all the antlers except the largest are left behind.
Those are taken away to be used for monuments to the dead. A set of large
antlers is sometimes attached to the end of a long pole made fast in the ground.
This is intended as a special offering to the Upper Being or to the zenith.
The antlers of wild reindeer-bucks killed on the hunt, which are larger than
those of domesticated animals, are preferred for marking burial-places. All
the antlers of domesticated animals slaughtered on ceremonial days must be
left behind when the residence is moved.
Besides slaughtered reindeer and dogs, the Chukchee offer several other

Fig. 263. Offerings representing Reindeer.

a,

Made of pounded leaves; b, Made of snow.

kinds of sacrifice to the "spirits." First among these should
be mentioned the substitute" offerings, which are small
figures shaped like reindeer, and made of tallow, pounded
meat, crushed willow-leaves, edible plants and roots (Fig.
263, a), or even snow (Fig. 263, b). The faetuses extracted
from the slaughtered reindeer-dams are used for the same
purpose, and a few are sometimes stored away for the
greater ceremonials.1 Kidneys, and sausages made by
stuffing the third stomach of a reindeer, are also used.
"

image of a sausage (Fig. 264)
is considered sufficient for the sacrifice. This makes the
substitution double. Each is regarded as taking the place
Sometimes

of

a

\',

\1S

i

small wooden

reindeer:

a
therefore
real
a
aaoS
sausage or a kidne

Y

carvings representing Sausages, used as 2 Sacrifices.
cm.
Length, 5 cm.,

often stabbed with a knife to represent the slaughtering.
Blood-soup, which is the favorite sacrificial dish, is believed to be much
1 Substitution of the fcetus, or of small figures of reindeer, for real animals, obtains also among the Koryak
(see Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 96).

BOQGORAS, THE CHUKCHEE.

relished by "spirits." Small quantities of it are poured into the fire, flung in
all the "directions" sacrificed to, and smeared over the objects which happen
to receive the sacrifice, as will be described further on. Small circles are cut
out of curried leather, and pieces of blood-soup or tallow are placed upon
them. This leather plate with its offering is laid on the snow in the "direction"
receiving the sacrifice. Tallow, fat, bone-marrow, boiled meat, pounded leaves,
and roots are flung in all the "directions" receiving sacrifice, or are put into
the ground or the fire. The faces of fire-boards are smeared with tallow or
bone-marrow. The sledges are sometimes painted with blood from the sacrifice.
All other materials which constitute a part of the food of the Chukchee
are also used for the sacrifice. Most of them are, of course, of animal provenience. The "alien food" procured by trade, which is highly appreciated
by the Chukchee, is also sacrificed to the "spirits." The Reindeer Chukchee
value for this purpose whale-meat and walrus-blubber bought from the Maritime hunters; and the Maritime people place a corresponding value on reindeer meat and tallow bought from the Reindeer camps. Both Reindeer and
Maritime Chukchee are zealous in offering to the "spirits" the products of
civilization, such as tobacco, sugar, flour, or bread, and even alcohol; but of
the last-named they will offer only a few drops.
Most of the sacrifices are offered to the good "beings,"' while those to
the ke'let are looked upon as reprehensible, and requiring secrecy. Evening,
midnight, darkness, the ground-beings of the nadir, receive, among the other
"directions" to which sacrifices are made, their share of sprinkling with blood,
and scattering of meat and tallow; but the slaughtering of a reindeer to one
of these "directions" is rather exceptional, and the people are very averse to
speaking about it.
When a reindeer has to be slaughtered to one of the "directions" of
evening or night, it is led away to a certain distance from the camp. When
it is felled to the ground, the head of the animal is pointed towards the
"direction" sacrificed to. Right-minded persons hurry through such sacrifices
with apprehension. Evil-minded persons, evil shamans "bent on mischief,"2 on
the contrary, seek the protection of ke'let, especially when desiring to do
harm to an adversary. They sacrifice to the ke'let black animals, reindeer
or dogs which are slaughtered at night, and whose carcasses are pointed
westward. From time to time, however, any well-to-do reindeer-breeder
while slaughtering reindeer for ceremonial, trading, or household purposes will designate one of the animals as a sacrifice to the ke'let, and will point
its carcass in a westerly direction. The Maritime hunter will do the same
with a black pup.
The partial eradication of all dark and evil spirits from the usual system
of sacrifices seems to be at variance with the assertion by a Chukchee shaman
1 Compare, p. 314.

2 Compare Chapter XV, Shamanism.

37 I

quoted in a previous chapter.' The shaman insisted that "we are surrounded
by hostile spirits who walk about us invisibly with gaping mouths, and that
Similar contradictory ideas
we distribute gifts to such spirits on all sides."
Some of them sacrimay be found, however, among many primitive tribes.
fice chiefly to the evil spirits, arguing that it is of the greatest importance to
disarm their ill-will. Thus, Urey Lisiansky says of the inhabitants of Kadiak,
that they believe in the existence of two supernatural beings, one of which is
good, the other evil. They sacrifice to the latter because they are afraid of
his ill-will, and say that the former, even without sacrifice, does no harm to
any one.2 Other tribes, on the contrary, intend their sacrifices particularly as
a means of securing the protection of "spirits" wishing well to the offerer.3
This is mainly the case with the Chukchee. Perhaps the regularity of the
sacrifice, from season to season and from year to year, leads primitive man
to suppose that naturally the recipients of all these offerings will be well
disposed to the giver, and will provide special protection for the material
pursuits of his life, since they always receive a share of its fruit.
For dealing with evil spirits and giving protection against them, shamanism
is practised. These practices, when developed, were beyond the pale of the
regular cycle of ceremonials and sacrifices, but each time they were wanted,
recurrence was had to them.
As a special material used for sacrifice to the ke'let, soot may be mentioned, small pinches of which are thrown westward. The ke'let are supposed
to use it in the construction
of their hearths. Sacrifice of a
toy-like bow and arrow (Fig.
265) placed on a small roughly
hewn

image

of a sacrificial

ves-

sel is also offered to the ke'let
particularly at times of contaFig. 265 (jOT a-c). Sacrificial Bowl, Bow, and Arrow.
gious diseases. The vessel
Length, 5.5 cm.
contains particles of meat. According to the explanation given by the natives, this sacrifice signifies that the
person making it, in offering to the ke'lE a bow invites him to hunt elsewhere. The sacrifice is offered in the night-time, and it is carried westward
some distance from the house, where it is left on the snow.
Sacrifices are often carried to their assigned places in ordinary vessels.
A great number of sacrificial vessels are, however, in use among the Chukchee. Most of them are simple wooden bowls of usual size (Fig. 266, a).
They may be recognized by their old, often dilapidated appearance. Other
vessels of toy-like 'dimensions are also used. Sacrificial vessels of special form
I See p. 295.
2 Urey Lisiansky, Voyage around the World, II, p. 75.
3 Brinton, Religions of Primitive People, p. i86.

used less frequently. The cut Fig. 266, b, represents a vessel intended
for sacrifice to all "directions." The four receptacles of the vessel were for
dawn,
the sacrifice to the four principal "directions" that receive sacrifices,
proceeding from left to right. Other vessels of this
mid-day, zenith, nadir,
one for the dawn, the other for the evening.
kind have only two receptacles,
It is remarkable that while the women usually bring charms, and sacrifices to the hearth, and attend to all the smearing with blood, tallow, or
blood-soup, the scattering-about of the sacrifice is the men's duty: perhaps this
is because of the closer connection of this rite
The
wwith hunting-pursuits and the lherd.
are

wo-

man s

part

in

the

sacrifices

is

described

as

"be-

longing to the sleeping-room;" while the man's

Fig. 266 a (6 1 R),

is,

slauglhtering

and

throwing

part

that

food

is called "the outwvard sacrifice."

the

(;|¾3. Sacrificial Bows. Length, 9.5 cm., 54 clll.

The place for the sacrifice is either in front of the entrance to the tent,
which usually faces toxvard the dawni, or close behind the tent, whlere a small
spot for the ceremonial fire h-as been carefully cleared of sn0ow. The charms
are here leaned against a sledge for carrying poles,' whiclh is easy to handle
because of its small size. This place is called poya'acen.
The cycle of "genuine sacrifices" is opened in the
Fall S/augz-lerig.ofall wxith two "reindeer slaughterings" (qaana'tirgin). The first is called "thin
fawn-skinl slaughtering"' (Wu`lha-qaanma'tirgin); and the second, "making skins
for wearing [in the winter]" (teetawfi'Irgin). As may be gathered fionm the
names, the practical purpose of both slaugyhterings is to obtain the annual
supply of skins for clothing. From the first slaughtering the thiinner skins
These serve for the finer dresses used by young people, and
are obtained.
Frolm- the second slaughtering,
are also sold to the Russian traders.
thiicker skins are secured for use in all kinds of winter clothing.
The ceremonials which accompany both slaughterings are intended to
celebrate the re-union of the herd with the house after the summer separation,
and the beg-inning of their journeys together. They form the chief herd
ceremonial of the year. The essential features are, for the most part, the
Most
same in both ceremioniials; but sonme of the rites are enacted only once.
of the people performi- these at the first slaughtering, although some delay
them until the second; and others hold them alternatel) during the first and
second ceremoonials in succeeding years.
they

See Fig. 117, , p. 90,

.373

The first slaughtering is performed about the beginning or the middle of
August, according as the fall is late or early. The family is still living at
its summer camping-place, and the herdsmen bring in the herd, which has
been absent during the summer. The women of each tent make a fire in
front of the door. The fire may be lighted from a strike-a-light; but after
that a spark drilled out with each fire-drill of the family must be added to
the fire. Then the younger people, men and women, form in line before the
fire of the principal tent, while the old men go around the herd and assist
in bringing it nearer the house. The younger people meet the herd with
loud cries, calling, "Ho hok hok hok!" which is quite like the usual call of
herdsmen. Some of them, principally the children, shoot toward the herd,
from their bows, sticks which have had one end burned in the fire; others
fire off their guns; still others brandish their spears as if about to throw them
against the reindeer. All these actions are intended to frighten away the evil
spirits that may have become attached to the herd while it was on strange
ground, away from the protection of the family charms.
As mentioned before, the reindeer-herd is not thought to have power in
itself to repel bad spirits. Elderly men take part in the shooting and shouting,
only when there are no younger members of the family to act in their stead.
After this part of the ceremony is over, the first sacrifice is made with small
pieces of sausage and various kinds of pudding made of pounded leaves and
plant-stalks. These are thrown in all the "directions" sacrificed to,' beginning
with the dawn. They are also tossed toward the herd.
Next, some men walk in amidst the herd, picking out animals for slaughter.
The fawns are stabbed with a knife, in the usual way. For stabbing the larger
bucks a spear is used; and for each of them an extra female fawn is killed,
which is laid at its side and called its wife. Most of the other fawns killed
are males.
Well-to-do people slaughter a grown buck for each fire-board which
belongs to a living male. The poor people kill only a couple of bucks; and
the poorest, no bucks at all, and sometimes only one fawn, for the bloodpainting. A dog or two is very frequently killed with the reindeer, and some
families use dog's blood for painting. Each slaughtered animal has its head
pointed in a special "direction," and its blood is sprinkled around in the
usual way.
After the slaughtering is finished, women bring both covered sledges of
the family and the pole-sledge, and put them in line before the tent at a
distance from the door. A little farther away are placed two or three sledges
that serve for carrying the tent-covering. The two groups of sledges are
arranged with their fronts towards each other. In the space between, or
upon one of the sledges, fire-drills and the family charms are placed.
I

48-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

See p. 303.

A small fire is lighted near by, and the women of each house bring to
their line of sledges all the slaughtered animals belonging to them. Then
they begin butchering and skinning them, leaving the heads with the skins
(Plate XXXII, Fig. 2). A couple of such skins are thrown upon the sledge,
near the family charms. Sometimes a freshly taken skin is spread on the
ground, with the head pointed toward the dawn; and an old man or an old
woman, or both, pronounce an incantation (Plate xxxii, Fig. 3). Various
parts of the meat are brought to the fire, but principally those that are eaten
raw, - the eyes, brains, kidneys, liver, lungs, gristle of the nose. Joints of
legs are broken and the marrow is extracted. Small pieces from each part
of the anitnal are thrown into the fire as sacrifices, and flung in all the
"directions" sacrificed to. Family charms are smeared over with tallow and
marrow.
Next comes the painting with blood. First the people are painted, then
the sledges standing in line. Each family has its own hereditary style of
painting, them. Among those that I saw, one had a line on the front part
of the runners, and a dot on *each of the' rear stanchions; another had a
straight line on the middle stanchion of the right side, a cross-line on both
front stanchions, and a dot on each of the runner-heads.
After the painting is done, all the meat, bones, and skins are carried
into the tent and hung over the poles, so that the sleeping-room is completely
screened off as by a curtain. The cross-stretchers of the tent are put in place,
and the outer covering is tightened to the utmost. A leg-joint is bound with
willow to the stretcher standing over the sleeping-room. To this is tied some
",food of the soil;" for instance, a root of Polygonum polymorphum or Polygonumr viviparum. The women cook large kettles of meat, boil reindeer-heads,
and prepare the blood-soup.
After the meal, the drums belonging to the family, all of which are hung
on the tent-poles behind the curtain of raw skins, are beaten, and a shamanistic
performance begins. The drums are beaten continually the rest of the day.
Each member of the family is bound to have his turn. When the grown
people have finished, the children take their places and keep up the beating.
Many grown people, while beating the drum, call the "spirits" and try to
induce them to enter their bodies. They imitate shamans, utter the cries of
various animals, and make the peculiar noise supposed to be characteristic of
"spirits," which is produced by a vibrating motion of the lips while the head
is shaken violently. The sound is something like prrr!
The "thin [skin] slaughtering," besides being a family ceremonial, affords
one of the most important social holidays. In wealthy districts, neighboring
camps hold it on different days, so as to enable everybody to gather at one
camp after another. The poorer camps of the Pacific coast have not the
means to provide for large receptions, and perform the ceremonial in all the

camps of the neighborhood on the same day. Rich reindeer-breeders at their
slaughtering have guests gathered from far and near, including even members
of foreign tribes, such as Lamut, Eskimo, or Russianized Yukaghir.
The invitations are sent out beforehand; and if the guests live far away,
the host sends some one to bring them, so that there may be no excuse for
their missing the feast. It is customary for the host, if possible, to "wrap"
all the guests; that is, to make them presents of fawn-skins, killing a fawn
for each. If any distinction is made, a female guest takes precedence over
a male, and a stranger over a relative. Usually one fawn-skin is given to
each guest, while the first-comer gets two or three skins. Any other guest
who is bold enough to ask may also get more. To refuse such a demand
is dangerous, because the guest might take offence, and bewitch the host.
It is considered improper to make a present of meat, and keep the skin for
one's own use. One who receives such a gift resents it, and may declare
aloud that the fawn does not walk without the skin. On the contrary, it is
quite proper to keep the larger part of the meat, and to give only the skin.
The number of fawns slaughtered at this ceremonial by a well-to-do
reindeer-breeder ranges from about a hundred to a hundred and twenty. At
least one third of these are distributed among the guests, while the remaining
two thirds are evenly divided; one half being destined for household uses, the
other for trade. Guests are not supposed to give return-presents. The poor
fellow-tribesmen, in truth, give none; but the neighbors afterwards present the
host with similar gifts. The visitors from foreign tribes usually return the
compliment later by giving some of their products. The Maritime Chukchee
and the Eskimo, for example, bring their former host a little oil or a coil of
thong; the Lamut give flint, and tinder made of fungus; the Russianized
Yukaghir, dried fish or a quarter of a cake of compressed tea. The host
has no right to grumble, should they bring little or nothing at all.
The ceremonial is accompanied by a foot-race, in which, in most cases,
only the young people or children take part. The prize is furnished by the
host. Wrestling-matches occasionally take place, but in these also only young
people participate. Shamans gather from the neighborhood and assist in
beating the drum. The occasion becomes quite a shamanistic contest when
the slaughtering is combined, as is usual, with the thanksgiving ceremony.
The latter is very important among the Chukchee, and will be described later
in this chapter.
The guests go home the same evening, after the ceremony is ended.
The next day the dams whose fawns were slaughtered are milked by sucking,
thus adding to the daily fare of the family for several meals.' On the third
day, all the broken bones of the leg-joints are heaped on the hearth between
the sledges, and burned to ashes. The fire used for this purpose is lighted
1 Compare 1). 84.

by means of a fire-drill. Any remaining particles of the leg-joint are covered
with small pieces of sod; and a willow-twig, taken from those that were used
in tying the leg-joint to the cross-pole in the tent, is put on top of it. The
small mound of sod thus arranged is called "fireplace" (melhin). A few days
later the first change of the camp-site takes place, but it is not accompanied
by any particular ceremony. Some of the people merely build two fires in
front of the two ends of the corral, and cause the train of sledges to pass
between.
In the second slaughtering, all the details concerning the killing of the
animals, arranging the sledges, painting with blood, etc., are repeated, but
are done more hurriedly. The meeting of the herd with shooting and shouting
is omitted. The guests gather and receive gifts in the same manner as was
described before, but the shamans do not practise their arts. The thanksgiving ceremony is performed only the first time; neither are the races and
wrestling-matches repeated. Immediately after the second slaughtering, the
actual moving-about on the moss pastures and the winter life begin.
Winter Slaughtering. - Other slaughtering-sacrifices during the year
are less complicated and less important. The next one in point of time is
connected with the establishment of the permanent winter house. Two or
three reindeer are slaughtered; two usually being sacrificed to the dawn, and
one to the ground (nota's qa-va'IrgIn).' The last-named sacrifice is laid by
the left side of the others, with its head pointed towards sunset.
About the time of the winter solstice the "feeding" of the star Pehi'ttin
is celebrated. Those who are living in winter-quarters begin by repeating
the last-mentioned sacrifice, and a few days later sacrifice to Pehi'ttin. Fat
bucks are selected for this purpose. Small "substitute" figures are made,
corresponding to the number of fire-drill boards; and round cakes of pounded
leaves are prepared. Tiny leather plates with tallow and blood-soup are
offered to the east, because about this time the star begins to rise in the east.
Some of the people also make a ceremonial fire for the star Pehi'ttin, and
"feed" it, as already described.
Those who move about all winter celebrate the Pehi'ttin ceremonial in
a simpler way. They often postpone it until the middle of the first month
in the new year.
In the interval between the first and the second lunar months of the
Chukchee year, a sacrifice to the sun is performed, but with no new details.
The next sacrifice is made between the "first summer" (ki'tkitik) and the
second summer" (a'nok),° when the herd -is being driven to summer pastures.
The ceremonial opens with the last moving of the tent in the season. The
women take off the covering, and, breaking down the frame, drag the three
central poles off, to a new camp-site, situated if possible on a hill where the
I Compare pp- 305, 331.

2 See p. 52.

ground is comparatively dry. There they lay the poles on the ground so that
their tips form a centre from which the poles radiate. A reindeer is slaughtered over the poles, and the herdsmen take care that it falls exactly on
them. The mistress soaks a small piece of skin in the fresh blood, and with
it draws a circle on the ground, taking as the centre' the place where the
tips of the poles meet, and marking the poles one after another along the line.
Numerous reindeer are slaughtered to serve as provisions for the family
for the greater part of the summer. For this reason there is no need of
"substitute" sacrifices. A small fire, lighted by means of the fire-drill, is built
in front of the door, and an offering of marrow is burned in it.
Sacrifices of reindeer may take place on any unusual occasion; for
example, before beginning a journey (both going and coming), to ask the
protection of "spirits," and at market-places to secure the good-will of the
local "spirits."
When coming home after a long journey, the sledges are placed behind
the tent, a reindeer is slaughtered in sacrifice, and a fire is built, and "fed"
with fat, marrow, and blood-soup. A corral is built, and the reindeer used
on the journey are penned in it. The wife of the owner enters the corral
and paints each reindeer on its forehead and shoulders with soot mixed with
water, or with a decoction of alder-bark. This ceremony signifies the desire
to re-unite the reindeer and the family hearth.
Ceremonial of Antlers. - The ceremonial of antlers, which in Chukchee
is called ki'lvei, is celebrated without slaughtering reindeer. It is even doubtful whether it was originally connected with reindeer-breeding, since the Maritime people also perform a ceremonial under the same name and with some
similar details, but of course without antlers.
In modern times this ceremonial, among the Reindeer Chukchee, is connected with laying out the shed antlers on the ground. The breeding-males
lose their antlers immediately after the rut; the geldings, in the middle of
winter; the older ones, later; the young bucks, early in the spring; and the
does, after fawning, which happens as late as May with some of them.
All the antlers shed are picked up and kept for the ceremony, being
taken along when the people move from one pasture to another. When the
load becomes too heavy, a ceremonial is performed and the antlers are left
on the ground. The wealthy people consequently celebrate this ceremonial
three and even four times during the year; the poorer ones, only once or
twice. The spring is regarded as the proper time for the performance, since
most of the animals shed their antlers then.
A small fire is lighted on the customary place behind the tent. The
antlers are laid on the ground in a large heap, and covered over with dry
boughs. Fire-drill boards are leaned against them, and the charms hung on
branches of the boughs or on antlers. Then the charms are smeared with

tallow. Meat and tallow are also set on a piece of hide placed on the
ground in front of the heap of antlers.
The head of the family and his sons throw the sacrifice to all the
"directions" receiving sacrifice, and bury a part of it in the ground. Then
they walk away a few hundred feet in the direction of the herd, and repeat
the ceremony. I have already mentioned that some of the boughs used are
taken from the heap and attached to the family charm-string (tai'niikut).
Sacrfice to the Young Moon. - Many people offer sacrifices every
month to the young moon. The offering consists of blood-soup, meat, and
tallow, also of small figures of reindeer made of snow or of leaf-pudding, and
is made in the evening. Slaughtering is rare, and happens only in midwinter.
These sacrifices are evidently directed to the evil spirits: therefore they are
not regarded as belonging to the general cycle of ceremonials. The people,
when talking about such ceremonials, persist in thinking that they are not
quite lawful, and should be kept secret.
Sacrifice to the Fire. - Sacrificing to the fire (enankaa'w-kurgin, literally,
"inducing the fire to crack;" it is also called the "feeding of the fire") occurs
as an independent ceremony during the journey from the winter pastures to
the summer locations (ta'gri-tila'ma, literally, "on the descending road;" that
is, descending from the mountains to the tundra and the seashore). At this
time the mistress every evening, after pitching the tent for the night, lights
a small fire before the entrance, and sacrifices to it with fat, tallow, marrow,
etc. The sacrifice to the fire accompanies several other celebrations, such as
the ceremonial of antlers, ceremonial reindeer-races, etc.
Sacrifice for Luck in Hunting. - A man, when going alone into a
strange country to hunt, or to a lake or river to fish, will offer to the place
a small sacrifice from his scanty provisions. On the land he will throw the
offering about; on the river or lake he will throw it into the water.
After a successful hunt of one of the larger animals, - such as the wolf
or wolverene, black and polar bear, wild reindeer, walrus, and thong-seal, various ceremonials are performed when the game is brought home. Their
common feature is the "giving of a drink and a bed" to the animals. This
is symbolized by bringing out of the house a small quantity of water, and
pouring it over the head of the animal as it lies on the snow before the
entrance,' and by placing a small willow-twig under the hind-quarters of the
carcass for a bed.
The Maritime Chukchee also "give a drink" to all larger animals killed
on the hunt, especially to the walrus; but the "bed" - that is, the willow-twig
put under the hind-quarters of the animal
is often omitted. The Asiatic
Eskimo, however, "give a drink" only to the first-killed walrus of the season.
I A similar custom obtains among some of the American Eskimo (compare Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo,
p. 147; and Captain C. F. Hall, Life with the Esquimaux, II, p. 392).

Ceremonial connected with the Killing of Wild Reindeer-Bucks. - Of
all animals killed on the hunt, the Reindeer Chukchee set the highest value
on wild reindeer-bucks killed in the herd during the rutting-season, because
their coming is thought to affect favorably the fortune of the herd.' With
the killing of such bucks a complicated ceremonial - performed late in the
fall, after the rutting-season is over - is connected. The Chukchee contend
that these animals are not hunted down by the personal skill of the hunter,
but that they are lured within his easy reach by the influence of the herd,
therefore it is only fitting that a return should be made in the form of a
ceremonial and sacrifice; while, on the other hand, animals killed far from
home and herd require no such ceremony.
Since the ceremonial connected with the hunt of walrus and larger kinds
of seal is performed about the same season and with somewhat similar details
by both the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo, it is my opinion that
the purpose of this ceremonial is to celebrate success on the hunt. I believe
it is connected with the bucks killed in the herd simply because they represent
among the Reindeer Chukchee the most important game hunted. With the
Reindeer Chukchee the ceremonial has a special name, enatcI'Irgin. The
Maritime Chukchee call the ceremonial connected with walrus-hunting by this
name; and the Maritime Koryak apply it, with the proper phonetic change,
to the ceremonial of the whale.
The details of the ceremonial with the Reindeer Chukchee are as follows.
The first wild buck that comes to the herd is frequently met with incantations,
the purpose of which is to make him assume for a while the ways of domesticated reindeer, so that he may serve as a successful breeder. The details
of the incantations will be described later in a special chapter. After a week
or ten days, when the incantations have lost their power, the owner of the
herd catches the buck with his lasso and throws him down on a piece of the
tent-covering. Then a young female, which is to represent his wife, is caught
and thrown down by his side. The mistress puts on her overcoat, and,
holding the buck's head in her lap, covers it with her overcoat. The master
now stabs the buck with an antler knife made for this purpose; then he stabs
the female with an ordinary iron knife. After that a little urine in a chambervessel is offered to the buck while he is still in the agonies of death. With
the handle of the antler knife, fashioned like a spatula, the owner of the herd
touches all parts of the carcass of the animal, thus taking back his incantation,
and restoring the buck to his freedom. As long as the buck is under the
influence of the spell, the master must abstain from untying knots, otherwise
he may "untie" the incantation.
The third stomach of the animal is filled with blood, and suspended from
I See p.

74.

the tip of the antlers in order to serve for divining the luck in hunting the
next buck. This divination is repeated with every animal killed.
The principal hunting-ceremonial is celebrated at the conclusion of the hunt.
During the ceremony the carcasses are kept behind the tent on the snow.
The carcass must be butchered on the spot where it lies. The hams and
shoulders may be taken for consumption. The head, back, and pelvis must
be left with the skin on and uncut; and the heart and the aorta must also
be left intact. The heads must be covered for the night, and uncovered in
the morning. The fire-boards are kept with the carcass during the night,
leaning against their covered heads.
On the morning of the ceremonial two reindeer are slaughtered, - one
a
as sacrifice to the reindeer-bucks killed, and the other to the dawn. Sometimes a third reindeer is sacrificed to the nadir. The antlers of the wild bucks
are adorned with festoons of sausages and dried guts. Blood-soup, meat-soup,
and meat are cooked in abundance. The meal and the feeding of the charms
proceed as usual. Then a female fawn is slaughtered, and the antlers painted
with her blood. Those present rush up and grab for the sausages and remnants of the feast, scrambling for the best pieces. The master distributes
among the guests the greater part of the meat from the reindeer-bucks. The
heads are kept for the family, and taken into the tent, where they are
suspended under the vent-hole over the fire of the hearth to thaw out.
The family stand around the fire. The elders
beat the drums, and the others sing the oldest
family tune. The master sings, "Ha, me'inin? Ha,
leu'ton!" ("Ha, who [is there]? Ha, a head [is
there] !") The heads as they thaw are skinned, one
after another, and the antlers cut off with the top
of the skull. All the heads are boiled; and the
women work the entire night, preparing balls of
pudding made of pounded meat mixed with tallow
+,fl0! *
and edible roots. In the morning a foot-race is
- < J,
arranged. All the balls are suspended on the poles
of the tent-frame, and the guests grab for them as
f , °,.4 V >*
they did on the preceding day for the remnants of
V
e
the feast.
Fig. 267 is copied from a native drawing
representing the hunting-ceremonial. Four carcasses of wild reindeer are lying on the ground.
Fig. 267. Chukchee Sketch rep- The fifth one is that of a domesticated reindeer
resenting Hunting-Ceremonial.
slaughtered in sacrifice. A small fire is burning
between the carcasses and the house. Two men, one on each side of the
house, throw sacrifice to the "directions." Two women adorn the antlers of

381I

the animals with sausage. A party of guests stand ready to rush on for
sausage. The herd is lying on the ground not far off.
The manes of the deer' are cut off, together with a narrow strip of skin.
These are divided into small tufts of hair. Each of the guests pins two pieces
on his back, one at each shoulder, and wears them until they drop off, as it
were. A strip of the mane is also often tied to the string of family charms.
The sacrifice to the fire is performed several times, and the ceremonial
ends with the "feeding" of the fire of the lamp in the sleeping-room. This
last ceremony occurs but seldom in the ceremonials of the Reindeer people.
After the ceremonial, the antlers are taken to the burial-places of the nearest
relatives, as I shall describe later.
A wild reindeer-buck killed in the herd at any other season sometimes
receives a slaughtering-sacrifice: at least, a sacred fire will be lighted near
the carcass, and a small sacrifice thrown in.
The black bear, the elk, the wolverene, and the wolf are thought worthy
of a brief ceremonial of the same kind. All the essential details are repeated,
including the slaughtering-sacrifice, the sacrifice to the fire, the cooking of
ceremonial dishes, and bringing the head into the tent, where the people
greet it with songs and drum-beating. In most cases a- special thanksgiving
ceremony (mne'irgin) ends the day.
I was told that with wolves, and sometimes with black bears, the master
of the house, when performing the ceremonial, takes the fresh skin and puts
it on in such a way, that his head is covered with the skin of the animal's
head, and the body of the skin dangles behind. The carcass of the wolf is
carried into the tent. The master of the house, dressed in the wolf-skin, performs also the thanksgiving ceremonial, singing and dancing, and beating the
drum, as will be described later. From time to time he also utters a howl,
pretending that the spirit of the wolf has entered his body. In the wolf
festival of the Koryak, likewise, one of the men puts on the wolf's skin, and
walks around the hearth, while another beats the drum.'
These ceremonials, however, are performed chiefly in the fall. If the
animals named are killed in the spring, they are brought home with simply
the ceremony of "giving a drink,"2 in which a drink is offered to the carcass.
Some of the Reindeer Chukchee treat in a similar manner stray seals which
happen to be taken by them at this season. Others store the heads of seals,
and afterwards perform the thanksgiving ceremonial over them. The Maritime
Chukchee store the heads of thong-seals and walrus for summer ceremonials
of a similar kind.
Thanksgiving Ceremonial. - The thanksgiving ceremonial has no definite
term or season, but each family must perform it at least once or twice a year.
The unexpected killing of a high-priced animal (for example, a blue fox or a
I

Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 89.

49-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

2 See p. 378.

good wolverene), success in any other enterprise, whether in the hunt or in
trade, or even the cutting of birch for sledges and spear-shafts, may cause
the owner of the house to arrange the ceremonial. Or, again, quite as likely,
its celebration may be brought about by a dream, for the Chukchee pay great
attention to dreams, and, believing them to be the main source of religious
inspiration, they follow them in regard to the details of rituals. As a matter
of fact, several classes of ceremonials, such as the thanksgiving and all kinds
of sport, are called "dream-answers," because the time and the details of
their arrangement are so very often indicated in dreams. If any member of
a family, even a young child, has a dream about sports, such sports must be
arranged, particularly those of thanksgiving. The family is obliged to make
the dream real, under penance of severe losses and misfortunes. On account
of this belief, the ceremony takes on a protective character. It expresses
thankfulness for the successful result of an enterprise; but, which to them is
still more important, it wards off any impending assault by "spirits," and
prevents future mischances in hunting or otherwise.
The thanksgiving ceremonial must have a central object. On most occasions it is a reindeer, wolverene, thong-seal, or other animal killed in hunting.
Native or foreign objects of trade - a dried seal-skin, a cake of tea, or a
bundle of tobacco - may, however, serve the purpose. The Reindeer Chukchee often slaughter a reindeer of their own herd, and perform the ceremonial over its carcass.
The ceremonial is performed indoors. Not even a fire is built outside of
the tent. The object of the ceremonial is placed on a skin by the side of
the fire on the hearth. A large quantity of fat meat is boiled, and the sacrificial blood-soup is prepared with fat and roots. The people gathered for the
ceremonial partake of the food, while the children of the family carry plates
containing meat around the outside of the tent, in the direction of the course
of the sun. The principal heir, boy or girl,' walks ahead; and all the participants shout at the top of the voice, "Yoho, yoho!" which is intended
to drive away the evil spirits. After that, the young people scatter the sacrifice to all "directions" in the usual way, and bury some pieces of it in the
earth. Meanwhile the women climb to the top of the tent, and carefully
cover the vent-hole with skins. The fire on the hearth is kept low, nevertheless the tent is full of smoke during the whole performance. The entrance
is left open. Then the mistress of the house takes a drum and goes about
inside beating it, for the purpose of frightening away the "spirits." When all
the "spirits" are supposed to have flown away through the entrance, and the
young people who went out with the sacrifice have returned, the door is closed.
The chief features of the ceremonial which follows are singing, beating
of drums, and the ceremonial dance. It affords the chief opportunity of the
I

Compare p. 35 I.

383,1

year to display shamanistic skill; so that shamans from the whole neighborhood
gather for a performance, if possible for a contest of ability and inspiration.
The principal heir1 makes a circle around the hearth, hopping in a
cturious way, and keeping his heels close together. The master of the house,
who sits on a skin near -the sleeping-room, begins to shout, repeating many
times the same loud double cry, "Yoho, yoho!" One by one the people join
him; others start singing, and the tent fairly vibrates with the deafening noise.
There are no rules about the singing. Each sings his own particular tune,
and stops for a rest when he feels tired. Those who have drums beat them
for a while and pass them to the others. The drums for the ceremony are
gathered from the whole camp, and sometimes as many as ten may be used
in the performance. After a while the dance begins. One name for it is
"the shaking-off thin" (tewla'irgin), and it purports to shake off diseases and
evil spirits from the body of the performer.
The dancers are formed into two sets, placed on opposite sides of the
hearth. One set stand on the outer side of the hearth, with their backs
toward the entrance: they are chiefly elderly men. The other set stand on
the inner side of the hearth. They have their backs turned toward the
sleeping-room, and face their partners at the entrance. These are women,
who put on their overcoats, adorned with fringe and pendants. The first set
are considered the more important; they are called "ceremonial movers"
(mininicu'lit). The second set are termed "the standing ones" (veLa'lit), or
"the standing women" (ve'La-fe'us-qatti), meaning that they are standing on
their feet while the onlookers remain seated.
The dance is usually opened by the master and the mistress of the house,
while the others sit in their places. On this occasion the master of the house
is called "road-maker," because he opens the road for the others. A skin is
spread on the ground under his feet. He beats his family drum, usina, instead of the whalebone, the wooden drum-stick, with which he strikes the
wooden rim of the drum from underneath. He and the woinan sing different
tunes, each choosing what he or she likes. He usually starts with the hereditary tunes of his family, then he passes to those that he himself has composed at various times. Each tune is repeated again and again for several
minutes. The woman sings those which she has learned from her mother, or
has composed by herself for her own amusement. Husband and wife each
perform a dance, in which their motions are more or less alike. They keep
the same place, swaying their bodies and swinging their hands, now to the
right, then to the left. From time to time they squat down and immediately
jump up again. At length the first performers give up their places to others,
who at first appear singly, taking turns one by one. After a while, several
performers appear on each side. One pair of dancers, however, - a man
I

Compare p. 351 .

and a woman, - will be more conspicuous than the rest, and their dances
will harmonize with each other; while the others perform quite individually,
without any attention to their fellows.
A man often summons a woman to dance with him, in which case he
spreads a skin on the ground for her to dance upon. After the performance,
this skin is taken by the woman. Other presents are also offered and accepted, especially when the man and the woman are cousins, or relatives of
other degree.
When the performance is in full swing, the shamans begin to take part
in it, generally one by one, although at the end there may be two or three
acting at the same time. Their acting, of course, consists of magical arts.
They beat the drum with violence and persistence, and their- songs are
strangely complicated, because the tunes of shamans generally admit of considerable variations. Their motions, too, are violent and irregular, befitting
those who feel the approach of "spirits."
At last the "spirits" come and enter the bodies of their servants. From
that time on, the shamans are supposed to assume the appearance of the
supernatural beings that have entered them. They act accordingly, shake
their heads violently, and produce the gibbering noise mentioned before, which
is supposed to be the voice of the "spirits."1 In case some particular "spirit"
of theirs is a bear, a raven, or a wolf, they try to imitate also its motions and
cries. I have heard several times that powerful shamans even wrap the body
in a bear-skin taken off whole for this purpose, or put a raven's beak on the
face. Then they turn temporarily into bears or ravens, and act like such.
This may be considered in connection with what was said about the ceremonial concerning the wolf or bear killed and brought home. Nevertheless, I
had no opportunity to witness such performances: therefore I am not able to
say how far the information collected corresponds to the rites actually
performed.
I am not aware that any disguise in the form of special garments or
masks is used. Those shamans, indeed, who have a special dress, use it on
such occasions; and sometimes an ordinary person may have a special garment,
made by the advice of a shaman, as a protection against disease or misfortune. This will be supplied with tassels and pendants in the nature of charms.
I heard of shamans performing the ceremonial in their own family quite naked;
but this is undoubtedly connected with some details of Chukchee shamanism
of Which I shall speak later.
At the conclusion, those women who claim shamanistic power pass over
to the men's side, and begin to practise with the drum and to call their
"spirits." Even young girls imitate the actions of those possessed, stamping
their feet, waving their hands, and uttering a series of shrill, grunting, or
I

Compare p. 374.

squeaky cries. The ceremonial lasts for several hours, but usually not later
than evening. When -it is ended, those present partake of the meat and
blood-soup. Then the object which was the primary centre of the thanksgiving is sprinkled or smeared with the blood-soup.
In the evening, if it is the wish of the master of the house, most of the
people enter the sleeping-room; and the regular shamanistic performance takes
place, in which the contesting shamans may again show their skill. This
happens frequently also after other ceremonials.
All kinds of extra sacrifices are offered to the good "beings" and to the
ke'let, according to intimations received in dreams, in order to strengthen an
incantation, or to ask from supernatural beings some temporary assistance.
Such sacrifices may be bloody or bloodless. In bloody sacrifices, dogs and
reindeer are slaughtered without distinction. An animal is often promised for
such sacrifice beforehand. In token of this, a small bit of red cloth is attached
to one of its ears, and the animal is called "that pinned to" (ine'tiflin). The
same custom is observed among the Koryak.' A promise, once made, cannot
be taken back without incurring the risk of heavy retaliation on the part of
the offended "spirits."
Races. - Reindeer-races partake of the nature of ceremonial performances, and are considered dream-answers. The usual time for them, as I have
noted, is the latter part of the snowy season, - from January until May.
A man who feels under obligation to arrange a race sends an invitation to
his neighbors. When they are gathered, he provides the stake. The women
of his camp meanwhile build small fires in the wilderness, and throw in the
sacrifice of meat and tallow. Then the race is performed as has already
been described.?
Foot-races also form an integral part of certain ceremonials.3 There is
a particular form of foot-race, much in use also among the Maritime people,
which is frequently arranged in connection with the ceremonials. In this the
participants run in a circle over a comparatively small area, until one by one
the runners drop out from exhaustion. The most enduring remains, the
winner of the contest. Sometimes there are two concentric circles, the direction of the course in one being opposite to that in the other, though both
courses belong to the one contest. These circular runs are said to have been
used much more in former times. Then many Maritime villages had special
places for them, with a circular track worn deeply into the ground by con-

tinual exercise.
CEREMONIALS OF THE MARITIME CHUKCHEE. - The cycle of the ceremonials with the Maritime Chukchee opens with two short ceremonials in the
beginning of the fall, which are often joined together. One of them is a
I Compare VoL VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 92.
3 Compare p. 375.

2 Compare p. 264.

commemnorative sacrifice to the dead, which will be spoken of hereafter. The
other is a sacrifice to the sea, in order to insure good-fortune in subsequent
sealing on the sea-ice in winter.
Late in the fall, or rather in the beginning of the winter, the chief ceremonial of the year is performed. It is consecrated to Kere'tkun, or is made
a thanksgiving ceremonial to the spirits of sea-mammals killed since the fall.
Early in spring there follows the ceremonial of boats, which are made ready
for the approaching season. In the middle of summer the ceremonial of
"heads" is performed. This is for thanksgiving to the spirits of sea-mammals
killed since early in the spring.
These four ceremonials are performed with varying similarity by both
the Ma-ritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo. 'Po these must be added
some slight ceremonial effected while moving from the winter lodging to the
summer tent.
Most of the Maritime' Chukchee offer sacrifice also in midwinter to the
star Pehi'ttin,1 and perform in the middle of spring a ceremonial analogous
to the ceremonial of antlers of the reindeer-breeders, which is called by the
same name, Ki'lvei. The sacrifice to the whale is performed, in addition,
each time after a whale has been killed or has drifted ashore.
Bloody and bloodless sacrifices are offered during these ceremonials.
The Maritime Chukchee of course can slaughter only dogs for their bloody
sacrifices. In comparison with the Koryak, however, they are merciful to
their dogs, and kill them in no very great numbers. In this, as in other
respects, they occupy a middle ground between the American Eskimo, who
do not sacrifice dogs, and the Koryak, who often kill almost all the animals
of their single team.
Ceremonial House. - According to information given by the natives,
and also by inference from the example of Nu'nligren, most of the villages
have each a special house intended for the performance of the chief ceremonial
of the winter. This house, however, differs in many respects from the ka'shim
of the American Eskimo. Its size is that of the houses ordinarily in use;
and often it is really a house left by its owner, for some particular reasons,
for another dwelling. In many instances it was the private property of a
certain family, which is called, even at the present time, "one with the front
house" (aWtto'oralin). This term is in full use among the reindeer-breeders,
by whom it is applied to the chief family of the camp, in distinction from
the poorer "neighbors" (nim-tu'mgit) who help the first family to tend their
herd. The chief family really has its tent "in the front' of the others; that
is, first on the right side of the line which is, as said before, turned to the
morning dawn "direction."2
In the Maritime villages, it is more difficult to determine who represents
1Compare p. 376.

2 Compare p. 172.

the "front-house family." The natives explained to me that it is the family
who have lived in a given place the longest, "from tiwnes unknown to the
present generation." Other families, who came afterward, are considered as
"neighbors," and they must apply for protection to the first, at least in their
relations with the local "spirits."
This explanation seems plausible in regard to the smaller villages, where
the population is unstable, and subject to considerable change in the course
of a few consecutive years. In each of such villages there is usually one
family who remains, even when all others leave on account of temporary
scarcity of game, or for other reasons. Thus, at Mariinsky Post, the "fronthouse family" is that of Oopla'nto ("Arisen-from-the-Garbage-Place," so called
from an old heap of garbage on the former site of the village). The line of
this family may be traced backwards for at least four generations, and it is
really the first family of the place as to success in the hunt and in general
knowledge of the resources of the surrounding country.
But it is more difficult to explain the origin of the "front-house family"
in the larger villages, Chukchee or Eskimo, such as Nu'nligren or Wute'en,
where, in all probability, several families have lived together for all time.
Perhaps the position of the "front-house family" was more definite in former
times. Thus in Nu'nligren, until recent years, all the "neighbors," who performed their winter ceremonials in the underground house belonging to the
"front-house family," had to leave on the spot some present for the use of
the house. The present was looked upon in the light of a sacrifice to the
spirits of the house and locality; but it belonged to the share of the master
of the house.
The same arrangement was made in several other villages, and even in
(ibu'kak, on St. Lawrence Island. Each of those villages had a separate
house for ceremonials, and it was considered the property of the "front-house
family." In some of those villages, - such as Wute'en, Ye'rgin, Nu'nligren,
the first walrus killed by the hunters of the village falls by right, even at
present, to the head of the "front-house family." According to the ordinary
custom of dividing the game, this person takes the head and the skin,
while all the meat is divided among the participants of the hunt, and parts
of it among all the inhabitants of the village. In the village of Kihi'ni the
head of the first walrus killed in the fall is left on the ledge of a certain
sea-cliff, and then the people perform the thanksgiving ceremonial over it.
Here evidently the "spirit" of the place receives the results of the hunt;
while in other places the head of the "front-house family" has the same
rights, probably inferred from his familiar relations with local "spirits."
There are, however, villages, like Unii'sak and (te'cin, which have no
"front-house family." As to the village of Uini'sak, however, W. H. Hooper
describes it as having a kind of large tent, which serves for public purposes.

3)-88

"Possibly a council-room, as well as a theatre," says he, "for in place of the
usual inner arrangen-ents, only a species of bench of raised earth ran around
it, where were seated numerous spectators."' No remembrance of such public
tents, however, is retained at Uiii'sak. Perhaps it was simply a private house
in the course of partial reconstruction, as often happens with native houses.
It may have been used temporarily by the people for a re-union on the occasion of the arrival of the author.
The ceremonials of different families, though performed at the same
place, were rarely observed in common. On the contrary, families enacted
their ceremonials one after another, even though each particular performance
lasted for several days. Even at present, though the ceremonials are performed by each family in their own house, the consecutive order is still followed, and thus the winter ceremonial in the largest villages often extends
over a month or even more. As a partial corrective, three or four families
perform on the same day; but in this case they usually belong to opposite
ends of the village, with separate circles of acquaintances and relatives.
The hunting of sea-mammals is not forbidden during this whole period.
The members of the house actually performing the ceremonial must, of course,
stay at home; but as soon as it is over, the family has a right to send some
of their people to the sea, even though others go to take part in a ceremonial feast of some of their "neighbors."
Sacrifice to the Sea. - The sacrifice to the sea, which, together with the
sacrifice to the dead, begins the cycle of the Maritime ceremonials, is performed by the best hunter of the family. He comes to the shore accompanied by one woman. He carries his harpoon and other weapons; while
she brings a vessel filled with blood-soup and sausage of reindeer-stomach.
This sausage plays as important a part in the sacrifices of the Maritime
people as it does among the reindeer-breeders. The Maritime people are
more inclined to select "alien food" for their sacrifices than are the reindeerbreeders. The products of civilization, such as sugar or flour (thanks to the
trading activity of whalers), do not appeal to them as rare dainties: therefore
they give the first place, in sacrificing, to the products of the reindeer-breeders,
which are their conception of what is most luscious.
While the woman brings the sacrifice, the man shows his weapons to
the sea, and asks for good luck in hunting and for safety in his future wandering over the unstable ice-floes. A dog is often slaughtered in sacrifice to
the sea. The time of this sacrifice differs in different families. Some perform
it at the end of sammer; others, on the contrary, delay it till the middle of
October, when it coincides with the moving from the summer tents to the
winter habitations. Connected with the sacrifice to the sea there is often
1 Hooper, p. I37.

another, designed for the zenith. This is offered before the entrance of the
house, with some crumbs of food flung upwards.
The time of the fall ceremonial varies, in different
Fall Ceremonial.
villages and families, from the end of October to the first days of January.
The fittest time hlowever, is thought to be at the birth of the moon after
the shortest days of the winter, and it is considered the beginning of the
first month.' Moreover, in villages like Unii'sak or Uwe'len, the ceremonial
lasts more than a month, and thus the celebrations of the last families come
into the second half of January. Where there is a "front-house family," it
begins the course. In other villages - such, for instance, as 0,e'Vin, A'con,
or Unii'sak - without a "front-house family," there is no particular order for
the ceremonials, and it changes from year to year by mere accident.
The Chukchee have two different methods of celebrating this ceremonial.
The simpler one is called "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial" (li'e-mie'irgin).
Even the name shows that this ceremonial is identified with the ordinary
thanksgiving ceremonial which was described previously. The other method
is, properly speaking, a repetition of the ceremony of Kere'tkun, Kara'tkova'Irgin. The choice of either method varies in different villages, and even
among individual families. Nevertheless, as far as can be observed, the
"genuine thanksgiving ceremonial" is more in use among those families which
by their lineage or tastes fraternize with the reindeer-breeders; while the
ceremonial of Kere'tkun predominates among the MIaritime people in the
proper sense of the word. There are, however, reindeer-breeding families who
descended from a Maritime stock, and who have brought far inland with
them the ceremonial of Kere'tkun.
The "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial" is performed with the details already described. It takes place inside of the outer tent, the entrance and
the vent-hole being carefully closed for the purpose. Heads of the walrus,
seal, and other animals, serve as necessary objects for the ceremony. It is
not obligatory to preserve the heads of all animals killed in the hunt, and
even a few suffice. The sacrifice is performed outside of the tent by the
younger members of the family, who throw blood-soup, meat, and all kinds
of "alien food," towards all "directions" sacrificed to 2 or "towards all winds,"
as the Maritime Chukchee say.
The people inside of the tent beat the drum; and the women, clad in
their ample overcoats, perform the ceremonial dance. All of them sing their
particular tunes, which have no words, as is the case among the Reindeer
Chukchee. Then the heads are cooked and the feast follows. The evening
and a part of the night are occupied by shamanistic performances inside of
the inner room.
I

Compare p. 51.

50-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

2 See p. 303.

The ceremonial usually lasts only one day; but sometimes it is repeated
the next morning, when the people say that it has lasted over night.
The arrangement of the ceremonial admits of several variations. Several
combinations of heads are used in it, such as one of walrus, one of thongseal, and one of ringed seal; or one of walrus, one of wild reindeer, and
one of hare; or two of walrus and two of wild reindeer; or one of walrus,
one of ringed seal, and one of white fox; etc. The heads are either placed
on the ground in the centre of the house, or are hung by a string under
the vent-hole. Several lighted lamps are put by their side, often a lamp for
each head, etc.
In a variety called "spear ceremonial" (poi'hi-mnie'irgin), a long sharppointed pole is firmly fastened in the centre of the house, so that its end
protrudes through the vent-hole, Various objects of thanksgiving are fastened
to the pole, such as a set of antlers, a skin of peltry, several coils of new
thongs, etc. During the ceremonial the male members of the family shoot
towards the vent-hole with a bow, at the same time shouting loudly, "Yoho,
yoho!" to frighten away the "spirits."
The same ceremonial may be arranged outdoors. Then it is called
"spear-house ceremonial" (poi'hi-ra-miie'irgin). Then a real spear, or a spearlike pole, is stuick into the ground, and made fast in its place by several
lines supporting it from all sides, and tied to large stones lying on the ground.
This is called the "spear house" (poi'hi-ran). The ceremonial is performed
inside with the usual details.
The outdoor ceremonial (na'rgIn-mie'IrgIn) is performed also outdoors
within a circle formed by a long line spread on the ground near the house.
The sketch Fig. 268, copied from a native drawing, represents the outdoor
ceremonial. A family is performing it
on a,spot encircled by a long leather
line. Three round vessels and a
long tray are on the ground. A
fire-board is standing between two
f g *Ireindeer-heads. A man is beating
the drum. Two women are dancing.
la-w_3;tJ
\ S
Four children are looking on. A
man is looking on from outside.
Two other men stay near the house.
One, who has a stick, is sitting on
Fig. 268. Chukchep Sketch representing
Thanksgiving Ceremonial.

tol

a

stool.

Some families arrange this sort
of a ceremonial at a distance from the village, choosing for it an even spot
on a ledge of rock. I know cases where the ceremonial was performed
within the space between the four poles of whalebone which were left from

a half-destroyed boat-support (see Plate XXXIV, Fig 3). In other cases the
ceremonial was performed near the so-called "bone [pole] stuck in" (a"mi'npin),'
which in some villages represents a kind of votive place of which I shall
speak later. Thus, for instance, in the village of A2e'cin, two or even three
families join in performing the so-called "neighbors' ceremonial" near the
bone pole of the village.
For this they pitch light temporary tents on three sides of the bone
pole. The place for the sacrifice is arranged in the middle, at the foot of
the pole. Here each family deposits the heads of their game, while a couple
of heads are suspended from the pole. I had no opportunity to witness a
ceremonial of this kind; but the native drawing (Fig. 269) will give a fair
idea of the whole arrangement.
It represents two tents pitched at the foot of the bone pole for the ceremonial. As the population of the village of (,e'cin is evidently descended
from the reindeer-breeding camps, heads of
reindeer play a considerable part in the arrangement. Thus, from the top of the pole
are suspended two heads, one of reindeer, the
other of walrus. Most of the heads lying on
the ground are of reindeer; the others are of
walrus and of seal. One person is standing on
/
the top of his tent, -pronouncing incantations;
|
\t
9t
two others are standing on the ground near
the pole. Each of them holds a sacrificial
vessel, and in addition one holds a drum
with a stick; the other, a drum-stick ornamented with red tassels.
The last-described ceremonials- such
as that of the spear and of the spear house, the
outdoor and the neighbors' ceremonials are observed also by the reindeer-breeders, at
least in the camps on the Chukchee Peninsula and along the Pacific coast more to the
south. But with the reindeer-breeders they Fig. 269. Chukchee Sketch representing
Neighbors' Ceremonial.
are connected with no particular season, and
may be arranged at any time, as well as all other thanksgiving ceremonials.
I was told that in ancient times the "spear ceremonial" was performed
before starting on- a war expedition; but I am not quite sure if this is not
a modern interpretation. The "peltry ceremonial" is in vogue among both
branches of Chukchee and also among the Asiatic Eskimo. The details are
as usual. The peltries destined for sale, which accordingly are hung around
(

I This name is given also to the boat-supports, because in most cases they consist of "bones stuck in."

on tightly drawn ropes, appear as the object of the ceremony.
A ceremonial
of this kind is usually performed before starting on a trading-expedition.
Some Maritime families bring sacrifices also to the new moon, as was
described for the Reindeer people. The drawing Fig. 270 represents such
a sacrifice.
People are slaughtering a dog. Numerous vessels with food are
standing on the ground. I was told, however, that the people who brought
the sacrifice were the "people
of spell."' The other dog in
the drawing is also a "dog of
spell," made of human excre-

ment.

e

*<
H
rt

;

43 o<6

Ceremonial of Kere'/kun.
The ceremonial of Kere'tkun
is more complicated, and lasts
three, and

two,

even

five

days

(or as many nights, the natives

say) for each
family. In some villages, for
instances in Nu'nligren, the
wont to

are

ceremonial

of Kere'tkun

alter-

nates with that of his

"as-

sistant" every five years.

The

term

Fig. 270. Chukchee Sketch representing Sacrifice to the New Moon.

of

five years

tid

also

in

or

days

is

connection

with other ceremonials and rites.' The ceremonial of the "assistant" is much
more simple, and lasts only over night.
The details of it are similar to those
of the "genuine thanksgiving."
As a general rule, the performance of the ceremonial of Kere'tkun varies
greatly, according to the degree of wealth of the performers. The poorer
families observe it in a very hurried way, and the performance rarely continues longer than one night; while with the richer families it lasts several
days, and is an important event for the whole neighborhood. The reason
for this difference is pre-eminently the fact that large quantities of food are
necessary for its celebration.
This rule is applicable to all important ceremonials of the Maritime
the boat-owners, those who have had
people. Only the richer people
good success in the hunt
arrange great feasts that last several days, and

The feasts of the richer families must not occur
simultaneously, but so that the nearest neighbors at least can visit them all,
each in turn. The time for the ceremonials of the poorer people is of no
consideration. They may take place on any day, by threes or fours, and no
xvii.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
xvi.
chapter
compare
I
XVI.
Compare Chapters XVI and XVII.
Chapter
Compare

attract numerous guests.

compare

Chapters

xvi

and

one will notice it. On St. Lawrence Island the poorer people do not perform the ceremonials at all, but leave this duty wholly to the rich boatowners.
The essentials of the ceremonial are as follows. All the members of the
family, down to the smallest children, must put on light overcoats made of
dried seal-guts.' The reason given for this is that Kere'tkun and his wife
are dressed in such overcoats. On the Pacific coast, overcoats of this kind
are prepared only by the Eskimo, the best and the prettiest of which come
from St. Lawrence Island: therefore the Chukchee have to buy such overcoats
from an "alien" tribe, which may imply that the whole ceremonial is of Eskimo provenience. It must not be forgotten, however, that in the "thanksgiving ceremonials" of the Chukchee, the overcoats are considered as quite
necessary, at least for the women. The master and the mistress put on
special head-gear (Fig. 27I), which also is said to be imitated from Kere'tkun
and his wife. Another essential appurtenance of the ceremonial is the socalled "Kere'tkun's net, which is made
of sinew, and suspended from the venthole of the house. A special pole is
often used for its support. This is set
in the centre of the house, and the upper
end projects through the vent-hole, simif
larly to that used in the "spear ceremo/
nial." Sometimes there are three poles
with their ends crossing in the vent-hole,
'
resembling the three principal poles of
;
the Chukchee tent.
The net Fig. 272, a, is spread out
horizontally, and each corner of it is
Cereb). Head-Band used in the
271 (of Kere'tkun.
fasted
wFig.
fastened
with
strings to the sides of the monial
Circumference, 46 cm.
house. All around the net are suspended
images of birds and small toy paddles, painted ornamentally with seal-blood.
The number of the paddles is about a dozen; the number of birds is considerably less. The birds (Fig. 272, 6) are made of wood, clumsily enough,
and are adorned with -stripes of seal-blood painting. Their wings are represented either by two cross-lines or by two feathers stuck into cracks in the
wood in the proper places (see Fig. 280). The birds represent probably seagulls: at least, the heads of sea-gulls figure in the boat-charms of the Maritime Chukchee. A similar net figures in the fall ceremonial of the Eskimo
of St. Lawrence Island. It is spread on a wooden frame made of small
I

See Fig. I80, p. 247.

3'9 4

BOGOR)AS, THE CH-UKCHEE.

paddles, with the bodies of four sea-gulls carefully preserved for the purpose.'
A few lheads of walrus or seal are put on the ground as in the "agenuine
thanksgivingf cereimonial."

Fig. 273, copied from a native drawing,
represents the ceremonial of Kere'tkun in
the house of a Maritime Chukchee. A pole
protruding through the vent-hole suipports
a wooden image of a gull. The net with
paddles and gulls is suspended in the
middle. Tlwo walrus-heads are lying on
the ground. A lamp is fastened to the

pole, and another lamp stands on the

ground. Two sacrificial vessels stand on
the right side. A man standing on the
of the sleeping-room pronounces an
Ceretop
Fig.,272(
of
Net for
for Ceremuonial
(
n} , ,0z Net
Fi1>
cm.): 6, Image of Bird incantation. Txo otlher men, before the
1Kere'tkun272(diarm., I24
from Net (natural size).
are also pronouncing incantations.
In this they point upwards wooden drum-sticks, wlhich they have in their
lhands. A number of men are walking on the roof of the house, in order,
as I was told, to cover the vent-hole. Other men inside are walking or sitting-. Ihe dance has Inot yet begun. On the lower part of the drawing a
whale-hunt is represented.
A paddle of large size is used in the ceremonial of Kere'tkun, and is
intended to carry a painted prayer. Therefore it is called "incantation paddle."
A real paddle may be used for that purpose, or even a narrow plank shaped
like the blade of a paddle.
rhe collections of the Museum contain several paddles with painted
prayers destined for the ceremonial of Kere'tkun. All of them represent
variotus game and hunting-scenes of ordinary character. On each end of the
paddle is often placed a spread net, or drawn bow pointed at the game, thus
indicating the desire of the artist to capture all those animals. The painting

entrance,

1 Wooden imagcs of birds (grebes) appear in the ceremonials of the Yakut. They are, for instance,
placed on the burial-place of a shaman.

3.95

is not infrequently done with considerable skill, and the style is similar to
that of the etchings on ivory executed by the American Eskimo. Etchings
are scarce in Asia, and those that I had an opportunity to observe are

Fig. 273. Chukchee Sketch representing Ceremonial of Kere'tkun.

comparatively poor specimens ot art. In some other paintings, however, the
work is more clumsily done, and the style less pronounced, in accordance
with the inferior skill of the maker.
Fig. 274, a, represents a painted paddle from Mariinsky Post. It has
on each end a drawn bow. In the middle, three large shoals of fish, flocks
of various sea-fowl, seal, and walrus are arranged somewhat symmetrically.
A plank of the same provenience (Fig. 274, 6) has a large seal-net spread

L~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
-~~~~~~~~qp

Fig. 274, a (THT), Ceremonial Paddle (length, 69 cm.); b

Ceremonial Plank (length, 47 cm.).

A big shoal of fish and all kinds of game are represented
moving towards the net. Killer-whales are charging a group of walruses.
According to the explanation by the natives, they want to drive them into
the net. Three boats are pursuing a whale. A man is dragging a seal, and
on one end.

another one is paddling on a kayak. The part played by killer-whales is
illustrated in a native sketch given before, where killer-whales make a similar
attack on a shoal of walrusses, while another killer-whale asks the paddlers of
a boat for a little tobacco. The native artist evidently wished to represent
the killer-whales as friendly to men, and as helping them in their hunt in
exchange for a small sacrifice. The supernatural role ascribed to the killerwhale has been discussed previously. Fig. 275 is from the village of Nu'nligren.

Fig. 275 (3;s).

Ceremonial Length,
Paddle.

41 cm.

It is painted on both sides. The painting represents hunting-scenes. In one
a man is shooting a seal with a rifle. The seal is surrounded by rough ice
represented in four big heaps made by several concentric circular lines.
The plank represented in Fig. 276 is from the village of Chika'yeva, on
the Middle Anadyr. It was used by a family which trace their origin to one
of the maritime villages, and therefore perform Kere'tkun ceremonials; while
most of the other families in small
villages on the Middle Anadyr
><,:.;
i
;-+. follow the rites of the reindeer\, breeders. The painting is clum______________________________________sily executed, and represents a
Fig. 276
CCeremonial Plank. Length, 23 cm. group of houses on the seashore.
A man standing on the shore is
hauling in a seal captured with a harpoon. Several sea-mammals and a polar
bear are swimming away. A little below stands the figure of Kere'tkun, with
very long arms. The sun and the moon are in the right-hand corner of the
plank. The houses represented on the plank are of the genuine house type,
evidently houses of the Maritime people; while the people on the Middle
Anadyr live in log-huts. All the details of the picture are also maritime,
and have nothing in common with reindeer-hunting, which is the chief source
of subsistence for Anadyr villagers.
The painting copied on Fig. 277/ a, which comes from the Eskimo of
Indian Point, represents, on the contrary, land-game, reindeer, wolves, and
foxes. One boat and two kayaks are pursuing them, probably in water.
The family which used this plank was considered, however, as a true MariSee Fig. 231I p- 324.

397'

time family. Another paddle from Indian Point (Fig. 278) represents seagame and various hunting-scenes. At the top of the picture (Fig. 278, a) a

Fig. 277 (4j6).

Ceremonial Paddle of the Eskimo of Indian Point. Length, 33 cm.

group of men are practising shamanism. Two of them are beating the drum,
and two others are performing a ceremonial dance. This evidently signifies

Fig. 278 (

Ceremonial Paddle of the Eskimo of Indian Point. Length, 54 cm.

magic influence on the sea-game, to draw it to the shore. Both ends of
the picture are supplied with several semicircular lines, which probably represent conventionalized bows, though the natives were not able
to tell anything about the matter. The other side of the paddleK i(
blade (Fig. 278, b) is ornamented with a pattern of straight lines
and small semicircles, in the style of the Eskimo.
The whole performance of the Kere'tkun ceremonial in the
village of Nu 'nligren lasts three days, and with most families is
carried out with the following details. On the first day, in the ,'- |
morning, the outer tent is carefully swept, and a net with appurtenances is suspended above. On both sides of the hearth are u l 7
iji S
spread reindeer-skins, which represent two inner rooms. The place
for Kere'tkun is either on one of these skins, or inside of the
real sleeping-room. A big lamp filled with the choicest oil is
lighted, and placed accordingly in either of the indicated places.
Kere'tkun is supposed to enter, and, taking his place on the lamp,
to wait for the sacrifice. Hie is represented by a small wooden Fig. 279(4r7%).
image (Fig. 279), which is put on the lamp, and remains there image representtill the end of the ceremonial. Opposite the lamp, on a small Length, I7 cm.
patch of bare ground scraped clean for the purpose, a small fire, which has
a special name ("pi'ntE"), is built. This fire is supposed to be the place where
5 1-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. X.

Kere'tkun desires to accept the sacrifice: therefore it is kept up all the time,
from early in the morning until late in the evening. Small chips of wood,
bones, and blubber, serve for fuel. The Asiatic Eskimo substitute for the
fire another big lamp; or they sacrifice to Kere'tkun on the lamp where he
has taken his place. This difference is significant, as the lamp in the place
of the hearth, is better adapted to the woodless tundra and to arctic maritime life than the hearth of the Chukchee ceremonial.
Quantities of pudding made of edible roots and stalks mixed with oil
and liver are considered necessary for the ceremonial. We find the same
feature in the ceremonies of the Reindeer Chukchee, the Koryak, and, formerly,
in those ot the Kamchadal, who declared that Kutq was exceedingly fond of
pudding.
Families of friends and relatives take part in preparing the necessary
pudding, and their women come every morning to the house where the celebration is going on, bringing a new supply. The guests gather a little later,
and each woman brings a vessel in which she receives part to take home.
Besides the pudding, all kinds of food are distributed in profusion to those
assembled, and considerable time is used in eating and in drinking tea.
The first day of the ceremonial is considered as belonging to the inmates
of the house, who beat the drum, sing their tunes, and prepare ceremonial
dances in a way similar to that of the Reindeer Chukchee. The drummers
are men, who stand in the usual place, - on the outer side of the hearth,
facing the sleeping-room. The dancers, who are women, stand on the inner
side of the hearth, facing the entrance. All the participants are singing, each
his own tune. Some of the people have small whistles of wood or goosequill, by means of which, from time to time, they send forth a short, shrill
sound (see Fig. 28I). This is done mainly by the children of the family,
who have to skip around the hearth.
The second day belongs to the guests, and particularly to thle shamans,
who have to show, in turn, their skill in drumming and singing.
The third day belongs to the women, who act both as drummers and
dancers. The drummers stand in the usual place of the men, - on the outer
side of the hearth, facing the sleeping-room; and the dancers, in the usual
place of the women, - on the inner side of the hearth, facing the entrance.
All this is similar, even in the minor details, to the customs of the Reindeer people in the fall ceremonial and the "thanksgiving." N new detail is
that of a night-watch, which must be kept for the sake of Kere'tkun, who
is supposed to stav in the house all the time. This watch is kept by an
old man or woman. A shaman is often invited especially for this purpose,
and at the end of the watch he receives a coil of new thong in pay for
his services. During his watch he sits on a whale's vertebra which is used
as a stool, with his back toward the entrance, and with his face toward the

hearth. All this time he sings, and beats the drum, but in a subdued key
in order not to awaken the supernatural guest slumbering on the lamp. The
last night a woman occupies the stool, and keeps the watch.
On the last evening, meat of a whole reindeer is cooked in a big kettle
suspended over several lamps, one of which is the lamp on which Kere'tkun
is placed. The cooked meat is distributed among the guests, who carry their
shares home. Even comparatively poor families take care to reserve for the
ceremonial a reindeer-carcass, either from their hunt or from the provisions
bought from reindeer-breeders.
The image of Kere'tkun is burned over his lamp. Then the whole house
is carefully swept. The rubbish, stray hair, etc., are gathered together, as well
as the crumbs of sacrifice from Kere'tkun's lamp and from the small fire, and
then they are thrown into the sea. This is considered as returning to the sea
all the game killed up to the time of the ceremonial. The same act is performed also in the other method of celebrating the fall ceremonial, the "genuine
thanksgiving," and, indeed, in almost all ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee, especially in the "ceremonial of heads" of midsummer and in the "ceremonial of the whale."
Exchanging of Presents. - In many villages, on the second day, the
so-called "exchanging of presents" (cuke'irgin) takes place. It is performed
with different details in various places. In the most common method, the
female guests gather at the entrance of the sleeping-room, bringing all kinds
of household things, which they thrust under the fold of the skin wall, and
loudly demand the thing they want. The mistress must immediately take
the offered object, and replace it with that required by the guest. Sometimes
the objects offered and demanded are of no value whatever; for instance, an
old woman will bring a piece of old skin, and ask in exchange for a lampsupport. This is done because the exchange is considered a part of the
ceremonial and a special sign of friendliness on the part of the guests. On
the other hand, if a guest asks for something of great value, it must be
delivered promptly and without demur. If the mistress has not the desired
object, she must borrow it from her neighbors in order to satisfy the guest.
After the present has been delivered, the people standing by have the right,
each in turn, to ask for it. To refuse it is unbecoming; and a desirable object
may change owners two or three times before it is carried away from the house.
In some places young children are sent instead of grown persons. They
come in, shout to the mistress, and say, "Do not refuse! So-and-so asks for
such-and-such a thing." The mistress gives the required object, exclaiming,
"Ta ha! ta ha!" After that she has the right to send her own child immediately to ask for, an equivalent. In most cases, however, she will wait till
the observance of the ceremonial by the other party, when she will seize this
opportunity to obtain an equivalent of her gift.

This method resembles that of the Pacific Koryak, where the young
people cover their faces with wooden masks and go from house to house,
asking in pantomime for various things. The givers have the right either to
send their children immediately for an equivalent, or to wait till the next
ceremonial, when their young people may, in their turn, ask for presents.
On St. Lawrence Island, young boys and girls arrange themselves in
small processions, which go from house to house, dancing, and asking for
gifts, mostly of food. This is done some time in winter and has no connection
with the regular ceremonials, and the practice strongly resembles the customs
of the Pacific Koryak as described above.
I must also mention that a similar performance has been in favor among
the Russians from very remote times. In the first days of Christmastide, at
dusk, young persons of both sexes go from house to house, singing, dancing,
and asking for presents. They bedeck' themselves in fantastic attire, and wear
masks. The songs are called "koliada," and the whole performance is thought
by ethnographists to be a remnant of a winter ceremonial of Russian Slavs
in honor of the deity Koliada. This name is associated with the Roman
calends. Be this as it may, the same practice is found also in northeastern
Siberia, among the cossacks and Russian creoles; for instance, in the Russian
villages 'of the Kolyma, Anadyr, and Kamchatka, and even among the Russianized natives in the same localities. It must be assumed, however, that
the' performances of the Koryak and St. Lawrence Eskimo are quite independent, notwithstanding their resemblance to those of the Russians.
In arctic Chukchee villages the exchange is often arranged in the following manner. On the first day of the ceremonial, at the height of the
drumming and singing, every guest who desires something belonging to the
master must strike his left palm with his right fist, and exclaim, "I see suchand-such a thing!" The master must immediately give it away; and after the
ceremonial is finished, he may ask for an equivalent. Should the thing asked
for be something of exceeding great value, the master may refuse the demand,
lifting his right thumb to his throat, and exclaiming, aI would (rather) cut
my throat!" This, however, is considered a great offence, and may even lead
to bloody vengeance.
Many families arrange the exchange between relatives only, and especially between those joined by the bond of compound marriage, literally "wifecompanions" (niew-tu'mgit). A man sends his wife to another man with whom
he is connected by such a bond to ask for certain wares, and after a while
the other man sends his wife to ask for an equivalent.
The Trading-Dance. - This brings us to another variety of the ceremonial exchange, which may be called "trading-dance." It is performed during
the second day of the ceremonial by couples, a man and a woman each, who
are connected by the bond of compound marriage. Frequently the man looks

40 I

on only, while the woman dances before him. He must provide a reindeerskin, however, to spread on the ground under her feet while she is dancing.
While the dance is being performed, the other dancers remain quiet, and
look on together with the spectators. After the dance, the man must give
some present to the woman; and the following night they sleep together,
leaving their respective mates to arrange matters between themselves. On
the next day, the husband of the woman, and the wife of the man, perform a
similar dance, in which the man gives an equivalent of the present of the
day before; and each newly-mated couple sleeps together for another night.
Such dances are -arranged chiefly among cousins or other relatives, who, among
the Chukchee, frequently assume the bond of compound marriage. Conversely,
a new bond of compound marriage may be concluded through a tradingdance. This is closely analogous to the customs of the Alaskan Eskimo as
described by Nelson;'- but with the Chukchee an exchange of wives leads, as
a rule, to the lasting bornd of compound marriage, or to what is so called.
So often is this the case, that even the women who mix with the sailors from
whaling-ships consider them their husbands by compound marriage. Among
the Chukchee, clandestine intercourse with another man's wife is called by the
same name. When the affair first comes to the knowledge of the husband,
a quarrel may ensue; but an amicable adjustment is soon brought about by
a bond of compound marriage.
Among
CEREMONIALS OF ASIATIC ESKIMO. Ceremonial of Ka'cak.
the Asiatic Eskimo the ceremonial of the winter is connected in most villages,
not with Kere'tkun, but with the Big-Woman. Some families in the villages
Wute'en and I'wtun, however, connect the ceremonial with Kere'tkun, who
is called by them Ka'cak. The name of Ka'cak as identical with Kere'tkun
is known also in Uiii'sak and on St. Lawrence Island. In Unii'sak, some
families are said to perform a simple "genuine thanksgiving" ceremonial
analogous. to that of the Maritime Chukchee. The ceremonial of Ka'cak or of
Big-Woman is performed with the same details as that of Kere'tkun among
the Chukchee. Even the net, the wooden birds, and the painted paddles2 are
of exactly the same character. The differences have already been referred.
The most important of them is the complete replacement of the ceremonial
fire by the lamp.
Eider-Duck Ceremonial.
There is also the so-called "eider-duck ceremonial," in which, besides the usual net with wooden sea-gulls, is a net
(Fig. 28o) supported by a long pole painted over with patterns of straight
lines. Wooden images of eider-ducks (Fig. 280, a), which, however, do not
differ markedly from the sea-gulls mentioned before, may move on a special
loop along separate lines of leather. Each line is held by one person, who,

Nelson) P- 36o; compare also P- 384-

Compare Fig. 277, P- 397-

= es

by a simple jerk of the hand, may make the bird soar aloft or descend the
line. Very simple whistles (Fig. 28I) made of goose-quill or of wood, with

Fig. 280 (7-). Net for Eider-Duck Ceremonial. a, Carved Duck from Net.
Height of pole, 125 cm.; diam. of net, 96 cm.

a thin tongue of whalebone, are used to produce from time to time a shrill
sound, which is called the "eider-duck's voice." As said before, these
whistles are used by the Eskimo
a
and the Chukchee also in the
-;
cz
usual form of the ceremonial;
but my informants asserted that
tS+heywere specially connected

E

Fig. 281, a (-rT), b (A40j). Whistles.

with the eider-duck ceremonial.

I found whistles quite similar
in shape to Fig. 2 8 I among
the collections at Washington, D.C. One of them (Cat. No. 7457) is marked
"Fort Anderson, R. MacFarlane," and belongs to the Central Eskimo. Two other
whistles, probably from the same region, are without any mark. Nelson, however,
does not mention the use of such whistles among the natives of Alaska.
Ceremonial of Going-Around. - Another ceremonial encountered among
the Asiatic Eskimo is the so-called "ceremonial of going-around," which is considered as a kind of thanksgiving ceremonial. A native drawing (Fig. 282)
represents the celebration of it in an Eskimo house. A long pole is fixed
in the middle of the house, the upper end of which protrudes from the
vent-hole. On it are two double tassels and a seal-skin float, to the
flippers of which are fastened the pelt of a fox and an iron kettle. A
Length, 7.5 cm., 10 cm.

frame made of paddles surmounted by several wooden images of
manned boats and whales is suspended halfway up the pole. A wooden
wheel is fastened to the base
of the pole, by means of which
people may turn the pole
with the frame. Several walsquare

rus-heads

represent

the

object

of the thanksgiving. The wheel
is turned around as quickly as
possible, and in the direction of
the sun's course, by people of
both sexes; while several other
persons beat the drum.
All
sing

various

tunes

of their

own

choice. At last those turning
the wheel stop; and the men,
still

running

in

the

same

direcA

tion, begin to seize women from
all over the house. Every man
Fig. 282. Sketch representing an Eskimo Ceremonial.
has the right to sleep that night
with the woman he' has caught. The similarity of all this to the customs of
the Alaskan Eskimo is very striking.'
Other varieties of this ceremonial extant among the Asiatic Eskimo, in
which wheels, images of whales and of manned boats, also figure, will be
'described in a separate publication.
Dance of Exchange.
The dance of exchange occurs also among the
Asiatic Eskimo and the inhabitants of St. Lawrence Island. Besides being
connected with the usual ceremonials, it may be arranged independently.
Among the Asiatic Eskimo, the woman performs the dance, wearing only her
loin-breeches; but the man is clad as usual. On St. Lawrence Island, the
man puts on a head-band resembling that worn by the Chukchee in the
ceremonial of Kere'tkun; while the woman wears very short breeches of oldfashioned cut. These were in former times a part of the usual female dress
of all Asiatic. Eskimo. Further details will be given in a special publication
treating of the Asiatic Eskimo.
The ceremonial of boats takes place early in
Ceremonial of Boats.
spring, in the third or fourth month of the Chukchee year.2 It is performed
only by the families of boat-owners. The members of the crew and the older
members of their families take part in the ceremonial, while the younger
people stay at home. The ceremonial is performed by each company separately, with considerable variation, especially from village to village, as to the

II Compare
Compare Nelson, p.
36o.
P- 360.

Nelson,

22 Compare, p.
Compare, p-

Si.

5IX

4.°4

day of the observance, according- to the time when the sea becomes navigable
along different parts of the coast-line.
In the morning of the chosen day, men and women gather before the
house of the boat-owner and go to the winter boat-support to get the boat.
The winter boat-support is constructed of heavy pieces of bone of whale planted
firmly high up on the shore; and there the boat rests the whole winter
through, firmly fastened to the cross-poles, and protected from snowstorms
and the attacks of hungry foxes.
The whole company sacrifice sausage'of reindeer-meat to the sea; then
they bring the boat close to the house and put it on the ground, on its west
side, and again offer sacrifice of sausage in the "direction" of the sea. Then
the whole party go around the house, following the course of the sun. At
the head walks the oldest woman of the family, then follow the owner of the
boat, the steersman, the paddlers, and after them come the other participants.
It is considered important that the woman who walks in front shall really be
the oldest of all, and know the necessary details of the ceremony: therefore
families who have no such woman among their housemates often send to
their relatives, or even to another village, for one. Old men, on the contrary,
are not considered necessary for the ceremonial.
After the procession is arranged, it enters the house, and the people
take their places around and begin singing their tunes. The singing, accompanied with dancing and beating the drum, lasts several hours, and ends
with a shamanistic performance in the evening. On the next morning the boat
is taken back to the sea and put on the summer support, wfiich stands close
to the water. This latter is of slight build, and made of wood; and it may be
carried from place to place, according to the needs of the landing. The
floats of the boat are taken along and placed within. On the next morning
the participants in the ceremony bring to the shore a great amout of food. This is
distributed among the guests, who, with their housemates and women, come by
boat-loads. A sacrifice is offered to the sea, and then the boat is launched to try
the first course of the year, which is necessarily short, and conducted with caution.
On the morning of the night when the boat is still lying at the side of the
house, there is performed a divination with lumps of tallow which were left for
the night in the boat. By the cracks found in them the people try to divine
whether the boat will have good luck in the pursuits of the next season,
especially in regard to the whale and the polar bear. Cracks resembling
marks left by scratching with nails foretell good fortune and prosperity.
Cracks resembling marks left by touching with the finger-tips augur bad luck
and even death. Divination with tallow is used by the Maritime Chukchee
on other occasions also. In the fall, when the boat is taken to the winter
supports, the Chukchee do not perform any particular ceremonial, arguing that
the great ceremonial of the fall answers for all such purposes.

.105

Ceremonial of Heads. - Early in summer, as soon as the catch of the
seals on the drifting ice is finished, the ceremonial of heads takes place.
This, likewise, is performed by the boat-owners with the participation of the
crew, and the details have many points of resemblance to the ceremonial of
wild reindeer-heads among the Reindeer Chukchee.1 It is even called by the
same name, Ienatci'irgin.
The heads of the walrus and of the thong-seal are the only ones stored
for this ceremonial, while of the smaller seals only a couple or so are taken
for the exhibition. When walrus-heads are scarce, the ceremonial is considered very poor, and even of no importance. In the morning of the day,
all the heads are brought from the blubber-hole, and exposed on the skins
in the middle of the house. A large lamp, placed on a flat stone, stands
with them; and a little at one side a small pi'ntE fire2 is arranged, which is
wanting in the ceremonial of the Asiatic Eskimo. All kinds of "alien"
food
sausage, reindeer-tallow, tobacco, flour - are produced for the sacrifice and put near the heads. Then the old woman presiding over the
ceremonial sits down before the heads and begins to sing, ane by one, the tunes
of the family; while the male members of the family go around the heads,
exclaiming, "Yoho, yoho!" in the usual manner. The old woman feeds the
lamp, and keeps up the fire; while the men, with plates filled with provisions,
go out to offer sacrifice to all the directions, beginning, as usual, with the
morning dawn, then passing to the zenith, to the nadir, and after that to
the other "directions."
The other members of the crew stay in the house and are the onlookers.
When those who performed the sacrifice are returning, the largest walrushead is tied up with a long rope, which all the men grasp, pretending to
haul in the captured walrus. This symbolizes a successful catch for the future.
The old woman gives of the provisions which served for the sacrifice to the
women present, who, as said before, are the oldest representatives of the
families of the crew.
The ceremonial dance is performed in the usual way. A man with the
drum stands on the outer side of the group of heads, having his back turned
to the entrance; while the women dancers stand opposite to him, on the inner
side of the heads. The movements of the dancers are of the usual character;
that is, they make a short courtesy, then stand erect and turn their bodies to
the right and to the left, all the while never stepping aside from their place.
Among the Asiatic Eskimo, however, this dance alternates from time to time
with a more active form, in which the dancer performs a series of jumps,
swinging violently both his arms over his head. This latter variety of dance
is, however, considered an imitation of the dance of the natives of St. Lawrence Island and Alaska. A dance like this is often performed on the spur
I

Compare p. 379.

52-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

2 Compare p. 397.

of the moment by young men or boys for the amusement of spectators, and
without reference to the ceremonials; then it is called the dance of the
"opposite-shore people," or the dance of the "large mouthed."'
In the ceremonial described (Plate XXXII, Fig. 4) all those present, down
to the very small children, have to perform some exercise on the drum;
while the women and the younger boys appear in turn as dancers. Then a
feast follows, in which the men eat freely of the raw meat of walrus-heads,
slicing it off with their knives. The ivory of the walrus and the remainder
of the meat are divided among all the members of the crew, in accordance
with the usual rules, which will be spoken of in the third part of this work.
At the end of the ceremonial, all of the participants, particularly the
women and children, shake off, over the big lamp, all diseases to which they
may be liable, and, in general, their bad luck. The lamp, however, is covered
with a wooden plank to protect the fire from contamination. The particles
of rubbish, and especially the hair which has fallen from the fur clothes down
on the plank, are picked up and burned, together with the plank, in a
separate fire. The ashes of the fire are afterward carefully collected, and
carried out of the house to be left in the wilderness. The bones and crumbs
of the feast are gathered up and thrown into the sea to send back the
animals, as was described before.
Sacrifice to the Fire. - The pitching of the summer tent, which takes
place shortly after the ceremonial of the heads, is accwmpanied by a simple
sacrifice thrown into a small fire built up before the entrance of the tent.
This sacrifice is still more simple than the corresponding one of the Reindeer
Chukchee.
Sacrifice to Pehi'ttin. - I mentioned that the sacrifice to the star
Pehi'ttin and the ceremonial of antlers are performed also by the Maritime
Chukchee. The sacrifice to Pehi'ttin has no features peculiar to the Maritime
Chukchee.
Ceremonial of Antlers. - The ceremony of antlers (ki'lvei) is performed
with boughs, which are gathered in a heap on the place of sacrifice, behind
the house. Then a fire is arranged and sacrificed to with tallow or meat.
Those who have a few reindeer. with some reindeer-breeding friend, take care
to have a few antlers on the top of their heap of boughs. Only those
Asiatic Eskimo who have succeeded in acquiring reindeer-herds2 celebrate this
ceremonial. These, as remarked before, consider themselves obliged to perform all the ceremonials connected with reindeer-breeding life: at least, to the
same extent as do their neighbors of Maritime Chukchee origin.
Whale Ceremonial. - The ceremonial of the whale is performed any
time that a whale is killed by any of the villagers. On the Pacific shore,
where polar bears are scarce, a ceremonial similar to that of the whale is
I

Compare p. 2I.

2 Compare p. 73.

performed over killed bears, both of which, of course, belong to the thanksgiving festivals. The essential features are' as follows.
The boats that took part in the hunt pass around the carcass while it
is still in the water, following the direction of the sun's course. The owners
of the boats exclaim, "Yoho, yoho!" the usual cry at the Chukchee ceremonials. When the carcass is landed on the shore, another procession is formed,
which likewise passes around the animal. The owner of the boat from which
the whale received the fatal stroke heads this procession, and after him comes
the man who gave the death-blow to the whale. All the men who chance
to be on shore during the landing take part in the parade, and each one
exclaims, "Yoho, yoho!" Then the women appear and join in the procession,
which passes again around the carcass. The women repeat incantations
having for their aim the conciliation of the whale and the acquisition of his
influence in inciting his mates to come to the shore in future.
After that the general carving of the meat follows, in which the inhabitants of all neighboring villages and camps may take part, if they arrive in
season to do so. Meanwhile, however, the women comprising the household
of the owner of the boat from which the whale -was killed cut bits from the
ends of his flippers, his nose, and both lips. They take also his eyes and
some of the shortest whalebone, not good for sale, and they chop besides a
few pieces from the longer bone. All these are placed on a skin, and are
supposed to represent the whole of the whale.
The skin with the scraps on it is brought up to the house, where "the
whale" is "given a drink" before the entrance; that is, it receives a libation
of warm water, as is usual with larger game. Sacrifice is also offered to it
with sausage and reindeer-meat. Then the skin and the particles are carried
inside the house and put on the roof of the sleeping-room, near its front.
In the case of a bear the carcass is skinned; but the head, the neck,
and the shoulders are left with the skin. This receives a "drink" before the
entrance, and a sacrifice of sausage, and then is brought into the house and
into the sleeping-room, where it is put on the master's side and in the place
of honor.
A big lamp burns all the time near the symbolized game; also a pi'ntE
fire, which figures in all the ceremonials of the Chukchee. The "whale" and
the "bear" remain in their respective places five days and nights, and all
this time the most careful attention is lavished on them. Men and women
make them presents of their bead necklaces, which are hung over the "bear's"
neck, or laid at the side of the "whale." They receive frequent libations of
water, and sacrifices of various meats; and neither of them is left alone for
a moment in the house. The natives say, "The guest will feel lonely."
Every kind of loud noise is forbidden, lest "the guest should be awakened
from his repose." All the drums are hung in the outer tent, near the en-

trance; and if, perchance, a loud sound is occasionally given forth by one of

them, it is immediately beaten lightly with the drum-stick, as if in punishment.
The children, likewise, must not cry or be boisterous; and, should any of
them be noisy, a drum is immediately beaten lightly in expiation of the
"uncivil behavior toward the guest."1
After the five days, the head of the polar bear is cooked in a big
kettle, and then a feast is arranged, to which all the neighbors are invited.
The meat of the head must be entirely eaten.
An analogous custom in regard to the brown bear is found among the Lamut.
The meat of this likewise must be boiled all at once and eaten by the neighbors of the hunter gathered for the feast, without reserving any for the future.
A feast, accompanied with a ceremonial dance and shamanistic performances both by day and by night, is also arranged for a whale. After the
feast, all the crumbs, stray hair, etc., are gathered and thrown into the sea;
which act restores the killed whale to life and to the sea.
The eyes of the bear and the whale are pierced; and the viscous fluid
from them, mixed with soot, is used for painting the paddles of the boat in
a special manner (Fig. 283).
This painting lasts some time, until it wears
off by use. The pupils of the eyes are
__=-i-

wrapped

in

leather

and then joined
Fig. 283 (ffG). Paddle painted in Whale Ceremonial. Length, 29 cm.
together in pairs,
and added to the
string of amulets belonging to the boat. Hunters who are fortunate in the
pursuit of the whale often have a whole string of pairs of pupils so wrapped
The man who gave the last stroke, if this happens to be his first whale
up.
or bear, has the skin near all his joints pierced with the tattooing-needle,
leaving a simple but indelible mark. With the Eskimo of the Diomede Islands, the killer of the whale has on his face, near the upper lip, a simple
dot marked with the tattooing-needle for each animal killed. Some of the
luckiest hunters have two lines of dots extending across both cheeks,
a
visible enumeration of the number of animals actually killed by them.
In some of the villages, the family of the chief hunter, after a successful
hunt of the whale, arrange for a thanksgiving ceremonial at the time of the
new moon in every month.
This lasts during the whole season, for four or five
consecutive months. On St. Lawrence Island, the successful hunter of the whale
offers during the ceremonial a sacrifice of the hair of his head, which is thrown
into the fire of the hearth, and is said to be directed to the giver of whales.
The Koryak ceremonial of the whale has many points of similarity to
I Compare

Nelson, p. 383. Steller says likewise that among the Kamchadal it is forbidden to sing
aloud when a fresh sable-skin is brought into the house.

that of the Chukchee.' Even for the less important game, the Koryak arrange ceremonials with details closely resembling some of those described.
Thus, in the Pacific Koryak and Kerek villages, the carcass of a killed fox
is brought into the house and deposited near the fire. The master says,
"Let the guest warm himself. When he feels warm, we will free him from
his overcoat." In the mean time the placing of the carcass near the fire has
a very real purpose. As foxes are killed almost exclusively in winter, the
carcass is always frozen, and it must be thawed out before it can be skinned.
In due time the fox is skinned. Two broad strips of long, soft grass, which
grows on the seashore, are wrapped around the bare carcass. One strip
serves as a belt.; the other, as a boa. The mouth of the carcass is filled
with fish-eggs. The mistress gashes the flesh in several places, and puts
into the cuts more fish-eggs or dried meat, pretending that the cuts are
pockets of the fox, which she wants to fill with provisions. Then the carcass
is carried out of the house, and the people say, "Go and tell your friends
that it is good to visit yonder house. Instead of my old coat, they gave
me a new one still warmer and with longer hair. I have eaten my fill, and
had my pocke'ts well stored. You, too, go and visit them." It is believed
by the natives that any neglect of this ceremonial will destroy all chance of
further luck in hunting foxes.
Jochelson2 gives details of a ceremony among the Koryak of the Okhotsk
shore very similar to those relating to the fox-carcass. Steller3 mentions almost
identical practices among the Kamchadal. In the ceremonial arranged after
a successful hunt of the bear, when the bear-meat is cooked and eaten, the
master brings in the head of the bear, adorns it with grass, hangs around it
bits of various meats, and then asks the bear not to be angry with the
hunters, because the last stroke was given by the Russians. He also asks
him to inform his relatives of this, that they may come to the same place
without any misgivings, etc.
Krasheninnikoff also mentions4 similar details in the Kamchadal ceremonial of seal-heads. The heads, he says, are fed with ptudding. A large
stone is deposited on the floor of the hut, which symbolizes the sea, and it
is surrounded with smaller ones, which represent the pebbles on the shore.
The seals are dragged upon these stones to give them an idea that it is very
agreeable to visit the Kamchadal huts, where even the sea is surrounded with
pebbles. In doing this, the people cry, "Come oftener! we feel dull without
you." Krasheninnikoff also mentions5 that the natives of Alutora, in their
whale ceremonial, carry a wooden image of a whale to the seashore, exclaiming,
"The whale is gone to the sea!"
1 See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 65 et seq.
Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. go.
3 Steller, p. 331.
4 Krasheninnikoff, I, p. 26I.

2 See also

S Ibid., I, p. 300.

4I O

I must mention also a special performance of the walrus-hunt, which is
performed without preparation, and generally on the last day of the great
winter ceremonial. In this the men and the women sit down opposite each
other, in two rows, and beat their palms, exclaiming, "Ha, ha, ha!" The men,
from time to time, swing their arms, as if brandishing an imaginary spear.
I had no opportunity to witness a performance of this kind, which is
considered by the people as having the character of a play or a dance.
Among the Kamchadal, not more than forty years ago, there were observed
various performances of a similar character, in which the hunting of the whale,
the wolf, and the bear, was represented. Krasheninnikoff mentions such performances in even earlier times. He had the good-fortune to witness them
in several villages. In modern times these performances have been thoroughly
Russianized, and blended with popular dramatic performances of the cossacks,
brought by them from Russia. I had an opportunity of witnessing a performance of such a kind in the village of Tighil. It represented a trip of cossack pirates in a boat, and was almost devoid of local features.
Tossing on Walrus-Hide. - The "tossing on walrus-hide" forms among
the Maritime Chukchee, and especially among the Asiatic Eskimo, an extra
ceremonial (Plate xxxiii, Fig. 3), which is arranged in early or middle summer
in order to ward off danger from contagious diseases or to assuage too long
and violent tempests. The "tossing on the walrus-hide" is considered akin
to the races, and the family who arrange the ceremonial are called simply
"racers" or "masters of the race" (ire'lit).
On the day chosen for the ceremonial, numerous guests gather at the
house of the "racers." The women of the family bring sacrifices to "all the
directions." Then a feast follows, at the end of which the house-master, or still
better a shaman from among his nearest relatives, if there be any such, paints
with red ochre the faces of all those who have recently been taken ill; also
those who look sickly, and concerning whom there might be apprehension of
an attack by ke'let. Small children, with hardly an exception, are painted.
The marks of the painting art varied, and closely resemble those of the
painting with reindeer-blood in the "slaughtering-ceremonials" of the Reindeer
Chukchee. After that, the tossing begins. Men and women seize a big
walrus-hide (split in two to make it thinner), grasping it firmly by loops cut
around its outer edge, and lift it from the ground. Then the young men
and girls, one by one, or in pairs consisting -of a man and a woman, try
their skill. For this, the performer plants himself firmly in the middle of
the hide, and with a sudden jerk those who hold it send him upward, often
to the height of five metres. After that involuntary jump, he falls back on
the skin, and is safe from harm. The greatest skill is in coming down on
the feet without losing one's equilibrium. Women are more clever than men
at this, and there are those who can keep upright for three successive junmps.

4I I

The "tossing on walrus-hide" often assumes the character of a contest, in
which a prize is offered to the winner. Every one who has taken three
jumps successfully may stop, and wait his turn to compete with a performer
who has achieved a similar success. I was told by the people that the "tossing on walrus-hide" is said to be copied from the ke'let, after a certain shaman
had seen them perform this exercise. This was put forth in explanation of
the efficacy of such an exercise to ward off attacks by the ke'let, or protect
the people against disease.
Like the reindeer-races of the Reindeer Chukchee, the "tossing on walrushide" of the Maritime people takes on the character of a sport, and is frequently arranged merely for amusement, without connection with any religious
or superstitious purpose. From the Maritime people the "tossing on walrushide" spread to the Reindeer Chukchee, among whom it is, however, much
less in use, and serves only for a merry social exercise.
Races. - Racing with dogs by the Maritime Chukchee is much less
frequent than reindeer-racing by the Reindeer Chukchee. The dog-races occur
chiefly in spring, and have no connection with the ordinary ceremonials. The
race is accompanied with a small sacrifice thrown into a small fire and towards
the principal "directions." It is followed by a foot-race of men and women and
by a wrestling-contest. The Asiatic Eskimo arrange the dog-races similarly,
but they still attach the dogs in the old way, - several abreast, with a
leader in the front on a long trace.'
Fig. 284, copied from a native -sketch, represents a foot-race of Maritime
Chukchee, which was performed in connection with the "genuine thanksgiving
ceremonial." Six young men are taking part in the race. Two "masters of

Fig. 284. Chukchee Sketch representing a Foot-Race.

the race" are looking on. A coil of thong and a bunch of leaf-tobacco are
suspended on two short sticks as prizes for the race. Three heads and two
sacrificial vessels are set on the ground. The heads are those of the walrus,
a white fox, and a hare.
1 See Plate vii, Fig. I.

41 2

I have already mentioned the "stuck-in poles"
Stuck-in Poles.
(a"m-i'npin) of bone of whale,' which represent in some villages a kind of
votive place. The village of te'cin has one of these poles (Fig. 285). It is
very old, and the bone nearly crumbles
between the fingers. It is hung all over
with votive offerings made by sick persons,
g
~~~as it is suppose

special virtue for

thae

XI

rheumatism

curing

which ailment
the

-j

is

in the arms or legs,
very common among

people.

Maritime

The

offering

con-

sists of a small bead strung on a piece

-0M--1

o fsinew.

were

Some

them,

as

I

was

told',

previously bracelets, and were given

by their

owners

ailing limb.
the

of

substitute

s

for the

Among the Maritime Koryak,

of the village" resemble

"guardians

hung
on
theChukcthese Chukchee poles, but are made 'of
poles of asimlarchaacte wee i uswood instead of bone of whale. They
are
Fg28.Stuck-in Pole

e_e'&in.

at

(From

a

called

chelson

villages.

hung

on

poles

of

They

similar character

had grass tied around
I

compare
p. 391.
391I
Compare p.

name

poles.

w'ere in

sa yS2

they

are

a

Mr. Jok-ind of protector

'important kind than those
According to Krasheninnikoff and Steller',

receive sacrifices of

the Chukchee bone
a

the

che'e to'small wooden amulets.

photograph.)

of the

spirit" (ot-ka'mak or
applied in Chuk.

"wooden

ok.ka'mak),

use

a

more

also among the

them, and received frequent

Koryak,
See Vol.
22 See
Vol. VI, Jochelson, The
The

VI, jochelson,

p.

Kamchadal.

They

sacrifices.'
37.

Koryak, P- 37-

103.

Krasheninnikoff,

Krasheninnikoff, II, p. io-,a.

FAMILY SHAMANISM. - Shamanism among the Chukchee, as has been
said before, is in large measure affiliated with the family ceremonials. Each
family has one or more drums of its own, on which its members are bound
at specific periods to perform; that is, to accompany the beating of the drum
with the singing of various melodies. Almost always, on these occasions, one
member at least of the family tries to communicate with "spirits", after the
manner of shamans. Such a one will usually, with violent shouting and continuous exercise on the drum, work himself up to the highest pitch possible,
and in this condition pretend that the "spirits" have entered his body. In
proof of this, he acts in exactly the same way as do the shamans, - jumping
about, twisting his body in the most violent contortions, and uttering gibbering
sounds and unintelligible words supposed to be the voice and the language
of the "spirits." Oftentimes he essays soothsaying and foretelling the future,
though such attempts do not usually receive much attention. All this is done
in the outer tent, where all the ceremonials are performed, and mostly in
the day-time.
The acts of real shamanism, on the contrary, are for the most part performed in the sleeping-room, at night-time and in perfect darkness. They
are performed without preparation, on varied occasions, though usually the
days of the ceremonials are terminated by a performance of this kind carried
out during the night in the sleeping-room. The shamanistic acts, however,
are by no means restricted to the ceremonials, but accompany the activity of
the shaman proper in his own special calling. Nevertheless almost every
third or fourth person arrogates to himself the right and the skill to act as
a shaman.
Besides this, every adult Chukchee will occasionally take his drum, especially in the winter, and beat it for a while under the warm shelter of the
sleeping-room, with the light or without it, singing his melodies to the rhythm
of the beats. This- he does merely for his own pleasure. The transition from
such songs to shamanistic performances is quite imperceptible, and in this way
it is fair to say that every Chukchee may play the shaman in all branches of
the craft as far as his skill and inclination permit him to do so.
Family shamanism, being quite simple and primitive, probably antedated the shamanism of individuals havink special skill and vocation, and the
latter seems to have grown up based on the former. Family shamanism
exists among the Koryak and the Asiatic Eskimo, and probably existed also
Compare p. 374.

[4I3]
53-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

4I 4

among the Kamchadal and the Yukaghir. Each Koryak family has a drum
of its own,' and performance on it to the accompaniment of songs is obligatory on days of certain ceremonials. I was told that the same custom existed
among the ancient Kamchadal.2 Among the Yukaghir, also, each family has
its own drums.
While travelling in the country of Omolon and on both Anui rivers, I
found drums half worn-out on every dwelling-site of the former inhabitants,
who were starved out in the first decades of the nineteenth century, because
the^ wild reindeer almost ceased their yearly wanderings in that country. My
fellow-travellers, who were Russianized natives from the Kolyma country, felt
very uneasy on account of this abundance of drums, and repeatedly insisted
that the people must have been great sorcerers, and that it was no wonder
that God took them away from this world. These drums, however, were
only the old family belongings, which probably were used in a way similar
to that peculiar to the Chukchee.
Besides this general resemblance, it is difficult to say whether the shamanism of the neighboring tribes had any direct influence on that of the
Chukchee. The latter, indeed, treat "alien" shamans with as much veneration
as they do their own. In the western part of the territory of the reindeerbreeders, many people apply to the Tungus shamans for advice, and some of
the Chukchee go so far as to procure for their own use large drums of the
more southern type employed by the Tungus.3
The old women of the Ke'rek tribe have the reputation of being very
skilful in working spells, and this skill is mentioned even in tales.4 The
shamans of the American Eskimo of the nearest shore of Alaska also enjoy
the respect of their Asiatic neighbors, both Maritime Chukchee and Asiatic
Eskimo. In one tale a contest between two shamans - one an American,
one an Asiatic - ends with a full victory for the American, although the
shaman from the Asiatic shore resorts even to treachery, and is severely
punished for it.'
The direct influence of "alien" shamanism on the shamanism of the
Chukchee may be traced only in the shamanistic garment, of which I shall
speak in the latter part of this chapter.
IINDIVIDUAL SHAMANISTIC INSPIRATION. - In modern times the importance of
family shamanism is losing ground among all the tribes named, with the exception of the Chukchee, and there is a tendency of its being replaced on all
occasions by individual shamanism. Individual shamans among the Chukchee
are called "those with spirits" (efie'niilit, from e'nieni, 6 "shamanistic spirit").
54.

I Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p.
2 Krasheninnikoff (II, p. 8o) says that every

woman, especially an old one, and every "transformed
3 Compare p- 356.
man," is considered a shaman and interpreter of dreams. See also Steller, p. 277.
4 See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 2IO.
8 Compare p. 300.
S Ibid., p. 22I.

4I 5

Shamanism is not restricted to either sex. The gift of inspiration is thought
to be bestowed more frequently upon women, but it is reputed to be of a
rather inferior kind, and the higher grades belong rather to men. The
reason given for this is, that the bearing of children is generally adverse-to
shamanistic inspiration, so that a young woman with considerable shamanistic
power may lose the greater part of it after the birth of her first child. She
will recover it only after several years, - with the ending of the period of
her maternity. It is also considered that all material objects in any way
connected with the birth either of animals or of mankind may be detrimental
to the shamanistic force, not only in women, but even in men who happen
to come in contact with them. Thus, the grass which served for bedding to
a woman in labor may be used to destroy the shamanistic power of any
young man slowly "gathering inspiration" (eiie'nitvilin). It need only be
rubbed against the forehead of the young shaman during his sleep, and he
will "come back" (to the usual life). A female shaman, by name Te'lpiina,
complained to me, in her description of "things seen by her,"' that her motherin-law, seeing that she would be a great female shaman, gave her to drink
of the amniotic fluid of a bitch. This injured her vitals, and the soul of the
dog entered her own soul.
Since female shamanism is thought to be of an inferior order, it is considered to require a shorter period for "gathering inspiration," and to be attended with less pain, than male shamanism. Female shamans, however, may
acquire a high degree of skill in almost any branch of shamanistic action,
with the single exception of the ventriloquistic art, which is considered entirely
beyond their reach.
PREPARATORY PERIOD. - The shamanistic call begins to manifest itself
at an early age, in many cases during the critical period of transition from
childhood to youth. It is also the period of rapid and intense growth; and
it is well known that many persons of both sexes manifest during this time
increased sensitiveness, and that the mind often becomes unbalanced. It is
easy to understand that this critical period of human life, which is always full
of unexpected changes and developments, is peculiarly adapted to the first
implanting of shamanistic inspiration.
Nervous and highly excitable temperaments are most susceptible to the
shamanistic call. The shamans among the Chukchee with whom I conversed
were as a rule extremely excitable, almost hysterical, and not a few of them
were half crazy. Their cunning in the use of deceit in their art closely
resembled the cunning of a lunatic.
The Chukchee say that young persons destined to receive shamanistic
inspiration may be recognized at a very early age, even in their teens, by
the gaze, which, during a conversation, is not turned to the listener, but is
I See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 379.

4 I6

fixed on something beyond him. In connection with this, they say that the
eyes of a shaman have a look different from that of other people, and they
explain it by the assertion that the eyes of the shaman are very bright
(nik6'raqtn), which, by the way, gives them the ability to see "spirits" even
in the dark. It is certainly a fact that the expression of a shaman is pecula combination of cunning and shyness; and by this it is often possible
iar,
to pick him out from among many others.
The Chukchee are well aware of the extreme nervousness of their shamans,
and express it by the word nini'rkilqin ("he is bashful"). By this word they
mean to convey the idea that the shaman is highly sensitive even to the
slightest change of the psychic atmosphere surrounding him during his exercises. For instance, the Chukchee shaman is diffident in acting before strangers,
especially shortly after his initiation. A shaman of great power will refuse
to show his skill when among strangers, and will yield only after much solicitation: even then, as a rule, he will not show all of his power. He is shy
of strange people, of a house to which he is unaccustomed, of "alien" drums
and charms which are hidden in their bags, and of "spirits" that hover around.
The least doubt or sneer makes him break off the performance and retire.
The shamanistic "spirits" are likewise described as "fleeting" (nIri'nAqen),
meaning that they want, to flee before every unusual face or voice. When
too many strange visitors come to the shaman, the "spirits" are shy of appearing, and, even when they do come, they are all the time anxious to slip
away. Once when I induced a shaman to practise at. my house, his "spirits"
(of a ventriloquistic kind) for a long time refused to come. When at last
they did come, they were heard walking around the house outside and
knocking on its walls, as if still undecided whether to enter. When they
entered, they kept near to the corners, carefully avoiding too close proximity
to those present.
"Ke'let belong to the wilderness," say- the shamans, "just as much as
any wild animal. This is the reason that they are so fleeting." Ke'let of
the animal kind have this shyness to an extreme degree. When coming at
the call of the shaman, they sniff and snort, and finally, after some short
exercise on the drum, flee back to the freedom of the wilderness. All this,
of course, is brought about by ventriloquism, as will be described later. Even
the ke'let of diseases, especially those who cannot harm man much, - as,
for instance, rheum or cold, - are described as very "fleeting." Thus, in
one tale, the rheum, before mustering sufficient courage to enter a human
habitation, makes several attempts, and each time goes back overcome by its
shyness. When caught on the spot, it manifests the utmost fear, and in
abject terms begs for freedom.
The Chukchee generally are highly susceptible to any physical or psychical impressions of a kind to which they are unused; as, for instance, to

4I 7

unfamiliar odors.' This is especially the case in regard to diseases; and the
saying, "The Chukchee people are 'soft to die'" (nuthiwi'qin), is frequently
heard among them. Thus, though they are able to endure excessive hardships, they succumb quickly to any contagious disease brought from civilized
countries. This sensitiveness is shared by other native tribes of northeastern
Siberia, and even by the Russian creoles, who are just as susceptible to psychic influences of an unusual character; for instance, to warning received in
dreams or from strange people, to threats on the part of shamans or high
officials, etc. During the last epidemic of measles, a creole in Gishiga lived
but one night after having been told by an official, who meant no harm,
that in a dream he had seen him die. There have been several instances of
suicide among the cossacks and Russianized natives as the result of reproof
on the part of officials. In other cases, native guides of Lamut or Yukaghir
origin, travelling with parties of Russian officials on exploring expeditions,
have, on losing their way in the uninhabited country, run away from fear
and despair, and every trace of them thereafter has been lost. Suicides are
also frequent among the Chukchee.
It seems to me that Mr. Jochelson has in mind the same high degree
of susceptibility when he calls attention to the fact that the young men of
the Yukaghir were said in ancient tinmes to be exceedingly bashful, so much
so that they would die when a sudden affront was given them, even by their
own relatives.2 The shamans possess this nervous sensitiveness in a still
higher degree than other people. This finds expression in the proverb that
shamans are even more "soft to die" than ordinary people.
While speaking of this subject, let me add, that the slightest lack of
harmony between the acts of the shamans and the mysterious call of their
"spirits" brings their life to an end. This is expressed by the Chukchee
when they say that "spirits" are very bad-tempered, and punish with immediate death the slightest disobedience of the shaman, and that this is particularly so when the shaman is slow to carry out those orders which are intended to single him out from other people.
On the other hand, apart from the displeasure of his ke'let, a shaman
is said to be "resistant to death" and especially "difficult to kill," even when
vanquished by enemies. Thus, in a description of a murder which took place
in the Anui country in the nineties of the last century, the native, whose
words were written down .verbatim, says,"With an incantation of theirs they made him sleep. While he was sleeping, they attacked
him from both sides. One cut his throat; the other stabbed him in the direction of the heart,
the source of life and death. Nevertheless he jumped up. But he had no arms. They were also
'knowing people;' and thus they induced him, likewise by incantations, to leave the camp unarmed.
If he had had only a small knife, perhaps he would have been able to overpower them. Now,
: Compare p. 38.

2 See Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, Introduction, pp. VI, XIIi.

4I8

though he (being a shaman) stood up, with what could he fight them, except with his teeth and
nails? Thus they stabbed him; but his wounds immediately healed and he'was as before. For a
very long time they could not kill him. At last they fell upon him from both sides, and, throwing
him down, scooped out his eyes, pierced the eyeballs with a knife and flung them far away.
Then they cut his body here and there; also the heart they tore away and cut to pieces. All
these pieces they buried in the ground in separate places, because they were afraid to bury them
together, lest he should revive." 1

Another account of similar kind says,
"She [the murderer] came to her neighbor, a woman, who was busy with her fireboard,
trying to make a fire. She stabbed her from behind. But the girl continued to work on the fire,
because she was a shaman-girl, a woman able to stab herself (in shamanistic performance). Therefore she could not kill her, but only severed the tendons of her arms and legs."2

A third account, referring to the small-pox epidemic of I884 in the
country of the western Kolyma, says,
"Then A'mce began to thiiik about his son-in-law, because his daughter left him ill in the
vacant camp. A'm6e said, 'Let us go and visit him.' He said, 'He is one able to resist death,
he is a shaman."' 3

The shamanistic call manifests itself in various ways. Sometimes it is
an inner voice, which bids the person enter into intercourse with the "spirits."
If the person is dilatory in obeying, the calling "spirit" soon appears in some
outward, visible shape, and communicates the call in a more explicit way.
For instance, Aiiianwa't, whom I have mentioned before, says that at one
time, after a severe illness, when his soul was ripe for inspiration, he saw
several "spirits," but did not give much heed to the fulfilment of their orders.
Then a "spirit" came to him. He was gaunt, and black of color, and said
that he was the "spirit" of reindeer-scab.4 Aiinanwa't felt himself very much
drawn toward that 'spirit," and wanted him to stay and become his constant
companion. The "spirit" hesitated at first, and then refused to stay. He
said, however, "I may consent, if your desire for my company is strong
enough, - if you wish me enough to take the drum, to handle it for three
days and three nights, and to become a shaman." Aiinanwa't, in his turn,
refused, and the "spirit" immediately vanished.?
The shamanistic call is also manifested by various omens, such as meeting
a certain animal, finding a stone or a shell of peculiar form, etc. Each of
these omens has in itself nothing extraordinary, but derives its significance
from its mystical recognizance in the mind of the person to whose notice it
is brought. This process resembles the finding of amulets; and, indeed, the
stone found, or the animal met, becomes the protector and the assistant "spirit"
of the person in question.
Young people, as a rule, are exceedly reluctant to obey the call, especially if it involves the adoption of some characteristic device in clothing or in
I

SeeBogoiras, Chukchee Materials, p. I 9.

3 Ibid.) p- 40°

4 Compare p. 8 I.

Ibid.i P- 32.
Ibid., P. .385.

4I.9

the mode of life. They refuse to take the drum and to call the "spirits,"
leave the amulets in the field, from very fear,1 etc.
The parents of young persons "doomed to inspiration" (enie'nitvu li'nyo)
act differently, according to temperament and family conditions. Sometimes
they protest against the call coming to their child, and try to induce it to
reject the "spirits" and to keep to the ordinary life. This happens mostly in
the case of only children, because of the danger pertaining to the shamanistic
call, especially in the beginning. The protest of the parents is, however, of
no avail, because the rejection of,the "spirits" is much more dangerous even
than the acceptance of their call. A young man thwarted in his call to
inspiration will either sicken and shortly die, or else the "spirits" will induce
him to renounce his home and go far away, where he may follow his vocation
without hindrance.
On the other hand, it is entirely permissible to abandon shamani%tic
performances at a more mature age, after several years of practice; and e
anger of the "spirits" is not incurred by it. I met several persons who aaserted that formerly they had been great shamans, but that now they had
given up most of their exercises. As reason for this, they gave illness, age,
or simply a decrease of their shamanistic power, which in the course of time
manifested itself. One said that because of illness he -felt as if his arms
and legs were frozen, and that thereafter they did not thaw, so that he was
unable to "shake himself" well upon the drum. Another said that he and
his "spirits" became tired of each other. Most of the cases, probably, were
simply the result of recovery from the nervous condition which had made the
persons in question fit subjects for the inspiration. While the shaman is
in possession of the inspiration, he must practise, and cannot hide his power.
Otherwise it will manifest itself in the form of bloody sweat or in a fit of
violent madness similar to epilepsy (ite'yun).2
There are parents who wish their child to answer the call. This happens
especially in families rich in children, with large herds, and with several tents
of their own. Such a family is not inclined to feel anxious about a possible
loss of one of its members. On the contrary, they are desirous of having a
shaman of their own, - made to order, so to speak, - a special solicitor
before the "spirits," and a caretaker in all extraordinary casualties of life.
A shaman by the name of Tei'inet, in the country near the Wolverene
River, told me that, when the call came to him and he did not want to obey,
his father gave him the drum and induced him to begin the exercise. After
that, he continued to feel "bashful" for several years. On days of ceremoI Compare also the story in Krasheninnikoff, mentioned before (p. 339), in which it is told that a
Koryak found an important amulet on the bank of the river, but left it there from sheer fright. He became
very ill, and his illness was ascribed to the anger of the amulet. After a considerable lapse of time he came
back to look for the amulet, and at last carried it away with him.
2 Compare p. 42.

nials he even fled from the camp and hid himself, lest his relatives should
find him out and bring him back to camp, to show to the assembled people
his newly acquired and growing skill.
For men, the preparatory stage of shamanistic inspiration is in most
cases very painful, and extends over a long time. The call comes in an
abrupt and obscure manner, leaving the young novice in much uncertainty
regarding it. He feels "bashful" and frightened; he,doubts his own disposition
and strength, as has been the case with all seers, from Moses down. Half
unconsciously and half against his own will, his whole soul undergoes a
strange and painful transformation. This period may last months, and sometimes even years. The young novice, the "newly inspired" (tur-e-ne'iItvillin),
loses all interest in the ordinary affairs of life. He ceases to work, eats but
little and without relishing the food, ceases to talk to people, and does not
even answer their questions. The greater part of his time he spends in sleep.
Some keep to the inner room and go out but rarely. Others wander
about in the wilderness, under the pretext of hunting or of keeping watch
over the herd, but often without taking along any arms or the lasso of
the herdsman. A wanderer like this, however, must be closely watched,
otherwise he might lie down on the open tundra and sleep for three or four
days, incurring the danger, in winter, of being buried in drifting snow.
When coming to himself after such a long sleep, he imagines that he has
been out for only a few hours, and generally is not conscious of having slept
in the wilderness at all. The accounts of such prolonged sleep are, of course,
greatly exaggerated.
The Chukchee, however, sometimes, in case of sickness, fall into a heavy
and protracted slumber, which may last many days, with only the necessary
interruptions for physical needs, and which may, perhaps, end in death,
though this is by no means assured'. For instance, two years before my
coming to the Anadyr, one Rike'whi, a Chukchee living at Mariinsky Post,
and his wife, both had an attack of grippe, which, as I have said before,
ravages the country at short intervals. The woman died. The man slept it
out for more than two months. During this time he took but little food,
mostly dried fish, and very rarely could he have a hot meal prepared for
him by sympathetic women among his neighbors. All this was corroborated
by the Russian cossacks living at Mariinsky Post, in close proximity to the
natives.
The before-mentioned Aifianwa't also told me that in I884 he lost
his whole family by small-pox, but slept it out himself for two weeks, during
which time he conversed with "spirits." It is also believed that the "spirits"
communicate with novices during their slumbers, and gradually assert their
power over their minds and their whole persons.
The process of gathering inspiration is so painful to young shamans,

42 I

because of their mental struggle against the call, that they are sometimes
said to sweat blood on the forehead and the temples. Afterwards every
preparation of a shaman for a performance is considered a sort of repetition
of the initiative process: hence it is said that the Chukchee shamans during
that time are easily susceptible to hemorrhage and even to bloody sweat.
I myself witnessed two cases of bleeding from the nose among Chukchee
shamans before their performances. As regards the bloody sweat, I knew
of only one case, and even in that I was suspicious that the shaman in
question, having an attack of nose-bleed, had happily thought to smear his
temples with blood in order to increase our respect for his shamanistic powers.
At least, he kept repeating that he was not like the modern shamans, but
that he was the equal of the ancient "genuine" shamans, who sweated blood
from the strain of their inspiration. He was, however, a typical specimnen of
a Chukchee shaman, - a very unsteady, excitable nature; and after all, I
am not quite sure that he tricked us with his bloody sweat.
The preparatory period is compared by the Chukchee to a long, severe
illness; and the acquirement of inspiration, to a recovery. There are cases
of young persons who, having suffered for years from lingering illness (usually
of a nervous character), at last feel a call to take to shamanistic practice,
and by this means overcome the disease. Of course it is difficult to draw
the line of demarcation, and all these cases finally come under one and the
same class. The preparatory period of inspiration is designated by the Chukchee by a special term, meaning "he gathers shamanistic power" (the verb
tewitiiiirkin and its derivatives). With weaker shamans and with women, the
preparatory period is less painful, and the call to inspiration comes mainly
in dreams.
To people of more mature age the shamanistic call may come during
some great misfortune, dangerous and protracted illness, sudden loss of family
or property, etc. Then the person, having no other resource, turns to the
"spirits," and claims their assistance. It is generally considered that in such
cases a favorable issue is possible only with the aid of the "spirits:" therefore a man who has withstood some extraordinary trial of his life is considered as having within himself the possibilities of a shaman, and he often
feels bound to enter into closer relations with the "spirits," lest he incur their
displeasure at his negligence and lack of gratitude.
This is evidenced in the case of Aiiianwa't, mentioned above. He was
not careful enough to obey the instructions of the "spirits," who came to him
with benevolent intentions, and even performed upon him with a supernatural
silver knife of their own an operation which freed him from all diseased
matter. Hence, though he recovered from his illness, he had no further
good-fortune in life. He was unable to increase his diminished herd, and
after a few years of useless struggle found himself forced to bequeathe it,
54-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

42 2

with the hereditary charms, to his elder son. He even left his house, and
lived the last years of his life as a wandering hunter of wild reindeer.'
On the contrary, another Reindeer Chukchee, 1Iro'n,2 had a shamanistic
call during his search for the herd which had run away in a thick fog. The
searcb lasted for several months, during which time NS Iro'n suffered severe
hardships. He was without food for days, had no shelter in which to sleep,
was drenched with rain, and was even without any fire to dry his clothes.
In this plight he met several animals who acted like men, and played various
tricks on him. At last he met a Wolf who was eating from a carcass
of a newly killed reindeer. The Wolf took compassion on him, saying that
he knew well what hunger was. He bade him cut off the legs of the carcass, and feed on the sinew and the marrow, which the Chukchee, .as said
before, eat raw. The carcass, on its part, begged l4Iiro'n not to touch it,
promising to bring his herd as ransom. The Wolf sneered at the proposition,
saying that the Reindeer was too slow, since it had allowed itself to be
caught. Then NfIro'n ate from the carcass. The Wolf then promised to
find the herd. After two weeks he again met Niro'n, and told him where
to find the reindeer.
Immediately after the recovery of the herd, 'lRro'n slaughtered a fat doe
and sacrificed it to the Wolf. From that time on, NlIro'n considered himself
as "one with spirits' (efie'fiilin). His claim, however, was generally ridiculed
by his neighbors on account of his character. He was a spendthrift, much
given to card-playing, and cared little for his herd and home, and the
Chukchee refused to believe that such a good-for-nothing could amount to
much in the eyes of the "spirits.' N7Iro'n himself, however, often beat his
drum, sang his tunes, and called to the "spirits," not so much for any real
purpose, but simply to keep up the useful relation with them and to avoid
their displeasure.
Still another acquaintance of mine, by the name of Ka'tek, from the
village of Unii'sak at Indian Point, entered into relations with the "spirits"
when he was of mature age, during a terrible adventure he had while hunting
seal. While walking on the ice-floe, along a wide crack, he happened to
harpoon a seal, which came out of the water at some distance from the edge
of the ice. With the ice-pick on the butt of his harpoon, he broke off a
piece of ice large enough to support his body, and ventured on it out toward
the seal, using the shaft of his harpoon as a paddle. Maritime hunters,
lacking a canoe, often do the same. Meanwhile a strong gale came from
the land and carried away the outer part of the ice-floe. Ka'tek, who had
already reached his seal, was carried away on his piece of ice. Seeing his
danger, he wound the line around his waist, and fastened its ends to the
points of his ice-block, in front and behind. Then he drove the harpoon
I See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 385.
2 Compare p. 45.

firmly into the ice, and clutched it with both hands, trying to stand his
ground against the sea. The sea was rough, the waves rolled over his head,
and he was thoroughly drenched. After several hours of such suffering,
Ka'tek rebelled against his fate, and he was about to end the ordeal by
stabbing himself with his belt-knife, when a large walrus-head suddenly
popped out of the water quite close to him, and sang, "O Ka'tek, do not
kill yourself! You shall again see the m-ountains of Unii'sak and the little
Kuwa'kak, your elder son." Then, quite unexpectedly, Ka'tek saw a large
iceberg, which drew the block on which he stood towards itself. Most
icebergs are quite steep and inaccessible, but on this one he found a gentle
slope where he could easily land. He took his harpoon along, and, hauling
in the line, found the harpoon-point still fast to the seal-carcass. After that
he climbed the iceberg, and, finding a suitable place, constructed a temporary
shelter of the blocks of rough ice lying about. Then he skinned the seal,
and, creeping under the shelter, spread the skin for a floor-covering, and,
crouching down, took off his clothes piece by piece, carefully wringing out
the water, and scraping it off with his knife. He ate of the seal-blubber, and
swallowed a few pieces of ice, which tasted like fresh water. Then the wind
changed and the iceberg drifted to land. At last, after more than twenty-four
hours spent on the water, he came to land near the village of ee'cin. When
he reached his own village, he found his family were already bringing sacrifice
of seal-oil to his manes. He bade them direct the sacrifice to the walrushead, and from that time on he was a shaman. He had some renown among
his neighbors, and his art was in requisition in the village of Uini'sak.
There is a limit, .however, as to the age at which a person may become
a shaman, even with due call and occasion. In the case of Aiinanwa't, he
was more than forty, and felt his soul unfit for a change.
In a Koryak tale, when Quikinn-a'qu unexpectedly makes for himself a
drum out of a small louse, and becomes a shaman, his neighbors say sceptically, "Has the old QuikInn-a'qu really become a shaman? From his youth
up he had no spirits within his call."'
Though this instance is taken from the Koryak, and that of Ka'tek from
the Aiwan Eskimo, both answer the purpose equally well, since the shamanism
of the Chukchee and of these two tribes has similar features.
It is also considered perfectly natural that a young boy visited by some
great misfortune should try to call to the "spirits." If they deign to come
to his assistance, their fellowship with the boy is likely to become very intimate, and he has the chance of being a really great shaman.
Thus a shaman, by name Scratching-Woman, told me that his father
was a small, sickly fellow, who had but a few reindeer, which he finally lost
in a thick fog, not far from the Russian village of Markova. He and his
1 See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 29I.

wife, dragging behind them a sledge with their boy, and with a few belongings,
went there afoot. The Russians, however, gave them so little food that
after a few days the father died. The boy and his mother lived on, but were
nearly starved, when their relatives came to fetch them to their camp. After
that they suffered severely for several successive years. The boy hauled fuel
on a sledge for the richer people, and was paid with a few small bits of
meat or with putrid blood. The food was so scanty that he could not grow,
and remained sickly and weak. Then he began to beat the drum and to
call for the "spirits," and one by one he saw all the supernatural beings
(va'Irgit), and he made himself a shaman. The va'irgin of the Motionless
Star came to him in a dream and said to him, "Cease to be such a weakling!
Be a shaman and strong, and you will have plenty of food."
Soon he acquired some reindeer which took to breeding. At last he
reached manhood, and then he married into a family which had a good-sized
herd. When his father-in-law died, he became the head of the family, his
wife being the eldest of the children of the deceased one. He was no longer
an orphan, and the herd at his disposal grew to be "awkward to count."
I saw the herd in question, and it did not number more than twenty scores
(qlik-qli'kkin); but, as has been said before, this number is about the limit of
the Chukchee knowledge of counting.'
Another man, Ye'tilin by name, who belonged by birth to an Arctic
Maritime village, but afterward married into a reindeer-breeding family on the
Dry Anui River, and joined its camp, told me that in his early childhood
his family perished from a contagious disease (probably influenza), and he
was left alone with his small sister. Then he called to the "spirits." They
came and brought food, and said to him, "Ye'tilin, take to beating the drum!
we will assist you in that also."
When I saw Ye'tilin, he was a man of fifty, but the recalling of those
early memories so worked upon his excitable nature, that he jumped up and
chanted his recital to one of his favorite tunes. As a shaman he had
much renown in the vicinity, and was generally called by the name the Russians gave him to designate his special art and calling. This name was
Shamanchik (llaMaaH'TM, "Little Shaman").
In the same way a number of Chukchee tales tell of young orphans,
despised and oppressed by all their neighbors, who call to the "spirits," and
with their assistance become strong men and powerful shamans.
The single means used by the Chukchee shamans, novice or experienced,
for communication with "spirits," is the beating of the drum and singing.
As said before, the usual family drum is employed with a drum-stick of
whalebone, while a wooden drum-stick is used chiefly in ceremonials. Some
drums have two whalebone drum-sticks, of which the extra one is supposed
1 Compare p. 50.

to be intended for the use of " spirits," when they approach and want to
"shake themselves;" that is, to beat the drum.
The beating of the drum, notwithstanding its seeming simplicity, requires
some skill, and the novice must spend considerable time before he can acquire
the desired degree of perfection. This has reference especially to the power
of endurance of the performer. The same may be said of the singing. The
manifestations continue for several hours, during all which time the shaman
exercises the most violent activity without scarcely a pause. After the performance he must not show any signs of fatigue, because he is supposed to
be sustained by the " pirits;" and, moreover, the greater part of the exercise
is asserted to be the work of the "spirits" themselves, either while entering
his body, or while outside his body. The degree of endurance required for
all this, and the ability to pass quickly from the highest excitement to a
state of normal quietude, can, of course, be acquired only by long practice.
Indeed, all the shamans I conversed with said that they had to spend a year, or
even two years, before sufficient strength of hand, and freedom of voice, were
given to them by the "spirits." Some asserted that during all this preparatory
time they kept closely to the inner room, taking up the drum several times
a day, and beating it as long as their strength would allow.
The only other means of training for inspiration, of which I am aware,
is abstention from all fat and rich foods, as well as great moderation in eating.
The same strictness is observed ever afterwards in the preparation for each
individual performance, in which the shaman tries to abstain wholly from food.
Various tricks performed by the Chukchee shamans, including ventriloquism, have to be learned in the preparatory stage. However, I could obtain
no detailed information on this point, since the shamans, of course, asserted
that the tricks were done by "spirits," and denied having any hand whatever
in proceedings of such a character.
In some cases, evidently, the old men have taught the younger generation, who are said to have received their power from them. The transfer is
final, and cannot be revoked. The man who gives a part of his power to
another man loses correspondingly, and can hardly recover the loss afterwards.
To transfer his power, the older shaman must blow on the eyes or into the
mouth of the recipient, or he may stab himself with a knife, with the blade
of which, still reeking with his "source of life" (tetke'yuii), he will immediately
pierce the body of the recipient. These methods are also supposed to be
used by shamans in the treatment of their patients.
Most of the shamans I knew claimed to have had no teachers, but to
have acquired their art by their own individual efforts. I am not aware of
a single instance of the transfer of shamanistic power in the whole domain of
Chukchee folk-lore. Among the Eskimo, I met women who had learned their
shamanistic performances from their husbands, and children who had been

taught by their parents. In one family on St. Lawrence Island, the shamanistic
power has been- retained for a succession of generations, evidently having
been transferred from father to son. This is connected with the more complicated performances which pertain to Eskimo shamanism, and of which I
shall speak at another place.
PSYCHOLOGY OF THE SHAMANS. -I have already said that most of the
Chukchee shamans are very nervous, highly excitable persons, often almost
on the verge of insanity. To make this statement clearer, I will try to give
instances of this in more detail.
A shaman from the Telka'p tundra, by name Kele'wgi ("Ke'lE-man"), with
whom I made acquaintance in the Mariinsky Post, had, even among the
Russians, the reputation of an odd customer, of one who seeks a quarrel on the
slightest provocation. Once he came to a Russian cossack, bringing a couple
of half hairless reindeer-skins, and peremptorily demanded to be paid for them
a price quite out of proportion to the real value of even the best skins ot
that kind. On the refusal of the cossack, he instantly drew his knife, intending to strike, but happily the cossack turned aside the blow with a stick.
Immediately afterwards the too exacting trader was turned out of the barracks
where this incident had taken place.
Shortly after my arrival, Kele'wgi came to me and declared his intention
of giving me valuable material in relation to the abode of "spirits" and their
ways with men. His accounts, however, were too incoherent and contradictory to be of any great value. Among other things, he gave me his biography. He was a grandson of a great shamnan, Tilu'u, long since deceased.
When he was still quite a young lad, a voice said to him, "Go into the
wilderness: there you will find a tiny drum. Try it and prove its qualities."
He found the drum and began to exercise on it. Then he saw all the
world, - both shores of the Anadyr River and the whole tundra. After
that, he ascended to the sky and pitched his tent on the ground of the clouds.
From that time on, he took to the practice of shamanism. Soon he equalled
his grandfather in power, and then surpassed him.
All this was evidently borrowed from various tales and incantations.
For instance, a tiny drum made of the skin of a beetle, or even of a small
louse, figures in several stories, Chukchee and Koryak. When found in the
wilderness, and shown to be of a supernatural kind, it gives to its possessor
immense shamanistic power.' The same may also be said about the ground
of the clouds.2
Kele'wgi professed to be so sure of the great value of his information
and of the corresponding high pay he should receive for it, that he brought
to the fair nothing but this treasure of his mind. For all the provisions and
wares he wished to take to his home, he relied wholly on my generosity and
I

See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, P. 21 1.

I

Compare p. 331I

my common sense. After that I had trouble with Kele'wgi for several
months, because no pay seemed to him adequate for the sacrifice of his
knowledge.
The shaman Scratching-Woman manifested symptoms of a nature even
more excitable. He could not sit long in one place, but every little while
he would jump up with violent gestures. At one time he came to me with
complaints of a pain he felt "somewhere inside his back," and I tried to help
him with a cataplasm. He proved, however, quite unable to endure the
burning, and began to shout that the fire of Russian shamanism was consuming his whole body: so I had to remove the poultice. Two other Chukchee who came at the same time with rheumatic complaints, and were treated in
a similar way, declared only that they felt warm, as in a Russian sweat-bath,
and requested the application of an extra cataplasm.
Notwithstanding his youth, Scratching-Woman had already quarreled with
many neighbors of his own age, and had generally been worsted, because he
had no peculiar strength or skill at wrestling. His temper was exceedingly
bad when under the influence of liquor, however slightly. Once, when we
were sitting in my house and he was on the point of beginning a narrative
about his "spirits," another acquaintance of mine and a distant relative of his,
by name Giyewte'hin, entered unexpectedly. We saw that he had been
drinking, having procured the liquor, probably, from a Russian schooner then
at anchor in the bay near Mariinsky Post. Giyewte'hin declared that he felt
lonely, and he also would listen to the words of the shaman.
Now, Scratching-Woman was exceedly "bashful," the more so as the
subject of our talk was concerning his ideas about the "spirits." Up to this
time, when acting in the presence of spectators, he had given no explanation
of his actions or of their significance: therefore he was averse to having another listener, particularly from his own people. An altercation ensued, and
Q4yewte'hin threatened to "count the ribs" of Scratching-Woman, should he
ever again come to his camp. The shaman scowled, and answered with a
broad allusion to the "spirits" at his command. At last Giyewte'hin declared
that he was ready to go if I would treat him to some alcohol. This, of
course, had been his sole purpose from the beginning. Seeing that the
shainan was trembling from excitement, and was on the point of pitching
into his adversary, I hastened to quiet Giyewte'hin and to send him from
the house. There could be no question whether to use violence or persuasion,
since he unhesitatingly declared that, rather than go away without his allowance of liquor, he would permit himself to be killed, and I gave him full
credit for the sincerity of his words.' When at last he was off with his
1 The passion of this man for strong liquor was something extraordinary, even among tha Chukchee.
He even attempted to steal our bottles in which mice and small birds were preserved, though I made him believe that the alcohol in them was poisoned. He would say with great earnestness, "Mice be ...! Better take
me, and immerse me in alcohol in a similar manner. Let me be drowned in strong liquor."

large green bottle, which now contained two ounces of undiluted alcohol,
Scratching-Woman picked a quarrel with me.
"See now," said he, "how foolish I am! Other people receive the precious liquor in my very presence, but you give none to me." There was
nothing else to be done but to offer him also a drink of alcohol. To my
great surprise he was silent for a while, and then suddenly refused the treat.
This was to my knowledge the first instance of a Chukchee refusing a drink
of liquor.
"See now," said Scratching-Woman by way of explanation, "I will be
frank with you. Drink really makes my temper too bad for anything.
Usually my wife watches over me, and puts all knives out of my reach.
But when we are apart, I am afraid." With this he showed me a long scar
on his shoulder, which he said was the result of a drunken brawl when his
wife could not watch over his actions. Only those who know the strength ot
the passion the Chukchee have for alcohol will appreciate the force of will
shown by the shaman in this case, or will realize the danger.
This is only one incident characteristic of Scratching-Woman. By the
way, the threats interchanged between Giyewte'hin and himself did not amount
to much, and were forgotten the next morning.
The shaman Ye'tilin, before mentioned, had an incessant nervous twitching in his face, and the Chukchee said laughingly that he was probably
"with an owl ke'lE" (tile'"kele'lin), comparing his affliction to the jerking
motion of the owl's head when it devours its prey. Another shaman, by
name Ki'miqai, whom I met on the Large Anui, and who belonged to a
family of suicides, suffered from the same cause.'
I have before spoken of the female shaman Te'lpiina, who, according to
her own words, had been violently insane for three years, during which time
her household had taken such precautions, that she could do no harm to the
people or to herself.
In contrast to all this was the shaman Kora'whe, whom I met in the
Anui country. He was a good-looking, well-proportioned man of rather quiet
manners, though an ill-advised word might throw him into intense excitement.
He excelled in shamanistic devices which apparently required great physical
strength and dexterity. At the same time, however, he declared that he did
not consider himself a shaman of a high order, and that his relations with
the "spirits" must not be taken very seriously. To explain this he said that
when he was young he suffered severely from syphilis. To heal himself, he
had recourse to spirits, and after two years, when he had become skilful in
shamanistic practices, he was completely restored by their help. After that
he maintained intercourse with the ke'let for several years, and was on the
point of becoming a really great shaman. Then suddenly his luck was gone.
t Compare p. 47.

One of his dogs bore two black pups; and when he saw them both sitting
side by side on their haunches, looking into his face, he took it as a sign
that the time had come for him to withdraw from shamanistic practices. He
suffered a relapse of his illness, and his herd was visited by hoof-disease.
Fearing that worse things might happen, he dropped all serious pursuits of
shamanism, and practised only the tricks,' which were completely harmless.
As far as I could learn, he had been a magician employing especially the
powers of evil, or practising the black art; and after the return of his disease,
he abandoned those practices, considering them detrimental to his health
and well-being.
There can be no doubt, of course, that shamans, during their performances, employ deceit in various forms, and that they themselves are fully
cognizant of the fact. "There are many liars in our calling," Scratching-Woman
said to me. "One will lift up the skins of the sleeping-room with his right toe,
and then assure you that it was done by 'spirits'; another will talk into the
bosom of his shirt or through his sleeve, making the voice issue from a
quite unusual place."
Of course, he was ready to swear that he never made use of any of
these wrong practices. "Look at my face," he continued; "he who tells
lies, his tongue stutters. He whose speech, however, flows offhand from his
lips, certainly must speak the truth." This was a rather doubtful argument,
but I refrained from making any such suggestion.
Some of the people even are aware of the deceit of the shamans.
Several men, when talking of shamanistic feats, said that, though the tricks
performed were very wonderful, they were by no means real, but were produced only through illusion on the part of the observers. Others went even
further. Thus, the trader Kuva'r at Indian Point, of whom I have spoken
several times, assured me that even the most renowned shamans are only
clever deceivers. "When I witness their best trick," he asserted, "even then,
with proper attention, I can discover the fraud. He [the shaman] will pretend
to cut with a knife the abdomen of the patient; but I can follow the direction of the knife, and see that it glances off without hurting the skin, and
that the blood comes from the mouth of the operator."
This scepticism, perhaps, is the result of intercourse with civilized people.
With some of the shamans, fraud is not restricted to jugglery. We caught
Scratching-Woman in the very act of stealing our washing from the line.
The woman who, during our stay at Indian Point, was caught thieving,l was
also a shaman.
However, in giving directions and answers to persons seeking advice,
Chukchee shamans often display much wisdom and circumspection, especially
when they have to deal with matters out of the reach of their knowledge
C
compare p. 48.
5 5-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOI. VII.

and understanding. This is the case when the inquirer is of a different stage
of culture; for instance, with Russian officials or merchants, who sometimes
do not despise the help of the native "spirits." Thus the assistant of the
chief official of Anadyr asked Scratching-Woman, during a shamanistic seance,
whether his Second Interior Loan bond, with prizes, would draw a lucky
number in the- yearly lottery. It was no little trouble to explain to the
shaman what was meant by "an Interior Loan bond;" but, when he understood
it, he immediately answered that he saw that the foundations of the wealth
of the questioner, which were in his own country, were going to increase.
To a cossack who wanted to know whether the yearly mail steamer would
bring him a furlough, the shaman answered, "The big boat brings change
and joy to all people in this country." I could cite other answers not less
worthy of the oracle of Delphi. To my own questions of this kind, the
shamans usually answered that my country was too far away, and the feet of
their ke'let too small, to go there. Furthermore, the ke'let are too shy of
the manners of the unknown dwellers in those distant localities. I saw similar
circumspection displayed also in regard to the native questions. A shaman
of the interior refused to give advice about the maritime pursuits of the
people of the coast, explaining that his "spirits" were good only for walking
upon the land, and that they were afraid of the sea.
CLASSES OF SUAMANISM:- The Chukchee divide all acts of shamanism
into three categories, more or less distinct, though merging into each other.
Under the first category comes "communication with the spirits" (kalatko'urgin).
This includes all kinds of intercourse' with the "spirits" which becomes apparent
to the listeners; that is, the voices of "spirits" talking through the medium
of the shaman, ventriloquistic performances, and other tricks, - generally
speaking, the whole spectacular part of shamanism, which forms the main
content of the shamanistic seances. As said previously, all this is often considered only as a kind of jugglery. For performances of this sort, young
people are said to be better adapted than older ones. With increasing years,
some of the shamans discontinue most of these tricks.
Constituting the second category is what is known as "looking into"
(hetola'tirgin). This branch of Chukchee shamanism is held in the highest
veneration, because the shaman possessing it has the faculty of seeing the
danger lying in wait for the people, or the good in store for them, and
accordingly he is able to advise them how to avoid the first and to secure
the second. Most of the instructions given are of a ritualistic kind, and
refer to certain details of such and such a ceremonial, which must be,arranged
in a certain manner in order to secure the desired result. The directions are
Ventriloquism plays an important part in the shamanistic performances of other tribes of the same
region. David Crantz tells of it among the shamans of the Greenland Eskimo (D. Crantz, History of Greenland,
English translation, 1820, I. p. I95).

usually given by the "spirits" in the second part of the shamanistic performance, which may be called "magical."
There are, however, as I said before, many shamans, though they have
many ke'let at their disposal, whose predictions are wrong, and their advice
worse than useless, and there are those even to whom the aid of conjury
and divination is wholly denied. On the other hand, there are shamans who
claim very little outward communication with the "spirits," bpt give magical
advice as a kind of internal, subjective inspiration, after self-communion for a
few moments. These, notwithstanding the simplicity of their proceedings,
usually enjoy the highest consideration of their neighbors.
For instance, one shaman, by name Galmu'urgin, whom I met in the
Anui country, declined to talk openly with "spirits," and nothing was known
about his connection with them. The Chukchee said that he was "[with] only
his [own] body" (em-uvi'kilin); that is, that no other beings were seen to
assist him in his actions. When giving a seance, he began by beating the
drum and singing; but in a few minutes he would leave off the exercise, and
drawing a few long, almost hysterical breaths, would immediately proceed to
foretell the future. He talked to many people present, one by one. When he
was through with one case, he would stop for a while, as if recollecting himself,
and then, after several deep-drawn sighs, would pass on to the next applicant.
The third category embraces the "producing of incantations" (ewganva'tirgin), which includes the more complicated practices of shamanism. The
incantations, together with the spells, form the greater part of Chukchee magic,
to which I slhall devote a special chapter.
There are incantations both of a benevolent and malevolent character. The
Chukchee have some idea of the difference between "well-minded" (tei-ci'miulin)
shamans, who ply their art in order to help the sufferers, and "mischievous"
(kurg-efie'iiilit or ku'iiich-efie'iiilit, literally "mocking shamans") shamans, who
are bent on doing harm to people.
For instance, in a statement by a female shaman, Te'lpifia, she says,
speaking of herself in the third person, "On her way the old women with
many spells come to her, invisible to the others, and offer her their spells
one by one. She sees in her dreams the quality of the gifts. Some of them
she rejects, saying, 'These are too evil-minded.' The others, which are
benevolent, she deigns to accept. 1
On a sketch previously given,2 good and bad shamanism are represented
as two shamanistic coats, red and black, the choice of which is offered to a
shaman by a deity. I have also referred to a shamanistic plank of Yukaghir
provenience,3 one half of which was dyed red and the other half black, to
designate good and bad shamanism.
1 See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 38I.
3 See Fig. 233, p. 327.

2 See

Fig. 2I21 p. 30I.

The shamans, however, combine in varying degrees all. these categories
of Chukchee shamanism; that is, they converse with spirits, and make them
play various tricks before the spectators; then they make the spirits answer
the questions and give the necessary directions. If need be, they pronounce
incantations, and perform other magical acts. They also perform the magical
art in the treatment of various diseases.
PAY FOR SERVICES OF SHAMANS. - It goes without saying that Chukchee
shamans are paid for their services, and, besides, try. to get for them as
much as possible. It is a common saying among them, that shamanistic
advice or treatment, when given gratuitously, amounts to nothing. The
"spirits" are too jealous of their power to spend it without pay, and they
even become angry for such doings, both with the shaman and with his
patients.' Even when, prompted by friendship or compassion, the shaman
does not ask for recompense, some symbolical remuneration must nevertheless
be given to him to make his treatment more effective. This, for the most
part, consists of a piece of sinew with a bead fastened to one end of it.
Usually the shamans and the "spirits" do not hesitate to express their
full opinion about this matter. Once, at a shamanistic seance given by
Scratching-Woman in my presence, a woman from a neighboring camp asked
whether she might hope to have a child in the near future. The voice of
a ke'lE who had already spoken a little before answered roughly, "I will not
speak without fresh meat." The woman meekly promised to kill a reindeer.
"Then we shall see," said the ke'lE.
The substance and the amount of the payment vary, of course, in different
cases. Meat, thong, skins, garments, living reindeer, "alien food" of civilized
origin, - all are indiscriminately given by way of recompense for a shaman.
In the tale of the Scabby Shaman, Mee'mhin pays for the services of the
shaman with a large reindeer-herd of his possession,' but I much doubt whether
cases like that happen in actual life. A reindeer-breeder of the Omolon told
me, however, that he paid a Lamut shaman who cured him of a severe
illness three large bucks and some skins besides. Sometimes a man cured by
a shaman has to give him in payment something that from personal motives
he prizes exeedingly high; for instance, his own reindeer-team. This may be
compared with a similar sacrifice to the "spirits." 3 I have never met shamans,
however, who could be said to live solely on the profits of their art: it had
only been to them a source of additional income.
PREPARATION FOR PERFORMANCE. - As said before, preparation for each
shamanistic performance is similar to the preparatory period of inspiration
which is so painful to the novice shaman as to be considered almost a peculiar
kind of sickness. In conformity to this, most of the shamans show marked
nervousness before the commencement of the performance. If a shaman tries
t Compare p. 363.

2 See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 207.

3 Compare p. 46.

to decline an invitation to act, alleging his weak power and small skill in
communicating with "spirits," when once his consent is given, he becomes
impatient, and hurries his assistants and listeners. He wishes to begin and
to be through as soon as possible.
I was told that the application of cold water to the head of a shaman
in the very heat of his perfornmance would suddenly bring his inspiration to
an end. Therefore sometimes, during the ceremonials, if some performer is
practising too long, or seems to be excited to a somewhat dangerous pitch,
his neighbors may sprinkle him with water in order to bring him back to himself.
The performance itself is considered as a recovery from illness. The
same shaman who was nervous before the performance regains after it his
self-possession, and looks really as if he were braced up by some strong tonic.
Even the physical fatigue is in most cases quite unnoticeable. " Why should
I feel fatigued?" asked a Chukchee shaman in regard to this subject. "I do
nothing. The 'spirits' make all the exertion." Accordingly, the former,
constraint gives place to an exaggerated self-conceit, and even the most "bashful"
of the young shamans are wont, after a performance, to magnify their own
faculties and shamanistic powers. Every one of them is ready to offer a repetition
of the seance, and, if taken at his word, will really again go through all the
violence and madness. In some cases, especially in the matches between rival
shamans, the performance will last for more than twenty-four hours, and finally
the listeners will withdraw, perhaps, earlier than the actors.
SHAMANISTIC PERFORMANCE IN THE INNER Room. -The typical shamanistic
performance is carried out in the following manner. After the evening meal
is finished and the kettles and trays are removed to the outer tent, all the
people who wish to be present at the seance enter the inner room, which is
carefully closed for the night. Among the Reindeer Chukchee, the inner room
is especially small, and its narrow space causes much inconvenience to the
audience, which is packed together in a tight and most uncomfortable manner.
The Maritime Chukchee have more room, and may listen to the voices of
the spirits with more ease and freedom. The shaman sits on the "master's
place," near the back wall; and even in the most limited sleeping-room, some
free space must be left around him. The drum is carefully looked over, its
head tightened, and, if it is much shrunken, it is mnoistened with urine and
hung up for a short time over the lamp to dry. The shaman sometimes
occupies more than an hour in this process, before he is satisfied with the
drum. To have more freedom in his movements, the shaman usually takes
off his fur shirt, and remains quite naked down to the waist. He often
removes also his shoes and stockings, which of course gives free play to his
feet and toes.
In olden times, shamans used no stimulants; but at present they often
smoke a pipeful of strong tobacco without admixture of wood, which certainly

works like a strong narcotic. This habit is copied from the Tungus shamans,
who make great use of unmixed tobacco as a powerful stimulant.
At last the light is put out and the shaman begins to operate. He
beats the drum and sings his introductory tunes, at first in a low voice; then
gradually his voice increases in volume, and soon it fills the small closed-up
room with its violent clamor. The narrow walls resound in all directions.
Moreover, the shaman uses his drum for modifying his voice, now placing
it directly before his mouth, now turning it at an oblique angle, and all the
time beating it violently. After a few minutes, all this noise begins to work
strangely on the listeners, who are crouching down, squeezed together in a
most uncomfortable position. They begin to lose the power to locate the
source of the sounds; and, almost without any effort of imagination, the song
and the drum-seem to shift from corner to corner, or even to move about
without having any definite place at all.
The shaman's songs have no words. Their music is mostly simple, and
consists of one short phrase repeated again and again. After repeating it
many times, the shaman breaks off, and utters 'a series of long-drawn,
hysterical sighs, which sound something like "Ah, ya, ka, ya, ka, ya, ka !'
After that, he comes back to his songs. For this he draws his breath as
deep as possible in order to have more air in his lungs, and to make the
first note the longest.
Some of the tunes, however, are more varied, and are not'devoid of a
certain grace. Not a few are improvised by the shaman on the spot; others
are repeated from seance to seance. Each shaman has several songs of his
own, which are well known to the people; so that if anybody uses one of
them, for instance at a ceremonial, the listeners recognize it immediately, and
say that such and such a man is using the particular song of such and
such a shaman.
There is no definite order for the succession of the songs, and the shaman
changes them at will, sometimes even returning to the first one after a considerable interval has elapsed. This introductory singing lasts from a quarter of
an hour to half an hour or more, after which the ke'let make their first appearance.
The shaman sings all alone, and the auditors take no part in the performance. From time to time, however, some one of the listeners will cry out,
"Hik, hik!" or "Hic, hic!" (interjection, of wonder) or "Qai'vo" ("of course")
or "Emnio'lik" ("certainly"), - all of which are meant to express the full
approbation by those present of the doings of the shaman. The Chukchee
have a special word for these exclamations, - o'citkek ("to give answering
calls"). Without an ocitke'lin (participle), a Chukchee shaman considers
himself unable to perform his calling in a proper way; therefore novices, while
trying to learn the shamanistic practices, unsually induce a brother or a sister
to respond, thus encouraging the zeal of the performer. Some shamans also

require those people who claim their advice or treatment to give them answering calls during the particular part of the performance which refers to
their affairs. The story-tellers of the Chukchee also usually claim the assistance
of their listeners, who must call out the same exclamations.
Among the Asiatic. Eskimo, the wife and other members of the family
form a kind of chorus, which from time to time catches up the tune and
sings with the shaman. Among the Russianized Yukaghir of the lower Kolyma
the wife is also the. assistant of her shaman husband, and during the performance she gives him encouraging answers, and he addresses her as his
"supporting staff."
In most cases the ke'let begin by entering the body of the shaman.
This is marked with some change in his manner of beating the drum, which
becomes faster and more violent; but the chief mark is a series of new sounds,
supposed to be peculiar to the ke'let. The shaman shakes his head violently,
producing with his lips a peculiar chattering noise, not unlike a man who is
shivering with cold.' He shouts hysterically, and in a changed voice utters
strange, prolonged shrieks, such as "O to, to, to, to," or "I pi, pi, pi, pi,"
all of which are supposed to characterize the voice of the ke'let. He often
imitates the cries of various animals and birds which are supposed to be his
particular assistants. If the shaman is only a "single-bodied" one, - that is,
has no ventriloquistic power, - the ke'let will proceed to sing and beat the
drum by means of his body. The only difference will be in the timbre of the
voice, which will sound harsh and unnatural, as becomes supernatural beings.
VENTRILOQUISM AND OTHER TRICKS. - With other shamans the ke'let
appear all at once as the "separate voices." They manifest themselves with
sounds and shrieks of the same harsh and unnatural character, and these are
located outside the body of the shaman. After that a varied exhibition begins,
in which the performance of the shaman far transcends anything attainable
by a person of ordinary powers.
The Chukchee ventriloquists display great skill, and could with credit to
themselves carry on a contest with the best artists of the kind of civilized
countries. The "separate voices" of their calling come from all sides of the
room, changing their place to the complete illusion of their listeners. Some
voices are at first faint, as if coming from afar; as they gradually approach,
they increase in volume, and at last they rush into the room, pass through
it and out, decreasing, and dying away in the remote distance. Other voices
come from above, pass through the room and seem to go underground, where
they are heard as if from the depths of the earth. Tricks of this kind are
played also with the voices of animals and birds, and even with the howling
of the tempest, producing a most weird effect.
I heard a voice which professed to be an echo. It repeated faithfully
cCompare p. 374.

all sounds and cries which we chose to produce in its presence, including
phrases in English or Russian. The foreign words were, of course, slightly
mispronounced, still the reproduction proved the "spirit" to be possessed of a
fine ear, catching quickly the sounds of an unknown language. The only
way in which the "spirit" could imitate the clapping of our hands (another
test to which we put him) was by clacking his tongue, which caused much
mirth even among the native listeners. I heard also the "spirits" of a grasshopper, horsefly, and mosquito, who imitated exceedingly well the sounds
produced by the real insects.
In proof of his accuracy as to the location of the sounds, the shaman
Qora'wge, previously spoken of, made one of his "spirits" shout, talk, and
whisper directly into my ear, and the illusion was so perfect that involuntarily
I put my hand to my ear to catch the "spirit." After that he made the
"spirit" enter the ground under me and talk right in between my legs, etc.
All the time that he is conversing with the "separate voices," the shaman
beats his drum without interruption in order to prove that his force and
attention are otherwise occupied.
I tried to make a phonographic record of the "separate voices" of the
"spirits." For this purpose I induced the shaman Scratching-Woman to give
a seance in my own house, overcoming his reluctance with a few extra
presents. The performance, of course, had to be carried out in utter darkness:
and I arranged my machine so as to be able to work it without any light.
Scratching-Woman sat in the farthest corner of the spacious room, at a distance
of twenty feet from me. When the light was put out, the "spirits," after
some "bashful" hesitation, entered, in compliance with the demand of the
shaman, and even began to talk into the funnel of the graphophone.
The records show a very marked difference between the voice of the shaman
himself, which sounds from afar, and the voices of the "spirits," who seemed
to be talking directly into the funnel.
All the while, Scratching-Woman was beating the drum incessantly to
show that he was in his usual place, and occupied with his usual, function,
that of beating the drum without interruption. He brought some of the
entering "spirits" to my special notice. One was a fawn of a wild reindeer,
found by him in the wilderness beside the carcass of its mother, which had
been killed by a wolf. The fawn, when he found it, was trying to suck the
carcass. The strange sight had evidently struck Scratching-Woman, and he
took the fawn for one of his assisting ke'let. The "spirit" manifested his
presence by characteristic short snorts, peculiar to the fawn when calling for
its mother. Another "spirit" entered with a dismal howl. This was the wolf
who killed the reindeer-dam.
Scratching-Woman explained that when he desired to wreak his vengeance
on some one of his foes, he transformed himself into this wolf, taking care

beforehand to turn the other party into a reindeer. Then, of course, he was
quite certain of victory. The idea that shamans, in case of need, not only
may send their "spirits" to a destined place, but also may turn themselves
into any of their "spirits," and carry out their intentions, appears in many tales.
For instance, in the tale of the Shaman with Warts (Kuku'lpin), this
shaman, during a shamanistic contest, asks his adversary, "Which ke'lE are you
going to employ?" The other answers, "The small hawk." - "And you?" "The great diver. 'rhen they turn into these birds, and the contest begins.'
Those episodes of the tales in which men in distress have recourse to
their animal amulets - either reviving them and bidding them fight their
enemies, or transforming themselves into their living likenesses - are evidently
quite analogous.
Still another of the ke'let introduced by Scratching-Woman was a raven,
who cawed lustily. The shaman used him when working with magic medicine, because the raven could devour all germs of sickness and disease. gtill
another was a little mouse, who could travel very fast underground, and was
employed on errands requiring haste.
There followed the leather bucket, which forms a part of a "bonebreaking set," and is used as a receptacle for pounded bones.2 Once when
Scratching-Woman was hunting wild reindeer, he succeeded in wounding a
strong buck in the right fore-leg, but still he could not overtake it. Then
he called for the Skin Bucket, bade it overtake the buck and entrap its head.
After that the reindeer was easily caught.
After having entered the room and produced a few sounds, by way of
making his presence known, the "spirit" usually offers to "try his breath;"
that is, he beats the drum for a while, singing a tune in the special harsh
voice peculiar to the "spirits." This, however,- lasts only a short time, after
which the "spirit" declares that his breath is ebbing away. 'T'hen he either
begins to talk, or straightway takes his departure with characteristic quivering
sounds somewhat similar to the buzzing of a fly. These sounds are called
by the Chukchee "gibbering" (moomga'tirgin), and are always associated
with the "spirits." The same name is applied to the chattering alluded tobefore.3
Often the shaman declares to the "spirit" first entering, that the sound
of his drum is bad, or even that the cover of it is broken, and this is corroborated by a few dull strokes. The "spirit" must then mend the drum by
breathing upon it, which he does accordingly. This treatment is resorted to
especially in cases of magic medicine. After the drum is mended, the shaman
explains to the patient that it is a good sign. He says also, that, if the "spirit"
were not able to mend the drum, it would forebode a bad turn in the disease.
'See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, P. 223.56

JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED, VOI, VII.

Compare p. iSS. Fig. 105

3 See pp. 374, 435-

48BO-GORAS, THE CEHUKCHEF,.
I must again repeat that the animal "spirits" produce their own characteristic sounds. rhe walrus and the bear roar, the reindeer snorts, the wolt
howls, the fox bays, the raven caws. The last three, however, are able to
talk, but use a particular timbre of voice, and intersperse among their words,
from time to time, their peculiar cries.
In most cases the ventriloquistic performance soon takes on a dramatic
character. A number of "spirits" appear in succession. They talk to the
shaman and to one another, pick quarrels, abuse and denounce one
another. It is superfluous to add that only one voice may talk at a time,
so that even the most lively dialogue consists of a series of interpolations
following each other in succession. The talk of the "spirits" is often carried on
in strange, quite unintelligible words, such as "papire kuri muri," etc. To make
it understood, the shaman has to call for an interpreter, who from that time
-on takes part in all conversations, and also explains to the auditors the words
of the other "spirits." Thus the shaman is supposed to be unable to understand the language of the "separate:spirits."
The same idea obtains among other neighboring tribes. The most
curious case of all is that of the shamans of the Russians and the Russianized
natives of the Kolyma and the Anadyr, who know no other language than
the Russian. The "spirits," however, even when speaking through the mouth
*of the shaman, employ only the usual unintelligible gibberish mixed with
some distorted and mispronounced phrases in the Koryak, Yakut, and Yukaghir languages. After a while the shaman calls for an interpreter, and at last,
after some controversy, the "spirits" send for one who can speak Russian and
who translates the orders of the "spirits."
The Chukchee shamans have no special language of their own, with the
exception of a few words and expressions. Thus the drum is called a'twet
("canoe"), which is an additional proof of the preponderance of maritime
pursuits in the former life of the people. The idea of shamanistic ecstasy
is expressed by the word an-ia'arkin ("he sinks"), which refers to the belief
that the shaman, during the period of ecstasy, is able to visit other worlds,
and especially that underground.
Among the northwestern branch of the Koryak, the "spirits" are said
to use a special mode of pronunciation, similar to that used by the southeastern
Koryak and the Chukchee. A few words are also said to be peculiar to them.
Among the Asiatic Eskimo the "spirits" are said to have a special language.
Many words of it were given to me by the shamans, and most of them are
analogous to the "spirit" language known to various Eskimo tribes of America,
both in Alaska and on the Atlantic side.
Tricks of various kinds break up the monotony of the performance,
which may last for several hours. The "spirits" will scratch from the outside
at the walls of the sleeping-room, running around it in all directions, so that

the clattering of their feet is quite audible. In contrast to this, the motion
of the ke'let inside of the room produces but slight noise. The rustling of
their flight is similar to the buzzing of a mosquito, and the rattling of their
tiny feet as they run over the surface of the drum is hardly perceptible.
Often, however, a mischievous "spirit" suddenly tugs at the skin spread
in the centre of the room with such force that things lying on it fly about
in all directions. Therefore the housernates of the shaman usually take the
precaution to remove kettles and dishes from the room. Sometimes an
invisible hand seizes the whole sleeping-room by its top, and shakes it with
wonderful strength, or even lifts it up high, letting in for a moment the
twilight from the outer tent. 'this, of course, is possible only with the
movable tent of the Reindeer people, where the sleeping-room is fastened
none too firmly. Other invisible hands toss about lumps of snow, spill cold
water and urine, and even throw blocks of wood, or stones, at the imminent
risk of hurting some of the listeners.
All these things happened several times in my presence. The "spirits'
would ask me, through the shamans, whether I really felt afraid; and, when
I did not give a satisfactory answer, the "spirits" would try to increase myrespect for them by such material manifestations. I must mention that theaudience is strictly forbidden to make any attempts whatever to touch the
"spirits." These latter highly resent any intrusion of this kind, and retaliate
either on the shaman, whom they may kill on the spot, or on the -trespassing
listener, who runs the risk of having his head broken, or even a knife thrust
through his ribs in the dark. I received warnings of this kind at almost
every shamanistic performance. In some cases the shaman would lay a bare
knife within his own reach as an additional warning against any infringement.
The size of the sleeping-room is so small that it is really wonderful how
a shaman can keep up the illusion, even under cover of the dark and with
the protection of his resentful "spirits." Many times I sat so near the performer
that I could almost touch him with my outstretched hand, and the warning
against too great inquisitiveness on my part was of course quite necessary.
All these tricks strangely resemble the doings of modern spiritualists, and
without doubt they cannot be carried out without the help of human assistants.
MAGICAL ADVICE. - The second part of the shamanistic performance is
of a magical character. To give a clearer idea of it, I will describe a few
instances.
'rhe shaman Tilu'wgi, of whom 1 shall speak again, after some preliminary
intercourse with the "spirits," called a peculiar ke'lE of his, who said she
was an -old maid, living alone in her house, and she expressed apprehension
lest we should laugh at her talk with the peculiar feminine pronunciation.
After that, however, she proceeded to give the magic instructions and explanations.

.440

She told one of those present, Enmu'wgi by name, who had recently
been vanquished in a wrestling-match, that his defeat was caused by the use
of malignant incantations by his adversary, and she advised him to take the
matter into his own hands.
This female "spirit" reproached one of my fellow-travellers, a great
hunter, with ill treating those "walking afoot," which is the usual periphrasis
for the bears. WNhen he tried to defend himself, the female "spirit" reminded
him of a hunting expedition, in which he took part about two months before,
which was directed against a bear sleeping in its den. From the old Chukchee
point of view, this certainly was a rather dangerous pursuit.' In the end
the "spirit" said that the man in question, because of his offences against
those "walking afoot," was in danger of losing his powers of endurance in
walking. To his question as to the means of warding off the danger, the
female "spirit" answered that he must procure for himself the skin of the
nose of a newly killed bear, and perform a thanksgiving ceremonial over it.
That, probably, would appease those "walking afoot."
Afterward she told another listener that she saw that in the last autumn
he had killed a wild reindeer-buck. 'rhough this happened far away from his
herd, he should have made a sacrifice to the buck, which he omitted to do :2
therefore the following winter he was visited by bad luck, in that the wolves
attacked his herd, and killed nine fat bucks. To check the recurrence ot
such a misf6rtune, it is necessary to take a small -crotch of willow3 cut on
the place of the attack by wolves, and perform over it the required ceremonial.
Galmu'urgin, the soothsaying shaman already spoken of, who gave a
prescription at the very beginning of the seance, predicted in my presence
to the master of the tent that the next fall many wild reindeer would come
to his house. "One buck will stop on the right side of the entrance, and
pluck at the grass, attracted by a certain doe of dark-gray hair. This
attraction must be strengthened with a special incantation. The reindeer-buck,
while standing there, must be killed with a bow, and the arrow to be used
must have a flat rhomboid point. This will secure the successful killing ot
all the other wild reindeer."
After that the shaman recollected himself for a while, and addressed the
brother of the master, who, with one companion, lived in a separate camp.
This companion was married to one of his relatives. The shaman said
that, before the fall, they would part company, nor would they look at each
other with clear eyes; and, by the way, his prediction was fulfilled much
earlier than the time designated.
I Compare p. 283.
2 In this he followed

the usual custom, which does not require sacrifices to a wild reindeer killed far from
the herd "by the exertions of the hunter" (compare p. 379). The shaman's advice represented a special prescription,
which, if used in time, would ward off the oncoming bad luck.
3 Compare p. 342.

To still another of the listeners he said that he feared lest the "bad
beings" might conceive a desire to approach his house. By this he meant
the "spirits of disease." In order to thwart their intentions, the man was.
told to go through some special preventive ceremonies during the celebration
of the ceremonial of the antlers, which was then at hand. The ceremonies
consisted in drawing several lines across the snow near the tent, and putting
some small stones before the entrance. These were supposed to transform
themselves into a large river, and high, inaccessiblh cliffs, on the route of
the "bad beings."
In this way the usual shamanistic performance is carried on in the inner
room, and with the light put out.
TRANCES. - In other cases the shaman actually "sinks;" that is, after
some most violent singing, and beating of the drum, he falls into a kind of
trance, during which his body lies on the ground unconscious, while his soul
visits "spirits" in their own world, and asks them for advice. Chukchee
folk-lore is full of episodes referring to such shamanistic trances; but in real
life they ha'ppen very rarely, especially in modern times, when shamans are
so much less skilful than of old. Even the word an-i a'arkin ("to sink"),
from the explanation of modern shamans, has reference simply to the immersion of the perfornier into the depths of shamanistic ecstasy without its
literal fulfilment.
In folk-stories, the shamans sink into -the other worlds. chiefly for the
purpose of finding one of the missing souls of a patient who claims their
power for his treatment. In important cases, even at the present day, the
shamans, when treating a well-to-do patient, will at least pretend to have
sunk into the required unconsciousness. On one or two occasions I had an
opportunity of witnessing such a state, but the whole performance was of a
rather poor kind.
It began, as usual, in the dark; but when the shaman suddenly broke
off beating the drum, the lamp was again lighted and the face of the shaman
immediately covered with a piece of cloth. The mistress of the house, who
was the wife of the shaman, took up the drum and began to beat it with
light, slow strokes. This lasted the entire time that the shaman lay under
the cloth, or about a quarter of an hour. Then he suddenly awoke, and,
removing the cloth from his face, sat up in his place, took the drum from
his wife, beat it for a while, and sang a few tunes as in the beginning.
After that he began to give the patient magical advice regarding his illness,
which, however, was nothing else than an elaborate incantation in dramatized
form, like those of which I shall speak in the next chapter.
SHAMANISTIC PERFORMANCE IN THE OUTER RooM. - As we have seen, the
performances in the outer tent take place only at the time of ceremonials. The
acts of the shamans do not differ essentially from those of the other people,

442BO4(ORAS, TrHE CHUKCHEE.

except that their drumming is more violent and the tunes of their songs
more complex and varied.
The Chukchee shamans do not practise the ventriloquistic art in the
outer tent in daylight. I did indeed hear one or two shamans boast of their
ability to call "separate voices" in the outer tent, and that some of these
voices talked to them out of the fire of the hearth; but they were never able
to make good these pretensions. One shaman, since dead, was said to have
performed such a feat-; but the "separate voices" of his calling were heard
all the time very near to his knees, and he had even to stoop down to talk
with them. The hearth, however, is considered to be a fit entrance for ke'let.
In Koryak tales the ka'mak (evil spirit) comes into the house out of the fire
of the hearth :1 therefore the hearth is surrounded with a circle of stones,
which are supposed also by the Chukchee to keep off the ke'let. When a
ke'lE wants to enter, the stones turn into inaccessible mountains, and enclose
the fire as a small world apart.
The "spirits" called by the shamans during the ceremonials in the outer
tent can manifest themselves only through the body of the shaman, who in
due time begins to utter the same gibbering noises and hysterical cries that
have already been described. The shamans also imitate the voices of animals
and hirds, stamp the ground with their feet, and jump about violently, foaming
at the mouth, and even breaking such things as may come within reach of
their hands. A shaman whose body is entered by a ke'lE loses the faculty
of human speech, and may express his wishes either by gestures or by
gibbering unintelligible noises. When the ke'lE is an animal, the shaman
tries to act accordingly. He crawls on all-fours, grunting, and gnashing his
teeth. I was told several times that some of the shamans even put on a
bear or a wolf skin, taken off with the claws and the skull.2
Sometimes a ke'lE who entered the body of a shaman on the day of the
ceremonial is bent on mischief, and, among other things, seeks to destroy the
life which is under his temporary power.
Among the Reindeer Chukchee on the Wolverene River I knew a man
by the name of AkI'mlAke ("Marrowless"), who gave himself out as a shaman,
though the people usually did not pay much attention to his claim. At the
times of ceremonials, AkI'mlAke would pretend that a ke'lE had entered his
body and was bent on destroying his life. He would usually spend a part
of his time crawling about in search of a knife. rhe women of hisIhouse,
however, well aware of this holy-day custom of his, usually took care to
conceal all knives and other sharp weapons. Once, at a thanksgiving ceremonial at which I was present, he began his-usual search, and came to me,
among others, explaining with signs his desire for a, knife, in order to be
See Vol. VI, Jochelsdn, The Koryk i)
140km
C
(ompare p. 384.

BoGORAS, T HF, CHUIKCHEE.

able to destroy himself. rhe "spirit" who possessed his body could not
speak' the humanl language. I really had a knife on my belt; and a Russian
cossack who sat.. next me proposed laughingly that I give it to AkI'mlAk'e.
Hearing this, the women of the house raised a frightened cry. AkI'mlAke,
however, who doubtless .was stung. by the taunt implied in the words of the
cossack, suddenly :picked up from the ground a long, sharp-pointed chip of
wood, and, baring his abdomen, put. one end of the stick on his body, and
the other against. my breast. Then he made a thrust forward with the whole
weight of his heavy body. The chip, of course, was snapped in twro. One
end flew up and hit me on the brow very near to the left eye, leaving an
ugly gash. rhe other end cut a deep scratch entirely across the abdomen
of AkI'mlAke. 1 wonder that it had not been driven in. All this was done
so quick that nobody had time to interfere.
AkI'mlAke with much coolness picked up a handful of snow, and, wiping
off the blood from his abdomen, quietly went to another tent. In half an
hour, when he was no longer thirsting, for blood, I asked him about his
actions; but he disclaimed all,knowledge, and expressed the utmost wonder
when showed the bloody scratch. on his own abdomen.
This incident is quite characteristic of the shamans of all primitive people,
because it represents a blending of ecstatic excitement with daring and tool
deceit, which is able to lead them to quite unexpected actions.
WVe have already mentioned X that in the thanksgiving ceremonial, as in
many others, the day performance in the outer tent, with its special incidents,
ends during the night-time in the inner room, with the usual shamanistic
seance, which lasts frequently until broad daylight. W henever several shamans
are present, a contest takes place in both the outer and the inner tent.
The shamans' present must show their ability one by one, and in the end
they receive presents from the host, according to their apparent skill and
presumed power.
Chukchee folk-lore is full of detailed descriptions of such contests, and
even of extemporaneous matches to which two men of power invite each
other, and which are said to last often for several months.
Incidents of a similar kind are numerous also in the folk-lore of the
Russianized natives. The details of all these stories, however, are mostly of
a fabulous character.. Those shamanistic contests which I had an opportunity
of witnessing did not differ from the- usual s6ance, with the single exception
that there were several participants in the contest, who took their turn one
after the other.
TRICKS PERFORMED IN THE LIGHT. - Besides those tricks described above
as being carried out in the dark, various others are performed by shamans
I

Compare p. 385.

in the light, either in the sleeping-room or in the outer tent, and even in
the daytime. Some are done clumnsily enough; others, on the contrary, display
wonderful skill, which would do credit to a prestidigitateur of the first rank
in civilized countries. I must mention, moreover, that I had no chance of
a man of such ability that, in the words
meeting a shaman of the first rank,
of the Chukchee, "his renown would fully equal that of the ancient people,"
because shamans like that are not to be met with every day in modern times.
One Eskimo shaman of Uini'sak at Indian Point enjoyed a great reputation in the surrounding country; and his neighbors, desirous of explaining
to me his great strength, said that he was like a ke'lE, and that they were
afraid of him, as we Russians are afraid of the Sun Chief (Czar).' ro
Mr. Gondatti
my regret he died a year before I reached Indian Point.
certainly had an opportunity of meeting him, though he does not mention
him in his papers. I met only his wife, U'pune, who acknowledged that she
had acquired only a small part of his great art. Some of the feats effected
by her were, however, quite wonderful. For instance, while we were sitting
in the inner room of her house, with the lamps burning, she took the drum,
and, after practising on it for a little while, passed over to the characteristic
cries and violent motions ascribed to the ke'let, thus conveying to us that
one of them had entered her body.
After that she took a large round pebble of the size of a man's fist,
set it upon the drum, and, blowing upon it from all sides, began to mumble
and snort in the same ke'lE-like manner. She called our attention with signs,being in the possession of the ke'lE, she had lost the faculty of human
speech, and then began to wring the pebble with both hands. Then a
continuous row of very small pebbles began to fall from her hands. This
lasted for fully five minutes, till quite a heap of small pebbles was gathered
below, on the skin. The larger pebble, however, remained smooth and
intact, as was quite natural that it should be.
I sat quite close to -the juggler, and followed attentively all her movements, and I could not discover where all these pebbles cam'e from. She
wore the usual combination-suit of women of that country, but the broad
waist was thrown open together with the sleeves; and all the upper part of
her body, including arms and hands, was quite naked, and accessible to
inspection. After a few moments I suddenly requested U'pu-ne to repeat the
trick, meaning to try if I -could not catch her unawares; but she immediately
took up her stone, and with-out more ado wrung out of it a stream of small
pebbles still larger than the first.
Another of her tricks referred to the special methods used by shamans
in- their magic medicine. They pretend to be able to rip up with the knife
IICompare p. 292.

the abdomen of a patient, in order to find and remove the cause of suffering.
To show her skill in this respect, U'pufie told her son, a boy of fourteen,
to strip completely and lie down on the ground with his abdomen upward.
Then, after some performance with the drum, she took a knife, and, placing
the point between the first two fingers of her left hand, she put it on the
top of the boy's stomach, and pretended to rip up the abdomen, holding the
knife by the handle with her right hand, and guiding the point all the time
with the fingers of her left. It certainly looked as if the flesh was really
cut open. On both sides, from under the fingers of U'pufie, flowed little streams
of red blood, quickly increasing, and trickling down to the ground. The boy
lay motionless; but once or twice he moaned feebly, and complained that the
knife had touched his entrails.
At last the performer removed her hands, and we saw on the abdomen
of the patient a fresh wound filled with blood. U'pufie, however, gave us
very little time to look at the wound. She pretended to insert both her
thumbs far into it, which made it look still more natural. All the time she
mumbled franticaily, shaking her head, which she held quite close to the
patient's body. At last she pressed her face close to the wound, and began
to lick it swiftly, grunting something which was intended to represent incantations in the ke'lE's mnanner of speaking. After some moments she lifted
her head, and we saw the boy's body quite sound and whole, just as it was
before the operation. To the best of my comprehension, this trick was
carried out in the following manner:
J)uring the operation, IJ'pufie several times gave us to understand that
she felt hot, and then her daughter would bring her a lump of snow from
the big kettle, where quantities of snow and ice -were melting for the daily
supply of water. It is quite usual for all the inhabitants of those countries
to swallow snow and ice when feeling hot. Some of the lumps, however,
must have contained fresh-frozen seal-blood coated with snow. A supply of
seal-blood was at that time in every native house, because the seal-catch
was going on. Of course, the snow and the blood melted in the mouth of
the performer, who could have let out the latter on the abdomen of the
patient, quite unperceived by the lookers-on. The boy was emaciated, and
I noticed that his skin lay in folds over all the joints of his body. He had
probably been trained, by the proper exercise of his muscles, to form the
skin of his abdomen into a vertical fold, which, when filled with the sealblood from U'pufie's mouth, looked exactly like a fresh wound. The children
of U'pune acted as her assistants, and must have had special training for
helping her in the performance of these tricks.
Two or three times I saw Chukchee shamans perform similar tricks on
their own bodies, but of a more simple kind. For instance, a shaman would
pretend to thrust a knife through his own breast. This, however, he did

JESUP NORT'll P'ACIFIC EXPED., VOl. VIl.

-446

with his fur shirt on, and of course the knife had abundant room to slide
under his arm between the ample folds of the fur garment.
Scratching-Woman, however, offered to stab himself on the bare body.
For this purpose he obliged me to give him a new knife, which, after the
feast, was to become his property and to be used in magic medicine. The
knife must be keen-edged and sharp-pointed. Then Scratching-Woman started
beating the drum, in order, according to his explanation, to "heat" the knife
and to warm his body to a degree at which stabbing becomes harmless. He
explained naively that the performance with the shirt on might be executed
without "heating" the knife. The women of his household, however, protested
violently all the time against the performance. They even reproached me
with wanting to shorten the shaman's life, because, according to their words,
feats like this, even when ending without immediate harm, are nevertheless
highly destructive to the vital forces of the shaman.
At last, when Scratching-WNoman was almost ready to proceed with his
experiment, and beat the drum for the last time, there suddenly appeared
on the scene a "separate voice," which claimed to belong to a female "spirit"
among the acquaintances' of Scratchingr.-Woman. This new party declared that
Scratching-Woman, conformably to a promise given a year ago, owed her a
sacrifice of a reindeer, and she requested her due, forbidding the performance
of any'shamanistic feats till after the liquidation of the debt.
Since it was summer-time, and the herds were away from the houses
and would join them only in the fall, the interdiction by the female "spirit"
put the whole matter of stabbing out of the question. Scratching-Woman,
however, did 'not wish me to think he was merely boasting of his exploits,
and, to prove his veracity, he showed me two deep scars on his abdomen,
one of which, he asserted, was produced by the knife, and the other by a
bullet from a rifle in a tour de force like those described.
In tales and other relations of a similar kind, the exploit of stabbing
one's self with a knife is one of the most common achievements of the
shamanistic art, and it is so generally practised that the spectators are
said to ascribe little importance to it. A wooden imitation of a knife is
said to be often used, which evidently makes the simulation still more
apparent. Thus the account of a family feud 1 makes mention of a young
shaman-girl, a "woman able to stab herself" with impunity. This ability,
however, did not prevent her being murdered.
A tale collected among the Chukchee of the Anui mentions two rival
wives of one man. One of them, who had been driven from her home,
succeeded in going back with many rich peltries obtained by supernatural aid
and by the protection of a great black bear. The other was skilful in stabbing
I See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 32; compare also p.

418.

447,l

herself with a wooden knife. But, on seeing the peltries, nobody would even
look at the tricks of the shaman-woman, and she, in her turn, was expelled.'
Similar practices existed among the Yukaghir. Thus, for instance, in the
village Pyatistennoye I found, together with the wooden painted plank before
mentioned,2 drums, shamanistic dress, and other appurtenances of the shamanistic
practice. Among other things was an old wooden knife covered with dark
spots, which were said by the natives to be the shaman's blood, which flowed
down when he stabbed himself through the abdomen.
Krasheninnikoff describes a Kamchadal shaman, who likewise stabbed
himself with a knife while having the fur shirt on, and then drew from under
its cover handfuls of blood, which he swallowed.3
Sarytcheff tells the same of a Yakut shaman, who not only stabbed
himself through the abdomen, but even ordered his assistant to drive in the
knife with a log up to the handle. After that the shaman came to the
hearth, took three burning coals, and swallowed them with much composure
and without any visible pain.4
To describe any consider'able number of tricks carried out by the shamans,
both Chukchee and Eskimo, would require too. much space. U'pufie, for
instance, pretended to draw a cord through her body, passing it from one
spot to another. Then suddenly she drew it out, and immediately afterward
pretended to cut in two with it the bodies of several of her children, who
sat in front of her. These and other tricks resemble to a surprising degree
the feats of jugglers all over the world. Before each performance, U'pufie
would even open her hands, in the graceful manner of a professor of magic,
to show us that she had nothingr in them.
It was said that her deceased husband had been able to' wander "underground with his drum and all, that is, to "sink" in a quite literal manner.
During a seance in the dark, .he would require two of his n'eighbors to put
their hands upon his head, then he xwzould gradually sink into the ea'rth until
they lost the-last touch of his hair. After a while, some ohe .would be-heard
rapping at the outer entrance of the house, some twenty feet from the inner
room. When the entrance was opened, the shaman would appear, quite
naked, with the drum in his hand.
At first, on hearing this account, I was disposed to ascribe it to the
imagination of my Eskimo friends; but, after having seen the legerdemain
practised by U'punie and her children, I came to the conclusion that the
words of my Eskimo informants might have been nearer to the truth than I
supposed. Indeed, the house of the shaman could have had an underground
passage similar to the cellars which are sometimes dug under the houses and
tents, and the shaman might have passed through it to the outside.
I

See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 257.
3 Krasheninniikoff, II. p. I58.
Compare pp 326, 327.

4 Sarytcheff, Voyage, I, p. 30.

In a manuscript diary for, the year I 898, by Mr. W. F. Dody,
missiopary on St. Lawrence Island, I found a rather curious description of a
similar kind of legerdemain, in which Mr. Dody took an active part, so far
as to keep his hands on the head 'of the performer. Mr. Dody says that the
head of the shaman really began to move downward; but he ascribes this to
a change in the position of the shaman, which he adroitly executed in
the dark.
While I was on St. Lawrence Island, I witnessed a performance by the
same shaman. His name was Assu'narak, and he belonged to a family
renowned for shamanistic skill through several generations. Among other
tricks, he made me throw a skin coverlet over his bare shoulders while he
kept his arms tightly crossed over his breast. This was done by the full
-light of the lamp. The coverlet immediately stuck fast to his back, while I
held it by the free ends. The shaman was able, notwithstanding my resistance,
to haul me into the outer room of the house. He said, however, that he
was no longer able to sink into the ground, because, according to his words,
"this is not a time for great shamanistic acts."
The trick of undoing the hands tied up with a cord is said to be common
among shamans, but all the performances I witnessed were rather clumsy,
and the leather line used for the purpose seemed to be capable of extension.
Such tricks were performed in the inner room, in total darkness, as an extra
feat after the regular s6ance.
The pretence of suicide is carried out with a rifle, or even with a rope,
which is wound around the shaman's neck, and the ends of which are drawn
tight by two of the spectators present. The shaman, of course, remains safe
all the while. Of these last-mentioned tricks I can speak only by hearsay,
as I never witnessed any of them.
I have gone at length into the preceding details in order to show that
the shamanism of the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo, though still in a
primitive stage of development, comprises, nevertheless, a number of complicated
tricks performed with the help of assistants. All of these have developed
more or less independently of foreign influence, although they present such
striking resemblance to the feats performed by the sorcerers and magicians
of so many other peoples.
SEXUAL PERVERSION AND TRANSFORMED SHAMANS. - A separate branch of
Chukchee shamanism, dealing with the perversion of sexual sense, has acquired
a somewhat peculiar form. The sexual organs play a part in 'various branches
of Chukchee shamanism. Especially do the malignant spells acquire additional
force through the performing of certain prescriptions regarding the organs of
sex, male and female. Thus, a "mischievous shaman," when he desires to
make an especially powerful incantation, must strip himself naked and go out
of his house at night, while the moon is shining. Then he m'ust call to the

and make an incantation, saying, "0 moon! I show you my private
parts. Take compassion on my angry thoughts. I have no secrets from you.
Help me on such and such a man!" Saying this, the shaman tries to weep
in order to win the compassion of the moon. He also makes peculiar movements with his mouth, as if catching something, and drawing it inward.
This symbolizes his desire to catch and eat up the victim.
Incantations of this kind are often mentioned by the Chukchee. ScratchingWAioman confessed having used them once against a foe of his, who shortly
afterward became dangerously ill.
Fig. 286, made by a native of Mariinsky Post, represents a shaman who
moon

,~~~
Fig. 286. Chukchee Sketch representing a Shamian praying to the Moon.

crawls on all-fours to invoke the moon. He is supposed to be naked, his head
only being covered with a large shamanistic cap. Scratching-Woman affirmed
that he performed his incantations of this kind without any clothing, but with
a shaman's cap on his head.
A similar incantation, with the mention of
genital parts, is used by the Chukchee hunters of wild reindeer on the
Mliddle Anadyr.'
I was also told that some shamans arrange, every year or every other
year, a special thanksgiving performance, to take place on the day of some
yearly ceremonial of their family. In this performance they appear naked,
and pronounce an incantation with the mention of the -genital parts, which
is addressed to their assistant "spirits."
The branch of shamanism, however, of which I am about to speak, is
of a more special character, and refers to that shamanistic transformation of
men and women in which they undergo a change of sex in part, or even
completely. This is called "soft man being" (yirka`-la'ul-va'irgin); "soft
man" (yirka'-la'ul) meaning a man transformed into a being of a softer sex.A man who has changed his sex is also called "similar to a woman" (fie'uchica),
and a woman in similar condition, "similar to a man" (qa'cikicheca). TransI

Compare Chapter XVI.

formation of the first kind is much the more frequent; indeed, I had no
opportunity of seeing personally an instance of the second kind, and my
information is gathered only from hearsay.
Transformatiou takes place by the command of the ke'let, usually at that
critical age of early youth when shamanistic inspiration first manifests itself.
It is, however, much dreaded by the youthful adepts; and in most of those
cases in which I spoke of the young shamans preferring death to obedience
to the call of the "spirits," there was connected with the call a reference
to change of sex. There are, however, various degrees of transformation
of this kind.
In the first stage, the person subjected to it personates the woman only
in the manner of braiding and arranging the hair of the head. rhis usage
is widespread among the Chukchee, and is adopted not only by shamans at
the command of the "spirits," but also by sick persons at the bidding of
shamans. In the latter case the aim is to change the appearance of the
patient so as to make him unrecognizable by the "spirits."
The second stage is marked by the adoption of female dress, which is
also practised either for shamanistic or for medico-magical purposes. It does
not imply complete chauge of sex. For instance, Ki'miqai, 1 who claimed
for himself shamanistic powers, wore woman's clothes, which he assumed in
his early youth. He was afflicted with a strange illness, which caused him to
sleep in his inner room day after day, almost without interruption. At length
a ke'lE appeared to him in his sleep and ordered him to put on woman's
dress, which he did accordingly. Notwithstanding this, Ki'miqai had a wife
and four children, one of which was still nursing when I saw him. The
cheeks of Ki'miqai were also covered with a stubby black beard, and there
could be no misunderstanding about the sex to which he really belonged.
A young man, by name Caivu'urgIn, a -native of Indian Point, whose
picture is given on Plate xxxiii, Fig. 2, was told by a shaman to put on
a woman's dress in order to relieve him from a chronic disease to which he
had been subjected from childhood.
The instances of such practices, however, are by no means frequent,
since the adoption of the dress, although the most conspicuous feature of the
transformation, does not confer the extraordinary power which is considered to
be the rightful appurtenance of the change.
The third stage of transformation is more complete. A young man who
is undergoing it leaves off all pursuits and manners of his sex, and takes
up those of a woman. He throws away the rifle and the lance, the lasso
of the reindeer herdsman, and the harpoon of the seal-hunter, and takes to
the needle and the skin-scraper. He learns the use of these quickly, because
I

Compare p. 428.

451I

the "spirits" are helping him all the time. Even his pronunciation changes
from the male to the female mode. At the same time his body alters, if
not in its outward appearance, at least in its faculties and forces. He loses
masculine strength, fleetness of foot in the race, endurance in wrestling, and
acquires instead the helplessness of a woman. Even his psychical character
changes. The transformed person loses his brute courage and fighting spirit,
and becomes shy of strangers, even fond of small-talk and of nursing small
children. Generally speaking, he becomes a woman with the appearance of a man.
Of course it is difficult to find out how far auto-suggestion is resporlsible
for the change in a person transformed in such a manner, and which of
these changes are merely assumed by. him in order to make an impression
on the public mind.
The most important of the transformations is, however, the change of
sex. The "soft man" begins to feel like a woman. He seeks to win the
good graces of men, and succeeds easily with the, aid of "spirits." Thus he
has all the young men he could wish for striving to obtain his favor. From
these he chooses his lover, and after a time takes a husband. The marriage
is performed with the usual rites, and I must say that it forms a quite solid
union, which often lasts till the death of one of the parties. The couple
live much in the same way as do other people. The man tends his herd
and goes hunting and fishing, while the "wife" takes care of the house,
performing all domestic pursuits and work. They cohabit in a perverse
way, modo Socratis, in which the transformed wife always plays the passive
r'le. In this, again, some of the "soft men" are said to lose altogether the
man's desire and in the end to even acquire the organs of a woman; while
others are said to have mistresses of their own in secret and to produce
children by them.
The transformed men, however, keep their former masculine names.
All of the "soft men" I met, or of whom I knew, had men's names. One
only was called "Woman's-Dress-Amo'1en" (Ker-Amo'`len), the latter part
being a male name. In contrast to this, some of the ordinary people even
are given women's names by shamans,' either at the time of their birth,
or later on.
The state of a transformed man is so peculiar that it attracts much
gossip and jests on the part of the neighbors. Such jests are of course
interchanged only in whispers, because the people are extremely afraid of
the transformed, much more so than of ordinary shamans.
In a tale widely circulated among the Chukchee, a "soft man," clad in
a woman's dress, takes part, with other members of the family, in corralling
the reindeer-herd. The wife of his brother taunts him, saying, "This one
I Compare Chapter

XVII.

with the woman's breeches does not seem to give much help." The "soft man"
takes offence, and leaves the family camp. He goes away to the border-land
of the Koryak, who assault him in his travelling-tent. He, however, snatches
his fire-board implement, and with its small bow of antler, shoots the wooden
drill at his adversaries. Immediately it turns into a fiery shaft and destroys
all of them one by one. He then takes their herds, and, coming back to
his home, shows his newly acquired wealth to his relatives, saying, "See now
what that of woman's breeches was able to procure for you."
Moreover, each "soft man" is supposed to have a special protector
among the "spirits," who, for the most part, is said to play the part of a
supernatural husband, ke'lE-husband (ke'le-uwa/"quc), of the transformed one.
This husband is supposed to be the real head of the family and to communicate his orders by means of his transformed wife. The human husband, of
course, has to execute these orders faithfully under fear of prompt punishment.
Thus in a household like that, the voice of the wife is decidedly preponderant.
The husband often takes the name of his wife as an addition to his own
name; for instance, Telu'wge-Ya'tirgin ("Ya'tirgin, husband of Tilu'wgi)".
Otherwise the same is done by the children with the name of their father;
as, Koko'l'e-Ya'tirgin ("Ya'tirg,in, son of Koko'le').
The ke'lE-husband is very sensitive to even the slightest mockery of his
transformed wife, because he knows that the "soft man" feels exceedingly
"bashful," and also because he is doubtless conscious that the position of
the latter is ridiculed on account of his obedience to his own orders.
Speaking further of the marriage-relation with supernatural beings, some
shamans of untransformed sex are said also to have ke'lE-wives, who take
part in the every-day life of their house. Thus, in the tale of a contest of
two shamans,I one of them is said to have a ke'lE-wife. Her face looks on
him from the wall of his sleeping-room. Whenever he wants to take a meal,
his human wife brings him meat and begins to cut it into small pieces.
He eats them one by one, and during the meal the face of the ke'lE-wife
keeps watch on him from the wall. Notwithstanding this watch, another
shaman succeeds in spiriting him away. This one also has a ke'lE-wife of
his own, but he takes also that of his vanquished rival; and now the faces
of his two ke'lE-wives watch over him from both walls while his human wife
cuts meat for his meal. He also sleeps very comfortably with his three wives.
In the tale of Kuku'lpin, the Shaman with Warts,2 the latter bids his
ke'lE-wife pitch the sleeping-room. He enters it, and from thence is heard
merry talk, laughing, jingling of bracelets and of necklaces. Another shaman,
who is visiting Kuku'lpin's house, feels a desire to pass the night with this
merry female, but she is invisible to him. After several attempts on his part,
I

See Bogoras, Chulkchee Materials, 1). 2I6.

Ibid. 1. p) 222.

Plate XXXIII

Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Vol. VII.

ci~

ci

.,..

eq

k._

Cr~~~~~r
0~~~)

b~

~~b

t U
. -

C

-C

!q
lr

EM
P
.>~~~~

ciCl
ci

(a)

CL)

,1~PE
c:

bI

The Ohukohee.

453,

the other wife of Kuku'lpin, the human one, asks him reproachfully, "Are
you sure that you can sleep with an 'alien' ke'lE-wife?"
"Soft men, of course, are supposed to excel in all branches of shamanism
including the ventriloquistic art, notwithstanding the fact that they are supposed
to be women. Because- of their supernatural protectors, they are dreaded
even by untransformed shamans, who avoid having any contests with them,
especially with the younger ones, because they are exceedingly "bashful," and
readily stand back before the pretensions of other people; but afterward the
supernatural husband retaliates for the slight.
Of all transformed shamans whom I have chanced to know, the mostremarkable was Tilu'wgi (Plate xxxiii, Fig. i), of whom I spoke in an
earlier part of this chapter. I met him at a small trade-gathering among
the camps of Reindeer people on the Wolverene River. He, together with
a party of traders, came from the Chukchee Peninsula. He was of Maritime
origin; but his family had some reindeer, and spent most of their time tending
the herd. Tilu'wgi was young, and looked about thirty-five years of age.
He was tall and well developed. His large rough hands especially exhibited
no trace of womanhood.
I staid for two days in his tent, and slept in his small inner room,
which was hardly large enough to accommodate four sleepers. Thus I had
a chance to observe quite closely the details of his physique, which, of course,
were all masculine. He refused obstinately, however, to permit himself to be
fully inspected. His husband, Ya'tirgin, tempted by the offered price, tried
to persuade him, but, after some useless attempts, was at last silenced by one
scowling look from his peculiar "wife." He felt sorry, however, that I had
been baffled in gratifying my curiosity, and therefore offered me, to use his
own words, his eyes in place of my own.
He described the physique of Tilu'wgi as wholly masculine, and well
developed besides. He confessed that he was sorry for it, but he hoped
that in time, with the aid of his ke'let, Tilu'wgi would be able to equal the
real "soft men" of old, and to change the organs of his sex altogether, which
would be much more convenient than the present state. Notwithstanding all
this, and even the brownish down which covered his upper lip, Tilu'wgi's
face, encircled with braids of thick hair arranged after the manner of Chukchee
,women, looked very different from masculine faces. It was something like a
female tragic mask fitted to a body of a giantess of a race different from
our own. All the ways of this strange creature were decidedly feminine.
He was so "bashful," that whenever I asked a question of somewhat indiscreet
character, you could see, under the layer of its usual dirt, a blush spread
over his face, and he would cover his eyes with his sleeve, like a young
beauty of sixteen. I heard him gossip with the female neighbors in a most
feminine way, and even saw him hug small children with evident envy for
58-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

the joys of motherhood; but this even the ke'lE-husband could not place within
the limits of transformation.
The human husband of Tilu'wgi was an undersized fellow, shorter than
his "wife" by at least half a head. He was nevertheless healthy and strong,
a good wrestler and runner, and altogether a normal, well-balanced person.
He was a cousin of Tilu'wgi, as generally the transformed shamans prefer to
choose a husband from among their nearest relatives.
The division of labor between the two followed, of course, the usual
rules. In the evening, Ya'tirgin would sit idly within the inner room, while
Tilu'wgi busied himself outside with the hearth and the supper. Ya'tirgin
received the best pieces of meat, and the transformed "wife," according to
custom, had to be content with scraps and bones. In the more serious affairs
of life, the voice of the "wife" was, however, dominant.
I heard also from their neighbors a curious story, that one time, when
Ya'tirgin was angry at something and wanted to chastise his giant wife, the
latter suddenly gave him so powerful a kick that it sent him head foremost
from their common sleeping-room. This proves that the femininity of Tilu'wgi
was more apparent than real.
The transformation in Tilu'wgi began in his very early youth, after a
protracted illness from which he freed himself by the song and the drum.
He gave a shamanistic seance in my presence, which had no peculiar features,
except that the ke'lE-husband often appeared and talked to the public, extolling
the shaman. In the very beginning, Tilu'wgi called him and asked him to
mend the drum, which, as he pretended, had not the proper ring.1 We
heard the ke'lE-husband blow with great force over the cover of the drum,
after which its sound at once improved.
Another shaman of transformed sex was E'chuk, whom I met at the
Anui fair. He was a person of about forty, tall and strong, of rather
indecent behavior and strongly peppered talk. He boasted even that he had
been able to bear two sons from his own body, through the assistance of
his ke'lE-protector.
Kee/Sulin, of the village of A'con, was an old man of sixty, a widower,
whose wife had borne him several children. At the same time the people
asserted that he had a male lover with whom he had lived for more than
twenty years. Now his male lover was also dead, so he was doubly widowed.
He wore female dress, but his face was covered with stubs of gray beard,
and his head was too bald to leave enough hair to be arranged in braids.
He was quite poor, and even the shamanistic power had gone from him to
a considerable degree. He was said, however, to have a new lover,
another old man who lived in the same house with him.
i Compare p. 437.

Two other cases that I met personally were very young men living
with their parents. One was a nimble young fellow and a very able herdsman;
but the people accused him of perverting all his young companions, who
beset him with their courtship, to the great detriment and offence of the
lawful beauties of the camp. The other one was a sickly fellow, who,
however, was told to look seriously for a husband. Both were so "bashful" that
they carefully avoided giving me time or opportunity for any annoying questions.
I heard, also, of another "soft man," who was woman-like in face, talked
in a thin, piping voice, and had very long hair. He changed his sex completely
from the very beginning of his "shamanistic" call.
The perversion of the sexual functions, resulting from psychical or
physical causes, may happen, of course, among primitive peoples as well as
among civilized ones. I met among the Russian creoles of the Lower Kolyma,
who do not differ practically from the Russianized Yukaghir of the same
locality, an old man who had a bearded face and the outer genital organs
of a male. Notwithstanding this, he acted like a woman throughout his whole
life. He wore woman's dress, performed woman's work, and even in his
conversation applied to himself the feminine gender, for which the Russian
language presents numerous occasions. The neighbors called him Supan,
(iynawb CynwaH), which is a local Russian term for a man of transformed
sex, and is likewise applied to native cases.'
The case of qa'CikiCvhECa, that is, of a woman transformed into a man,
is still more remarkable than that of the "soft man." I obtained detailed
information of only two or three instances. One was of a widow of middle
age, who had three half-grown children of her own. She received at first an
"inspiration" of a more usual kind, but later the "spirits" wanted to change
her to a man. Then she cut her hair, donned the dress of a male, adopted
the pronunciation of men, and even learned in a very short time to handle
the spear and to shoot with a rifle. At last she wanted to marry, and
easily found a quite young girl who consented to become her wife.
The transformed one provided herself with a gastrocnemius from the leg
of a reindeer, fastened to a broad leather belt, and used it in the way of
masculine private parts. I have said before that the gastrocnemius of a
reindeer is used by Chukchee women for the well-known unnatural vice.
After some time the transformed husband, desiring to have children by her
young wife, entered into a bond of mutual marriage with a young neighbor,
and in three years two sons were really born in her family. According to
the Chukchee interpretation of mutual marriage, they were considered her own
lawful children. Thus this person could have had in her youth -children of
The term "supan" is derived, probably, from the Kamchadal word "shopo'nach," which signified the
entrance-door of the Kamchadal winter hut. This entrance was tabooed to men, and only women and transformed
men were allowed to pass through it, while the men always used the roof-entrance (see Steller, p. 35, footnote).

her own body, and in later life other children from a wedded wife of hers.
Another case was that of a young girl who likewise assumed man's clothing, carried a spear, and even wanted to take part in a wrestling-contest between young men. While tending the herd, she tried to persuade one of the
young herdswomen to take her for a husband. On closer acquaintance, she
tried to introduce the same implement, made of a reindeer gastrocnemius
tied to a belt, but then was rejected by the would-be bride. This happened
only a few years ago; the transformed woman is said to have found another
bride, with whom she lives now in her country on the head-waters of the
Chaun River.
Of other tribes of northeastern Siberia, persons of a changed sex were
found among the Koryak, the Kamchadal, and the Asiatic Eskimo. Thus
Krasheninnikoff says' that the Kamchadal men lived with so-called koyekchuch,
who wore female dress, performed the work of women, and avoided mixing
among men. The Kamchadal kept them as their concubines, side by side
with their real wives.
Steller calls such men koiach or kojachtschitsch. He says that in former
times almost every Kamchadal had, besides his wife, such a koiach in his
house.2 The Koryak had also similar concubines, which in their language
were called keiew or kewew. This, with proper phonetic change, is the
same word as the Kamchadal koiach. The memory of persons of the transformed sex, as well as both terms mentioned, still lingers in the minds of
the Kamchadal and the Koryak, but the custom as described has long since
disappeared.
Sarytcheff mentions the same habit among the Kadyak-islanders. He says
that among those who visited the Russian ship was one man of forty, repulsive
of face, but clad in female dress. His cheeks were tattooed like those of
a woman, and he had a nose-ring of beads. He was reputed to live as a
wife with one of the islanders.'
Schelechow, one of the founders of the Russo-American Trading Company,
speaks of the same thing among the inhabitants of other neighboring islands.4
Mamia Rinso, the well-known Japanese traveller of the beginning of
the nineteenth century, tells5 of seeing on the Island of Saghalin, among the
people of Smerenkur (Gilyak), several men living in the same house with one
woman. He describes their relations as those of polyandry. Von Siebold
compares them with the koyekchuch of Kamchatka, and ventures the suggestion that the information by Steller and Krasheninnikoff is incorrect, and that
the peculiar marriage-form of the Kamchadal and Koryak may also have been
1 See Krasheninnikoff, II, p. I58.
3 See Sarytcheff, II, p. 33.
4 Compare A. Erman, Ethnographische

fur Ethnologie, 3er Band, I871, p. i65-.
5 P. T. v. Siebold, Nippon, VII, p. I69.

2 See Steller, p. 289, footnote; and p. 350, footnote.

Wahrnehmungen an den Kusten des Berings Meeres, in Zeitschrift

polyandry. What was said before will be sufficient to corroborate Steller and
Krasheninnikoff. Schrenck, on his part, denies the existence of polyandry
among the Gilyak, and supposes that the several men living with one woman,
of whom Mamia Rinso speaks, were in reality the slaves of the family.'
Among the Chukchee a form of marriage much like polyandry exists at the
present time.
Among the Asiatic Eskimo, transformed persons are found even now, as
may be seen from what was told2 about (aivu'urgin of Indian Point.
Mr. Gondatti asserts in his paper on the Population of the Anadyr District' (and
also in a verbal communication), that at Indian Point the transformed shamans
have a great and baleful influence, which he, on his arrival, tried to counteract,
and succeeded in partly overcoming. Mr. Gondatti was the chief official of
the Anadyr country, and the curtailment of the unhealthy influence of the
shamans lay evidently within the province of his duties (of course, from a
Russian official point of view). When, however, I visited Indian Point, the
only transformed person I found there was the sickly Caivu'urgIn. Another
"soft man, of greater age, whom Mr. Gondatti had probably met, died
from measles in I900. Other inhabitants did not undertake to follow his
practices, remembering, perhaps, the reproofs of Mr. Gondatti.
SHAMANISTIC GARMENTS. - The shamanism of the Chukchee has not
reached a stage of development high enough to have drums or clothing of
peculiar form, or, indeed, any special belongings characteristic of itself. The
Chukchee shaman uses the ordinary drum of his family, or perhaps he may
make an extra drum for his own use; but this drum will have exactly the
same form, and, moreover, it will probably be employed in all the family
ceremonials, where additional drums are used for making as much noise as
possible.
As to the shamanistic garb, the Chukchee have nothing similar to the
well-known type of coat covered with fringes and images, which is in general
use among the Yakut and Tungus, and which probably was borrowed from
the latter by the Yukaghir, and perhaps also by the Kamchadal, if we may
judge by the representations in Steller's book.4 To understand the reasons
for the absence of a peculiar shaman's dress among the Chukchee, we must
remember that their shamans perform most of their practices in the inner
room of the house, in total darkness, where the outer appearance of the
shaman is of no consequence. The atmosphere, too, is so close, that the
I See Schrenck, Volker des Amur Landes, Zweite IHalfte, p. 650.
2 Compare p. 450.
3 Compare p. 20.
4 See Steller, p. 284.

The shamanistic costume is represented there in three different positions, but Steller
gives no explanations of details. fn modern times there are no shamanistic dresses among the Kamchadal, which
fact, however, may be explained by the severe prohibition by the Russian clergy of all practices of such a kind.
Nevertheless, among various drawings done for me by natives in Kamchatka there are two representing shamans,
male and female, in special dress, which much resembles the figures given by Steller. They were said to be drawn
from the memory of what existed in olden times.

.,<4{';F\><{*'_{t>;

shamans, instead of putting on a special garment, are accustomed, on the
contrary, to take off their coats, or, in the case of women, to throw back
the upper part of their ample fur waist. Thus, in both cases, they practise
with the upper part of the body quite naked. The same is true of the
Asiatic Eskimo.
Shamanistic spirits often show a tendency to attach some external marks
to their followers in order to make them distinguishable from ordinary people.
This, however, is applied only to the men. As far as I know, also among the
other neighboring tribes, female shamans have no external marks, nor do they
use the special shamanistic garb, which is assigned only to the male shamans.
In contrast to this is the custom, which I have spoken of among Chukchee
shamans, of adopting the clothes and the ways of a woman.
Another means employed for the purpose of shamanistic distinction is a
man's coat of usual cut with a white fringe. This fringe is placed around
the sleeves a little above the openings, or around the neck a little removed
from the collar (see Fig. 287). It is usually so narrow as to be quite inconspicuous. But this is
adopted only in extraorodinary cases by the
s
shamans and also by
;
fi t
of
their patients.
a
cSometimes the Chukchee shamans adopt some
old coat brought from the
American shores, arguing
evidently that its appearance is sufficiently unusual to distinguish them
from other people. In
a few other cases the
~~~~&-1~~~
shamans prepare a coat
of their own. That repi n Fig. 287,
M.resented
and belonging
the

enth,72 m
oa.Lnt,7
Fi.T8
(U.Saa' Cot.
Fig
haan'

to

collections of the Museum,

acquired from the shaman Scratching-Woman, and is a characteristic
specimen. It is a reindeer-skin coat of the usual Chukchee pattern, with the
hair turned inward. It lo'oks rather poor and threadbare. This, however, in
the eyes of its owner, only increased its value. The neck and sleeves are'
adorned with white fringe, and there are, moreover, slits cut along the sleeves
was

and in the front of the skirt below. These slits are ornamented with
fringe made of curried leather. The cuts and the fringe are considered the

characteristic features of the coat, and all shamanistic coats of which I heard
were described as garments ripped up all around and adorned with fringe.
The shamanistic garment represented in my
"Chukchee Material Life"'

belongs to the same

These slits and fringes are usually

type.
said

to

represent

the

curve's

and

zigzags

of

the Milky Way. It is quite possible, however,
that

both

the

slits

and

the

fringes

are

/'

simply

the best imitation possible to them of the
Tungus specimens.

Except when used by shamans, the Chukchee
always ridicule garments of "alien" shape;
and the clothes of the Tungus, which they
say are all ripped up, are the special butt
of their derision. "Alien" shamans, however,
as mentioned before, are acknowledged by
the Chukchee to have considerable power,
and they are often consulted by their Chukchee neighbors. On the southwestern border
of the Chukchee territory, some of the people,
pretending to have shamanistic powers, have
adopted the Tungus drum, which is larger
than their own and of different shape. It
is also in exclusive use among the Koryak,
at least in modern times. This goes to prove
that imitation of the Tungus in regard to the
shamanistic coat is also quite probable.
The garment represented in Fig. 287 has
in the front an image of tetke'yuin (that is,
of vital force), residing in the heart, and
therefore having its form. It is made like
a leather ball, and filled with reindeer-hair.
The other figure, likewise of leather, represents a re'kken, who was an "assisting" spirit
of the shaman. The shamanistic cap which
belonged

to

the

garment

(Fig.

288)

is

also

supplied with fringes, with a tassel on the top
and a long double tassel on the left side.
The tassels are of the type adopted for magic
purposes; that is, they are formed of alternating
I

Plate 11, Fig- 3-

Fig.

288.

(UJ.

Shaman's

Cap.

including tassel, 89 cM.

2 Compare Fig. 150, p. 222.

Length,

pieces of white and black fur. Another cap, with the opening on top, and
likewise fringed and tasselled, was used by the shaman as a remedy against
headache. For this purpose he put it on the heads of his patients, strengthening its action with proper incantations. This latter detail brings us to the
question of magic medicine as practised by the Chukchee shamans.
MAGIC MEDICINE. - The Chukchee, as said before, ascribe all maladies
to the influence of "genuine" ke'let, the murderers.' Of these, the ke'let of
contagious diseases - such as small-pox, influenza, and measles - are so
terrible that the shamans are almost powerless to check them. a"Against
those it is no use to begin," said Scratching-Woman to me naively, "lest they
grow angry and retaliate upon ourselves."
Another Chukchee explained that even sacrifices are of little avail with
those ke'let. The people on the western tundra on the Kolyma explained
to me that in the "bad year" (I884), the year of the small-pox epidemic,
some of the people tried to propitiate the ke'lE with sacrifices. Because he
was killing people in the inner room, women sacrificed to him with oil from
the lamp and with warm blood-soup from the cooking-kettle. These they would
put on small round pieces of curried leather, and then set them on the snow
pointed to the west, whence the ke'lE used to come. But he wanted more
than that, and did not relent in the least, even after receiving these offerings.
The sacrifice of something that is very personal, and highly valued by
the owner,
as the Chukchee say, "taken to the heart" (li'iilifikin), - is
considered an effective means of warding off an assault by ke'let. The best
reindeer-team, the gun, or the clothes from the body, may serve for the
purpose. If a man once loudly proclaims his readiness to give to the ke'let
any such object, it is very dangerous for him to go back on his promise.
The ke'let would be sure to avenge heavily their disappointment at the loss
of the sacrifice.2
In a similar manner, when a man has once proclaimed a desire to die,
be it from spite or rashness, he must fulfil it, otherwise his whole family will
be exterminated by revengeful ke'let.3 Against the ke'lE of contagious disease, however, all sacrifices of even the most valuable things are of no avail.
The only means of escape from the ke'lE of contagious disease is by immediate flight, in order to leave between the ke'lE and the human people large
tracts of uninhabited country. Then he may not care to follow, being
afraid of hunger on the solitary way, and therefore may choose another
direction.
A flight like this is liossible chiefly to the Reindeer people, among whom
it is often carried out by the entire population of a district on the first news
of the coming disease. Thus, in I897 the Reindeer camps of the Chaun
Compare p. 292.

Compare p.r- 46.
k

Bonoras.

See,
Chukchee MaterialslzV..L4LL%atvss?s;b i n
.;-.
F- C2

46 i

district, in order to avoid influenza, coming as usual from the west, retreated
for several days' journey from the nearest camp of the western people on
the head waters of the Anui.
While a contagious disease is raging, the "shunning' of everybody
suspected of being followed by. the "spirit" is carried to the greatest extent.
Even a visit to a camp tainted by disease is consideed as a kind of
tresp.ass, a desire to tempt the ke'lE, who otherwise might have passed by
and hurt nobody.
According to an account by Aifianwa't, during the small-pox epidemic
of 1884, some sick people, while still alive, were left by their house-mates,
who tried to flee from the anger of the ke'lE. At the same time, some of
the camps which stood quite apart escaped unharmed. One A'mve, a rich
reindeer-breeder, lived with many daughters, all of whom were married. One
of his sons-in-law, also a well-to-do breeder, lived by himself. His camp was
visited by the ke'lE; and all the family, except the daughter of A'mce and
one young boy, died. These two had fled to a neighboring camp, leaving
the husband dangerously ill. After a while the woman was visited by her
father, who took her to his own camp.
The disease passed over, and the people began to live without fear.
Then A'mce thought about his son-in-law. They both were shamans, and
A'mce argued that the other might have escaped, after all. At last he resolved
to visit the stricken camp. They started, a party of five, two other sons-in-law
of A'mce being of the number. When they reached the camp, A'mce,
brandishing his spear, went toward the tent of his daughter, and ripped the
wall, taking care not to touch it with his bare hands. This is one of the
usual precautions against contact with the "spirits." After that, A'mce ripped
also a wall of the inner room, and saw the corpse of his son-in-law. "Oh!"
said he, "then you are really dead. What can I do for you? It is of no
use to carry you into the wilderness. You have here the whole tent at your
command. Well, I have seen you, at least. Good-by! I am going."
When they reached home, however, the two sons-in-law of A'mce who
had been of the party suddenly grew ill and died. Two others fled from
the camp and thus saved their lives. But none of A'mce's own offspring
were attacked by the disease.
The narrator told all this, attaching the greatest blame to A'mce for his
conduct, who acted as though he desired to find a ke'lE and draw him to
his own place. The explanation offered by the teller of.the story as being
the possible one was, that A'mce, being a shaman, foresaw some bad luck
for his family, and wanted to sacrifice to the ke'let the people of "alien
blood, though they were his sons-in-law.'
I

See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, pp. 36- 41.

59 -JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED.) VOL. VII.

In contrast to the conduct of A'mce, in the same year several fugitives
from stricken camps, especially those who had no near relatives among the
neighbors, were forbidden by the people of other camps, rifle in hand, to
approach their dwellings, under danger of immediate death. One Pe'plu told
me that, when he was only fifteen, his camp was visited by disease, and that
all the people died. Then he fled and went to his uncle's, but the latter
met him, rifle in hand, and bade him immediately return. "Go and strangle
or stab yourself!" cried the old man from a safe distance. "You belong to
the ke'lE. Go away!"
Exactly the same thing happened among the Yakut, and in some measure
likewise among the Russianized natives of the Kolyma.
I have alluded before to the precautions taken against syphilis. In
reference to this I was told by my Chukchee informants that in ancient times
trespass against those prescriptions was accounted a greater sin than murder,
because the murderer kills only one man, and that one of an "alien" origin,
while the trespasser against the "shunning" endangers the lives of his closest
relatives and acquaintances.
Shamans also in their medical practice do not like to enter into direct
communication with the "genuine" ke'let of other diseases, but prefer to
inquire about the causes of such and such illness from their own assistant
ke'let. Therefore the "genuine" ke'let are not called by the shaman in his
performances. They come, however, of their own accord, and usually remain
silent in a corner till the ke'let of the shaman denounce them. Then the
assistant ke'let take to abusing them in every possible manner. This makes
the "genuine" ke'lE leave off, although he has to keep watch over his human
prey which is undergoing the magic cure
0"
of the shaman.
In the native sketches of the performance of magic medicine, the "genuine"
ke'IE is represented as a being of a larger
size than the "assistant" ke'let of the
shaman, perhaps to set off his dreadful
,// / /|@\\\\\\\
(b
/=/
z
, \ \\Thus, in Fig. 289, copied from
power.
\
a native sketch, a shaman in a sitting
position is practising, in the inner room
of a tent, over a sick boy. Two assistant
Fig. 289. Chukchee Sketch representing the Treat- ke'let are
metof a p'atient,

to his call, while a
coming
ig
al
o

ke'lE of disease is standing in the corner.
All ke'let are represented with wings, and resemble insects somewhat. Two
men are listening, one in a sitting position and the other reclining on his
elbow. A small boy, frightened, has jumped up and is about to flee.
I must mention here that the shaman is considered able to treat the sickness

46,3

of other people, but not his own. On the other hand, persons feeling unwell
take to shamanistic exercises without any particular aim other than to give
vent to their frenzy, or with a half-unconscious purpose of drowning the
feeling of sickness in the noise and nervous excitement of the practice.
"I am no shaman," I heard from such an occasional practitioner; "but with
our people the power of singing comes voluntarily with every danger or
illness. Then it passes away, but I cannot tell where its house is. It is the
same with the power of drumming. It comes in time of need, then it passes.
and returns to its own house." Once in my presence a boy of seven, who,
had been ill for several days, kept repeating to his father, "Please beat the
drum, sing songs! I want noise!" as if it were a special kind of remedy
for his illness.
During the long winter nights some people resort to drumming and
singing simply to while away the time, or perhaps to counteract the depression of the long period of cold and darkness. Of course, in all these cases.
the improvising singers try, half unconsciously, to imitate the songs and
gestures of real shamans.
Among the Russianized natives and Russian creoles, women feeling unwell
take to singing in a shamanistic manner, which is said to greatly relieve their
suffering. Sometimes this singing is accompanied with unintelligible words,
which are believed, however, to belong to the Yukaghir or Yakut language,
and which are unknown to the sufferer in her normal state. Sometimes she
even receives the gift of foretelling the future in this state. All this is
considered a special suffering, called laconically "a fit," and liable to attack
any woman of the settlement.
rhere are several methods of administering magic medicine used by the
Chukchee shamans. One of the most common deals with the soul (uvi'rit)
of the patient, a part of which is supposed to be stolen by the ke'let.1 Some
shamans even say similar things in regard to themselves. "I cannot practise
here," shaman Kele'wgi2 said to me at Mariinsky Post. "I feel that the
greater part of my soul is at home staying with my separate ke'let. My
mind is somewhat wandering, and I am using but a small section of it, the
remaining part being carried away by 'separate spirits.'"
rhe shaman's search for the stolen soul of his patient was formerly
effected in a shamanistic trance, which nowadays is replaced by the usual
sleep over night, since dreams are considered by the Chukchee one of the
best means of communicating with spirits. When the search is successful,
the shaman returns, bringing the soul, and tries to put it back into the body
of the patient. This is done in various ways. The shaman will set about a
great performance with the drum and song. Then he will pretend that he is
I cOl3r
I

.33

Compare p. 333.

2 Compare p. 426.

blowing the soul into the body of the patient through the breast, or through
the ear, or through the crown of the head. He may also present it like a
small insect, which will be heard buzzing around. Then he will suddenly
proclaim that it has entered the head of the patient.
The souls, as well as the ke'let, are said to produce a buzzing sound
when flying. In one of the magic performances at which I was present, the
shaman asked the patient, "Do you hear that buzzing sound? It is your
soul that is passing by." After a moment he asked again, "Do you hear
that rapping noise? It is your soul that is running over the drum-cover with
its tiny feet." A shaman of sufficient power, who cannot find the lost soul
of the patient, may blow into his body a part of his own soul. The patient
is then said to become a son of the shaman.
I saw a shaman trying to recall to her senses a sick woman who had
fallen into a heavy swoon. To do this he began to beat the drum with the
utmost force. Then he pretended to catch something from the drum and to
swallow it hurriedly. Immediately afterward he appeared to spit it out into the
hollow of his hand, and then in the quickest possible way pretended to empty
his palm over the head of the patient. After that, he began to mumble
and gibber over the crown of the patient's head. In order to prevent the soul
from leaving, he breathed into the hollow of his hand, and then applied his
palm to the breast of the patient. At intervals he pretended to suck out
the source of the suffering from the crown of her head. For this he made
sucking motions with his mouth at some distance from her head. From time
to time he made *grimaces, and pretended to be choking, evidently for the
purpose of showing that something bad had entered his mouth. At last he
spat violently, and then-began again the whole process.
From my own observation I know that a real insect is sometimes used
in treatments of such a kind. This is brought near to the breast or to the
head of the patient, and then vanishes, deftly abstracted by the shaman, who
pretends that it has entered the body. The supposed process of shamanistic
search for the soul of the patient, and then of putting it back into the body,
is described very vividly in the story of the Scabby Shaman.1 I will cite
only the part relating to the latter process.
He [the shaman] called his ke'let and gave them the boy's soul to hold, andl then looked
hard at the decayed heal) [of the half-decomposed corpse], and gulped it down, spattering the
putrid fluid about. Then he shouted, "Brin-g a new white skin !" He vomited, and spat out the boy's
body. All the bones wvere in their right places, and the flesh stuck to the bones again. Then
he swallowed the body a second time and sl)at it out again. It was covered with new skin, all
sores were smoothed down. He swallowed it a tlhird time and spat it otlit again: blood mounted
to the cheeks, and the lips almost wanted to speak. Scabby-One shouted, "Give me the soul!"
He swallowed it and spat it out on the body. The soul passed through the body and stuck in the
1 See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. IV, p. 599.

wall of the house. "The body is too coldc," said Scabby-One; "it will not hold together." He
swallowed the body a fourth time, warmed it in his stomach, and spat it out again on the skin.
Then he flung the soul at it. "Oh, oh, oh!" sighed the boy, and then sat up on the skin.

Instances of the swallowing of souls and bodies of men by shamans
frequently occur in Chukchee tales. Thus Kuku'lpin, in one of the tales,
when visiting the interior of America, swallows his companion and a young
girl, and, turning into a bird, carries them to his home.' In the tale of the
Contest of Two Shamans, a small bird, Perru'per (Uria Bruinnichi), acting as
an assistant ke'lE of one of the shamans, comes to the house of the other
one, which is watched by a host of his ke'let. The bird dives under
ground and succeeds in pushing the point of its beak through the middle of
the floor, then with one drawn-in breath, one whoop, it pulls him down and
swallows him under the very eyes of his house-mates.2
During the process of bringing back the lost soul of the patient, the
soul is spoken of as a " little fellow" (tu'mgAqai), and the shaman is called
the "restorer of a little fellow" (tumge-neli'lin).
Sometimes, however, the shaman refuses to put the soul back personally,
and, instead of that, orders the mother or the sister of the patient, or, in
their absence, the father or the brother, more rarely the wife, to go out at
dawn the next morning, and to pick up a blade of grass somewhere near
by, repeating, "Here, here, here, I found the 'little fellow,' be you under
my power!" This grass represents the "little fellow," and it must be tied
to the collar-strings of the patient.
Another method of shamanistic treatment of diseases may be called
"magic surgery." In this the shaman pretends to operate on the diseased
part of the body and to set it right, removing the pus and the bad blood,
and sometimes even recasting the whole limb. The shaman acts in a way
sbmewhat similar to that described in regard to the recovering of a lost soul;
that is, he puts his face close down to the body of the patient, blows on it,
or sucks for some time a fold of the skin. It is supposed that the ke'lE
who assists him is able to extract and to eat up the source of the illness.
Some of the rubbing and sucking has the character of massage, especially in
the treatment of swellings and bruises. The shaman often produces a beetle,
a thorn, or even a small stone, which he pretends to have extracted from
the body. The same cure may be carried out also by means of various
incantations, which will be described in the next chapter.
Besides this, the shaman pretends to possess the power to open the
abdomen of the patient in order to inspect the internal organs, to remove
the stricken parts, and then to make the wound whole again. This can be
done only with a special knife strengthened by various incantations. Moreover,
the knife has to be "heated" by long and violent shamanistic exercise. A knife
I See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 293.

- See Ibid., p. 217.

not "hot" enough might kill the patient on the spot. I have already described
tricks of this kind performed by the female shaman U'puine, and have also
quoted the story of Aifianwa't about a ke'lE having entered his body, and
cleaned his interior with a small silver knife.
The shaman Scratching-Woman also pretended to treat his patients all
the time in this way. For this purpose he used a special knife, represented
in Fig. 2go. This is an ordinary iron knife set into an uncouth block of

Fig. 290 (ff4). Shamans Knife. Total length, 49 cm.

wood with two circular notches and a double tassel of curried leather. A bead
of blue glass almost as large as a hen's egg is also tied to the handle. The
bead-looks quite old, and Scratching-Woman asserted that it was received by
his grandfather directly from the ke'let. The handle of the knife has some
rusty spots, which were said by the shaman to be produced by the blood of
patients operated upon with the knife. Together with the knife a small flat
piece of ivory (Fig. 291) was used, which was said to be employed, as a
rule, in cutting open the body. The shaman said
it was a present from the Milky may.1 Three
leather images were fastened to the ivory. One
was said to represent a ke'lE from the "direction"
of the darkness, with the arms longer than the
legs. The middle image - with only one arm
wand one leg, and the eyes standing one over the
other - represented the ke'lE Iu'metun.2 The
iN
S
tthird image represented a crawling "spell," which
E,
one of the enemies of the shaman sent to attack
I;1;s. $ 1 1< $
him; but he intercepted it on the way and
thoroughly subdued it, so that it began to 'do his
P
ltfl
bidding. With the aid of these instruments,
Scratching-Woman pretended to have cut open
Fig. 29I41 Shaman's Ivory and put to rights internal organs, backs, shoulderKnife. Length, 27 cm.
blades, and several other parts of the bodies of many
patients, although, according to his neighbors, he
was too young to claim so many successful cases of treatment.
The supplementary method of magic medicine, after the treatment of
shamans, consists in changing the appearance of the patien't in order that the
"spirits" may not recognize him again. I have already spoken of the assump-

z

Compare p. 459.

2 See p. 42.

tion of women's dress by men. The same purpose is accomplished by a
change in the cut of the hair; for instance, by arranging a double fringe
around the crown, closely cropped according to the Chukchee mode, or with
the addition of an extra tuft on the crown or on the nape of the neck.
A change of a similar nature is adopted by others also; for instance, by
a murderer when he wishes to escape the vengeance of his victim, who might
easily come back in the shape of a ke'lE. If not kept back, this ke'lE will
possess himself of the murderer and induce him to do further violence in order
to have him punished by his neighbors for his crimes. The mind of the
Chukchee can conceive of no other retribution for a crime unavenged by
the relatives of the victim. The Greek conception of the Furies pursuing the
unpunished criminal, and driving him to madness and despair, was probably
also developed from a similar idea of the revengeful "spirit" of the victim
pursuing its murderer. Besides this, I was told that the murderer must not cut
his hair at all, but pull it out hair by hair. This process will act as a preventive against the return of the "desire to kill," which otherwise is sure to come
back and incite him to other murders. The "desire to kill," in this case, is
probably derived from the same idea of the revengeful "spirit" of the victim
possessing itself of the mind of the murderer.
Another measure of like nature is a change of name, which is effected
by the Chukchee very readily on several occasions of their life. The way
in which the new-born infant receives its name will be described in a later
chapter. Then, after a few years, the parents - if they are afraid that the
name does not suit the little one, making him suffer, "making his bones
heavy"
proceed to the first change of the name, after which, during later
life, several other changes may follow. The names thus assumed are of the
most varied character. Sometimes they are taken from among the usual
Chukchee names, but more often they are chosen with the view of giving
protection to the person concerned.
Some of these are names of animals, such as A"ttEn ("dog"), A/'ttEqai
("small dog"), Kei'fiin ("bear"), E'"hilhin ("wolf"), etc. Others refer to the
"alien" tribes, such as Ai'wan, E'tel, Ta'nfiitan,1 Ro'vchilen (that on the other
shore). Proper names taken from the "aliens" are also used for the purpose.
Some names are even those of spirits, - Kele'wgi (ke'lE-man), Ke'le-nie'ut
("ke'lE-woman"), Kama-ta'hin ("spirit's limit"); among the Koryak, Ka'mak
("spirit"), etc. Female names are given to men, and vice versd. Shamans
themselves often assume a name from one of their favorite spirits. Thus one
of the shamans was called Saw-ri'rkA ("she-walrus"); another, Valv-inpina'chin
("raven old man"), etc.
The most effective supplementary means against diseases is, however, the
use of amulets, which are prepared and given by the shamans. These consist
I

Compare p. IS.

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INCANTATIONS. - Belief in the significance of magic formulas, often accompanied by certain actions prescribed for the occasion, has a firm hold among
the Chukchee. According to a verbal communication.of Mr. Jochelson, incantations among the Koryak form almost the main substance of their practical
religion, rites are incantations put into practice, and amulets derive their force
from the formulas. which were pronounced over them, and they are called
simply 'things enchanted."
In his work on the Koryak religion and mythology, Mr. Jochelson says,
however, "It seems to me that there are two elements which participate in
this transformation into a guardian, of a piece of wood shaped into a crude
likeness of a human figure. First, there is the conception of a concealed vital
principle in objects apparently inanimate. Second, there is the mysterious
influence of an incantation upon the vital principle; i. e., the power of the
words of man to increase the force of the vital principle, and to direct it to
a certain activity."1 This statement makes the predominance of incantations
in the Koryak conceptions of 'guardians" less absolute.
In consonance with this latter assertion, perhaps, incantations are held in
hardly less esteem among the Chukchee. Magic formulas must be pronounced
during their ceremonials, and with them certain prescriptions must be carried
out. Ignorance of these requirements, or neglect in the performance of them,
menaces the power of the ceremonial, and may cause a withdrawal of the
protecting forces and an attack by hostile 'spirits." Most of the younger
people, of course, on being asked about such formulas, declared that they had
no knowledge of them, and that they performed only the outward part of
the ceremonials, according to the example of their forefathers. They ascribe
this ignorance to their own foolishness and to the tendency of modern times
to a disbelief in the mysterious, or even to the ridicule of it as mere superstition. In this, however, they are not quite sincere, because, on the whole,
it is considered advisable to conceal everything about the incantations. Usually
one of the older members of the family will know at least a few of them,
which he will use to make his ceremonials more effective. It is true that
some of the more careless people do actually perform their ceremonials
without incantations, but this state of things continues only till some misfortune
befalls them. The latter would at once be imputed to such unprotected state,
Vol VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 32.

[469]
6o -JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

and the family would have to apply to a shaman or some other competent
person to acquire an incantation for future use.
I have already spoken of the way in which amulets are selected. They
certainly acquire a great part of their power from incantations pronounced
over them. The natives explained to me that the ancient charms and
amulets are very powerful, because of the number of incantations which were
pronounced over them in a succession of years. Among the Koryak, according
to Mr. Jochelson, amulets lose power with the lapse of time, and the incantations must be repeated over them at stated intervals.'
Success in the most important pursuits of life is also considered to be
acquired from incantations, which are pronounced at various times. Thus,
for instance, success in reindeer-breeding is always ascribed exclusively to
powerful incantations which belong to the owner, and insure the prosperity
of his herd. A man well to do must make it his constant care to buy from
divers people additional incantations good for r,eindeer-breeding. A poor man,
on the contrary, is said to be foolish and to have no incantations insuring
luck in reindeer-breeding. A man whose herd is on the decrease believes
that his incantations have lost their power, and, if he finally becomes poor,
he usually throws aside some of his incantations, and loses the remaining
ones, forgetting the order of the words and actions necessary for their effect.
The incantation is said to force the owner to lose it.
In the same way, incantations, among the Maritime people, insure a
lucky issue in the hunting of sea-mammals. In these the women are considered
more skilful than the men. Sitting at home, and practising incantations near
the hearth, they draw the animals toward the shore.2 For instance, on a
sketch (Fig. 293)
which forms a part
of a large drawing,
with all kinds of
sea-pursuits represented upon it, a
person making inI,', x tcantations on the
Fig. 293. Chukchee Sketch representing an Incantation of Walrus.

shore, at the point

of the cape, causes a herd of walrus to come from the open sea and approach
the shore with all speed.
Besides this, a number of incantations of every possible kind exist among
the Chukchee. There is no moment of life and no action too trifling to have
its special incantation. A man driving reindeer will make use of an incantation to shorten the distance ahead. In like manner, a hungry person
I

Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 44, i i8.

Compai:e p. 359.

eating with others, from the same dish, will try by an incantation to make
the motions of his rivals slower than his own. Women apply incantations
to their sinew-thread in order to make it stronger. A man who has forgotten
a magic formula will resort to another incantation which is helpful in recalling
to one's mind things which are forgotten.
A number of incantations relate to matters of love. 'rhose referring to
birth, death, and funeral-rites, will be treated in a separate chapter. A large
proportion of incantations refer to the cure of diseases. As may be seen
from this enumeration, incantations are usually benevolent in their purport
toward man. In this they are at variance with another series of magic acts,
which always portend harm to some one.
These latter are called in Chukchee ui'wel. Most of them are supposed
to have a capricious material shape created for them by the person performing
the incantation. They may be animals, monsters, or even inanimate objects.
In this shape they are sent to the person "doomed to anger," to lure him
in some way to danger and destruction. After that they come back, and are
themselves destroyed, or simply disintegrate on the spot. I call them "spells,"
in the absence of any more adequate word.
Conformably with this difference between incantations and "spells," the
"Old Women of the Trime of the First Creation," mentioned in several
formulas, are there called also "Women of Incantation," signifying that their
performance is beneficent to the applicant. 'I'he small old woman of Ke'rek
stock, mentioned in the tale of the Scabby Shaman,' who did much harm to
the hero of the tale, is called, on the contrary, an "Old Woman of Spells."
There are, however, several branches of incantations which are also harmful
in their purpose. These are called "Spell Incantation" (oiwa'cirg-e'wgan) or
"Anger Incantation" (a'nie'na-e`wgan). Of these I shall speak later on.
Some of the incantations have a very short formula, consisting often of
but a few words. Others are more elaborate, and are directed to various
stars and "Beings," with an application to every one for some spirit assistance.
Many of them are contrived in the form of a dialogue between the performe'r
and the powers to whom application is made.
Incantations may be inherited from parents, who, dying or growing old,
transfer to their heirs their spiritual as well as their material property. Or
they may be received in dreams from various va'Irgit or ke'let, or may even
be bought from competent persons. 'These are, of course, mostly shamans;
but, besides the shamans, there are also those who know a great many
incantations, and, moreover, know how to apply them, and who, therefore,
are able to give advice and assistance in various cases of trouble. Such
persons are called the "knowing ones" (hiule't-re'mkin, "knowing people").
1 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 210.

The same expression is used in the languages of the neighboring tribes and
even in local; Russian.
To transfer an incantation is, however, no easy matter. Incantations are
given by supernatural protectors to a special person only, because the protector
had compassion for that person's particular trouble. Therefore the incantations
are intended for the personal use of the one to whom given, and the supernatural powers will be angry on the application of them to the use of another
person. Hence, even though a person is perfectly willing to transfer an
incantation, it may take several days of urging and persuasion before this
person will agree to proceed to the transmission. Through this method the
supernatural powers may see how serious is the need of the applicant, and
take compassion upon him also, which, of course, would assure the special
effectiveness of the incantation. rhus, in the case of incantations protecting
the life of small children, even the nearest relative, when he lives at a
distance, will repeatedly refuse to come to the house in need, and will consent
only after several attempts on the part of the parents of the child.
A shaman, however, is less scrupulous about giving his help. He asks
his "spirits" for a new incantation on behalf of the person applying, which,
in most cases, consists, not in words, but only in special prescribed actions.
On the contrary, he will try to keep for himself the "genuine incantations,"
the fruit of his knowledge, and will not transfer any of them without a special
demand, and payment.
The transference of incantations must not be made without pay of real
or at least of symbolical character, or the supernatural powers will be angry
with both parties, and the incantation will lose its force. Moreover, the
receiving party will be unable to keep in mind the words of the formula.
The transfer must be made without witnesses; otherwise, the incantation will
lose its power, or the third person, although unwillingly, will become possessed of it.
The shaman, or any other person who wishes to practise the incantation
for his own use or in behalf of others, pronounces the formula in an inaudible
whisper; for, should even a stone hear the mysterious words, it would deprive
the owner of their possession, and gain them for itself. After finishing the
incantation, the person practising must spit at his left side, which is supposed
to fasten the incantation to the object in view. rhe same thing is done
when transferring the incantation to another person. The spitting indicates
that the possessor renounces the incantation, and gives it over to the other
party. According to a similar idea in a Koryak tale, Big-Raven sells his
daughter to a seal for a song, which the last-named spits into the mouth of
Big-Raven.' The incantations in dialogues, however, are pronounced aloud,
I

Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 152.

and it is supposed that the supernatural party, -who answers the questions of
the performers through their own mouths, will take care to protect their
possession of the formula.
From all this it may easily be concluded that it is no light matter to
collect the formulas of incantations from the Chukchee. I succeeded on
various occasions and in different localities in collecting about forty incantations,
which are given at the end of this chapter. Some of them are simply
formulas to be pronounced: others, evidently, are a kind of description as to
how the formula must be pronounced and acted upon.
The language of the incantations, on the whole, is the usual Chukchee:
but there are some obsolete words used in them, and there is even one the
meaning of which i-s already lost by the people. This proves that the words
of the formula have an equal importance with the action, -and that, from
ancient times, there was a tendency toward consolidation and the exclusion
of any possible change. The -gen-eral character, and even the details, of the
incantations, are the same throughout the whole Chukchee territory. Of the
reindeer-breeding incantations, those of the Kolyma country closely resemble
those of the Anadyr. The same may be said of the incantations relating to
the cure of diseases, to the protection against the coming-back of the dead, etc.
The supernatural powers mentioned in the incantations are the Upper
Being, the Sun, the Moon, various stars, among others the Pebbly River (the
Milky Way). The last was mentioned also in connection with shamanism,
though I could not collect any tales having a bearing on the personal character
ascribed to it, such as exist, for instance, regarding Orion or the Pleiades.
Some of the short formulas are of a general character, and could ha-ve
been called simply prayers. For instance, a Chukchee, while sacrificing to
any of the spirits or "Beings," will say, "Oh, let me look on (the world) for
a while!" or, "Let me walk around for a while!" or, "Receive my offering
and give me luck!" or "Let me take you for an assistant in my pursuits!"
or, "Be good!" or, "Let us live well!" or, still more simply, "There, come
and eat!"
The Chukchee, however, consider these formulas also as incantations,
because the conception of the latter is with them more general, and the power
of such a prayer is considered to lie, not in the meaning of the words, but
in a certain prescribed order in which they are pronounced and acted upon.
On account of the reasons given before, the short formulas are, in most cases,
pronounced in a low whisper.
In the collection of incantations given at the end of the chapter, the
first two (No. i, a, b) deal with wild reindeer coming to the herd, which,
as said before, is considered a manifest sign of the "reindeer-luck"' of the
I Compare p. 74.

owner. On p. 379 the details of the manner in which an incantation like
this is put into practice were given. The incantations request the supernatural
forces to send down various objects of their possession, through the influence
of which the person pronouncing the incantation may transform the wild
reindeer into a tame one.
Incantation No. 2 is used by the Chukchee inhabitants of the Middle
Anadyr in hunting wild reindeer crossing the river.' I have already said
that this hunt is of great importance to the people, who live solely by its
produce. Therefore a number of incantations and methods of divination are
used to secure a plentiful arrival of the game, and to make the hunters
invisible to it. Some of the formulas include the employment .of the sexual
parts in a manner similar to that described in connection with shamanism.
For instance, in order to foretell the chances of the incoming hunt, the
hunter descends to the river-bank, and, taking off his clothing, sits down on
some flat, even spot covered with thick compact sand. Then he stands up
and looks at the impression left by his body upon the sand. If the private
parts are clearly imprinted there, it is considered a good omen: if not, the
spirits are unpropitious to the hunt. Then the house-charms are taken to
the shore and a sacrifice is made to them in order to secure anew their
protection in the incoming pursuit.
Of not less importance are the incantations for hunting sea-mammals.
Of these, however, I could secure only one. In hunting from a boat (Fig. 294)
the incantation of this kind is pronounced by the
steersman, who at the same time is the owner of
X
t
the
boat. For this purpose he stands, and raises
A4
~ / :k~:14
sr, the steering-paddle aloft in a horizontal position.
The same gesture, according to Mr. Hoffman, is
4 2i<;/ 1/
used by the Alaskan Eskimo as a signal of the
2273 (p
In
Fig. 294. Chukchee Sketch representing discovery of game.2
95)
/~
an Incantation in a Boat.Fg
men, pronouncing an incantation, point upward
wooden drum-sticks which they carry in their hands. This gesture is repeated
in several other drawings. It seems to be used on land, while the lifting
horizontally of the paddle is used on sea in sealing-pursuits. Nevertheless,
in Fig. 295, which represents the whale ceremonial, the steersman of the last
boat, who is performing an incantation, likewise points upward the paddle
he holds in his hands. Another man, who meets the whale, has in his hands
a sacrificing-vessel and a long drum-stick adorned with tassels.
Incantations for,improving bad weather apply for the help of supernatural
forces against wind and tempest. The first one of this kind (No. 4, a) was
I Compare p. I33.
2 W. T. Hoffman, Graphic Art of the Eskimos

Washington, Government Printing Office, 1897.

(Report of the United States National Museum for I895, p. 903),

giveni to Ime by a native fellow- traveller of mine during the great snow-stornms
in the fall of i899, which lha(l considerably lhanmperecl our p)rogress on the
Middle Anui. Thlie ow-ner of the iincantationi was so sure of its effectiveness
thiat hie proclaimledc hinmself ready to bet onl it a souindl whipping against
a (Irinki of alcolhol. After
the incantation XVas duly 'C
J
l)roIiot11ced1. the \eather
l)egani to improve, and hie
was about to proclaim his
triumph whlien the stormii caimie back wN-ith redoul)led
violenice. Wheni I askedt himii afterward about the imiatter.
he atnswered artlessly, "It is the g-reat big world around.
I low can I cover it all xvith this small incantation of mine"
incaintation N 4, , \\as usecl several timies ini my
iresenlce by the people of Mariiinsky 1ost, who have g-reat Thg
295. '('hukehee
Ceremonial.
resenting
at \\hale Sketchrefaith in its effectivenless. Still aniothier incantation requires
that a vouting l)oy (luite inaked, shall be sent out of the houSe duringy the
stormii. He mlust rtun three times around the hiouse, following the (lirection
of the SLun'S course, repeating all the Awhile. "( stormi leave off. I lhave
n1o place to (try mnx clothes."
Steller imeintioIns a very simillar requiremilenlt aiolng the Kamnchadal.' He
also says that they were forbidden to g,o out of thleir hiouse in the winter-time
wAitl bare feet, because it w-ould cause snow--storms. A somewhat similar
Custom exists amotngc the C liukchee in reegard to a w\oma niewly deliveredl

fromi lher labor."
The kussianiized natives of the IKolymiia andc Anadck-r, in order to repress
the wind, "catch" it iIn a big, overcoat spread windward, and then speedilv tie
Uj) the grarnment. tIhle winid "tie(l up" may be (quiet for twenty-four hours,
but after that timne it miiust be let loose. If it should be kept captive longer
tlhan tlhat, it w-ould, when finally freed, becomne a severe andcl p:rolonged storm.
'[hlis miiethlodI of subl)duit- the wind is knowni also to the Chlukchee.
.\ number of incantations are used for (lefenice against the comingt of
the ke'let (Nos. , a-e). In these the persomn pronoun(cing- the incaintation,
intsteadl of asking assistaince of the supernatural forces, tries to frighten away
the lharmfuLl "spirits" by variotus imeans and (levices. He pretends to hiave
fierce lears or otlher monsters tied up) to his dloor, which make the entrance
of ke'let im-1Possible No. , a) ;° or hie declares to tlhe ke'let that his house
i.s tranisformne(d into iron, andc that the eintrance is protected by a slharp) kniife
See Chap. XVII.
Steller, 1). 270.
'The old womiani wiho gave me incantation No. 5, aI actually had two small figunres of bears made of wood.
In the tiniie of a contagious (lisease, she took themii outt of the hag each night and set them to watch onl each side
Of her sleeping-room (compare p. 344).
I

that will cut up any intruder (No. 5, 6). If there is no house to secure, the
man pronouncing the incantation will proclaim that he is hidden in various
places not accessible to the ke'let (No. 5, c-e). Besides those incantations
the texts of which are given, I will mention a few more.
Thus, a lone man driving reindeer, who stops for a night in the wilderness, proclaims that he is- hidden in the left ear of his left reindeer, or even
in its anus, or, again, under the lining -of his large outer cap. A man sleeping
in a strange house will pronounce similar formulas in order to defend himself
from the "house-spirits," who, as a rule, are hostile to all "alien" people.
Even a prospective bridegroom, who, in order to win his bride, serves his
term of work with her family, takes similar precautions, because he supposes
the "house-spirits' are averse to his purpose.
There are a number of other methods to prevent the admission of the
ke'lE to the person or to the house under protection. rhe person casting
the spell will draw a line on the snow, and thus create a chasm or a deep
river; he will put a small stone or a piece of ice before the entrance, and
proclaim it transformed into a high mountain or an iceberg, etc. These
methods are used especially in funeral ceremonials, of which I shall speak
later on.
In connection with this group of incantations must be mentioned also
those which are used by reindeer herdsmen to protect the herd against the
spirits of disease (No. 6), or against wolves (No. 7). The latter, as has been
said, range with the "spirits."
A number of incantations are used for purposes of magic medicine. Some
of them, as related before, are of a dramatic character (No. 8, a-c). In them
application for help is made to some supernatural "Being," whose descent and
whose assistance to the patient are then acted. The supernatural "Being" is
represented by a blade of grass growing upon a hummock, by a splinter of
wood, etc.; while the person performing the incantation talks both for himself
and for the "Being" called to help, often even changing his voice to make
the performance more vivid.
Among the supernatural beings applied to in these incantations must be
mentioned an Old-Woman-of-the-Time-of-the-First-Creation, a Woman-of-Light,
and a Hummock-Woman who lives on the top of the hummock with a
female neighbor who also has a hummock-house. Their names are given
as Ra'ucha-fia'ut and Ku'ca-ia'ut. The first one, who is called the "Chief
Woman," is probably the same as the old Dawn-Topca Woman1 who lives ina separate house in the direction of the morning.
It must be mentioned also that the person performing the incantation is
called the "Father" of the patient. This person refers to the patient as to
I

Compare p. 303.

his child, evidently in order to induce the supernatural powers to have
compassion on his sorrow (No. 8, c).1
In other incantations (Nos. 8, d-m) used in magic medicine, the person
performing calls to his aid some beast or monster; or, more often, he pretends
to transform himself into that monster or beast. In this shape he treats the
diseased part of the body so roughly that the source of the disease concealed
within it is destroyed or frightened away. Often the limb affected, or the
source of the disease, is declared to be transformed into such material shape
as to make more convenient the cleansing or the destroying operation described in the formula. For instance, an ailing stomach is made into a bay
of the sea, and the big sea is called to send a strong current to the shore and
to clean away all the rubbish. Or the illness is transformed into a flock of
ptarmigan, which are destroyed by a supernatural bird with iron quills and
claws. Or a swollen limb is supposed to be a mound of snow, and a
sturgeon is made to flop about in it and cut it up with his sharp fins, etc.
In one of the incantations (No. 8, i), help is demanded from a little flying
spider, which, under the name of Spider-Woman, figures also in several
stories. The incantation requests it to come down and to sew up the freshly
cut wound, which is bleeding profusely. Other incantations mention the Raven
Ku'rkil (No. 8, g), the Magic Woman, and the Spermophius-Woman (No. 8, m),
all of which figure in the folk-lore of the Chukchee.
Special incantations (Nos. 9, a-c) are intended to intercept dying persons
on their way to the other world. So great is the Chukchee belief in their
efficacy, that they suppose they can even bring back to life persons really
dead. Most of these incantations (No. i, a, b) are similar in character. The
person pronouncing the incantation asks the supernatural force to send down
its dog, or pretends to transform himself into that dog. In this shape he
intercepts the patient on his way, and makes him return, barking, and
snapping at his face.
Besides the two incantations of this kind which were collected on the
Pacific shore, another somewhat similar one is mentioned in a story from the
Kolyma country. The story deals with a case of actual suicide which happened
on the western tundra of the Kolyma in the nineties of the last century. Relative
to bringing back the dead, it says, "A man going away along the trail of the
dead may be turned back by a dog. To do this the performer must whisper
an incantation into the dog's left ear, and send it in pursuit. The performer
says, 'Go and bring back the man. We will feed you with the choicest
mnorsels!' The dog intercepts the patient on his way, and makes him turn by
jumping at his face. After the patient has been restored to life, the dog is
immediately killed." The story adds naively that the less difficult cases yield
Compare also p. 464.
6i - JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

compare p. 330.

to the incantation, but the more dangerous ones are hard to deal with.1
In another story collected in the same country, and also dealing with an
incident of real life, a man was killed by a neighbor. The body was cut in
pieces, and these were buried one by one in separate places. The family of
the victim thought he was lost somewhere in the country around. In order
to find him, they performed an incantation upon a dog, which was then
sent on the search. The dog found all the pieces one by one, and brought
them to the camp. They were put together by the relatives and burned on
the funeral pyre. After that the dog was killed in sacrifice to the Wlorld
(i\ka'rginen).2 Then the family found the murderer and killed him. I have
mentioned also the important role of the dog in frightening away the "spirits
of disease."'
Incantation No. 9, c, which also was given to me as having a special
power to bring back the dead, is one of the usual incantations of magic
medicine. It calls down the Pebbly River, and then proclaims that the patient
is transformed into the rapid of its stream, and thus cleansed of all rubbish,
that is, of disease.
The love-incantations are of the usual symbolical type. In one (No. I I, a)
the performer watches the woman in question as she passes water, and then
pretends that the heart and intestines of the woman fall down together with
the water. After that he demands ice-creepers from the Morning-Dawn, and
tramples with them on the intestines of his victim.
In another incantation (No. I i, 6) the performer proclaims that he is
about to extract the internal organs of the woman, whom he pretends to
entangle in a seal-net. Then he pretends to turn the husband of the woman
into a seal's carcass, and the woman into a doe, which flees from the offensive
odor of the carrion.
In still another incantation (No. 1 2) a jealous woman pretends to turn
her rival into carrion. She transforms the man in question into a big bear,
which eats of the carrion, but soon vomits it up.
It may be seen that, though the incantations were collected in different
and often quite distant localities, the methods used in them are similar even
tn details.
The so-called 'Raven Incantation" (No. I 3) stands apart from the other
specimens of the kind. It was said to be used by shamans in order to
acquire power to harm other people. It is, however, only a dramatized form
of a tale well known to the Chukchee and to the Eskimo, both on the
Asiatic shore and in Alaska.' It may be compared also with the actions of
mischievous shamans when they come out in the night-time and ask the superVatural forces to give them power to harm their enemies.
I Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 53.
4 Compare Bogoras, American

2 Ibid, p. 20.

Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. IV, p. 656.

3 Compare p. I3.

Among the malign incantations, some are of the same symbolical character.
In one, the text of which is not given, the performing person proclaims his
victim to be transformed into a seal-skin, and then requests the shrimps to
come from the sea and to eat it. In another incantation of this kind, given
to me by Scratching-Woman, the person performing asserts that he has taken
the victim, and put it into a cooking-pot, there to be wrung through a piece
of old net, like half-digested moss from the reindeer-stomach.' Then the
performer pretends to take the stuff out of the pot and to put it into a hole
dug for that purpose in the ground. 'The hole is covered with a bird's wing.
Then the stuff within is transformed into a dog, who, attracted by the scent
from the camps, as dogs are wont to be, goes from camp to camp. T'he
same incantation is also used for the creation of an artificial dog to be
employed for a "spell."
Two groups of harmful incantations have special names. One is called
ei'"ut, and has for its purpose the reduction of the speed of a rival in a race
on foot or with reindeer, the loss of his strength in wrestling, etc. In one
of the formulas (No. 14, a) the performing person ties his adversary with the
line of the Spider-Woman. In another formula of this kind (No. 14, b), the
performer hampers the swiftness of his rivals by pretending to put a manybranched tree-trunk across their trail. The incantations for bringing back the
dying are also called ei'8ut, because they have for their purpose the curbing
of the speed of the dead on their last trail.
The other group of harmful incantations in question are called nine'wget.
It includes various manipulations carried out with the flesh of corpses. TFhe
flesh is taken from the corpses, which have been recently left on a burialplace. For this the person acting comes in the night-time to the corpse.
He' stops at a distance, takes off all his clothes, and then creeps to the corpse
on all-fours, quite naked, and pretending to be a fox. To increase the
resemblance, he even drags one of his legs, in imitation of a fox-tail, and
cries, "Ka, ka, ka!" imitating the barking of that animal. He carries a knife
in his teeth, and, approaching the corpse, cuts off a small piece of the flesh
of the left shoulder, and, if possible, takes also some of the brain. Then he
goes back to his clothes in the same animal-like manner. 'The piece of flesh
is dried in the open air, far from the house. To make it effective, a small
particle must be mixed with food, and given to the person "doomed to anger."
It is believed to work like poison. After the victim has swallowed it, his
mouth will be completely covered with burns, his stomach will burst, and he
will speedily die.
Some persons, in procuring the flesh, even dispense with the knife, and
use' their teeth for tearing away the desired pieces. This greatly increases
I

Compare p. I97.

the effectiveness of the charm. Another way of doing the same is for the
person acting to pretend to be a raven. He hops to the corpse, holding the
knife between his teeth, and pretending that it is his beak, and he also caws
like a raven. When he is close to the corpse, he bends down and pretends
to peck at it with his knife-beak, after which he may cut off the desired
piece. This method calls to mind the Raven Incantation mentioned before,
and also some details of the funeral ritual, in which, also, participants pretend
to be ravens.
In another method of doing the same thing, the person acting pretends
that the corpse is a seal on the ice, and stalks it in the well-known characteristic manner. When he is close enough, he thrusts his knife at the corpse,
pretending that he is throwing the harpoon. After that, the performer is free
to take his piece of flesh.
The chief purpose of all these methods is evidently, not so much to
intensify the power of the "spell," as to defend one's self against the revenge
of the dead person whose corpse is being despoiled.
It is supposed also that a human skull may be used as a vessel in which
to cook certain magic preparations, though no details regarding this custom
are known. Several tales, however, mention old "women of spell," who mix
their decoctions in a human skull: therefore our attempts to collect skulls of
the natives were discouraged, and even caused us to be suspected of the
worst practices.
Similar methods of sorcery were used by other neighboring peoples.
Thus Sarytcheff mentions' that, while he was on the Andreyanoff Islands, a
native (Aleut) shaman said to one of his female patients, that her malady
was caused by her father, who, when in pursuit of sea-mammals, used to take
the brains out of dead men's skulls in order to smear his harpoon-points with them.
SPELLS. - In the preparation of "spells" some typical methods, well known
among many tribes, are used also by the Chukchee. Thus, to prepare a
"spell," one must procure some particle belonging to the victim's body, - a
lock of hair, a scraping of the nails, or one must pick up a piece of snow
freshly impregnated with its urine. If any one of these are dried, wrung, or
put near the fire, the victim will undergo an analogous process. Figurines
representing the victim are made of wood, of grass, or of pounded leaves.
These may be stabbed, or dried, or beaten, and the process will likewise be
transmitted to the person "doomed to anger."
The person performing a "spell" may also injure his victim by throwing
its image, mtade of grass, between his own legs, which he has spread apart for
the purpose,. The person doing this must bend for the action so as to touch
the ground with his head, and then throw the image with the greatest possible
Sarytcheff, II, p. 142.

force. The image must be left on the spot, exposed to the open air. In
the same measure that it is damaged by the progress of time, the victim also
sickens, and finally dies.
A blade of grass, a splinter of wood, or even a lump of earth taken
out of the fresh footprint of the person "doomed to anger,' may also be used
to perform upon it magic operations of the kind described.
According to another method, the performing person pretends to become
a wolf, and smears his mouth with fresh blood, proclaiming it to be the blood
of the victim. This may be compared with Incantation No. 8, d. In still
another case the performing person slaughters a reindeer in sacrifice to the
Moon, and then cuts off the head and puts it on a stake, asking the Moon to
make the victim similar to this reindeer. Then the victim is struck with palsy.
In a "spell' of the Maritime Chukchee, the performer places before the
entrance of the victim's house a few long leaves of a species of seaweed.
The leaves are pierced with numerous holes, and therefore may serve as a
net, in the meshes of which the soul of the victim is captured. This may
be compared with an analogous action by the ke'let.1
But the most characteristic of all the "spells" used by the Chukchee are
the artificial creations, which are materialized, and then sent to destroy the
enemy. The same peculiar conception is to be met with among the American
Eskimo.2
The idea of such "spells" is so familiar to the Chukchee, that they try
to represent even the malevolent incantation as something likewise materialized.
For instance, in the tale of "The Scabby Shaman," Ri'ntew catches the malign
incantations of all his enemies, one by one, and ties them up separately in
a number of mittens. In the morning he distributes the mittens among the
baffled would-be wizards, and tells them in turn, "These are your words,
and these, yours.
and these are yours,
A "spell," once materialized, must be sent immediately in search of the
victim. It may, however, be intercepted and made ineffectual by some magic
power greater than that of its particular owner. Then it may be appropriated
by the victor, and, indeed, it will insist on being appropriated by him and sent
against its former owner. If rejected by the new wizard, it will, notwithstanding,
of its own accord, go back to its former owner and retaliate on him for its failure.
Thus I mentioned in the preceding chapter the image of such a "spell"
which was intercepted by the shaman Scratching-Woman, and then appropriated
by him for his own use. Similar ideas are to be found in the folk-lore of
civilized peoples. Thus the demons mastered by a wizard are said to clamor
constantly for more work, and that of a character harmful to others. If they
remain unoccupied, they may fall on their master and tear him to pieces:
I

Compare p. 294.

2 Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, pp. '53, 363.

3 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 207.

therefore, when no victim is assigned to destruction, the wizard makes his
demons twist ropes of sand, drain the sea with a bailer, etc.
The artificial "spell" may appear in various shapes, and also may change
its appearance at the will of its creator. Often it is an animal, or even a
group of animals, or, on the contrary, only some part of the carcass, - for
instance, the upper half of a ground-seal, a fox-head without body or legs,
also a man or a woman, or even any inanimate object, such as a stone or a tree.
In some cases the first sight of the materialized "spell" makes the victim
lose his reason, and die raving mad. In other cases, on the contrary, the
victim believes that he has before himself a real animal, a fit object for hunt;
and the ultimate catastrophe happens quite naturally as an accident of the
hunt. rhus I obtained a very characteristic story about two Chukchee families
between whom an old feud existed. At last one family left the country, and
settled at a distance of several hundred miles. After a number of years, a
wild reindeer-buck came to the camp of one of the members of this family,
and began to graze in sight of the houses. Of course, it was only a materialized "spell," because a real reindeer would not dare to come so near a human
habitation. It was sent by the "knowing people" of the other family, who had
not forgotten that the last bloodshed was effected by their adversaries.
The time was well chosen, because, of all the men of the camp, only
the master was present. On seeing the reindeer, he shot at it with his bow.
The reindeer took to flight, but ran rather slowly, being evidently wounded
by the arrow. The man, who was fleet of foot, followed in pursuit. This
was the last time he was seen alive by any person. After two days, his
wife, alarmed by his prolonged absence, went to a neighboring camp several
miles distant, and asked the people to help her in her hunt for the missing
man. After a few hours' search, they found him on a large lake in the
vicinity. It was early in the fall, and the ice of the lake was not yet covered
with snow. The fleeing reindeer had lured him upon the ice, and there in
a swift chase the man fell down and broke his neck. Of course, no trace
of the reindeer was to be seen. It had fulfilled its mission, and without doubt
had returned to the "knowing people" who had sent it on its errand. I had
this story from the brother of the man who perished, and his death was scored
up as a new case for revenge against the other party.'
In a Chukchee tale, several versions of which were collected, a man or
a woman desiring to have revenge on a female foe creates a dog of snow,
of brindle-wolf color, and transforms it into a young man. The "spell" is
immediately sent to the camp of the victim, where it acts like a real young
man, and succeeds in making love to the woman "doomed to anger." The
owner of the "spell," however, is able to guide its actions from afar, and at
I

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 24

the required moment he calls lightly, 'Wute'l, Wute'l!" this being the name
usually given to dogs of this color.' Under the action of the call, the man
again becomes a dog, and drags away the woman as dogs usually do. The
body of the woman is torn to pieces, and only a small part of the pelvis is
brought to the house of the master of the "spell." The dog, after coming
home, vanishes. The details about the dog-man cohabiting with a woman,
after the manner of dogs, occurs also in the tales of the American Eskimo,2
but the dog is not represented as a materialized "spell."
In the collection of Chukchee sketches, the materialized "spell' is represented
by several drawings. Now it is a half-bodied seal sent by a mischievous shaman
to frighten a seal-hunter; again it has the form
of two bears who have caught a woman "doomed
to anger," and are torturing her, tossing her body
to and fro between themselves like a ball (Fig. 296).
The malicious incantations are believed to
work sometimes in the same way as do the
resei2tingCwo "Spells."
materialized "spells;" that is, by inducing the
person "doomed to anger" to meet the harm in a quasi-natural way. For instance,
while travelling on the Wolverene River, I met a man by the name of Pe'tki,
who formerly was one of the fleetest runners in the whole neighborhood. His
rivals, desirous that his speed should be impaired, sent an incantation to him
by which he was induced, while in his own sleeping-room, to sit down on a
bare knife, and in such a manner that half of the blade entered his thigh.
When I saw him, he was still suffering from the wound, and it was impossible
-to say whether that leg would not be permanently lame as the result of the
accident.
The people are excessively afraid of all kinds of "spells" and harmful
incantations; but, on the 'other hand, they often wish to retaliate on the
suspected wrong-doer. Even a great shaman of the mischievous kind is not
safe from the revenge of his neighbors, who by common consent may cause
his death.' Thus, in the tale of "The Scabby Shaman," the people wronged
by young Ri'ntew make complaint to his father, and then the whole village
-plans the destruction of the young shaman.
Even in modern times, when harm of an unexpected character is ascribed
to the pernicious influence of an unfriendly neighbor, the latter runs the risk
-of paying for the suspected witchcraft with his life. Thus, in the year I896,
2 Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. I66.
Compare p. IOI.
Mr. Gondatti also says, referring to the same mattcr, that among the Pacific Chukchee, when shamans are
believed to cause too much harm, they are killed by their neighbors, and that even special methods are used in the
-execution of such murders. I cannot tell, however, what he intends us to understand these special methods are.
(The Population of the Anadyr District, Memoirs of the Amur Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society,
Vol. III, Part I. I mentioned this paper on p. 2o, but at that time I was unable to get it. Since that time I have
.ieen able to consult it in the library of the Geographical Society in Paris).

during the spring fair on the Wolverene River, I was present at a series of
reindeer-races in the camps of the richest inhabitants. Two persons were all
the time striving against each other for the victory. Their names were
To'li-no and Ya'tirgin. The reindeer of To'lino, however, were better than those
of his rival, and he was victor several times. Then, at one race, the right
reindeer of his team suddenly stumbled and fell, not fifty feet distant from
the goal, which gave to Ya'tirgin the chance to snatch the prize first. Of
course, the accident was ascribed to a harmful incantation of the kind known
as ei'gut.1 In my presence the uncle of To'liiio, frightened by the accident,
tried to persuade him to stop racing and prepare for the return journey to his
camp, which was two hundred miles distant. TO'liino was obstinate, and
determined to continue. Two days later, to the horror of all, To'liino died
suddenly. The death, of course, was ascribed to the witchery of his rival;
the more so, as the latter with his family left the country hastily on the next
day, and went eastward in the direction of the Chaun River. In his haste,
he even left behind a part of his large herd of reindeer, which were taken by the
family of the deceased. The brother of the latter promised to visit, the next
fall, the country of Chaun in order to settle the blood-score.
In another case, which happened the same year at the Anui, fair, one
Chukchee accused his neighbor of killing his son by witchcraft a few months
before that time. The two families were not very friendly, and it seems that
the supposed wizard, when under the influence of brandy, was wont to boast
of his magic skill. Be that as it may, the father, thirsting for revenge,
watched for the wizard as he was passing on a trail among the camps, and
shot him down with a rifle. The brothers of the murdered man wanted to
have blood for blood; but even they felt that the wronged father was within
his right, and after some controversy the affair was settled without even weregild.
DIVINATION. - Of the methods of divination, the most common is that
with a suspended object. The Chukchee and the Eskimo alike use for this
the so-called "divining-stone" (yitko'mk-u'kwun, literally, "swinging-stone"). Any
pebble with a string tied around it may serve the purpose, although stones
somewhat bizarre in form are preferred. Often the skull of an animal (Fig.
297, a) is used for the purpose, a "wooden spirit"2 (Fig. 297, b), a rough image
of a "guardian," or even a piece of wood cut off under peculiar circumstances.
On the other hand, the divination may be performed without a special implement
by using the boot or cap of the person interested, or even the body of the
person himself.
The method employed with any divinatory object is to suspend it by a
string from the hand, or, better still, from the end of a stick; for instance,
a walking-staff or the long handle of a scraper. The soothsayer asks his
I

Compare p- 479.

2 Compare p.

341-

48 5
questions aloud or mentally, and then raises the object in the air. If the
answers are favorable, the object will begin to swing; if unfavorable, it will
remain motionless, and, even when pushed, will persistently return to its
original position and remain quiet (Plate XXXIII, Fig. 4).
When the body of
a living man is used in
divination, his head is
bound around with a
string, the other end of
which is tied to a stick.
K.
-Then questions are
asked and the stick is
lifted. If the answers
aefavorable, the head
will feel so light that
it will apparently be
lifted of itself. In the
case, the sooth
Fig. 297, a (gy0 e), b (67TE ). Implements used for Divination.
contrary
cae
contrary~
~ ~~~~~~~Lngh
~ soothcm.
i6 cm.
Length, ii cm, I6
sayer will be unable
to lift it from the ground. In this latter method the person whose head is
being lifted may ask his questions mentally, so that nobody can hear them.
This method of divination is identical with that used by the American Eskimo.'
The same method is resorted to with bodies of the dead to obtain information
as to the various details of the funeral, or the future of the remaining
members of the family.
Another method is that of tying the dead body, dressed for the funeral,
to the rails of a sledge. The sledge is then placed across two long smooth
poles lying side by side on the ground, so that the runners can easily slide
on them. Then the soothsayer asks his questions, and tries to pull the sledge
along. If the answers are favorable, the sledge will run ahead smoothly: if
unfavorable, some hitch will prevent it from moving. The principle is evidently the same as that of head-lifting.
At variance with this, the answers given before as favorable - spontaneous swinging of the object suspended, easy and smooth motion of human
bodies suspended or of sledges resting on rollers - are sometimes taken only
as affirmative, no matter whether favorable or not to the questioner; and those
given as unfavorable are, on the other hand, taken only as negative. To
avoid misunderstandings, however, the questions are, for the most part, put
in such a way that the affirmative would coincide with the favorable, and
vice versa.
th

I Compare Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 363.

62 -- JESU1' NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

As an instance of the contrary, an extract from a description of a
Chukchee funeral, taken down from the mouth of a native, may be cited.
"Then they lay down rollers under the sledge and try to draw it. (They ask the deceased)
'Of all those present here, say straightly whether anything ill shall befall them. Tell that about all,
one by one, not hiding anything.'
If, on asking about some particular person, the sledge runs
smoothly and without hitch, he will surely die."'

The method of divination by suspension is widely spread among both
the Reindeer and the Maritime Chukchee, and is employed in almost all cases
of life. Once, while in a camp on the Wolverene River the night before a
great race, I was weighing some medicine on a small brass balance. A man
who sat close by wanted to have a look at the balance, and when he took
it from my hand, of course it began swinging. rhe Chukchee took this as
He took advantage
a sign that the balance wanted to be used for soothsaying.
of this to ask it about the arrangement of the race for the morrow.
"Shall we arrange it together, or separately?" asked he. "Give a good
sign! Give a favorable omen!" There were two men desiring to arrange
the race, and it was a question whether they should join their stakes, or not.
The balance gave an answer in the required sense. The man asked several
other questions, which were all answered favorably, because the unstable thing
swayed to and fro with the slightest motion of the hand of the performer.
Suddenly, when he put forward a question about the foot-race, the balance
stood still. One of the cords supporting the plates became hooked to the
end of the lever, and its free motion was disturbed. "Desist, desist!" cried
the other people, frightened; but it was too late. Now, when the balance
did give an unfavorable answer, it was necessary to coax it to change it, and
to answer more acceptably in its new, entangled position. The experiment
took over half an hour, and still the balance would not answer satisfactorily.
Divination with suspended objects is well known also among the Asiatic
Eskimo and among the Koryak. Those on the Pacific side use their amulets,
known by the name of "grandmother" (a'n-ai), for this purpose. In a Koryak
tale, a spirit-woman makes her husband use for this purpose his own penis.
By its motion they are able to determine the movements of human people,
who flee before their approach. Many Chukchee tales also mention the custom
of ke'let trying to foretell the success of their man-hunting by swinging a
human skull. This serves them as a divining-stone equally as well as the skull
of an animal serves man for the same purpose.
Among the Kamchadal, according to Steller,2 a woman shaman used to
sit in a corner, and, winding a red thread around one of her legs, try to
lift it from the ground. If the leg seemed heavy to lift, a negative answer
to the question was implied: if it seemed light, the answer was in the affirmBogoras, Chuckchee Materials, p. 83

Steller, P. 277-

ative. Nelson1 tells of a similar method of divination among the Eskimo
southward from the mouth of the Yukon. For divination by head-lifting
among other Eskimo of America, I will refer to Dr. Boas.2
Another method of divination, nearly as much in use as the one just
spoken of, is that with a shoulder-blade, the centre of which is kept
over a small fire till it is partly carbonized, and cracks in all directions. rhe
details of the cracks determine the meaning of the answer. This method,
however, cannot be applied to every circumstance of life, because the indications
of the cracks are necessarily limited. Among the Reindeer Chukchee its chief
use is for determining the direction of the next moving of the camp. It is
also employed to foretell the success of a hunt or of a journey, the approach
of the wind, the imminent danger of a contagious disease, or of an attack on
the herd by wolves.
The Reindeer Chukchee use for divination only the shoulder-blade of the
domesticated reindeer. The animal, in most cases, is killed for this particular
purpose, though the bones of every reindeer brought for sacrifice, or slaughtered
for meat, are also fit to be used. The bone is taken raw, and the meat
carefully cleaned from it. Then a small piece of burning coal is kept close
to its centre. It is fanned, by means of blowing or light swinging, till
the bone is carbonized, and gives the first crack. After the performance, the
burned place is immediately broken through and reduced to crumbs, but
the bone itself is added to the common kitchen-stock used for trying tallow.
During the fall, the shoulder-blade of the left side is used for divination in
personal or family affairs, while that of the right side is called "alien," and
used for divination in the affairs of other people. During this period, divination
is employed, first, when changing camp after the first fall of snow, then again
about two months afterwards, when moving into winter-quarters.
In the winter time, divination is seldom used, but it is resumed in the
spring, when moving from the winter-pastures to the summer abode. rhis
moving is considered as "returning," the tundra being the principal country
for the Chukchee people. It is called "descending road" (ta'hri-tela'n), meaning
the descent from the wooded hills to the open tundra and to the sea.3 Even
the families who ascend the mountains in the direction of the glaciers of the
watershed call it by the same name. During this time, divination is used
for every new move; but now the bone of the right side is used for the
affairs of the family, while that of the left side is considered "alien." However,
for all journeys made without reference to the moving of the herd, - for
instance, for trading-trips or for hunting-expeditions, - the left shoulder-blade
is used throughout the year.
In explaining the lines of the cracks, the shoulder-blade must be kept
INelson, p. 433.

' Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, pp. I35, 363.

Compare pp. 25-27, 378.

with the broad part upwards (Fig. 298). The ridge in the middle is called
"mountain" (icvui'gin), and is considered to represent the mountains and
the inland generally. All the lower part of the shoulder-blade beneath the
burned spot is called "bottom of bone" (a'5mhe), and is considered to represent
the underground countries. The outer edge of
-/.1/, the shoulder-blade, all around the broad part
and down to the very bottom, is called "sea"
(a'niqA), and is considered to represent the sea~~~
/
~coast.
/87
Usually one vertical crack is formed, with
\
various ramifications above and below. rhe
{,SS /
/
following principles are applied for their explanation. Everything that comes from the sea is
good, even though it be from under the supposed
level of the ground: "Nothing evil comes from
\
/l;
U1gL
the sea." Indications from the underground, or
"bottom of the bone, on the contrary, are of
evil character. From the mountain above the
level, there may appear indications of either
Fig. 298 (-7 ). Shoulder-Blade used in kind, good or evil.
Divination. Length, 20 cm.
If there is produced only one vertical line,
it is a favorable indication; but if this line is short, or, on the contrary, if
it reaches the very edge of the bone, the indications are unfavorable. Should
the bone burn too quickly, it is likewisle unfavorable. The small cross-lines
not reaching up to the principal crack, when in the upper region, foretell
only news of something; while the longer lines, crossing the principal crack,
foretell the arrival of the thing. A large cross zigzag line foretells greatness
of the thing which will come. For instance, a detached cross-line from the
"mountain' may signify news about wild reindeer; a longer line, the coming
of wild reindeer; and a zigzag line, the abundance of the wild reindeer; etc.
A cross-line from the "bottom of the bone" foretells an attack by wolves, or
the arrival of the "spirit of disease," or even death. A line formed on the
top of the principal crack signifies a snow-storm; a semicircular line on
the same place signifies unexpected death. A detached line in the region of
the "sea" signifies some unexpected news. Thus, for instance, cracks on the
shoulder-blade represented in Fig. 298 indicate (i) abundance of some game
coming from the mountain, evidently reindeer, because it was the season for
the reindeer-hunt; (2) the coming of wolves to the herd of the camp.
In performing divination regarding the direction of moving, the person
must first select a direction, and then inquire about it. If the indications are
unfavorable, - that is, if some evil is indicated as likely to happen on the
journey, - the proposed direction is abandoned. In this case the shoulder-

blade itself is immersed in a mass of stuff emptied from the reindeer-paunch,
which is generally considered as highly effective for ceremonial cleansing of
this kind. While immersing the bone, the person says, 'This is not my
shoulder-blade: this is an 'alien' shoulder-blade." Then the bone is left
sticking in the stuff. On the next day another reindeer is killed and the
divination resumed for a changed direction of the route. This is watched
with the keenest attention, lest, through some carelessness, the true meaning
should be misunderstood.
An unfavorable indication of a shoulder-blade may be tested by divination
with the sinew of a reindeer-leg. A piece of sinew is wound tightly around
a splinter of wood several times. If it unwinds quite smoothly, this is
considered a favorable sign, and the indication of the shoulder-blade may be
rejected. If, on the contrary, it becomes entangled, this corroborates the
indication of the shoulder-blade, and some reverses are likely to happen. Then
another shoulder-blade may be tried for some other direction of moving.
rhe Maritime people use the shoulder-blades of the seal for purposes of
divination, but this is done less frequently, chiefly because there are no
questions to decide regarding the choice of direction of moving. The attention of the people is naturally directed, not so much to the possible result
of hunting-expeditions, as to procuring help and protection from the supernatural forces, so as to obtain a favorable issue for the hunt.
The Chuvantzy and even the Lamut of the
Anadyr country have also adopted this way
of foretelling the future, and the latter probably K
imitated it from their Chukchee neighbors.
The explanation of the lines, adopted by
the Lamut, is, however, simpler than that of
the Chukchee. The Lamut, for instance, dov
not distinguish between the sea and the
mountain side of the shoulder-blade. They do
not even pay attention to the position in which
/
the blade is held, but are occupied exclusively
with the lines. Among the collections of the
Miuseum there are several shoulder-blades of
Lamut provenience, which were burnt over
the fire for divination. One of the most
characteristic is represented in Fig. 299. The
vertical line on it signifies the route of the Fig 299 (03 s). Shoulder-Blade used in
3ivination. Lamut. Length, 20 cm.
Lamut; one branch of the bifurcated line
coming from the left side signifies the coming of the reindeer; and the body of the line signifies the joint way
of the Lamut and the reindeer after having come together. Evidently the
.7

hunt will be successful, because the line signifying the way in common is
exceedingly long. The detached line on the other side of the principal line
signifies the reindeer which will succeed in passing by the hunters and reaching
the mountains.1
rhere are several other methods of divination; for instance, the person
puts an amulet or a splinter of wood into his left mitten, and shakes it
violently till the small object flies out of the mitten. It is a good sign if it
falls to the right: the contrary is a bad sign. Divination with blades of grass
is very common. The person takes eight blades of grass, and, forming a
slender sheaf, ties it in the middle; then he ties consecutively the ends of
the grass-blades which touch one another, after which the sheaf is undone.
If the blades were so tied as to form an uninterrupted circle, the indication
is favorable: if not, it is unfavorable. Such a method seems almost sure to
prognosticate bad luck. Many persons, however, succeeded in my presence in
forming a circle of blades tied together. I cannot tell whether this was the
result of good luck or of cleverness, though they assured me that the thing was
done quite honestly without any trick. In a former chapter 2 I alluded to the
use, among the Maritime Chukchee, of lumps of tallow for purposes of divination.
DREAMS. - I have already spoken of the influence of dreams in the
arrangement of the various details of Chukchee ceremonials.3 In arranging
the thanksgiving ceremonial and the races, dreams are especially important.
These two are even called "dream-echoes' (re&tI-taa'nnirgin), showing how often
they are arranged solely on indications of a dream. Indeed, even if a small
boy should see in a dream that his family performed a thanksgiving ceremonial, it would be considered necessary to fulfil the dream under danger of
most serious misfortunes. The ke'let and va'Irgit also appear to people in
dreams to give them warning, or even to ask them for sacrifices. I mentioned
in the preceding chapter the "spirits of disease" who came to Ainianwa't in a
dream, before the breaking-out of real danger.4
Once when I was travelling with a party of Chukchee in the country of
the Dry Anui, we stopped over night on the shores of a certain lake. In
the morning one of the natives told us that the owner of the lake came to
him in a dream and asked him for a sacrifice. "You are a new-comer to this
country," said the owner of the lake. "You must give me a present." The
man was actually a new-comer to that part of the country. Accordingly he
sacrificed to- the lake a piece of tobacco-leaf and a small lump of sugar.
But the "spirit" had in mind some other thing. The native had with him a
little brandy in a glass bottle, which he was carrying as a present to his old
father. At first there were two full bottles of the brandy, but a small portion
I The distribution of "Scapulimantia' has been discussed by Professor Richard Andree in Boas Anniversary
Volume (New-York, Stechert, I906), pp. 143-I65.
2 See p. 404.
4 Compare pp. 418, 421.
Compare p. 382.

was all that was now left, and the dutiful son wished to keep that little till
he came to the house. The "spirit," however, appeared to him again the
next night, "almost in his waking moments," and unceremoniously tugged at
his sleeve. "Friend," said he, "I want that liquor. I have not tasted any for
a very long time."
In the morning the Chukchee was very angry at that demand of the
"spirit." "I am no resident of these places," repeated he. "I am simply a
passer-by. He has never given me anything." And he kept the brandy in
spite of the thirsty "spirit" of the lake. Two days afterward, when we had
gone fifty miles from the lake, he suddenly caught cold and fell ill. The
cold proved to be influenza, and he was obliged to stop at the next camp,
which, fortunately for him, was already arranged for the winter. The camp
also had been stricken by influenza; but it was on the decrease, and the
people were now out of danger. I heard afterward that the man with the
brandy likewise recovered, and, after a week or so, proceeded on his way,
but I very much doubt his ability to keep the brandy for his old father.
Another time, in a Maritime village, the mistress of the house where I
stopped suddenly became indisposed. In the morning, her husband said that
some one came to him in a dream and asked him for his spotted dog. He
offered another dog, because the spotted one was the best of the whole team;
but the visitor insisted, repeating that "spirits," like men, fancy spotted things.
Accordingly, in the morning the spotted dog was stabbed with the spear,
and offered to the "direction" of the evening.
OMENS. - In the course of the preceding pages I have mentioned several
times the Chukchee belief in omens; for instance, should a slaughtered reindeer
fall upon the wound, this is considered as less favorable than to fall on the
opposite side, especially if the reindeer had been slaughtered for a definite
sacrifice. For the animal to fall backward -forebodes misfortune. Therefore,
in the very process of slaughtering, the people try by dexterous jerking of the
halter to make the reindeer fall with the wound upward. It is not good,
however, to exaggerate this tendency, otherwise the sacrifice will not count
in the eyes of the divinities.
To dream of the loss of a tooth may presage illness or death, the tooth
symbolizing the soul, which is in danger of being lost. The yawning of
reindeer during a journey bodes the coming of evil spirits. The crackling of
the fire on the hearth foretells the coming of guests. The last sign, as is
well known, is widespread among various peoples.
TABOOS. - I did not find many taboos among the Chukchee, Reindeer
or Maritime, nor among the Asiatic Eskimo. In this, these tribes differ
greatly from the American Eskimo, whose whole life and whose pursuits
are closely interwoven with numerous taboos.
Regarding the taboo in reference to a woman's menses, the Reindeer

Chukchee consider that during that time the husband and wife must sleep
apart, or the woman will grow sickly, and soon become sterile. A like result
is represented as following the infraction of other taboos connected with
sexual life.1 I was told, however, that several "who are foolish" transgress
this interdiction, and have intercourse with their wives during the time of the
menses. Among the Maritime people, both the Chukchee and the Asiatic
Eskimo, the taboo concerning the menses is much stronger. A woman at
the time of her courses must carefully avoid even to approach her husband.
Even her breath is considered as impure: should it touch her husband or any
other man; it would contaminate him, and destroy his chance in sea-hunting
pursuits. He would even run the risk of being drowned at sea. In these
latter details we see a resemblance to the ideas of the American Eskimo.
The chief taboo among the Maritime people, both Chukchee and Eskimo,
is a strict prohibition against the use of wood for fuel during the winter.
The time during which this taboo is in force is marked by the going-away
and the coming-back of sea-fowl, since all other indications are not sure. The
cold continues almost throughout the year, and the ice-floes change their
position with a change of winds, and may be drifted off from shore even in
the middle of winter. The reason given for the taboo is, that the smell of
the smoke will "frighten away" the seals and the walruses. A coal-fire is
admissible: nevertheless, the Maritime people feel much disturbed by the
attempts of civilized people to settle for the winter in their vicinity. They
assert that, on the American shore, the sea-mammals have greatly decreased
because of the infraction of the taboo by numerous white settlers who have
come to the native villages.
Another very important taboo refers to the precaution relative to scraping
skins, and especially to rubbing them with alder, when the carcass of a killed
whale is hauled to the shore. Any use of alder is forbidden till the whole
amount of meat and blubber is stored away by the villagers. A woman who
has her hands stained with alder-juice makes the "noble guest" suffer. If she
washes her hands in sea-water, she causes all the whales to leave the shore.
The same proscription existed among the Yukaghir of the Lower Kolyma
in regard to the reindeer-hunt.
Women must take no part whatever in the preparations for the hunt of
wild reindeer; for instance, it is forbidden to send a woman to fetch a forgotten
object. While on the watch for wild reindeer, it is forbidden to call it by its
name, or to point toward it with a finger. It is forbidden to cook seal-meat,
fish, and reindeer-meat in the same pot while the hunt is going on and all
these are fresh from the slaughter. When taken from the storehouse, the
various kinds of meat may be cooked indiscriminately in the same pot.
I

Compare p. 37.

49X

A restriction like this exists among the Yukaghir and Yakut, and also
among the Kamchadal.1 The rules of the American Eskimo regarding the
same matter are much more strict and complex.2
The owners of the lakes, rivers, and sea-bays, have an aversion to iron,
If, in fishing or sealing, any iron tool is dropped into the water, the catch
will be immediately cut off. The same belief exists among the Russianized
Yukaghir. It is forbidden to kill a living fish fresh from the water with an
iron weapon. It is forbidden to kill the eagle and a sea-bird of the species
of Synihkiborhamphus an/iquus Gm. The killing of an eagle brings storm;
-and the killing of the other species, fog. The birds of this latter species,
however, may be killed singly from time to time. When a mother-bird with
her little ones is met by a hunter, he may kill the latter, but he must immediately take to flight, lest the mother-bird revenge on him the death of her
young. If she gives pursuit, he must show her a talisman in the shape of
a dried carcass of a bird of the same species, which is often carried for this
purpose on the boat. Then she will be frightened, and will desist from
pursuit. The bodies of young birds killed under such conditions may serve
as amulets, insuring luck in sea-hunting. With the appearance of shot-guns.
bought from the Americans, the taboo against this bird became less strict,
because the bird-hunters simply shoot down anything that flies by. Notwithstanding this, when, during our stay in the village of Unii'sak, we wanted to
kill a few birds for our zoological collection, the inhabitants constantly asked
us not to kill too many, lest fog and bad weather should come to the shore,
and cause starvation and suffering.
When stopping over night on a journey, the stick stuck obliquely into
the ground for supporting the kettle over the fire must point in the direction
of the journey. Some taboos and proscriptions about food will be found in
the chapter on food.3 The proscription about the necessity of stripping and
bringing sacrifice, when hewing off a piece of sandstone for manufacturing a
lamp, has also been mentioned.4
Among both the Reindeer and the Maritime people it is forbidden to
throw away crumbs and remnants of food. The Reindeer people connect it
with success in reindeer-breeding; for instance, they say that, if a reindeerbone is not entirely gnawed up, the reindeer will be stricken with some
disease. If the same thing happens with a bone of a leg, the herd will be
visited by hoof-disease, etc. 'Fherefore housewives gather carefully all
remnants of food, especially bones, and burn them in the fire. The Maritime
people believe that the "Being" of the sea will be angry for any neglect of
scraps of the meat which he gives to the people; but they are not so careful
I

Steller, p. 274.

2 lioas, Central Eskimo, p. 595.

63 -JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

3 See pp. I93 et seq.

4 See p. I87.

about the scraps, especially in time of plenty. It is forbidden to sing or
whistle while eating, also to laugh while an animal is being skinned.
I have previously mentioned the taboo about interchange of fire. Another
taboo of a similar kind is directed against trading off to another person
anything of long and intimate possession, - things "clinging to the heart"
(li'iiliiiqin), be they of much or of trifling value. Thus, a man may trade off
a driving-sledge when it is newly made, but not after it has been in his
possession for a long time. Likewise a man must not sell the driving-reindeer
belonging to the team that he is chiefly using; but he can freely trade off
the other reindeer and the pack-sledge reindeer. This explains somewhat the
seeming contradiction between the words of Kennan, who says that he was
unable to buy live reindeer from the Chukchee,l and the fact that the trade
in live reindeer exists everywhere in the Chukchee territory. Kennan without
doubt wanted to buy good driving-reindeer for his personal use, which, of
course, was no easy matter. When selling a live reindeer, it is well to pull
a tuft of hair from its mane or head. If this hair is thrown into the fire of
the family's hearth, it will prevent any part of the reindeer-luck from departing
with the reindeer.
A taboo existing among the Asiatic Eskimo forbids staying away from
one's native land longer than five consecutive years. Here, again, the number
five has peculiar importance.2 By "native land" is understood the natal village
and the surrounding territory. But the territories of more remote Eskimo
villages are considered as "alien" land. I was told by the natives, that families
who have lived for five years away from their native country must either
return, or consider themselves expatriated. In that case they must try to
establish close relations with the "spirits" of their new dwelling-place. Indeed,
though many families of Asiatic Eskimo often move from place to place, in
accordance with the vicissitudes of seal-hunting,3 they rarely go very far, and
even then they try as soon as possible to return to their native village.
Thus, most of the inhabitants of I'3en, in Providence Bay, go almost every
spring to the village of Eu'nmun, lying not far off on the shore, where the
.seal-catch is more abundant, but after that they return to their own territory.
As to more distant villages, I know cases where families from Unii'sak, who
had staid for four years in the village of I'mtun, returned to their native
country in the summer of the fifth year, and vice versd.
I do not know whether similar customs prevail among the American
Eskimo. Among the Maritime Chukchee a taboo like this could hardly
obtain, because the whole tribe is more unstable, almost half nomad, and the
reindeer-breeding section, moreover, has too much attraction for the MariI Kennan, Tent-Life in Siberia (Russian edition,

i896), p. 194.

2 Concerning the number of five years, compare p. 392.
3 Compare p. 28.

time villages to allow them to hamper their movements by similar customs.
Another taboo of the Asiatic Eskimo forbids long migratory journeys with
household and family, to be performed on dog-sledges. Such journeys must be
performed exclusively in summer-time and with the large skin boat of the family.
Still another taboo existing among the Asiatic Eskimo refers to the boats
going to the open sea for hunting sea-mammals. They are forbidden to take
with them provisions and fresh water, and especially fuel for cooking. Indeed,
to make a fire in a boat in the open sea is considered as a grave trespass
against the hunting-chance of the party. The hunters, therefore, can assuage
their thirst only by sucking sea-ice, when pieces of a proper quality can be
found, or by swallowing the viscous fluid from the intestines of walrus or
thong-seal before mentioned.
For provisions, the hunters usually take only raw or dried meat. To
take along cold cooked meat is permitted only after the coming of puffins,
which for this reason are often called simply the "cooked." To cook a meal
in the boat is, however, strictly forbidden. To cut off and eat a piece of
raw meat from one of the animals freshly killed by their exertions is considered
As the Maritime people consume the gristle,
most fitting for the hunters.
this proscription
raw as well as cooked,
the intestines, and the blubber,
does not seem to be very inconvenient for them.
I cannot say what may be the cause of this strange taboo. The natives
themselves are conscious that it seriously hampers their hunting-expeditions,
since it makes it impossible for them to go far out to sea. They say, however,
that the Sea-Being instituted this taboo through his care for the people, lest
too many of them perish in the open sea. The Sea-Being gave to the Maritime
people an explicit command not to venture out in the open sea beyond the
limit where the line of the shore-hills could be seen, and for further security
he instituted this taboo.
The arctic Chukchee, however, have no such taboo. They take with
them cooked meat, water, fuel for fire, skins, and covering for their beds.
While in the open sea, they make a fire in the boat on a large piece of sod
or on a flat box filled with sand, and cook their meat on that improvised
hearth. Therefore they are able to go out into the open sea far beyond the
limit of sight of the shore-hills. There they eat and sleep, and often stay
for two or three days, which, of course, gives them more chance for hunting.
For their return they rely on the north wind, which blows there frequently,
and brings their boats in toward the shore.
The Maritime Chukchee of the Pacific shore are not, however, so daring
on the sea, and their sea-expeditions are by no means the equal of those of
the Eskimo.'
I

For other taboos see Chapter XVII.

TRANSLATIONS OF INCANTATIONS.1

I.

INCANTATIONS FOR TAMING WILiD REINDEER-BUCKS WHO HAVE JOINED
THE HERD OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS.

(a) It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I tugged at your heart's life
(tetke'yun-),1 together with the aorta. I drew it out of your anus, and appropriated it to myself. (The person practising the incantation picks up from
-the footprint of the animal two splinters or blades of grass, and puts them
into his left mitten. On coming home, these must be wrapped in a piece ot
leather, and suspended in the inner room, over the lamp.) It is a wonder,
it is a wonder. I drew out your psalterium, I took it out of your anus and
put it over your nose, like a bag. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I make
you into a tame doe. How is it? Go and look for a husband among the
people of the Morning-Dawn! It is a wonder, it is a wonder. You have
brought the son of the heaven's crack. It is a wonder, it is a wonder.
You have brought the son of the Morning-Dawn's top.2 It is a wonder, it
is a- wonder. You have brought the son of the 'separate clouds." It is a
wonder, it is a wonder. I have put you on a broad rock. It is a wonder,
it is a wonder. I have put you on a large rock. It is a wonder, it is a
wonder. I have put you in a large ravine. It is a wonder, it is a wonder.
With the stones falling down from both sides, I made your eyes unseeing.
It is a wonder, it is a wonder. With the stones falling down from both
sides, I made your ears unhearing. How is it? I fastened stones to the
points of your hair. How is it? 0 Zenith! give me your striking-stone.
(The person practising the incantation appears as if about to take something
with his left hand.) I will put it on this one's crown, among the antlers.
How is it? I have put you on a large lake. It is a wonder, it is a wonder.
I put you with unseeing eyes on a glacier which is splitting with great noise.
How is it? 0 Zenith! give me your forked wood; I will put it on this one's
neck. It is to be trampled upon by the herd from both sides.
I ask an incantation from the World (1&a'rgInen). I beg from the Front
Head (the star Arcturus)8 the right-side reindeer of his team and that most
thoroughly broken reindeer that leads the train of his sledges. I tie the aorta
of the wild reindeer-buck to these two. From the top of the Zenith I haul
down the heart's life (tetke'yun-), and with this I strike you on the head.
After that I cry out, "Ka, ka, ka!" but he cannot fly, being tied up. The
Pebbly River (the Milky Way) I make for my road. I call the East and the
West Wind to bring me smoke from every camp around. Then I build a
big fire before the entrance of my tent, and I say, "You are my chief guest!
Come in! Let us feast at my house; let us eat. What is the best? You
are my chief son-in-law. Take a wife -from my people.' After that, the
Compare p. 332.

Compare p. 303.

3 Compare p. 307.

wild reindeer becomes quite tame, and even comes to the train of the sledges.
After a while, however, it must be killed, and all the elements of the
incantation returned to their owners. The right-side reindeer is returned to
the Front Head. Meat puddings also are prepared with which to feed the
Winds. They are scattered (in crumbs) in all directions. The end.1
Told by Aifianwa't, a Reindeer Chukchee man of the Kolyma Country.

(b) When a wild reindeer-buck that has just shed his hair joins a domesticated herd, the owner says, "Let us try it and make of him a tame reindeer!
Let him create offspring for us!' He goes to the herd and pronounces an
incantation. He talks to the Being of the Zenith. "Listen to me, you there
above! I am in great need. This one wants to go away, and he is the
first of his kind that I have seen here. Give me your wooden stake! I
will stick it into his foot and fasten him to the ground; I will thrust it in
between his antlers; I will pierce his lower jaw, and bring it down to the
level of the ground. With what else will I pin to the ground this fleetfooted reindeer-buck? I will gather bowlders from all sides, and pile them
up between his antlers. How will he move his head? I will wrap his ears
with sod. I will gather withered sedge-grass and cover his nose with it.
Let all bad odors from every part of the earth enter into his nose! I make
him into a fawn newly born. 0 Va'irgin! do not despise my demand. Let
me get possession of him! I will give you in exchange something equally
worthy of desire." Then he spits, to fasten the incantation. After that he
says, "Bring the herd to the house!" The wild buck is very tame. They drive
the herd windward, so that he will smell the odor of the house, and hear the
noise of the people. But he is heavy, and less shy than before. The end.
Told by Kegute'hin (man) on the O'nmilin Tundra, 190I.

2.

INCANTATION USED ON THE MIDDLE ANADYR IN HUNTING WILD REINDEER.

I call every game, every living thing, from the very first limit of creation.
A young pintail duck I use for my leader, it is so clever in hiding from
everybody. I call an old pintail duck to be my leader. The lone reindeerbuck I make to wade into the water. Oh! let us try to adopt it for the
leader! Let him give his call before the reindeer! Now I sing, 'Just so,
just so! Oh! who are you?" I use the distance (to the game) of yesterday,
I use the distance of to-day. I make them appear before me! I cover my
face with the soot; to every kind of game I become unknown; to every
species of animal I become unrecognizable. Only the soot of my face appears
I See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 143.

before their eyes. Taking off my breeches, I stand on the ground without
any precautions. My buttocks have three eyes, and they keep watch for me.
They see every hidden ke'lE, and they make the ke'lE's eyes to close. The
foremost reindeer I make very slow, using the two legs of the small pintail
duck, forked in two from its buttocks. Everything difficult to smell of I am
using all the time. I enter the confines of every place without any precaution.
I may sleep without care. All game have a liking for me; every kind of
game has a great love for me. Thus I have almost acquired a good careless
sleep. The thing lying under my pillow I have for my protector. Blowing
over it, I make it rebound backwards. I make it scatter downwards. The end.
Told by Nikon Tahra'tirg[n (man) in the village
Chika'yeva, on the Middle Anadyr, I9oo.

3.

INCANTATION FOR HUNTING SEA-MAMMALS.

When the hunters, having gone out in a boat, have found a herd of
walrus sleeping on the ice, and the boat makes a noise striking against the
small ice around, the man who practises the incantation says, "0 walrus! I
put your ears on a broad iron pan, lest you should be able to hear the
rapping noise." Then the hunters are able to approach, and kill all of the herd.
Told by Wiy&lnto (man) at Mariinsky Post, I900.
4.

INCANTATIONS FOR IMPROVING BAD WEATHER.

(a) I am crying to the Zenith, straight windward. "Old woman, scrape
the sky all over with your little copper butchering-knife! A huk! You
have great breasts. I beat my hands three times, then I fall backward. I
put my left mitten on my right hand." The end.
Told by Rite'hrew (man) in the village Chika'yeva,
on the Middle Anadyr, I900.

(b) "Western Wind, look here! Look down on my buttocks. We are
going to give you some fat. Cease blowing!" (The man pronouncing the
incantation lets his breeches fall down, and bucks leeward, exposing his bare
buttocks to the wind. At every word he claps his hands.)
Told by A'niqai (man) in Mariinsky Post, igoo.

5.

INCANTATIONS AGAINST THE COMING OF KE'LET.

(a) When evening comes, I tie up two big bears, one on either side of
my entrance, and I speak thus: "You are so big and strong! At your side,
nothing ill can befall me." If the ke'let try to enter, the bears would catch
them, because they are quite fierce. It is difficult to pass them by, or to

make an assault while they are there. Then there is a small old woman,
quite blind, and armed with an iron whip. She swings her whip all night
long, here and there before my entrance. It frightens away the ke'let, and
prevents them from making an attack. After that, two big polar owls are
put on the watch around this house. They have iron beaks and iron wings.
Their beaks are very sharp. When the ke'lE, the murderer, who is wont
to make assaults, comes to the house and wants to enter it, they strike at
him with their beaks, wound him severely, and peck out his eyes. His blood
flows away far into the wilderness. Then he feels afraid, and leaves off.
Told by Ve'lvufne (woman) in the village of Ce"'in.

(b) I make the house of human people into a closed iron ball. It has
no entrance and no windows, and there is only a small vent-hole on top.
I put around this hole a sharp knife-blade. No ke'lE can enter through it;
no source of death knows anything about it. In the evening, in the time
for sleep, something bad will try to attack the house. One will say, "Let
us enter this house!" - "Yes, let us do it!" They go around the house,
looking for the entrance. There is no entrance, and they cannot find it.
"Oh! what side shall we try? It is wonderful. We cannot find the entrance.
Let us do it from below. We will enter it through the ground of the outer
tent!" They dive into the ground, but have to re-appear on the other side.
It is impossible to enter, because the house is all iron. They come again
to the front. "Where shall we try it, oh! I hear the people's voices inside.
There now! Let me try and climb to the roof." One of them climbs to
the roof and sees the vent-hole. "Oh! I have found it! Here is a place to
make an attempt. Come, now! lower me down this hole, upon a rope."
They lower him down; but the hole is narrow, and armed with a sharp blade.
It cuts him all over. The blood spurts out, even the intestines come out,
and he cannot endure the pain. "Oh! oh! Haul me up! I shall die! I
have bruised and lacerated my whole body." They haul in the rope. His
bowels and intestines are all out, and he is covered with blood. "Oh! let us
go away! It is too bad. My .body is all cut to pieces. I have nearly met
my death here. We do not want it." They leave the game and go away.
Told by Ke'gulin (man) in the village of Mr's-qAn, I900.

(c) If I am afraid to sleep alone, I say that I have cut off the left half
of a female dog's body, and I gather the dog's blood in the hollow of my
hand. In this blood I go to sleep. Who can see where I am? That's all.
Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, Igoo.

(d) When I am afraid of ke'let, while sleeping alone, I say, 'I make
myself into a small stone. I enter the stone. It is lying on the seashore.

Every wind is blowing upon it; every wave is washing over it. I am safe."
It is good also to swallow a small stone. Then, when the ke'lE comes, he
cannot find the man among the pebbles on the shore.
Told by Aiilanwa't, a Reindeer Chukchee man, in the Kolyma Country, I895.

(e) If I am afraid of ke'let, when travelling alone in the night-time, I
take the throat of a re'kken' for my road. He has a long neck. Travelling
inside of it, the other ke'let would not be able to find me.
Told by Qo'ttr&in (man) in the village of Mrs-qAn, I900.
6.

INCANTATION USED TO PROTECT THE HERD FROM THE HOOF-DISEASE.

I ask from the Master of the Pebbly River a big iron box. I put into it
my herd, and then turn the key. How can he (that is, the ke'lE) enter there?
7.

INCANTATION AGAINST ArTACK by WOLVES, TO BE USED BY A HERDSMAN.

To protect my herd from wolves, I surround it with a long line suspended
in the air. Upon this line I hang a number of clothes, which swing in all
directions, and frighten the wolves. Thus they cannot approach the herd.
Nos. 6 & 7 told by Scratching-Woman at Mariinsky Post, I900.

8.

INCANTATIONS OF MAGIC MEDICINE.

(a) I went out into the open air. At some distance from the house
there are hummocks, - two hummocks covered with grass. One of them
is the nearer, although it is no great distance away. I suppose that I have
travelled as far as the region beyond the skies. Coming quite close to the
nearer hummock, I cry out, "Halloo!" I say it to myself, but it is as if the
hummock called to me. Then I answer, "No, it is I - "How wonderful!
Where from?' - "No, I come from the people below!" - "How wonderful!
For what have you come? You have come from a very long distance." It
is a little old woman who talks to me, -a Woman of the First Creation,
Ku'`a-iie'ut by name, who is sitting in the inner room of her house. The
other hummock is her neighbor, the chief inhabitant of the place. She is a
woman of many incantations: her name is Ra'ucha-nia'ut.2 "Well, let us hear
what the other woman will say, - Ra'ucha-iia'ut, the possessor of the incantations. Go to her!" I start as if about to go farther on to the chief house.
Again a conversation, as the first time. "Halloo!" - "Who is there?" "No, it is I - "How wonderful! Where from?" - I belong to the people
Compare p. 296, 324.

(fia'ut) means "woman." It is an obsolete word, used only in composition with the names.
meaning of the first half of each name was unknown to the speaker.
2 Ne'ut

The

50I

below." - "How wonderful! What for?" - "Now listen! A man of my
people is sick. He suffers greatly. Therefore I come to you for help."
"Ho! It is wonderful! And what says the other woman?" - "She says, 'Go.
and see -what the chief inhabitant will say!'" - "Indeed! Wait a moment
till I come out. It cannot be that you have travelled such a long distance
without any result." Then I gather a weed from the top of that hummock,
as if it were the old woman whom I am taking with me. We come back
to the first house. "Halloo!" Now there are two of us. My companion
cries out, "O mother! let us go! It must not be that this man has come
hither without any good result." - "Ay, ay! Wait for me! I am coming!"'
Now I gather another blade of grass, and I carry both of them to the house,
as if I had returned from a land very far off, from beyond the sky. All the
people of the house are waiting for me. I put the two old women beside
the suffering man, close to his pillow. In the morning we prepare two tiny
bags with little pieces of skin. Small bits of fat are put into them, and shreds
of sinew into each bag separately. This represents the payment to the old
women in meat and thongs. Then I take them back to their former place,
and I leave each of them at their respective hummock house. After that I
come back, pretending again to return from beyond the sky.'
(b) When I am sick, I demand assistance from the Right Side of the
Morning-Dawn. "Oh, help my need; look down upon me with the Godly
Substance (afia'fi-va'irgin)!" The Right Side of the Morning-Dawn answers,
"I refuse!" - "O you, the Top of the Dawn, help my need; look down upon
me with the Godly Substance!" The Top of the Dawn answers, "I refuse!"
From the Left Side of the Morning-Dawn I ask for assistance. "Help my
need; look down upon me with the Godly Substance!" The Left Side of the
Morning-Dawn answers, "I refuse!" I ask the Front Head (the star Arcturus),
"Help my need; look down upon me with the Godly Substance!" The Front
Head answers, "Ask the Rear Head (the star Vega). Near the right corner
of thy house there abides a Woman of Light, a Hummock-Woman, an Old
Woman from the Time of the First Creation: ask her for an incantation!'
I visit her. "What have you come for?" - "I am suffering! Look down
"Well, I will try!" She gives me a
upon me with the Godly Substance!"
blade of grass, an iron blade, which is an iron hawk. I rub my body with
that grass, and draw out the disease, which I turn into a flock of ptarmigan.
These are to be caught and eaten by the iron hawk.2
(a) an(d (b) told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Countrv.

(c) When a man is suffering, they call the Man from the Upper Region,
and they speak thus: "Come down! I want to use you for my 'assistant.'

See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. I32.

64-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

2 Ibid., p. 138.

Indeed, what shall I do? Where shall I find any other help? I do not know.
With your permission I will take you for my 'assistant.' Search for me.
Here I am without any help at all!'
Then the man pronouncing the incantation picks up any small thing,
for instance, a splinter of wood, and pretends that it is the Man from the
Upper Region. Then he demands from the Front Head (the star Arcturus)
its reindeer-team, and says, "O Front Head! give me your best reindeer-bucks.
This man will use them for his team." He demands also from Rulte'nnin (the'
constellation Orion) his whip. Then the Man from the Upper Region starts on
his searching journey. First of all he visits the "Ground Beings." He arrives
there, and they say, "You have come?" (but in reality the man does not leave
"Oh! I'am employed
the place) - "Yes, I have come!" - "Who are you?"
only for an 'assistant.' I come to ask where that man is. He is here,
"But we do not know anything. It is wholly unknown. We
probably!"
cannot tell!" Then he goes away (of course, the man is standing motionless),
and begins to talk again, and he says, "Oh! where shall I go? Where is he?
He goes to the Upper Being (Girgo'l-va'irgin). "Oh! you have come."
"Yes!" - "What do you want?" - I am only on a search. I am an 'assistant' for those people." - "Indeed! But we do not know. That man did not
come to us. It is quite unknown!" - "You say so! But where may he be?"
He comes home and finds the patient, who is now dead. He says,
"Oh, I could not find him! The people yonder do not know about him.
Oh, it is hard! Where shall I find him? I will go and look among the
people of Darkness." He comes to the Darkness. "You have come?" "Yes! Oh, oh! There he is!" Here at last he is found by the seeker.
"Yes! I have come here. Here I am abiding!"
"Then you are here
"Oh, let us go home! I am assisting those people. Indeed, for that they
have called me! Let us return! I' will take you with me." And he really
takes him along. (For this the man picks up another small splinter, holding
it with his left hand. This means that the Man from the Upper Region
brings back the soul, and makes it retrace its way.) At the same time the
person pronouncing the incantation blows into the right ear and scratches the
head of the patient. The splinter of wood is put under the pillow of the
patient. At last the dead one recovers his breath, then his voice comes back
to him, and then he is able to take a sitting posture. Then the man practising
the incantation demands from the Morning-Dawn some clothes for the patient.
He says, "See here! 'rhis one is without clothes, this child of mine here!'
Give me some clothes, and I will put them on his body." (He stretches his
hand upward, as if taking clothes from above.) Then he puts on the clothes,
and says, "I have put upon you clothes which are unassailable (by the ke'let)."
After that they carry the patient back into the house, because, for the last
I

The person pronouncing the incantation usually calls himself the father of the patient.

performance, they took him out of the sleeping-room. Now they restore him
to his place. Before entering the house, his whole body must be smeared
over with ochre. After that, he recovers completely.
Told by Qo't6rgin (manl) in the village of Mi's-qAn, I900.

(d) If a man is suffering, there is an old bear, a Big Bear of the Time
of the First Creation. I make myself into that bear. All his hair is completely white, though he is no polar bear. I lick over my own fingers, and
catch with them the suffering man. At every spot where he feels pain I clutch
him tightly. Then I blow with force over his whole body, quite naked.'
'I'old by a Reindeer Chukehee of the Kolyma Country.

(e) If I want to cure some one from disease, I transform him into earth,
and transform myself into a huge bear. I am strong; I am clawing the
earth, and scattering it around. Then I put the disease into the hole, and
cover it with the earth again. Thus I make everything tight.
Tol(d by Scratching-WN'oman (man) at Mariinsky Post, I900.

(f) The bird Karpai'niin! there comes Karpai'iiin with iron quills, which
are very sharp.2 He enters the mouth of the patient, and makes his
dwelling-place inside of him. Inspect the liver, scratch it all over with your
iron paws, stab it all over with your sharp iron quills! Let the disease go
out from the neck, from the breast, from the stomach, from the whole body."
After that, the patient paints his body all over with soot, which represents
the feathers of the iron bird.'
Told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.

(g) For Pains in the Stomach. I call Ku'urkil (the name of the Raven).
This abdomen of mine I make into a. bay of the sea. The bay is frozen,
altogether bound with ice. Plenty of rubbish is frozen there in the ice of
the bay; the rubbish is the disease of my stomach. "Oh! you, my stomach,
you are full of pain. I make you into a frozen bay, into a bad ice-floe,
into a very old ice-floe. Ho!" I call to Ku'urkil. "You, Ku'urkil, you
travel around from very remote times. I want your assistance. What are
you going to do with this bay? It is frozen. Mischievous people made it
freeze. You have a strong beak. What are you going to do?" Then the
Raven breaks the ice through, but in reality it is the disease which is broken.
Everything that has stuck under the water I cause to be carried away; it is
floating on the surface. rhen he comes4 to the man who asked for assistI See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p.
2 This

135.

bird is mentioned also in one tale as having iron feathers; but nothing else is known about it.
3 See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 137.
4 The man who told me this incantation spoke alternately in the first and in the third person.

ance, and says to him, 'I have finished!" - "All right!" - "Now I call to
the great Sea, 'O Sea, you are great! Turn back the great river that flows
to the seashore!' There comes the wind from the sea, great storm, high
billows. I call to all of you!" He catches the patient by the skin of the
abdomen. The man who pronounces the incantation keeps his hands on the
stomach of the patient, pretending that his palms are the billows. WA;ith
these he kneads tie abdomen, and massages it. While doing this he says,
"Here I am cleaning away all rubbish; I make it to be drifted away by the
water." Then he falls backward, as if the breath of the great wind from the
sea had dragged him away. Then the sea begins to ebb; the tide is at the
lowest. The pebbles, which have been here since very long ago (these are
in reality his intestines) are bare of water. There is no water near them.
"I make you into a very dry place; I make you into a dry sandy shore.
A hairy maggot is rolling on the sand, it rolls into its hair all the rubbish
from the ground." Then the man who pronounces the incantation blows
with all his strength. He smears over with saliva his right palm. He brings
snow from outside, and makes it melt in his mouth. Then he brings a blade
of grass, and fastens it to the necklace of the patient. Then he wipes the
saliva from his palm. Then the people bring the payment. They make a
diminutive skin bag, and put into it crumbs of sausage, dry leaves instead
of skins, a little piece of meat, and a tiny strip of thong. The shaman
takes all these, and carries them home. He carries them to the sacrificing
place behind his own tent. There he takes out everything. He stabs the
pieces of sausage with his knife 1 these are his reindeer for slaughter. He
scatters the sacrifice to the Being of Incantation (ewga'nvu-va'irgin), - the
thong, the beads, and the tobacco; then he comes back. The evening
comes, and they enter the inner room. The next morning they visit the
patient again. "Halloo! how are you?" - "Indeed, I am a little better!"
Then the other one fetches a small river,2 and puts it into the chamber-vessel
to be also used afterwards for washing and sweeping the illness. From that
time on, he begins to imnprove, and gradually recovers altogether. That is all.
Told by Ke'gulin (man) in the village of Mi's'qAn, I900.

(h) For Pain in the Abdomen. When my belly is ailing, I call the
bear from the Rear Head (the star Vega), and tie him on my belly as a
belly-protector. Then I say, "O bear! you are strong. Lick my belly; lick
it and bite it! With your biting allay my pain." rhat is all.
Told by Scratchinig-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, I900.

(i) To cure Cuts and Wounds.

If I have cut myself, or if another

I Compare p. 369.
2 That is, some water, which by the incantation is considered to be transformed into a small river.

person has hurt his foot with an axe, or has severed a vein, so that blood
spurts out like a jet of urine, it is a cause of great fright. If the flow of
blood is not stopped right away, it will cause death. I have an incantation
for such an occasion. One must demand help from the Zenith. The person
says, "Come down, you flying spider, who are the Spider of the Time of the
First Creation." Then he appears to be taking the spider in his left hand.
"There, now! sew this together." He appears to sew the wound, and then
bandages it with scraps of skin. When, after some time, the bandages are
undone, the cut is closed and looks quite like an old scar.'
(j) For curing a Swelling. To reduce a swelling which is slow in
bursting, I have a special incantation. I say, "There is a Little Seal of the
Time of the First Creation. I have transformed myself into that seal, and I
have pierced the thick ice above!" Then I breathe three times over the
swelling, which bursts after a while, or perhaps on the next day.2
(i) and (j) told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.

(k) Another Cure for a Swelling. Inside of the swelling there lies a
boneless fish, - a Sturgeon. He moves his sharp fins, and cuts up the
swelled place. On the top of the swelling there lies a Hare. He makes the
snow under him melt with warmth. Between the two, the swelling bursts.
Told by Hiyewte'hiin (man) at Mariinsky Post, I900.

(I) For curing an Ailing Limb. Taking a piece of cloth, I go out of the
house early in the morning, and, turning to the Dawn, say, "O Dawn! this
is my sea. Give upon my sea a wing of the butterfly." With this wing I
rub the patient. This is not an ailing limb; this is the ground. I rub it
with the wing from the upper earth of the Dawn, then it will stop ailing.
Tol(d by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, 9goo.
(m) For curing Pain in the Legs. This is not a leg: it is a place
chosen by the Raven for its night's repose. The Mouse-Woman and the
Spermophilus-Woman scrape off the snow. The Raven asks of his wives,
"We do not
WThy is that stranger suffering so from pain in his leg?"
know." The Raven goes to the Pebbly River. 'I will bring some of its
water, and I will rub it over the ailing place: let it cease to feel pain."
Then he goes away to the Northeast Wind. "Halloo!" - "Halloo!" - "Why
is this stranger suffering so from his leg? I could not do anything. My
single incantation was spoiled by my own wife!" - "Well, go home!" After
a while there comes the Northeast Wind, which carries away the fallen leaves
and the rubbish, and thoroughly cleans the ailing spot.
Told 1)y Hiyewte'hin (man) at Mariinsky Post, I900.
I

See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 137.

Ibid., p. 136.

9.

INCANTATIONS TO BRING BACK THE DYING.

(a) When a man has just died, and the body is lying in the inner
room, another person leaves the house, goes into the wilderness, and talks
to the Upper Being, to the Morning-Dawn. He says, "My mind is uncertain.
Enough (stop doubting). Whom else may I ask for help? You are the fittest.
Oh! give me your dog. I will also use it as a dog for myself. I am
sorrowful for my child: it is gone away to a far-off place. Therefore let me
use that dog for my assistant." He makes a motion with his left hand, as
if receiving the dog from somewhere. Then he comes back and blows into
the ear of the dead person, and howls like a dog, "Uu, uu, uu!" Then
this dog starts on, pursuing the dead man. It follows him, barking and
howling, "Haw, haw, haw!" Soon it passes ahead of him, and meets him
on the road with fierce barking. It snaps at him, and intercepts his way in
every direction. At last it makes him come back from his long journey.
Then he must enter the body and put it on again. After that he begins to
breathe, and gradually improves, and finally he, though dead, revives again.
Told by Rike'wgi (man) at Mariinsky Post, I900.

(b) If I want to retard one going away, I will transform, of my five
fingers, the little one into the dying man, and hold it tightly in my palm.
When he walks onward, I will intercept his way. I will bark like a dog,
and make him come back. I will make his soul into a drifted tree; I will
blow as a high wind, and I will call it to the shore; I will draw it with my
breath toward the land: "Kamo, kamo, kamo, kamo!" I will catch the tree
by its roots, and draw it to the shore.
Told by Kamenva't, a Reinideer Chukchee, man, in the Kolyma Country, 1897.

(c) When a man suffering from disease becomes quite weak, and is about
to die, he is carried out of the house, and his body is rubbed over with
something, for instance, with snow. Then another man talks to the Upper
Regions. He calls to the Pebbly River, and speaks thus: "O Pebbly River,
come down! I will use you for my assistant!" At the same time he calls
also the East Wind. Then comes a great fall of rain. The river is greatly
swollen. The patient becomes the rapids of the stream; everything is carried
away. He becomes quite clean, and the water takes with it all rubbish.
Then the sufferer becomes better, and is carried back into the house.
Told by Rike'wgi (man) at Mariinsky Post, I900.

I O.

HARMFUL INCANTATION (Oiwa'cirg-E'wgan).

To whatsoever person has incurred my anger, I say, "You are not a
man! you are an old seal-skin!" I call the shrimps from the sea. "O Shrimps!

scratch at the skin, and make it full of holes. Be your anger as great as
is mine! Destroy him speedily, before the coming of the fall!" Indeed, in
a few days he is dead.'
Told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.

I i.

LOVE-INCANTATIONS.

(a) If I want to have any woman, I follow her all the time. When she
urinates, I see her urine falling down, and then I say, "This is not urine
that falls down; this is your heart and liver and kidneys, that fall down
together." I go to the Morning-Dawn, and I ask him to give me boots with
iron ice-creepers. With these boots I trample on that woman's heart and
intestines, and hurt them with the iron ice-creepers. Then she will have a
liking for me, and her heart will be hurt with it.
Told by Hiyewte'hin at Mariinsky Post, I900.

(b) If I want to have this woman, I take out her heart and liver, then
I go towards the Evening 'direction," and hang her organs on both sides of
the Evening. Then I say, "Here is the heart and the liver of that woman.
Make them entangled in a seal-net! Let her be without her intestines! let
her pine away with desire for me! - This man is not your husband. This
is a seal's carcass drifted to the seashore, rotting upon the pebbles. Every
wind blows upon it, and its bones are bared. And you are not a woman;
you are a young reindeer-doe. The smell of the carrion comes to you, and
you flee away, and come into my possession."
Told by Ke'gulin (man) in the village of Ce'cin, I900.

I 2.

INCANTATION USED BY A JEALOUS WOMAN AGAINST HER RIVAL.

"Then you are this woman! You have so much of my husband's love
that he begins to lose all liking for me. But you are not a human being!
I make you into carrion lying on the pebbly shore, - old carrion inflated
with rottenness. I make my husband into a big bear. rhe bear comes from
a distant land. He is very hungry; he has been starving for a long time.
He sees the carrion; seeing it, he eats of it. After a while he vomits it
out. I make you into the stuff vomited. My husband sees you, and says,
'I do not want it!' My husband takes to despising you."
At the same time I make this body of mine into a young beaver that
has just shed his hair. I make smooth every hair of mine. My husband
will leave his former liking, and turn again to me, because she is repugnant
I See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. I42.

-o8

to look upon. (She spits, and with the saliva smears her whole body from
head to foot. Indeed, the husband begins to be drawn towards her.)
"I, who was till now neglected, I turn myself back towards him; I make
myself into a deadly pain for him. Let him be attracted by the smell from
here, and have a desire for me. If I reject him, let him be still more
insistent!" And really the husband leaves off his former passion.
Told by Aqa'fi'ia (voman) in the village of Ce'cin, I9O1.

I 3.

RAVEN INCANTATION.

The Raven sees carrion lying in the wilderness. "Let me go and call
the neighbors. I have found game that is lying quite motionless." A crowd
of ravens come to the carrion and alight on it. "Stop there! Let the chief
come here!" The chief comes, - the Raven chief. "I will begin from the
spot around the eyes." (He alights, and, turning up his sleeves, takes out
his knife. The others do the same. Their knives glisten in the sun.
Nevertheless, they are only raven-beaks.) I spread an enchanted noose.
One knife is entangled in it. Nevertheless, it is a raven-beak. The Raven
wants it back. "Give me back my knife!" says he. "How can I live without
my knife?" But the fact is, that it is only his own beak. "Give me back
my knife, my only one." - "I will not."
"What shall I give to buy it
off?" - "Give me the power on such and such a man!" Then the Raven,
in order to regain the knife, will give one of his incantations to be used for
my own purposes.1
Told by Hiyewte'hin (man) at Mariinsky Post, I900.
I 4.

INCANTATIONS AGAINST THE RIVALS IN A FOOT-RACE.

(a) I get the line of the Spider-Woman, and make of it my ,lasso. This
I throw on the person "doomed to anger." His whole body becomes wound
around and around with it, and then he soon tires, loses his strength, and
wants to sit down. If he does not, he becomes heated quickly, is covered
with sweat, and blood spurts from his nose. He spits out blood, and cannot keep up with his rival.2
Told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.

(b) If I desire to rob somebody of swiftness in running, I bring the trunk
of a tree from across the sea. I keep the trunk in my teeth. The trunk
has many branches. These I put down across the road of my adversary.
He will stumble over them, and his speed will be hampered.
Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, I900.
I Compare Bogoras, American Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. IV, p. 656.
2 See

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. I42.

BIRTH.

The regulations bearing upon birth begin, of course, when the woman is
first aware that she is with child. From that time on, both the husband
and the wife must every morning, on awaking from sleep, put on their
clothes as quickly as possible, go out of the tent, and take a look in
the direction of the morning dawn. Some make a hasty tour around the
tent, following the direction of the sun's course. Not until after that may the
woman re-enter the inner room to light the lamp. It is desirable that both
parties should leave their bed together. The woman, however, may go out
alone; but, if the man wishes to appear first, he must take with him one of
the boots belonging to his wife. Neglect of any of these particulars will
make the offspring come slowly, and will cause its flesh to be flabby.
Moreover, the married couple must not transgress the customary rule that
places the pillow of the Chukchee bed on the entrance-side of the sleepingroom, and which is often ignored by the people.
The garments for the new-comer are prepared in secret, lest some one
of the "alien" people should see them. When the clothing for the prospective
infant is spoken of, it is called "belly-protector," in order not to use the real word.
The mother works up to the very last hour. The more active she
herself is, the stronger and healthier will be her child.
The husband and the wife sleep together till well nigh the labor-time,
and there is no restriction against their conjugal life during this period.
After birth, it is considered more fitting for the husband to have no intercourse with the woman for ten days, because, before the expiration of that
time, the traces of the birth must still remain in the body of the mother.
On the other hand, if the married couple are desirous of having another child
as soon as possible (in the event of the first one having died shortly after
the deliverance), they will have intercourse before the end of this term, and
this is believed to be conducive to another conception.
When the time of labor is at hand, no stranger is allowed to enter the
inner room of the family; and even near relatives of the male sex must keep
far away, especially if they roam about in the day-time. It is feared that
some invisible but evil influence will cling to them, and try to approach the
lying-in woman. When the time of labor begins, all males, not even excepting
the small children, must leave the sleeping-room, and they must not return
[509]
65-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED.) VOL. VII.

5 IO

until after all traces of the birth are removed.' They may remain in the
outer tent, but' they must keep very quiet. The female members of the
family may stay inside, though it is thought more judicious that there should
be as few people as possible present. An old woman - a mother or an
aunt
usually stays with the woman in order to give her a hand in arranging matters.
I have spoken before of the tendency of the Chukchee women to reduce
all assistance at this time to the strictest minimum. Nevertheless, when help
is necessary, it is given to the woman. I know cases where, in the absence
of female relatives, the husband has ministered to his wife in her first labors.
AAWhen the child has come into the world, the mother ties up the navel
with a string of sinew into which a few of her own hairs have been plaited.
This string, of course, has been prepared beforehand, and kept ready at hand.
She cuts the navel with a sharp stone, which will serve her for that purpose
during her whole life. The stone is simply taken from one of the skinscrapers, and ever after that is kept in the clothes-bag of the woman. The
navel is left unwrapped, but is kept rubbed all the time with dry powdered
coal, till at last it falls off. The child is rubbed over with urine from the
mother, which has been kept for the purpose; and the bunch of grass that
was used in the rubbing is immediately burnt on the hearth.
With the Reindeer people a young doe is slaughtered, and, in the largest
kettle of the household, a plentiful supply of strong broth is prepared from
its brisket. The water or snow for the broth is brought by the husband.
AWhile filling the kettle, he puts the wooden drum-stick across the upper rinm
of the kettle, and repeats three times a short formula like the following: "O
Sun! give us warm water." The woman in child-birth puts a large robe on
over her bare body, and places under its folds the kettle full of warm broth.
Over the steam of the broth she warms her breasts, believing that this process
will make them soften. Then she eats some meat, and drinks of the broth
as much as she is able to take. She alone must empty the full kettle, and
the sooner this is done, the better. During the first two weeks she feeds on
the choicest meat, always carefully boiled, and drinks large quantities of strong
broth. The broth is considered %xTell adapted to produce a flow of milk into
her breasts.
Immediately after the delivery, the body of the woman is tightly bound
around the hips with a cord in order to bring the bones of her body into
their former position. The Chukchee believe that, without this, the woman
will become sickly, and that her life will be shortened. The binding must
not be undone for three days, during which time the woman keeps mostly
in the inner room, though she may for a short while creep out into the outer
I Among some of the American Eskimo, the husband is not allowed to be present at the delivering of his
wife, who is attended only by one or more of her own sex (Captain Ch. F. liall, Life with the Eskimo, II, p. 313).

;II

tent. On the fourth day the cord is untied, and the woman may then stay
in the outer tent, busying herself about her household duties.
On the fifth day, the ceremony of blood-painting is
BLOOD-PAINTING.
performed. For this the woman with the child is put into the family sledge,
with one reindeer attached, and is carried around the outer tent, following
the direction of the sun's course. The sledge is brought to a stop at the
sacrificing-place behind the tent,1 where all the charms and images are arranged,
ready for the sacrifice. The reindeer that drew the sledge is slaughtered;
and the mother with the child, and at least two other members of the family,
paint on their faces the usual blood-marks. The charms, and also the three
central poles of the tent-frame, are also painted with blood. The woman
takes the sinews out of the legs of the reindeer, and stores them away to be
used as her boot-strings. Neglect to do this brings on pains in the legs,
and rheumatism.
The ceremony of blood-painting is in many cases performed sooner, even
on the second day after delivery. This haste is attributable to the idea that,
before the ceremony, the new-born child is highly susceptible to evil influence;
while after that, it is under the protection of family charms and sacred things.
Before the ceremony is performed, no person coming from outside is
allowed to enter the house, especially in the evening. Even the father of
the child, should he come from a visit to the herd, must first enter a neighbor's house, or at least rub against his body a small pup, which, as said
before,2 will overcome the evil influence. After the ceremony, these precautions
are not in force, and are renewed only when contagious diseases are prevalent,
or when the child is suffering. In this latter case it is also forbidden to sell,
or give away to strangers, anything belonging to the house, as the child's
health might be given away with the object.
It so happened that several times, on my arrival at a Chukchee camp,
I was refused admission to the houses, in order to protect the children from
evil influences; and some of these experiences were not extremely happy.
rhe woman must not leave the outer tent before the blood-painting
ceremony is performed. Should she do so, her walking on the snow would
bring on violent snow-storms.3
The after-birth is placed on the ground in the corner of the tent. Three
small sticks are tied together, in imitation of the three principal poles of the
tent-frame, and are set over the after-birth. rhey represent a tent. After
the camp is left, a piece of leather is wrapped around them to represent the
tent-covers.
The Maritime Chukchee and the Koryak place the after-birth, together
wvith its small tent, outside of the house, in the open country.4
I

Compare P- 377.

See p. I3-

I Compare P. 475.

See Vol. VI) P- 97i Plate XII 1 Fig. 2.

_512

After the ceremony, the mother proceeds to find a name for the child.
This is done by divination with a suspended object, which may be the
divinatory stone, or some part of the mother's or child's dress, such as a
boot or a cap. The mother, while holding the suspended object in her hands,
enumerates, one by one, the names of all deceased relatives, saying with each
name, "This and this has come?" When the object loses its balance and
begins to swing, the name is selected. Then the people say aloud, "Such
and such a one has returned to us."
This is more than a mere verbal formula. For instance, I met on the
WVolverene River a Reindeer Chukchee family who, two years before, had
lost their chief, who was much beloved by his sons and nephews. Immediately afterward the wife of the oldest son of the deceased man gave
birth to a son, to whom was given the name of his grandfather. He was
considered, in a way, as a re-incarnation of the deceased one, and therefore
was always spoken of as the house-master. At one time, when the youngest
and favorite daughter of the deceased one - but who, nevertheless, had a
violent temper - began to abuse her oldest sister, the mother said, "Tell the
house-master [meaning the small boy]. Let him try and make her silent.
She is his favorite child."
In other cases the name is selected in quite different ways, frequently from
indications received in dreams. Thus, the mother accepts for the child the
name of the first object that comes to her sight after her delivery, or the
name of the first animal that crosses her path after leaving the tent. The
intention of this method is probably to mislead the "spirits," who will not
be able to recognize the child under the incidental name of the first thing
seen, selected by chance. Nevertheless, even in this case, the name selected
is often the name of a deceased relative, which, in days gone by, was chosen
in the same manner. Similar methods of naming children are used also by
the Asiatic Eskimo.
Often the name fixed upon does not agree with the child, who then
grows slowly, and is sickly, or, as the Chukchee say, "It has heavy bones."
Then a shaman, or a "knowing person," is invited, who proceeds to change
the name. This process is sometimes repeated five or six times during the
first few years of the child's life.
PROTECTING-INCANTATION. - If the parents are afraid that the child will
die, a special kind of incantation is used, which is called "Child-protecting
Incantation" (keimi'tkin e`wgan). It is performed by means of one or several
pieces of red hematite, which must be picked up on the seashore, close to
the water. The Chukchee call it "liver-stone." In cases of necessity - for
instance, in winter-time, and especially among the Reindeer people of the
inland country - any other red stone may be used; but it must be taken
from the side of the hill lying in the direction of the sea.

5 I 31

AWhen the first child has died young, it is considered to have traced the
way for the following ones. In order to stop this fatal succession, the incantation must be performed as soon as possible. The care of the matter falls
on the father of the child, and it is most propitious if he himself is able to
perform the ceremony. If he is not able, he invites some of his experienced
relatives, who can name several "knowing people" possessed of the incantation
in question. These latter are more frequently male than female. The choice
of the performer is indicated by divination with a suspended object, in the
usual way. rhen the husband goes to seek the designated person, who maybe more than fifty miles away. As said before, the "knowing man" must at
first refuse, and he may persist in this refusal for even three or four days,
to avoid the displeasure of the Deity. The negotiations are carried on in
whispers, in the strictest secrecy, and only inside of the sleeping-room.
The best time of all for performing the ceremony is during the first
three days of the young moon, but, nevertheless, in the day-time. For this
a small fire is built up before the entrance, and a number of plates laden
with various meats, cooked or dried, are placed on both sides of it. The
performer gives each of the parents a small piece of red stone wrapped in
leather formed into a necklace. Then he pronounces an incantation, of which
the following may serve as a fair specimen: "You are not on this earth; you are within this stone. No wind may reach you; no iceberg
may crush you, but it will break into pieces against the e(lges of the stone. You are not on this
eartlh. In the open oceani there lies a big sea-animal born at the same time with the earth and the
world. This animal is a sea-lion. Its back is like an island, it is covered with earth and stones.
You are on its back."'I

A similar necklace is put, with the same incantation, on the child's neck.
The performer takes the child in his arms, and makes three rounds among
the plates of meat, stepping over them forward and backward, and retracing
his steps, in order to make his trail more intricate. Then the fire and the
principal "directions" are fed from the plates. What remains of the meat is
eaten by those present. The lobes of the child's ears are pierced, and earornaments, each made of three small colored beads, are inserted. Several
additional figures of "guardians," made of leather, are sewed to the child's
garment. Its name is also changed.
EXPOSURE OF INFANTS. - Sarytcheff says that in his time the Chukchee
exposed their misshaped infants.2 I have said before, that I know of no such
practice in modern times.3 But in the case of a lying-in woman dying in
her labors, the babe is often smothered and exposed, together with the mother,
I

Compare Incantation 5 (d), p. 499.

Sarytcheff, II, p. IO9. Steller mentions that the Kamchadal women of his time had many ways of producing

abortion, but that, not satisfied with this, they often also smothered their babes, and then gave the corpses to the
dogs, or exposed them alive in the middle of the wood (p. 349).
.3 See p. 48.

51I4

in a common funeral.' The people, however, more frequently try to raise the
child, either on the milk of another suckling woman, if there is any at hand, or
by feeding it with broth, and, in the Maritime villages, with thin pap prepared from American flour bought from whalers, which is mixed with a little oil.
I also gathered among the Asiatic Eskimo, in various villages, some
curious information about the method which is applied to feed and raise
babies born prematurely. A baby of this kind is put into the soft skin of a
big sea-bird. This skin, taken off whole and turned, has the feathers inside.
Then it is tied up very securely, and hung over a big lamp in which a small
flame is kept constantly burning. Of course, in doing this, they take care
that the child's head shall be in a proper position. In this position the babe
is kept for from a week to four weeks, during which time it is fed with
small quantities of oil, as well as with mother's milk drawn from her breasts.
Little by little the portion of milk is increased, and at last the babe is allowed
to suckle. I had no opportunity of witnessing an operation of this kind, but
I was told that two young men- whom I saw in tJii'sak were raised by their
mothers in this way.
NAMES. - I will give here a few details as to the significance of
Chukchee names, male and female, which is in a great measure influenced
by the ideas and ceremonies described in the preceding pages. A great part
of the names have reference to the idea of the return of the deceased from
another world. Such are, for men,
The One Coming.
Ye'tilin,
Atci'lrgmn, The Hidden One.
The One from Another Shore.
Re'mkilin, Guest.
Ro'6hilIn,
Notalqo't,
Penelqu't,
Pe'lqAntI,

Vaa'lrg[n,
GQrgo'l,

The One Standing up from the
Ground.
The One Standing up after having
Rested.
The One Coming Back.
The One who has Rested.
The Upper One.

Ra'htulini,
Omrilqo't,
Kitilqu't,
Nuva't,
Pafta'nto,

Hi'fIqtli,

The One Coming Home.
The One Standing up Strong.
The One Standing up Suddenly.
The One Brought Back.
The One Restored from Fatigue.
The Unknown One.

Names of the same class for women:
Yetye'ut,
Ro'chifia,
Hi'ufe,

The One Coming.
The WVoman from the Other Shore.
The Unknown Woman.

Qutye'ut,

Ra'htiina,

The One Standing up.
The Woman Coning Home.

In another group, more embellished but also relating to the coming from
the other world, are male names like these:
Tfte'ntegrew, The One Descending from Dawn.
Trie'niniitin, The One Thrown from Dawn.
Tfiecei'vun, The One Coming Afoot from Dawn.
Tfieru'ltin, The Onie Going Aside from l)awn.

Q6'rginto,

The One Coming out from the Light.

Q6rgukwat, The One Sticking in the Light.

D. Crantz says, in his History of Greenland, that, "with the Greenland Eskimo, a suckling babe which has
lost its mother and has no one else to nurse it is soon after buried alive by the desperate father" (I, P. 2I8).
The Eskimo of America, moreover, exposed their new-born babies whenever they pleased.

5I5

Names of the same class for women:Tniefnie'ut,

The WVoman from Dawn.
Qeru'kkwa-na'ut, The XVoman Stickinig in Light.

QE'rgina,

Th'le Woman from Light.

The combinations with "Dawn" and "Light" are numerous, and remind
one somewhat of the ancient names of Aryan peoples, among whom similar
combinations are often met with. Some names refer to the pronounced
characteristic of the person. Such are,
Omri'lirgn,
The Strong One.
Aita'irgin, The (Loud) Crying One.
O'nirila,
T'he Strong Woman.
Rana'wkLirgini, The Straight One.
Rana'wfiaw,

The Strai,ht Woman.

The class of protecting names given by the shamans was mentioned in
the chapter on shamanism.' Among them are the names of "alien" tribes,
Ai'wan, Ta'n-niitan, E'tel; the names of animals, A'"ttEn ("dog"), Kei'niin
("bear"), Yile'il ("marmot"), E'hilhin ("wolf"); and the corresponding names for
women, A'ttiiie ("dog woman"), Yi'lenie ("marmot woman"); also Kele'wgi
(a man's name) and Ke'lenniia (a woman's name) from ke'lE; A"qa'wgi,
A'qa'iifia, from a1eqa ("evil").
For the same purpose, protection from evil spirits, female names are
given to men; for instance Ve'hitki-fiew (Scratching-Woman), the male shaman
who has been mentioned several times before. Steller speaks2 of the same
practice obtaining among the Kamchadal. The names taken from material
objects are less numerous. Such are,
\Vu'kwsuii,
U'ttaqai,
Poi'hini,
lliti'riA (fern.),

Stone.
Splinter.

Spear.

Wu'kwuqai, Little Stone.
Wooden Woman.
U'ttAhA,
Va'l t:,
Knife.

Needle.

From most of the names mentioned above, derivatives are formed by
means of suffixes. In names of males we find -tegin -ta'gin (in other compounds
signifying "limit"), -n-qew -n qaw (probably from ni-nqe'w-qin, "[he is] strong"),
-wgi -wge (origin unknown); in female names, -nie'ut -nfa'ut, -nifie -iina, -inia (all
signifying "woman"), -tva'al (verbal stem signifying "repose"). For instance,
Oora'wge, from qora'iii ("reindeer"), Nuten-qe'w ("strong on the ground"),
Nutete'hin ("ground-limit"), etc. Other instances have been previously given.
The derivative names are more numerous than the primary ones. It is
customary to have all the names of the family, or the greater part of them,
derived from the same stem; for instance, Notalqo't, Nuten qe'w, Nute'wgi,
Nutete'hin, Nu'te-fie'ut, Nota'tvaal.
Several names are selected without reference to these rules. Such are,
O9)la'ul ("man"), ta'kihe ("sister"), E'ndiw ("uncle"), etc.
A large class of names have no significance in the Chukchee language,
I See p. 467.

o Steller, p. 353.

5 I6

such as Ce'qum, Qa'pleq, Qa'tik, Peri'. Such names are more numerous
among the Maritime Chukchee, and some of them at least were probably
taken from the Eskimo; for instance, &e'ple (Chukchee), ( a'plak (Eskimo).
The identical form of this name appears, however, also among the Koryak.
On the other hand, many of the Chukchee names are assumed by the
Asiatic Eskimo. I have also said that shamans sometimes assume a name
from the principal of their protecting spirits; for instance, sTaw-rI'rkA ("shewalrus'), Valv-inpina'chin ("raven old man"), etc.
Pet names and nicknames are used freely among the Chukchee, some
of them being quite obscene; such as, Lolo'qai (little penis"), Rih-iio'iiiin
("hairy anus"). Others refer to some notorious act of the person designated.
I have already mentioned the names of Knee-Walker and Necklaced Latu'wge.1
One man had the very suggestive name of Complete-Liar; another, of
Separate-Soup-Eater, etc. A man of my acquaintance was nicknamed FrozenCarcass; because, several years before, he had stolen the frozen carcass of
a reindeer; another, who stole a steel trap, was called Trap. Sometimes,
at first, the nicknamed persons take offence at being thus named; but such
an epithet takes root gradually, and finally supersedes the original name.
Thus the majority of the persons mentioned had discarded their name received
at birth, and gave the derisive appellation as their only name.
Pet names given in infancy cling with especial tenacity to their possessors.
Some of them - such as Lo'lo ('penis"), Lolo'qai ("little penis") - become
real names, which are given after the divinatory process.
The name of the father is sometimes added to the name of the son,
thus forming the beginning of the family name. Instances of this are found
in Koko'le-Ya'tirgin, that is, Ya'tirgin, son of Kuku'li; Tatk-omru'wge, that
is, Omru'wge, son of Ta'tko; etc. Less frequently the wife assumes the name
of her husband; for example, Notai'me-iiaw, the wife of Notai'men. Regarding
Tilu'wge-Ya'tirgin (Ya'tirgin, husband of Tilu'wge), the transformed shaman,
see chapter on shamanism.2
DEATH.
As has been said before, deceased persons
D)ECEASED AS PROTECTORS.
are regarded by the Chukchee as working in a twofold capacity, - that of
benevolent protectors and assistants, and that of dangerous beings, very near
to the ke'let, who, even when they mean well, may cause only harm to the
living.3 The elements of the cult of ancestors, which exists in the Chukchee
ceremonials, comport with the -first point of view. Such is the usage of
adding to the string of household charms small bits of fur taken from the
1 Compare P. 49.

'2 See p.' 452.

Compare pp. 292i 366.

5I7

clothing of the deceased.' I would mention here that I was told that in
olden times it was customary to eat the flesh of the one deceased, which,
for that purpose, was distributed among the nearest relatives. This flesh
was eaten mixed with tallow. Among the Yukaghir of the Kolyma, the
flesh and the bones of the deceased were also distributed among the relatives;
but, instead of being eaten, they were made into family amulets. Judging
by the accounts of the oldest inhabitants, leather bags filled with human
bones and dried flesh formed, up to comparatively recent times, the principal sacred things of the family, even among the Russianized Yukaghir.
A bag of bones was called simply "grandfather," and this 'grandfather"
was supposed to afford to his descendants the most effective assistance. His
descendants appealed to him in the various affairs of their life, especially
when asking for success in hunting or for protection against an attack.by
evil spirits. Similarly among the Chukchee, people in disastrous circumstances
sometimes seek relief from one of their dead. For instance, a Reindeer family,
a large part of whose herd has gone astray, will apply to the most respected
of all their dead ancestors, and the one who consequently receives most of
the sacrifices. They will request him to bring back the reindeer, and they
will promise him a fat buck or two in payment for his good services. "The
dead are always with us. They look upon us, and they may give us
protection," said a Chukchee to me.
DECEASED AS ENEMIES. - Every variety of precaution and all the
protective incantations performed at the time of the funeral have had their
inception from the second point of view. These contradictory ideas about
the deceased are nevertheless very natural, and exist among many primitive
peoples. The natives, however, are conscious of the discrepancy between
the two points of view, and tried to explain it to me in their own way.
They said to me, "The deceased one, while he lies in the tent, is not
dangerous. He becomes bad, only when he is taken out into the wilderness,
whence he may come back a spirit." And again: "The material objects
connected with the deceased are not harmful. Only when he himself comes
back will he do harm. On the other hand, the deceased people come back
to us over and over again, countless times, through the womb of the woman."
Others said, "Not all deceased persons will do harm. Only a part of
them bear ill-will toward living people: those will come back for harm. The
most dangerous are the double dead, the completely dead. They are beyond
being re-born into this world, and hence they become evil spirits in the other
world. They live on the very border of the country of the deceased people,
and walk along the water's edge together with ke'let. During the funeral ceremony, some such dead are overturned with the sledge, and fall face downward.
I

66 -JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

Compare p. 355.

5I8

This is the surest sign by which to recognize their particular properties.
The other deceased persons are good."
The idea of persons doubly dead exists also among other primitive
tribes.' "The Greenlanders pitied the poor souls who must pass in storm the
dreadful mountains where the dead descend to the other world; for then a
soul is like to come to harm, and die the other death, where there is
nothing left."2
The distinction between the good and bad classes of deceased persons
drawn by my Chukchee informers does not correspond, however, to other
conceptions, and only accentuates the contradictory state of ideas that exists
about this matter. The idea of deceased people being harmful is much more
common than the belief in the protecting powers of deceased ancestors.'
Fear of the dead and the idea of the necessity of taking precautionary
measures against their return are so deeply implanted in the Chukchee mind
that they appear even in the children's plays. In the Maritime villages I
saw young boys amusing themselves among the ruins of underground houses
with a peculiar play of this kind. One boy would pretend to be dead.
Then his companions would bind him up with thong, and carry him away
to the place of pretended funeral. After a while he would turn to a ke'lE,
and come back to the house with frightful cries and grimaces. One of the
boys would act as a shaman, and beat the imaginary drum. Then the ke'lE
would act like a shamanistic spirit, and answer to the songs and calls of the
iml)rovised shaman with various "separate voices."
Especially harmful is the dead body, even the merest fragments of it,
which, as said before, are used in preparing the much-dreaded "spells." A
man who, walking alone in the country, suddenly meets a corpse lying in the
open, incurs great danger. If he turns back and tries to retrace his steps,
the corpse will follow, and soon will pass ahead of him, barring his way.
From that time he will have hardly a chance of escape, and finally the dead
one will act on him as a ke'lE of Iu'metun, throwing him into the_ muchdreaded fits and convulsions.4 This belief evidently arises from the fact
that lu'metun is also supposed to live in the open country, where he
watches the victims occasionally passing by, and then pursues them, following
leisurely but very obstinately behind. Nevertheless, even in the matter of
corpses, I obtained infornmation of quite a contrary kind.
rhe deceased one is called in Chukchee "the ancient one" (pene'elin5) or
See E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture, II, p. 22.
2 D. Crantz, Greenland, p. 259.
Compare p. 336, where, according to information from the natives, even the spirit of the nearest relative,
thouigh coming back with the best intentions, can only scare and harm the living.
4 Compare p. 42.
5 In Koryak, with the necessary phonetic change, peni'nelin. This also coincides with the female Chukchee
pronunciation. The Chukchee language has two different methods of pronunciation, - one used by the men, and
one by the women. The latter, in many cases, approaches the Koryak.
I

"principal inhabitant" (e'un-re'mkin). The place where his body lies is considered his permanent dwelling. ro pitch a camp close to this dwelling leads
to no harm. A lonely traveller who stops for a night near the funeral place,
far from being harmed by the "principal inhabitant," may, on the contrary, be
protected by him from attacks by ke'let. In several tales the "principal
inhabitant" wards off from the people of a camp an imminent attack of this
kind, and teaches the occupants the necessary precautions against the danger.
Presumably it is an ancestor or near relative of the campers, who helps his
own people.
In one tale a young man goes to the dead body of his father for
protection. But the corpse says, 'I cannot keep you near me. I am disintegrated, and my house is very cold." After that the "spirit" instructs the
young man how to win the young daughter of a rich reindeer-breeder. In
still another very characteristic and widely known tale, a young girl finds in
the country a bare skull, and takes it home. She conceals it in her clothesbag, and from time to time takes it out and laughs at it. And the bare
skull returns the laugh. At last her mother takes notice of something unusual
in her behavior, and finally discovers the skull. rhe whole family are panicstricken. They flee, leaving the girl alone and without any means of subsistence. The girl begins to lament before the skull, and, in a paroxysm of
despair, she even kicks it with her toes. The skull departs in search of its
body, and soon comes back in the shape of a fine young man, bringing
along a large herd and a long train of sledges. After that they lived happily.
rhis tale represents the corpse as being at the same time something much
dreaded and also as having the capacity of giving protection to a chosen
person.
FUNERAI, REINDEER CHUKCHEE. - Immediately after death, the body is
stripped of all its clothing, including necklace and amulets, and laid in the
sleeping-room between two skins with the leather side turned inward, so that
one serves as bedding and the other as covering. It is considered more or
less sinful to "show to the daylight" the dead body, especially its face and
genitalia. The inmates of the house must leave the room; but one man at
least must stay all the time with the body, because, should it be left alone,
it might revive, and do harm. This, by the way, refutes the previous assertion
by the natives, that the deceased while in the house is "good."
The funeral ceremony is performed on the day after death; and during
the night there must be two watchers, for fear that, in the darkness, one
man might be roughly handled by the corpse. As soon as a man is dead,
and so long as his body is in the house, one of the inmates must act as a
special enchanter against the evil influence of the deceased. rhis person is
called the "fortifier" (tano'mniAlin), meaning that he fortifies the people, and
especially the house, against the deceased one. Either a man or a woman

may act; often a special "knowing one" is invited for the principal part of
the ceremony.
On the first day the "fortifier" only supplies each of the inmates with a
new amulet, which is usually made of a scrap of sinew, and must be wrapped
either around the little finger of the right hand, or around the right wrist.
The ceremony begins with the dressing of the body in the funeral clothes,
which, for the most part, are prepared beforehand, especially by the older
people. Or at least the skins for that use have been stored in the clothingbags. Then all the women of the family take to cutting and preparing the
clothes with the utmost possible speed. New, unused clothes from the common
stores of the family may be employed for the funeral dress; but to leave the
body in its former every-day clothes is considered a slight to the deceased,
and is done only in the case of very poor people, or under extraordinary
circumstances; for instance, when death happens while on a journey in a
strange country, among "alien" people.
For male dress, no overcoat is used. For the dress of women, the old
overcoat of every-day wear may be used, but all tassels and fringes must be
taken off. No woven stuff bought from civilized people may form any part
of the funeral dress. In selecting skins for the funeral dress, preference is
given to the white ones, both for men and for women. The soles of the boots
must be of ground-seal skin, but not from the rough skin of the reindeer's foot,'
because the latter is not fit to wander in the regions of the deceased. The
cap forms no part of the funeral dress. In the dress of the women, the head
is covered with the hood of the overcoat; in the dress of the men, an extra
hood is sewed on to the fur shirt, contrary to the ordinary cut of this garment
among the Chukchee, but resembling the style of the Koryak. The Chukchee,
on the other hand, fashion this hood after the style of an infant's garment,
which is also supplied with a large hood,' and they sometimes call a deceased
man "one with a hood." This. name is also applied to infants. The garments,
for the most part, are double, but not necessarily so. The stockings and the
under trousers are often omitted.
The skins for the funeral dress must not be dyed with alder, which
calls to mind the proscription against the use of alder at the time of the
hunt of various animals.2 The garments must be sewed with unblackened
sinew-thread, whereas the thread for the garments of the living must be
blackened with soot. No knots must be tied in the thread, as every knot
tied forebodes danger to the life of some member of the family. The funeral
garments are spread on the skin covering the body. To them are added,
for a man, a knife in a new sheath, a spear, a bow with arrows, a small
whetstone in a skin sheath, a pipe and a tobacco-pouch with a few bits
I

See p. 239.

Compare p. 25I.

-3 Compare p. 492.

52 1

of tobacco in it, a cup or a drinking-tube, and also three toy bags for
provisions. For a woman, the spear and the bow are omitted, but there are
added scraper and work-bag with needle-case and thimble.
Among other taboos connected with the funeral must be mentioned the
interdiction against beating the drum for three nights during the time of the
ceremony. The day on which the remains are carried away to the funeral
place is especially dangerous. The beating of the drum might call the
deceased back to the house. In corroboration of this idea I was told several
stories, in which a shamanistic performance brought a deceased person back
to the house, and the corpse dropped through the roof to its former place.
Then the ceremonial, with all the incantations, had to be repeated, again.
Another prescription forbids any kind of woman's work with needle and
scraper, during the same period of time as in the first case, and especially
in the evening. Both rules refer to all houses of the camp or the village,
and even to all other settlements in the vicinity.
Dressing of the Dead Body. - Among the reindeer-breeders, two
reindeer are slaughtered in the morning, and a small fire is made before the
entrance of the tent, which receives the usual sacrifice. Then two, three, or
four couples of nearest relatives of the deceased, men and woman in equal
number, enter the inner room and proceed to dress the body for the funeral.
They are called "followers." Ameal is spread upon the skin covering the
body. The part of the skin close to the mouth of the departed one is
ripped, and crumbs of meat and tallow are thrust in under, in order that he
may have his part of the food. Then the "followers" take off their shoes and
stockings, and turn up their pantaloons as high as possible. They sit down
on both sides of the body, and thrust their bare legs under the corpse, so
that it is entirely lifted from the lower skin, and rests on the legs of the
"followers." After that, they proceed to bid the last farewell to the deceased.
This is begun by the husband or wife, the father or mother, and is then
repeated by every one of the "followers."
For this, the acting party takes one of the hands of the deceased, and
chafes with it his bare waist and buttocks. After that, the party touches in
the same manner the buttocks of the deceased, repeating words of improvised
farewell. For instance, a husband said in my hearing, to his deceased wife,
'Well, well! What can I do? We have lived together for so many years,
and now you are going away! Do not keep an evil mind against me! My
head was never very strong. If I acted unfairly towards you, have no bad
feeling against me!"
After the farewell, the "followers" wash the body! rhis is done symbolically, from a tiny wooden cup made for the purpose, and with a small bunch
of grass like that used by the Chukchee for wiping their fingers after
meals. Every one of the "followers" dips the bunch into the cup, and then

5 22

passes it over the body, and hands it on to the next person. Then they
proceed to put the clothes on the body, which - considering that the body
is covered with a heavy skin, and that no part of it must be laid bare to
the gaze of those present - is a work of no little difficulty. At every hitch
in this task, the "followers" admonish the dead one, saying, "Leave off! make
haste! You have to go away. Do not be so obstinate!' The face of the
dead person is carefully covered over with the bib1 of the fur shirt, and the
hood is drawn over and tied around the head. The belt of the man's dress,
and a small piece of the collar-fringe of the woman's combination-suit, are
taken off to be added to the household charms under the name of ena'al.2
Some families, however, take simply a small piece of reindeer-skin and sew
to it a narrow strip of dog-skin. This represents a fur shirt trimmed with
dog-skin, and, by further association, the dead man himself. During the
preparations for the funeral this is added to the clothes of the dead spread
in the sleeping-room, as described before, and afterward taken off for the
household charms. It, also, is called ena'al.
Divinalion. - After being dressed, the body is moved over to the
centre of the sleeping-room or to the outer tent, having its head, all the
time, directed to the exit; and the "fortifier," or, less frequently, the nearest
relative of the deceased, proceeds to divining by the method of suspension.
This, for men, is done with a walking-staff, and for women, with the long
handle of a skin-scraper. The position of the body is the same as in the
similar process with living persons. The divinatory performance takes about
two hours, being repeated two or three times, at first in the inner room,
then in the outer room, and then again out of doors, before the entrance of
the tent. One of the first questions refers to the manner in which the body
shall be disposed of.
For this the Chukchee generally have two methods, -either by burning
the body on a funeral pyre, or by carrying it away and leaving it on the
ground in the wilderness. Most of the Maritime people and of the reindeerbreeders of the Chukchee Peninsula use, of course, the second method; while
the villages lying close to large accumulations of driftwood
as, for instance,
those on Cape Erri and also those of the reindeer-breeders of the Anui and
Anadyr - both burn and expose their corpses. Each family, however, uses one
and the same method from generation to generation. Thus a family in the
habit of burning its dead will, when- solemnizing a funeral on the open tundra,
send two or three sledges to bring fuel from a distance of even thirty or
forty miles. Several pack-sledges will be taken apart and broken, and tentpoles split up, to increase the size of the pyre. Nevertheless, the deceased
one must be "asked" which method he personally chooses for himself, and
I

1~
Copr
p.
24.Cmar .35
21 Compare p. 355242.
Compare p.

his funeral may be arranged differently from that ordinarily used by the
family. For instance, the remains of a person belonging to a family wont to
burn their dead may be exposed in the open country if the body gives plain
indications to that effect through the divinatory process. Cases of replacing
exposure of the body by cremation are less frequent, because of the scarcity of
fuel. The bodies of those who have died from syphilis must not be burned,
lest the fire may be contaminated. Of course, this refers only to "genuine
syphilis;" that is, to those cases of syphilis which are acknowledged as unclean,
and "subject to shunning." During the spread of contagious diseases, all the
dead bodies are generally left unburnt, because of the desire to get rid of
them as soon as possible.
Exposure is, on the whole, prevalent among the Chukchee, and must be
considered as their fundamental method of funeral. The Koryak living
more to the south, where there is an abundance of fuel, have, on the contrary, adopted exclusively cremation of bodies. The Ke'rek, in whose
country, again, there is a dearth of fuel, throw their dead into the sea from
some steep rock on the shore.
After the method of disposing of the body has been decided, the deceased
person is asked about the place he chooses for the funeral. Hill-slopes, and,
in general, all higher places well dried in summer by the sun, are considered
fittest for the purpose. Several of these are mentioned aloud before the dead
body, till the sudden feeling of lessened weight makes the performer move the
staff upward, which, as explained before,2 renders the answer affirmative. Then
the method of the last journey is chosen. Every man who has reindeer will, of
course, 'desire' to use them for his funeral journey, because it is necessarily
very long and tiresome. But a very poor man, who has no reindeer of his own,
has to perform this journey on foot. The reindeer of another man
newly
in
or
of
no
use
these
bought,
borrowed for the purpose
are
circumstances.
The approaches to the country of the dead are very intricate; and while
the new-coiner wanders about, seeking the abode of his own family, the former
owners of the reindeer will recognize them, even from afar, by their smell,
and will immediately intercept the wanderer in order to take from him their
belongings. The same apprehension is felt respecting newly borrowed clothing
or skins. Therefore a man who dies suddenly in a strange country -for
instance, on a trading-expedition - must be taken to the funeral place in
his ordinary clothing, even though there are people around who would lend
him a new suit. In a former work' I have given a description, taken down
from a native, of such a funeral in a strange country. The deceased had
no relatives in the place, nor had he any team of his own with which to
I

See p. 42.

3 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 59.

Compare P. 484.

perform his last journey: therefore he had, perforce, to renounce the use of
reindeer on this occasion. The description continues,
"Then they asked the corpse, 'How do you wish to go away? Do you
want to take a team?' But the dead man answered, 'No!' They asked him,
'Maybe you want to walk?' He said, 'I will walk, but you must give me a
walking-staff.'" Of course, the last answer was procured by means of divination.
In another relation of a similar kind, the narrator ventured to express
his severe disapproval of the stinginess of those among the dead who would
grudge a poor man a few clothes borrowed from their successors.1
A person who has several teams is asked about them one by onie, and
the choice between them is determined in the way described above. The
corpse is often asked also about the man who will direct his reindeer on the
last journey, and thus be the leader of the funeral cortege, and also about
-an extra "fortifier" to be invited. Then the questioner proceeds to inquire the
cause of the death and of means warding off further attacks by the ke'let.
The future fate of every person present is also made the subject of inquiry,
as is described in another account of this kind:
"They ask the corpse, 'Will the disease come again afterward?' and then
they draw the stick. The corpse answers, 'The disease will not come back,
the evil state of things.' - 'ell us plainly about all those standing around,
whether to any of them there will happen some evil or misfortune. 'Tell it
of them one by one.' If, while they ask about some one of the bystanders,
the weight is light in drawing, that one will surely die soon.
Then follow questions concerning the coming fortune of the herd, about
the hunting-pursuits, etc. For instance, in a case I mentioned before, the
husband proceeded personally to question his deceased wife. He lifted
the stick which supported by a strap the head of the dead body, and
began with the divination. His first question was, "What place do you
want to choose for your funeral?" But the body was as heavy and motionless
as ever. "Oh!" said the old man, "my mind is not very strong: perhaps I
offended you with something. You must not hold ill-will to me. You know
that you have to go away." But the body obstinately refused to answer.
"Perhaps you are angry," said the old man, "that I brought you here from
Chaun; but this is your own country, the mountains and the rivers all are
your own. It is quite becoming that you should lie here."3 But the body
was motionless, as before. "Alas!" complained the old man, "I- am sure you
are angry. Now I see that you have sent us this snow-storm because your
mind is not at rest." [The snow was falling thick outside of the tent.] His
I Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p

53.

Ibid., p. 83; compare also p. 485 of this volume.
3The death happened on the shores of the Wolverene River, where the couple had gone on a trading-expedition. The deceased woman was born there, but had married a man of -the Chaun tundra.

Plate XXXIV

Jesup Ncrth Pacific Exped.ition, Vol. VII.

t

a)

u
V

r-n
V
n

r,

op

a)

Is-,
-44

i4
J",
-i

U:

b7h

bLb

_~~~~~~~c

!:w~~~~~~i
V)
V

U,

The Chukchee.

hand suddenly felt the changing of the weight, and the head of the dead
body moved upwards. "Woe is me!" exclaimed the old man. "It was not
my fault that our son grew ill because of the reindeer incantation. Had you
not to pay his debt yourself?" The stick moved upwards again.
There had been an incantation about wild reindeer, in the application
of which the son of the old couple made some geave mistake. Because ofthis he was immediately taken ill. Now it seemed that the ke'let took the
mother in the place of the son. The old woman was evidently displeased,
and therefore continued to refuse to answer about the funeral place. The
old man tried to admonish her, repeating, "Be reasonable! Let this have an
end! You hamper the ceremony." When at last the corpse gave a satisfactory answer, the people were afraid to ask the angered old woman about
the future, but immediately took the body out of the tent.
In most cases the body is carried out of the tent, not through the
entrance, but through the roof, which is untied for the purpose, or from
under the folds of the tent-cover, somewhere on the back side of the tent.
Every trace of this improvised exit is immediately obliterated; and thus the
deceased one, if he should come back, would not be able to recognize
the way. A small pup is often sacrificed near the place where the body
was carried out, and is left lying there for three days, until the funeral performance is ended.
When the dead body is out of the tent, it is carried to the real entrance,
and put on a sledge which has been placed at the left side. With a new
thong it is carefully tied to the sledge. The head of the sledge is pointed
toward the entrance of the house; and the rear of the sledge, in the direction
of the way to be taken.
If possible, an entirely new sledge is used; but, that failing, the best
one obtainable is selected for the purpose. All broken and mended parts
are, as far as possible, replaced by new ones, which are considered more
suitable for the long journey of the dead person. Two long round poles are
put crosswise under the runners, so that the sledge, with the body tied on
it, may easily be drawn forward and backward, the poles acting as rollers.
Then the divinatory questioning is often performed again from the very
beginning. A hitch in the motion of the sledge is considered as disclosing
a negative answer; and a smooth, easy motion shows that the answer is
in the affirmative.
The things destined for the private use of the deceased are also fastened
on the sledge, and the reindeer are attached to it. The chief of the train
sits down on the sledge, astride of the body, and then the procession starts.
The funeral cortege of a man well to do will consist of from fifteen to twenty
sledges, while a poor man will be followed by only one or two of his nearest
relatives. A corpse which has to "walk afoot" will be drawn on the sledge
67 -JESUP NORTHt PACIFIC EXI'ED., VOL. VII.

by the chief of the cortege. The other people, of course, must likewise
follow on foot.
Exposing of the Body. - On arriving at the place indicated by divination, the people choose some level spot for the funeral, and, laying off on it a
portion about the size of the body, they encircle it with stones in the form of
an elongated oval. (Plate xxxiv, Figs I, 2). One end of the oval is pointed
toward midnight, and the opposite end is left partly open. This enclosure of
stones is called "enclosure of the dead one" (pala'wkun). Sometimes three stones
are considered sufficient to form the enclosure. One is placed near the head
of the corpse, and the other two, one near each shoulder. In this case
the stones selected must be larger than usual. When stones are scarce, as
in the interior and far from the river-banks, the enclosure may be formed of
three short logs, laid out in the same order as the three big stones of the
"enclosure of the dead one."
The sledge with the corpse is pointed with its head toward midnight.
Then the reindeer are unhitched, and with four knives they are stabbed
simultaneously from the right and from the left side. As soon as they have
fallen, the harness is put on again; but the collars are now placed over the
right shoulder, the reverse of the usual way. The chief of the cortege, sitting
in his place astride of the corpse, jerks the reins violently, and urges the
reindeer with the whip, pretending that he is going fast to the country of
the dead. The other people encourage him, exclaiming, "Hurry up! go
faster!" When the slaughtered reindeer kick about in the last agonies, the
people exclaim, "Oh, they are going fast!" The chief of the cortege says,
"I have reached the confines of the country of the dead." When the reindeer
cease kicking, the chief of the cortege says, "We have arrived." If the reindeer micturate before their death, it is considered a very good sign for the
living people.
The harness is taken off the dead reindeer, the corpse is lifted from the
sledge, and put, still all wound up with thong, upon the ground within the
"enclosure of the dead one." Its head is pointed toward midnight. The
place has been previously strewn with bits of tallow and sausage brought
for that purpose. The reindeer are skinned, and their meat is cut off in
large, thin slices. The bones of the legs are broken with an adze, and the
antlers chopped off together with the top of the crown. Two tent-poles are
placed on the ground near the feet of the corpse, pointed in the direction of
its legs. These poles are its wooden legs, to be employed in the country
of the dead. Usually they are the same poles that were laid under the
runners of the sledge, near the entrance, at the time of divination. In
case of necessity, the tent-poles may be replaced by long sticks cut off in the
woods. Then several of the "followers" approach the corpse and proceed to
prepare it for the next step in the ceremony. Previous to that, all of them

caw like ravens, or bark like foxes, three times. This is done to conceal
their identity and to make it appear that they are ravens or foxes.
Then they begin to break the thong and to cut the clothes of the
corpse, replacing each piece with a slice of meat, until the whole body is
incased in this new covering. The face is covered with the duodenum. A
long piece of the thong is untied. This the "fortifier" winds around his waist,
,and takes home to perform an incantation over it. Last of all, the pieces of
clothing are pulled from beneath the corpse. All the pieces cut off are laid
together at the right side of the body. The things brought along for the
are also
personal use of the dead - such as the pipe, the knife, etc.
left on the ground near the body. It is interesting to note that, among other
things, a small wooden image of a canoe is often left there. The Chukchee
say that it serves the deceased for, that part of his journey which must be
made by water. The Reindeer Chukchee in actual life, however, have very
little occasion to use the canoe, at least in the interior of the country.
The sledge, the harness, and the traces are also cut and broken, and
the pieces are added to the heap. I was told that the sledges might be left
whole, but that they were broken lest the Russians or the Tungus should
take them away from the funeral place. Indeed, I know of cases where
whole sledges and other objects which were left near the corpse were really
appropriated by the people of "alien" tribes. One cossack on the Lower
Kolyma told me that, in one of his travels over the tundra, he took from
the funeral place of a Chukchee woman a cup and saucer of cheap china and
an iron scraper. The next night the woman appeared to him in a dream
and begged for her property. He was so affected by that dream, that he
returned to the funeral place, from which he had already travelled thirty
miles, and restored the stolen goods. The Russianized natives of the Kolyma
who accompanied me always showed an inclination to rob the Chukchee
funeral places of everything useful, but without any such scruples as those
described above, and it was difficult for me to prevent them from so doing.
On the other hand, in the camps on the Chukchee Peninsula and in the
Maritime villages, where there is no danger of theft from the funeral places,
the things left with the deceased are nevertheless very frequently broken or
spoiled, as, indeed, is done by many other tribes at funerals.
The carcasses of the reindeer are left on the spot, and the two sets of
antlers are placed at some distance from the body, one on either side of the
head. Then the "fortifier," or the nearest relative of the deceased, proceeds
to rip up the body. He does it with a long knife, carefully avoiding to
touch the body with his hands, though they are protected with mittens or
with gloves of special form; that is, those with three fingers only. With two
strokes of the knife, which cross each other, the "fortifier" opens the breast, and
lays bare the internal organs. Of these, the liver and the heart are also

.52 8

split with the knife; and the "fortifier," on inspecting them closely, will
proclaim to the by-standers the probable reason of the death. For instance,
once in my presence it was said, "The liver is quite diseased, the heart is full
of pus. With organs in such a state, it was evidently impossible to live any
longer." Another time it was said, "The liver looks dry; the heart is
shrunken to a small lump. It shows that the deceased one died from fear,
from despair at the attack of the ke'let."
I was told that sometimes indications are found of the harmful influence
of evil "spells," created by some human enemy of the deceased; but I had
no opportunity of witnessing a case like that.
At last the "fortifier" cuts the throat of the corpse, and leaves the body.
This last stroke is to prevent the spirit of the deceased from following the
people of the cortege, and it is considered quite indispensable. A murderer,
even, after despatching his victim and before leaving the body, cuts the
throat, in order to prevent the spirit of the victim from pursuing him. A
desire to free the soul of the dead, which will escape through the cut and
fly away with such impetus as to make it difficult for it to come back again,
is given as the reason for these actions.
Protecting,-Incanlations. - After the ceremony is ended, the participants
arrange themselves again, but the order of the cortege is reversed. It passes
now around the body from left to right, and proceeds on its return to the
camp. The changing of the order is, of course, a defensive measure to ward off
pursuit by the dead. On the return journey, the "fortifier" and the chief of
the cortege, who now close the rear, perform, several incantations, all of
which, so to speak, belong to the cycle of the "magic-flight" tales.
Thus the chief of the cortege, having with him a snow-beater, now
traces with its point at several localities, after the procession has passed by,
a line across the road. This line is to be transformed into a chasm or into
a deep river. The "fortifying" person will leave behind one or several small
stones, which will be turned into steep mountains. He will bring along a
small cup and the bunch of grass which served for washing the corpse, and
will hide these objects separately in the snow on his return journey. The
cup will transform itself into a sea, and the grass into a dense forest.
Similar incantations are repeated at home, before the entrance of the tent.
The skins of the slaughtered reindeer are taken to the house and spread
in the sleeping-room, where they must remain for five days. The "fortifying"
person enchants a piece of sheet-iron having many holes pierced in it. This
iron is placed under one of the skins of the bedding in the sleeping-room. If
the deceased should try to enter the sleeping-room from under ground, he
would be caught in the holes in the sheet-iron, which would act like an iron net.
The oldest two women of the tent must meet the cortege on its arrival.
They present to the returning people a bunch of newly twisted sinew-thread

which has been strengthened with incantations. Each member of the cortege
carries a small twig of willow, around which he winds a piece of thread
received from one of the old women. Then he removes the thread, and
winds it around his right wrist, but neither ties nor fastens it. The twig is
put on the hearth as a purifying sacrifice, destroying any unclean influence
caused by contact with the dead body. The thread wound around the wrist
is worn there till it drops off, which will happen after a day or two.
All the members of the procession, holding one another by the hand,
form a large ring, which is encircled by that part of the thong that was
taken home from the funeral. Each of the members takes hold of it, and
each one cuts off the part nearest to himself. This severs all connection
between them; and the spirit of the deceased, if it should ever come back,
would have to find them out one by one. The pieces of the thong are generally wound around the waist for a belt, though any other use is also admissible.
Fig. 300 is copied from a native drawing rtpresenting death and burial.
In the house on
the left a man
dies. The shaman
gives his drum.
to another man
in token of his
impotence. A
ke'lE goes away,
carrying in both
hands the souls
of the man, in
much the same
way as men carry small game.

Above,thre
three

left,

then

men

Fig. 300. Chukchee Sketch representing a Funeral.
from a
burial-place where the corpse was left exposed. A small stone is left by them
on the road as part of an incantation. The chief of the cortege traces a
line on the ground, making another incantation. On the right a corpse is
being burned. A woman standing by weeps.
In Fig. 301, which is of similar provenience, the house of the "Upper
Being" is represented near the upper right-han,d corner. He stands before the
entrance with his wife. From below, two sacrificed animals ascend to him.
One is a dog, the carcass of which is lying below, with the guts drawn out
according to custom. The other is a sacrificial substitute for a reindeer, made
of pieces of sausage. Dawn-Woman is standing on the right-hand side, in

return

the middle, near a dry tree with roots bared from the soil. Sacrifices ascend
toward her also. They are an image of a reindeer made of leaf-pudding,
and three beads strung on a thread of sinew. In the right-hand corner,
below, a house of deceased people is represented. A shaman tries to lead
away one man. He has
in his hands a coil of
thong and a pelt, which
represent the payment
given in advance. Two
-J spirits are assisting him,
- one in the shape of
F'
a bird, the other human.
y(
Farther to the left a
ke'lE and another shaman
r
()
\
tM
'
'
,draw in opposite directions the soul of a dead
man. The shaman carFig. 30I. Chukchee Sketch representing the Fate of the Soul

ries a staff with a long

tassel. The trail of the
dead man runs in a zigzag course, and he must pass on his way a forest and
two round lakes.
Visit to the Funeral Place.
On the second day after the funeral,
the relatives and friends of the dead one visit the corpse. This visit is
called "fetching of iron," because most of the iron objects left with the
deceased are taken away, and replaced by wooden reproductions. Perhaps
this name has been devised in modern times, because, in conjunction with it,
the ceremony is also called "visiting the dead." Besides fetching the iron,
one of its objects is to see whether beasts of, prey have disturbed the
body. If this happens very soon, the relatives of the deceased feel secure.
On the contrary, any prolonged delay in the destruction of the body by beasts
signifies that the dead one is waiting for a companion. Another object of the
"visit" is to offer sacrifices, and to leave antlers with the dead.
The people who take part in "visiting the dead" are much more
numerous than the "followers" of the funeral procession. The inhabitants of
the camp, even the small children, go in a body; and guests come from a
circuit of fifty miles, especially if the deceased was a wealthy reindeer-breeder.
The herd, or a part of it, is brought along. Each of the visitors must bring
to the dead some little present, - a piece of sausage, some marrow from a
bone, a lump of sugar, a leaf of tobacco. The women of the camp prepare
and bring along quantities of sausage and meat-pudding, also all the marrow
from the reindeer slaughtered on the day of the funeral.
On reaching the corpse, the "fortifier" pretends to catch it with a lasso

53 I

brought for the purpose. Then the noose of the lasso is arranged on the
ground so as to encircle the head of the corpse and all the objects deposited
for the use of the deceased one on the day of the funeral. Then the corpse
receives an offering from each member of the party. The remainder of the
food is spread on the stones near the dead body, and the guests partake of
it. This is considered as a meal offered by the deceased. Then the slaughtering begins. If the family is rich, each of the guests will receive a
slaughtered reindeer. The poor or the avaricious kill only a few animals,
and distribute the meat among their friends; but then there will not be
such a multitude of guests. The legs of the reindeer are broken and the
marrow is extracted. The heads are cooked in large kettles, and the feast
begins, during which the corpse receives its share of all the courses.
The antlers are hewn off, as usual, with the tops of the crown, and are
burned for a few seconds in the fire to make them secure against harm by
wild beasts, which the odor of the smoke will frighten away. After that, the
antlers are arranged in a line extending from the head of the corpse toward
the direction of midnight. The antlers of each set are pointed upward, and
their bases are pressed firmly into the ground, and made fast with stones or
logs. The heap of antlers is called "antlers' store" (tI'nmai). All the contents
of the paunches of the slaughtered animals are emptied on the ground, and
the iron objects left with the corpse are purified by immersing them in this
mass. Then they are taken out and carried home. In their places are left,
partly wooden substitutes, partly -equivalents of inferior quality; for instance, a
splinter of bone instead of iron needles, evidently as material of which to
make bone needles, a stone scraper in the place of an iron scraper, etc.
as cups, pipes, pouches - are not exchanged. The bow
Other objects
also, as well as the iron arrows, are left in their places. Other iron objects
also are sometimes left with the corpse. I saw, for instance, iron knives and
adzes on funeral places, though, as a rule, they were old and much used, and
evidently had been given to the deceased in place of implements of a better
quality. I saw even old rifles, but they were always broken.
After the purification of the iron, the "fortifier" proceeds to the divining,
using either a special stone or any object suitable for suspension from a stick.
The details and the questions are similar to those on the day of the funeral.
The magic precautions against pursuit by the spirit are also repeated with
many variations. I saw, for instance, at one funeral at which I was present,
an old man urinate close to the head of the corpse, which astonished even
the other participants in the ceremony. His purpose was to create a river
between the corpse and himself.
On coming home, another feast follows, during which the piece of skin
taken from the clothes of the dead is put in the place of honor in the inner
room, and receives its share of the food. This is repeated at every meal

for five days, after which the piece of skin is added to the household charms.
The number of days which must elapse between the first and the last performance is the same as in the birth ceremonial. After five days, the people
visit the corpse again to see if wild beasts have at last mutilated the body.
On the return from this visit, the whole camp arranges the feast of antlers,
even though it may be quite out of season. If antlers are scarce, they
gather together all the loose ones that can be found, though the use of such
antlers for the antler ceremonial is generally forbidden.
On coming back from the second visit, the family move their tent to
another place, though it be only five or six feet distant. Especially is this
the case if the dead one was carried out, as sometimes happens, through the
usual entrance of the tent.
Still later the chief of the funeral procession must perform additional
incantations in order to protect himself from being pursued by the deceased.
To give an illustration of this, he will some time during the following
summer wade through the water in a pool, proclaiming aloud, "I am not a
man: I am a white gull, I am an eider-duck." If he should fail to do this,
a dangerous illness would be sure to attack him.
Such is a typical performance of the funeral ceremony of a Reindeer
Chukchee, with exposure of the corpse in the open country, and with much
slaughtering for sacrifice. For the poorer people, of course, all the details
are much simplified. The bodies of the deceased who "go away afoot" will
not be covered with meat. After the cutting of the clothes, two pieces will
be left on the body, - one covering the face, and the other covering the
genitalia. The bodies of small children are sometimes cut to pieces and
scattered in all directions. The purpose of this is to show to the World
(1Ra'rgInenn') the extreme grief of the parents, and to reproach him for his
severity towards the child.
Burning. - The details of the ceremony of burning the dead are more
or less similar to those previously described. The reindeer slaughtered on
the day of the funeral are left unskinned on the spot, with the legs broken
and the antlers chopped off. Neither the clothes nor the thongs are taken
from the body, which is laid on the pyre upon its back, and covered with
logs. The entrails, for the most part, are not inspected, and only the throat
is cut. The parts not consumed by the fire are left among the embers of
the pyre.
The fire for the pyre is kindled with matches or with a strike-a-light.
The fire-drill of the family must not be used for this purpose, as so doing
would contaminate the hearth. In the absence of matches or of a strike-alight, a special fire drill and board are prepared, which must be left on the
compare. p. 3I4.

5 33

funeral place after the ceremonial. On the other hand, a dead woman often
receives, among the objects given to her for her last journey, a model of a
fire drill and board, with accessories.
The next year the family, when passing
Sacrifice to the Dead.
with their herd near the place of the funeral, visit the deceased and leave
with him more antlers. The same thing is done afterward year by year, as
often as time and occasion permit. The "antlers' store" is considered to
represent the dwelling of the deceased; and the Chukchee say that, if it is
not in good order, the dead one feels cold: therefore they take care to add
to it as many antlers as they can. As soon as the "antlers' store" has
enlarged considerably, the people put all the antlers into one heap, which
gradually increases to vast proportions.
Year after year the famil'y store away a part of the antlers from the
slaughter of their reindeer, to be added to the mounds of their dead
(see Plate xxxiv, Fig. 4). For this, only the best antlers, taken from an
animal actually killed, are used.'' Antlers that fall off are considered unfit for
the purpose. The antlers of wild reindeer, and 'also the many branched or
palmated antlers of large domesticated bucks, are considered the most desirable
for the purpose.
Of course, only the most respected among the dead receive such proofs
of consideration. If there are several of these in the family, each is supplied
with antlers in turn, or as the family passes near the various funeral places.
On the other hand, antlers destined for a particular mound are often carried
along for two or three months before they reach their destination.
Besides this, nearly every year, during one of the great ceremonials of
the fall, separate commemorative sacrifices are performed in honor of the
dead. In a sacrifice of this kind, a reindeer is slaughtered and laid on
the ground at the left side of the entrance, with the head pointed toward
the direction of the funeral place. Trhen some small mound of earth near the
sacrifice is considered to represen't the funeral mound in question. It is
sprinkled with blood, and 'small 'pieces of marrow and brain are scattered over
it. Those who perform the sacrifice exclaim, "Yo ho! come here and eat!" in the
same way as is done in the usual sacrifice. In other cases the sacrifice is
buried in the ground, close to the entrance of the tent. All of the flesh of
the slaughtered animal is cooked and eaten, while the dead one receives his
share on his symbolical mound. Afterward the antlers are either taken to
the actual place of the funeral, or are left on the ground near the mound
of sacrifice. Whoever has several dead of equal importance must bring a
sacrifice to each of them, or, if he wants to apportion his offerings, he must
designate the sacrifice of each year for one of the dead. On the funeral
places of the respected dead belonging to wealthy families, or on those of
renowned shamans, large heaps of antlers gradually accumulafe. For instance,
68-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

the "antlers' store" of Amra'kwurginn,1 the chief of the Reindeer Chukchee, is
higher than the stature of a man.
On the large island of A'con, near Chaun Bay, is an ancient mound of
antlers which is connected with the name of Qe'eqi, a female shaman whose
funeral had been held at that place. The mound is said to be very old, and
is partly sunk into the ground. The part exposed is still more than a fathom
high and five fathoms in diameter. I saw also in the Anui country heaps
which, perhaps, had been more than half a century in accumulating, and
which already contained several hundred sets of antlers.
In contrast with the commemorative sacrifice, which is almost always
personal, the "antlers' store," as soon as it reaches the proportions of a heap,
partly loses its personal character, and may commemorate all members of
the family. Thus, in the funeral places of the Maritime people, where all
the dead of the village are exposed, the antlers are gathered into several
large heaps, in commemoration of all the dead whose bodies were disposed
of near it. New sets of antlers are brought in by individual families for their
dead, but after a while they are added to one of the common heaps.
I know of cases among the Reindeer people where whole families were
swept off by famine or disease, and the relatives, unwilling to leave them
without funeral, would bring a collective sacrifice for the whole family, and
then build up an "antlers' store," without even caring to find the place where
the bodies of the dead were lying.
In some cases a person dying in a strange country, as while on' a
trading-expedition, will express a desire to be laid in his native land. This
desire may be made known either before the end, or, as happens more
frequently, afterward, by divination. However, the body of the dead is very
rarely taken to his home, but is disposed of on the spot. Then, when his
people return to their own country, they arrange another ceremony, which
is performed with the same details as if they had the body. Even an
"enclosure of the dead one" is made of stones or logs, and an "antlers'
store" is arranged close to it. From' that time this place is considered as
the actual funeral place of the deceased person, and it receives from year to
year its share of antlers.
FUNERAL, MARITIME CHUKCHEE. - The Maritime people are unable
to offer sacrifices to the dead in such abundance, and therefore with them
the whole ceremony is less complicated. The chief features, however, are
the same. They expose the bodies on the ground, cutting and pulling away
the clothes, and covering the face and the genitalia with a few strips of skin.
Sometimes thin flat stones are used for the purpose. The body is surrounded
with an enclosure, which may be replaced by three stones.2 Near the feet
I

Compare p. 73.

2 Hooper mentions that he has seen near the villages in Emma Harbor (Providence Bay) "stages upon which

5 35

of the body are laid one or two long sticks to serve as legs in the land of
the dead.1 Sometimes the sticks are placed apart, or even near the head
of the corpse. These sticks are not necessarily taken from the house-frame.
Since wood is scarce, the people take it wherever they find suitable material.
The antlers are begged or bought from the nearest reindeer-breeders, and
those of wild reindeer killed on the hunt are also used.
All corpses are exposed on the same place by the whole village, so
that a kind of cemetery is formed. Broad and even mountain-slopes are
selected for this in some villages; while in others, on the contrary, the funeral
place is chosen on the very shore, near the water. To give an illustration,
the dead of the village of Uni'sak are exposed on the point of the spit,
about half a mile from the village. The spit is in the form of a low ridge
sloping on both sides. The continuation of the ridge forms the chief street
of the village, separating the houses into two groups. This street is considered
to be the way by which the dead and the spirits go to the village, and
nobody dares to select a house site on it, so that it remains unoccupied all
the time.
In winter the corpses are taken to the funeral place on a sledge drawn
by dogs or by the house-mates of the dead. In summer they are carried
suspended from the pole which is to be left with the body, being firmly
.tied to it, the face directed towards the pole. The carriers of the corpse
often change places, or are replaced by others, evidently for the purpose of
circumventing the deceased in the case of pursuit. On reaching the spot,
the pole is untied, and deposited in its usual place, near the feet of the
corpse. In other cases the body is tied all around with thong, three pairs
of loops being left on each end, by which the "followers" carry it. A dog
is killed on the funeral place, and the guts are drawn out and laid on the
ground, forming a loop.
All kinds of sacrifices are given to the* dead. I found scattered everywhere on the funeral places, besides dry bones and skulls, heaps of antlers,
broken rifles, empty brandy-bottles, playing-cards, etc. Kuva'r, a trader of
Uiii'sak, whose name has been mentioned several times, left on the funeral
place of one of his sons even a graphophone and an old whaling-boat. All
these objects were also broken. Here evidently there was no fear of theft.
The breaking of the things, as explained by the natives, has for its purpose
the separation of their soul (uvi'rit), which may then be taken along by the
deceased one.
The commemorative sacrifice is performed early in the fall, a little later
the dead were laid, and exposed to the attacks of the elements and of the numerous crows (?) or rather ravens"
(p. 88 . I confess I do not know what stages the author may have seen; nor have I any idea of the material used
in their construction in this treeless country.
I See p. 526.

than the first fall ceremonial of the reindeer-breeders. Indeed, the Maritime
people, who as a rule visit the camps about that time, have to carry back
to their villages the reindeer-meat and antlers necessary for the sacrifice.
They carry the latter to their dead, and arrange a feast, in which the dead
also receive their part.
Each family has a special place for the sacrifice to the dead, which is
in the cemetery, and is called "hearth enclosure" (penu'kwun). If, during the
ceremony, there are close by corpses of those who have died recently, various
precautions are taken. Some of those who are sacrificing bring harpoons
and lances, and use them as if stalking the dead, and striking them with
their weapons. Others bring thongs, and spread. slings before the corpses.
After finishing the ceremony, the people repeat their hostile demonstrations
and then run away in a most hurried manner.
Among the Maritime people it often happens that persons die at sea
whose bodies are never recovered. Those who have perished in this manner
receive a special sacrifice offered at the very edge of the water. In the
feast, the share of the dead is thrown into the water. One and the same
place on the shore serves for all commemorative sacrifices of this kind, and
each family has two "hearth enclosures" in which to offer them, - one in
the village cemetery for those who died on land; and another on the shore,
close to the water, for those who perished at sea.
A man who is supposed to have perished at sea, but who in the end
escapes and lands on shore, must undergo a purifying ceremony. For this
he is girded with a piece of thong. Then a dog is sacrificed to the sea,
on the shore. After that the man is taken to the refuse-heap used by his
family, where he must lie down on the ground and wallow in the rubbish.
This resembles the purification, among the Reindeer people, of the objects
connected with the funeral, through immersing them in the refuse from the
paunches of slaughtered reindeer.

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The units of social organization amona the
MAN IN THE FAMILY.
Chukchee are quite unstable, excepting the family, which forms the basis of
the social relations between members of the tribe. Even family ties are not
absolutely binding, and single persons often break them and leave their family
relations. Grown-up sons frequently leave their parents and go away to
distant localities in search of a fortune. The youths of the Reindeer tribe
descend to the coast, and those of the Maritime Chukchee go inland to live
with the reindeer-breeders. Not a few of the Chukchee tales open with a
description of the life of a lone man who does not know any other people,
and who lives in a wild place. It may be said that a lone man living by
himself forms the real unit of Chukchee society. Even woman, whose social
position is much inferior to that of man, sometimes breaks away from father
or husband and goes to live with other people, though the family may pursue
her, and, if she is caught, bring her back by force. Such cases will be
described later on in detail.
I do not know of any cases of this kind happening among the Tungus,
where the family and clan organization are much stronger. Tungus families
often separate from the clan in search of new hunting-grounds, but a single
person never leaves his family; and even an isolated family will retain the
memory of its connection with the clan for a long time. The Lamut of the
Chaun country, who conlsist of stragglers from all the clans living farther to
the south, still consider themselves as belonging to particular clans; though
this connection has at present no real force, because of the distance of their
habitat from that of their clans. No such remembrance lingers among Chukchee who have left their families. Once separated, they are entirely separated
from them.
SYSTEM OF RELATIONSHIP. - In the Chukchee system of relationship the
paternal line preponderates to a marked degree over the maternal. The first
is designated as "that coming from the old male (buck)" (kirniai'pu-wa'lIn, also
kirfie'-tu'mgin,1 "old male [buck] mate") or as "that coming from the penis"
(yalh&Cpu-wa'lIn). The second is designated as "that coming from the matrix'
(kiyolh&'pu-wa'lIn). The paternal relatives are also called "those of the same
blood" (Enne'n-mu'LIlIt), meaning the blood with which the usual sacrificial
anointment is administered. It has been stated before that at the time of
ceremonials the people paint their faces with blood, and that persons of the
'

Kiriie'-tu'mgin or kiriia'-taka'lhin means also generally "older relative;" kirfie'-yi'cemit-tu'msin, "older
brother." For taka'lhin see p. 540.
2 Compare p. 360.

[5371

paternal line of descent use the same marks, which descend from
generation to generation. In the same sense, people of the same paternal
descent, the "old male companions," are also called "those of the same fire"
(Enna'n-yI'nla8t), because they have community of fire. Paternal relationship
is considered to be much stronger than maternal relationship. There is a
Chukchee saying which has it that even a distant relative on the father's side
is much nearer to the heart than a maternal cousin. The terms of relationship are as follows: same

CONSANGUINITY.
ASttu'uLeI3n ("fore-goer") .
Ya'aLagn ("behind-goer").n)
Mi'rgin 1

lew-mi'r in (fie, nlew, "woman").
Endi'w
Eccai'

ELI'hin (address: a'te, "papa").
ELa' (address: a'mme, "mamma") 4
ELI'hIt ("fathers").
Yi'6emit-tu'mgin ("fellow-brother")

ine'elin.
ELefii.

(a'kihet
I npi'ci-ca kIhe't

Wu'thit6ac-a'kihet or wu'thitceGn

Re'n6a-va'kihet ("younger sister")

ia'ke't-te'mgin ("sister-mate")
i'npi6i-ca'ket-te'mgin ("elder sister-mate")

Forefather.
Descendant.
Grandfather and great-uncle.
Grandmother and great-aunt.
Uncle,2 paternal and maternal.
Aunt,3 paternal and maternal.
Father.
Mother.
Parents.
Brother.
Elder brother.
Younger brother.0
Sister (said by male).
Elder sister (said by male).
Middle sister (said by male).
Younger sister (said by male).
Sister (said by female).
Elder sister (said by female).

1 One can also say ELI'w-mi'rgin ("paternal grandfather") and ELa'-m8'rgIn ("maternal grandfather"),
though generally the first part of the word is omitted. Children use also the terms apai'iiin ("grandfather") and
epe'qdi ("grandmother"), which are, the former an augmentative, and the latter a diminutive, form from e'pi
("father"). The latter word, however, is rarely used, and belongs rather to the Koryak language. Another
diminutive, epe'pil (literally, "little father"), is attributed to the Christian priest, and with this meaning it has
been adopted by the Chukchee.
2 These may be distinguished as ELi'hindiw ("paternal uncle") and ELa'ndew ("maternal uncle").
3 Uncles and aunts once removed are designated by the same terms.
4 A'mm8 probably means the mother's breast; a't8 and a'mm8 are used mostly by young children.
inpmna'chin and inpiiie', which, according to Nordquist, were mentioned by several authors as terms for "father"
and "mother" respectively, in reality have the meaning "old man" and "old woman." Both are derived from
inp, the root of the adjective ni'npIq8n ("he is old").
5 In all derivations, only the first stem is used. Tu'mgitum (pl. tu'mgit, stem tu'mgt) means "companion,"
"mate," also "kinsman." A husband, speaking of his wife, calls her giimni'n tu'mgitum (my mate"). ietu'mgilin
means "one with companions," "one with kinsmen," "one with influence." It is used as a compound in several
terms referring to degrees of relationship, in various combinations, sometimes only between males, at other times
only between females, and even also between males and females.
0 The terms for "elder brother" and "younger brother" are relative; i. e., all brothers older than myself
are my ine'elit, and all biothers younger than myself are my ELe'nyut (p1.). More detailed terms are used as
follows: 8na'n-ina'alin, uthe oldest brother;" ena'n-Etaa'fi, "the younrgest brother;" wu'thrt6e%n, "the middle
(brother)." ine'elin ("elder brother") and Eie'iai ("younger brother") are used both by males and females; but
the former term is pronounced by women ini'nelin, according to the rules of female pronunciation, in which
contractions are avoided. The elder sister is also called ine'elin or ini'nelin ,(by males and females). ELe'iii is
used for the younger brother only.

5 39

Wu'thitca-6a'ket-te'mgin ("middle sister-mate") Middle sister (said by female).

Re'n6a-ca'ket-te'mgin ("younger sister-mate"). Younger sister (said by female).

Ye"'lhi-te'mgin ("cousin-mate"), more rarely
Ye'9'10

Raw-ye"'lhI-te'mgin (in respect to male cousins)'
E'kik

Re'ekik
ELU e (pI.

ELU'wgot).

RauLu'e
ELo'o-te'mgIn
RaULO'o-te'mgIml 3.

Male cousin, paternal and maternal.
Female cousin, paternal and maternal.
Son.
Daughter.
Grandson and nephew.
Grand-daughter and niece.
Parents' cousin's son.
Parents' cousin's daughter.

Of all these terms, a collective may be formed by means of the word
-ret, -rat, which signifies "collection," "set," and is used only in combination
with others. Thus, yicemre't, "company of brothers;" cak&ttirat, "company
of sisters" (in regard to the male relatives); y&!'lhirat, "company of male
cousins;" kret, "company of boys" (k shortened for kmi'inin, "boy," "child").
The fourth degree of relationship is designated by means of the stem
yi'lhi, which signifies "link," "junction." Thus, yi'lhi-mi'rgin, "great-grandfather;"
yIlh-ELu'e, "great-grandson;" yIlhILo'o-te'mgin, -"male cousin twice removed," etc.
The more remote degrees of relationship are designated as cimce'kin,
"the near one;" or cice'tkin, cice'Lefi, "kinsman." The compass of the second
term is larger than that of the, first.
All degrees of step-relations are designated with the suffix -iqal, meaning
"intended for." 4 Thus ELi'hIlqal, "step-father;" ELa'lqal, step-mother," also,
in polygamous families, "another wife of my father;" e'kkelqal, "step-son;"
fiee'kkelqal, "step-daughter;" yi'cemit-tu'mgalqal, "step-brother;" cake'ttilqal,
"step-sister" (in repect to the brother), etc. Even inew-mi'rgilqal, "step-grandmother," is often used in polygamous families.
Affinity is designated as follows:
AFFINITY.
Mata'lin s.

Raw-mata'lin.

intu'ulpEr"
inte'

AaWe`w-mata'lin ';
Rauchan-mata'lin 6
Taka'lhin
Umi'rit

Reumi'rit ("woman umi'rit")

Father-in-law.
Mother-in-law.
Son-in-law.
Daughter-in-law.
. Brother-in-law.
Sister-in-law.
Husband of wife's sister.
Son-in-law's or daughter-in-law's father.
Son-in-law's or daughter-in- law's mother.

1 Women use the term fiaw'g6l, which is the female pronunciation of

fiaw-y&C'lhi.

Female pronunciation, ELu'wgo-te'mgln. ELOO and ELu'e are related.
3 Female pronunciation,
Women among themselves use simply the term fiaw'gel.
4 For instance, uwa'Cqucilqal ("intended for husband"), "bridegroom ;" ie'wiinliqil ("intendedfor wife"), "bride."
5 From the verb mata'rkin ("thou takest," "thou takest to wife").
6 Aa'Wk means "young man;" iie'us-qait means "woman." These terms are used by both wedded parties.
Sometimes they say also End&W-mata'lIn ("wife's uncle") and EUai'iiaw-mata'lin ("wife's aunt").

nauLu;wgo-tewmgin.

Relatives by affinity are called collectively mata'lit (p1.) or mata'li-ra'mkin
("affinity people").
Men married to two sisters call each other taka'lhIn. Taka'lhin more
properly signifies "brace-companion;" for instance, one of the two reindeer
harnessed to the sledge. Pitka'-taka'lhin signifies "twin-brother" (literally,
"double-companion"). The degree of affinity thus indicated is considered to
be very strong. In olden times it was considered even stronger than brotherhood. Taka'lhin kirn-a'-ye'`amet-temge`pu pa'roc signifies "man of the wife's
sister (is) of the old-male-brother beyond." An old proverb says, "Man of
the wife's sister is on the same lake shore a fall-companion" (taka'lhin Enna"nhi'thilifiki rilte'l-te'mgin). This means that both are to fight and fall together.
The Chukchee say that if one taka'lhin sees the blood of the other drawn
by an enemy, he will rush forward again and again until his own body lies
on the same spot. Perhaps this relation may be considered as a survival of
group-mnarriage, although at present group-marriage between the taka'lhit
exists but rarely. The group-marriage, and the degree of relationship based
on it, will be described later on.
The family is designated as ra'yirin ("houseful," or simply "those in the
house"), yara'-te'mgit ("house-mates"); but both these terms relate, properly
speaking, to the house and those living in it. The house with those living
in it forms the real basis of the Chukchee family. Members of the family
who have left the house (or, among the Reindeer Chukchee, the camp) lose
their connection with the household and also with the family.
The system of consanguinity and affinity is represented in the following
table:
CONSANGUINITY.
Ancestors

Linked grand-parents

Grand-parents
(Father's

Mother

Father

cousins)
I
Linked
cousins

Cousins
SELF
SEI.F

I
2d cousins

Aunts

Uncles

Elder
brothers

~~~~~~~~~~~~I
Child
Sisters
Younger

brothers

Grand-children
Linked
grand-children
Descendants

54I

AFFINITY OF MALE.
Relatives-in-law
(Father-in-law and Mother-in-law)

Relatives-in-law

(Brother-in-law and
Sister-in-law)

SELF

Wife

Wife's sister's husband.

Son
Daughter

Child-in-law's parents
Daughter-in-law
Son-in-law

For the female the system is practica-lly the same, except that in the
table of affinity the taka'lhin ('"wife's sister's husband") relation is not found.
A group of kindred families is designated by
THE FAMILY GROUP.
the term va'rat (literally, "collection of those who are together"). Va is the
root of the verb va'rkin ("thou art"), -ret, -rat, signifies "collection" (see p. 539).
A member of the same family-group is called Ena'n-vara'tkin ("one of the
same va'rat"). In modern times, however, this term has acquired a broader
meaning, and is used in the sense of "people," "folk;" though for the latter
idea there exists another word, re'mkin ("people," "folk"). Still another term
for the family-group is more characteristic. It is ci'n-yirIn ("collection of those
who take part in blood-revenge"). (:in is the stem- of the word li'inliin ("heart"'),
but is used also for blood-revenge. Li'nilin means "blood-avenger." This
term ci'n-yirin is used frequently, because the vendetta still exists in full vigor.
The Chukchee va'rat may perhaps be called an embryo of a clan; it is
unstable, however, and the number of families that "are together" changes
almost every year. Moreover, when one va'rat picks a quarrel with another
one (usually one living in the neighborhood), there will always be a few families
that are connected equally with both interested parties. The centre of the
va'rat forms a group of brothers, and secondarily a group of cousins, both
of which are called a group of boys." A proverb says, "The group of boys
is disposed to scoff" (Kra'tichin niko'raqen). This means that numerous
brothers who keep together may abuse any of their neighbors with impunity.
On the other hand, the lonesome one (kuwli'kilin) is always downcast. He
speaks humbly, he lives in poverty, and is subjected to the abuse of families
consisting of many people.
In cases of blood-revenge, brothers and cousins are tfie first to come
forward. For instance, in the year I895, among the Chukchee of the Big
Anui River, two young men of different families disputed over the dividing
of a mammoth-tusk which they had found in the tundra. In the ensuing
quarrel one of them picked'up his rifle and shot at the other, though without
success. A quarrel among the families ensued. The mapn shot at belonged
to a numerous family; he had several uncles, each of whom had sons. He
I In Chukchee phonetics c and I often replace each other.
68-jESUP NORTHi PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

had also four adult brothers. The whole number of his male companions
was twenty-two, and all of theff were his nearest relatives. The offender, on
the other hand, belonged to a small family. Therefore, when the offended
family began to talk about revenge and threatened to attack the chief camp
of their enemies, the offender left the camp and travelled sixty miles to the
nearest Russian village. There he spent six or eight weeks, and felt wretched
all the time, for the Reindeer Chukchee do not like to stay in Russian houses
any longer than necessary, because the close air of the log-cabin, and the
fish diet, are unbearable to them. During this time his people in the camp
negotiated with the other party; and in the end the affair was smoothed over,
even without ransom, since the pride of the offended family was satisfied with
the flight of the other man and his wretched life among the Russians. It
will be noticed that the quarrel was settled between the families, not between
the family-groups.
In another case of a similar kind, nine members of the offended family
came to the offender to make a demonstration of their strength. All were
brothers, cousins and uncles of the offended one. It came to the drawing of
knives, though no blood was shed.
Once in my presence two young Chukchee wrestled, and one vanquished
the other. I mentioned before that wrestling-matches lead to quarrels among
this excitable people. The father of the vanquished wrestler, who was present,
grew very angry, and said to the victor, "Wait a while! Do you take us
for a bad family, brotherless and cousinless? This young man has seven
brothers. They are quite young now, but they will grow up; anid all of them
will be against you."
In folk-stories, blood-revenge and retaliation for insults are also undertaken, almost always by near relatives only.'
The organization of the Reindeer Chukchee camp depends upon the
relations of the family-group. The Chukchee camp has a front holuse, the
place of which is determined by the seniority of its owner. Other houses
are located according to certain rules, based for the most part on the mutual
family relations of the owners. For all that, the organization of the camp is
unstable and loose, just as much so as that of the Chukchee family-group.'
In former times a union of "those that are together' was of a stricter
character and really formed something like a clan. A unit of this kind
included ten or fifteen families, who always.camped near together. In summer,
when near the seashore, they formed usually one large camp. Some of the
young men were with the herd, which at that time was not numerous. The
others were occupied with fishing and seal-hunting.3 The people occupied

Further details will be given when dealing with blood-revenge.

2 See Chapter XX.

3 This state of things still exists among those of the Maritime Koryak of the Pacific shore who also

have reindeer-herds. Each village forms a separate family-group.

their leisure time with athletic exercise, wrestling, running, fencing with spears,
etc. They were more ready for war, which was more frequent than it is now.
In war the family-group acted as a unit against all other parties.
The Russian officials of the Kolyma country, when endeavoring to bring
the Chukchee under Russian allegiance, treated them in the same way as the
Yakut and the Tungus of eastern Siberia. These tribes had strictly organized
clans (pojb, pc. pobii), which could not intermingle as readily as the Chukchee
va'rat. The Cossacks and their chiefs, when subjugating these tribes, taxed
each clan separately. Therefore Russian officials, when trying to levy tribute
on the Chukchee, invented clans and even clan-chiefs.' Baron von Maydell,
who was the chief official of the Kolyma district in i868-70, even invented
a new rank and title, "The Highest Chief of all the Chukchee." This sounds
almost royal; and, indeed, the Russians sometimes called the person having
this rank "Chukchee King," -"Black King of the Tundra," "Chukchee Czar."
All this was quite imaginary. The family that was given this title was simply
a rich reindeer-breeding family with some influence among its neighbors. I
lived with this family for a few months, and shall speak of it later on in
greater detail?
The clans introduced by the Russians were also invented, and had no
standing in the aboriginal organization of the tribe. The whole territory of
the Chukchee was divided into five parts; and each of these parts, with the
people living in it, was called a "clan." Some rich reindeer-breeder among
those friendly disposed to the Russians was called "chief," and that was all.
The Chukchee living beyond the sphere of influence of the Russian officials
in the tundra to the west of the Chaun River and on the Chukchee Peninsula,
reindeer-breeders and maritime hunters, were called "the maritime clan." Even
the tribute was nominal, - 247 rubles from all the clans, - though the
Chukchee tribe has several thousand adult men. This tribute is paid in the
following way. In the parts of the territory nearest to the Russian settlements,
at least every other family pays a tribute of one ruble. It is understood that
this sum represents the tribute of one man, as among the Tungus and the
Yakut; I but, as I have said, it is not true. The tribute is paid by a family;
and not all the families pay, either. Those that are unfriendly to the Russians
1 Sarytcheff knew the political organization of the tribe. He wrote, "The Chukchee have no chiefs or
authorities. Each community has a man who is richer than the others, or who has a larger family; but he
also is little obeyed and has no right to punish anybody" (Sarytcheff, Journey in the Northeastern PartofSiberia, II, p. 107).
2 See Chapter XXIII.
3 Maydell also tried to introduce among the Reindeer Chukchee a tribute of half a ruble from a boy under
sixteen years, but this attempt was not successful. So the tribute which at first was settled as 3I6 rubles was
lowered to 247 rubles. At the same time Maydell tried to take a census of the Reindeer Chukchee. The
figures of his census are 476 men and 369 women; total 845. He is quite well aware, however, of the deficiencies of this census. He does not even give these figures in his book. I borrowed them from the documents
of the Archives of Kolyma.

do not pay anything. They Tungus, the Yakut, the Kamchadal, pay per
capita, and also for all those that are dead. Since many branches of these
tribes have greatly diminished in nu"mber, the tribute becomes very heavy,
sometimes quite abnormal. The Russianized Yukaghir and Yakut of the
Lower Kolyma, until very recently, had to pay eleven rubles for each male.
No such thing is possible among the Chukchee. The greater the distance
from Russian villages, the smaller the number of families who are willing to
pay tribute. The largest portion of the tribute allotted to each clan is paid
by the so-called "chief." It is not so very difficult for a rich Chukchee to
He takes a couple of bear-skins and some good
pay thirty or fifty rubles.
fox-skins to the trader, and receives for them the money to pay his tribute.
Among the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo, groups consisting
of family units are still smaller than among the Reindeer people. The real
units of social life among the Maritime people are the family and the village.
Many of the villages are of course inhabited by relatives, especially among
the Eskimo, who, as mentioned before,1 are less inclined than the Chukchee
to wander from village to village. Many other villages, Chukchee and Eskimo,
consist, however, of elements of distinct provenience. For instance, the village
of (ie'vin consists of Eskimo, of Maritime Chukchee, and of a large admixture
of Reindeer Chukchee who have lost their herds and have settled on the
shore. Some of the villages have front houses, and others have none. On
the whole, the village is a territorial unit. Neither has it any organization,
beyond the fact that the inhabitants are neighbors and are friendly among
themselves. Related families appear as units in the organization of the
boat-crew.Y-

The Chukchee family usually consists of a husband, with one
FAMILY.
Generally the parents of the man live
or several wives and their children.
near by in a lodging of their own; and with them may live younger sons
and daughters, who are not yet married, or, if married, have no children.
Their house is dependent on the larger one, and is considered as belonging
to the "houseful."
Old men usually enjoy great consideration.
POSITION OF OLD PEOPLE.
Especially is this the case among the reindeer-breeding part of the tribe,
perhaps because the herd is the property of the father as long as he lives.
It seems that among all nomadic tribes there is a tendency to develop strong
family and family-group ties, and that with this phenomenon is 'connected the
high position of the old men of the family. Although I cannot make the
general assertion that the organization of family and family-group is more
highly developed among the Reindeer Chukchee than among the Maritime
tribe, it seems that in special cases this is really the case. Reindeer-raising

copr

I

.44

Compare p. 494-

Secatrxi

2 See

Chapter XXI.

is probably not old enough among the Chukchee to have brought about a
marked difference between the two branches of the people. In many camps
in various parts of the territory of the Chukchee I have met very old men,
perhaps of seventy or even eighty years; at least, their hair was altogether
white, which change seems to occur among the Chukchee later than among
the white race. Some of these old men were almost in their dotage; still
they had retained possession of the herd and the general direction of life in
their camps. For instance, in a camp on the Oloi River, a man named
Kau'no, who had great-grand-nephews ten years old, owned two large herds,
and decided himself the most important question in the seasonal migration of
the Chukchee, that of choosing the place of abode for the summer-time.
Though enfeebled by age, he still made the April trip to the Wolverene River
every spring for barter with the maritime traders from the Arctic villages,
who come there at that time, bringing maritime products and American wares.
Kau'no's own housemates told me that the old man had grown childish and
often purchased things of little use in their life. InsteacI of sugar he took
bottled molasses, because it was red, and red pleased his eye; he bought
table-knives instead of hunting-knives, because they are brighter, etc. This
was told, however, with broad grins, and without any visible signs of protest.
"Foolish one!" (Yurgumte'q) they added quite good-humoredly. "What is to
be done? He is an old man!" (Qailo'qim, mi'inkri, inpina'chin). And I am
quite sure that Kau'no kept the direction of his house till his natural end.
Another old man of sixty on the Dry Anui had a dislocation of the hip-joint,
which was altogether out of service in walking. He could only crawl about
with the aid of two crutches. Therefore his name was Atka'-Pania'nto ("Lame
Paiia'nto"). His lameness dated from a bad fall in a wrestling-match in
which he took part. He was then married and the owner of a herd. He
continued to be the master of his herd and the head of his family, and had
several children, who grew up and took care of the herd. Every year he
would go to the Anui fair for barter, carrying along peltries and reindeerskins. He was very fond of strong liquor, bought it every time, and drank
most of it himself, giving to each of the other members of his family only a
few drops.
At fairs and gatherings for trade, whenever I visited a camp for the first
time, those who came to meet me would say, "Let us take you to the oldest
man. Talk first to him." Baron von Maydell mentions that when he travelled
in the country near the Upper Anadyr, a very old man from a remote camp,
who came to meet him, was carried for a long distance on the shoulders of
his young relatives.' This happe-ned in summer, when sledges cannot be used.
This is nothing unusual among the Chukchee, though usually the old man
See Maydell, I, p. 520.

walks as long as he can; then he is carried for a while. After that, a short
rest is taken, and he walks again. Even among the Maritime Chukchee,
where the old men enjoy less consideration, those that cannot walk are carried on the shoulders of their young relatives. Thus, at Mariinsky Post I saw
an old man with crutches, a certain YIr'mE, who had his feet badly frozen in an
accident during the winter se'al-hunting. This happened some fifteen years
ago. Now YIr'mE is old, and unable to move about much, even with the
aid of crutches. Whenever he has to be moved, his own son-in-law carries
him on his shoulders.
I mentioned just now that among the Maritime Chukchee consideration
for old men is not so marked as among the reindeer-breeders. The life of
the maritime people is harder. Each morsel of food has to be obtained by
great exertion, by danger and hardship: therefore an old man, unable to get
his store of food himself, becomes a charge on other people. There is no
herd or other property worthy of much attention. The experience of an old
hunter does not tount for much when he remains at home, and in times of
privation he is one too many to feed; therefore the old men whom I met
among the Maritime Chukchee looked dull and sad, nor were they as numerous
as among the Reindeer Chukchee. This was due perhaps to the hardships
of maritime life, the less active hunters being often unable to meet danger,
and thus losing their lives. The killing of old people, of which I shall speak
later on, probably originated among the Maritime Chukehee.1
It seems that a similar difference, though less apparent, exists between
the Reindeer and the Maritime Koryak. Mr. Jochelson, in speaking of the
treatment of old people by the Koryak, remarks that among the Reindeer
Koryak the new form of household economy has developed the principle of
personal property more sharply.2 In an oral communication he mentioned
that in reality among the Reindeer Koryak the old men have more authority
than among the Maritime Koryak, because of their ownership of reindeerherds, which remains in their hands.
In recent times, property of value obtained in trade with American
whalers appeared even among the Maritime Chukchee. Almost every large
village has several traders, who go inland to the reindeer camps and barter
white men's ware for skins and reindeer-meat. Some of them even have
storehouses of their own; others are poorer, and sometimes their capital is
small indeed. The owners of this property, though ever so old, continue to
hold it, and their position in life does not become lower with increasing age.
POSITION OF WOMEN.- The position of women, on the whole, is inferior
I I know of fewer cases of such killing among the Maritime Chukchee, as compared to those among
the Reindeer branch of the tribe; but this is probably due only to my shorter acquaintance with the Maritime
people.
2 Compare Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 759.

5 4-7'

to that of the men. "Since you are a woman, be silent" (S4e'us-qat tu'ri,
aqu'like) - these words are repeated every time that a woman severely
reproved dares to say a word back in her own defence.
In one tale a girl who came to a ke'lE proposes herself as a wife for
him in the following words: "I want to be your companion and your slave.
My mother said to me, 'That ke'lE there has no slave. We will raise you
as quickly as possible. Go to him and serve him.'"'
Among the Reindeer Chukchee, women work much harder than men,
especially the younger ones. The man's part of tne work is the herding,
catching, and slaughtering of animals, the hunt, carrying of heavy logs and
of the stones necessary to hold the tent firmly in place; also work on wood
with axe, hatchet, and knife, etc. The harnessing of the reindeer is done by
both sexes, also carrying fuel from the bush, and chopping wood and ice.
The loading and unloading of sledges is performed for the most part by
women. The care of the house, which in the nomadic life of an arctic climate
requires almost uninterrupted hard toil, falls wholly to the share of the women,
also skinning and butchering, gathering roots, preparing food, dressing skins,
making garments, and much more, not to speak of the duties of the mother.
Moreover, man almost never shares in the woman's part of the work; he
does not even 'know how it is performed. Often, when wandering with a
Chukchee camp, I had occasion to go to the newly chosen spot with the
male members of the family. We drove on light sledges, and therefore
arrived long before the women, who crept along slowly behind with the packsledges. Sometimes the difference of time was about two hours or two and
a half; but the men would only unharness their reindeer; then they would
loiter idly about waiting for the women, or begin some kind of men's work.
Once in iny presence a man took a snow-scraper and began to scrape the
place for the tent, but after a couple of minutes he threw away the scraper.
"Ugh!" he said, "this is woman's work." When I was trying to learn the
Chukchee language, and took care to collect new words from every one, I
found, to my great amazement, that young men did not know the names of
some parts of the house-frame, house utensils, preparations for dressing skins,
etc. "Ugh!" they would say, "I don't know. That is the women's business."
In the every-day life, the man, when at home, is idle, or occupies his
time with the inspection of sledges, repairing'their broken parts, etc. The
women take care of everything in the tent and in the sleeping-room. After
the reindeer is slaughtered, the woman has to' skin it and butcher it; then
she must carry everything to its proper place. She prepares the food, and
presents it to her husband. She cuts off the best, and takes what is left,
gnaws the bones, gathers all crumbs and scraps. Such delicacies as brains,
marrow, etc., are eaten almost exclusively by men. Women are satisfied with
Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. '95.

licking their fingers when cutting the dainties into small pieces for the use
of the men. "Being women, eat crumbs," is a saying of the Chukchee.
Women eat only after the men have finished.' Only an elderly woman, the
mother of a family, having grown-up daughters or some other women under
her rule, goes into the inner room with the men and eats with them. As a
rule, the women, though they stay more at home than the men, still spend
less time under shelter of the sleeping-room. A young woman is the first to
leave it early in the morning, and the last to enter it late in the evening;
and when a guest comes to pass a night, and the room proves to be too
small, the woman has to go out and perhaps pass the night in the outer
tent, unless she is needed by the males for special reasons. On the other
side the woman also performs much of the man's work. Young women and
girls help the men in herding in winter and even in summer.
When a reindeer herdsman comes home after twenty-four hours spent in
running around the restive animals, he is given a change of dry clothes, takes
food, and goes to sleep. A woman, though returning with him from the
herd, has to prepare' the food, and then take part in the household cares.
When I was passing a summer among the Chukchee on the Oloi River, I
staid for a couple of months in the camp of Ei'heli, whose name has been
mentioned before. His elder daughter-in-law would come from the herd after
a two days' absence. In summer the Chukchee herdsmen, while with the
reindeer, have little time to sleep. They take their sleep when coming home.
Still the young woman was not allowed to go to sleep. Ei'heli would sit
down in the inner room and order her to prepare tea and food. The woman
was wearied. She looked like one in a trance. She would mechanically take
the teapot, but, instead of pouring the tea into the cup, she would pour it
right on the eating-table. In another camp I saw another woman of nineteen,
who was the second wife of the master of the front house, fall down suddenly
in the middle of her work as if struck by a bullet. She was struck, not by
a bullet, but by sleep.
Ei'heli, however, was considered an old man given to too much quarrelling
with his female house-mates, and sometimes was for this reason laughed at
by the people in the neighborhood. As 'mentioned before, he was the highest
chief of the Chukchee; 2 and the people of the neighborhood said behind his
back, that, from too much intercourse with the inhabitants of Russian logcabins, he got a liking for indoor living; and since he lhad nothing else to
do, he quarrelled with the women. The husband of the other young woman
mentioned before was also considered harsh.
Aiinanwa't, on the contrary, left the house of his son in order to avoid
quarrelling with the women. He told me the following: "I should like to live
1 The same is the case among the Koryak (cf. Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 745).
2 Compare p. 73.

with my son, but he has too many women. They make me feel bad,,they
talk too much: therefore I have left them, fearing lest I grow angry. In
my mind I rejected them all.".
Aiinanwa't, after losing his reindeer-luck in the bad year of I884, got
weary of his diminishing herd and dilapidated household, and, after his second
wife had also died, he gave up the remainder of his property to his oldest
son, and became himself a wandering hunter of wild reindeer. He felt restless,
and probably would not stay at home even if the women had not been given
to "too much talking.'
Some cases of protest of women against intolerable ill-treatment by the
fathers-in-law are known to me. For-instance, on the WQlverene River I met
an old man, Omrelqo't by name, who was a rich reindeer-owner. He was
hospitable even to strangers, but stingy with his own house-mates. Since he
was quite irascible, this led to quarrels. One sumimer all the people in the
neighborhood were short of tobacco, and he alone had a few pounds. He
distributed the greater part of it among his neighbors, and left almost nothing
for his own house-mates. Being himself a great smoker, he stopped the supply
of tobacco of the women of his household. Now, all the people of Arctic
Siberia would rather go hungry than be without a smoke. "Tobacco is
shameless," is a saying of the Russian creoles: "it makes the poorest people
bold in their demands evenr upon the -chief officer." Whoever knows the
abject fear in which Russian creoles hold officers even of inferior rank, will
appreciate the significance of this saying.
I mentioned before' a story of two brothers, one of whom, at the time
of a tobacco famine, killed the other because he. refused to share with him
his tobacco-supply.' This story is very popular among various tribes of northeastern Siberia.
In dealing with his neighbors, Omr lqo't, to whom I have referred before,
faithfully followed the general rule which requires, in case of need, that the
last pipeful be divided or smoked by turns; but the women of his own
household were not treated so liberally. A quarrel ensued; and one of his
daughters-in-law, who was also hot-tempered, took up a lance and inflicted on
one on the shoulder, and two others in the
the old man three wounds,
back. The old man drew his belt-knife and seriously wounded his assailant.
The end of the quarrel was, that the woman left the camp of her husband
and, father-in-law, and went back to her own people. But Omrelqo't was
called ever after, to his great ire and horror, "that one pricked by a woman."
I have told this story in some detail because it is very characteristic of Chukchee family life.
Another, more tragical case happened at the Anui fair in i 895, where one
Compare p. 59.
69-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

Chukchee was killed by Cossacks in a squabble. The Chukcheesurrounded
the wooden fortress. and threatened to take it by assault. .After some parleying, they grew less threatening, and asked for -the .body of- the one. killed,
intending to come for the blood-money on the following morning. The gate
was firmly shut .from; the inside; and it was necessary to take the body to
the gate, then to open it, and,. after the, body had been delivered to, shut it
again. None of the people in the fortress, including all the Cossacks and
police officials of the Kolyma district, were willing to take part in that some-what risky enterprise. Finally it was performed by myself and -two other
political exiles who happened to be present at the fair. We took it upon
ourselves to open the gate and. to shut it again. We did not want to carry
the body; and after some hesitation, it was carried out by the Cossack manservant of the chief official. It was lying on a dog-sledge, and the man was
pulling the sledge by the vertical bow. I- acted as interpreter and mediator.
My companions, being- both very strong, heavy-set men, drew the bolts back,
and opened the gate just wide enough for the sledge to pass through. A
large number of Chukchee were assembled in front of the gate. They were
clamoring for admission and for the body of their friend., When the gate
was opened, the wife of the one killed clutched the Cossack and wanted to
drag him out; but he succeeded in jumping back, leaving a piece of his skin
coat in her hands. The gate-keepers pushed her out with the sledge and
the body, hastily shut the gate, and locked it. The step-father, who was the
third husband of the mother of the one killed, was also there. When still
very young, the mother had lost her first husband. Later on, she was sent
away with her child by her second husband, but was- married by the third husband, with whom she continued to live, and who was at the time an old man.
He was standing in front of the gate, together with his daughter-in-law, but
he made no attempt to assist the angry woman in her endeavors. She yelled,
"You old good-for-nothing! When quarrelling with women in your house,
you can talk! Why don't you fight now, when your son is trampled down
by the Russians?'
Among the Maritime people, the women take no share in hunting; and
the housework is also less burdensome, owing to the sedentary mode of life
of the people. Therefore they are not so hard-worked as the women of the
nomadic Chukchee.
According to the data in the census of I 897, as collected by N. L. Gondatti
and myself, and published by S. Patkanov,l the whole number of women, as
compared to that of men, forms, among the Maritinme Chukchee iO8 per cent,
among the Reindeer Chukchee IOI per cent; total for the whole tribe, 102
per cent. The difference between the Maritime and Reindeer Chukchee
I S. Patkanov, Essai d'une statistique et d'une geographie des peuples palaeasiatiques de la Siberie d'apres
les donnees du recensement de 1897 (St. Petersburg, i903), p. 27.

.551

corresponds to. the difference- in male occupations in both branches of the
tribe;- that isto say, the Maritime hunters incur far .more danger -and risk of
life than the -reindeer-breeders.. The census. of Maydell of I 870 is not taken
into account, being too incomplete.
The wife is often harshly treated by her husband. I have mentioned
the case, of a ;husband killing his wife with a blow-; of a fire-brand. Blows,
though less severe, are not infrequently dealt out to .women; but it also
happens that a wife ill-treats her husband. JI recall -one man .of small stature,
with but little physical strength,, but very irascible.' Quarrels between him
and his- wife were not rare. When it..would come. to blows, his.wife would
throw him, and keep him down, asking, "Have ..you enough.? ..Will you cease?"
until he would say, ."Enough, I will cease.' His- neighbors told me.this story
with much, laughter,' but their censure was not very harsh.
Another man, Girgo'l by name, a well-to-do reindeer-breeder, who used
-to -maltreat his wife, was finally killed by her with a rifle.. This happened in
midsummer, when the family was alone with their herd on the summer pastureground.: The family consisted of Girgo'l, his wife, and three grown-up unmarried daughters. Just what happened has never been known; but on.e day the
youngest daughter came to the nearest camp, and said that Gjirgo'l suddenly
felt very ill and requested to be killed, which was done by his wife. When
the people went to attend the funeral, the women who assisted in dressing
the body in. his funeral clothes saw with surprise that the wound was. on the
back of the neck, although in cases of voluntary death the wound is always
inflicted on the front part of the body. The daughters of.the woman, however,
confirmed the story that their father: was killed by his own request. He had
no near relatives, in the country, and the murder .was allowed to go without
any attempt at blood-vengeance. The woman took the herd and remained
its possessor. In the course of time she took another husband, who lived on
her herd, and was therefore wholly dependent on her.
The position of.old women, however, is much inferior to that of old men.
Among the Reindeer Chukchee a widow having children may remain the
owner of the herd, and keep that position till her children are. grown up.
Among the Maritime Chukchee an old widow lives with one of her sons; and
her voice is of no great influence, even among the occupants. -of the inner
sleeping-room, unless she happens to be a shaman or a "knowing one." '
The inferior position of the woman does not exclude tender love between
husband and wife. Especially do marriages contracted among children develop
into a very strong tie between, the married. couples. When I travelled on
the Wolverene River, an epidemic of influenza appeared- among the Chukchee.
About twenty persons died within a few days. A man, Moro'n by name, lost
his wife, with whom he had lived for fifteen years, from the time when'he
X Compare p. 472.

was ten years old. On the' second' day after her death 'he' took his own life
by stabbing himself with' a knife. -I want to'follow -her he said before
he died.` Aniother case illustrating the strong attachment between husband
and wife is that of an: old man living in the Dry Anui' district, who had
lived'with' his wife for half a century. Suddenly he'declared that he wanted to
take a certain girl of the vicinity for his second wife. His old wife threatened
to'''returni to her own relatives if-he should- take the girl. The old couple had
no children living who might 'have prevented the dissolution of that marriage.
The old man hesitated for some time; but his desire to have children- if
not begotten' by himself, then at least the issue of the customary groupmarriage- prevailed, and he took the young woman. His first wife kept
her word and left the camp, going to her brother, who lived at a distance
of a hundred miles. For a few months. the old man lived with his young
wife; then he repined. 'He felt too proud, however, to go and see his old
mate. Rather'than do that, he requested that' he be killed, which was done
by strangulation with a rope.' Thus it will be seen that- the. married life of
the Chukchee is not exempt from strong feelings and romantic episodes.
I mentioned before that small'children are an
POSITION OF CHILDREN.
object of great care and tenderness on the part of their parents. The endearing
term for children frequently used in common parlance is "little eggs" (ligliqqaiti).
The children are fed with the best morsels, and fondled and caressed by all
grown-up people. The tender love of parents for their children has found
expression in one episode which is repeated in many tales. A young boy
dies a sudden death.' His parents, in great sorrow, remain in the sleepingroom. The dead body is lying before them upon the ground on a reindeerskin. They weep day and night. Their cheeks are furrowed with tears to
the very bones. Thus they stay for one year, then for another, then for a
third year.
The childhood of Chukchee children is quite happy. They grow up free
and fearless in the freedom of camp life. Small boys are given knives just
as soon as they can 'grasp 'the handles, and from that time on they learn
gradually the use of thi's all-important implement. I have seen a small boy
try to carve wood with a knife hardly shorter tlhan the boy himself. One
time a Cossack who accompanied me teased a boy about five years of age.
The little man took offence, took up a hatchet that was lying on the ground,
and flung it at the head of the man. His aim was accurate enough, though
the hatchet did not reach the amazed Cossack, who began to howl and stamp
his feet, intending to frighten the little warrior. Nothing daunted, the boy
caught up a big knife and turned upon his enemy.
The heroic tales of the Chukchee also make mention of young boys
taking part in combats and coming to the assistance of their parents. For
1 For similar cases among the Koryak, cf. Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 745.

instance, in a tale about Ele'ndi and his' sons,- a little boy, the grandson
of the hero, plays all' the time at'- shooting with- a bow, not even taking time
to- sleep. One day his father says -jestingly, "Here is a blade of grass. Try
and hit its stem.' He -made for the boy a 'small arrow 'of a piece -of kettle
iron. 'The boy shot and cut the blade in two. In the morning they'continued
their journey and met a Ta'nn-iin. "Oh!" says the father, "you are, butit -a
child." - "What of 'it?" says the boy.' And what will your mother say?
Well, let us go near. Then you sit down at a safe distance. I will fight
against that man with my lance. However, I' may get tired. Then I shall
return, and 'you shall string your little bow. I shall look 'at'you, thus, and
cross the road near to you. -Then you shall shoot at his forehead. Try at
least to cut the skin on his foreh'ead.." The father began the fight with the
Ta'nwnin, became tired, and: retreated towards the place were his child was
sitting. Then the boy strung his bow and' shot and cut the skin on the forehead of the Tan -nin. "Oh! this is how you take away our herds. You are
strong through the aid of a boy. We do not act thus. Your strength lies in
your union with boys." - "Ah !' says the father,' "I have created a strong
man for times to come, one who will take the property of all those living
in the country around us. I must be very good indeed."
After several years, in a quarrel with his father about the distribution of
tobacco, the son says, "If I had not then cut that broad forehead, we could
not have smoked at this time."'
As in other hero-tales of the Chukchee, the details are given in a manner
that is very true to life. Other instances of the same kind might be addedc
The life of children among the 'Maritime Chukchee is less pleasant.
Maritime villages are filthy in comparison with the ever-changing camp of the
Reindeer people. The interior of the house, where the children spend a
considerable part of their time, is black from smoke, and full of heavy odors.
Food, too, is less abundant, and the supply less certain. On the other hand,
the years of leisure and play are much longer here than among the reindeerbreeders. The reindeer-breeding Chukchee send boys of ten, and girls hardly
older than that, to help in tending the herd. I remember having met one
summer-time two such young reindeer-breeders, a boy and a girl. They were
from ten to twelve years old. They were walking through the bushes quite
alone, staff in hand, and wallet on back. They had to walk some ten miles
before they could reach their herd. It was strange to see these young children
wandering in the bush without any protection and shelter. While with the
herd, the children have their share of all the troubles and care of guarding
the restive animals. Of course they sleep more than the adult herdsmen, and
do not run about so much; still their life is hard enough. When three or
four years older, the young people, especially the boys, have to take up the
1 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 354.

full.. responsibilities of the herdsman. In winter-time, when the herd is !quiet,
the. father of the family may not visit it for a: week or more., leaving it to
the care of his young .sons.. The.father uses this time for attending gatherings,
for visits to other camps, gossip, and: good eating, especially. when th.ere are
no snow-storms. The late autumn is therefore considered ..as the season of
happiness and rest, especially as about that time the reindeer are fattest.
Even. in the summer, young boys, remain alone with the herd for several
days, using their utmost efforts, notwithstanding their insufficient strength, to
keep the animals together. Chukchee -tales are-full of incidents. relating the
adventures of young herdsmen. For instance, it is told that during the wars
with the Ta'n1fiit, when the enemy was overpowered, the warriors killed, and
the herds captured, half-grown herdsmen were spared. .They had to drive the
herd to the country of the victors, and remained there taking,care of it. In
other tales, when a warrior is killed, his half-grown sons continue to keep
watch over the herd. "When my. father died," one of the young Chukchee
told me, "I -was no higher than the back of a reindeer. I was afraid of the
large-antlered bucks. Still I succeeded in preserving my herd, and even in
increasing its size."
It is in accord with these conditions that the bearing of the children
before their father is very respectful. When the young herdsmen come home,
they give their father a detailed account of the more important animals in
the herd, about the pasture, the drinking-place,, mosquitoes and. reindeer-flies.
The father puts one question after another, and the son has to give short
and clear answers without talking too much. He repeats often words like
"Yes, yes! surelyl" and other interjections, showing his respect for the words
of his parents. He even feels it improper to sit down in the presence of his
father, especially while other people are present. These relations continue
while the son is not yet full, grown. As soon as the young man has reached
the age of about twenty-five, and his mustache begins to grow, or when he
has a wife. and a couple of children, he feels greater self-assurance and
independence, though. he may continue to watch his father's herd. He begins
to bear himself towards his father, though with deference, without such extreme
submission as in former years.
Among the Maritime Chukchee, boys take up their full duties considerably
later than among the Reindeer people. When taken along. in the boat on a
hunting-expedition, they would be rather an impediment than a help. The
young man does not take part in serious hunting before he is sixteen -or
seventeen years old. Before that time, he may be given a rifle to shoot at
seals from the shore, or he may be expected to lend a hand in setting sealnets on the nearest ice-floe which is firmly attached to the shore. Sea-hunting
is largely in the hands of strong young hunters. The old men who can no
longer competewith hie younger, or who mnay, even remain at home, cannot

55 5

expect such marked deference ;on the part -of the younger people as is customary among the reindeer-breeders.
Quarrels between father and sons occur -every now and then In this
case the family ties may -be broken by either -party. -Thus, on the Dry Anui
expelled from his camp
River, one of my acquaintances, Kelhi'm bylname,
his son KILe'p, a young man of twenty, accusing 1him of laziness, bad temper,
and neglect of his duties as. a herdsman. The young man, according to the
words of his father, wanted to attend- friendly gatherings, to play cards, and
to make merry. The father declared that he himself was entitled to these
privileges, insisting that it was the duty of young men to take- care of the
reindeer-herd. KILe'p left his father's camp, and wandered, around, trying to
find a place in some family as an adopted son-in-law; but the work required
in such positions seemed to be much harder than that required in his father's
house, and at last he returned home. His- father was short of herdsmen, and
the young man was re-admitted- without much difficulty. After a few weeks,
however, misunderstandings began anew. We visited the camp of Kelhi'm
about that time. One night the young man came home from the herd, ripped
up one of our leather bags, and stole half of its contents, chiefly hard-tack
and sugar. The next morning, when my companion discovered the theft and
commented upon the bad manners of the camp, the young man very quietly
observed, "Don't talk so much. I have taken your sugar and bread." "Why did you do so?" I questioned him. "Because I wanted to eat it," was
the unhesitating answer. The father felt ashamed, and offered us two reindeertongues and a bundle of skins of reindeer-leg as a "redemption price" (ki'tkau,
literally, "hard return"). This proves that the father's c-omplaints against his
son were not without reason.
In another camp of the same locality the following happened a few years
ago. A man, 'iei'pu by name, expelled his eldest son,, Nuwa't, who was a
very unsatisfactory herdsman, and made his younger son the principal heir
(e'un-mi'lhIlin 1). The disowned youth wandered from camp to camp, and at
last came to a rich reindeer-breeder, Yo'nli. He married Yo'nli's daughter,
and lived at his house as an adopted son-in-law. The following spring, when
moving to the summer pastures, the father-in-law, who was much displeased
with his work, wanted to drive him away. The young wife was with child,
but among the Chukchee this forms no obstacle to the rupture of a marriage.
The quarrel happened while they were travelling. The young man said nothing;
but after a while he sat down on his wife's sledge, embraced her from behind,
drew his knife, and cut open her abdomen. Then he jumped from the sledge
and cut his own throat.
In both these cases the young men disowned by their families were, as
the Chukchee say, "bad." If the fault lies with the father, a youth who is
I

See P. 35'I

5 56

badly treated. may leave of his own accord, and will se.ek. his luck elsewhere.
In poor fam'ilies such cases are very frequent. Y.oung men 'leave their parents'
homes displeased with the poverty and badluck 'of the'domestic.hearth, and
travel for.' many hucndred miles to see'k positio-ns with well-to-do reindeer-owners.
Even a girl m-ay leave her father's 'house, if the family want to' force a marriage'. entirely against her inclinations. 'Ofcourse, such incidents are rare.,
Still I 'know of two cases of flight- which were carried out with success. Both
took place in sumimer, when pursuit ever long distances is very difficult. In
one case, the girl returned to her former husband, from whom she had been
taken by her family, in accordance with Chukchee custom. In the other case,
the girl married into a new family; and her father,after some quarrelling,
left her with her husband.
Among the Maritime Chukchee, whoever wants to leave his family may
go to another house and become an adopted son-in-law, or he may go away to
the Reindeer people and get a position with the 'owner of a large herd.
Violent quarrels. between father 'and sons may lead even to murder. I
mentioned a case of parricide which happened near Cape Erri in the family
of a rich reindeer-owner, and in. which the wife, the. son, and the-nephew of
the -one killed took part. Old Cossack reports mention similar cases. Thus
the Anadyr Cossack Boris Kusnetzky, who was captured by the Chukchee in
I754, mentions in his report of I763 to Lieut.-Col. Plenisner, chief officer of
Okhotsk, that while in captivity he witnessed a son stab h'is father with a
knife and a brother stab his brother out of mere spite.2
ADOPTION. - A married couple who have no children may adopt some
little child, most frequently a boy, t'he son of some related family, like that
of a brother or a cousin; but the'child' may also belong to an unrelated friend
or simply to a "neighbor in the camp." Such a child becomes in the house
of the adopting parents their "principal heir" (e'un-mi'lhilin). When the neighbor is poor and has many children, and the 'foster father is rich in reindeer,
the child is given away with much pleasure. The' foster father, moreover,
gives to the real father a "joyful present," consisting of a couple of live reindeer, mostly. those suitable for driving. The ceremonial of adoption is similar
to that.of marriage. A reindeer is slaughtered as a sacrifice to the Morning
Dawn; and the adopted child, together with his foster parents, is anointed
with blood. The marks of the new family are used in anointing, which symbolizes that the child joins the new hearth, with its special charms and luck
in life."
Notwithstanding this, with 'a' boy of' foreign descent, the ties of
adoption are not very strong. Even after a stay of several years in .the new
family, he may be sent or taken away. One of my Chukchee acquaintances
from the western Kolyma tundra, Aiina'irgin by name, being' childless, adopted
I

Compare p. 45.

2 Northly Archive (monthly, Russian), I825, Part I8, p. 187.

3 Kinta'-va'Irgin, literally, "Luck-giving Being" (cf. p. 314).

5 57

a small boy of his camp neighbor Ai'o. The boy remained with him three
years. Then Ai'o died. His wife resolved to leave the western tundra and
cross the Kolyma River. She had some kinsmen on the eastern shore with
whom she wanted to live. Leaving the camp of her master, she took her
child back and carried him along with her. Aiiia'irgin, at the time of adopting
the boy, had given to Ai'o a "joyful present" of two well-broken drivingreindeer. Now the woman gave them back. Her chief reason for taking her
child back was that Aiina'irgin had meanwhile lost and squandered away a
large part of his herd, and still continued to go downward, so that the prospects
of life for the adopted child were by no means bright.
When a child has been taken from a brother or a cousin for adoption, the
new tie soon becomes very strong, and alrnost equals the natural tie between
parents and children. Thus, of the people I met, one Qora'wgi adopted the
little son of his younger brother Aqa'wgi, and had him as his own child;
another man, Eiinewgi by name, adopted Aqaca'ut, the son of his secondcousin; etc. Old people who have lost their children, however, do not like
to adopt new children, but prefer to remain alone in their sorrow.
On the other hand, the ties between the adopting parent and an adopted
child of quite foreign origin may sometimes become very strong indeed. The
remarkable tale about Ta'lo, the adopted child of a Ta'nwnin (Ta'lo, Ta'n-nin
rimaifia'wgo), describes how the Ta'n-nIt were pursuing fugitive Chukchee.
From one sledge a boy had fallen, - a very small boy, who still wore a
diaper. He fell into the snow, and lay there weeping. The last of the pursuers
were two brothers. One had children at home; the other had no boys, only
one single daughter. When they reached that place, the wail of the child
was heard by them. "Wait a little," said the childless one, "let me go and
see what voice is wailing in the snow." HIe found the boy. "Oh, oh, a boy!
I had better return home: go on by yourself." He took the boy to his camp.
There he brought him up as his own son. Ta'lo grew up very quickly.
Every day he became larger and stronger. Then the adopting father said
to him, "Oh, my son! I am old and weak. Now try your hand with the
herd. Here is a girl, a stranger girl, whom I have brought up for you.
Take her to wife, and both of you be the masters of the camp." Ta'lo left
the sleeping-room and went to the herd. From that time on he did not come
home. All the time, from morning till evening, he ran about without interruption, exercising with his lance, shooting with his bow, carrying weights.
He became as light and nimble as a two-year-old reindeer-buck, the offspring
of a wild male. At last he was able to jump up into the air like a bird.
Thus lived Ta'lo. One time his supposed cousins said among themselves,
"Let us go and have a look at -the adopted offspring of the hostile tribe."
They came to Ta'lo's herd, and looked stealthily from behind the bushes.
He was still exercising, fencing with his spear as if it were a shred of wet
70-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

5 58

reindeer-skin, springing across the lake and back again, jumping up into the
air like a very bird. Then they said, "It is terrible! This one must be
exterminated. This stranger will want to kill all our people." Unseen by
him, they came to the old man, and said to him, "After two days we shall
come in a large company and slay this Chukchee offspring." They went away
to assemble the people. The time was early in the fall, just after the fall
slaughterings. Ta'lo came home. The father said, "Put on some dry clothes."
"I don't want them," said Ta'lo. "Do you hear me, put on some dry clothes.
Then I will tell you something." Ta'lo entered the inner room, took off his
working-clothes, and put- on a dry fur shirt. He crouches in the tent, before
the entrance of the inner room, covering his naked knees, tightly pressed
together, with his shirt.' The father stands on the opposite side of the hearth.
"Listen !" says the father. " You are . not my own boy: you were born of a
'white-sea woman, 2 and found on the road in a heap of snow." Ta'lo hung
his head, sorrowful. "But this your wife is not a stranger: she is my real
daughter. I gave her to you as a wife, and all my property I also gave to
you. But now the anger of my people is coming upon you. They want to
kill you. The hands of the angry ones are very nimble. Perhaps they will
not hit the heart, will not kill you all at once. Better let me do it." Ta'lo
answered nothing, only hung his head still lower. The old man took his bow,
put two sharp arrows on the string, bent one knee, and shot; but at the very
moment when the string vibrated, Ta'lo deployed like an elastic trap let off
by a trigger, jumped up, and touched with his head the roof of the tent;
then he was back in his former place, and felt behind him with his hand the
wall of the inner room. Two arrows had made in the earth wall two deep
holes on a level with his breast. They entered quite deep into the earth.
Only their points were visible. Ta'lo crouched as before, covering his knees
with his shirt. The father too crouched on the other side of the hearth,
imitating the son. "Oh, oh! you have grown up a very nimble man, to avoid
an arrow so very near to you. Now cease living here among an alien tribe.
Go to your own people. The trail from here leads to midnight. Far ahead
stands a high rock. In the short winter days, when the sun is not visible on
the earth, its top is still red with the sunlight. Beyond that rock, on the
right-hand side, stand the tents of your people." He told his daughter to sew
six pair of boots of thick chamois, six pair of seal-skin, and six of reindeer-leg
skin. For two nights and one day the woman did not sleep, sewing these
boots. She also wept these two nights and one day, till from blindness she
began to prick her fingers with her needle. On the third morning Ta'lo left.
He did not take along either his bow or his spear, only a small girdle-knife
of whalebone.
1 A herdsman come home for rest often takes such a posture after exchanging his wet clothes for dry ones.
woman (cf. p. 12).

2 Chukchee

5 59

On the way ten Ta'n nin warriors fell upon him; but he slew them all,
and took for himself their reindeer and one full set of arms, a suit of armor,
a spear, a bow, and a quiver. When he came to the rock and turned to
the right, he saw a young Chukchee man driving a reindeer-team. This one,
seeing upon the new-comer' the weapons and dress of an alien tribe, turned
and fled. Ta'lo's reindeer were very swift. Very soon he passed the Chukchee
driver, and, wishing to talk with him, barred his way. The other one turned
and fled in another direction. Ta'lo again overtook him and caught hold of
the bridle of the right reindeer with his hand. The Chukchee threw down
the reins. "If I became like a wild reindeer for you, (then slay me!)"' "No, I do not want to slay you. But, tell me, who are you?" - "I am
Omrita'hin's son. We were three brothers, but the middle one was taken
by the Ta'niiit when very young." - "Then I am your brother," said Ta'lo.
"I was brought up by Ta'n'nit. My armor is alien, buit the body under the
armor was borne by a white sea-woman." Then they greeted each other, and
grew to have no fear of each other. "Where are your houses?" asked Ta'lo.
"Here, near by, hidden behind the hill." - "How many tents?" - "Three
tents, my brother's and mine, then that of an old 'neighbor in the camp.'"
"Well, let us go there!" - But I must go first. If you go before me,
they will kill you." - "No, let me go first; otherwise they will say that an
enemy is pursuing you."
"No, let me go! Whoever brings good news
must go on ahead." So they go together, one sledge behind the other. They
drive very fast; and the reindeer of one sledge are all the time close upon
the reindeer of the other. When they began to get near the camp, the people
of the camp exclaimed, "A Ta'n-n-in is pursuing our man!" Men with bows
appeared, and shot a quantity of arrows at Ta'lo. Even the snow-dust flew
upward as in a tempest. When the snow-dust settled down again, they saw
Ta'lo standing a little apart, quite safe, and dusting the snow from his clothes.
Then the brother told them. Ta'lo lived with his kinsmen, but the next year
he arranged a daring invasion into the Ta'n niin land. He slew a great many
people, took fifteen herds and eighty young slaves. One night he came to
his father-in-law. "I want to tell you something," says the old man. "You
take your wife and carry her to your land. As for us, better kill us with a
lance. We are too old to leave our native country and adopt the ways of
an alien tribe." He slew the old people and left them on that very place,
with the tent and all their belongings.
Another part of this interesting tale, also very characteristic, will be given
in one of the next chapters.
In a tale of Yaku'nnin, which describes the struggle of the Chukchee
against the Russian Cossacks, Yaku'nnin's adopted son also figures, who fights
1 This formula expresses the request for voluntary death (compare the latter part of this chapter).

5 6o

faithfully by his father's side, and is then severely wounded or killed. Then
Yaku'nnin is also taken prisoner, put to torture, and killed.'
VOLUNTARY DEATH. - Voluntary death' is still of frequent occurrence
among the Chukchee. It is inflicted by a friend or relative, upon the expressed
wish of the person who desires to die. Though I had no occasion to witness
a case of voluntary death, I know of about twenty cases which happened
among the Chukchee during the time of my travels. One summer, while I
was at Mariinsky Post, a large skin boat from the Telqa'p tundra arrived for
trading-purposes. One of the new-comers, after a visit to the Russian barracks, felt a sudden pain in his stomach. During the night the pain became
acute, the sufferer asked to be killed, and his fellow-travellers complied with
his request.
From what has been related, it will be seen that the voluntary death of
old men is not prompted by any lack of good feeling towards the old men,
but rather by the hard conditions of their life, which make existence almost
unendurable for any one unable to take full care of himself. Accordingly,
not only old people, but also those afflicted by'some illness, often prefer death
to continued suffering; and their number is even greater than that of old
people who die a voluntary death.
The position of an infirm man among the Chukchee is very hard indeed,
be he young or old. On the western Kolyma tundra I met a man less than
thirty years of age, A'niqai by name, who three years before was stricken
with palsy, and, though partly recovered, had become feeble-minded. I saw
him in February. It was cold and windy. The Chukchee of the western
Kolyma tundra have no winter houses, and wander about throughout the year
with their usual travelling-tent and sleeping-room. Thus did also the family
of A'niqai. We visited them at a newly chosen camping-place. The women
had just begun to unload the pack-sledges. The tent could be pitched only
late in the evening. A'niqai lay on the snow', looking very much like a heap
of old clothes. His wife put a clothing-bag under his head; but, the bag
being short and round, his head almost immediately fell to the ground again.
His cap also had fallen off, and the wind began to fill his hair with fine dry
snow. The cold was so severe that even the Chukchee could keep warm
only by continual exercise. A'niqai lay there quite motionless. I caught his
look. Though dull and feeble, it was full of helpless pain, and had something
of that 'of a dying animal.
Another tragic figure of my acquaintance was a woman of forty, who
suffered from lung trouble, and whom I saw on the Dry Anui River when
I had to spend a couple of days in her camp. She- had been very active in
her youth, a good "shaker of the tent," as the Chukchee say. Even at that
time she tried to prove that she was still good for something. She continued
I

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 390.

56I

the hard toil of the Chukchee housewife, which knows almost no interruption'
but her work was not so successful as before. Her tent was full of filth, the
sleeping-room was damp and cold, and she herself was black with grease and
soot. She would move about in the smoke from the fire, which was fed
with the damp fuel of the tundra, rattling the kettles and pans. Then a fit
of violent coughing would seize her; and her figure would emerge from the
smoke, and she would stand on the snow, stamping her feet, and clutching
her chest with her hands. When the fit was over, she would curse her fate
and sufferings, and even her own life; and her face, black with soot, became
still blacker with anger.
The most peculiar cause for voluntary death is the wrath, the lack of
patience, of the Chukchee, which was mentioned by Lotteri as early as 1765.1
Unable to fight against suffering of any kind, physical or mental, the Chukchee
prefers to see it destroyed, together with his own life. Thus Aiinanwa't told
me how some years ago his neighbor in camp, Little-Spoon by name, requested
that he be killed. "He and his wife often quarrelled because they had very
bad sons. From quarrelling with his wife came his desire to be killed. One
day his elder son and his mother picked a quarrel with him. Then he asked
to be killed."'
Other Chukchee of my acquaintance added the following explanation:
"Among our people, when a father is very angry with his lazy and bad son,
he says, 'I do not want to see him any more. Let me go away.' Then he
asks to be killed, and charges the very son who offended him with the execution
of his request. 'Let him give me the mortal blow, let him suffer from the
memory of it.'"
Deep sorrow on account of the loss of some near friend must also be
mentioned as a reason for voluntary death. I have spoken before of a husband who wanted to follow his dead wife.3
Last among the motives of voluntary death, /adium vike should be
mentioned. I have related the case of a man named Ka'tik, who, when
speaking with me, declared that he did not desire to live any longer. He
gave as his reason that fortune did not like him, though his herd and family
were prospering. I did not pay much attention to his words, but a few
months afterwards I heard that he had really had himself strangled.4
Another case of the same character refers to a widow of forty, who lived
with her son and two nephews, being an owner of a considerable herd. She
felt that life held no pleasures for her. She was in fear that her herd might
decrease, and that she would feel ashamed to live. She died by strangulation.
The case was related to me by Aiinanwa't.
It must be borne in mind that all these psychical motives lead as often
Compare p. 44.
Compare p. 551.

2 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 53.
4 Compare p. 47.

56,2

to suicide as to voluntary death. The difference is, that the younger people,
especially those not yet, fully grown, when desiring to die, destroy their life
with their own hands, while those who are older more frequently ask to be
killed. I know some cases of boys and girls who were not yet twenty, and
who killed themselves from spite, shame, or sorrow.' Not one of thein could
have induced his house-mates to be his "assistant" in dying. For the older
people, such assistance is considered more becoming than death by their
own hands.
An additional source for this inclination for voluntary death is the idea
that death by violence is preferable to death by disease or old age. Even
the term which is used for "voluntary death" has some connection with this
idea. It is called vere&tIrrIn ("single fight"). A man who feels a desire to
die a voluntary death sometimes even says, "Let us have a single fight"
(Minmarau'mik), or "Since like a wild reindeer I became for thee" (tie net
im ilve'nu ine'lhii"); and this is understood as a request to be killed. Another
expression is used chiefly in folk-tales: "Since I became for thee like thy
quarry" (b'e'niet-im gi'nniku ine'lhii"), or, more directly, "Like thy quarry treat
me" (Gi'nniku qine'lhii'). These formulas are used by warriors when they are
vanquished by an adversary and do not want to outlive their defeat. The
meaning is, " Give me a mortal stroke, since I have become for you as a
game-animal." The same formula is sometimes used in real life by those
desiring voluntary death. The Chukchee explained the motive to me, saying,
"We do not want to die through ke'let. We want to die a violent death,
to die fighting, as if we were fighting with the Russians." The Russians were
singled out probably for my own benefit. Death by disease, as has been
explained before, is ascribed to the wiles of the ke'let.2 The tendency to
desire voluntary death is more or less hereditary in some Chukchee families,
not so much as a duty, as rather a fate which passes from father to son.
In a detailed description of a case of voluntary death, which I noted down
from the words of natives, it is said, "Since his father died this way, he
wanted to imitate him." The father was stabbed with a knife; but, when
death *did not come immediately, he requested that he be strangled with a
rope, which was done accordingly. The son also was stabbed, but the stroke
was not mortal. So he went still further in i'mitating his father, and also
requested that he might die by strangulation, which was immediately executed.
Aiinanwa't, whose name has been mentioned several times, told me that
his father and elder brother died this way, and that he himself felt an inclination
to end his life in the same manner, though it is by no means obligatory for
a son to follow the example of his father. One of his brothers died a natural
death, and so did not continue the tradition.
That voluntary death is considered praiseworthy, may be seen also from
1 Compare p. 46.

2 Compare p. 298.

the fact, that, in the descriptions of the other world, those who have died
this way are given one of the best dwelling-places. They dwell on the red
blaze of the aurora borealis, and pass their time playing ball with a walrus-skull.'
When a man shows a desire to die a voluntary death, his house-mates
usually show much fear, and often try to dissuade him. This is done in good
earnest, because the duty of killing, and a near relative at that, is considered
something terrible. When the person has no sons and wants to die by stabbing,
there is often some difficulty in having his desire executed. Nobody wants
to deal the mortal blow. In two cases mentioned before, the hand of the
son who had to kill his father was unsteady, and the wound he inflicted was
not immediately mortal. The dispute between the man wishing to die a
voluntary death and his house-mates is well represented in the tale of Ai'ginto.
Ai'ginto said, "Oh! they (the kelet) have stolen my son. How can I
continue to live? I am childless. My son is stolen. Why should I live any
longer? Do something to me (i. e., kill me)!" - "No," said the master of
the camp, "why should I do such a thing to (against) my spleen-companion?" 2
"No, no, do it. Have you any white driving-reindeer?" - I have."- "Have
you white clothes?" - "I have." - "Have you a white cap, white boots,
white mittens, a white rug?" - "I have everything." - "These shall be for
my departure. Then do it."
"No, no, I cannot. Let me give you one
of my own sons. Let each of us have one son." - "I do not want other
men's sons. Where is my own son? Make haste!" - "No, no! Let me
give you both my sons. Let me be childless."
"I do not want them.
Where is my own boy? Here, kill me!" They quarrelled the whole day
long. Ai'ginto reproved the master bitterly, so that the latter had to yield.3
Nevertheless, when the formula is pronounced aloud, no retreat is possible, because the spirits who have listened to the promise would severely
retaliate at any failure to fulfil it. Thus it appears that voluntary death
is at the same time considered as a preventive against death from the wiles
of the ke'let (i. e., against natural death), and also as a sacrifice to the ke'let.
This kind of contradiction is often met with in the ideas of the Chukchee.4
The two ideas refer to quite different aspects of voluntary death.
A man who is contemplating voluntary death thinks that he will free
himself from death by the action of the ke'let, but, when the time of execution
comes, the voluntary death cannot be considered other than a bloody sacrifice
to the same ke'let; and, though it is not considered a direct means of gaining
their good-will, failure to fulfil the promise of the sacrifice brings, according
I

Compare p. 334-

Emiio'l-te'mgin (literally, "spleen-companion") is one who helps to while away time, and thus drive
off the feeling of dulness. This term is used, for instance, by old men and infirm people, who have to keep
to the inner room. It is applied to the guests, tobacco, etc.
3 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 265.
4 Concerning the contradictory ideas of the Chukchee, compare also p. 336.

to the ideas of the Chukchee, severe anger and retaliation on the part of

the spirits.
Three methods of voluntary death are known to the Chukchee, - death
by stabbing with a knife or spear, death by strangulation, and death by
shooting. The last method is used much less frequently than the others.
The bow is never used, only the rifle. It seems, therefore, that this method
has come into use quite recently. The reason for using the rifle is that death
is more sudden and less painful. The people who kill the person desiring to
die are called "assistants" or "followers," like those in the funeral ceremony.'
When death is inflicted by stabbing, the mortal stroke must be given by men.
Women are not allowed to take part in the execution. The knife of the
person being killed has to be used. Then the death-stroke is less painful.
After death the wound has to be sewed up with thread. The knife is carried
to the funeral place and left there. A death stroke dealt by the hand of a
son is not painful, that given by the hand of a complete stranger is extremely
painful. Therefore, when in a strange camp, while on a journey or at a fair,
voluntary death is executed by other means than stabbing. When the person
is stabbed with a spear, his face is usually covered with a piece of skin or
with a shawl. Often he takes his position in the inner room, close to the
entrance. The executioner stands in the outer room, holding his spear forward, and the man who desires to be killed takes the spear-head with both
his hands and points it against- his heart. Then he gives a signal for the
death-stroke. Both in- stabbing with the knife and with the spear, and also
in shooting with the rifle, the blow is given from the front, never from behind.
While only men are allowed to execute the wish of a person who desires to
die a bloody death, women may also assist in killing persons by strangling.
The wife of the man who is to die holds his head on her knees wrapped in
a shawl, while two men pull from both sides at a rope put around his neck.
If the man struggles too much, the woman "smoothes his hands" (i. e., keeps
them down with both her hands), or, if her strength is not sufficient, another
woman aids her. In one or two cases I listened to a description of strangling
from the lips of women who had held the heads of their dying husbands on
their knees. They spoke of it with much composure, and related how the
strangled man kicked with hands and feet, and how they kept him quiet.
After the desire to die is proclaimed aloud, the execution must be done
speedily, - if possible, on the same day or the next one,
for the ke'let
hover about after the promise has been made, and if they have to wait too
long, they may lose patience and take some other person. Previous to his
last hours, the person is treated with fat meat and "alien food," and all his
wishes are fulfilled. The people avoid annoying him; even though he chides
t Compare p. 52I.

them,, they must keep silent. Here it should be remembered that some cases
of voluntary death originate in wrath.'
I will add here two descriptions of voluntary death noted down from
information given by the natives. The first one happened in the year i894,
on the western Kolyma tundra. The second happened on the same tundra
a year later. Both were related to me by Aiinanwa't.
"One ElI'hIkI had taken a great quantity of goods on credit from a merchant of Yakutsk.
Several years passed, and the debt was not fully covered. One spring he left his home and went
to Sredne-Kolymsk from a distant place in the tundra. At the same time all the people passed
over to the other shore of the Omolon River. His brother was Rultu'wgi. They drank brandy
there in the tent of U'nkuul, a Tungus. A hernia, which was an object of constant care with him,
was frost-bitten, and therefore refused to go in. Thus ill-luck visited him. He suffered great pain
and sorrow because he could not put his bowels in place. Therefore he began to speak, requesting
his companion in marriage to give him death. U'nkuul was his companion in marriage. The
neighboring camp was that of his younger brother. ElI'hiki went to the town with them, without a tent
of his own. His wife had very small children, (and could not go with them.) Then he was
afflicted in the manner aforesaid; and, since his father died a voluntary death, he wanted to imitate
his father.
"Oh! why have I not begun with the father first? He was breaking wind badly, and. could
not defecate normally. In his anus was formed a white stone, a soft one, round in form and polished.
They found it in his rectum after his death. That one asked to be killed. The elder son was
assisting him. He seemed sighing his last, but unexpectedly tore out the knife and came to life
again. Since he could not be killed by stabbing, he said, 'Tighten it on me!' So they strangled
him with a rope. When he was dead, they carried him away into the tundra, and, putting his body
on the ground, investigated his rectum. There they found the white stone. Still when alive, he
defecated stone or sand, and who knows what not!
"His son after him came to be in the same position. Therefore, being at the tent of his marriagecompanion, he asked to be killed. They listened to him, and wanted to obey him. In obedience
to him, they put him on a grated sled and took him to his brother's tent. There they executed his
desire. The younger brother was assisting him, but he could not do it in a proper way. His hand
trembled. He himself said, 'There, turn the knife a little more aside;' but his assistant could not
do it. Then he used that very word of his father,* 'Tighten it on me!' Indeed, they strangled him
with a rope and killed him. That was the end."

Another story refers to a desire for voluntary death once expressed and
then revoked. The story is as follows:
"My neighbor in the camp, Little-Spoon by name, also asked to be killed. With many words
he persuaded his house-mates. Before that, he had quarrelled with his wife. They had very bad
sons. His sons and their mother quarrelled with their father. For that reason he was angered.
Therefore he asked to be killed. They had only driving-reindeer, almost no other reindeer. The
other sons slaughtered a woman's driving-reindeer led by the halter (i. e., very well broken), because
he had many more sons. But the oldest son quarrelled with him. Therefore it was necessary to
kill a reindeer-buck for his last meal. We thought he was really asking to be killed. We made
haste and prepared everything necessary. We replaced the broken and mended parts of the sledges
I According to Jochelson (The Koryak, p. 760), the custom of killing old people, until recently, existed
among the Koryak. Franz Boas says of the Central Eskimo, that among them it is considered lawful for a man
to kill his aged parents (Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 6i5).
2 Compare p. 563.

7I-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED.1 VOL. VII.

with new ones, for our people consider a repaired sledge not fit for use in death. If something
broken and repaired breaks again on the trail of the dead, what would he (the dead one) do?
"The dog people live halfway; and when the one who died reaches them, the dead come to
meet him. They know that he is coming, and say, 'He will lose his way.' They are aware of his
helplessness, because there are many paths, all leading to the relatives among the dead. For that
reason the reindeer and the clothes of other people must not be used. The dead people going to
and fro in their own country move windward, and catch the smell, saying, 'These clothes have an
odor of our home.' Then they take them away. Therefore nothing belonging to other men must
be used. Poor men will use only suits of clothes of their own. New clothes, taken from others,
or received as a gift, are put aside. Things very bad, but one's own, are put into use. I must say
the truth, the dead people are very bad people. They would not say, 'Leave him alone!' 1
"Meanwhile, whence do the living people know all about it? To be sure, many of our people
come back from the trail of the dead. Probably they have made known the customs of the country
of the dead. Many dead ones are turned back by the power of incantations. Even I, when I was
rich, received several such incantations from hungry old women, gratifying their stomach with food.
But I am sorry to say that at present I have lost those incantations, being so poor.
"A man going along the trail of the dead may be turned back by a dog. The shaman bites
the left ear of the dog, and says to it, 'Go and bring back thy master. We will feed thee with the
best food.' (He may also be brought back with an incantation.) One with a slight disease may be
turned back where the trail is barred by a dog, which, springing at his face, makes him come back.
One with a serious disease would not yield. When a man coming back from the dead has turned
back, the dog is killed. The Reindeer people keep dogs because they are very strong in bringing
back those dying ones. Is there any other use for them? We have to feed them. I cannot deny,
however, that the dog is good for many other uses. In hunting big game, he has a loud voice,
that is a useful protection against a bear met unexpectedly in the dark. You know it yourself,
everybody has a dog, many of the people have dogs. When we travelled with you, nobody was
without a dog. In connection with this, when a man goes along the trail of the dead, it is useless
to take a reindeer for an incantation. The reindeer is full of fear. It runs from afar and exerts
no influence; it is only visible to eyes. To be sure, it appears (on the trail), but only from afar.
"And when a man is quite dead and has ceased breathing, those who are living do not weep
for him, - those looking (upon the world) members of his family. They do not weep shortly after
he is dead. Weeping is sinful. The one who has a slight disease is rejected by the dead. They
say, 'Why did you come? Go away, go home.' Then he goes away, returns home. It appears in
various ways. One may breathe, but he will lose his wits. In this case he probably has an hallucination. He says, 'I have come back from the dead.'
"Some people eat fly-agaric. Those from the Anadyr bring fly-agaric. Before eating, they say
to it, 'Take me to the dead;' and, indeed, they are taken there. He sinks down, falls into a swoon,
and then he is taken away, - not his body, but only his soul. And some one who has a hid(len
disease may stay there forever. Therefore what has been said about the taking-away of clothes
must have become known through those who eat fly-agaric. Indeed, from three sources it may
become known, - from those who are turned back by dogs, from those sent back by the Merciful
Being because the dead have rejected them (these first two bring tidings), and from those who eat

fly-agaric.

"Little-Spoon, however, unexpectedly stopped his preparations, although before it seemed that
he had made up his mind. We had made all the necessary preparations, and were gathering our
sledges and the other things required; but we were disappointed, for evening came, and we were
still waiting in vain. Finally we could not wait any longer, and stopped our preparations. Evening
came, night came. We were speechless. He had only gorged himself. He had eaten the best and
sweetest morsels. I questioned his sons, and said to them, 'Well, what is he doing?' They replied,
'We will begin after he has eaten.' Then they said, 'He has gone to sleep.' The sledge remained
behind the tent all night, as though in readiness for one really dead. The following morning, when
he awoke, he would not come out of the sleeping-room. He remained there all the time. Among
I

Compare p. 335.

us reindeer-breeders it is a great sin to talk about voluntary death without executing one's intentions:
therefore the next fall three of his sons died. Thus he brought a great misfortune upon himself by
talking about voluntary death. I sent him away, saying, 'Do not stay here. We might become
unlucky; we might lose our reindeer or have other misfortunes.' Therefore we separated. Another
year he died on the western tundra. And I say once more, when somebody speaks about voluntary
death, the Outer Being hears his words. Should he say ever so little about it, he has to buy it off
with heavy ransom. When his house-mates induce him to retract his intented promise, he gives
away whatever is nearest to his heart. He gives it in ransom to the Outer Being, on account of a
single word about voluntary death, saying, 'This is my body, I have spoken foolishly.' He gives
as a sacrifice, on account of his word, something that he values most. This is because many who
are sick ask for death and then recover, or are restrained by words of their friends and do not
go away.
"I myself once spoke thus foolishly. It is not very long ago, when I was old enough to know
better. I must say also, that, for the reindeer-breeder, the wolf and the evil spirit are a pair. One
spring I could not keep my herd together. It was at the end of spring. About that time the earth
begins to free itself from snow, and the reindeer like to scatter in all directions. The reindeerbreeders call this time 'greedy fuss' (6ip6i'fiilet). This time is terrible for all. On account of my
inability (to manage the reindeer), I spoke thus foolishly. When I was younger, I could assuage
my anger by outrunning the reindeer. That time I spoke foolishly because I felt my weakness:
'Here wolves, catch them and eat them!' After a while I gave a ransom for these words, slaughtered some reindeer, and I also slaughtered one of my driving-reindeer that was very dear
to me. It was the first time that I spoke such foolish words."'

Voluntary death occurs also among the Maritime Chukchee and the
Eskimo, and with the same details as among the Reindeer people. I know
of only a few cases, however. Thus, in the village of Eu'nmum, a man
of middle age, who suffered from an abscess in his side, had himself strangled
with a rope.
In the year I898, -in the Eskimo village Uini'sak, an old man was shot
at his own request. He was shot from behind. This is the only case of
voluntary death known to me, where the death-stroke was dealt from behind.
W. H. Dall, quoting a man named Noakum, a native of Plover Bay,
describes the killing of old men in the following manner: "Old and useless
people frequently ask to be put to death. The victim is taken to the place
of the dead, and an oval of stones is built. A large head-stone is placed at
one end, and another large stone at the foot; under these, two poles are laid
with thongs attached. A deer is killed, and the blood allowed to flow on the
head-stone. The victim is then placed on his back. The legs and arms of
course extend over the stone oval, and are tied to the poles, so that motion
is impossible. He is then asked if he is ready for death. If the answer is
affirmative, his nostrils are stopped up with a substance which stupefies him.
If the answer is negative, the deer-meat, which is otherwise eaten, is burned
as a kind of atoning-service." Dall describes part of these doings as an eyewitness. "When we arrived, everything was ready. The women and children
were cutting up the deer-meat, and the blood was on the head-stone. The
I Compare Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 52.

victim, a blind but not decrepit man, was sitting by the head-stone,"' etc.
Further on Dall mentions that the natives were muCh disturbed at the approach
of the Americans, and, fearing interference, refused to go on until the vessels
had left.
I am afraid that Dall's description of these facts is due to some misunderstanding. The Chukchee have no stupefying substance.2 It is quite
difficult to catch and bring a live reindeer to such a place of sacrifice, especially in the summer. As to the killing of the old people over the stone
oval, I at least could get no information about it.
I Dall, I, p. 382.
2 Mr.

Dall supposes, further on, that the stupefying agent may have been prepared from the wild nux

vomica, which grows toi the westward. No such thing is known in these regions. The Chukchee and other
inhabitants, indeed, buy from the Russian merchants ready-made pills, prepared from a species of Strychnus
(in Russian iAm6yxa) and brought from Yakutsk; but these pills are used only for baiting-purposes, wrapped
in meat or fat, against foxes, wolves, etc.

MARRIAGE AMONG THE REINDEER CHUKCHEE. - With the Reindeer Chukchee no man can live a tolerable life without having a separate house of his
own and a woman to take care of it. The sleeping-room of the Chukchee
"genuine house" is exceedingly small, and there is no extra place in it even
for a brother or a near relative. Thus a man living in another man's camp,
and dependent on the herd of the master, must still have a house of his own;
otherwise, when he comes home for a rest, he may be obliged to sleep in
the open just in the worst part of the season, when nobody would be willing
to change places with him. He will also have no one to mend his clothes
and to see that they are dried, because the women of the master's tent will
have plenty to do for their own people. If he is not married, and has a
mother, she will be able to take care of his home; but even a mother's care
is not sufficient. In the depth of winter, when going away with the herd from
the winter quarters, he should take with him a young woman, strong of body,
and light of foot, to take care of his travelling-tent, and also, in the case of
need, to lend a hand with the restive animals. A sister, of course, may do
that, but sisters are apt to go away to other men's houses. Sometimes one
of the master's daughters may go with a young unmarried herdsman of her
father, but a trip like this will lead to marriage. Among the motives for
marriage must also be mentioned the idea of the necessity of continuing the
family line, and of not allowing it to be broken off. This idea is well-expressed
in one tale, where a sister says to her only brother, "Go seek a wife for
yourself; take her and generate children, lest our family life be extinguished
in later years.' Words like these are found in many tales.
Therefore each Reindeer Chukchee, when he feels himself to be "with
full-grown body" (uwi'k-Ipci'tkuk), endeavors to be married and have a home
of his own. A man full-grown and unmarried is despised by the people, and
in reality is looked upon as a good-for-nothing (tuimnie'-lei'vulin), a lounger, a
tramp, idly wandering from camp to camp.- I shall speak of such men further
on; but even among them, many have a wife, and wander about with her,
or leave her for a time in another person's house. Besides this, there are
men who cannot have a wife because of some grave physical defect which
hinders sexual life. Thus, the Chukchee told me that sometimes, when a
mother was neglectful of her infant, and did not change frequently enough
1 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p.

124.

to E. Westermarck, on the authority of Armstrong (Discovery of the North-West Passage,
p. 192), among the Eskimo a person who does not marry is looked upon almost as an unnatural being, or at
any rate is disdained (E. Westermarck, History of Human Marriage, p. 136).
2 According

[569]

the soiled moss and hair on its diaper,' the membrum virile of the infant
would swell abnormally at the end, and the swelling would often remain
throughout life and make all sexual functions impossible. This kind of abnormality is expressed in the Chukchee language by a special verb, totaiino'rkfn
("thou acquirest the swelling on the membrum virile"). A man with such an
abnormality, of course, is incapable of sexual life, and therefore cannot have
a wife and a home of his own. I have not met personally any man with
such a deformity; but, when travelling on the Dry Anui River, I was told
that in the year previous a man so afflicted had died from influenza. He
was quite old, and lived as a herdsman in a camp of a rich reindeer-breeder.
He slept in the house of his master, having neither wife nor home of his own.
Sometimes, when feeling dull, he would take a drum and begin to drum and
sing, "Oh, oh, oh! From the hands of my mother I got a swelling on
my penis.'
A family of women having no man may live in a camp, depending for
their subsistence on the herd of the master. Some old women even live singly
in the camp, having a little house and a few pack-sledges of their own; but
such existence is hard to bear, and is avoided by younger women, who, if
left alone in the world, leave their own house, and seek that of another.
Thus, in an autobiographical narrative by a Chukchee, Tinpu'urgin, published
in my "Chukchee Materials" (p. 60), he tells of a similar circumstance in the
case of his elder sister, as follows:
"Then [after their father had died] Ai'hinto [the master of the camp] said to my sister, 'You
must throw away your tent.' . . . She said, 'Why not? I have neither father nor husband. Then
for whom must I put up the tent, shake and dust the skins? Is it for you?' Then she left in the
open everything that she had, - fire-drills, sledges, and charm-strings. These last she cut up, thus
wholly renouncing them for the future. Also the tent, of her father's make, the covered sledge, the
tent-poles, all pack-sledges, - everything was cut and destroyed."

Thus marriage is the normal state of Reindeer Chukchee life, and is even
the basis of all economical conditions. In this respect the Reindeer Chukchee
differ from all their neighbors. Among the Maritime portion of the tribe
marriage is not so indispensable to life, and the unmarried state is somewhat
more common. Among the Tungus, unmarried men are also more frequently
met, because marriages there are strictly exogamic, and a bride may be taken
only from another clan than that of the bridegroom. Moreover, a considerable
price has to be paid for her.
In most striking contrast to the Reindeer Chukchee in this respect are
all the clans of the Russianized Yukaghir living on the Lower Kolyma River.
These clans are more or less rapidly dying out, some being nearly extinct.
Others still include a few dozen people each. Among these, about one third
1 Compare p. 252.-

57I

of the adult men are unmarried. One reason for this is the heavy burden of
the tribute for "dead souls," which weighs heavily on these weak, half-starving
people. Besides this, however, they seem to feel a dull aversion to marrying
and having a family. "It is more convenient thus," was the answer of every
one of them to all my questions: "the more children, the more care."
Marriages among the Reindeer Chukchee, as will be shown further on,
at every age, from very tender infancy up to the full-grown
concluded
are
adult. Their ideal of a bride includes, in the first place, physical strength
and ability to work. Even in their descriptions of womanly beauty, strength
of body is mentioned before everything else, and all other characteristics are
so combined as to make still more impressive the idea of greath strength.'
Chastity of Women. - Chastity is not considered as in any way an
essential quality of an ideal bride. Indeed, the Chukchee language has no
word to express this idea, not even a special word for "girl." It has only
the word ine'us qat ("woman"); in combination, also -n-ew, -iaw. -fie, -nia.
Ya'nvra-niaw ("separate woman") is used for any woman who, for the time being,
has no husband, whether she be a girl, a widow, or a divorced woman. For
"chastity" only a paraphrase may be used; such as, yep ayaa'khiMn ("not yet
put in use"). This may be due in part to the extreme sensuality which is
characteristic of the Chukchee, both male and female. "Best thing (in the
world)" (ina'n-tam-va'Irgin), every one would tell me with great persuasion
concerning sexual life. The people enjoy ribald tales and lewd gestures.
Many of the nick-names are very obscene.1
In a tale about A'niqalo's wife, when the young bride is brought to the
camp in a covered sledge, the neighbors say, "Let us have a look at this
young woman, Aniqalo's wife's daughter." - No, it is impossible," says the
bridegroom. 'If you look at her, you will die!" They come to the place.
People gather from all sides, - old women with staffs, elderly people, the
middle-aged, young men. The old people say, "Let us have, though, but
one look!" - Nay, if you look at her, you will die." - "No, no! Are we
children? Are we foolish people? Make her appear. Let us have a look
at the female beauty." - "As you like." He told his wife to show from the
covered sledge only one of her hands. When they saw that hand, the old
people and the others, then, from the mere lustful trembling of their loins,
they all died instantly.2 This episode is repeated in many other tales. Some
of the old men complained to me that this extreme sensuality has developed
through the influence of modern times. "The people are spoiled," said these
men. "Our young men have ceased to think about war and strife, and their
whole attention is directed to the bosom of a woman's dress. They cease to
gather together. They avoid each other like wild reindeer; but they catch
the odor of the female as quickly as reindeer-bucks." I do not give much
1 Compare p. 37.

2 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 244.

5 72

credence to such complaints. The tales show plainly enough that in the old
war times the sensuality of this people was just as strong as it is at present.
Still, many of the Chukchee girls are chaste until their marriage; and, in
comparison with the other tribes of this country, the Chukchee are considerably
more decent. Among the Russian and Russianized natives throughout the
whole northeast, from the Lena River to Kamchatka, hardly any girl remains
virgin until her marriage. Most of them begin sexual life with the first traces
of maturity, being but fifteen or sixteen, and sometimes only twelve or thirteen
years old, and quite immature. All kinds of cases of adultery and incest also
occur, even in the families of the clergy, and are participated in by monks
and missionaries. Of this I shall speak later on in more detail. Among the
Russian creoles even new proverbs were created, which have reference to this
sexual promiscuity: for instance, "Married is not sold for slavery" (BtHuaJiacm,
He npoAauIae6); "A woman is not a muffin, you cannot eat her up all alone"
(6a6a He Kaiaaq%, OAIIHH He c%tmh); "A finger in a ring is not a bolt on the
door" (iiaaIew B9
wIOJIt, He 8aMOKl Ha upwI6Tgt); "Whatsoever bull may have
leaped, the calf is our own" (qett 6u 6umw HE ClaKRaJr, a TeJeHHOieRK% Haurb).
The Reindeer Chukchee girls grow mature later than those of the neighboring tribes; 1 and since the Chukchee camps are thinly scattered over the
tundra, many of their girls have no chance to meet friendly young men.
Being shy and proud by nature, a Reindeer Chukchee girl would avoid flirting
with a man wholly unknown to her. She would prefer to become intimately
acquainted with him, and then perhaps have him for a husband.
Still, not a few of the girls have lovers and bear children without being
married. The language has a special term for illegitimate, illegal love, vi'nvitkurkin ("Thou keepest up a clandestine love"), derived from the adverb
vi'n-vE ("clandestinely"). Natural children are kept on the same footing as
others; the more so, as frequent divorces often leave the woman with her
children in the family of her father, and it is rather difficult to distinguish
between these latter and the natural children. The Chukchee say, "When a
child is born, we rejoice over it, no matter whether it is natural or legitimate."
I once met a family on the Dry Anui River, consisting of an old father, a
daughter not very young, and four grown-up sons. The daughter was considerably older than her brothers, and since their mother had been dead quite
a long time, she had taken care of the house for the previous fifteen years.
Moreover, when she was quite young, her father had made her the "principal
heir" to the herd.2 Now, two of the brothers were already married, and each
of them had a child. The girl had borne a son some five years before. This
son was proclaimed the principal heir; and now it was presumed that he would
inherit the oldest of the reindeer ear-marks, with which would go the bulk of
the herd.
l Compare p. 37.

2 Compare p. 359.

SOGORAS, THE CHUKCHEE.

573'a

Violence on Women. - I mentioned before that Chukchee males are
often inclined to violence and rape. Thus, in the tale about Scabby-Shaman,
the young Ri'ntew, when he has become a "mocking shaman,"' begins to act
quite shamelessly. He runs from tent to tent, from one sleeping-room to
another. Wheresoever there is a woman, he violates her. Where a man is
lying quietly, he catches him by the penis, shakes him, and lifts him. When
he comes to a sleeping-room and finds an old man and old woman sleeping
there quietly, he enters and catches the man by the penis, tears away his
breeches, then shoves him here and there, and at last throws him down.
After that he tears away all clothing from the old woman, takes off everything, and copulates with her. Throughout the night he runs about from one
tent to another, acting in this manner. In his great speed he casts away his
breeches and boots. Thus he runs about naked and violates women.2
In another tale about Lucky-Suitor, a young man wants to marry a proud
girl. When she refuses him, he visits her among her herd, catches her, takes
off all her clothes, then tramples her down into the snow and scratches her
whole face with the point of his knife. The next year he is severely punished
for this act by an accepted suitor of the girl.
I have already mentioned, that, since the young men marry early, sexual
relations sometimes begin before full maturity is reached. Not infrequently
very young girls bear children; and,the language contains a special term for
them, as ecva'k-a"La' ("the fawn mother"), which is the same term as that
applied to a fawn bearing young.3 Some female fawns bear young the first
spring after their birth, being hardly a year old.
I mentioned also, that, on the whole, the Chukchee have a notion that
early marriages are injurious to the health of the woman, and tend to diminish
the number of births.4 Therefore it is held to be equally blameworthy to have
intercourse with a girl that is not perfectly mature, or, according to a Chukchee
statement, with one "not having full breasts and the menses."
D. J. Melikoff, in his report, states, quoting from Ei'heli, "the so-called
general chief of the Chukchee," whose name has already been mentioned, and
also from his brother-in-law, Omrtlqo't, that with the Chukchee, violence on
a young girl not perfectly mature is considered to be a serious crime, and
therefore is severely punished by the Council of the Elders. I mentioned in
the list of authorities quoted that this report was in manuscript. W. I. Jochelson,5
in one of his papers, mentions an oral communication from D. I. Melikoff to
the same purpose.
I See p. 431

of this volume.
2 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 207.
3 Compare p. 37.
Veniaminoff mentions that among the Athka Aleuts cohabitation with one's bride or future wife
before the proper time was considered as sinful (Notes on the Islands of Unalashka District, p. 8, Part III in
4 I.

Russian).
5 Notes on

the Population of the Yakutsk Province in Historical and Ethnographical Respects (IHBaff

CTapsiHa, Olden Times Revived, 1895, Part II, p. 35).
72-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

5.74

"According to an [oral] communication by Melikoff, the Chukchee have three categories of
deeds which are considered as criminal and requiring punishment, - (i) theft from one's own
people, (2) violence on virgins whose breasts are not yet full-grown (the elders to be the judges as
to the maturity or immaturity of the breasts of the girl), (3) murder. On all crimes of these kinds
the elders pass judgment, which consists of a fine or of corporal punishment, or, finally, of death.
The execution of the judgment is given to the clan to which the subject of the crime belongs. If,
however, this clan refuses to execute the sentence on one of its members, then the other clan, to
which the object of the crime belongs, shall have complete freedom of action. Then sooner or
later the punishment is administered."

Now, the Chukchee have no such thing as a council of the elders;
neither have they any idea that a trespass against the law, however serious
it may be, must be punished by the people as a whole. The Chukchee law
is wholly regulated by personal action; and there is no punishment as a public
institution, but only private vengeance, ransom, or strife. I shall speak of
this later on.
The words of Ei'heli, perhaps, may be considered only as an attempt to
adapt his information to the ideas of a Russian "big official," which may have
been made still worse through the mediation of ignorant interpreters with
their broken Russo-Chukchee jargon.'
I may mention here that Ei'heli tried to give other information of a
similar kind, and of no better quality. For instance, he told me that in the
earlier times the Chukchee were much incensed in cases of adultery. Thus,
if a married woman were caught with a man, both had their noses cut off by
way of punishment. The husband would say to his wife, "Your beauty is
much prized by this fellow. Now see what will be left of it." This whole
narration has hardly anything to do with the facts of real life. In reality, a
Chukchee man, when having caught his wife with another man, will perhaps
feel angry. Then he will go to the camp of the trespasser, have intercourse
with his wife, and by this means form with him a tie of group-marriage.Y
In respect to particular cases of acts of violence on very young girls, I know
of several instances which were left without any punishment. One happened
on the Dry Anui River in the camp of a Chukchee named Ata'to. Among
his old acquaintances was one Peter Kotelnikoff, a Russian Creole from the
village Sukharnoye on the Lower Kolyma. Kotelnikoff was very poor, and
every spring fed his family on reindeer meat received from his Chukchee
friends. At last, in the spring of I890, when he was in greater need of food
I Compare p. 289.

Asia, the Koryak, and partly the Kamchadal; consider adultery as a serious
trespass. Perhaps the narrative of Ei'heli refers in some degree to the traditions of these tribes. It is known
that among several peoples adultery is punished by cutting off the nose of the woman and of her seducer.
E. Westermarck (History of Human Marriage, p. I22) mentions such a practice as existing among several tribes
of North America, India, etc. Among others, Clark Wissler (Annual Archaeological Report, being the Appendix
to the Report of the Minister of Education, Ontario, I905, p. 173) mentions that with the Blackfoot Indians,
women were punished for adultery by cutting off their noses, so that they might bear the mark of their shame
2 Of the tribes of northeastern

all their lives.

5 75

than usual, Kotelnikoff decided to give his youngest daughter, a girl thirteen
years old, in marriage to Attowa'k, the eldest son of Atato, a big man of
some twenty-five years. He did so, and in exchange for the girl he received
four slaughtered reindeer. The Chukchee are fond of "alien' women, especially
of Russian women, and the marriage was decided upon. It was to be celebrated on the morning after the purchase had been made, according to the
Chukchee ritual, but during the night the bridegroom tried to take his future
rights by force. The girl, who had wept the whole previous day, screamed
and called for help. In the camp were two political exiles, who had come
to buy reindeer-meat for the exiles of the Lower Kolyma. One of them was
aroused by the screams of the girl, and through his energetic intervention she
was rescued from the hands of the Chukchee and taken back to the Kolyma.
The bridegroom threatened vengeance, but nothing further happened. A few
years later the girl was married to a Russian of the Kolyma.
Another case of the kind occurred in my presence in the year I894 in
the camp of Qergu'wgi the Lame, on the river Omolon. Qergu'wgi belonged
to a rich family, that owned several large herds. Though lame in one leg,
he tended his own herd with the help of two herdsmen. Other members of
the family also had poor neighbors in their camp who assisted them in attending
to the herd. One of them, Keute'hin by name, took his daughter to the camp
of Qergu'wgi and left her for a while in the tent of one of Qergu'wgi's neighbors. The girl was about fifteen years old and very pretty, even from the
point of view of the white man. As soon as her -father was away, the lame
master sent for her, and after a short conversation made her, then and there,
his second wife. His first wife was older than he. He had married her when
he was five years old.
A few days afterward I met the father of the girl in another camp. lie
called the lame man all sorts of names, and said that in two days he would
go to settle the account. I returned to the camp of Qergu'wgi to see what
would follow. Keute'hin really came, and immediately afterwards entered the
sleeping-room of the lame man, who did not feel very well and kept to the
sleeping-room all day. I entered behind the angry father; but nothing unusual
happened. "I have come for my daughter!" said Keute'hin, with an angry
look. "Eh, eh!" answered Qergu'wgi, acknowledging the demand. "Let her
make her bundle and go with you." - "I will take that girl with me," repeated
the father in the same irascible tone. "Take a couple of young reindeer with
you." Nothing more was said. Keute'hin took the girl and the reindeer.
A few months afterwards the girl was againi in the camp of Qergu'wgi. This
time the father consented to leave her there.
I know of two or three cases of rape against married women. One of
them led to a quarrel between the offender and the woman's husband. Another only gave cause to much laughter in the neighborhood. In a third case,

5 76

a rich Chukchee by the name of Tatk-Omru'wge was accused by a Tungus
from a neighboring camp of attempting to overpower his wife. The complaint
was brought before the Cossack officer in the Russian settlement of NishneKolymsk. It was late in the spring, and the whole Russian population of the
Kolyma, as well as that of the Tungus and the Yukaghir, Russianized and
non-Russianized, suffered severely from hunger. In such times rich Chukchee
reindeer-breeders place their herds as far away as possible from their hungry
neighbors.
Tatk-Omru'wge was quite stingy, but nevertheless he staid not farther
away than forty miles from Nishne-Kolymsk. Thus it happened that a party
of Cossacks made a raid on his camp, took him prisoner, and carried him to
Nishne-Kolymsk, where he was put in prison. To make the impression of
the imprisonment stronger, the stove was liberally heated for the night, and
covered up so early that the room was filled with the fumes of charcoal.
The next morning the prisoner bought his freedom with a donation of one
hundred reindeer for the poorest creoles, and of twenty reindeer for the Tungus.
The officer registered this as a free gift of the Chukchee, and the quarrel was
considered adjusted.
Of course, this little story has nothing to do with the customs of the
Chukchee, not even with those of the Tungus, but only with the methods of
the hungry Russian creoles in getting food for themselves.
Marriage between Relatives. - The Chukchee have several methods of
securing brides and concluding marriages. One of these is through marriage
between relatives, if possible in the same family, or at least in the same camp,
or in the neighboring camp, where families of the same blood reside. Most
frequent are marriages between cousins.' Marriage between uncle and niece
is considered incestuous, though I know of one case of an uncle living with
his niece in clandestine love, and another one of an uncle married to his niece
according to the customary ritual. He was ridiculed by his neighbors, however, on account of this marriage. Two cases of incestuous intercourse between
father and daughter are also known to me. Marriage or love between brother
and sister are also considered as incestuous. Still, in several tales "from the
time of the first creation" (tot-temga't-ta'gnpep), i. e., dealing with the creation
of the world and of mankind, cases of marriage between brother and sister
are described with more or less detail. Thus, in one tale the first human
couple are said to have, first a son, then a daughter. The children sit near
the entrance of the tent, and grow up. The mother does not nurse them.
They grow up all by themselves. Then the brother marries the sister. They
I. Veniaminoff mentions that among the Aleut the daughter of one's uncle was most frequently elected
for one's bride (Notes on the Islands of Unalashka District, Part III, p. 76). The same practice existed among
the Kamchadal (Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 124), also among the Eskimo at Iglulik and the Ainu (E. Westermarck,
History of Human Marriage, P. 296).

5 77

have children. 'Their son marries his aunt, another daughter of the first couple.
Another son marries another aunt.' Thus they grow in numbers, become a
people, but remain brothers.'
Another tale mentions the country Lu"'ren, which is situated on the
seashore. This country is mentioned in several tales as one of the countries
of the time of the first creation.2 The tale says that the Maritime people living
in that country were exterminated by famine. Only two were left, - a fullgrown girl and her infant brother. She fed him with pounded meat. When
he grew up, she asked him to marry her. "Otherwise we shall remain childless" said the sister. "We shall have no descendants, and the earth will
remain without people. It cannot be peopled otherwise. And who sees us?
Who will say, 'Shame'? Who will know about it in the world? We are all
alone in the world." The brother said, "I do not know. I feel bad. It is
forbidden." Then the sister began to think, "How can I do it? Our line of
descent will break off with us."
Then follows a very vivid and detailed description of how the young
woman goes to a distant place, builds a house, quite different from their own,
prepares everything belonging to it, and how she makes new clothes for herself. Then she returns and tells the brother that she has seen a house somewhere on the shore. The brother goes in search of this house and finds it.
The sister is already there. She has chahged her clothes, the expression of
her face, the tone of her voice, and he takes her for another woman. After
some hesitation, he takes her for his wife. Then begins a life in two houses:
the sister is here and there, and plays with success her double role. Finally,
when she is pregnant, the brother ceases to think of his sister, and they live
at the new place. One child is born, then another. The family multiplies
and becomes a people. From them are born all the people in the camps
and villages.3
Most of the marriages between relatives are concluded at a tender age,
sometimes when the bridegroom and the bride are still infants. The marriage
ritual is performed, and the children grow up, playing together. When a
little older, they tend the herd together. Of course, the ties between them
grow to be very strong, often stronger even than death: when one dies, the
other also dies from grief, or commits suicide.
Similar to these marriages are those between the members of families
friendly to each other, though not connected by ties of blood. Sometimes
such families agree to a marriage between their children even before the
children are born. Thus, when I was on the Dry Anui River, two men of
my acquaintance entered into an agreement of this kind. One had a son
I Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. i6o.
2 A

Chukchee village Lu2'ren exists on the Pacific shore, north from Indian Point.
I74.

3 Compare Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p.

three years old. The wife of the other was with child, and the father was
quite sure that the child would be a daughter. They agreed that this daughter,
when three years old, was to be taken to the family of the boy to grow up
with him.. The marriage ritual was to be performed the first autumn after
the birth of the girl, in the time of the first fall slaughtering.2
More frequently, however, agreements like this are concluded between
friendly families on the basis of the exchange of one -woman for another. Marriage between Persons of Disproportionate Ages. - The age of
women thus exchanged is hardly considered at all. For instance, on the Oloi
River, a man named Qi'miqai married his young son five years old to a girl
of twenty. In exchange he gave his niece, who was twelve years of age, and
she was married to a young man more than twenty years old. The wife of
the boy acted as his nurse, fed him with her own hands, and put him to
sleep. The other husband had to wait, if he so chose, till his wife should be
mature. A grown-up wife who has a boy for her husband may have children
from a marriage-companion, a subject of which I shall speak later.3 When
her own husband is full grown, the wife is sometimes quite withered. They
may live in harmony, notwithstanding the difference of age. In other cases
the young husband takes a second wife and neglects the first, as will be
described later.
I was told of a boy of two, who was still being nursed, and who had
lost his mother. She had died of influenza. Since the family wanted a woman
worker, the infant boy was almost immediately married to a full-grown girl.
In due time the bride bore a child from a marriagecompanion. When she
was nursing her own child, she also nursed her infant husband. Chukchee
boys often are nursed until five or six years old. In this case the husband
also readily took the breast of his wife. When I asked for the reason of
the woman's conduct, the Chukchee replied, "Who knows? Perhaps it is a
kind of incantation to insure the love of the young husband in the future."4
1 The practice of child-betrothal seems to be universal also among the American Eskimo, as mentioned
by Murdoch (Point Barrow Eskimo, p. 4IO). "Lucien M. Turner says, 'Children are often mated at an early
age.' I have known of several instances where two friends, desirous of cementing their ties of fellowship, have
engaged that their children, yet unborn, shall be mated." Nelson mentions that very young boys are mated to
quite small girls (Nelson, p. 291).

See p. 372.

3 The same

practice exists also among the American Eskimo. Murdoch (Point Barrow Eskimo, p. 4II)
mentions, that, in one case he knew of, the bride was a girl of sixteen, and the husband a lad not over thirteen,
who could barely have reached the age of puberty. The girl was living with another and older man.
4 The marriage of full-grown girls to boys occurs among many other people more civilized than the
Chukchee. Among others, I will mention the Great-Russian peasants. Until recent times such marriages were
frequently contracted in Great-Russian villages; but, since the Great-Russians have no group-marriage, the role
of an actual husband would fall to the father-in-law. This is the so-called CHoxaqeCTBsO (from CHOXa, "daughterin-law"). Fathers-in-law acting as husbands are called CeioXa4H. In a well-known old Russian anecdote, it is
told that one time the people of a village ordered a new church bell. All the house-masters came and wanted
to help hoist it to the belfry; but there was some hitch, and all efforts were without avail. Then the Pope
bethought himself and exclaimed, "coxaaqH! hands off", meaning that such hands were too sinful to take

Cases of disproportionate ages of a married couple are by no means
common; for all marriages by exchange constitute only a fraction of all mar-riage!, and cases of disproportionate age occur only in a part of this group.
The terms of an exchange of women between families vary a good deal. The
exchange must not by any means be immediate; but a delay, even of several
years, is admissible. Sometimes, however, too much delay may lead to a
quarrel and change friendship to enmity.
Servzng for a Wife. - The usual method of getting a bride is the socalled inaund-o'urgin (literally, "for wife herdsman being;" i. e., the custom of
serving as a herdsman of the future father-in-law, in payment for the bride).
This institution, as its name indicates, eviderntly originated under the conditions
of nomadic life, and the necessity of having young men care for the reindeerherd. It reminds us of Laban, whose herd Jacob tended for years, first for
Leah, then for Rachel. The term applied to this custom is so firmly established
that it is used also even among the Maritime Chukchee, though they have
no herds, and the bridegroom simply lives in the house of the girl's father
and works for him during a certain period.
Among the Reindeer Chukchee the term has acquired a broader meaning,
and is applied to all marriages in which the young man obtains his bride, not
through his family connections, but exclusively through his own efforts.
Before I take up the discussion of marriages concluded through service,
I must say a few words about those more romantic marriages in which a
young man obtains his bride, not through serving for her, but through braving
dangers and overcoming. enemies and competitors.
Marriages of this kind are v;ery popular in Chukchee tales. Many of
these tales describe with vivid and picturesque detail how a man leaves his
own country and goes to a distant land in search of a bride, and what adventures he encounters. Some tales begin with a description of a single man
who lives quite by himself, and who has never seen any other human being,
particularly a woman. In another country lives a woman who has never seen
a man. Both feel a peculiar desire, which they do not understand. When
they meet, they do not know how to make love. This gives place to ridiculous and obscene details. At last they learn by experience, and become
husband and wife. Other tales describe the adventures of a young man who
secures his bride right in the middle of a hostile camp or village.
In these tales much attention is given to the description of the bride,
which is made in two different ways. In one type of story, the bride is always
part in the holy act; but immediately all the people let go, and the bell fell to the ground. They were all
guilty of this sin. At this time this tale is obsolete. -Some similar cases occur also among the Chukchee, but
the people talk about them not without derision. Thus, when I was travelling on the Wolverene River, I was
told that one Ye'tihiqiii was living with the wife of his minor son Atkai'gau. The people laughed at him, and
gave him a nick-name, inta'irinken ("[of the] daughter-in-law [a] fond [one]"). This is not considered to be
proper, while group-marriages between a woman and men of her age are customary.

described as sitting in the sleeping-room, working with her needle on new
clothes of spotted skins, the best of their kind. No man ever sees her face,
which is said to be so bright and beautiful that whoever looks on it is in
danger of dying from the ulustful trembling of his loins." She walks only on
skins. In the night-time, when she goes out for a walk, the best soft skins
are spread on the ground under her tiny feet. When taken along by the
bridegroom, she cannot travel on foot, because, being of a rich family, she
has been accustomed to drive reindeer, "even when going out to follow the
demands of nature." All this, of course, does not correspond to the details
of Chukchee life, which is so plain, filthy, and democratic.
In some of these tales the bride is described as kept in a big iron box without a lid. The suitor has to find the entrance, or to open the box and free the
prisoner. The parents usually do not want to give away their daughter, and
meet the suitor with much harshness. They invite him to perform many
difficult and perilous tasks, some of which are of shamanistic character, while
others are curiously akin to those really imposed upon Chukchee suitors. One
of the most frequently occurring tasks is the request to bring fuel from the
woods. In the tale of Attihi'tki and his companions, the hero and his cousin
come to the house of a mighty man, whose name is Earth, to ask for his
daughter. Numerous suitors are in the house. They are Sun, Moon, Heaven,
Darkness, World, Sunrise, Sunset. After dinner the master says, "Our fuel
is at an end. Go and get some." But it is difficult to find fuel. The country
is quite barren, except for one large trunk of a tree, as long as a river, which
stands in the middle of the sea. It is in constant motion. Now it is out of
the water, again it sinks down and is submerged. A strong ke'lE is concealed
in the trunk of the tree. As soon as any one approaches with an axe and
wants to chop off wood, the tree shakes him down and thus causes him to
be drowned. Since all the suitors who have been sent are great shamans,
they rise from the waters on the opposite shore, and reach the house, following
the shore of the sea. Still none of them are able to get fuel from the tree.
The hero and his cousin succeed in deluding the watchfulness of the spirit.
They obtain a large quantity of wood, and carry it in triumph to the house
of the bride.'
In other tales the parents conceal from the suitor the dwelling-place of
the bride. They visit her in the night-time. Still he finds the place, enters
in the darkness, and makes the girl his wife. She offers no resistance, and
is glad to have a husband. Then the parents have to give their consent.
Although it is more than probable that most of these details in the Chukchee folk-tales are borrowed from more southern tribes, it is evident that they
were congenial to the character of the Chukchee, so that they became very
popular and were repeated over and over again in many tales. It is curious
I

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 235.

58I

to note that of late years, in the families of rich Maritime merclhants of the
east shore, some faint realization of these ideas has come to life, partly perhaps through the influence of these tales. For instance, three daughters of
Kuva'r, the Eskimo merchant of Indian Point,' had something of the character
of the secluded beauty. They were kept, not in the iron box, but in the
large sleeping-room of their father's house. When talked to by strange men,
they pretended to be shy, and not inclined to conversation. Even the color
of their face grew more delicate and white, as becomes a secluded beauty.
All their time and attention were given to needle-work on soft, spotted skins.
Of those skins they prepared man's clothes of the best quality. Of course
these clothes were sold to American whalers in exchange for sugar, flour, and
cheap brandy, which does not correspond to the description given in tales.
The other type of Chukchee bride, as described in tales, corresponds
more closely to the conditions of Chukchee life. She is strong and proud.
Not either of her parents, but she herself, shows resistance to the suitor.
She has to be sought for and conquered by strength and courage.
In one tale the bride is described as living in a single house with her
old parents. She refuses all suitors. Being very swift of foot, she invites
them to a foot-race, in which they are defeated. Then they are sent home.
At last a young man comes to her house. He drives his spear into the
ground in front of the door, and enters. The girl is not there. Her father
inquires, "Why have you come?" - "I am a suitor."- "We have a daughter;
but she is proud, very light of foot, and she invites her suitors to a foot-race."
Then the old man looks into the face of the young man, and asks him, 'Is
she going to outdo you too?" - "I do not know. Maybe she will." The
girl comes home from the herd. "Oh, oh! whose spear is standing here
before our door?" The mother says, "Do not speak so loud!" - "No, no, let
him beat me in a foot-race!" She enters the tent. Her braids are very long
and heavy. They reach to her ankles and almost sweep the ground. Immediately after her coming, she changes her clothes and puts on breeches and
a racing-dress. The father says, "He is weary and cannot run just now.""No, no! let us race now." They go out and start. The girl is far ahead.
She passes the last hill on their course. She is already on the home stretch.
Both are on the home stretch, but she is still in the lead. When they are
running down a slope, she teases him, saying, "Can you not outrun me at
least here?" - "No, I am too tired!" But his toes are already upon her
heels. He too is light of foot.
When they are descending another slope, he overtakes her and passes
her. Then he speeds forward swifter than an arrow. The long red tassel
hanging on his back stretches back straight as a reed. The two braids of
the girl also stretch back as straight as two arrows. He looks back over his
I See p. 62 of this volume.
73-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

shoulder and runs still faster. His heart grows lighter. When he looks again,
she is left quite far behind. Then he takes his walking-staff by one end and
points it upward like one of the antlers of the reindeer-buck, then turns it in
the air as does the wild reindeer-buck in the season of rutting. The girl bites
her lip, but cannot catch up with him.
Then she enters the sleeping-room, takes off her racing-dress, unties the
boots of the young man, and helps him to take off boots and breeches. She
gives him her own racing-dress. Then she cuts off the long tassel from his
own fur shirt and pins it to her usual woman's dress. She burns the rest of
his clothes in the fire. Then she says to her father, "This night I shall not
go to the herd.' - "All right!" says the father. She cooks some supper
and carries it into the sleeping-room. After supper she prepares their bed in
the corner of the sleeping-room. She spreads some soft skins, lays out the
pillow, and brings a blanket of new skins. Then she helps him to take off
his clothes, and says, "Lie down to sleep." She covers him with the blanket;
then she puts out the light, takes off her own clothes, and slips down under
the blanket.'
In some tales of this type the parents are willing .to accept the suitor,
and even help him to conquer the heart of the stubborn beauty. In other
tales the neighbors, the people living in the same camp or village, are hostile
to the suitor, and try to take his life. Several tales describe the adventures
of the suitor, who comes to an alien camp or village, and is welcomed by
the people who occupy one of the poorest houses. He marries the daughter
of his host. Then the master of the principal house,2 or, in other tales, the
brothers of the bride, who live in the surrounding houses, or the whole population of the village, say, "Let us have some fun with this bridegroom." Then
follows a series of matches and fights, in which the new-comer usually gets
the upper hand. After that he takes his wife and returns to his own country.
In olden times, marriages with people of an alien camp or village may
have been accompanied by adventures and difficulties of this kind.
The practice of meeting a new-comer with some severe test of his courage
and physical strength is often described in Chukchee tales, even without
reference to marriage. It is arranged by the "front-house master," and performed in the "front house." The same practice is described by several
authors as really existing among the American Eskimo. Dr. Franz Boas
(Central Eskimo, p. 609) says, "that if a stranger unknown to the inhabitants of
a settlement arrives on a visit, he is welcomed by the celebration of a great
festival. The stranger approaches slowly, his arms folded, and his head inclined
toward the right side. Then the native strikes him with all his strength on
the right cheek, and in his turn inclines the head, awaiting the stranger's blow.
c.tenx

hpe)

aeil,p 5.2"rn-os
ooa,Cuce
2 'AFront-house master" (cf. the next chapter).
I Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, P. 2 5 1.

5 83

While this is going on, the other men are playing ball and singing. Thus
they continue until one of the combatants is vanquished. The meaning of
this duel, according to the natives themselves, is that the two men, in meeting,
wish to know which of them is the better man. "The similarity of these
ceremonies to those of Greenland is quite striking," adds the author. No less
striking is also the fact that all these details, in the same succession, are found
in several most popular Chukchee tales. The difference is, that the Eskimo
ceremonies are performed in the special ceremonial house, and the corresponding
Chukchee ceremonials in the "front house" of the principal family of the
settlement. I have mentioned elsewhere, however, that in ancient times several
villages made the same use of the front house of the principal family as of
a regular ceremonial house.'
Some marriages of a romantic character happen also at the present time.
Thus, when I was travelling on the Wolverene River, I met a young newlymarried couple. The mother of the bride told me, 'It was a strange marriage
indeed. Two years ago my son passed by their camp, driving his reindeerteam. It was in the beginning of the month of April. The sky was bright,
and his mind was still brighter. His heart was full of gladness; but he had
no tobacco, so he exclaimed in passing, 'Girls, give me a smoke!' One girl
answered, 'No, we will not, unless you take your reindeer from the sledge
and tie them to a tent-pole.' So he detached his reindeer and tied them to
one of the tent-poles. 'Now give me a smoke, girls!' The same girl took
the reindeer out of the harness and drove them into the woods where the
herd of the camp was pasturing. So my son was obliged to stay over night.
The next morning the young man and the girl went to the herd and remained
there for three full days. Who knows," added the old woman, "perhaps all
this happened only to lead them to a little boy '" But the brothers of the
bride, who belonged to a rich family, objected to the bridegroom, who was
poor. So the young pair began a rather strange life, meeting from time to
time and living together, then returning to their respective camps. The
brothers tried to hide the girl in distant camps of their relatives, but the
young man succeeded every time in finding her, and staid with her for a day
or two. The following spring the young couple fled from the camp of the
girl's family, and, in their turn, tried to hide; but, they were found out. Peace
was concluded through the mediation of a Russian merchant, a friend of the
young man's mother. He offered to the brother of the girl two bottles of
brandy. The young man had to pay for this brandy double price, but his
bride was left in his possession.
A young man who wants to obtain a wife by serving for her, first of
all seeks to inform himself whether his suit will be met with favor. Sometimes he asks one of his friends to go, as if by chance, and have a talk with
1 Compare p. 386.

the older people of the family, in order to ascertain whether they have any
plans for the marriage of the girl. The parents answer as little as possible.
Still, if they do not decline quite decidedly, the young man may come and
try his chances.
In other cases, more direct preliminary negotiations are entered into.
The father or the uncle of the bridegroom goes to the houise of the bride to
ask permission for the suit. This preliminary asking is expressed by means
of various derivatives of the verb fnewe'wgirkin (thou askest for a wife").The suitor's representative begins by going to the woods and bringing a large
bundle of fuel. This is one of the most unpleasant household duties. At the
same time, it is never done by guests, but either by poor men or by those
taking part in the cares of the household. Thus the young man's representative shows by his act that he is a suitor, and that he wants to share in the
household duties. Then follows the first talk. The father of the bride
usually shows ill-will and displeasure. He tries to recall to mind every possible
reason for quarrelling and for a refusal of the suit, especially any awkward
acts. For instance, Me'wet, a man from the Dry Anui, told me that before
he was married, his father-in-law hiad bitterly reproached his father, who acted
as suitor, because a few months before, while they were travelling together,
Me'wet had driven faster than he had himself. Since the Chukchee are very
jealous concerning the speed of their reindeer,' it is considered rather forward,
on the part of a young man, to drive faster than those who are older. For
this reason young men, when they begin to think of some young girl, always
endeavor to be respectful to her father.
The "asking for a wife" lasts several days or even weeks. The suitor's
representative works all the time, notwithstanding his age, gathers fuel, and
tends the herd, helping the herdsmen. At the same time he tries to gain the
good-will of his stubborn host. He praises the bridegroom and his whole
family, and does not desist, notwithstanding all the displeasure shown by his
host. At last 'the latter relents, and says, "Well, what can I do! Go home,
it is enough!" or something to the same effect. This is meant as an affirmative answer.2
In modern times, this is in some cases considered as the end of the suit,
and the young man may come and take his bride; but in most cases, even
at present, the young man only acquires the right to come and press his suit
himself. Still more numerous are cases in which the young man himself comes,
and does not ask the mediation of his relatives. Lie also begins with bringing
a load of fuel from the woods. He tries to make his load as large as posCompare p. 264.
sending of representatives of the bridegroom to the parents of the bride finds place also among
the Tlingit (H. 1. Holmsberg, tUber die Volker des Russischen Amerika, p. 314, in Acta Societatis Scientiarum

2 The

Fennicae, Tomus IV, Helsingforsiae, 1856).

sible, in order to show his physical strength and his power of endurance.'
Then begins his trial, which lasts one summer, sometimes two or even three
summers. All this time the suitor leads a very hard life. He rises first in
the morning, and retires last at night. Often he is not even given a place
in the sleeping-room, but stays in the outer tent or in the open air. Most
of his time is spent with the herd. He carries burdens, hauls heavily-loaded
sledges, mends and repairs broken utensils. He has to please the girl's father,
her elder brothers, and other male members of the family. If one of the old
people reproaches him and calls him names, he has to bear it patiently, and
is even expected to agree. When the old people are ill-tempered, - as many
Chukchee are, - they may decline food and shelter to the poor suitor. Then
he has to endure the pangs of hunger and cold while performing his work.
If the girl likes him, she will try to give him some meat; or he may steal
some food and devour it in haste, lest somebody should see it and report
him to the father. Even then, after two or three mnonths of continual toil,
he may be driven away without any apparent reason. "This is no cause of
resentment," I was told by the Chukchee-, "but only a weakling consents to
go. A good strong man remains and works on without food, without place
in the sleeping-room, and even without hope." To desist, and return home
without a bride, is considered a humiliation for a young man. His father
will say, "So you are really bad. If you were good, you would not be sent
away thus."
After the first few months the father of the bride usually somewhat relents,
and the conditions of life of the suitor become less severe. From that time
on, it is not thought becoming to send him away without seriQus reason.
TlIe suitor also begins to insist on his matrimonial rights. Often he acquires
them after several months of struggle. Of course, this depends largely upon
the woman herself. Some fathers, however, keep guard over their daughters.
For instance, in the night-time after the suitor is 'admitted to sleep in the
inner room, the father bids the girl lie down in the corner, and takes his
place by her side, so that she is inaccessible to the suitor. I was also told
of cases where the suitor, in his passion, tries to take the bride,'by force from
the side of her father; or where he attempts to force her after all the people
are fast asleep. This, however, is' not- considered a serious offence.
As soon as the bridegroom becomes the actual husband, his thoughts naturally turn back to his own home and herd, and he plans to take his wife home.
For this reason the girl's father delays the marriage as long as possible, especially when he is rather short of herdsmen and the help of the bridegroom is
I The gathering of fuel is the essential part of the marriage suit among all the tribes of Bering Sea.
Lisiansky (Voyage around the World, II, p. 79) says that among the inhabitants of Kadyak the marriage-rite is
as follows: the bridegroom passes the night with the bride; in the morning he must arise very early and bring
fuel from the woods. This is considered the more important, as in many points of the island it is difficult to
get fuel because the country is quite treeless.

of much value to him. In some tales, "the bridegroom who came from afar,"
usually after having overcome all the obstacles puit in his way, stays for a
long time with his wife's family; and only after several years, when the couple
have children, does he begin to think about returning to his own country.
At this time his father-in-law usually gives him a part of his herd, and assists
in taking him back to his own country. Even now, the Chukchee consider
it proper for the young husband to stay with his father-in-law two or three
years, "as long as his joy in his wife is still fresh." The inconsiderate young
man stays 'with his father-in-law half a year, and then leaves him. He will
stay longer only if the father-in-law has a large herd and there is any likelihood of his succeeding to part of it.
When the son-in-law takes his wife home without quarrelling with her
father, he is usually given some reindeer, the number of which depends partly
upon the quality of work the young man has done while serving for his bride.
The better his service, the larger the reward he receives from his father-in-law.
The woman also will take a few reindeer, which from her childhood on were
marked for her with her own private ear-mark. I was told that a rich reindeerbreeder sometimes gives to his son-in-law the "freedom of one day;" i. e.,
during this one day the young man may catch reindeer from the herd and
put his mark on their ears. All these become his property.
When a rich man wants to marry a girl of a poor family, the time of
service is much shortened, and even dwindles down to nothing. Especially a
second wife is rarely acquired through service in her family; for the man who
has a wife and children, and who is often of middle -age, will find it difficult
to leave his own herd and home, and undertake service for a second wife, a custom suited only to young suitors. If he is rich, he arranges the marriage
with the girl's father in an easier way. According to Chukchee ideas, however, it is improper to pay for a bride "as if she were a reindeer." The
Chukchee always criticise the Tungus and Yakut, who ask and receive pay
for their brides in reindeer, skins, and money. Rich reindeer-breeders arrange
the terms of a marriage with the girl's father in a more decent form. The
suitor gives to the girl's father a. few reindeer, but he does not call them pay
for the bride, bu.t a "joyful gift," meaning the joy it gives him to marry the
young girl; or more frequently he invites the poor family of his new wife to
come to his camp and to live there on his own herd. If they do not want
to live in his camp, because of the possibility of quarrels with the first wife,
they may stay close by, and from time to time receive from him presents of
live or slaughtered reindeer. Still I know of rich men of middle age who
had families, and who served for several months in the families of young
girls whom they wanted to marry, undergoing all the usual hardships of the
bridegroom's life.
Adopted Sons-in-Law. - Much easier than serving a term for a bride

in order to take her from her family, is being received into her family as an
adopted son-in-law. Such a son-in-law is called by the Chukchee va'ta i'tilin
("continuous dweller"). I have already spoken of the poor young men of
Reindeer or Maritime extraction who come to the rich reindeer-breeders and
serve them as assisting herdsmen. The larger part of them marry into the
family of the master and become adopted sons-in-law. Some present themselves as suitors from the very beginning. Others, who have not yet decided
to sacrifice their freedom, begin as herdsmen, and try to become acquainted
with the family and its life before occupying the position of suitors.'
As stated before, the suitor must work very hard, and undergo all kinds
of privations; and, naturally enough, the young men want to look more carefully into the quality of the possible reward. Much depends also on the future
prospects of the girl in question. Some masters have a daughter to dispose
of; others, only a niece, or a poor kinswoman living in their family in the
position of a female servant. Marriage with such a girl does not promise
very bright results.
Be this as it may, the time of trial of the candidate for a son-in-law is
considerably shorter than the serving-time of an, independent suitor. It changes
also in accordance with the individual conditions of the adopting family. If
the family has several grown-up daughters and at the same time is short of
male hands, the poor suitor may be then and there adopted and given matrimonial rights over the girl. Still, after that he has to work hard and be
correct and successful in everything, at least for the first two or three years.
The wife is given to him in order to make his attachment stronger, but the
family does not take on themselves any obligations toward him. Even after
his wife has borne him a child, if he begins to give occasion for displeasure,
he may be sent away without much ado; 2 or, after a whole year spent in
the family, he may suddenly feel displeased himself, and. go away, leaving
behind him his wife and even the child. Only after a stay of several years,
when his work has left its mark on the common herd, and perhaps he has
some reindeer marked with his own ear-mark, does his position become more
stable, and then he receives a voice in the family affairs.
The tales describe with much care and detail the position of the adopted
son-in-law. For instance, in the tale already quoted,' the young new-comer,
adopted as a husband by the bride vanquished in a foot-race, on the next
morning goes to the herd and cares for it all by himself. The young wife,
who cared for it before that time, may stay at home. The young man draws
his father-in-law to the herd on a small sledge, which he drags along over
I The similar practice of adopting a bridegroom into the bride's family exists also among the American
Eskimo. Nelson (p. 291) says, "A young boy may sometimes choose a family containing a girl, in which he
would like to live. In this case, he goes to the people whom he had adopted, and transfers the duty of every
kind to his adopted father."
2 Compare p. 556.
3 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 25I; see also p. 58I of this volume.

the mossy ground; but the old man is too light for him, so he cuts off the
stump of a tree with many thick roots, and fastens it to the sledge to make
it heavier. The next year another man of the neighboring camp, who offended
the girl and scratched her face with the point of his knife,' arranges a footrace. In that foot-race the young husband invites the offender to a wrestlingmatch, throws him down to the ground, and then with his knife cuts his
eyelids, nostrils, lips, and ears into thin strips. Then he goes off to sea and
provides for the family a plentiful supply of sea-meat and blubber. One whole
carcass of a big walrus he brings on his back. During the skinning, the
father says, "Oh! my daughter is lucky indeed: she has refused so many
suitors, and has now found the best of all."
The Ravishing of Women. - The ravishing of women was frequent in
older, more warlike times. In the tales, however, the ravishing is almost
always performed by men of other tribes, by Ta'nin-it,2 by spirits, also by an
eagle, a whale, a raven, etc.
One of the tales, that about Ele'ndi and his sons, gives a very characteristic description of the ravishing of women.

"(There were) five brothers and two sisters. When the girls were taking water, their ear-ornaments
jingled, also the numerous bracelets of metal on their arms from the wrist to the elbow. They
lingered, taking water, and began to laugh among themselves. Their braided hair hung down on
both sides. Two young men approached stealthily along the river-bank. They caught them both:
each man caught one girl. 'Go with us!' they exclaimed. The girls refused. The ravishers
brandished their spears over the girls' heads. Then they were afraid and followed them. One of
the Ta'nnfiin ravishers said, 'We will take this road; but mind you do not try to escape!' The
girls could not walk, because, being of a rich family, they were not accustomed to go afoot. They
sat down on the ground, and the men with them.
"Every one is asleep. The sisters, however, can neither sleep nor walk. Their feet are sore;
they yearn for their home. The men. sleep on. Not far ahead, there is visible, under a cliff, a
large snow-drift, old and hard, hardened by summer wind. One sister says to the other, 'Let us
flee to that snow, and let us try to burrow in it. They can go home by themselves; otherwise
they will kill us; we aie unable to walk any longer.'
"The older sister took the knife from one of the sleeping men. They went to the snow, cut
it through with the knife, and dug the ground under it, making a hole like a fox's burrow. The
elder sister made the younger go in, then covered her with earth and snow, and effaced all traces
of her work, as if the snow were quite intact. While working thus, she said, 'I will go with them.
You at least, shall return home. While they are here, you must remain quietly in hiding; but
when the sun is quite high, and we go away, all three of us, then you may come out and return
home. The younger of the brothers wants very strongly to have me for his wife. Let him take
me, but you go home.' She went back to the men, put the knife in its old place; then, lying
down, she simulated sleep. When the spring sun began to descend, one of the men awoke, then
another. 'Oh, dear! where is the other girl? She has fled, and we did not notice it.' The other
girl continues to feign sleep. They try to wake her, but still she sleeps. At last she awakens too.
'Where is the other? Ah! but she was lying here close by! What have you done with her? Yon
have slept side by side!' - 'Oh, but you are men! Why have you not had a look for her? I
was so tired, I could not even walk. But why have you slept so soundly?' The men were silent.
Then one said, 'Well, let her go where she likes. We will take this one. She is at least in our
hands.' - 'Not yet,' says the other brother. 'Let us look in yonder snow.' The girl's heart
iS.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Compare
I
22 Compare p. I 8.
Compare
735 573.
p.p.
Compare

p.

trembled. 'Oh!' she said to herself, 'they will kill her.' - 'Let us go and look at that snow!'
They approached the snow. In the mean time the warm wind had caused the snow to thaw. Deep
holes are seen in the snow-drift. 'What holes are these?' says one. He thrusts his spear through
almost wounding the girl. She is there, but wriggles like
the snow, -one, two, three times,
a fish, and escapes being wounded. He thrusts again; then at last he wounds her upon the buttocks. She bites her lip and almost burrows into the ground, like a wounded female fox. Her
companion sits near by and weeps noiselessly. 'Ah, ah! why are you weeping?' - 'I do not
know.' - 'Nay, she must be near by. Why is this one weeping?' - 'You lie,' the girl says,
'unless you have put her there yourself. With what could we have made a hole like this in the
snow? With our nails? Have you seen any knives in our hands?' - 'Then why are you weeping
thus?' - 'Nay, I feel much sorrow in going to your people. Therefore I am weeping. To be
among you, a speechless stranger, is very hard for me. I see the men of your people for the first
time only. And also yesterday I could hardly walk for fatigue, but you drove me on. At the
memory of that I am weeping. And, furthermore; I hoped at least to be with my sister, and to
look on the -face of my companion. Now I am quite alone. At the thought of that I am weeping.'
The other girl was listening from her place of refuge. The men spoke among themselves. 'It is
perhaps true. She is not here. We have thrust our spears through all this snow. Probably she
has fled home. Let us go! It is useless to stay here any longer.' They went away and left the
fugitive. The other one says, 'Now I will not walk in front, I will walk comfortably behind you.'
"When the sun was setting, the one concealed could not wait any longer. She said, 'They
have probably gone.' She crept out of the snow and went home. Two nights she had slept in
the open, lame and broken, all covered with blood. When she reached home, the youngest of the
brothers was not there. He was running about in the neighborhood, looking for the girls. The
other brothers began to kiss her. Where is your sister?' She says nothing, nor does she show
her wound. The youngest brother came home. He caught her in his arms, hugged her many
times, and could not have enough. 'Where is your companion?' Then she told him, 'They have
ravished her.' The older sister, on parting, told the younger one, 'He who loves me most of all
will follow me.' The youngest brother cannot sleep. 'Where is my other sister?' The wounded
girl says to herself, 'About the wound I will tell him to-morrow. I do not want to 'deprive him
of his quiet just now. Let him have some sleep just this one night.'
"The youngest brother is strong and swift of foot. In the morning she said to him, 'I am
ashamed to tell it, but I cannot walk.' - 'Why are you ashamed ? Have I given you any
reason to be afraid of me? Or do you say to yourself, "If I tell him, he will not listen to me"?
Why are you ashamed?' Then she showed him the wound, the hole in her clothes. 'See that!'
says the girl. The young man gasped. 'Oh! why have they wounded a woman? If they had
wounded a man, it would be easier to bear. It is shameful to wound women.' Then he says to
his companions, 'Now let us go and follow their road.' The others said, 'Not yet. We are not
ready!' - 'Oh! let us go! I cannot wait. It is too bad. Since seeing my sister's wound, I
cannot stay here. I am a man. Then let me go.' The others said, 'We will sleep here this one
night.' The youngest brother cannot sleep. He walks to and fro. Early in the morning he says
to his brothers, 'Come, let us make haste. I call you to a war with the alien people. Great
anger came into my heart. With your help I shall be strong."'

Then follows a description of a raid of the five brothers on the camp of
the ravishers. They kill every one, take the herd and their sister, and return
to their home.'
As mentioned before, this tale describes the ravishing of Chukchee girls
by men of an alien tribe. Besides this, according to.the tradition, the ravishing of women was practised also within the Chukchee tribe, and not longer
ago than forty or fifty years. There exists a special term for the ravishing
of women, naungintewe'erkin ("thou ravishest a woman").
I Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, P. 339.

7 4-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., Vol.. VIi.

In the olden times, as I was told, a coinpany of young men would seize
a young girl in the open, bind her hands and feet, and carry her to the
house of one who wanted to have her for a -wife. Not only the men of alien
families, but even the relatives and the cousins, acted so, after having been
refused by the father of the girl. The assault and the ravishing, however,
were not considered as a reason for implacable hatred and feuds. The parents
would come. afterward and ask for ransom, which was paid, not in reindeer,
but one woman for another.
If the parents gave pursuit on the fresh track, the ravisher would make
haste, first of all, to perform the marriage ritual with the ravished girl, anointing
her, if not with the blood of sacrifice, at least with some soot and coal-powder
from the family hearth. At the same time he would bid one of the women
of his family get ready to go away as ransom. In this way, bloodshed might
have been avoided, even after the meeting of both hostile parties.
Even at present a case of ravishment may happen now and then. Thus,
I was told that on the western Kolyma tundra one E'ttihin, a rich reindeerbreeder and a "chief of the clan" chosen by the Russians, when desiring to
have a second wife, ravished her by force from the camp of her father,
Ki'milhin. In doing this, the ravisher and his two brothers gave the old man
a sound thrashing; and, since the girl scratched like a cat, they swaddled her
in a tent-cover and firmly tied it with rope. I was in the camp of E'ttihin
some five years after the incident, when everything was mended and smoothed
over. The ravished beauty -already had two children, and lived by herself
with the other herd of her husband, and the offended father lived with her.
E'ttihin even tried to deny the circumstances of his second marriage; and
nobody wanted to contradict him, at least in his presence.
Marriage by Fight. - More frequent than the ravislhing of women,
in modern times, is marriage by flight.
I should mention that the element of constraint on the part of the parents
as to the choice of the bridegroom exists among the Chukchee, as almost
everywhere. It even happens, and is in accord with the national character,
that the bride prefers to take her own life rather than be married against her
will. At the same time there are cases of love-marriages contrary to the will
of the parents.
Those cases of which I know, however, happened in weak, disintegrated
families. A strong family would resent an outrage like this, and strive to
take the woman back, unless paid ransom in the same specie. Thus to
my knowledge, in the country on the Dry Anui River, one girl left her camp
and family, and fled to a travelling-camp of one of the Maritime traders.
The man was already in middle life and had two other wives; but he was
strong, healthy, and daring, the actual type of a travelling Chukchee adventurer. The girl had no father, only a brother (though full-grown, somewhat

5 9I

younger than herself) and an aunt. The seducer went away in such haste,
that the brother, even if he intended to take up the quarrel, could not have
done anything.
Another case happened almost in my own presence. I was on my way
from the Russian villages on the Lower Kolyma into the heart of the tundra,
together with some Chukchee fellow-travellers. They had made a visit to
the Russian settlements for trading-purposes, and were now returning to their
camps. Among them was one fRfro'n, a young man of violent and disorderly
temper. His name has been mentioned before." Instead of trading, he lost
everything in card-playing, among other things some fawn-skins sent with him
for sale by his neighbors in camp. Even one of his reindeer went the same
way, and now he drove a single reindeer. He was a good walker, however,
and during most of the time ran in front of our train as fleet and active as
any reindeer-buck. One evening, when we were approaching his camp, we
were told that the sister of 1Mro'n, who usually staid at home, had left the
house and gone to one Me'wet, a man with whom 1fro'n had had a quarrel.
The young woman had already been twice divorced, and the quarrel between
her brother and Me'wet, as far as I know, was on her account. Receiving
this information, Mfro'n became so angered that he took his spear and a long
girdle-knife and started that very night for the camp of Me'wet. His sledge
and reindeer he left behind, and went on afoot, eager for vengeance. Nothing
very terrible, however, happened. 1l'ro'n was quite poor, and Me'wet had a
good-sized herd; and the next year, when I met Nflro'n again in a Russian
village on the Kolyma, he was gambling as usual, and part of the stake
were the fawn-skins, sent for sale by Me'wet, his new brother-in-law.
Mixed Marriages.
The Reindeer Chukchee, at least at the present
time, are fond of marrying women of other tribes. "We want to know their
taste," the aforementioned E'ttihin told me rather cynically; "we are connoisseurs." On the Koryak frontier, both Reindeer tribes - the Chukchee and the
Koryak - easily mix together in marriage; the more so, as life and language
are very much alike. Therefore some groups of families are 'of quite mixed
blood, and cannot even tell to what tribe they really belong. The distinction
is the more difficult, as the Reindeer Chukchee and the Reindeer Koryak
call themselves in a similar way (:au'cu, and call each other Ta'n nitan.2 Mixed
marriages between the Chukchee and Reindeer Chuvantzy also take place
freely. Mixed marriages between the Reindeer Chukchee and the Maritime
Chukchee and Eskimo, as stated before, happen quite frequently. I know a
couple of dozen cases of marriage between the Chukbhee and the Tungus or
Lamut. This comes about in two ways. According to the first method, a
rich Chukchee marries a young Tungus girl, paying her price in live reindeer,
according to Tungus custom. The ne\0y-married couple, for the most part,
1 Compare p. 45.
2 Compare p. II.

adopt the dress and the mode of life of the Chukchee, which are verv different from Tungtus life. Only a few of these Tungus women hold to their
former customs, and then the life of the family presents a double character.
In the winter-time they live in a Chukchee "genuine house," drive reindeer in
Chukchee harness, etc. In summer they live in a Tungus tent, ride Tungus
reindeer, hunt wild reindeer and mountain-sheep. With a Tungus wife comes
her family, hungry and careless, often the whole clan; and they expect to
receive help from their new kinsman. So even a very rich Chukchee, after
a few years of Tungus marriage, usually becomes poorer, and then quite poor.
To refuse a Tungus kinsfolk a reindeer for slaughter is almost impossible,
because the people of that tribe often stay on the verge of starvation, and
the Chukchee brother-in-law has to relieve them, even almost against his will.
In the second category of such mixed marriages are the Tungus men
who marry Chukchee women. A young Tungus man who is tired of the
hungry life of a polar hunter mnay come to a Chukchee camp and be admitted, at first as an assistant herdsman, then as an adopted son-in-law. A
well-to-do Chukchee family, when short of male workers, will not ask about
the tribe of the new-comer, but desires only watchfulness and activity in taking
care of the herd. I know a Tungus family on the Dry Anui River that
consists of five full-grown brothers. All of them married into a Chukchee
family; and now each has a large herd, received with the wife. Of course,
such Tungus adopted by the Chukchee lead the usual Chukchee life, and
their children rarely speak their father's language. Among all tribes the household life is regulated mostly by a woman; and a Chukchee woman is quite
unable to abandon her national dress and her mode of living, and adopt those
of alien origin. Therefore I know of hardly a single case where a Chukchee
woman has married into a Tungus family in order to live the Tfungus life.
What has been said concerning the Tungus may also be said of Chukchee
marriages with the Yukaghir of the West Kolyma tundra, who are still poorer
than the Tungus, and who are only too glad to be adopted into a Chukchee
reindeer-breeding family.
As to marriages between the Chukchee and Russian creoles or Russianized natives, I know of about twenty cases, half of which belong to the
past, and half to the present.
I visited, one after another, all the mixed Chukchee-Russian couples in
various parts of the Chukchee territory; and in almost all cases I found that
Russian or Russianized women were married to Chukchee men. All these
women belonged to very poor families,,and marriage with a reindeer-breeder
was the only means of warding off severe hunger, at least for the time being.
Some of these women were paid for with twenty or thirty slaughtered reindeer, others with only two or three. Usually the families to which they had
belonged lived on the frontier of the Chukchee territory, and were in constant

intercourse with the people of that tribe. It should not be forgotten that the
easy ways of the Russian creoles of the Kolyma in love affairs make Russian
girls quite accessible to the young Chukchee men through some small present,
or even without it.
Still, the difference between the life of Russian fishermen living in warm
block-houses within the forest border, and that of the Chukchee reindeerbreeders living on the treeless tundra in cold and open tents, is very great.
So in the winter-time the Russian women, clad in the shaggy clothes of the
Chukchee woman's dress, are helpless enough to look upon; nor are they
very good workers and housewives, in the Chukchee sense of the word; not
one of them is capable of beating the hoary cover of the sleeping-room with
sufficient force and perseverance. The work of a Russian woman in the
Kolyma country is incomparably easier than that of the wife of a Chukchee.
Russian relatives and neighbors make fun of women given to savages, because such marriages are considered humiliating. Perhaps to keep off jeers,
all these women enter with great energy upon their new life, and talk with
some disdain of their former life on the river. I remember one whom I
visited in mid-winter. It was bitter cold; and since she had been staying in
the open since early morning, and was clad in the strange loose combinationsuit of Chukchee cut, with half-bare neck and shoulders, her face was blue,
and her fingers stiff, and she was able to keep some warmth in her body
only by constant movement and work. Still she praised that life. "There
on the river the people are hungry," she explained, "but our food walks
around us on its four legs." Nevertheless these women have confessed that
the first months of their life on the tundra were very hard. "One knows
neither the language nor the ways of life. One feels a yearning to go back
to the river, and weeps all the time. Then comes an old 'knowing woman'
and performs an incantation, which takes away the sorrow and makes one
more adapted to the new life."
The Russian women on the river said about this, that the Chukchee
witches, with their incantations, take out of the woman the Russian soul and
put in its place a Chukchee soul. Therefore these women ever afterwards
love life in the open. I must mention that I know of hardly one case where
a woman like that would return from the savage tundra to the civilized "river."
Indeed, one of the women told me that after the death of her first Chukchee
husband, she came back to her native village, having with her a small son
of three years. But we could not live there for too long' a time," she said,
on account of the stifled air of the block-house. We got violent headaches.
Food was scarce, only dried fish; but the boy was not accustomed to it, and
asked for reindeer-meat. At last, after staying three months in the village,
I married another Chukclhee, and went with him to the tundra again."
Most of the marriages between the Chukchee and the Russians remain

without issue. To understand that properly, one should remember (i) that
the Russian and Russianized women of the Lower Kolyma, especially the
latter, are of but slight fertility; (2) that even in the veins of the so-called
Russian, blood really Russian and Caucasian is very scarce. The sterility of
these mixed marriages has direct connection with the exhaustion of vital force
among the Russianized natives of the whole Kolyma region.
I should mention also that a Russian wife and the hungry family of her
father are a continual drain on the herd of her Chukchee husband, just as
much as in the case of the Tungus. I mentioned above that the Reindeer
Chukchee, notwithstanding all their harshness, have a kind of rough compassion for the people of alien tribes who are tormented by hunger under their
eyes.' A Chukchee reindeer-breeder, when he feels that such hungry neighbors are too much for him, changes his place of abode, and goes a score of
miles farther off. Thus of late years the Chukchee camps have gradually
removed to a distance of some fifty miles from the neatest Russian village,
in order to limit the coming of hungry river-men with their still more hungry
dogs. But it is very hard to go away from one's own father-in-law. This
causes the Chukchee husbands of Russian wives gradually to descend from
abundance to poverty.
There are one or two cases of Russian boys who have grown up in the
tundra and married among the Chukchee. They live the Chukchee life, do
not know anything about Russian ways, and do not even speak the Russian
language. One or two Chukchee girls have grown up on the river, married
there, and become Russianized.
I should also mention that many Russianized families of the Lower
Kolyma form actual combinations of group-marriages with Chukchee families;
or, properly speaking, the Chukchee consider it as a group-marriage, and the
Russians rather as a kind of prostitution. The Chukchee set great value on
these relations, because they consider the Russians, notwithstanding all their
hunger and need, as belonging to a higher civilization; and the Russians
strive to get out of these relatives some reindeer-meat free of cost, also some
cheap reindeer-skins and costly peltries of the tundra. So, in several Russian
families, even of clerks, merchants, and clergymen, there are children reputed
to be of Chukchee blood. Thus the two eldest children of the church-beadle
(AbwIeKM) of Nishne-Kolymsk, a son and a daughter, are called by the neighbors "Chukchee offspring.' I asked the mother about the origin of this name.
"Of course, they are Chukchee," answered the worthy matron, "paid for with
many reindeer. In those years I fed the whole hungry neighborhood." And
this was true, because on the Lower Kolyma, in times of hunger, every piece
of food is divided among all.
In contrast to all this, I do not know of any case of marriage between
Compare p. 47.

the Chukchee and the Yakut. The Yakut, no less than the Russians, would
consider such a marriage as humiliating; but the Yakut are much stronger
than the Russians psychically and economically, nor do they suffer so much
from hunger as the Russian creoles or the Tungus. Moreover, they have
horses of their own, horned cattle, and even reindeer, and Chukchee reindeer
are not so attractive to them.
The Marriage-Rite. - The most important part of the marriage-rite of
the Reindeer Chukchee is the anointment of the bride and groomn with the
blood of the sacrificial animal. This occurs either at the house of the groom,
or, if the latter is to become an adopted son-in-law, at the house of the
bride. The ceremony is relatively simple: the groom goes to his father-in-law
to fetch his bride, and brings her to his settlement. The bride, who drives
her own reindeer, is at times accompanied by her nearest relatives.
The party arrives at the settlement of the groom, where the reindeer
The small pole-sledge on which the poles of the tent are
unharnessed.
are
carried is put behind the tent, on the spot where sacrifices are usually made;
while the travelling-sledges of the bride and groom stand on both sides at
some distance. Then the sacrificial reindeer is killed for the anointment.
Other sacrifices, bloody and bloodless, are made to the dawn and the zenith.
Fire-drills and charm-strings are placed on the sledges. Then the couple is
anointed with the blood of the reindeer, one or two members of the groom's
family generally also undergoing the ceremony, in order that the bride may
not feel lonesome. Then the groom and the bride paint on their faces the
family mark of the groom. Thus the woman renounces the sacrificial anointment of her family, as well as her hearth and kin, and binds herself to another
hearth and another kin. Further, the woman anoints the sledges with blood,
and "feeds" the holy objects of the household with reindeer-marrow. She
approaches the hearth, sprinkles it with sacrificial blood, takes a pinch of
ashes and rubS it between her palms. Then she addresses the hearth, saying,

"Nime'leu qatva'rkin!" ("Be well!")
In a few days, sometimes in two or three weeks, a second marriage-rite
takes place (alaranto'urgin, "a journey out of loneliness").
The married couple, accompanied by a few relatives, start out to visit
the camp of the bride's father. "We think," remarked a Chukchee to me,
"that she may get homesick for her old hearth; let her visit it, and see it
again."' The reindeer which the bride used on her first journey to the groom's
house are not used on this second journey. The bride drives the reindeer of
her husband, and takes with her a number of driving-reindeer as a present
to her parents. This gift is called ri'nkur; but the Chukchee insist that it is
a present, and not a ransom, for it is paid after the conclusion of the marriage
ceremony. The number of reindeer to be presented is not fixed. If the
groom's family is poor, he gives only one team, that is, two reindeer; but it

is customary to present two, and even three teams. Among these reindeer
may be calves; but they must be tame, fit for harness, in a word, "lustful
calves" (gi'Li-qai'ut), - that is, lustful for urine. The domestication of reindeer among the Chukchee is notoriously based on the reindeer's fondness for
urine.' Besides reindeer, the bride and groom take with them meat-puddings,
a favorite delicacy of the Chukchee.2 The number of these puddings varies
generally according to the number of the reindeer, although two and three
times that number are sometimes taken. According to Chukchee ideas of
the family and family-group, the groom has to be assisted by his nearest
kinstihen; but this assistance is left to their individual free-will. Generally,
however, one or two of the blood relatives in the male line (kirine'-tu'mgit,
"male-buck companions"), or of relatives by marriage (taka'lhit, "husbands of
wife-sisters"'3) contribute each a reindeer or two. To receive assistance from
more than two men is not customary. The other reindeer are given by the
groom himself. With the reindeer, the relatives send an equal number of
puddings, and sometimes two and three times the number. These puddings
have a symbolic significance. If a relative, for instance, intends to contribute
a reindeer or two, but at the time is not able to do it, he sends only the
puddings, thereby assuming the obligation to furnish the reindeer to the bride's
father. Thus, instead of reindeer, puddings alone are sometimes sent to the
bride's home. Along with the puddings, other delicacies of the Chukchee
bill of fare are brought down: such as marrow, extracted from the tubular bones
of the leg, and frozen, of which up to ten pounds is sometimes brought; reindeer-brains, also frozen; tongues; fat morsels of meat. On their arrival at
the bride's camp, the bride and groom are again anointed, the bride's family
mark is painted on their faces, and the bride makes a sacrifice to the hearth
of her home. A feast follows, at which all the provisions brought for the
occasion are consumed. On the following day the couple return home, where
the rite of anointment is once more repeated, and the husband's family mark
is painted on their faces. Having thus taken leave of her family hearth
and its marks of anointing, the bride finally links herself to her new hearth,
and becomes a member of a new family.
Marriage-Ruplures. - Notwithstanding the accompanying sacrifice, Chukchee marriages are not at all permanent. On the contrary, the anointment
with blood, and other rites, are obviously intended to strengthen marriage-ties,
but fail to attain that end. These rites foreshadow the religious sanction of
marriage, which in other cultures develops so powerfully. Among the Chukchee the marriage-tie is broken very easily, and for a variety of reasons,
advanced by either the wife's or the husband's family. If the father or
mother of the groom is not satisfied with the bride, they have the right to
send her back to her home. Even in cases where the groom has worked
t Compare p. 85.

2 Compare p. i9.

3 Compare p. 540.

for his bride during several months, his parents send the bride back if they
do not care for her. I knew a family on the Dry Anui River, in which the
eldest son had changed wives ten times in the course of three years. For
one of them he had served three months, and for another four. Others came
to him from friendly families attracted by the large herd of the groom's
father. In such cases, however, the rupture always occurred shortly after
marriage. If a couple has lived together for a year or a year and a half,
it is no longer regarded as proper for the groom's family to send the bride back.
E. Westermarck, quoting from W. Hooper, mentions that among the
Chukchee (Tuski), repudiated wives, with their children, are to a certain extent
supported by their former husbands.' W. Hooper, however, speaks about
those wives who have been put aside for some new favorite, and mentions
that it was considered a duty of the man to afford a home and sustenance
for such wives, as well as for the children by them.2 In such cases the marriage is not dissolved. Nevertheless I would call even this statement somewhat exaggerated. Of course, a Chukchee husband who has more than one
wife may be inclined to prefer the younger one, and to neglect the older
one. I knew of cases where neglect like this gave rise to jealousy and strife
between the wives. On the other hand, several husbands who were in a similar
position mentioned that they considered themselves obliged to visit their wives
in turn, one after the other. "Otherwise there would be trouble," they said.
And really the national character of the Chukchee is such, that the complete
neglect of a wife, especially if she has children, would give occasion for trouble
and strife.
At the same time W. Hooper acknowledges that "repudiation" is quite
another thing than such neglect. Directly after the passage quoted above he
says, "But repudiation is perfectly recognized, and in instances of misconduct,
and sometimes of dislike, put in force without scruple or censure. In these
cases the rejected wife returns to her father's or brother's lodge, and, unless
of a very bad character, does not generally wait long for another husband;
very often returning to her original spouse, to be perhaps again discarded."
All this is quite correct.
In the majority of cases, however, the initiative in breaking up the marriage comes from the bride's family, which retains its hold on the woman for
five or six years, even if the latter has meanwhile borne two children. In
case of friction between the two families, that of the bride takes the woman
back, by force if necessary. Of course, it is not the old fathers who most
ardently support that custom, but the elder brothers, especially if they are
numerous. Occasionally, when the woman loves her husband and refuses to
leave him, she is bound and carried away by force. If she has nurslings,
I E. Westermarck, The History of Human Marriage (London, I90I), p. 19.

W. H. Hooper, Ten Months among the Tents of the Tuski, p. IOO.

75-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

they are taken with the mother, while the older children are left with the
father.'
I have seen a considerable number of women who were thus carried off
from their husbands by elder brothers. One I met in the camp of the Chukchee Ata'to on the Dry Anui River. She had lived for four years with her
husband, a well-to-do, gentle, but rather sickly young man. Ata'to, on the
contrary, was a spendthrift and gambler. The previous winter, havina lost
all his reindeer gambling, he had appealed to his brother-in-law for assistance.
The latter helped him for a while; but when Ata'to made a practice of
slaughtering without ceremony the reindeer of his brother-in-law, and of paying
his card debts with their carcasses the wronged man protested. Then Ata'to
went to his sister's house and carried her off to his camp.
The deserted husband, after some hesitation, found his solitude unbearable,
and followed his wife to Ata'to's camp. When I visited the latter, I learned
that the unfortunate husband had been living there for over four weeks, doing
all that was in his power to move Ata'to's heart. The woman seemed willing
to go back to her husband, but Ata'to would not change his mind. "Will
you promise not to refuse me your reindeer?" he would ask; and when the
answer was, "That is impossible, you would eat up my herd and myself with
it," he declared, "If such is the case, she shall go to a rich reindeer-owner."
As far as I know, the latter decision was carried out, the first husband not
being able to prevent it.
In 1897, when engaged in preparing a census of the Chukchee in the
Kolyma district, I had occasion to ascertain that about one-third of all the
women had Sad one or several divorces. Of the children born during these
marriages, some were living in the husbands' famnilies, and some in those of
the wives. Such children, left without a proper home, are regarded as
belonging to the entire family, and are much cared for by all its members.
The same applies to natural children borne by unmarried women.
Polygyny. - The majority of the Chukchee are monogamists; in some
localities, however, one-third and more, of all the marriages, are polygynous.
The Reindeer Chukchee generally ascribe polygyny to economic considerations. "If I possess one herd, I need but one house and one wife to look
after it; if, however, I own two herds, I must have two separate households
and a woman for each of them." There is some truth in this assertion.
1 Easy divorce exists also among the American Eskimo. Murdoch (Point Barrow Eskimo, p. 418) says,
"Easy and unceremonial divorce appears to be the usual custom among Eskimo generally. The same appears
to have been the case in Greenland. Cranz says, 'Such quarrels and separations only happen between the
people in their young age. The older they grow, the more they love each other."' In a similar way Lucien
M. Turner (Hudson Bay Eskimo, p. I89) says of the Hudson Bay Eskimo, "A man seldom keeps a wife for
. In rare instances, where there is compatibility of temper, the pair remain together
a number of years.
for life." In the same way the Chukchee marriage is easily dissolved in its first period, but grows in force
with the course of time. Franz Boas (Central Eskimo, p. 579) mentions also that among the Central Eskimo
livorce may be easily commanded by the wife's mother.

Many rich reindeer-breeders who have two or more herds do keep a separate
wife with each herd. EttI'hin, for example, to whom I have referred before,
had two herds, and a wife attending to each. Ei'heli, on the Oloi River,
who has also been mentioned before, was the owner of four herds, with as
many wives looking after them. Omrelqo't, also on the Oloi River, had
three herds and three wives. Many other reindeer-owners, however, have
only one wife, their surplus herds being kept by sons, brothers-in-law, brothers,
and other relatives. On the other hand, many of those who have but one
herd have at the same time two and more wives, all living in the same camp.
It appeared from the census figures that the. number of men having two and
more wives reached about fifteen per cent of the total number of married men,
and in some localities even twenty-five per cent. At the same time, the number of rich breeders with two and more herds scarcely reaches three per cent.
Only a very small number of men have more than two wives. Some
striking exceptions occur, however. Thus Ei'heli, referred to above, had four
living wives, besides four who were dead,. and who left him children. He
had, moreover, one vagrant wife, the old (a'kihkt, who would live in one
of his camps part of the time, and would then leave for strange camps sometimes a hundred miles away. Ei'heli himself, and all his wives, were old, so
that jealousy was out of the question. Ca'kihet had no children, and therefore nothing to bind her to one place. At the same time, her fifty years
did not prevent her from being a strong woman and an excellent worker.
She was an expert at dressing skins and sewing garments, which made her
a welcome guest wherever she went. Finally, her nature was such that she
could not have been easily persuaded to stay at a place unless she herself
cared to stay. Thus Ca'kihe. who had performed the marriage-rite with
Ei'heli and had for many years been considered his wife, was still perfectly
free to satisfy her nomadic instincts. The total number of Ei'heli's children
by all his wives was over twenty, excluding those who had died.
The Chukchee MewCtirgin, on the Dry Anui River, had at one time
seven wives in three different camps; later, however, he became poor, and
his wives deserted him. The Chukchee Nomga'L6, on the same river, had
three wives and fourteen children, almost all of them very young. Another
rather poor Chukchee, Tomgane'ntin-, who also lived on the same river, had
for a time four wives, all living in the same camp in-two tents. Other men,
well-to-do as well as poor, might be cited who had three and four wives at
the same time.
When a Chukchee has two wives living in one camp, he tries to give
them separate tents, or at least separate sleeping-places in one tent; but I
have also met bigamists who lived in one sleeping-room with both wives, and
slept with them under a common cover, the husband lying between the two
wives. This mode of life is described in many tales. In the tale abouit the

"Baby,"' for instance, the hero sleeps in one sleeping-place with three wives,
all being quite naked. Upon one of his arms lies the wife from the Kice'tun
village; upo-n the other, the wife from the Enu'rmin village; the third lies a
little way off, and awaits her turn. In another tale, about the "Shaman with
Warts," each wife has her own sleeping-place. During the meal, the host
exclaims from the sleeping-room, "Oho! I have a visitor. Prepare another
sleeping-room." Somebody is busy outside, rings "with the bracelets, rattles
with the necklace, knocks the poles, hurries. "Where will you sleep?" asks
the host. "Decide yourself," says the visitor. " Sleep here. I will sleep in
the other place." He goes out, enters the other sleeping-room. The visitor
hears great laughter, frolic, the ringing of bracelets, the rattle of necklaces.
He says, "They must be enjoying themselves." 2
The position of the several wives is different in different families. The
first wife is generally much older, and has had several children when the
young wife makes her first appearance in the family. In such cases the first
wife is the mistress, while the second is treated almost like a maid. The
first wife sits with the husband in the warm sleeping-room, while the second
works outside in the cold, prepares the food, and serves it. In one tale of
my new collection there is a detailed description of how the husband and
his first wife make the second wife carry the chamber-pot in and out, and
wash her hands in their urine. Sometimes the aged husband takes a second
young wife for the express purpose of givinlg a helper and maid to his wife,
who is getting old and cannot get through with the housework by herself.
Cases have occurred where the first wife insisted that the husband should
marry a young and able-bodied woman.
In other cases, where the husband has no children by his wife, he marries another woman in order to get progeny. The absence of children is
considered so great a misfortune, that a good woman, if childless, herself
insists that her husband take another wife, even as Sarah made Abraham
sleep with one of her maids, and made her be delivered of the child into
her (Sarah's) lap. Here again the second wife is generally considered as
inferior to the first.
W. H. Dall mentions that, even if a Chukchee's wife bears onl/girls,
he takes another one until he obtains a boy, and no more.3 I canhot confirm this, at least as a general rule for the whole Chukchee tribe.-- Of course,
boys are much more desirable for Chukchee parents than- girls. Still I met
several families who had only girls. This was the case among the Reindeer
Chukchee. Some of these girls acted quite like kien, kept guard over the
herd, carried a lasso, slaughtered reindeer, etc. Among the Maritime people
a girl is less capable of replacing a young man on sea-expeditions and in

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, P. 2 I 2.
V H. Dall, Alaska and its Resources, p. 38I.
W.

Ibid., p. 225.

60 I

hunting-pursuits. Several tales describe a Reindeer Chukchee family having
only daughters, and living alone in the camp. The girls play the part of
male herdsmen. Still the desire for man's help is strongly pronounced. A
family of females suffers from various disasters and ill-treatment on the part
of the neighboring' camps; and only the appearance of a young son-in-law,
adopted by the family, improves matters. Similar tales of Maritime provenience are more scarce and indefinite. In these tales, women "living separately," without males, usually obtain their subsistence by gathering roots and
berries, and hunting wild reindeer on land, also by killing seals in thewintertime upon the ice-floes. Much less frequently the women are described as
hunting seals or walrus in the summer-time from the canoe or from the skin
boat. This last pursuit, which gives to the Martime people the larger part
of their food, is least accessible of all to women. The female families that
"live separately" are often described as leading a hungry life, and as eagerly
watching for a husband.
I should mention that I have met, at least among the Tungus, some
widows and girls who were good shots and hunters of land-game, almost
equal to men; but I had no opportunity of meeting a female hunter among
the Chukchee. So, upon the whole, boys are more desirable for the Maritime
families than for the Reindeer ones; and the assertion of Dall may refer
more to the Maritime Chukchee. On the other hand, however, polygyny is
much rarer among the Maritime' Chukchee than among the Reindeer people;
also cases of repudiation of wives happen less frequently, as will be described
later on.
Cases are by no means rare, however, where the husband, enamored of
the second wife, becomes indifferent towards the first, and even expels her
from the house. Precisely such a case is described in a very popular tale,
"The Bigamist." It runs as follows:
"There lived a man with two wives, an old one and a young one. When he took the young
wife, he abandoned the old one, did not love her nor sleep with her any longer. He beat her all
the time. In great grief she went out into the desert and came to a bear's haunt. She entered.
The bear mother was angry at her for entering. The woman said, 'Why don't you kill me?
My husband always beats me. It is better that you kill me.'
"The woman stays with the bears and lives with them. When spring comes, the bears let
her go, with presents and incantations. She returns home, and by means of their incantations
succeeds in regaining the favor of her husband, and persuades him to drive her rival from the
house. The latter perishes from hunger and cold."

I took down several versions of this tale. I was always anxious to
ascertain whether jealousy existed to any extent among the Chukchee wives
of a single husband. When questioned by me on that point, the women would
generally answer, "We don't care, we don't think about those things;" and,
more definitely, "Good and clever women don't get anary over such matters."
Nevertheless jealousy does exist among the women. I have often known

wives of one husband who lived in perfect accord with one another, but these
were mostly women out of their prime. On the other hand, I have seen
women quarrel and even fight over the favors of their husband. Maydell
describes such cases of quarrels, fights, and even murders committed out of
jealousy.'
In one tale, a woman deserted by her husband is left with five children.
She supports them with great difficulty, gathering edible roots for food.
Wandering in the desert, she comes to a dwelling on the seashore. A woman
sits at the entrance. The man returns from a sea-hunt, draggring a seal.
The deserted wife recognizes her husband. She resolves to avenge herself,
waits until the man leaves again, and then enters the house, makes friends
with the woman, and perfidiously kills her while she is asleep. Then she
returns to her own house. Her husband comes back, and, finding the woman
dead, guesses that it is the work of his first wife. He grabs his spear, goes
to the first wife. He arrives. She is not at home. She is wandering again
in the desert. The children cry, "Father, father has come!" - "Where did
your mother go?" - "Along that road. We shall follow her." - "No, no!
wait for me here." He goes, sees her in the valley of the river gathering
roots. "I have found her; now I will kill her!" He cries, "I will kill you."
She fled along the river. He overtook her. "Are you not my husband?
Why do you want to kill me? I have little children."
"Why did you
mock me?" He aimed at her with his spear. She seized the spear, broke
it to pieces. Drawing her cowl over her head, she became a she-bear- She
squeezed the husband. "Oh, I pray you, let go! Come home! I shall always
work and bring meat." She only growled and squeezed him to death.2
This tale is also very widely distributed. A variation of it among the Eskimo
of the American shore is recorded by Nelson.3
Group-Marriage. - Marriage among the Chukchee does not deal with
one couple only, but extends over an entire group. The Chukchee groupmarriage includes sometimes up to ten married couples. The men belonging
to such a marriage-union are called "companions in wives" (fiew-tu'mgit).
Each "companion" has a right to all the wives of his "companion," but takes
advantage of his right comparatively seldom, namely, only wxhen he visits
for some reason the camp of one of the "companions." Then the host cedes
him his place in the sleeping-room. If possible, he leaves the house for the
night; goes to his herd, for instance. After such a call, the companion visited
generally looks for an occasion to return the visit, in order, in his turn, to
exercise his rights.
The union, in group-marriages, is mostly formed between persons who are
well acquainted (Cu"-tu'mgit, "looking [on each other] companions"), especially
1 Compare Maydell, I, p. I64.
3 Nelson, p. 467, "The Red Bear."

2 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 259.

between neighbors and relatives. Second and third cousins are almost invariably united by ties of group-marriage; brothers, however, do not enter into such
unions. In ancient times this form of marriage was obviously a union between
the members of a related group. In course of time, other friendly persons
began to be included in the union. The rite accompanying the formation of
group-marriages reflects such an origin, for it is intended to give the union
tlle character of a tie between relatives. The persons concerned make sacrifices and anoint themselves with blood, first in one camp, and then in the
other. After that they are considered as belonging to one fireside, as do the
relatives in the male line. According to tradition, group-marriages with persons of high standing were much sought after by younger people. They
would send their relatives as match-makers, and would even serve in a strange
herd in order to enter such a union, precisely as is the custom in individual
marriages.
The older people, however, were reluctant to enter the group-union with
young people, especially if the latter were single. The mixing of ages in the
group-marriage is not approved of. If a married man, on the other hand,
has no children, but desires to have some, he is anxious to make a union
with a strong single man. The aversion to including bachelors in the marriage-group is primarily based on the absence of reciprocity. The bachelor
gains from entering the union, but gives nothing in return.
The inmates of one and the same camp are seldom willing to enter into
a group-nmarriage, the reason obviously being that the reciprocal use of wives,
which in group-marriage is practised very seldom, is liable to degenerate into
complete promiscuity if the members of the group live too close together.
Hiowever, many exceptions occur to both rules. As an illustration of groupmarriage between a married couple and a bachelor, the following union, which
I observed in one of the camps, may be cited. A young Chukchee, married
but childless, served as a shepherd in the herd of a rich reindeer-breeder.
In the marriage-union was included another shepherd, also young but single,
who was a Tungus. All three lived in one tent. When the Chukchee
shepherd was with the herd, the Tungus staid in the tent and slept with the
woman, and vice versa.
In another camp I saw two neighbors of very unequal ages, whose tents
stood side by side, and who were united by a group-marriage. I have been
told that poor people, on entering the group-union, are sometimes so friendly
that they live in one tent, and even in the same sleeping-room. I had no
occasion to witness such cases, but I found descriptions of similar conditions in
several tales. In the tale about the son of MULU'Wgi, for instance, we are
told the following:
"Then the son of MuLu'wgi caught a little sea-shrimp and brought it home. Then he brought
some grass, made a large grass braid, and glued it to the shrimp's head. He finished, pushed it

with his foot: it became a woman, very pretty, with thick braids. He said to her, 'Enter the
sleeping-room.' She entered. Before night-fall the Morning Light and the Evening Light came
together. They said, 'Oho! who is this?' - 'Here we are.' - 'Who are you? What did you
come for?' - 'We came to take away your wife.' - 'Instead of my wife take this woman, my
sister.' Evening Light said, 'It is well. This wife at least we shall carry off. Let us enter the
sleeping-room, let us be married.' - 'Do not enter the sleeping-room. Return home, take this
sister of mine with you. Sleep with her at your own home.' - 'Well, we agree!' The woman
went out. They grabbed her from both sides, carried her home, Evening Light and Morning Light.
On the way, Evening Light said, 'Let me lie down first!' Morning Light answered 'No, both
tog,ether!' They came home. Said Morning Light, 'Let us cook the food first.' Evening Light
answered, 'Let us lie down first; put the woman to sleep.' The other answered, 'Let us lie down
then!' They went to sleep. Each one kissed her, each one embraced her, both together."1

A form of group-marriage as described in this tale is really genuine
polyandry. I should also mention the fact that the relations in group-marriage,
after two or three years, sometimes become complicated through an exchange
of wives. Each "companion" takes another's wife, lives with her for several
months, and then returns her. Sometimes, however, the exchanged wives
stay with their new huisbands for a longer period, or even permanently.
At the present time the unions through group-marriage' embrace practically all Chukchee families. Not to be connected with such a union,' means to
have no friends and good-wishers, and no protectors in case of need; for the
members of a marriage-group stand nearer to one another than even relations
in the male line. As pointed out above, however, these two ties often coincide.
In some cases five or six persons enter into a group-marriage, and all
enjoy equal marital rights. In other cases a man may have several companions in group-marriage who do not stand in a similar relation to one another.
All Russian women who live in the tundra, married to Chukchee, must
of course submit to group-marriage regulations. One of these women, an
elderly widow, proudly declared to me, "My husband never lent me to ordi1 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 229.
Group-marriage of a similar form exists also among the American Eskimo. Thus Nelson (p. 292) says,
."It is a common custom for two men living in different villages to agree to become bond-fellows, or brothers
by adoption. Having made this arrangement, whenever one of the men goes to the other's village, he is
received as the bond brother's guest, and is given the use of his host's bed with his wife during his stay.
When the visit is returned, the same favor is extended to the other: consequently neither family knows who
is the father of the children. Men who have made this arrangement term each other kin-l-g'un; each terms
the other one's wife null-u'-yuik; and the children of the two families call each other kat-khun. Among people
south of the Yukon, the last term is sometimes used between the children of two families, where the man has
married the discarded wife of another." Lucien M. Turner (Hudson Bay Eskimo, p. I89) says also, "Exchanges
(f wives are frequent, either party being quite happy to be released for a time." Franz Boas (Central Eskimo,
p. 579) says the same about the Central Eskimo: "A strange custom permits a man to lend his wvife for a
whole season, or even longer, and to exchange wives, as a sign of friendship." Murdoch (Point Barrow Eskimo,
p. 413) says the same about the Point Barrow Eskimo: "A curious custom, most peculiar to these people, is
the habit of exchanging their wives temporarily." This custom has been observed at Fury and Hecla Straits
(Parry, Second Voyage, p. 528), Cumberland Gulf (Kumlien Contributions, p. I6), and in the region about
Repulse Bay (Schwatka's Search, p. I97). The same custom existed among some Iodian tribes of North America, as A. G. Morice says, "among the D6nes [Athapascan]; and yet, in spite of their good qualities, the temporary
exchange of wives was not deemed improper at all. It was considered rather the supreme token of friendship,
an act of unsurpassed hospitality" (Annual Archaological Report, I905, Toronto, p. 196).

nary people, but only to the most respected ones;' and she enumerated a
large number of names. I know of only one family that lived in the tundra
outside of group-marriage. It was the family of a Russian creole, who had
grown up in a Chukchee family, spoke the Chukchee language, and lived
according to Chukchee customs. He was married to a Chukchee woman,
but had no companions in group-marriage. 'I have a jealous heart," he used
to tell me. "It is better that I remain alone, without companions."
At present group-marriages are often concluded without any rite. One
man simply says to another, "Let us be companions in wives" (Mininewtu'mgamik)! After this they both exercise their rights. If a good acquaintance
solicits the formation of such a union, it is improper, -even in the case of refusal,
to express it in plain words, but an evasive answer must be given. On the
other hand, cases occur where the husband is willing, but the proposed friend
is distasteful to the wife. Sometimes the husband beats his wife into submission. Frequently, however, the wife stands for her right to select friends.
I was told about one woman, who, being pressed by her husband to live
with a friend whom she disliked, preferred to take her own life.
Union through group-marriage is considered equal to a blood tie. The
children born in the families of a marriage-union are regarded as cousins, or
even as brothers and sisters. They cannot marry each other, which is natural,
for they might easily have a common father.
The strength of a group-marriage is vividly depicted thus in the tale,
The Raven and the Eagle in an Exchange Marriage: "There lived a
Raven and an Eagle. The Raven had a son. The Eagle was alone with
his wife. The Raven's wife went to visit the Eagle. The Eagle took her
from her husband and slept with her. She bore him one son. The Raven's
son also came, and remained, to live with his mother." Further, it is described
how the Raven's and the Eagle's sons grew up and began to fly out to
hunt. During one hunt a giant Eagle caught the Eagle's son and carried
him off. Then the Raven, the first father, hearing about it, went to the
Eagle. His wife-companion, the Eagle, sat in the sleeping-room, sorrowful.
The Raven pecked him in the shoulder. He chided him and gave him blows.
"Why did you not warn the children? Why are you sitting? Let us fly, let
us pursue!" And yet it was not his son that was lost, but the son of his
companion. Then follows a description of their search. The Raven finally
finds and rescues the Eagle's son.
Rupture of a group-marriage is regarded as possible, but I know of no
cases where it occurred except those mentioned in accounts conccrning syphilitics. Those syphilitics were subject to ostracism, and were excluded from
the common hearth of even the closest relations. No wonder, then, that in
those cases the ties of group-marriage were also severed.
At present the limits of group-marriage have widened, and allow a union
7 6-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

with an inhabitant of another district, with a chance acquaintance during
temporary trading-relations, and even with an individual belonging to a different people, - a Tungus or a Russian. The Chukchee call such tradeacquaintances inna'lek ("friends"). Above I mentioned a case of group-marriage with a Tungus. Wherever the Chukchee and the Tungus live in one
locality, numerous families of one of these peoples are united by groupmarriages to those of the other. A deviation from the common regulations
may be seen in the fact that the Chukchee have marital rights to the greater
part of married Tungus women; while, of the Tungus, only the most skilful
hunters, or those most friendly with the Chukchee, have similar rights to
Chukchee women. Many Russian families stand in similar relations of groupmarriage with the Chukchee; but the Chukchee are the only ones who look
upon these relations as upon group-marriage. The Russians, on the other
hand, are prone to see in them nothing but the loose conduct of women
anxious to receive payment in slaughtered reindeer. I should add, however,
that in some of the tales referring to ancient times, group-marriages with strangers are also described; namely, with the Eskimo inhabitants of the opposite
American shore. The Chukchee, since ancient times, have cultivated traderelations with those people, such relations sometimes leading to those of groupmarriage. Even to-day, when the Eskimo traders from the American shore
arrive at the maritime Asiatic villages of the Chukchee and Eskimo, they
find temporary wives there in the houses of their friends. Similarly the
Chukchee traders have their temporary wives on the American shore.
In the tale of "The Shaman with Warts" we are told that there lived a
great shaman in the village Te'pqan at the seashore. Another shaman,
Kuku'lpin, lived on the continent, opposite the village Ne'ekan, on Cape Ki'imin.l
Then a description of a contest between the two shamans is given. Kuku'lpin
vanquished the shaman from Te'pqan. "Says that shaman, 'Let us at least
be companions in wives.'
'Agreed!' - 'Where shall we go first? To
you? Where is your house?'
'In the village Te'pqan.' - 'How long does
it take you to fly there?' - 'About half a day.' - 'Aha! my house is nearer;
better let us go there. My two wives are at home. Let us race. The one
who arrives first shall sleep with both.'" Kuku'lpin is again the winner,
arriving before his rival. After supper the latter is allowed to sleep with the
older wife, Kuku'lpin himself sleeping with the younger one. The visitor is
dissatisfied with the arrangement, but submits after several fruitless attempts
to exchange sleeping-rooms with the host. Then both shamans fly to the
interior of the American Continent and carry away a young girl, the daughter
of an American chief. They bring her to the tent of Kuku'lpin. Kuku'lpin
says to his companion, "As we are now companions in wives, you sleep tonight with the old one, I with the young one; to-morrow you shall sleep with
1 Compare p. 2!.

the young one, and I with the old one." The girl is very pretty. "Yes,"
says the other with downcast head. He thinks to himself, "What a scoundrel!" They went to sleep in one sleeping-room. Kuku'lpin embraced the girl
with his arms and with his legs, then he fell asleep. The old wife moves
nearer to the guest; he pushes her with his elbow. He looks at Kuku'lpin.
Kuku'lpin sleeps. "To-day is my turn, not to-morrow!" He blew at his
companion, who was carried off through the tent to a high cliff overhanging
the sea. Kuku'lpin, however, succeeds in escaping from his dangerous position, and takes cruel revenge on his faithless companion and rival.
These marital ties with strangers lead us to the so-called "prostitution
of hospitality." It cannot be positively ascertained whether in ancient times
that custom existed among the Chukchee. According to Russian accounts of
ancient times, it was customary for Russian merchants at the spring Chukchee
fairs to visit the rich maritime traders. They would bring with them iron,
kettles, tobacco in bags, and gave all this to the host as a present. The
host, in return, offered his wife to the guest, having first covered the sleepingplace with beaver, fox, and marten furs, numerous enough to cover the value
of the present. Nowadays no such custom exists.
As indicated above, Chukchee girls and -women are noted for their loose
conduct, and willingly comply with the wishes of Russian guests and acquaintances for an insignificant remuneration. The Chukchee, however, class even
such cases under the head of group-marriage. In regard to these matters,
very humorous misunderstandings occur between the Russians and the Chukchee. Thus, on one of his journeys through the Kolyma district, the chief
officer Karzin obviously had intimate intercourse with one of the wives or
relatives of a rich reindeer-breeder, OmrMlqo't. When Karzin returned to
Sredne-Kolymsk, the following incident occurred. Karzin's housekeeper (he
was a widower) arranged a feast for the occasion. The Chukchee Omrelqo't
was among those present. From the beginning of the feast, Omrelqo't got
drunk, tried to dance, and, feeling hot, began without ceremony to throw off
one piece of clothing after another. Finally he was left naked, and sat down
on the floor. The host advised him to go to sleep. "I will go," replied the
Chukchee; "but you must allow me to sleep with this wife of yours, just as
you have slept with mine."
During all my journeys among the Chukchee, I never received an offer
of "prostitution of hospitality;" but I was often asked in the most naive and
shameless way to participate in group-marriages.'
Levirate. -With group-marriage we find, among the Chukchee, the
custom of levirate, according to which, after the death of one of several
I I. Veniaminoff (Notes on the Islands of Unalashka District, Part II, p. 60) mentions "hospitable
prostitution" as existing among the Aleut. A new-comer could, by the rights of hospitality, participate in the
bed of his host.

brothers, the next oldest becomes his successor. He takes care of the wife
and children of the deceased, finds for them a dwelling in his camps, and
acts as husband to the woman and as father to the children. The herd he
unites with his own, but keeps it for the children of the deceased. When,
however, the difference in age is very great, the brother does not exercise
his levirate right, in order not to enter into marital relations with an old
woman. In the absence of brothers, the levirate passes to cousins. It should
be noted that levirate often has the character of a duty rather than that of
a right. A woman left without a husband, with her children and a herd to
attend to, needs a protector; and the obligation to assist her falls on the
nearest relative. However, only the younger brother or cousin-german uses
the right of levirate over the widow of his older relative. The older brother
or cousin-german has no such right over the widow of his younger relative.
In case of need, even the nephew uses the right of levirate in regard to his
widowed aunt; but the uncle is forbidden to do the same with the widow of
his nephew.
I know a case on the Wolverene River where one ea'nla married the
widow of his deceased nephew. The woman was young and pretty. The
next fall the elder son of eia'nla by another wife fell from a sledge when
driving his reindeer fast, and broke his neck. Public opinion, as expressed
by his neighbors, considered the death of the boy as a punishment for (a'nla's
trespassing against the marriage-customs.
Such a form of levirate seems to have existed among several peoples.
Thus, L. Sternberg 1 mentions that among the Gilyak "the wife of the deceased
one goes over to one of his 'ruvn,'2 usually to a younger one, according to
a decision of the clan. 'Ruvn,' in Gilyak, are named brother's and sister's
children of all degrees of relationship.... When the woman is given to
a 'ruvn' who is older than the deceased one, he must support her, but has
no right to live with her as with his wife." This is connected with a Gllyak
custom which permits the younger brother to cohabit with the wife of the
older brother, but strictly forbids the converse.3 Among the Chukchee, however, as was said above, neither of the brothers has a right to cohabit with
the wife of another brother during his lifetime.
Dr. Forsyth mentions a rule more like that of the Chukchee as existing
among the Gonds of central India: "It is the duty of a younger brother to
take to wife the widow of an older brother, though the converse is not
permitted.4
Levirate is widely spread among the American Eskimo, and is regarded
9,

I The Giliak of Saghalien (Ethnographical Review, I893, II) p.
in Russian).
2 The text reads
but, according to a verbal commucation of L. Sternberg, this is a misprint.
3 L. Sternberg, The Giliak, p. 26 (Reprint from Ethnographical Review, 1905, Russian, pp. 6o, 6i, 63).
4 Forsyth, The Highlands of Central India (cited from E. Westermarck, History of Human Marriage, p. 5 ii).

"ruer;"

more as a duty than a right. Such is the case also among the Athka
Aleuts 1 and among the Tlingit.2
Mr. Jochelson describes a form of levirate of the Koryak, called by him
"two-sided levirate," in which the widow must marry the younger brother,
younger cousin, or sister's or brother's son, of her deceased husband; and
the widower must marry the younger sister, youniger cousin, or sister's or
brother's daughter, of his deceased wife. He suggests, that, according to
certain remarks made by Steller, the two-sided levirate seems to have existed
among the Kamchadal, and he mentions indications of the same custom amo'ng
several North American tribes. Westermarck states 4 that the East 'Greenlanders and the Eskimo of northeastern America disapprove of marriage with
two sisters. According to Mr. Jochelson, this custom may relate to the twosided levirate. Thus the Chukchee seem to be surrounded by tribes having
the two-sided levirate. Still I have met no trace of this form of levirate
among them.
My information in regard
MARRIAGE AMONG THE MARITIME CHUKCHEE.
to marriage among the Maritime Chukchee is rather scanty. On the whole,
however, I can say that the basis of marital union among the Maritime
Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo is the same as among the Reindeer Chukchee. We find again marriages of near relatives; marriages through exchange
between families, woman for woman; and, finally, marriages into a strange
family after a term of service. A young Maritime Chukchee or Eskimo
enters the service of his prospective father-in-law, and lives with him for two
or three years, giving him the products of his labor, until the father finally
consents to give him the bride. If the bride is too young to enter the marital union, the groom must live with his father-in-law, work diligently, and
wait until the bride grows up and matures. A number of my native friends
of Maritime Chukchee extraction once enumerated and estimated the value of
the products of their chase which each had given to his father-in-law while
serving for the bride. In this enumeration, seals, walruses, fish, and even
whales (whalebone excepted), were not mentioned at all, being classed as food
good only for home consumption. The list contained merely those products
which could be sold to whalers or exchanged with Reindeer Chukchee. One
said, "During the entire time, I gave to my father-in-law three strips of whalebone, five white foxes, five large reindeer-skins, ten pairs of walrus-tusks."
Another had given his father-in-law five strips of whalebone, three pairs of
walrus-tusks, two large walrus-hides, etc.
The custom of serving for a wife exists among several tribes of the
I. Veniaminoff, Notes on the Islands of Unalashka District, Part III, p. 9. "In the case of the death
of one brother, another was obliged to inherit the wife of the deceased one."
2 W. H. Dall, Alaska and its Resources, p. 4I6.
3 jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 748.
4 Westermarck, lIistory of Human Marriage, p. 309.

6IO

adjacent countries. Thus, among the Koryak, Reindeer and Maritime, the
wife is obtained by service in her family. Among the ancient Kamchadal,
according to Steller, when somebody wanted to marry, he could get a wife
merely by serving a term in her family. The details of the service are
quite similar to those existing among the Chukchee. The young man must
perform the hardest tasks of the household; and often, if he gives no satisfaction, he must go away without a word, and all his work is lost, to no
purpose.'
Among the Aleut the young man was obliged to live with his wife's
parents and to serve them.2 The custom of service exists also among the Ainu.3
Young single men among the Maritime Chukchee, as well as among the
reindeer-breeding branch of the tribe, enter as adopted sons-in-law into more
prosperous families with many daughters. Finally, group-marriages and levirate
are as fully developed as among the Reindeer Chukchee. Mixed marriages
with persons belonging to another people are as common among the Maritime
Chukchee as among the Reindeer branch. I have referred to the frequent
mixed marriages between the Maritime and the Reindeer Chukchee.4 Marriages
between the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo are almost as common.
Eskimo villages are found side by side with those of the Chukchee. In some
villages, like (e'cin and Uwe'len, one half of the families are Chukchee; the
other half, Eskimo. The Chukchee said to me, "At the present time, with
the cessation of wars, the entire population has become mixed" (Imilo' re'mkin
ra'le gene'Lin, "the entire people become a mixture"). These words are
repeated by the Chukchee all over their territory. Wives from the American
shores are met less frequently among the Maritime Chukchee, and vice versa.
In regard to the "prostitution of hospitality," it should be said, that,
under the influence of American whalers, paid prostitution has developed
among all the Maritime peoples on both coasts of Bering Sea. During the
entire voyage, each ship has on board several young women from the Asiatic
or the American shore. I have witnessed how, on the arrival of an American
ship at the village Unii'sak, women in skin boats approached it from all sides,
offering themselves' quite openly. In order to be better understood, they
would press their hands to th'eir cheeks and close the eyes, symbolizing sleep.
The marriage-rite consists of a sacrifice to the . hearth and a general
anointment. Instead of blood, red ochre is used for anointing. Whenever I
asked what marks the married couple painted on their faces, the answer,
curiously enough, was invariably "Tubmni-a'lvalag" ("It makes no difference").
It appears that in the Maritime Chukchee family, anointment-marks had also
2 Dall, Alaska, p. 402.
3 Ibid., p. 524Jochelson (The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 759) mentions, however, that the marrying of a
Maritime Koryak suitor into a Reindeer Koryak family occurs quite rarely. A son-in-law from the coast will
be but a poor herdsman. This is in full contrast with the Chukchee.
I Steller, P. 343.

4 W.

6IIi

existed; but they went out of use with the wooden fire-drills, the marriage
anointment being a survival of these marks.
A marked difference between the marriages of the Maritime Chukchee
and those of the Reindeer Chukchee, as compared one with the other, is the
relative rarity of polygyny. It is true that in the tales of the Maritime Chukchee, men with three and four wives figure quite frequently; but in reality
even bigamists are extremely rare. The Maritime Chukchee who lives by
fishing and sea-hunting cannot afford to support an extra family. In fact, he
is barely able to provide for one woman and her children. It is possibly due
to this prevalence of monogamy. that ruptures of marriages, and cases where
wives are sent back home or are carried off by relatives, occur much less
frequently among the Maritime than among the Reindeer Chukchee.
Even among traders who have become rich through their dealings with
whalers, monogamy is the rule. I had occasion above to describe the polygynous
family of Ei'theli, a rich reindeer-breeder on the Oloi River. The family of a
rich Eskimo trader, Ku'var, from the village of Uni'sak at Indian Point, whose
name has repeatedly been referred to, was of an entirely different character.
They may easily be compared, for both are very typical of the most prosperous Reindeer as well as Maritime Chukchee, and I have lived in both
families for a long time. Ku'var's family consisted of himself, his wife, and
three young daughters. They had also had two sons, who died, one from
measles, the other from grippe. The old folks were always together. They
grieved greatly over their dead sons. "Since their death," Ku'var told me,
"I have entirely lost my senses, begun to drink whiskey. Before that, I
never drank, but only attended to the drunken guests and kept watch over
them. Now I twitch all over, my mind is dull, no sleep. Thus we sit, I
and my wife, and cry or play cards. Throughout the winter, as soon as it
becomes dark, we expect guests. The guests come, enter the sleeping-room,
warm themselves, make noise, - that's what we like. The guests are gone,
and we cry again. We cannot eat. We grieve."
A Reindeer Chukchee, having lost his sons, would at once marry another
young woman, that she might bear him other sons.

THE CAMP OF THE REINDEER CHUKCHEE. - The camp among the Rei'ndeer Chukchee, and the village among the Maritime-Chukchee, form the unit
of social life. Though unstable, these exist without interruption. The Chukchee camp is very small. It includes usually two or three families, and the
whole number of inhabitants is ten or fifteen. Camps of four, five, or six
families form but a slight minority; and a camp with ten houses is almost
impossible unless formed for special reasons, like the temporary camps in
trading-places. As stated before, the number of tents corresponds to th'e
number of families, since each family has a house of its own. In most cases
the camp consists of related families, - for instance, of brothers, cousins,
etc., with their wives and children. Especially is this the case among people
of moderate circumstances, where the herds are not so large as to make it
necessary to keep them apart. When the herd left after the death of the
father contains no more than a few hundred heads, there' is every reason why
the sons should not divide it into small parts, but should keep it together,
as before. Among the poorer people, who count their reindeer only by scores,
the sons are inclined to separate, and to seek a new fortune, each on his
own account. On the other hand, such small reindeer-owners often join for
a while with others of similar circumstances, even though not related. "Poor
people are careless of ties of relationship," say the Chukchee. Five, and even
eight, of such poor people, may keep together for a while, join the few reindeer
they possess in order to form a herd of decent size, spend a couple of months
in the common camp, and then disperse just as easily as they had joined.
On the other hand, people who are rich in reindeer have a constant tendency
to divide the herd and to form two or more separate camps. Moreover, the
wealthy reindeer-owners are often unable to keep their reindeer well under
the supervision of their own family alone. and have need of assistants. These
assistants may be either some distant relatives or poor strangers; so that the
camp of a rich man may be formed of a family of owners and of one or
two families of assistants dependent on the master.
The Master of the Camp. - The master of the camp, who lives in the
chief house, is called aunra'lin, which means here "one of the chief house;"'
also e'rmecin ("the strongest one") and aAttoora'lin ("one of the front house").
The inhabitants of the other tents are called nim-tu'mgit (p1. of nim-tu'mgin,
"camp-companion," "camp-neighbor"); also yaarra'lin ("that of the rear house").
The position of the front house is "on the front of the others;" that is,
I Aunra'lin generally means "master" (cf. p. 285).

[612]

6I 3

first on the right side of the line of houses, which, as stated before, are turned
toward the morning-dawn "direction."' Often it stands really somewhat in
front of the others. The right and the left side, in this case, are pointed
out, according to the Chukchee fashion, with face turned toward the sacrificing-place behind the tent2 (poia'acen). Thus the place of the front house in
the camp is farthest to the northeast. The rear houses are put up southeast
of the front house. All houses stand in a single line. It should not be forgotten, however, that the camp-line may be turned also to the east or to the
north; also, when the ground is uneven, the camp-line may be broken, and
the houses erected out of the strict order. In this case, the entrances of the
rear houses are more and more turned toward the south, and the last house
may face a direction quite opposite to that of the front house. In most cases
the Chukchee take care that the entrance of one house shall not be directed
towards the poia'ac'n of the preceding one. Otherwise, in sacrificing, the
odor of the hearth of the house standing in a wrong position might reach
the sacrificial fire of the preceding house, and taint its fire and lire-tools.3
On the contrary, two houses having a common fire may stand "quite straight
to the poia'acMn' (kit-poia'acM-gget). The front house is usually the largest of
all. Therefore it is called cvumnia'-pPra'lin (i. e., "buck-similar"), meaning that
it appears among the other houses like a big reindeer-buck among the other
reindeer.
The owner of the herd, or of the larger part of it, occupies this place
by right. The eldest of the brothers, or his son, has preference over the
others. Thus, sometimes a young boy may have preference over all his uncles.
In the camps of the poor people, of which I have spoken before, the one
who is richer or stronger than the others will have the front place. In temporary camps,
for instance, in those formed in trading-places by casual
comers, - the front place belongs to the first comer. All the others take
places according to the order in which they come; so that the last comer
occupies the rear place. The occupant of the front house is considered as the
chief of the camp. He orders the change of camping-place and of pastureground, and designates the days for bringing the herd to the camp, for
slaughtering reindeer, for arranging ceremonials and sacrifices. In the everyday life of the people he assigns the working-men to duties with the herd and
in the camp. It will thus be seen that his power within the precincts of this
small unit of two or three houses is very real. Since the Chukchee are very
impatient under other men's authority, quarrels frequently happen even among
brothers. Then separation ensues, though the size of the herd would make
it preferable to keep together. When the camp includes famiilies not connected
by ties of relationship, and quarrels occur, the separation of the herds leads

Compare p. 386.

77-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

2 Compare p. 372.

3 Compare p. 348.

6I4

to new misunderstandings, since the ownership of certain animals cannot always
be established with certainty. Some people of poor standing and of violent
temper often purposely seek to drive their few reindeer into the herd of some
rich reindeer-breeder. This is more apt to be the case in summer, when the
herds are pasturing too near each other. On the Arctic coast, in the Kolyma
country, when a rich man comes too near the shore in sumnmer, he always
incurs the risk of such unwished-for intermingling of herds. The strip of the
shore close to the water, which is cool and rich in vegetation, is occupied
by the poor people; and their small herds often mix together, so that this
strip of land is a ground of constant strife and quarrel. Still, among themselves the poor are able to separate without much loss. When, however, a
rich man' arrives with his herd, his position is more difficult. The other party
then has an opportunity to slaughter his reindeer, to mark the fawns with the
thief's own ear-mark, and to change the marks of grown animals.
The owner of a large herd does not know all his animals, and some of
the less conspicuous may even be abstracted without his being able to detect
it. Therefore the owner of a large herd always keeps at a distance from the
other camps, and, besides, is on the alert against the approach of another
herd. The separation of herds, even when performed without any fraud, is a
long and tiresome affair; so that the herdsmen are quite ready to use physical
force to prevent encroachers from coming too near. I often witnessed such
mingling of herds, which ended in quarrel and squabbling. The Reindeer
Tungus, when they live with the Chukchee, have a strong inclination to mix
their herds, because they are poor and move with their reindeer and tents
even in summer, while the Chukchee stay in the same place during that
season. When separation is again accomplished, the Chukchee complain that
several of their animals are missing. The Tungus, on the other hand, talk
about the loss of some well-broken animal which was of especial value. Since
the Tungus reindeer, though less numerous, are of superior quality and of
higher price than the Chukchee animals, both contending parties have cause
for mutual reproach.
It goes without saying that a man cannot join a camp if he is not'
allowed to do so by its inhabitants. Even in the very temporary camps at
trading-places or in those' established at large reindeer-races, where many of
the participants come with a travelling-tent and family, no one can pitch his
tent near the others without previous permission. 'After this is given and the
reindeer are unharnessed, the herd immediately joins the common herd, because
the general rule is, one camp, one herd. Even here separation of the reindeer
leads afterwards to quarrels. The reindeer brought to such gatherings are of
greater value, well-broken, strong coursers, or fat animals intended for slaughter;
and the loss of even one counts.
Assistants. - Camps of rich men, as stated before, have assistants

6I 5

dependent on the master. The beginning of the relations between master
and assistant is well described in the tale of Ai'ginto.1
"Then they continued their journey with dogs. At last they were without food. All their
dogs had perished. They went afoot, drawing their sledges behind them. Almost all their strength
was spent. At last they met a large reindeer-herd. One small boy herdsman was with the herd.
'Oh, -oh, guests! And who are you?' - 'We are people of Ai'ginto.' - 'Aha! at last we have
found some companions on this earth. Come to our tent.' - 'But who is the oldest of all there?''The father, of course.' - 'But maybe he will say "I do not want them." Let us iather stay here
in this place.' - 'Then I shall go and ask the father.'
"The old man lives in his tent with his wife and family. 'There,' says the son, 'some guests
have come, quite unknown before.' - 'Where are they? Let them come in.' - 'They have
remained with the herd, saying, "Maybe thy father will say, 'I do not want them."" - 'Oh, you
are the cause of the delay,' says the old man. 'Our companions-to-be are waiting in the open.
Go back, and be quick!' The boy sped back like an arrow shot from a bow. 'The father chides
me for your error, and says, "Why have you not brought them all at once?"' - 'Eh, eh! then
let us go there.' They came to the tent. Ai'tinto refused to enter, and told the children to stay
outside. 'Maybe the old woman will look at us awry.' Only the.young herdsman has entered.
'Where are the guests?' - They refuse to enter, saying, 'Maybe the old woman will look at us
awry.' - 'Oh, oh! You old one, now you are the cause of the delay. Go out and make them
enter.' The old woman went out. 'Ah, ah! a woman guest has come. Quick, enter the sleepingroom!' She took the snow-beater and dusted their clothes, shaking off the snow. 'Go in.' - 'Let
the father enter first,' says the master from within. Ai'ginto entered. 'You came?' - 'Yes, I
came!'2 He showed him to the place of honor, opposite himself, by the other side of the lamp.
'Then let the sons of the guest enter.' The boys entered. He made them sit down by his own
side. 'These shall be my own dear sons.'
'And what shall I do (without sons),' said Ai'ginto.
'Wait a little! Let my own son enter here.' The boy entered. 'This shall be thy son, since he
'All right,' said Ai'ginto. 'Mine are two sons, and thine only one. Let us
brought thee here.'
exchange, if food from thee is included in the bargain.'
"Thus they began to live. All three boys were taking care of the herd. The old men staid
at home."

This description shows well how strong may be the desire of the master
to have a new neighbor and assistant for the care of the herd. Of course,
it gives the ideal conditions of such relations. It will be noted that the rich
reindeer-owner and the poor new-comer meet in this tale on a quite equal
footing, and then they live rather as two brothers than as master and dependent.
Another tale concerning Ele'ndi and his sons describes the same relationship
entered into between the master and his slave who was taken as a prisoner
of war.
The tale describes how Ele'ndi ser(t his prisoner to the herd, and ordered
I l3ogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 263.

"Ye'tti ?" ("You came?") "Tiye'ttyiirq!" ("I came!") are the usual greetings of the Chukchee, which are
exchanged when a man enters the sleeping-room. Good manners require these short formulas to be pronounced.
When the new-comer is still outside, and the master, sitting in the sleeping-room, hears him coming, the first
words exchanged usually run as follows:
- "Elo', guim!"
"Mei" - "Wui!" "Me'fiin?"
"Halloo!" - "Ho!"
"Who (are you)?" - "No, (it is) I."
Then follows the invitation to enter and exchange short greeting formulas. In the intercourse with the Russians,
another greeting is used, - toro'ma, - which is only the Russian greeting 3,40PXOO ("Your health"), changed
according to the necessities of Chukchee phonetics.

6I6

him to take care of it, together with his own two boys. The prisoner, however, spent all his time sleeping in the shade, and left the boys alone with
the herd. Therefore, when it was time to carry meat to the house, the
slaughtered reindeer proved to be quite lean, without any trace of fat. The
master was angered at this, and asked the boys the reason of such a bad
condition of the herd. "It is because the assistant is very bad," was the
answer. "Why in the world did you bring such a man here? He only sleeps
in the shade all the time, and, besides, he keeps thrashing both of us."
The father came to the herd, caught the assistant sleeping, and gave
him a severe lesson with the aid of a heavy lash. Still the assistant continued
to do as before. In a few days the master came again and repeated the
thrashing, using this time a fragment of an iron chain. Then the assistant
changed his behavior. He began to be active with the herd. When the
herd ran, he ran still faster than the reindeer. They slaughtered a reindeer.
He said to the boys, "Now you may sleep." He cut the meat and cooked
it, put it into a trough, then wakened the children. "Now, sit up and eat."
The youths ate of the meat, put on their boots, and wanted to go to the
herd; but he said, "You may sleep again, I shall go to the reindeer." The
boys slept as long as they wanted to; then they awoke and sat in the shelter,
singing. He became very carefuil, and was with the herd all the time. The
herd fattened. He became a good herdsman and very skilful in taking care
of the reindeer. They slaughtered again. The fawns were fat and round,
like a tallow candle. They slaughtered one young doe and two fawns. The
boys said, "Now you must go home and carry the meat." He carried one
carcass on his back. When he came to the camp, the master was occupied
with some small handwork. "Oh, oh, you have come! There, give him
some dry boots to change with.' Thus he said to his wife. The master
untied the bundle, and saw the fawn-carcass quite white with fat. The heart
of the master felt merry. They ate of the fat meat. The assistant immediately
changed his boots again and wanted to go. "Where to?"- "To the herd!""No, no, sleep here! Let the boys be alone." They slept; but early in the
morning, when the master awoke, there was no trace of the assistant. He
had left for the herd. So the summer passed. They brought the kettles
home, and the fall slaughtering was about to begin. Ihe assistant took so
much care of the herd, that the boys had no occasion to be with it. He
looked after it all by himself. The reindeer were quite fat. Their backs
were flat, like boards, and the old bucks were solid with meat.
The master felt thankful to the assistant; but there was treason in the
heart of the latter,- and at last he succeeded in taking the master to a lonely
island far from the shore, and leaving him there. Then he came to the camp
and became master of it. For a few weeks he tyrannized over the boys and
the wives of the master, slaughtered the reindeer, and ate of the best. Ele'ndi,

6I 7

however, was saved by birds, who brought him back over the sea. Ele'ndi
caught the assistant and punished him with barbarous torture and death.
The man who told me this tale added, by way of explanation, "If the
assistant had continued to be good and useful, Ele'ndi, of course, would have
treated him with the utmost kindness, and probably would have even given
him one of his sisters in marriage, or even one of his own wives. His anger
was heightened by his previous disposition to generosity and kindness."
It may be said that these two very characteristic cases form almost the
most divergent examples regarding the position of an assistant in the Chukchee
camp, since in the first case the assistant comes of his own free will, and
immediately after his coming is treated as an equal and a brother; while in
the second case the assistant is brought as a prisoner, is obliged to perform
hard work, is severely chastised for carelessness, and only in the end is raised
to the position of a member of the family in recompense for his changed
behavior and successful work. It may also be said that all the cases of actual
life fall under these two examples.
There are masters who are exceedingly kind to their assistants, just as
the old man was to Ai'ginto. With them the assistants gradually become
like near relatives, and remain for life in the camp. In the end there is no
difference between the two families; and sometimes, when the master dies,
the assistant may even become the real head of the camp, although the formal
right belongs to another.
Other masters, on the contrary, are harsh and stingy. With them the
assistants change almost every year. But when a man of meek disposition
comes to such a master, he may endure a large amount of ill treatment before
he decides to go away. I know cases where the master not only abused his
assistant with words, but even chastised him with a stick or a rope, almost
in the same way as Ele'ndi did to his slave.
The ideal, however, requires that the family of the master should be
mild and generous to their assistant. For instance, in another episode of the
last tale, Ele'ndi, when taking his adversary a prisoner, kills his wife with a
club before his eyes, saying, "Why have you not fed your neighbors, at least
stealthily (unbeknown to your husband)? Why have you not given them
some extra food?'
In reality, when a master is too severe, his wife feels herself obliged to
give clandestinely to their young assistant some extra piece of dried meat or
fat, that he may eke out a sufficient meal, or to make him some slight present
to console him for the harsh rebuke and bad treatment of the master.
In another part of the same tale, Ele'ndi, when coming to his adversary,
is asked to participate in the meal. When they began to eat, the poor neighbors wanted to eat also; but the master gave them'blows instead of food.
"You must be the last. Let these my guests be the first eaters." His

6i8

custom was such that the poor neighbors did not dare to eat with him. Their
throats were wishful, but they only looked on wistfully. What else could
they do? Then Ele'ndi says, "Well, well, you also partake of the meat."
They slip their hands under the hands of the guests and try to take something; but the master strikes them on the hands. He cuts some whale-meat
just for himself, and eats it all alone. The guest says again, "All of you
may eat!" The master gave a blow to the guest, saying, "Why are you
giving orders here? I am the master." The guest caught up his strong hide
belt and gave the master a blow upon the naked back (since, according to
custom, both were naked to the waist). The whole body of the master reddened and swelled from the blow. Then the guest says to his own wife,
"Cook some more meat. These poor friends of ours have not yet had their
fill." The master remains on the spot, motionless. The wife of the guest is
cooking meat. In the strange house she acts as if it were her own. The
master says, "Wait a little. We shall soon know how to act. This is probably
the well-known violent Reindeer Chukchee warrior." Ele'ndi answers, "Not I.
You alone are the real violent one, because by violence you have taught
your neighbors not to dare to eat in your presence. You would tear the
last piece from their very mouths. You are the violent one, I feed all my
neighbors, - eat one piece myself, and give another piece to them. You
are the only one who is violent. Therefore maybe I shall kill you. Nobody
will be sorry for it."
Thus Ele'ndi expresses his utmost indignation at the unfair behavior of
the master of the house. It should be noted that Ele'ndi is a man of Reindeer birth and life, and expresses here the feelings of the Reindeer nomads.
His host, however, is of the Maritime tribe, and lives by hunting sea-animals.
It should be borne in mind that among the Reindeer Chukchee the assistant
is usually a strong young fellow, who is of great help with the herd. Among
the Maritime people it is not assistants, but rather "poor neighbors," as they
are called in the tale, who act in this capacity. These poor neighbors h#ve
small luck or skill in sea-hunting, and often depend for food on some morsel
thrown away by one more successful than they. Therefore it is no wonder
that the position of neighbors is quite different among the Reindeer tribe and
the Maritime people. The words of Ele'ndi give full expression to the Reindeer point of view as opposed to the greediness and stinginess of the Mari-

time people.
As to the realization of this ideal in actual life, I may give here a very
characteristic story of a certain Chukchee who was left an orphan while still
a young boy, and who had to become an assistant from early youth up.
"Then my uncle came to me and said, 'Oh, you are my nephew, you must live with me. I
will feed you. When you grow up and I become an old man, you shall take my house, and my
entire herd shall be yours.' Then I lived with him for five years. All this time I was all alone

6ig

with the reindeer. All this time, on coming back home, I ate very little. Still my. uncle was not
pleased. He said to me, 'Oh, why do you move so slowly? You are very lazy. You will grow
up to be a lazy man.' And a little after that he said again, 'Let me give you a beating.' Then
he began beating me with the end of the lasso, and always on the head. At last, one autumn,
when all the people were going over the river, we also went with them. He still used to beat me
with a stick. Then I said, 'Let me be separated from him.' I went back over the river stealthily,
in the night-time. Then I came to Omru'wge"s camp on the tundra, - Omru'wge, the SnottyNosed, so called. He says, 'Oh, it is you! Stay with me for a while.' His brother, a very bad
man, was all the time abusing people. I spent a part of the summer there. Then I left and went
to Wu'kwuqai's. He said, 'My herd is too small. There is no need of you here.' I answered,
'All right, let me go away again.' From there I went to Eifie'wi's. He said, 'Your other uncle
lives near by. Let us go there!' We went to this other uncle of mine, eti'lhln by name. He
said, 'Nephew, you have come?' - 'Yes, I have come!'- 'All right. To-morrow morning go
to the herd.' From that place I went to Pe'iielqut's. He is also my uncle, once removed, an uncle
on my mother's side, or I do not know what. Still with him I fared very ill. He scolded me,
and said, 'You take little care of the herd. At the same time you eat too greedily. Upon the
whole, you are a sorry herdsman, and in the future I shall clip your ears.' Then he said again, 'If
you are not careful enough with the herd, I shall kill you. Try to be a good herdsman. Make the
reindeer graze well. When they become fat, we shall eat of their savory meat. We shall sell them
to the merchants. Afterwards, when you become an old man, you shall still live in affluence.
Then at last you will die a decent death, and your children will raise for you a good-sized heap
of antlers; and every one driving by with reindeer will praise your name.'""

It will be noticed that most of the masters of this young herdsman were
his relatives, but this does not make much difference. Several times I saw
rich reindeer-owners abusing their herdsmen, kinsmen and strangers, in a similar
manner.
I remember one old man with whom I was staying over night. The
night was dark and windy, and the wolves succeeded in making an assault
upon the herd and driving away several animals. The next morning, when
the old man left the sleeping-room and came outside, he found two of the
herdsmen of the camp, who told him the unpleasant story. Immediately he
grew very angry, caught up his lasso, and began chastising them both. They
were men of large bulk and tall of stature; and he was a small, half-decrepit
fellow, who, to make his blows more effective, skipped around and tried to
strike them upon the face with the iron ring of the lasso. They did not
show any resistance. From the Chukchee point of view, the old man was in
the right, and they in the wrong, especially since, instead of going in search
of the lost animals, they came to the camp to talk about the loss. One of
the herdsmen was a nephew of the man; the other, an assistant of alien
provenience. In this case the difference of age gave to the master an additional right to be severe to his herdsmen.
I remember, however, another case where a young master chastised an
assistant of the same age as himself. The master was a strong man of daring
temper, and a very good indefatigable herdsman. The assistant, on the contrary,
was a rather poor herdsman, "given much to sleeping and eating," as the
1 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 6o.

6,2o

Chukchee say. If the opposite had been the case, perhaps a weak master
would not have dared to chastise a strong and active assistant.
The Chukchee language has no special term for assistants. They are
called by the common word nim-tu'mgit ("camp-companions," "camp-neighbors"),'
referring to all the inhabitants of the camp besides the chief. Another word
used for the same purpose is gupi'lin, which means simply ."working one,"
and is applied to all men active around the herd and house, including the
members of their own family. A third word in usage is cawcuwa'-a me'lin.
The first part of the word means, as indicated before, "Reindeer Chukchee,"
also "rich in reindeer;" the second part means "weak, dependent, subordinate,"
and implies a tinge of blame. The word a£mu'lin by itself, when applied to
a man, is taken almost as an abuse. With another preceding word, ciq,
which means utmost," ciq-agmu'lin signifies "very weak," "good for nothing,"
and implies an insult, leading to a serious quarrel. Aimu'lin, however, is used
also as a proper name, which is sometimes met with among the Chukchee.
Probably this term was applied in olden times to slaves and prisoners of war,
of which I shall speak later on.
The words vi'yolin, vinre'telhn, vinre't-tu'mgin, all signify "assistant" in
the proper sense of that word; but they are applied rather to a man who
gives some special help. Therefore these terms are used also for the so-called
assistants of supernatural character.Y
Material Conditions. - The material conditions of life of assistants in
the camp of a master vary according to the quality of their work and the
size of the herd in the care of which they help. If the assistant has some
reindeer of his own, they are joined to the herd of the camp, and stay there
until the separation. In most cases, however, the assistants receive from the
herd of the master at least the daily food for their families. Their tents are
pitched in the camp among the "rear houses," and at most slaughterings all
the houses of the camp receive one slaughtered reindeer each. Of course, the
front house receives one of the best, perhaps some large buck or a fat barren
doe; while the last of the rear houses may receive only a lean fawn hardly one
year old. This depends also on the position of the assistant in the camp. If the
master is contented with the work of the assistant, he would not presume to feed
his family with poor meat. In case the number of slaughtered animals does not
correspond to the number of houses, each house receives its part of the meat.
The question of clothing and of material for the tent-covering is decided by
these slaughterings, because the women of each house take the skins of their
respective animals, and may use them at will for any wants of their family.
Tea, sugar, tobacco, iron, and other articles bought from traders, are
acquired by the assistants, as well as by the masters, quite independently; for
instance, in exchange for peltries obtained in hunting-pursuits. Among the
ISee p. 6I2.

2 Compare p. 31I9-

62 I

Reindeer Chukchee, however, the chief articles of value used for exchange
are fawn-skins gathered in spring and summer. Such skins will, of course,
be in the possession of the master only, with the exception of a very few,
which the assistant may have from his own reindeer. Therefore the master,
after coming from a trading-place, will take some' part of the wares brought
home, and give to his assistants, especially if they were not successful in the
hunt, and thus were short of means for making purchases. In the course of
time the master will give to his assistants some of his tea and tobacco, when
they have none; at least, a master who is "good" will act thus.
Not rarely is it the case that a family whose prosperity has declined,
and whose herd is not large enough to provide for their subsistence, prefers,
instead of continuing a half-hungry life, to join the camp of some rich reindeer-breeder short of hands. Of course, rich owners sometimes have misgivings
regarding such impoverished neighbors, fearing that the bad luck of their herd
may prove detrimental to their own prosperity.' . Still the need of extra herdsmen is often stronger than such fear; especially when the poorer family, after
losing a part of their herds, has succeeded in allaying the misfortune and in
-remaining for some years in circumstances not utterly hopeless.
In combinations where large and small herds are joined together, the
families of new assistants receive only a part of their subsistence from the
master, and take another portion from their own herd. At each slaughtering
the herdsmen slaughter such animals as the master points out, and carry them
to the entrance oIf such and such a house, according to his order; then, if
some house is left without an animal, the people catch one of their own
,reindeer and slaughter it. In this case, however, the connection between
master and assistant is not very strong, and may in a short time be dissolved.
On the contrary, typical assistants receive from their masters, besides the
food, also a few live fawns, as a yearly present. In the latter part of the
summer the fawns are marked on the ear with the mark of the proprietor.
When a fawn is caught and handed over to the master, the latter sometimes,
instead of biting 2 into its ear the lines of his own mark, tenders it to one of
the assistants, and says briefly, gina'n ("yourself"). Then the animal is marked
by the assistant, and belongs to him. The number of such animals depends
on the size of the herd, and still more on the mortality amohg the fawns
during the preceding spring. In a good year an assistant may receive from
the master three, five, and even more animals. These grow up in the
.common herd of the camp, and all the increase belongs also to the assistant.
I have mentioned before that under favorable circumstances reindeer multiply
very fast, since the doe bears fawns even from the very'first year. At the
next slaughtering the master will always consent to slaughter a young buck
I Compare p. 351.
i Regarding the process of marking animals by biting them in the ear, cf. p. 84.

78-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

of the assistant, and give him in exchange a doe of the same age from
among his own animals; the more so, as the buck is larger in size and yields
more meat. So, after a few good years, aiL assistant who came to the master's
camp empty-handed, may become the owner of fifty and even a hundred does.
It has already been stated that, in speaking of the size of the Chukchee
reindeer-herd, only the does are taken into account. I met on the Dry Anui
River one Ta'to, who lived as an assistant in the camp of Qe'-nu-ke'La'n, a
rich reindeer-breeder of that country. Ta'to was with him for fifteen years.
When he came to that camp, he had no reindeer at all. At the time of
our meeting he had about three hundred does. The herd of the master was
about three thousand or more. The family of Ta'to was still feeding from
the herd of the master, and his own animals continued to increase. With
the number of reindeer he had, he could have left Qe'nu-k&'La'n and formed
a separate camp, but he preferred staying with the master. Both were of
middle age and had sons and daughters who helped them with the herd.
Both were also very alert and experienced herdsmen, with a wide knowledge
of all kinds of pasturage, in summer and winter. They lived together very
peacefully and friendly, in somewhat the same way as Ai'ginto and his master,
in the tale before mentioned.
In other cases, however, an assistant who has succeeded in gathering
about a hundred or more does, leaves his master, and forms a camp of his
own. Through long years of caring for a large herd, such an assistant grows
to be a good herdsman, often better than any of the men of the master's
own family; so that he is also able to take care of his own herd, and to
make it increase from year to year. Such new herdsmen are very economical,
and take care to slaughter as few animals as possible. I remember one who
lived on the Oloi River. He was endeavoring to feed his family with all
kinds of substitutes in order to save the reindeer-meat. They were consuming
large quantities of leaves, bark, and half-digested moss from the reindeerpaunch. In the summer, when I was travelling on the Oloi River, he left
his wife in the summer camp without slaughtering any of the reindeer, and
was absent with the herd for almost two months. On his return he nevertheless found courage to reprove the woman for having, in his opinion, consumed too much rancid reindeer-blood from the supply of the family.
No wonder that some of such assistants succeeded, after a number of
years, in becoming quite rich reindeer-owners. Thus, from the same country
on the Oloi River, I may name Ka'gno, Riko'q-Ai'wan, and several others,
who in their youth had been assistants, and who later had herds of several
thousand animals. In taking care of them, they were in their turn aided by
poor assistants.
The richest reindeer-owners, who possess four or five large herds, such
as Ei'heli of the Oloi River, OmrMlqo't of the Upper Omolon, Ara'ro of the

Indighirka tundra, etc., still take care that each of their camps, corresponding
to a separate herd, shall have as front-house master one of their nearest relatives.
With Ei'heli each herd was looked after by an adult son; and the sons were
almost the real possessors of the herd, from the very beginning of their
independent life. One of them, for instance, in order to avoid being controlled
in any way by the father, wandered with the herd into the distant mountains,
and did not appear in the father's vicinity for three consecutive years. When
I was with Ei'heli, the old man sometimes felt angry about it, and grumbled,
"I will go there and take away my herd." We knew, however, that he was
of a boastful disposition, and liked to exaggerate the extent of his force and
influence. All the people about him were quite sure that, even if he should
go and find the reprobate son, he would not think of taking the herd from
him, nor would he be able to do so. With Omrelqo't, two herds of his were
under the direction of his two wives, and the younger brother of Omrelqo't
cared for the third. The same was the case with Ara'ro and the others.
So, when Maydell mentions, in the words of Amra'wkurgin, that with the
rich Chukchee the herds are usually given to the assistants, who live with
them quite independent of the master, slaughter and sell animals, and that
the only condition of their contract is that the herd must be kept in good
health and must multiply in number,' I can only attribute it to a complete
misunderstanding. The herd cannot exist without the special charms, the earmark, anointing-mark, etc., of its owner's family, all of which are necessary
for good-luck. And no family will trust its "reindeer-luck" to a stranger, or,
what is still worse, will suffer its sacred belongings to be replaced by those of
another family. All the conditions of life of the Reindeer Chukchee are such,
that an assistant who would live by himself with a herd, after a few years
would become master of this herd no matter to whom it originally belonged.
Still more difficult to understand are the communications of Maydell concerning the aristocracy among the Reindeer Chukchee, founded on the different
sizes of their herds.2 No trace of such a thing actually exists. Maydell's
opinion may be explained only by his position as a Russian official, who
endeavored by every means to create "chiefs" and authority among the savage
Chukchee. I will speak of this later in more detail.
Kuva'r of Indian Point, being an Eskimo, and therefore having no reindeer-herd of his own, actually bought a quantity of reindeer and gave them
all to a Chukchee friend of his. This herd, however, cannot be compared
with the usual herds. The animals were all acquired by purchase, and, to
speak correctly, this herd formed the product of trade with the Americans.
Moreover, Kuva'r was content to receive from the herd a certain amount of
meat and skins, and did not look too closely into the dealings of his manager.
Assistants of Alien Origin. - In those parts of the Chukchee territory
1 Maydell, I, p. I59.

2 Maydell, I, p. 465.

where the Chukchee live intermixed with the Tungus or the Chuvantzy, both
these tribes supply assistants for the Chukchee herds. Thus' Ara'ro has Tungus
assistants in all four herds belonging to him. This became possible, of course,
only during the last fifty years, when peace was assured, and the tribes began
to intermingle, at least on their common frontiers. The admission of Tungus
assistants is quite natural, as the Chukchee herds of those localities are full
of Tungus reindeer, which are more valuable, and the care and breaking of
which are better known to the Tungus. Especially is this the case in the
summer-time and with riding-reindeer, since the Chukchee have no experience
in dealing with these. Some young Chukchee breeders take a Tungus assistant
purposely for the summer-time, in order to learn from him the ways of riding
reindeer and of wandering in summer. In many cases, however, Tungus
assistants do not stay very long in the Chukchee camps, the character of both
tribes being so different. The Chukchee does not like much wandering, but
he is ever mindful of the increase of his animals. This care requires great
alertness and uninterrupted attention to the herd and pasture. The Tungus
is indolent, and soon wearies of camp duties. He likes travel and hunting,
and is altogether of a roaming disposition. So, after a few months, he often
leaves the Chukchee camp, which is heavy and too stationary for his tastes,
and wanders far away to hunt wild reindeer or mountain-sheep.
Pau.pers. - The Chukchee camp knows hardly any other social position
than that of the master, his nearest relatives, and his assistants. Later I
shall speak of the' Maritime village, which is founded on another principle,
that of territorial contiguity, and which is much larger than the camp. I shall
indicate then the elements of population of different character; for instance,
very poor families, consisting mostly of widows and orphans, who have no
near relatives, and who depend for their support wholly on their neighbors.
The Chukchee camp rarely knows such categories of people. All families of
the Reindeer Chukchee are connected among themselves by ties of relationship.
Thus a poor family without relatives is almost impossible. Nearly always
some relative, however distant, will take them to his camp and give them
means for subsistence. Even when an assistant living in the camp of another
man suddenly dies, his family, though not at all related to the master, will
be kept in the camp and provided for, however sparingly. On the other
hand, a family utterly friendless, and strangers to every one, are placed. in a
very difficult position, since they have no place in which to live. Of course,
when a stranger family happens to come to a Chukchee camp, - for instance,
during the trade-gatherings, - if they are poor and have no reindeer of their
own to slaughter, the master of the camp, when he slaughters for his people,
may also slaughter an animal for the poor visitors. In times of ceremonial
slaughtering, even Russian and Tungus guests receive slaughtered fawns as a
present from the master of the camp.

The general rule is, that whoever lives in the camp must have food
from one source or another; but after a couple of days the time arrives when
all the guests and the casual comers must leave the camp, and a friendless
family often does not know where to go. For instance, the man called
Scratching-Woman, whose name has been mentioned before, told me the
following about his own infancy. His father was a weak and shiftless little
fellow, who had but few reindeer, and even those he lost one winter in a big
snow-storm. This happened near the Russian village Markova, on the Anadyr
River. Then the parents of Scratching-Woman came to Markova afoot, dragging behind them a sledge, on which lay their only son and their scanty
belongings. They staid in Markova about two months, and could get but
very little to eat; so that at the end of that time the father died, mainly
from hunger, and the mother and son nearly followed his example. Some
Reindeer Chukchee, who came to Markova for trading-purposes, however,
took them back to the Chukchee camps; and from that time on they scarcely
had any place in which to live. Nobody wanted them in his camp; and if
they staid too long, nobody cared whether they had anything to eat or not.
Thus they lived in constant hunger. They did not have even a single driving.reindeer, and were obliged to wander from place to place on foot. When
the boy grew older, he endeavored to get something from his richer neighbors by performing various small services. He carried large bundles of fuel,
carried water and ice, unharnessed driving-reindeer, and for all this received
a piece of putrid meat, or a reindeer-paunch filled with rancid blood. "My
growth was stunted by that hunger," said Scratching-Woman, "and that is
why I am of low stature."
A woman who was left a widow with a son of five told me nearly the
same. "When my husband died," she said, "his brother came and took the
reindeer. He also wanted to take me; but he was so horrid of face, with a
broken nose and a hole in his cheek, that I refused, and said, 'I will go
elsewhere.' Then he grew angry and said, 'I will give you no reindeer on
which to ride.' Therefore I and my boy left there on foot. Our life from
that time on was one of constant hunger and suffering. My boy tried to act
as an assistant in the strange herd; but he was too small, and the master
too exacting. When my son was no higher than the reindeer's back, he had
to spend sleepless nights, like the grown herdsmen. Very slowly we acquired
a few reindeer, and at last succeeded in increasing our stock to a hundred
does, which enables us to exist, though in a modest way."
"Idle Wanderers." - Despite all that has just been said, there are
among the Reindeer Chukchee men who live almost entirely outside of the camp
and family connections, and spend their time in aimless wandering from place
to place. The people call them "tu-mnie'-lei'wulit" ("idle wanderers," 'tramps").
Their position, however, is not an enviable one. They have neither tent nor

herd, and the conditions of life in the arctic tundra make it hard to exist
without any home comforts.
I met several such wanderers. Some were still young, others were already
old; some had wives who wandered with them, others were all alone in the
world; some had at least a reindeer-team of their own, others had but a single
reindeer, and a few had none at all, though wandering in the tundra afoot
in the winter-time is quite difficult. There were men who had neither reindeer
nor rifle, nor even so much as a belt-knife, which to the arctic man is
almost as necessary as his right hand.
Wanderers are much neglected. Hunger is their constant companion.
I mentioned before that the Chukchee eat only once a day, and even the
coming of a guest of honor does not change this established rule. With the
"idle wanderer" it is still worse. In the evening, when meal-time at last
comes, he may, of course, according to custom, enter any house; but he will
be shown a place near the entrance, behind all other guests, and from this
place he is not able to reach the trough with his hands. The mistress of
the house will slip into his hand a few morsels of meat of the poorer quality,
and she will not expect him to ask for more. He will hardly be admitted
into the inner room to sleep; his sleeping-place is in the outer tent, under
some sledge, where the dogs sleep. The next day, if he stays in the camp,
he receives still less food, and is treated with less ceremony. Of course, if
he wants to take part in the daily work, - chop wood, carry water, catch
reindeer, etc., - his position may be changed; but then he ceases to be an
"idle wanderer." Even old men thus inclined are harshly treated. One of
my acquaintances told me the following story:
"Two years ago I was in the camp of Ginu'qai. His older brother, Tatk-Omru'wge, caine
from Umeke't-wui'wun ('Gathering Town,' the name the Chukchee give to Nishne-Kolymsk, because
in the spring the trade-gatherings take place there). He came to his brother's camp and staid
there a few days. Then they formed a corral of sledges to catch the driving-reindeer. At that
time there came many guests, - Vaa'lirgIn, Ru'lti, E'ilhin, Rultu'wgi with his wife. They drank
brandy. Tatk-Omruw e began to abuse Rultu'wgi, saying, 'Why have you come hither? You
are a poor hungry man. You wander about in your hunger, seeking of food.' Rultu'wgi answered,
'There was a time when I assisted men in catching reindeer.' - 'Then why are you not doing
it now?' Rultu'wgi said, 'I am now old. How shall I do it? In times past the old men sat
quietly, well treated by the host.' - 'No, no, you are the assisting one. Why are you sitting still?
Can you give assistance sitting thus?' Tatk-Omru'wge said, 'There, stop sitting, or I will strike
you on the head.' Rultu'wgi said, 'Do it, if you have no shame. Do you wish to shamelessly
assault a man with an ailing back? My back causes me much suffering.' Tatk-Omru'wge grew
angry, and said, 'Well, well, let us have a match.' Rultu'wgi took off his belt, also his fur shirt.
Then he said, 'All right! Have a wrestling-match with me.' Both were tipsy. Tatk-Omru'wge
also took off his belt with the knife. He said, 'No' I will only strike you on your head.' He
struck the old man with the belt upon the head. 'Make yourself useful, quick, make yourself
useful!' The old man cried, 'Oh, oh, oh! Stop beating me! I will assist you.' He put on his
shirt, took the lasso and the walking-staff, and ran to the reindeer. A little time after that,
Tatk-Omruw e asked us, 'Where is Rultu,w4i?' We said, 'He has gone to herd.' Tatk-Omru'wge
roared after him, 'Rultu'wgi, Rultu'wgi, go away, go away! You will fill the whole camp of my

younger brother with a stench!' Then the old man and his wife went away. The whole time they
were weeping. Such was Tatk-Omru'wge, the violent, the richest reindeer-breeder on the whole
tundra. The Luck-giving Being (KInta'-va'IrgIn '), in later time, however, made him poor."2

Such a wandering life is still harder for women than for men; and those
of the "idle wanderers" who have wives cannot keep them for a long time,
unless the woman is also good for nothing, and undesirable for any other
man. Even then, in the middle of winter, the man takes care to leave the
woman, at least for a month or two, in the camp of some distant relative or
of a man who is of milder disposition and does not begrudge a morsel to a
wretched pauper. I remember one pair, - a man Rana'wkurgin, and his
wife Aniqa'innia. Both were quite young. Rana'wkurgin's father died, and
left him, a young boy, with a large herd of reindeer. Before he was grown
up, half of the herd was gone. The other half he squandered away himself,
and lost the greater part of it through card-playing. Then he became quite
poor. At the time when I saw them they both had only one reindeer and
an old sledge. The woman was suffering, probably from syphilis; the man,
too, was lean and weak and good for nothing, as was plain at the first glance.
They even had no decent winter clothes, which is rarely the case even among
the "idle wanderers." The necessity of warm clothing is so imperious, that
even the most careless fellows provide themselves with it in one way or another. The woman tried once or twice to leave her husband for another man,
but nobody wanted her in his sleeping-room.
Another "idle-wanderer," Yaqa'q, was already an old man. His life was
much easier, because he had eight brothers, each with a "front house" in his
camp. He refused to have either tent or camp. He spent his time wandering
among the camps of his brothers; then he would move on and make visits
among the camps of the whole neighborhood. Because of his brothers he was
treated with consideration by the neighbors. Still another wanderer, Endi'w
by name, was of a very happy and serene disposition of mind. Even under
the most trying circumstances, he woula only laugh and remain undisturbed.
Another man, Ele'pqai by name, wandered afoot among the camps, as much
in winter as in summer. His power of endurance was remarkable, even among
the Chukchee. In a most severe snow-storm he could sleep without a fire,
burrowing into a large bank of drifting snow. He staid without food for two
or three days almost as patiently as any wild animal. He spoke little. Upon
the whole, he seemed a specimen of some lower type of man.
The Neighboring Camp.- With the Reindeer Chukchee, who live in
small camps widely scattered over the tundra, the nearest camp forms the only
human group with whom one may have frequent intercourse. It is called
nim-taka'chin ("neighboring camp"). Nim is the root of the noun ni'mnim
I The

deity of reindeer-luck (cf. P- 314)-

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 65.

(camp"). Taka'chin is the noun taka'lhin ("mate," "companion") with a slight
phonetic change. c and 1, in Chukchee phonetics, often replace each other.
If sotne serious misfortune happens, the people of the nearest camp will
always give help; the more so, since they are in most cases relatives, or at
least good friends. As an instance may be given the following story, where
the sudden death of a Chukchee while hunting wild reindeer is described.
"When he left the camp and followed the reindeer-buck, they both ran to the ice on a large
lake. He slipped on the ice and fell down. Here he broke his neck and remained on the ice.
Two nights he was absent from his camp. After the second night, his wife went to the neighbors
and brought them the news: 'My husband is absent!' -.'Oh, where is he?'- 'He was following the
wounded reindeer.' - 'Oh, oh! let us go and look for him .... Well, do you know what direction
we are to take?' They went together, the woman and one of the neighbors. The woman sought
on the land. He took the road across the ice. Then he found him, and gave a signal to the
woman, who also came. The dead man was lying on the ice." 1

Neighboring camps often, in changing the pasture-grounds, follow the
same route, in order to keep all the time in the same neighborhood as before.
They gather their skins and peltries and give'them to one man, who goes
to some distant place for trading-purposes. They also assemble for ceremonials
and races.
THE VILLAGE OF THE MARITIME CHUKCHEE.
The Maritime village is
founded, not on family connection, but on territorial contiguity. Many of the
villages also have the front house (a"ttoora'n, "front house;" or 'a'rmacI-ra'n,
"the house of the strongest one"). The master of such a house is called
a"ttoora'lIn ("that of the front house") or a'rmavI-ra'lIn ("that of the house of
the strongest"). The front house belongs to the family which has lived at
the place longest without interruption. I spoke before of the fluctuation of
the population in the maritime villages, according as luck in hunting changed.
Now, a family like this remains in its place even under the most trying conditions. Their intimate knowledge of the place makes it possible for them
to provide for their subsistence in one way or another. The position of this
house will be in front of the others; i. e., on the right side of the line of
houses, which are all turned with the entrance towards the sea. I have
already mentioned that in several villages the owner of the front house pretends
to have the priority of connection with the local gods, and even receives
occasionally a kind of tribute from the other families.2 Many villages, however,
some of them among the largest, have no front house at all. In these, all
the inhabitants are on a quite equal footing, and the houses are scattered
around without any plan.
The Boat-Crew. - The social unit of the Maritime people who have to
do with sea-hunting is the so-called "boatful" (a"ttwa't-yirin), a boat's crew
associated for hunting-purposes. In olden times, when people used the skin
I

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 26.

2 Compare p. 387-

boat exclusively, a boat's crew consisted of eight men, - one at the helm,
another at the prow with harpoon and lance, and six paddlers. The man at
the helm, who is the master of the boat, was sometimes considered as an
extra member; and the whole crew, counting the regular number of eight,
thus included nine men. The number eight was so firmly established, that
even the sea-werwolves (killer-whales), of which I have spoken before, were
supposed to course around in the sea in crews of eight.
At present, in many places on the Pacific shore, the American whalingboat has replaced the skin boat for hunting-purposes. The crew necessary
for the whaling-boat is smaller than that for the skin boat, consisting of only
five or six men, because the number of oarsmen required is less. The boat's
crew is formed of the nearest relatives of the owner. It is a kind of family
co-operative group, the members hunting together and dividing the spoils.
The chief member, or head, of a boat's crew, is called "boat-master"
(a"ttw-e'rm66In), and is the owner of the boat. He constructs the skin boat
through the efforts of his own small family, that living in his house. For
this he has to prepare, in the first place, a big walrus-hide and a sufficient
quantity of fresh, strong thong. Then he collects the wood necessary for the
frame, - a rather difficult task on those treeless shores, - or, if he is unable
to find driftwood of the required quality, he may buy a ready-made frame,
one of those which are made and sold on the American shore. The wooden
boat-frame and also parts of it are highly valued among the Chukchee. They
form objects of sale, are left as an inheritance, etc. If some part has deteriorated, it is replaced by a new one, and thus the frame may be kept in use
for two generations or more. Walrus skins and thongs, on the contrary, are
often changed, since every autumn, after the end of the sea-hunting season,
the skin cover is taken off from the frame and kept separately.
When the master of a boat is not rich enough to get all the material
necessary for a skin boat, two or three of his nearest relatives, usually brothers
or cousins, help him. Then they are all considered "boat's masters." The
oldest of them sits at the helm and directs the hunting-expedition; but, if his
luck in hunting does not seem very great, he may give up his place to one
of the others.
Whaling-boats are bought from the Americans or from local traders
who deal with American whalers. Whalebone, fawn-skins (black or spotted),
ready-made clothes of reindeer-skin, walrus-tusks, etc., are given in exchange
for it. Since the value of a whaling-boat is considerably greater than that
of a skin boat, being about twenty or thirty large slabs of whalebone, the
purchase of such a boat is difficult for one man. Still the question is practically
decided by the success in whale-hunting. If at least one good whale has
been killed in a village, several families will be able to buy new whaling-boats
the next summer. If not, no whaling-boats are bought.
79-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

Some boat-masters take whaling-boats on credit from Kuva'r of Indian
Point, and from other rich native merchants. The whole amount has to be
paid in two or three years. Of course, these are only second-hand boats,
several years old, generally all patched up, and consequently cheaper in price.
Still, without a successful catch of whales, it is quite difficult to pay even
for these.
A man who has an extra boat often gives the use of it to some of his
neighbors. It is contrary to the sense of justice of the natives to allow a
good boat to lie idle on shore, when near by are hunters in need of one.
In such a case a boat-crew is also formed, under the direction of one who is
considered to be the boat-master, and responsible for the boat. Nothing is
paid for the use of the boat, even when the hunt has been exceedingly successful; as, for instance, when a whale has been killed. To pay for such use
is believed to endanger the "hunting-luck." In the case of a very successful
hunt, however, the boat-master will immediately buy the boat, and thus have
it in his possession.
To cite an example, Kuva'r told me that one year he was making a
trip to St. Lawrence Island in a boat that belonged to one of his neighbors.
On the way they had the very rare chance to kill a polar bear in the water.
Polar bears in the Pacific are much rarer than whales, though they bring less.
On returning home, Kuva'r kept the boat in his possession, and gave its
owner another boat of his own, which was much larger and of better construction than the other. Kuva'r, it is true, is an Eskimo, but the same rule
exists among the Chukchee. On the other hand, when a man has killed a
whale for the first time in his life, he must sell his boat and buy another.
When I asked for the reason of this custom, the natives explained that it was a
kind of sacrifice to the killed whale. The owner gives away the boat that
has helped to kill the whale, and takes another, "still innocent."
The boat-master sits at the helm. This is the place of honor, and his
by right. Among the Russians and the Russianized natives of the Kolyma,
Indighirka, and other polar rivers, the place of the master is always with the
hand on the helm. Even when a local trader travels on the river with hired
assistants, he sits at the helm. He who leaves this place to another man,
and sits idly in the middle of the boat, is considered effeminate.
The Chukchee families are so small, that the eight or six members of
the crew may belong to four or even five families. Moreover, a father and
son often count as but one paddler, because they replace each other. The
elderly father goes only on the shorter trips; the son, on the long autumn
expeditions, when the sea is rough and the cold severe. Among the families
that form the boat's crew, besides the relatives, may also be included the
families of friends, of close neighbors. All such families have their houses in
the same part of the village. They act in friendly accord in most cases;

63 I

for instance, in their trade with whalers, or in winter expeditions with dogs.
The boat-crew forms an element of social life more or less lasting. "This
village has three boat-crews," say the natives. I was told, for instance, that
in the village of Iine'en, in the last epidemic of measles, out of three boatcrews, only one was left. The two others had died out. Membership in a
boat's crew does not establish permanent obligations, however. Occasionally
a man may, after the season is spent, leave one boat's crew, and, when
summer comes again, join another; or, more frequently, if he has had good
luck, he may construct or buy a boat of his own and form a new boat's crew
from among his relatives and friends.
A boat's crew, and a boat's master at the head of it, exist also among
the Asiatic Eskimo. The master of the boat is called umia'lik (from u'miak,
"boat'). The same institution seems to exist everywhere among the American
Eskimo. The term umia'lik for the master of the boat is used on the whole
Arctic coast of America, from Point Barrow to Greenland.2 Murdoch calls
the umia'lik a regular and wealthy aristocratic class. Rink says only that the
owner of a boat is considered as chief of the family. The masters of the boats
of the Maritime Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo, notwithstanding their rights of
ownership in the boats, cannot be called an aristocratic class and their influence
in social affairs is very limited. I shall speak of this in more detail when
treating of the Asiatic Eskimo.
Distribution of Products of the Hunt.
The spoils of the hunt are
divided as follows. Small seals are taken by those who have killed them.
The Chukchee say that these seals do not form an important object of the
hunt, because they may be killed singly, even directly from the shore: therefore they are not included in the common products. The master of the boat,
however, is given a seal or two, even when he has killed none himself.
The meat and the blubber of thong-seals and walrus are divided in equal
portions among all the members of the crew. The heads are taken by the
master, and the tusks of the walrus go with the head. In due time these
heads figure at the ceremonial of heads. Then the walrus-tusks are divided
among those families of the crew that consist of brothers and cousins of the
master. The other members of the crew receive only a part of the blubber
from "under the whiskers" of the walrus; i. e., from the fore-part of the muzzle.
In dividing the hides of the walrus, the master takes that of the first one
caught; the man at the prow takes the second; and the following hides are
taken by the paddlers, one after another. If the number of walrus killed is
too small, the distribution may be continued in order the next year. Often,
however, walrus-hides are split on shore, and the number of the shares is
thus doubled. With thong-seals, whose hides are used for thongs and boot-soles,
and also form one of the principal articles of value in trade or exchange
I

Murdoch, Point Barrow Eskimo, P- 428.

2 Rink, p. 25.

63t2

with the Reindeer people, the rule of distribution is somewhat more complicated.
When thong-seals are abundant, each man takes a hide, beginning with the
master. When they are scarce, the middle part of each hide is cut up and
wound into two rolls of thong of medium thickness. The rest of the hide is
cut into eight parts and distributed among the crew as material for boot-soles.
The thongs are given to the men one after another, beginning with the master,
as described. In modern times, instead of this rule of distribution, the hides
of thong-seals are often taken by those hunters who have killed the respective
animals, which are thus excluded from the common stock. This new way is
not approved by public opinion; still it is more and more frequently adopted.
With the whale, the meat, as has been mentioned, belongs to the whole
village, generally to whoever wants to take part in the carving. The bones
of the jaw are taken by the one who first noticed the whale. The whalebone
is divided equally among all the participants of the hunt, and is distributed
by the master, who reserves the best and longest slabs for himself. The
man who dealt the mortal blow, usually the one who sits at the prow, has
the right to choose his portion next after the master. When the boat comes
ashore, the master will take some of the smaller slabs, which are not used in
trade, and distribute them among the onlookers.
I was told that in former times, as many as fifty years ago, after each
successful catch, a large part of the best whalebone was distributed among
all the inhabitants of the village. The price of the whalebone was lower, and
whales more abundant. The rich people had also an old supply not yet sold
to the Americans. At present good whalebone is too valuable and rare to
be thus distributed. This last information was given me by a native, for my
guidance. In most cases, however, the whale is killed, not by a single boat,
but by two, three, or several boats. One of the boats, that has acted foremost, is considered as the "principal boat," the others are only "assistant boats."
Then the whalebone is divided along the middle line into two equal parts,
which are called "whalebone-sides" (ti'nqal). The principal boat takes one half.
The other half is divided among the assistant boats; and each boat distributes
its portion among its crew. When a whale has drifted ashore, the meat and
blubber are carved and taken by all present; but the whalebone belongs, as a
rule, to the one who first noticed the whale. "Be it a small girl five years
old, she must take all the whalebone," thus say the Chukchee. "To act
otherwise is a great wrong: he who takes the bone contrary to rule will
surely die."
The same rule holds for the skin of a polar bear killed on shore. The
one who first notices the animal takes the skin. Notwithstanding these rules,
in actual life, the distribution of the whalebone of drifting or stranded whales
leads to much quarrel and strife. Each one pretends that he noticed the
whale first.

63 3

In the villages which I visited during the last ten years, no whale had
drifted ashore that had whalebone fit for trade. There were some carcasses
of animals killed by American whalers, who take only the whalebone, and
leave the huge body floating in the ocean. Other stranded whales were of
species with short white slabs, which have no trade value, so that the
question of distribution of whalebone during all this time did not appear in a
practical form.
Dr. Franz Boas says about similar regulations among the Central Eskimo,
"A bear or a young seal belongs to the man who first sees it, no matter who
kills it. A ground-seal belongs to all men who take part in the hunt, the
skin especially being divided among them. A walrus is cut up at once into
as many parts as there are hunters, the one who first struck it having the
choice of the parts, and receiving the head. A whale belongs to the whole
settlement, and its capture is celebrated by a feast. 1 As to the rights of
the first finder, Dr. Rink says about South Greenland, "In South Greenland,
where bears are rarely seen, it is said, on a bear being killed, it belongs to
whoever first discovered it, setting aside altogether the person who killed it." 2
As to the rarity of polar bears, the Pacific villages of the Chukchee and Asiatic
Eskimo are exactly in the same condition as South Greenland, for bears do
not often stray into these regions.
The winter hunting on the ice is carried on individually. Still, a man
who has killed a walrus or a thong-seal takes the whole carcass only in case
he is all alone on the ice. If others are present, each onlooker has a right
to take a part. Usually, when a man has killed one of these animals, all those
who have noticed his good luck start on the run for the place of killing.
The rule of distribution is as follows: Of a thong-seal, the hunter takes the
hide, the head, and both shoulder-blades; the first-comer takes the pelvis;
the second-comer, the right hind-leg; the third-comer, the left hind-leg; the
fourth one, the brisket; the fifth, the lower ribs, with a corresponding slice
of blubber all around the body; the other ribs are divided among the other
claimants. The last-comers receive some piece of fresh meat of the animal.
All this, of course, occasions much strife and even scuffling. If only one
comes, the animal is simply cut in two, the hunter taking the upper part, and
the other man the lower part. Carvings in bone, of the Chukchee and Eskimo,
often represent such halves of the thong-seal, accurately cut off and loaded
on a sled, ready to be conveyed to the shore. Of walrus, the hunter takes
the hide, the head, and the backbone, with all the fat of the back. All other
meat and fat are divided among all those present. The choicest morsels are
given to the older men.
The principle of competition by running is in vogue also, under similar
I

rn
os,CnrlEkio .5z
Franz Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 582-

2 D.

H.Rn,p29

2 Dr. H.

Rink, P. 29.

circumstances, among the Reindeer Chukchee. For instance, if several men
are walking together, and one of them notices from afar a mammoth tusk
protruding from the ground, as sometimes happens on the tundra, they all
start running towards it. He who arrives first may take the find. This, too,
leads to a scuffle, and even to murder. The same principle of rushing and
grabbing whatever comes first to hand, is applied in the ceremonial of wildreindeer heads.'
Paupers. - Families of paupers without friends or relatives are met with
in the Maritime villages much more frequently than in the Reindeer camps.
Maritime life is much harder, more subject to the danger of death when the
hunt is going on, and to the fear of hunger when it has ceased, or has been
stopped by storm. The village is more thickly populated, and the familyconnection of the Maritime people is closer than among the Reindeer men.
Still the charity shown by the Maritime people to their neighbors is much
greater than is the case among the Reindeer men; so that poor families may
support themselves through gifts received from other, better situated families
of the village. A successful hunter, on coming ashore, is met by widows and
orphans, to whom he throws down some morsels of the meat he has brought.
Then perhaps he will even send a piece or two to those of his near neighbors who for some reason were absent from the shore. Even in times of hunger,
the poorest family will receive at least a little, until death by starvation
threatens the whole community. Then the last morsel is kept by everybody
for his own housemates. In this of course there is much difference, according
to the temper of the giver. "Bad men give nothing," say the Chukchee.
"Give at least to the nearest door."
The tales, however, are frill of descriptions of poor families that could
get nothing from their bad neighbors, and nearly died from hunger. I will
only mention the very popular tale about the orphan, which is known also
among the Eskimo, Asiatic and American.
"In a maritime village were many houses. A scabby orphan lived in the last rear house all
alone by himself. He found a lone old woman, always hungry, and said to her, 'Be at least my
grandmother.' Then they lived together, all the time without food. Then the people killed a
whale. The old woman said to the orphan, 'Go and ask them for some meat "from under the
flipper." (The meat from under the flipper is considered to be of poor quality, tough t-o eat.) The
people are coming back, all of them are carrying meat.' He went to meet them. 'What do you
want?' - 'Grandmother says, "Ask them for some flipper."' - 'Nay, ask from those who are behind.'
He went on farther. 'What do you want?' - 'Grandmother says, "Ask for some flipper."' Every
one repulsed him. Instead of giving him anything, they beat him. Then the Merciful Being took
mercy on him, and the hindmost one gave him three small pieces of meat as large as a finger.
These he put into three blubber-holes, and all were miraculously filled with meat. Then they felt
happy, and hurried to cook some meat in a kettle. The neighbors noticed the smoke. 'Oh, what
are the Scabby-Ones doing, cooking meat?' They rushed into their house, took the meat out of
the kettle, and carried it out."

t Compare p. 380.

The tale proceeds to describe how the scabby orphan, under the protection
of the Merciful Being, became a very strong, good-looking young man. He
found much wealth, and at last married a young, pretty girl.
Then those who had but recently practised violence on him, came and
said, each of them, "You are my nephew, you are my cousin." But he
pushed them away and answered, 'I am not yours, I am a stranger. I am
an orphan. You have beaten me all the time.'
Then he and his wife left the village altogether, and went to another
place. The people of the village, however, were unsuccessful in hunting, and
could find no food. The marrow of their bones was all dried up; and soon
they died, every one of them. The orphan founded a living-place, and his
family increased in number and became a village.'
In another tale it is said, that an old woman lives with her little son at
the end of a village. She has nothing to eat, and asks the neighbors for
some liver of the sea-animals they kill on the hunt. At last they are weary
of the old woman. They kill her boy, take his liver, and give it to her in
place of the liver of the seal. She does not recognize it, and roasts a portion
of it over her lamp.2
Though both tales decribe hard life and cruel doings, still they show
that the existence of poor old women and orphans, strange and friendless, is
possible in the Maritime village.
The tales of the Reindeer Chukchee, when describing an orphan, represent
him as persecuted by a step-mother in his own family. He leaves his camp
and wanders among the neighboring camps as an "idle wanderer," or goes
away to a distant country in search of a fortune. The social life of the Reindeer people evidently has no place for him in his native land.
Various authors, when describing the social life of the American Eskimo,
mention with praise their friendliness to those not able to provide for themselves. Hans Egede says, "They do not let those people starve, but admit
them freely to their table." 3 Dr. Franz Boas says of the Central Eskimo
that poor men are adopted by strange families. Particularly bachelors without
any relatives, cripples who are not able to provide for themselves, or men
who have lost their sledges and dogs, are found in this position. Nor are
these men less esteemed than the self-dependent providers.4 All this presents
great similarity to the customs of the Maritime Chukchee. Still it would seem
that the consideration of the Maritime Chukchee for their poor does not extend
so far as it does among the American Eskimo.
Wanderers. -The wandering type among the Maritime Chukchee is
different from the "idle wanderer" of the Reindeer people. The Reindeer

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. i i8.

2 Compare p. 295.

3 Hans Egede, Description of Greenland (English translation, London,

4 Franz Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 58I.

j745), p. 127.

Chukchee move about the country with their houses and herds. This slow
wandering is their normal state of life, but its range is not very wide,
from forest-border in the winter, to the tundra in the summer, then back to
the same places. Longer journeys are undertaken with a travelling-tent, a
set of pack-sledges, and a small herd, which, after all, is but little faster than
the usual way of travelling. A single man, with a couple of driving-reindeer
and no luggage at all, may make a very fast trip of a hundred miles or more.
Then he must stop in the house of some reindeer-breeder and put his coursers
into the herd of his host, in order to give them a good rest. Thus the
Reindeer Chukchee, in all his movements, is closely attached to house and
herd. Therefore a man who has none, and tries to wander about with no
particular aim, is an "idle wanderer,' a kind of social outcast and pariah.
Maritime people are settled in permanent villages; and for this very
that the villages are never moved - they have to leave them
reason
frequently, and make long journeys in various directions. Moreover, they
live on the seacoast, and the sea induces the people to travel, and at the
same time makes travel easier. Many of them are given to trade, which
makes constant wandering necessary throughout their lives. Therefore wanderers
without any special purpose in life are more frequent, and are treated with
no such harshness as among the reindeer-breeders. Chukchee tales of Maritime provenience often describe a man who, from a mere desire to see distant
and unknown lands, has left his native place, and has gone far away. He
travels in summer with a boat, and in winter afoot. Perhaps this last is due
to Eskimo influence, because the Eskimo of America really travel afoot. The
Maritime Chukchee, in actual life, travel in winter by means of dog-sledges. A
man of a restless nature takes some five or six dogs, attaches them to a small
sledge that has been broken and mended in several places, and leaves his
village, sometimes all alone. With this sledge he goes from one village to
another, passes from the Arctic shore to the Pacific, and vice versa. In the
summer time he joins some large skin boat, going a hundred miles or more for
trading-purposes. Trading-boats, in summer, are often short of hands, and an
extra paddler is very welcome. While staying in villages, in the middle of
the journey, the wanderer may take part in some hunting-expedition, and get
his share of the booty. Some enlist on American whaling-ships, go with them
northwards as far as Point Barrow, and farther on, roam to San Francisco,
visit southern islands, then come back to their village, bringing no property,
and having no care of the future.
HOSPITALITY. - The Maritime people are also much more hospitable
than the Reindeer men. Each traveller passing through a Maritime village
will receive food for himself and his dogs for one or several days. No pay
is requested. Of course the traveller is supposed to have some wares or
provisions brought from foreign countries and thus welcome to the people

63 7

of the village. He may have tea and tobacco, reindeer-tallow, or American
brandy. He is expected to give some of these to be added to the daily fare
of the house he stops' in. Still usually he gives but very sparingly, often only
"just enough to smell," as the Chukchee say. The same rule exists among
all the peoples of northeastern Asia that -travel with dogs: in Kamchatka and
on the Anadyr, on the Lena, Kolyma, and Indighirka Rivers; on the shore
of the Okhotsk Sea, among natives as' well, as among the Russian creoles.
Without 'such hospitality, journeying with dogs would be -impossible, because
the little dried' food one can carry on the sledge must be kept for halts in the
open country, and for other special occasions. Therefore people who live along
some well-visited route have to provide food, not so much for themselves as
for possible guests; and the amount required for the latter is more than that
required for the people themselves. Thus the inhabitants of the village
Mi's qan - which lies on the route from Indian Point to the mouth of the
Anadyr, and, moreover, represents the last inhabited point before crossing
the long and lifeless tundra, - often have to feed some twenty complete dogteams, with more than two hundred animals. MI's qan has only three houses:
so this hospitality becomes a heavy burden. The same may be said of those
few Chukchee families who live on the Middle Anadyr, exactly halfway between
Markova and the mouth of the river. Each of these families slays every
summer about three hundred wild reindeer while they are crossing the river;
but the greater part of this large quantity of meat is consumed by the dogs
of Russian creoles passing to and fro for trading-purposes. Every time I asked
people in Mi's qan or in Uinder-the-Cliffs, on the Middle Anadyr, as to the
game obtained during the preceding season, they would invariably answer,
"Enough for our wants, but too little for the passers-by." Then they would
undertake some extra hunting in order to increase their supply; but no complaint was ever uttered by any of them.
In other Maritime villages we were occasionally detained by a snow-storm
for several days. All fuel had been consumed. We fed on raw walrus-meat.
Still some fire was necessary to melt snow and to prepare the tea. In the
more southern villages, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean cooking is done
mostly, not with blubber, but with twigs from low bushes, small pieces of
driftwood, dried grass, etc. Then the house-master would take an axe and
break one of his sledges, or cut down one of the wooden house-supports at
the risk of its tumbling down on our heads. When we remember how scarce
wood is on the Arctic shore, and especially wood that is suitable for poles
and house-supports, we -can appreciate the real value of such a sacrifice. The
few reindeer-breeders who live near the seacoast, scattered here and there
among the Maritime villages, have learned some of this hospitality; but those
living farther inland are very far from it.
When travelling among the Reindeer Chukchee, I met with many un80-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED.) VOL. VII.

pleasant experiences, with much bad language, and with many threats. My
property was stolen, and attempts at open robbery were even made by the
masters of the camps in which we stopped for the night. Nothing of this
sort happened to me among the Maritime Chukchee. Everything was safe;
and we lived together peacefully, with one or two exceptions, of which I shall
speak later on.
The people are well aware of this difference in temper between the
Reindeer and the Maritime people, and the latter are quite proud of their
superiority. This seems the more remarkable, since the Maritime people are
considered more daring and venturesome than the reindeer-breeders, which
must really be the case, as their way of living requires more courage, presence
of mind, and a more enterprising spirit.

"STRONG MEN." - The word "e'rmecIn" was mentioned in the previous
chapter as designating the master of the camp. It signifies literally "the
strongest one," and is used with several other meanings, which are of course
more or less closely related. These are "the strong man," "the warrior,"
"the influential man," "the violent man," "the robber." The Chukchee are
conscious of the difference between the meanings of the word. For instance,
a quotation from the tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons," given in the preceding
chapter,1 contains a pun founded on this difference of meaning. The Eskimo
host says, "This is probably the well-known Reindeer Chukchee e'rmecin"
(meaning warrior). Ele'ndi answers, "Not I. Only you are the real e'rmecIn
(meaning violent man), because by violence you so taught your neighbors that
they do not dare to eat in your presence." But if this quotation shows a
marked difference between the two meanings of the word, another quotation
from the latter part of the same tale, on the contrary, points out the common
element of all these notions, - warlike strength. "Oh, oh!" says the father,
after his young son has made a very successful shot, "then I have created a
future violent man, a robber of the herds of all other people, a warrior I have
created. I am a good man."
In the original text the word "e'rmecin" was used in all three cases.
War and warriors belong to the past life of the Chukchee tribe. Therefore they
are described only in tales and other narratives of the same character. In
modern life, by "e'rmevIn" is meant, first of all, a man of great physical
strength, daring temper, and adventurous disposition. Men with such qualities
may be met among the Chukchee, both Reindeer and Maritime. Such, for
instance, was one of my Kolyma acquaintances, Tuimgane'nti by name. He
was of Maritime origin, but lived among the Reindeer people from early youth.
Ttmgan&'nti was a man of tall stature and athletic build, and experienced
in all kinds of sports, wrestling, running, racing with reindeer. When I met
him, he was about forty, and more or less quiet; but his previous life had
been quite eventful. Being of Maritime origin he has visited most of the
Arctic villages, and quite a number of camps on the route between East
Cape and the Kolyma River. He tried to be a trader; but he squandered
most of his wares, and had to give up his attempts. Two or three times he
was the owner of a large herd, but each time it was gone again after a year
or two. Flie was much given to drink; and when drunk, his temper was
quite dangerous. Thus he was said to have killed on different occasions
Compare p. 6i8.

[6391

three men in drunken brawls or in more serious quarrels. He had also
quarrels with Russian creoles, and occasionally gave many of his Russian
friends a good thrashing. The Cossacks, after one of these quarrels, in
their turn, gave him such a solid thrashing, that he was near unto death,
and only his strong constitution enabled him to survive it. Last, but not
least, he changed wives several times, and, notwithstanding his forty years,
had much success among young women and girls, and was welcomed as a
group-marriage companion by many Chukchee matrons between the Kolyma
and the Wolverene River.
Of the same' type were two brothers, COpa't and Qanciu',' from the socalled Kavra'lin traders.' It has been related before that the Kavra'lin traders
are of Maritime origin, but have reindeer of their own, and travel all their
lives between the Maritime villages and the Reindeer camps, carrying sealskins and thongs, beaver-skins and marten-skins, and also 'American rifles,
knives, etc., and exchanging them for fawn-skins and ready-made clothes of
reindeer-skin, also for Russian brick-tea and leaf-tobacco. I have met the two
brothers several times at the yearly Anui fair. Both were men of tall stature
and of considerable physical strength. Ctpa't was said to have killed several
men. Qanciu', on the other hand, had lost one eye in a scuffle, and bore
deep scars on his breast, the results of old knife-wounds. The brothers were
widely known among the Reindeer camps of the Anui country, also among
the Russian traders and Cossacks. They came usually with abundant means
for purchases, but a good part of their property was spent in buying brandy.
They themselves drank and treated others to drink. Ctpa't was the cause
of the brawl mentioned before,2 which took place in I895.
The chief officer of the Kolyma did not go that spring to the Anui fair.
Instead, his assistant went, a man quite new to the country, who did not know
the methods of Chukchee trading. He brought with him some Cossacks from
Sredne-Kolymsk, who were but little acquainted with the Chukchee, and gave
them strict orders, first of all, to stop the sale of strong liquors. This would
have been quite praiseworthy; but, at the same time, almost all traders, men
and even women, and among others the commanders of the Cossacks,3 brought
a quantity of liquor for sale to the natives. It was labelled as "destined
for private use." The assistant officer then ordered the Cossacks to take
away all brandy seen in the hands of the Chukchee. On the next day, after
the -order was given, C'epa't, who had been drinking in the morning, came
into the Russian fort and met a group of Cossacks. Then he took out from
his bosom a bottle of alcohol, showed it to the Cossacks, and said tauntingly,
1 Compare p. I2.
2 Compare p. 45.
3 The office of a so-called "private commander" ('aCTHbIH KoMaH,pHps) is one of the positions of noncommissioned officers in the Yakut Cossack regiment. Each Cossack detachment in the small polar towns has
at its head a "private commander." Sredne-Kolymsk has one, Nishne-Kolymsk has another: so at the Anui
fair there were two of them.

64I

"There, you Cossacks, come and take it from me." One of the commanders
of the Cossacks came, and suddenly wrenched the bottle from (,epa't's hand.
Then he spilled the contents on the snow. Now, to spill brandy on the
ground is considered in those countries perhaps worse than to spill blood.
6Opa't grew angry and gave the offender a box on the ear, which sent him
spinning to the ground. A scuffle ensued. ltpa`t was arrested, and another
Chukchee was killed by the Cossacks. I saw (:epa't being dragged by several
Cossacks to the block-house which was to serve as a temporary prison. He
had blood on his face, but his spirits were quite undaunted. One of the
Cossacks (the 'private commander" of Sredne-Kolymsk) drew his revolver and
pointed it at the prisoner's breast. He said, "I will kill you this instant, you
"Do it!" retorted (epa't in his usual tone. "I am not afraid, and
dog!"
you are a bad one." All the natives were expelled from the fort, and the
gate was closed; but a number of Chukchee came to the fence, headed by
Qanciu', epa't's brother. Very soon the Russians saw that it was necessary
to free epa't. Some of them invited him to make excuses to the commander
of the Cossacks for the blow, but he flatly refused to do so. "You are all
bad," he said quite openly, "Leave me alone." Then he jostled away the
nearest Cossack, and was gone.
These men were of Maritime origin, but the Chukchee who was killed
in the scuffle was a Reindeer man. He was from the Chaun River, had
some influence over his neighbors, but even by them he was called "bad."
The day before his death he came to the fort and boldly tried to rob a
Russian creole of some iron knives and spear-heads. This was prevented, but
he was left unmolested. The next morning he was first to take part in the
brawl after the arrest of Cepa't. Then the Russians, in their turn, saw their
chance, took advantage of it, and he was killed.
Akimlu'ke, from the Wolverene River, was also a reindeer-breeder of the
e'rmecin type. He was good at all kinds of sport, quick-tempered, dexterous,
and none of his neighbors cared to pick a quarrel with him. The influence
of a Reindeer Chukchee e'rme6in among the neighboring camps, however, is
of a rather indefinite kind, because each camp lives its own independent life,
and has little to do with any of the others.
In the Maritime villages, where the people live in closer contact, the
influence of an e'rmecin is more real. When passing with our dogs through
the Chukchee village Valka'Ltn, we wanted to rest our teams, and therefore
made a stay of two days. One of the inhabitants, (la'nla by name, made
our acquaintance, and offered to sell us a large bag of seal-blubber, with
which to season the food of our dogs. Being Russians and considered as
"rich," we had to buy the larger part of the food for our dogs. The poorer
men usually get it from their hosts without pay. Moreover, we fed our dogs
better than the Chukchee usually do, and therefore were in need of a larger

quantity of food. We paid for food with compressed tea and leaf-tobacco in
very moderate proportion, as is usually done in such cases. Ia'nla, however,
wanted no tea or tobacco. He wanted to buy the leader of one of our dogteams, a white female, uncommonly large, whose name was Arrow. Russian
dogs are highly valued among the Maritime Chukchee. In payment for the
dog, he offered a beaver-skin, two fox-skins, and this bag of blubber. The
peltries were not as yet in his possession; but he intended to acquire them
in the course of the summer from the Alaskan Eskimo traders, and promised
to deliver them on our- return journey in a couple of months or so. The owner
of the dog, who was one of my Cossacks, refused to sell it on credit. Then
Ca'nla, offended at this lack of confidence in him, took back his bag and
returned to his home. Shortly afterward it appeared that we could not buy any
other food in that village. "Ca'nla is the e'rmecIn," explained the inhabitants,
"and he says 'no traffic!'" So our dogs had but a scanty meal, given by
the master of the house we stopped in. In the end we had to yield; and the
dog was handed over to Ca'nla, who, by the way, in due time faithfully delivered
the promised peltries.
We took the bag with blubber, and also a quantity of walrus-meat from
the other inhabitants, and everything was smoothed over. When I asked some
of the people afterwards whether the word of (,a'nla was really of such weight
with them, they answered, "He is our neighbor and a great wrestler.' (a'nla
was not yet thirty. He was tall of stature and strongly built. Hie wore
breeches adorned all over with red tassels,' and held himself always ready for
a wrestling-match. The house we stopped in was the "front house;" and the
master of it was richer than Ca'nla, though the influence of Ca'nla seemed to
be greater among the inhabitants. I should mention, however, that in the
Maritime villages, as a usual thing, the strongest man is also the richest,
because, on account of his physical resources, he is more successful in hunting
than others. Moreover, the front-house family is generally the strongest and the
richest, and its head plays the e'rmecin among the other people. From this
also sprang the maritime term for the front house, a'rmaci-ran ("the house
of the strongest"). Among the Reindeer Chukchee, wealth in reindeer does
not depend so much on physical strength, and there are cases where the
"strongest man" is also the poorest, as will be shown presently.
"VIOLENT MEN." - In the sense of "violent man," robber," the term
"e'rmecin" is used as much by the Reindeer Chukchee as by the Maritime;
but as to the social position of the "violent men," I would call attention to
a very interesting difference between both branches of the tribe.
The most prominent among the "violent men" of the Reindeer Chukchee
is the poor assistant, who uses his physical advantages as means of violence
against the "front" family of the same camp. I will relate a very characterI Compare p. 287.

istic story, which happened in the Chaun country in the year I894, and was
told to me by a man who knew the participants. I give it in his own words:
"A reindeer-breeder lived in a lone camp in the middle of the tundra. He had an assistant
in the camp. This man, Amonai'hin by name, had a wife with a very active tongue. He was a
great e'rme6in, but a poor herdsman, too lazy to run around the herd. Therefore the maste
almost stopped slaughtering reindeer for him. In reality, the master said to himself, 'This one is
quite worthless.' Moreover, Amonai'hin did not like to listen to remonstrances, and the master
felt uncomfortable about telling him anything. Then Amonai'hin's wife began to reproach him.
'We suffer from hunger, living with sucn a wealthy reindeer-breeder. We are just on the verge of
dying a shameful death. I say, I should have him killed.' At first the husband would not listen.
At last, however, he paid attention to these words. Then he followed the master to the reindeerherd. They remained together with the herd. There was a hill there. The assistant said, 'Let
us climb the hill and look around for better pasture.' -'All right,' said the master. They climbed
the hill. The master walked in front, and the assistant a little behind. Amonai'hin caught the
master from behind. He had a knife ready in his sleeve. With this knife he cut open his master's
abdomen. Then he loosened his grip: and the wounded master tried to run, but fell to the ground.
Amonai'hin left him there, still alive, and went home. The night passed. Not until morning did
he say to his wife, 'Well, I have finished with my quarry. Now it is your turn to do something
with yours.' The wife said, 'Ugh, do it all!' - 'Nay, but your plain words were, "Let every one
of us have a quarry of his own."' The woman sighed. 'Then let it be so!' She sharpened her
knife, and hid it in her sleeve. Then she went to the front house. The woman of the front
house, who was a girl, was making fire. She stabbed her from behind, but could not kill her,
the girl being a shaman. Therefore the murderess cut all the ligaments on her arms and legs.
The girl became bereft of all power of motion. Her little brother, who still wore a combinationsuit, tried to flee. The murderess ran after him and stabbed him. Then she broke the front
house, cut to pieces all the poles and sledges, and made of this wood a large pile, adding some
branches of bushes. After that she put the two bodies on the pile, and they were burned.
Amonai'hin appropriated the herd.
"The air was quite motionless, as is often the case in spring. The smoke rose upward in
a long column, and was seen from afar. The Maritime traders travelling with dogs happened to
pass by just at this time, and saw the smoke. So they turned in to see, and beheld the pile.
Amonai'hin felt uneasy. He could not even deny anything. 'Well, well, such a thing has happened here. Maybe I shall also slay both of you. Truly, you would not be able to hold your
peace, would you?' - 'Oh, yes! we should.' They began to make bows to him quite low, as to
a great officer. 'We shall keep quiet. Only give us some provisions.' They spent a night there.
All the time they talked in this way. The next morning he slaughtered reindeer and gave them
as much as their dogs could carry. When they came home, they caused a great sensation with
their tale. The next year the kinsmen of the slain man found the murderer and slew him. His
wife and his son were left untouched. The woman's name is Tfie-6ei'vufie." 1

In another case of a similar kind, the assistant, with the aid of his cousin,
killed the master of the camp. Then he staid with the family of the slain
man and slaughtered reindeer for his own use. For a long time the murderer
slaughtered their reindeer, until the family became quite poor, and finally lost
their entire herd. Then he left them and went elsewhere.2
The folk-stories also contain similar cases. Most characteristic is one
described in the tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons:"
"The Eskimo slave whom Ele'ndi made his assistant in the camp at last perfidiously succeeded
I

I

B-ors
ChkheMtras

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, P. 2 1.

P.
Ibid.,

3I.

in leaving his master on a lone island in the open sea. Then he came back and took possession
of all his wealth. He ceased to be a good assistant, and spoke with his old harsh voice.
"He remained in the sleeping-roomn the whole time, and defecated there in a chamber-vessel.
The wives of the master refused to live with him; they did not enter the sleeping-room, but staid
on the beach, weeping. The next morning the slave said to the boys who went to the herd,
'Bring me tomorrow a young fawn that has recently shed its coat. My excrement has a bad odor
from this old, tainted meat. From now on I will feed only on reindeer-tongues.' They thought,
'He is going to kill us,' so they brought the fawn.
"The children wept every day in the herd. Each time when they 'brought a fawn, they asked
one another, 'Will he chastise us, or not? Perhaps we have grown stronger by this time.'
"Ele'ndi was miraculously saved by birds, and came to the camp. He met one of his wives
in the open, and said to her, 'Go and say to the boys, "The next time when that one asks for a
fawn, give for answer, 'You slave! Where have you gotten the habit of eating fawns and of feeding on tongues?"" Hearing this, the Eskimo roared with anger. He bounded out from the inner
room quite naked. The woman said to him, 'At least put on your breeches!' He put on his
breeches. Then he caught the handle of a scraper and pursued the boys. But Ele'ndi suddenly
sprang upon him, caught him from behind, and shortly afterwards made him die a cruel death." 1

I know of no cases in actual life among the Maritime Chukchee, similar to
those described above, and occurring among the Reindeer people. It seems that,
on the whole, the Maritime Chukchee, though more daring in character, are
of a more peaceful disposition than the Reindeer-breeders. "Nothing ever
happens among us," the people in the Chukchee and Eskimo maritime villages
told me, "though we have no officers. At times of drinking, some of those
who do not drink act like your police, and quiet down those who become
aggressive, even binding them if necessary." Among the Maritime people I
have even met men who refused to drink brandy; while among the Reindeerbreeders such a thing is almost unknown, even among the women, with the
exception of those in the most remote parts of the country, on the border-line
of Kamchatka, where no brandy has' ever been sold. On the whole, the
Reindeer Chukchee drink less than the Maritime 'Chukchee, because brandy
is more scarce with them; but drunken brawls happen among them much
more frequently.
In the folk-stories of Maritime provenience, however, "violent men' appear
quite often; and, in contrast to the Reindeer stories, the violent man is, for
the most part, the richest man of the village, the front-house master. He is
successful in his hunt, and has plenty of provisions; but he refuses to give food
to his poor neighbors, and this is the chief violence he does to them. Moreover, he beats them, turns them out of his house, and in every way and manner
shows them his superiority and brutal contempt. The Eskimo of the Ele'ndi
tale is described as such a character.
In another tale, a "violent man" of the village is described as a very
strong man. He goes to sea in a skin boat and kills walrus by the dozen.
Then he ties them all behind his boat and paddles home, towing them
along. When he comes near to the beach, he throws the end of a rope to
I Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 349.

the other people who are standing there, and roars, "Draw me up with the
game!" If they are too slow, he chastises them afterwards. In a number
of tales the owner of the front house is described as strong and violent; and
the people of the rear house, as little old men, poor, but mild-tempered and
hospitable. Among the occupants of the front house and the rear houses
there exists a kind of estrangement, nearly a silent quarrel, which seems to
the narrator to be something quite natural, understood per se. The second
part of the story almost always contains the coming of some young hero, who
vanquishes and chastises the "violent man," takes for himself the best of the
peltries and hides, and leaves the rest to the poor neighbors. Thus, in the
tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons," the victorious warrior severely chastises the
vanquished front-house master, and then says, "Now, who has a grudge against
him?" Every one comes forward. All kick him, because they are angry at
him (even a mouse may have anger). Then the guest says, "Well, well,
help me to arrange for my departure. You may take this house, with all its
wealth, but the object of my request bring here instantly." They bring twenty
large hides and twenty coils of thong. These he carries to his sledge.'
In the Maritime folk-stories a "violent man" of poorer standing appears
less fre'quently. He is strong but "lazy," and, instead of going himself to
hunt, prefers to rob his neighbors of their game. One of these has two wives
and only one big dog. When his neighbors go to the floe-ice to inspect their
seal-nets, he waits on the shore; then, on their return, he takes from them
one or two seals.
I do not see how a thing like that could have really happened, unless
in a very small village, where the hunters are so few that they cannot resist
the assaults of one violent man. The tale, however, proceeds to describe how
the neighbors, annoyed by the tribute, kill the "violent one." In course of
time his little boy grows up and takes revenge on the murderers.
WARS AND WARRIORS. - As already stated, the word "e'rmecin" is also
used in the sense of "warrior." Tales about past wars are numerous among
the Chukchee, and form, to a certain degree, a separate division of folk-stories,
which is called aqalile'tkin pi'inilte ("[from those who led] war tidings"). Wars
are described as a series of surprises, nightly attacks, and murders of the
sleeping. In some cases, on the contrary, the attacking party openly defies
the enemy, and invites them to come in equal numbers, so that both sides
may be in an equal position. Thus, in the tale of "Ta'lo the Ta'n nin
Nursling," the hero meets ten Ta'n iht, covered with armor, and. kills nine of
them with his small whalebone knife. The tenth tries to flee, but Ta'lo catches
him by the back of his clothing. "Stay a while! I do not want to kill you,
I want to ask you a question: How many people- in your houses are fit for
fighting?" - "None. There are only old men and youngsters." -"When will
I Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 346.

8I-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

these youngsters become warriors? Shall I come next year?" - All right,
come next year. Meanwhile they will grow and become stronger, some at
least." The episode is repeated in other tales. I must mention also that the
Chukchee are described as less perfidious, and as dealing more frankly with
their enemies, than the other tribes; so that it would seem that treachery at
least is not considered as one of the virtues of war.
I was told that all kinds of incantations were used in war, but none have
been preserved in the memory of the people. A tern (Tringa Temmincki)
was considered to be a sentinel of the Chukchee tribe (Ci'Cvi, "looking one"),
because, on the approach of the enemy, it would fly up with a warning cry.
Therefore a party of warriors, when stopping for a night on the open tundra,
would apply to that bird, and ask it to guard them against a sudden attack.
A battle is a series of single fights. To be fit for fighting, every warrior
undergoes hard training, and spends all his leisure in various exercises. The
tales abound in descriptions of such exercises. The hero must run for long
distances, drawing heavily-loaded sledges. He carries stones and timber, jumps
up in the air, but, above all, he fences with his long spear. He performs
this exercise quite alone; and the chief feature of it is the brandishing of the
spear with the utmost force, so that it bends like a piece of raw reindeer
leg-skin. He also practises shooting with the bow, and uses for this purpose
various arrows, sharp and blunt. From all these exercises he acquires great
skill and agility. He can kill twenty men, darting from one to the other with
the swiftness of an ermine. When he is shot at, he avoids the arrows by
springing to one side, or parries them all with the butt-end of his spear, or
simply catches them between the fingers and throws them back. Only when
quite exhausted from the fatigue of fighting, can he be wounded and vanquished.
The best warriors of other tribes - for instance, of the Yukaghir - are
described in corresponding tales as catching arrows between the fingers, and
as avoiding the blows of the spear by the quickness of their motions. The
Chukchee ideal warrior is so skilled in jumping that he is almost able to fly
in the air with the birds. When paddling in a kayak, he keeps pace with a
flying gull. His build is athletic. When lying on his back, he touches the
ground only with his neck, buttocks, and heels, so thick and heavy are his
muscles. A number of Chukchee warriors are described individually. The
details of these descriptions will be given later on.
Ta'nlnin Wars. -Tales of wars may be divided into two unequal groups.
The larger group refers to the wars of the Reindeer Chukchee with Ta'nwnit.
These wars took place in the interior of the territory, and the Maritime people
took little part in them. The smaller group refers to wars on the sea-coast
between the Chukchee and the Eskimo. Several interesting stories belong to
the first group, and some are even epic in character. The whole may perhaps be considered as an embryo of a Reindeer Chukchee epos.

The Ta'n nit of these stories are either the Russian Cossacks, or more
frequently, the Reindeer Koryak. The Reindeer Chukchee were obliged to
defend themselves against the invasion of the Cossacks, and even succeeded
in defeating Major Pavlutsky and his troops.' Still the remembrance of this
war is not so strong as might be expected; and the tales relating to it are
mostly short, and poor in details. Those that relate to Koryak wars, on the
contrary, abound in vivid episodes. Some of the tales relating to the wars
with the Russians represent simply the stories of the Koryak war-cycle, changed
and adapted to a new use. The details relating to the arms and the ways
of the new enemy are inserted; but the Chukchee heroes are described in the
same manner, and even their names are unchanged.
War Heroes. - I have already mentioned that in war-stories a number
of warriors figure who are described individually. Their names are quite
popular, and appear in various combinations.2 All these belong to the Koryak
war-cycle. The most remarkable thing is, that one of them is mentioned as
the chief and leader. His name is Lau'ti-liwa'lin, which means "head-nodder."
This name is given to him because he gives the signal for attack by a nod
of his head. It is curious to know that this explanation is half-forgotten.
Sometimes I received the answer that the name of Head-Nodder sprang from
the habit of nodding his head while moving with reindeer over the rough
ground of the tundra. The wars with Ta'n nit evidently tended to develop
the office of a military chief, though the ordinary conditions of Chukchee life
are too simple for such an institution. The development did not proceed
very far; and as soon as the wars ceased, it vanished, and even the significance of the name was forgotten.
Head-Nodder is described as one who gathers warriors for an expedition.
His voice is thick and strong. When the women of a Ta'n-nin fortress besieged by Chukchee hear his voice, they speedily kill their own children, and
the young girls kill themselves. His companions are E9le'nnut and Aiina'irgin.
The latter name means "the clamoring one," and even now is frequently met
with among the Chukchee. E2le'nnut is described as the assistant of HeadNodder. "Who will be my (in-the)-armpit-being-little-bird [ce'chi-va'lin pce'kalhin]?" (i. e., "who will be my assistant?") asks Head-Nodder; and E8le'nnut
answers, "I will be thy in-the-armpit-being-little bird." After' that, they rush
to the assault, shoulder to shoulder.
In another story, "Who shall begin?" asks the little old man. "Let me
be first," says Aina'irgin. Head-Nodder nodded. "Yes, let it be you." "No, no!" exclaimed E"le'nnut, "let me do it! I am also quite a sharp point
of the antlers of Head-Nodder. Let them break it first. Head-Nodder's
antlers are full-sized."
1 See Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 789, and Chapter XXIII of this volume.
Chukchee Materials, pp. 336 et seq.

2 Bogoras,

In still another story, ECle/nnut is described with the following details.
"Ele'nnut has long arms: they hang down lower than the knee. His fists
are like large round bowls made of the excrescences of a larch-tree. His
hands are stronger than iron. E"le1nnut is higher by a head than all other
people. His shoulders loom up in the middle of a throng, visible from afar,
like the shoulders of the wild reindeer-buck in a Chukchee reindeer-herd. He
runs in bounds over the deep snow, throwing up his legs. His track over
the snow is not double, but forms only one line. He eats with great haste,
gulping down piece after piece. All food is slippery for his throat. After
battle he is found in the sleeping-room. He is lying there with a young
woman. His legs are protruding from under the front part of the cover of
the room. Only the trembling of his hind part is to be seen." Aiina'Irgin,
the Clamoring-One, is described as springing forward and clamoring for battle.
To the same group of warriors belongs young (i'mkil. He is of modest
disposition. "There are four strong men," says the story, - "Head-Nodder,
E'le'nnut, Aiina'irgin, and Ci'mkil. In front of Ci'mkil sits his father. The
strong man silently waits till the old man speaks his words."
Of other warriors should be mentioned Nankacha't, - "a big, heavy
man, clad throughout in the hide of a thong-seal. The head of his spear is
a cubit long. In the time of drifting ice on the Omva'an River, he lies down
across the river and stops the ice. The drifting floes are stopped, his body
forms a bridge, and the caravans of reindeer-sledges pass over him as on
firm ground." These exaggerated details surpass the usual style of Chukchee
description.
In another tale he drives his spear into the bottom of the river. The
moving ice is stopped. The ice forms a temporary bridge, over which pass
the Chukchee caravans. The latter version comes nearer to the usual style
of the stories.
In still another tale appears the strong man A"ttimlu or A'mlu2, which
means "bony face." He is called so because his face is quite hard. The
arrows of the Ta'nfnit cannot hurt it. Ele'nnut lives with him as a companion
in group-marriage.
"Bony-Face quarrelled with Head-Nodder, and slapped him on the head with his open hand.
From this slap the other suffered throughout the summer. After that the offended one wanted to
have revenge. He exercised for two consecutive years, in order to equal Bony-Face in strength.
Then he called his brother and went to visit the offender. His brother's name was Yirkitowa'LaGn;
i.e., 'having soft buttocks.' Bony-Face proposed to pay them for the offence; first two thong-seal
skins, then two beaver-skins; .but they refused. Then all four went out of the house. Egle'nnut
sat down upon a sledge as an onlooker. Bony-Face turned up his sleeves. The two adversaries
caught him from both sides. 'What! both of you?' - 'Yes, both of us.' - 'Ah, all right!' He
caught them both by the nape of the neck and pushed them together face to face, then threw
them upon the ground. The snow was covered with blood, as from a reindeer newly slaughtered.
Then he turned away and entered his house again."

The story breaks off at this episode. It is probably only a fragment of
a fuller tale. The name Bony-Face is well known among story-tellers. They
say that he was one of the strongest warriors; but all tales in which his
name is mentioned are only short fragments. It is interesting to note that
this tale represents Head-Nodder as no great hero, and even gives him a
brother with the ridiculous name of Soft-Buttocks. The last name is formed
perhaps in contrast to the hard cheeks of Bony-Face. Bony-Face vanquished
them without difficulty at one time or another. Perhaps these tales are the
reminiscences of some ancient local rivalries, or else an attempt at parody of
the old traditions. In the parallel case of the Russian epic legends of ancient
warriors, these have given rise to the formation of certain parodies, which
are also quite ancient.
Teme'erec, or, in diminutive form, Temeere'ceqai, is a young man light
of foot and quick of motion. His parents were killed by Ta'n nit, and he
was left a little orphan.
"One time the Ta'nfiit made inroads on the Chukchee territory. The people fled, driving
with reindeer. The little boy was walking ahead. The first driver overtook him. 'Take me with
you!' - 'Let the rear drivers take you.' The rear drivers overtook him. 'Take me with you!''Let the last ones take you.' Then the very last one came to him. 'Take me with you!' - 'No,
let them that are behind take you! - 'Ah me! There is no one behind.'"
"The last man went away, and the boy was left alone. He followed the tracks of the drivers.
A small boy he was, but a clever one. He carried in his hands a child's bow and one arrow with
a copper head. The line of the pursuing Ta'nnfiit was approaching from behind, the strongest
warrior was far ahead. The boy looked back and thought, 'What shall I do?' He ran and fell
down, jumped up and ran again. The Ta'nfiin warrior saw him running and jumped down from
the sledge. Then he took off his armor and put it on the sledge, and also the spear. The spear
was a very strong one. The handle was thicker than a man's arm. He ran, leading the reindeer
by the bridle. The boy thought, 'This one will crush me with his nail as he would a little louse.'
'He looked back again. The Ta'nnfiin warrior was getting nearer. In a few moments he would
overtake him. The fur shirt of the Ta'n fiin was very short: it hardly covered his abdomen. The
boy shot his bow and wounded him in the abdomen. The warrior sat down upon the snow.
'Stop, boy!' said the warrior. 'Come here!' The boy was afraid to come. The Ta'nfiln stood up,
took the spear from the sledge, and put it on the ground. He also took off his armor and put it
down. 'Come here! I will not hurt you. It is for your benefit.' Then the boy came. 'There, take
the bow and spear and armor. Put on all of it, take the sledge, and drive on. Do not be afraid
of our people. They will find my body and turn back, because I am the strongest.' 2
"After that the boy came home and lived with his uncle. He was growing fast, and all the
time performing exercises. One time when the people arranged a reindeer-race, the young hero
offered to draw his uncle's sledge, acting in place of a reindeer-buck. He prepared the sledge and
attached the traces and put on the breast-collar. Then he said to his uncle, 'Put the bridle on
me!' - 'No need of it,' said the uncle. 'Go along!' He rushed forward. 'Wait, wait!' cried his
uncle. 'The sledge jolts too much.' He put the bridle on the young man and took the reins.
'Now everything is all right.'
"The trail was quite crooked. He said, 'Let us go straight ahead!' There was no trail. The
snow was knee-deep; but he ran on as if there were no snow.
I All this is only a variation of a well-known episode met with in the folk-stories of many peoples.
2 This episode is popular

in fights, compare p. 552.

among the Chukchee, and repeated in several stories. As to boys' taking part

"Then they came to the place where the race was to be held, and he outran all the drivers
and took the prize. Afterwards, when fighting he used the bow and the arrow as he did in his
boyhood. He shot all at once, and killed his adversary."

Another hero, E'IrgIn, is also described as a young archer, light of foot
and quick at shooting. Near the entrance of a narrow passage between the
mountains, young E'Irgin is standing. He is drinking water from a wooden
bowl. He sees a Cossack warrior clad in full armor coming to him. "Drink
your fill," says the Cossack. "That is your last drink on earth." The Cossack brandishes his spear. E'irgin takes his bow, and puts on the string a
small arrow of whalebone. The face of the Cossack is covered all over with
iron, only two holes are left for the eyes. He shoots and hits him in the
right eye through the hole of the visor. The Cossack falls down and is
taken prisoner.
Other warriors are also mentioned, but they do not play an important role.
Those whose names han been given are known in various parts of the Chukchee territory. I met families who claim descent from one or the other of
these ancient heroes. "We count nine generations (sometimes eight, rarely
less than that) from such and such a one," is the usual expression. "We trace
our lineage." And the families with such a lineage claim a certain superiority
over others, though by the other people these pretensions are but little heeded.
The Ta'ninmt of these tales are, as stated before, Reindeer Koryak. They
are always described as very rich in reindeer, considerably more so than the
Chukchee. They have certain fortresses (wui'wun, fil. wui'wut, a term used
at present for single block-houses, and also villages of the Russians and Russianized natives, composed of such block-houses). It is not easy to understand
what kind of fortresses these wui'wut may have been. The details of the
description are insufficient to form any judgment. For instance: "Then the
Ta'ninit shut themselves up in the wui'wun. They broke down another wui'wun, and covered the walls of the first with its wood. On the roof, near
the vent-hole, is a second story. The best archers stand there and shoot
downwards on the assailants." Perhaps it is simply the underground house
of the Maritime Koryak,l with the wooden storm-roof around the vent-hole.
Such houses are quite suitable for use as strongholds. The Russian accounts
of the wars with the Koryak, in the first half of the eighteenth century, mention
quite frequently small fortresses in which the Koryak used to defend themselves, and which were taken by the Russians. The same may be said of
the Kamchadal. All such fortresses, however, belong to the Maritime people.
According to an oral communication of Mr. Jochelson, among the Maritime
Koryak traditions still exist concerning the invasions and assaults of the Reindeer Chukchee. The Maritime Koryak had fortified villages. Such villages
were placed on high cliffs, on narrow promontories and points of land, or on
I See W. Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, P. 454.

65 I

lone islands not far from the shore. Access was shut off by a stone wall or
by wooden palisades. The Reindeer Koryak also prepared fortified places
at points similar to those mentioned. The herd was gathered together and
pent up in a corral made of sledges, or it was driven away to far-off pastures.
The people remained in a chosen place behind the bulwark, ready to hold
out.' Some of the Kamchadal villages were also surrounded by bulwarks of
stones or earth. On ancient village sites in northwestern Kamchatka I have
still found the remnants of such bulwarks. They were in the form of a large
quadrangle, with an entrance from the sea-side. Chukchee stories referring
to the wars with the Cossacks also mention such fortified strongholds, built by
the Chukchee. One story mentions that the Reindeer Chukchee fled from the
Cossacks to a very remote place, and took up their position under a cliff.
The Cossacks came and climbed the cliffs; then, pushing down heavy stones,
they broke up the fort and exterminated the people. Some other people
made a fort in the land Neten, near Cape Pe'ek. They built it under an
overhanging cliff, so that it was impossible to roll stones down upon it. In
this fort they defended themselves with success against the Cossacks.
Cossack Wars. - The Cossacks, as related before, are also called Ta'n*nit.
The adjective m&'lhi ("fire-tool") is added but rarely. Among the Anadyr
people the name qa'6ak ("cossack") is also used. Qacau'mMl ("cossack-like")
means also "badly, cruelly."
One tale mentions the first impression of the coming of the Cossacks:
"When they first, came, our people were very much afraid of them, because they were of
quite unknown appearance. Their whiskers stood out like those of the walrus. Their spearheads were a cubit long, and so broad that they obscured the sun. Their eyes were of iron, round
and black. All their clothing was of iron. They dug the ground with the butt-ends of their spears,
like angry reindeer-bucks, inviting our warriors to single combat."

According to the Chukchee tales, the Russians treated the natives most
cruelly, they exterminated the people, and murdered all prisoners; with their
axes they cleft the men in twain, striking them between the legs; and they
tore the women in two like dried fish. They would put a prisoner in a sitting
position. Then they would put a rope around his neck, and the other end
of this rope they would tie to his membrum virile. After that they would
poke him in the face with a bar of red-hot iron. The man would bound up,
and his mem6rum virile would be torn away.
The Chukchee fled from the Cossacks in all directions. Then they came
to a stand. Resistance was organized, which led to a successful repulsion of
the invaders.
Some of the tales describe the Russians with a manifest intention of
derision.
I See Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series) p. 795.

2 Compare p. I 8.

"There was a small girl YI'nki-fie'ut by name. Some people had gathered in a tent to perform a thanksgiving ceremonial. They darkened the vent-hole, and began to sing. Still they were
not men, but dogs. Some sang, 'Koo, koo, koo!' Others howled, 'Koon, koon, koon !" Then
the house mistress said to the girl, 'Look there! Who are those singers? Why have they closed the
entrance and darkened the vent-hole?' The girl found a crevice, and peeped through it. They
were all dogs. The Chukchee people came hastily and gave them blows. The dogs fled to the,
west and became Russian people. Some of them, however, remained dogs, and were used by the
others for driving. Those that were beaten got angry at the blows and began a war. 0 dear!
we did not know. Our people chastized the dogs, and they became a people." 2

A story like this, of course, could be found only among the reindeerbreeders, in opposition to the Russian dog-drivers.
Almost all tales mention the name of Yaku'nnin, the chief of the Cossacks.
This name is given to Major Pavlutsky.8 Its origin could not be ascertained.
It is allied to the Russian name 5fiOBWL, pronounced Yakov ("James"); but the
first name of Pavlutsky was Theodore, not James. Yaku'nnin is described as
strong and tall, clad in glistening iron, shining white like a large white gull
(Larus argentatus). Hie stands before a crowd of Chukchee in full armor,
springs up as high as the highest tree, and brandishes his spear. He has a
step-son, or an adopted son, from the reindeer-breeding people, either Koryak
or Chukchee, - a good warrior, who aids Yaku'nnin in many ways. The
defeat of Yaku'nnin is preceded by the misadventure of his assistant. In some
versions the adopted son of Yaku'nnin, who is called Young Yaku'nnin, is
taken prisoner and killed. In other versions, when taken a prisoner, he consents to coinmit treason, and brings Chukchee scouts to the Russian camp.
In still other stories he gives information which makes it possible for the Chukchee to lay hold of the provisions of the Russians. Some of the details
correspond in a certain degree to the real facts. Pavlutsky and his Cossacks,
as well as many other Cossack expeditions, had an auxiliary detachment of
Tungus, Chuvantzy, and even Koryak, driving reindeer and conveying food.
They took part in the campaign half against their wills, and afterwards broke
out in open mutiny, or simply left the Cossacks at an opportune moment.
In the detachment of Pavlutsky there was even some quarreling among the
Cossacks of local birth and the infantry that he brought along from Yakutsk.
I These sounds are represented as long, wailing, monotonous.
They are intended to characterize the
manner of singing of the white people. The Chukchee manner of singing is different, and consists of short,

rolling, trembling, ever-changing sounds of guttural character. The Chukchee often say that the white people
sing as dogs howl.
2 Greenland tradition also mentions erkigdlit, fabulous and hostile inlanders with faces like those of dogs.
Dall, Murdoch, and others translate this name as "children of a louse's egg" (Murdoch, Point Barrow Eskimo,
p. 5I). The Reindeer Chukchee call the Maritime dog-breeders, in a somewhat similar way, "born from dogexcrement."
3 Argentoff mentions the name Pavluchka as used in Chukchee traditions. I could not find this mentioned
in the papers of Argentoff, but have met with it in an article in a Russian review, that related to one of my
own papers. The article mentions that the paper by Argentoff in question here is very rare, and has appeared
in Siberia. I have not come across the name Pavluchka in Chukehee stories and traditions. The Caukchee,
upon the whole, are inclined to substitute for alien names new compositions of their own.

65 3

Local Russian tradition states that part of the Cossacks, annoyed at the
hardships of an aimless and endless campaign, left Pavlutsky and returned to
the Kolyma. As the leader of this act, the name of Krivogornizyn is mentioned,
who was pyatidesyatnik (literally, "chief of fifty men," the second degree of
commissioned officer in the Cossack regiment). During the time of my
travels, a man of that name still lived on the Lower Kolyma, in the village
of Pokhotsk, which is the centre of the ancient Cossack population. He was
reputed to be a descendant of the 'traitor." He was quite blind and extremely
poor. The people said that he was being punished for the sins of his ancestor.
In Chukchee tales Pavlutsky is represented as very cruel. The cruelties I
mentioned before are all connected with his name. He is therefore given an
additional name, "Aqa-tei'nnilin Yaku'nnin" ("cruelly-murdering Yaku'nnin").
He wanted to exterminate the whole Chukchee people. When murdering
people, he would gather up the fur caps of the killed men. Twenty sledges
loaded with caps he sent to the Sun Chief (the Emperor). He said, "No
more are left. I exterminated them all." The Sun Chief answered, "There
are still numerous little birds hidden in the grass."
"Then I will go and
finish them." Therefore, when he is defeated and taken prisoner, the Chukchee, in their turn, torture him and put him to a cruel death. Russian and
Tungus tradition also mentions that Pavlutsky was taken prisoner and tortured
to death. He was wounded and fell to the ground; but the Chukchee for a
long time could find no place in his armor through which to deal a mortal
blow. Only when the armor was untied and opened, was be stabbed in the
neck. Chukchee tradition says that he was wounded in the right eye, then
killed with a knife thrust into the abdomen under a joint of the armor.
Another version says that he was stripped of armor and slowly roasted over
a big fire, and that the roasted meat was cut off piece by piece and thrown
away. Still another version mentions that he was stripped naked and made
to run around on the snow, being urged on like a young reindeer with a
heavy wooden club tied to his head.' All this time he was beaten with whips
and tent-dusters, and every blow drew blood. So he died.
A very interesting tale collected on the middle course of the Anadyr
relates how two Reindeer Chukchee brothers, Ma'ni and Mana'qtun, fought
against the Russians. Mana'qtun was taken captive. Ma'ne, in his turn,
captured single-handed a Russian ship on which a great commander was
travelling up the river. This was done in the following manner. At some
rapids several Cossacks were walking along the shore, towing the ship. Ma'n6
concealed himself among the bushes and awaited their approach. They were
making great efforts, because the ship was very heavy, and they were unarmed.
All their arms were aboard the ship. When they came quite near, Ma'ni
rushed out and attacked them. They were nearly exhausted, and offered little
1 Compare p. 76.
82-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOl.. VI.

resistance; so he killed them all with his spear. After that he seized the
tow-line. The commander was alone in the 'ship, holding the rudder. 'Ma'ne
held the tow-line. "You there! All the arms that you have on the ship
throw into the water. Otherwise I shall let go of the tow-line." The commander took all the rifles and long knives (swords) and threw them into the
water, etc.
All the details of this episode belong to an old Cossack tale which
describes the early exploits of Yermak, the conqueror of Siberia, on the Lower
Volga. The tale'was carried by Cossacks to the Anadyr, then borrowed by
the Chukchee and adapted to the description of their own heroes.
I shall speak about the tradition relating to the conclusion of peace
between the Chukchee and the Russians, and the beginnings of trade, in the
last chapter of this volume.
Maritime People, as stated before, took little part in the Ta'nn-in wars.
Tradition, however, mentions the dog-drivers now and then as joining the
reindeer-drivers; but the dog-drivers are always represented as of little account.
They come in at the end of the fighting, and are referred to in very few
words. Moreover, it seems that the dog-drivers were not Maritime settlers,
but only the poorest of the inland inhabitants, who, owing to lack of drivingreindeer, travelled with dogs. In ancient times some of the inhabitants of the
interior were poor in reindeer, and so kept some dogs.
Eskimo TWars. - The wars of the Chukchee with the Eskimo are
preserved in the memory of the people with less distinctness, perhaps, because
they are more ancient. In some tales a cruel and implacable war between
two Maritime peoples is referred to. The one are described as the Chukchee;
the other, according to the details of 'their material life, must be the Eskimo.
They live by hunting seal, and have never seen a domesticated reindeer.
They travel with dogs, and even these are few in number. Their houses are
underground,' and steadied from within with jaw-bones of whales. The people,
however, are not the Eskimo:'they are evil spirits (ke'let), and war with them
is prosecuted chiefly by magic.
In other tales dealing with the same subject, but of a less fantastic nature,
two peoples also wage war against each other. These are the Reindeer men
((awcuwa't, or (,a'wcu) against the Ai'wanat, - "those of this side" (wotenqa
tkenat) against "those of that side" (En ke'kinet); the westerners ("those coming
leeward," eigi'sqilit) against the easterners ("those coming windward" aiva/La;t).l
Usually under the first name are understood the Chukchee, and under the
second the Eskimo; but this is not quite certain. A large part of the Maritime people must have been Chukchee, even in ancient times; but their role
in those wars is not represented with much distinctness. On the other hand,
even among the Eskimo, those of the Asiatic shore, in contrast to those of
1 Compare p.

27.

65 5

St. Lawrence Island and to those of America, call themselves "Reindeer tribe"
(eaw6uwa't), meaning by this that they are nearer to the reindeer-herds than
"those of the other shore" (Ro'chilit), and the name Ai'wanat, given to them
by the inland reindeer-breeders, they apply in their turn to the people of the
other shore.' They give as a reason for this, that in their traffic with "those
of the other shore," they offer the products of reindeer-breeding (reindeer-meat,
fawn-skins, ready-made clothes of reindeer-skin), while "those of the other
shore" bring the products of Maritime pursuits (seal-skins, thong, blubber).
Though this is quite true, still the contrast is much exaggerated.
One of the most frequent episodes of this tradition refers to a struggle
between a Ca'wcu warrior and a Maritime Ai'wan. In the summer-time the
reindeer-breeder goes to the seashore, and finds there the Ai'wan carving a
whale and hauling to the shore a quantity of walrus killed on a sea-hunt.
The reindeer-breeder is longing for the sea-meat. He visits the Ai'wan, or
sends to him some member of his family, and asks for blubber. In some
versions the request is granted, and the Reindeer-man goes home peacefully
with the object of his desire. Thus, for instance, in the tale of "The Happy
Suitor," the hero visits the Ai'wan, and sees a walrus-carcass lying whole on
the ground. He says, "I come for blubber!" They answer, "Here is the
carcass: we will carve it, and cut a piece for you." He says, "Better not
carve it. It is just a good carrying-load for my shoulder."- "Oh, no! Will
you be able to carry it?" - Oh, yes! if only you do not grudge it." He
lifted the carcass on his shoulder and carried it home.2
Much more frequently, however, the Ai'wan refuses the request. This
refusal is contrary to the customs of arctic life, which require liberality on the
part of a successful hunter, and, in case a whale has been captured, grant the
right to everyone to take part in the carving of the meat. So after the refusal
a wrestling-match ensues, in which the Reindeer-breeder vanquishes and kills
the Ai'wan. Then he carries away the object of the strife. Thus, in the
third chapter of the tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons," two sons of Ele'ndi send
their old father to an Ai'wan neighbor to ask for some whale-skin. The
Ai'wan, in derision, fills with blubber the upper part of the old man's breeches.
The young men get angry and run to the place. A whale's carcass is lying
on the beach. The Ai'wan's working-people are busy carving whale-meat. The
two young men jump to the whale, and, raising their spears, drive away all the
people. The Ai'wan calls to them, "Stop that! First kill me, then take my
whale!" But they pay no heed to his words. He says, "Bring the requisites
for a wrestling-match." A walrus-hide is brought, and also some thigh-bones
of walrus. He spreads the hide upon the ground, breaks the bones into
I The Chukchee name for St. Lawrence Island, Eiwhue'n, is probably connected with the name Ai'wan
p.
(cf. 227).
Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 253.

sharp-pointed splinters, and fastens the splinters all around the edge of the
hide with points upward. Then he smears the hide all over with blubber. This
done, he takes a stand in the middle of the hide, and calls out, "Come on!"
The brothers are still carving whale-meat. They chop off piece after
piece as large as a thong-seal carcass, flinging it over the shallow water
towards the shore. The Ai'wan stands firmly, as if riveted to the ground.
"Come on, you good-for-nothings! What kind of men are you!" The younger
one made a leap high up to the shore. His feet hit just the middle of the
hide. Lie stands there, as if glued to the spot. The Ai'wan says, "Who
will begin?" - "You begin!" - "No, you begin, if you are the robber."
"All right!" He wants to catch hold of the Ai'wan, but, no matter what he
does, the other one stands his ground. He tries to grasp him by the neck;
but it is stiff, like wood. He moves his hands all around him, takes his aim,
and watches for an opportunity.
All at once he sets his hand like an axe-blade, strikes him upon the
neck; and the head is cut off and flies away, spinning like a top. The body is
still standing. The Ai'wan's people are looking on in silence. The body falls
down. The Ai'wan's wife flees to the open tundra. The Chukchee jumps
back to his mate on the wlhale. When they have finished with the meat, they
carry it home. Oh, what a load they carried! 1
The details are quite popular, and are repeated in several tales. Some
others are added; for instance, the victor simply cuts the whale-carcass in two,
takes one half in each hand, and carries it home. Then he flings the pieces
down upon the ground before his tent, and exclaims, "Here, eat your fill!"
There is one very characteristic tale relating to the war between the
Maritime people of this shore and those of the American side.2 It refers to
the struggle between the people of Indian Point and those of St. Lawrence
Island. Both are Eskimo; but the tale is popular among the Maritime
Chukchee, and I collected it among them. I should mention that the other
Asiatic point which is the nearest to the "shore of the other side," the village
Ne'ekan, on East Cape, is also inhabited by Eskimo. East Cape and Indian
Point, of course, served as starting-points in all the wars of Asiatic natives
against those of the American shore.
"Two men of Indian Point, one of them a shaman, were carried away by a tempest, in the
winter-time, with the ice floes. They were taken to St. Lawrence Island, and arrived at a village.
The people caught them and killed one of them, piercing his skull with a sharp drill. The shaman
was left alive and made a slave. He only slept once with them, then he called to his walrus-spirits.
A number of walrus came, and formed single file, so that he was able to walk upon their heads.
After he had stepped on a walrus, it would dive into the water and join the file in front. After
several adventures he returned to Indian Point and told the people there of the fate of his companion. The people resolved to take revenge. The following summer, warriors from every village
gathered on the shore. They came in boats. The whole fleet of big boats sailed across the straits
I

Bogoms, Chukchee Materialsi P- 35I-

2 See Vol.

VIII of this seriesi PP- 7 et seq.

to St. Lawrence Island. They saw a village on the shore, and in a thick fog landed not very far
away from it. The greater part of the people moved inland in order to attack the enemy from
behind. Some few went directly to the village under cover of the fog. One old man said, 'Give
voice, like wolves howling.' They howled like wolves. Then among the Qt. Lawrence people
another old man started, and said, 'Oh, they are here!' The younger people answered, 'Is it possible? But we are on an island.' - 'Oh, yes! Give answer, you also.' Then they roared like
walrus. Meanwhile the larger troop of assailants, those that were behind, were slowly approaching.
All of a sudden they attacked the islanders, and began to kill them. The women, from sheer fright,
strangled themselves. Others carved walrus-meat, with which to treat the victors. A great slaughter
ensued. Numerous women were taken prisoners and carried to Indian Point.
"After four years the St. Lawrence people, in their turn, sought revenge. They came in the
night-time, and succeeded in surprising the people in their sleep. They killed them simply by
thrusting their spears through the skin walls of the sleeping-room. One small orphan-boy, however,

fled in time, and wakened the people. Then the assailants fled to the open sea. The next year
the old men of St. Lawrence said, 'It is enough. Let all the people make peace among themselves.'
The summer came, and a number of the islanders came to the shore. They brought a large number of wooden vessels, and gave them to the people of this land. An old man of our shore said,
'How will you answer them? Give them skins.' They gave them soft skins. 'What skins are
these?' - 'Reindeer-skins!' - 'What is a reindeer?' - 'They are with antlers!' - 'What are
antlers?' So they showed them a part of some skin from the head of a reindeer. They looked at
it, and said, 'Oh, how wonderful! The nose is like the holes in the hide cover of a boat.' - 'You
had better try the meat!' They cooked some reindeer-fat. - 'Oh, well! it is like blubber.' Then
they ate of it. 'Oh, it tastes good!' They went away and left one man. He was a shaman; and
the people of this shore made him a prisoner in the same way as the islanders did four years ago
to one of our people."

This is a very typical description of a war between two Maritime people
living on opposite shores of Bering Sea.
Tungus and Yukaghir Wars. - Chukchee intercourse with the Tungus
is quite recent, and almost nothing of it is reflected in the folk-stories. One
or two tales relating to it are quite short, and poor in details. The tales of
the eastern Tungus, on the contrary, contain a number of details about the
coming of the Chukchee and their struggle with the Tungus inhabitants of
the land. As to the Yukaghir, the Chukchee tales hardly mention them.
Yukaghir tradition, on the contrary, asserts that the Chukchee and the Yukaghir
were friendly among themselves; and one time, when a certain Chukchee was
killed unintentially by the Yukaghir, and they saw his face, they exclaimed with
much sorrow, "Sun, look on, we have killed a brother."' But the Chukchee
tales cQntain nothing about the Ve'emilit ('river-settlers"), the name used for
the Yukaghir.
In/er/rie5al Wars. - As to wars among the various parts of the Chukchee tribe, the tales mention some cases of such. Among the Reindeer
Chukchee certain remote groups are even now looked upon with much distrust:
such as the people of Chaun, by those of the whole Kolyma country; and,
by the Pacific part of the tribe, those of the Telqa'p tundra 2 and the so-called
Ye'lkelit of the Upper Anadyr River and of its tributary the White River.
These branches of the Reindeer Chukchee are generally spoken of as "bad"
I Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, p. x.

2 Compare p. 27.

people, poor and reckless. They pay back in kind, and even scuffles often
arise on the ground of mutual taunting.
One tale relates how Head-Nodder, E"le'nnut, and Aiina'irgin, set off
against the Koryak.
"On the way they visited the Aiva'La!t.' They were living on the shore of a lake. The lake
was large, and the ice on it quite thick. One water-hole was cut in the middle of the lake. 'Go
and fetch some water!' said Head-Nodder to the younger people. Some went for water. Across
the water-hole stands Ta've with wide-spread legs, the big man, the strong one. "What do you
want?' - 'We want water.' - 'You shall not have it.' - They went back. 'Why have you not
brought water?' cries Egle'nnut. 'Ta've did not let us! Now go yourself.' - 'I will go!' cries
Aifia'Irgin. He took the kettle and descended from the shore. Then he came to the water-hole.
'Go away!' - 'You shall not have it!' He came quite close, put the kettle on the ice, caught
Ta've and turned him head over heels. He broke with his head the thin ice over the water-hole,
then he hurled him down on the ground. After that he filled his kettle and went back. 'Oh, oh!'
The Easterners seized their spears. 'Stop that!' cries Head-Nodder. 'What strife is this, since we
are of one tribe? Better let us go and try our anger on some other tribe.' Then peace was made
among the people, and all of them set forth against the Ta'nfiit."

During the scuffle at the Anui fair in the year 1895, which I mentioned
before, Ei'heli, "the highest chief of the Chukchee," happened to pick a quarrel
with the people of the Chaun country. A man from Chaun was killed there.
Ei'heli, who was drunk at the time of the scuffle, as usual, saw the corpse,
and said aloud, "Oh, a man from Chaun! A dog dies a dog's death!" He
even pushed the corpse with the toe of his boot. All this became known to
the Chaun people, and they wanted to make Ei'heli rue his words. So the
next morning they met him on his way to the Russian fort, and wanted to
seize his reindeer. He succeeded in getting loose from them. Then they
declared that they would kill Ei'heli just as the Russians had killed one of
their number. Ei'heli felt uneasy, and the next morning left, and made for
his own country. I was then with him. The first five days we travelled quite
fast, from fear of pursuit. Three years before, Ei'heli and his people had
had a quarrel with the people from Chaun, and had nearly come to blows.
Minor quarrels sometimes arise in connection with conflicting claims to the
best reindeer-pastures. The tale of "The Happy Suitor" contains a curious
episode of this kind.
"Two sons of the hero came back from the reindeer-pasture. The elder said to the father,
'A man of the neighboring camp is pasturing his reindeer on our grounds.' The father said, 'Why
is he angry at us, that he acts in such a manner? This is our fall pasture. Is there not room
enough farther on? What has angered him?' Then he said, 'Take that, and stick it into the
ground there.' He gave them a large arrow with a wooden head. 'With this I want to recover
my pasture. This is the sign of interdiction of use.' They went to the pasture and put the arrow
there. In the fall they drove their herd towards that pasture. Then they could not find the arrow.
The other man had taken it away, and the pasture was quite trampled down. At last they found
an old fireplace, and there a remnant of the arrow, all charred. The man bad used it to boil some
soup for himself, so large was the arrow. Some time after that, they pitched their tents in a new
I

Easterners. The Chukchee of the Telqa'p and of the Anadyr River are called by this name (cf p. 27).

place. Then they saw the other man passing by with a caravan of sledges. The pack-sledges were
following one behind another in a long file. The old man took his bow and five arrows and killed
five reindeer one after another, so that five sledges were left without driving-animals. The people
of the offender had to attach their own driving-reindeer to the sledges, and to walk slowly afoot.
So the old man had his revenge for the burnt arrow."

As to the Maritime Chukchee, I mentioned a feud between the villages
Lu"'ren and Ya'nra-nai, which lasted through more than ten generations, and
has not been smoothed over even at the present time.'
SLAVES. - The term for a male slave was pu'rel, and for a female slave
iia'uchin. The latter is simply a variation of the word ine'us qat ("woman").
Other synonymes of the word pu'rel are a8mu'lin, vi'yolin, gupi'lin. Properly
speaking, pu'rel was a captive of another tribe, or perhaps a man of the same
tribe who was enslaved, in lieu of blood-revenge. I shall treat of this later
on. AYmu'lin signifies also "weak one," "weakling," and is used as an invective, especially with the superlative prefix ciq (ciq-aemu'lin, "a very weak one").
Vi'yolin signifies "assistant," and is used even for some of the benevolent
spirits. GQupi'lin signifies "a working-man," and is applied to all workers,
male or female, even those belonging to one's own family. Nevertheless all
these terms are used in a contemptuous sense, and may be used as invectives.
They are applied also to the real slaves almost without discrimination.
In modern life slaves hardly exist. The remembrance of them, however,
is fresh. For instance, two of my acquaintaces - one Ara'ro, a very rich
reindeer-breeder of the western tundra; and the other, Aiinanwa't - still
declared themselves to be descendants of captive slaves of Ta'n iiin origin;
and even their neighbors sometimes taunted them with the fact, and called
them pora'lcinin ("piece of a slave"). The line of descent was removed several
generations. Still Aiinanwa't asserted that he himself was a Ta'n-nin, though
of course even his great-grandfather spoke only Chukchee and lived among
that tribe. Even the special incantations which Aiinanwa't possessed, as does
almost every Chukchee reindeer-breeder, mentioned his Ta'n-nin and A'talTa'n nin (Chuvantzy) origin.
The tales often make mention of slaves, male and female, taken as
prisoners of war. The tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons" gives a detailed description of an enslaved prisoner of Ai'wan origin. The hero vanquishes him
in single fight. Then, in order to weaken his future powers of resistance and
to break his spirit, he beats him with a heavy club all over the muscles and
fleshy parts of the body. After that he ties him firmly to a pole, and carries
him away like a log. The slave is suffering, and cries, "I am thirsty!" One
time they give him water; another time they do not care to do so. When
brought to the house of the victors, he is. made a reindeer-herdsman; and
1 Compare p. 50.

66o

when he does not give full satisfaction, the master severely chastises him.
The slave repays him with treachery, and is finally killed by the master.
Half-grown boys and girls were considered as-best fitted to be taken as
slaves. Sometimes numbers of them were taken with the herds and kept with
them, especially as they knew their own herd better than the victors. Thus,
in the tale of "Ta'lo, the Ta'n nin Nursling," the hero, after vanquishing the
Ta'n nit, takes fifteen herds, and with them eighty young slaves. All other
prisoners are deprived of life. In the tale of "The Transformed Shaman' the
hero takes a number of herds and combines them. Each herd had its own
young herdsmen, who formed quite a throng. When coming home, the hero
divides the booty into two parts, - the reindeer as well as the herdsmen,
and gives one part to his brother.' In the course of time, such captives
mixed with the Chukchee people, the herds were slaughtered and consumed
by the victors, and a part of them fell into the possession of their herdsmen.
In the tale of "Ele'ndi and His Sons," it is said that even the treacherous
Ai'wan slave, if he should behave properly, would ultimately receive from
the master a portion of the herd, though it was not even acquired in war
and was the master's old property. Captive women were hard-worked, and
were made the wives of their masters. Sometimes they were sold from one
camp to another; but, on the whole, their position was little different from
that of the Chukchee women.
The price of a grown woman was a large bag of tobacco (72 or io8
pounds Avoirdupois).2 Young girls were cheaper. I shall show in the last
chapter that captive women from the American shore were sold by the Chukchee traders even to Russian settlers.
I mentioned before, that in modern times no slaves have existed among the
Chukchee. I was told in the village of Valqa'L&n that some years ago, in
one of the reindeer-camps of the vicinity, an old woman died who had been
captured by the Maritime Chukchee on a free-booting expedition to the
American shore, and then sold to the Reindeer-breeders. In a camp on the
Wolverene River I met another old woman who was also of American Eskimo
origin. She was said to have been bought by a Maritime Eskimo trader, and
also sold to the Reindeer-breeders. At the time, she was an old widow
without children, and lived in the camp of the- brother of her former husband.
The other women, when speaking of her, called her, with a shade of contempt,
"the slave-woman" (nia'uchin).
I was told that in cases of murder, blood-revenge may be replaced by
the taking of a man from the family of the murderer. This man must wholly
replace the murderer. He must perform his work and all his duties. Thus,
in the case of the Chukchee killed in a scuffle at the Anui fair in the year
I895, of whom I have spoken before, the kinsmen of the one killed came
I

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials,. P. 241

2 Compare p. 57-

66I

to the fair the next year, and asked for retribution. They were offered tea,
sugar, and tobacco. They took all this, but then declared that they wanted
the Cossack who killed the man, or at least any other of the Cossacks. He
was to be taken to the tundra, and to live there in the family of the killed
man, to be a husband to his widow, a father to his small children. Then
only might the feud be considered as wholly settled. They repeated the
request the following year, and were again paid in tea and other valuables.
In this case a man taken from the family of the offender had to be
adopted by the family of the victim, and in every way took his place. I
know of another case of similar character. Pe'qul, a man of Maritime origin,
had a cousin who was an assistant herdsman in a large tundra herd on the.
Wolverene River. After a couple of years, the young herdsman was killed
in a scuffle. Pe'qul came to the Wolverene River to seek for indemnity and
revenge. He took from the family of the murderer a nunmber of reindeer by
way of ransom (ki'tkaw); then he also took a young boy, the son of the
sister of the murderer, and carried him to his own house. The boy was
treated very harshly, so that he even tried to commit suicide. Then he was
released in exchange for a new payment in live reindeer. Pe'qul also threatened
to take a certain young woman from the same family. The woman also
declared that she would rather destroy her own life.
I know of no other cases of such replacing of dead kinsmen by a living
enemy; but I was told that in former times such cases were frequent, and
that the men taken from the family of the murderer were treated like slaves,
and had to obey their masters blindly. Otherwise the master had the right to
kill them in his turn. I suspect, however, that this is a rather exaggerated
statement, or at least that slaves of this kind were not frequent among the
Chukchee.
I will also mention the tradition of a war between the people of Indian
Point and those of St. Lawrence Island, of which I spoke before. There,
too, after peace was concluded, a man was left as a voluntary prisoner to
replace another one killed in the beginning of the strife. In modern times I
know of no other cases besides those mentioned here.

83-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

COUNCIL OF THE FAMILY-GROUP. - I was told that in olden times, when
some awkward case in law (akau'ka-va'irgIn, "inconvenient substances," the
usual Chukchee expression for trouble, trespass, crime 1) happened within the
limits of a family-group, the old men and the young men would hold a council.
The old men would sit down and talk about the case. The young men would
stand behind and listen. Likewise, when any trouble arose between two different family-groups, men from both sides would assemble. The old men of
each side would elect one or two speakers, who had to speak in turn, one
side after the other. The old men spoke "for the softness" (am-yerk&`tI), and
the younger men had to obey their decision. If, however, an agreement could
not be reached, or the parties particularly interested in the case refused to
listen to reason, the old men would say, '"Let them [have a little] play"
(nuucve erkInet).2 Then the interested parties, armed with spears, would have
an encounter. Of course, even such a duel would have been better than the
unorganized bloodshed of vendetta; but I am unable to say how far the above
description of the council corresponded to actual life: at least, in the modern
life of the Chukchee tribe, I do not know of anything similar to such councils
and their deliberations.
I mentioned previously that the Chukchee are eloquent in their own way;
so that, when anything happens, at the next gathering of the people - for
instance, during some ceremonial or on the occasion of a reindeer-race - it
is much talked about;' and in this discussion, as is the custom, only the older
and more esteemed people take an important part. From this to a regular
council, however, is a long way. I mentioned in the chapter on marriage a
similar assertion by 'D. J. Melikoffs, concerning the "council of 'elders." This
assertion even pretended to refer to modern times. I expressed then also
my opinion that in modern times, so far as I know, no such councils are held
among the Chukchee. The law is regulated by personal action, and no public
institutions have anything to do with the judgment or punishment of the crime.
MURDER AND BLOOD-REVENGE WITHIN THE FAMILY-GROUP. - The principal
I The Chukchee have no other general term covering the concept
"crime." Two roots, tain and qas m,
several derivations of which are used in reference to crime, express only a trespass against religious prescriptions,
mostly of ceremonial character, and the "bad luck" which is the result thereof. Thus the adjective nIta'inqen
means "bringing bad luck." The opposite of it is niki'ntaq6n ("bringing good luck," "favorable"). The noun
tai'iiikut (pi.) with the meaning of "misfortune-protectors," is used as a designation for charm-strings (cf. p. 353).
The noun qas mu'urgIn means "bad luck" coming from the influence of ke'let, etc.
2 F. Boas mentions that among the Central Eskimo there exists a kind of temporary chief, who may give
orders, but that there is not the slightest obligation to obey his orders (Central Eskimo, p. 58I). In the same
way among the Chukchee the advice of the old men was not binding upon the interested parties.
3 See p. 574.

[662]

crime is of course murder, and the punishment thereof blood-revenge. In
the beginning of my acquaintance with the Chukchee tribe I was astonished
to find that all murders are divided into two categories, those committed
within the family-group, and those committed outside of it. Only those of the
second category are liable to blood-revenge. Those in the first category
were exempt from it, or indeed from any punishment at all. In explanation
of such a state of things, the Chukchee would even quote something like a
formula of customary law: "as one of their own he was treated" (cini'tu li'gnin),
"as a kinsman he was treated" (cice'tu li'gnin). This is meant to express
that each family-group knows their own circumstances best, and is able to
decide about them. The Chukchee would add, "Is he destined to live on?
All the same, he would be killed by a stranger" (Yaqqai' ye'g telelqal? Ttumga'lvalag ecve'va ni'nmInen). This implies that only "bad men" are murdered
within the limits of the family-group. In reality, I know this to be true in
some cases. For instance, in the country of the Oloi River, a couple of years
before my visit there, a Chukchee by the name of Leivite'hin was killed by
his own kinsmen. He was a man of spiteful temper. He ill-used his housemates, and was even cruel to his own driving-reindeer. The Reindeer Chukchee consider the driving-reindeer as first among things "dear to the heart"
(li'filinkin). The terms for blood-revenge (li'nilin, "blood-revenger;" liinile'erkin,
"to seek blood-revenge") are derived from the same root (lini). This root
belongs to the noun li'inlifn ("heart").
One day, Leivite'hin, while on some journey, happened to kill one of his
reindeer by a misdirected blow. After that his kinsmen resolved to take his
life. They said, "Otherwise he will be killed by somebody else, and we shall
have a feud on our hands." So his own brother came to his camp, and at
a favorable moment stabbed him in the back with a knife. This act was
approved by the common consent of all neighbors, because he was a "bad
one, a source of torment to the others" (e"'tqi tawemIn n-I'Irgin), as they
expressed it.' In another case I mentioned,2 a father was killed by his son
and nephew, with the knowledge of his wife, also for his extreme cruelty.
Outside of such cases, however, I know of several others where the victims
were not "bad ones" at all, and the murderers were acting for their own
material interest, Such was the case of fratricide mentioned above. In still
another case, a man of the Chukchee country, Ya'yaq by name, was murdered
by his nephews in the early nineties of the last century. He was a rich
reindeer-breeder, and the young men simply wanted to get possession of his
large herd. On the other hand, Ya'yaq, a few months before his death, had
himself committed a barbarous murder on a family of Maritime people at
I The common consent of the neighbors for the killing of a bad man is of very great importance also
among the Eskimo (compare Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 582).
2 Compare p. 45.

Cape Erri. His deed was of such a character that it could not pass without
punishment; so that the murderers could allege for themselves that the killing
of Ya'yaq by his own people would destroy all grounds for blood-revenge,
and prevent further trouble. In still another case that I know of a man
named Qa'vrttto was killed by his cousin in a quarrel. After the deed, the
murderer married the wife of his victim, and joined the two herds together.
The victim left a small son, who had to live in the camp of the murderer.
Nobody protested against the deed. The Chukchee who told me the details
of the affair said, "What is to be done? This is their own business" (Qailo'qim mi'fikri. E'rrig-li'i; literally, "Of course how, their knowledge").
I will also mention a couple of cases of a somewhat different character,
-although they happened within the family.
A mother killed her boy with a blow of a heavy stick. The boy was
about seven years old. The father was, as the Chukchee says, "a soft one"
(yi'rkum-va'lIn), and nothing further happened. In two cases men killed their
wives, - one with a fire-brand, and the other with a kick of the foot in her
abdomen. Moreover, the second woman was with child. Both murders remained
without consequences. In a third case, however, a rich reindeer-breeder on
the western Kolyma tundra, Qitu'wgi, who happened to murder his wife, had
to pay a heavy fine to the brother of the one killed. He gave nine reindeer,
among them two driving-teams and a number of the best fawn-skins. I was
told, however, that even this fine was moderate, the killed one being a woman
and not very young.
Still another case, also previously mentioned,' where, on the contrary, a
wife killed her husband with the concurrence of her daughters, remained
without consequences for the lack of avengers; that- is to say, the victim had
no kinsmen in the neighborhood.
MURDER AND BLOOD-REVENGE OUTSIDE OF THE FAMILY.- A murder committed outside of the family-group rarely remains unavenged. "It is a bitter
shame to leave blood unpaid for," say the Chukchee. ."Even the remote
kinsmen have to take it to heart. A friend, too, must avenge his friend,
and, much more, his group-marriage companion."
I have already mentioned that the union of those who have to take part
in blood-revenge is designated by a special term, ci'n-yIrIn, "heart-company"
(from the root cn, identical with lint). These are, first of all, kinsmen in the
father's line ("those from the old-buck side"). It is said that kinsmen in the
mother's line ("those from the matrix side") have to appear as avengers only
when there is nobody to undertake it in the father's line. The. son-in-law,
who lives in the house of his wife as an adopted son, is considered as a
member of his wife's father's family, and takes an active part in the bloodI

Compare p. 55I.

665-

revenge. The son-in-law, living separately, is equivalent to a kinsman in the
mother's line. He undertakes revenge only in the absence of paternal kinsmen.
On the whole, in all strife and cases of revenge the rights of the paternal
line are decidedly preponderant over those of the maternal. In case the
interests of other groups come into collision, a man has to stay with the
paternal line. The same is true for the Asiatic Eskimo. The people at
Indian Point declared, "In the case of a quarrel, the father's kin becomes
near, and the mother's remote." Still, the saying, that, in case of need, even
the remotest relation may appear as an avenger, is occasionally put into
practice. For instance, when a Chukchee man was killed by the Russians
at the Anui fair in I895, an incident, of which I have already spoken, the
wrong was taken up, first of all, by the step-father of the killed one; i. e.,
by a man who was not connected with him on either the paternal or maternal
side. He negotiated with the officials, and even received the first portion of
the pay for the blood. It seemed, however, that he was conscious of having
no right to that pay: at least, some of it was stolen from him almost immediately by the other Chukchee. He offered to return the remainder to the
Russians under the pretense that they should keep it for the brother of the
slain. In the end, of course, he took it for himself.
From this moment, day after day, various Chukchee from the Chaun
country came to the Russian officials. Some of them declared themselves to
be cousins of the killed one, how many times removed nobody could ascertain.
The others simply said that they were his fellow-countrymen. They explained,
"We have trodden the same ground as he. This is sufficient to make us
feel compassion at his death." Most of them also declared that it was their
intention to get some part of the pay for blood; but the others only offered
a lot of invective, even threatening the Russian officer to his very face. After
that they would go. Still all of them declared that all these doings were
quite useless, and that revenge would not begin until the next year, when the
brother of the victim would come to the fair.
Nevertheless, there are cases where no kinsman wants to appear as an
avenger of blood. Of brothers and cousins there may be none; and the more
remote relations do not care to take up the quarrel, especially if the hostile
family is strong enough to sustain the fight. If the slain one has left youthful
sons, however, the duty of revenge falls upon them, and sooner or later will
be accomplished.
A good description of the way in which blood-revenge was practised, was
given to me by Aiinanwa't. I knew personally some of the people mentioned
and described in his story; and the information they gave corresponded in
all essential points to that obtained from Aiinanwa't. The most remarkable
of the family of brothers mentioned in the story was the oldest. His name
was Va'lirgin. He was about forty years old, well built, strong, and active.

He had the reputation among his neighbors of being dangerous in times of
trouble; but in ordinary life he was of a quiet nature, and abused nobody.
"One rich reindeer-breeder was killed by his camp assistant while with the herd. He had
left three sons, all of them still young boys. The eldest boy, however, was not very small: he had
already begun to help with the herd during the daytime. There was, besides these, a little brother
of the one killed. He was of just the same age as the second boy. After the murder, the camp
assistant, being the strongest man in the camp, slaughtered reindeer as he liked. Then the wife
of the murdered man began to abuse her eldest son, who slept too long in the morning.' The
woman said, 'Your father has been murdered, and notwithstanding this you sleep so long in the

morning!'
"All this time the boys were shooting with their bows, spurred on by their mother. 'T'heir
little uncle, the young brother of the murdered one, was doing the same. The murderer continued
slaughtering their reindeer. Very soon he made them poor, and at last their entire herd had been
butchered. Then the murderer separated from them and went away to a distant locality. The
boys continued their exercises. At last they grew up to young manhood. The next year they were
full grown, and became strong men. The murderer went away to the windward side.2
"Now the boys went in search of him. They had become great archers. They would take
aim at a blade of grass, and would hit it. Therefore they sought for the murderer. They travelled
eastward from camp to camp, declaring that they were going to East Cape to trade. The camps
were numerous in that country, and, after asking among the camps, they at last acquired the necessary information. The inhabitants said to them, 'He left his winter place, and is going with a light
tent to the seashore to get blubber from the Maritime people. His house-mates are travelling
slowly behind, waiting for his return.' These young men were without a tent, having only their
own bodies; i. e., travelling with single sledges, without women and other house-mates. They reached
the place. Then they began to go every day to watch the trail of the murderer, and every evening
they came back. They walked on foot, leaving their reindeer in the herd of their host. The whole
time they carried their bows and quivers upon their backs, ready for action. At last, one day,
they saw a man coming along the trail with a reindeer-team. Behind him, but at a great distance,
the usual line of pack-sledges was moving toward them. At last he came nearer and recognized
them. At the same time he understood their intention, because all of them had bows in their hands.
Then at last he made a halt. They said, 'Now we have found you!' He said, 'Oh! so it is.
Oh! better in the camp!' They answered, 'Did you commit the deed on our man also in the
camp?' So one strung a bow and shot at him. Being an expert archer, he hit him right in the
middle of his liver.3 It was pierced through. Still he jumped up and ran away, not heeding the
wound. Another one shot at the running one, and hit him right in the back. Then he fell down.
They rushed toward him. He was still living, and his eyes looked like those of a living person.
They hacked him with their large knives upon the head, and broke his skull. The pack-sledges
were coming. Then they left him, and shouted to those who arrived, "Now we leave to you your
wild reindeer [killed by us!]' They started home, running. The wife of the killed man had to
pitch camp on that spot. Thus they achieved their revenge.
"After that they left and went home. Then they travelled in this direction, because they
had lived far inland. When seeking the murderer, they falsely declared in the camps, 'We are
going to East Cape;' and their real intention was to commit murder. Only on the sly did they
inquire from their own kinsmen concerning the man whom they intended to kill, 'Where is he?'
To the other people they said, 'We are going to East Cape.' After the deed, they, in their turn,
left with a feeling of fear.
"They travelled in great haste. Still summer overtook them, and they had to remain through
the summer-time. When the next fall came, with the first cool weather they moved right on here.
They went somewhere on the othe'r side of the Kolyma River, and spent one year there. The
I With the Reindeer Chukchee late sleeping is considered a great disgrace for a young man occupied
with the herd.
2 Eastwards (cf. p. 27).
3 That is, in the abdomen.

next year they crossed the Kolyma. They stopped at last just on the border of the western camps,
in the country of the Indighirka. It seemed almost as if they wanted to pass on to the land beyond
the Chukchee (i. e., to the Russian) territory. Only there they resolved to make a halt. So they
remained on the leeward (western) side. Ten years they spent in that country; and after many
years the 'knowing men' among the kinsmen of the murdered one made them (by magic) entirely
forget the past, and leave off their watchfulness. Then the youngest brother was murdered by means
of a spell from a great distance (by those 'knowing men')."

Then follows the episode of the spell. The youngest brother wounded
a wild reindeer-buck that came to his camp. While pursuing it on the ice
of the lake, he broke his own neck. Thus the reindeer proved to be a spell.
This part of the story has been mentioned elsewhere.1 The narrator pointed
out that this man, one of the recent avengers, perished through an accident
connected with the shooting; and when dying had his bow in his hand, ready
to shoot. He had the same bow ten years before, when taking an active
part in their blood-revenge. Notwithstanding the incident of the spell, the
narrator, when speaking of the flight of the avengers westwards, added some
remarks of his own deprecating their lack of courage after the deed. His
remarks are quite interesting: "They fled without reason. Their deed was not a murder. Why have they left their own
country? They have only avenged their kinsman. And if they had staid there, they would have
met no annoyance, since they were only 'exchangers.' It is rather sinful to answer [the avengers]
with murder. Some such even live together, become friends and group-marriage companions; for
they may dwell in union, since they-have accomplished their intention, as they would finish some
great work.2 The others, however, may indeed feel afraid when the murderer has kinsmen who
are hot-tempered. Some also do not kill the murderer. They kill somebody else, a son or a
brother, or another man dear to his heart. They make the murderer suffer from sorrow. They
say, 'You also suffer and repine.' The man who has recently committed a murder feels the utmost
fear; but when retribution has been accomplished, he may cease to be afraid." 3

From all this the conclusion may be drawn that Chukchee blood-revenge
in most cases stops with the first case of retribution, and that the repaying
of revenge with further deeds of violence happens less frequently. On the
contrary, families having a feud, after the first act of revenge, may conclude
peace, and even form ties of friendship. I cannot say that I know of cases
of such friendship in actual life; but, on the other hand, the continuation of
blood-revenge through a series of return-cases does not correspond to the
general condition of Chukchee family life-. The Chukchee family connection
is not strong enough to sustain a prolonged feud: at least, among the Rein1 Compare p. 482.

Thus Franz Boas says about the Central Eskimo.
"Their method of carrying on such a feud is quite foreign to our fcelings. Strange as it. may seem, a murderer
will go to visit the relatives of his victim, though he knows that they are allowed to kill him in revenge, and
will settle with them. He is kindly welcomed, and sometimes lives quietly for weeks and months. Then he
is suddenly challenged to a wrestling-match, and, if defeated, is killed:. or, if victorious, be may kill one of
the opposite party; or when hunting, he is suddenly.attacked by his companions and slain." (Boas, Central
Eskimo, p. 582). All this may have place also among the Chukchee.
3 Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 23.
2 A similar practice exists among the American Eskimo.

deer Chukchee, in all cases of vendetta of which I know, revenge was taken
by the first party wronged, and after that in return by the second party
wronged. In this latter case it consisted almost always in the payment of weregeld or in the use of magic influence. Then the vendetta would cease, and
even the enmity would be at an end. As to the Maritime Chukchee, I
mentioned a prolonged feud between two villages, but the feud was of a
different character; and no particular family blood-revenge; so far as I know,
formed the basis of it.
In folk-tales, cases of vendetta are described almost with as much detail
as the episode of actual life narrated above. Thus, for instance, in the tale
of "Violent-One Murdered" (E'rmec in tI'myo), the man is performing violence
on his neighbors and robbing them of the products of their seal-hunt. They
feel annoyed at this, and finally kill him. I mentioned this tale because of
its description of a violent man among the Maritime people.' In the second
part of the tale it is said that the killed one left two wives. One of them
was with child, and soon brought forth male twins. The boys grew up quickly;
but the family suffered many hardships, and often they had nothing to eat.
The women, however, incited the boys to continual exercise, in order to
prepare them for revenge. They said to them, "Our hunger comes from
the fact that your father was killed by his enemies. While he was living,
we always had plenty. So you are bound to avenge his death, and make
the families of his murderers also repine and starve." The boys obeyed.
They were running all the time, hauling large trunks of trees, and fencing
with spears. Thus they became strong and active men. One day they killed
ten wild reindeer-bucks, and fed the two old women, their mother and her
companion, who were almost starved to death. Then they had a quarrel
with their neighbors, who had killed a whale. The old woman said, "Your
father perished with many wounds in his body. Go now and repay that."
They went, and had a fight with their neighbors. All the men were killed.
Everything that moved on the shore was exterminated. The young children
of the killed men were reduced to starving orphans.2
It is curious to note that the idea of blood-revenge appears even in connection with hunting and fishing pursuits. Thus the Chukchee say that the trapping of foxes, otters, etc., is influenced by the desire of blood-revenge on the
part of animals. One of the trappers told me that every time his traps catch
a fox, he sees the fox in a dream beforehand. The animal attacks the hunter,
and wants to hurt him.3 In speaking of foxes, he called them "avengers"
(li'nilit). Another hunter explained to me that among men and beasts there
644.

I Compare p.
Chukchee

liogoras,

MIaterials, p. 373. A part is taken from another variant not yet published.

3 Another hunter used in similar cases to dream of love-making. The fox would appear to him as a
woman who wanted to make love to him; but when he would come near to her, he would find her fast asle'ep.

By this he knew that a fox was caught in his traps and had died there.

exists an eternal feud and desire for blood-revenge. When a man has killed
a fox, another fox wants to avenge its death: so it rushes to a trap, and is
killed in its turn. The fiercer this enmity on the part of the animals, the
better will be the hunting. For this reason also, in angling, the angler sends
a derisive challenge to the fishes in order to make them come. Thus, in
angling for grayling through holes in the ice, when the fishes are seen in the
water, but do not want to bite at the hook, the angler uses an incantation
as follows:
"Vai, vai, vai, ELa'naw-m&'rga qam&'-10o-ti'npik gagtinimca'w-&-hit;"
"There, there, there, (from) mother, woman- in eating face-kicking
grandparent

having received a lesson-art
thou;"

that is, "Well, well, from your mother's miother, who kicked you in the face,
during a meal you have received a lesson of prudence." Another incantation
used is: "yo, yo, tannnina'qut e'mi?"
"Oh,

oh!

ta'niiit big

where (are they)?"

that is, Qh, oh! Where are those big ta'nfnit?" The fishes are equivalent
to the ta'n nit, the ancient enemies of the Chukchee tribe.
When the fish has bitten and been caught, the angler uses still another

incantation:
"Gik, gik, gik, kirina-taka'lhin qainie'wkun;"
"Oh,

oh,

oh!

old male mate

call him;"

that is, "Oh, oh, oh! call your elder companion."
This last incantation is the most effective of all., He who neglects to
pronounce this short formula after every successful catch, in a short time will
lose all his "fishing-luck."
WEREGILD. - Weregild may be accepted either for murder, or, much
more frequently, for any lesser crime perpetrated on person or property. The
Chukchee language has several expressions for weregild. One of these is
qal-vil (literally, "misfortune-value"). This term is applied to weregild for
more serious crimes; i. e., for murder and for great robberies.
Pu'urin (literally, "exchange") is applied to cases of minor robberies and
of corporal damages not followed-by death. The same stem, however, is also
used for all kinds of retributions, even for blood-revenge. Puuri'tkulin ("the
exchanger") is employed in the same sense as the term li'nilin ("the avenger"),
mentioned before. Ki'tkau (literally, "hard return") is also used for all kinds
of retaliation in blood, and also for weregild. Ni'rkicvai ("shame-pay") is used
where some personal insult has been inflicted, chiefly in cases of rape on
women, also in those of retribution for blood, and sometimes even for bad
words. Weregild may be accepted for murder when the offender is either
rich or has many strong kinsmen who are likely to defend him, or under
84-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL, VJI.

both circumstances. The Chukchee, notwithstanding their quick temper, still
have in their character a streak of soberness. "Large profits are always
preferable to blood," they say. I have described above in some detail the
Anui-fair murder, where the Russians paid weregild for the killed man. The
Chukchee, even in the hottest of the quarrel, did not express a direct craving
for the blood of the murderer. I should, however, mention that the scuffle
was so sudden and disorderly, that the natives did not notice who of the Russians dealt the mortal blow to the victim. The Russians knew, but of course
kept it a secret. The next year this man avoided going to the Anui fair.
Not knowing the name of the murderer, the Chaun people were disposed to
wreak their vengeance on the "chief," Ei'heli, as I have already mentioned.
The next year Ei'heli also refused to go to the Anui fair; but the visit could
not be avoided because of his official duties. He, however, left all his reindeer far away, and was conveyed to the fair by the Russians on a dog-team.
He lived within the Russian fort, and avoided appearing in the trading-camps.
Some days after his coming, the brother of the killed man met him at the
house of the Russian chief officer, and promised to pay him a personal visit.
A few hours later Ei'heli asked to be taken away from the fair, and carried
to Nishne-Kolymsk. "Otherwise they will kill me," he persisted. "This time
I shall not escape." So this case also might have ended in blood-revenge.
I mentioned another case where a Maritime Chukchee whose cousin had
been murdered in a reindeer-camp on the Anui River, took as weregild a young
boy of the family of the murderer, and also a large part of his herd. The
next year h1e came again and took another part of the herd of reindeer. He
gave as his reason for doing so that weregild must be taken three consecutive
years. Otherwise the spirit of the victim would not be appeased. His demands
were considered exorbitant. When he was driving the reindeer back to his
country, one of the kinsmen of the one killed crossed his path, and requested
that half of the animals be given back. The Reindeer man had other people
with him, and they immediately proceeded to divide the herd. "After that
close asking," said the last comer, "we shall have enough of this. The next
year we shall fight you." The brother of the man killed by the Russians
also mentioned three years of payment of weregild, but the third year he
got nothing. The whole value given to his step-father and to himself reached
about three hundred rubles. It consisted of tea, sugar, tobacco, kettles, colored
calico, etc. He asked also for some brandy; but this time the authorities
had brought none, and refused to grant the request. Thus, in these two cases
the weregild paid by the murderer was heavy enough.
In a third case of which I know, the weregild was much smaller. The
affair took place also at the Anui fair, in the year i 894. A man came there
with a single driving-team (qun-geke'iia), and staid at a camp of one of his
acquaintances from the Anui country, who had come to the fair with a

671I

number of his cousins. Some people from the Wolverene River accused this
man of having murdered one of their friends in a drunken brawl two years
before: so they wanted to punish him for that. They came to the camp of
the Anui people armed with rifles and knives, but the master of the camp
declared that he was ready to defend his guest. His people were more
numerous. An altercation ensued. The offended party wanted at least to
take the team of the murderer, since it was the only thing there "dear to his
heart' (li'nliiiqin); but the accused one flatly refused to part with the team.
"I will rather die," said he. So, after some quarrelling and mutual threats,
the assailants saw the necessity of contenting themselves with fawn-skins, which
the murderer had brought for sale to the Russians. The skins were twenty
in number, valued at fifteen rubles. A Chukchee single driver cannot carry
.much on his small sledge. Some time afterwards I saw one of the assailants.
He said, "Well, after all, he had to go back to his family empty-handed.
The tea and tobacco, the 'desire of his heart,' were taken from him with
these fawn-skins." From the Chukchee point of view, this reasoning was
more or less true. The force of the desire is taken into account independently
of the real value of the object, in peaceftul trading; and a Chukchee is ready
to pay a threefold price for any trifle that may take his fancy, and could not
be acquired otherwise. The Russian traders are well aware of this disposition
of the Chukchee, and make full use of it in all commercial transactions. So in
this case tea and tobacco were really "dear to the heart" of the, accused man.
MINOR CRIMES. - Minor crimes, on the whole, are followed either by
personal chastisement or by the payment of weregild. The personal chastisement is usually preceded by a challenge to a wrestling-match, and inflicted
after the victory in the dance. I mentioned before 1 the tale of the "Lucky
Suitor," in which such an incident is described with characteristic details.
"The hero married a proud girl, who had previously refused all her suitors. One of them,
who lived in a neighboring camp, met her outside, threw her to the ground, and scratched her
face with the point of his knife. The lucky suitor came to her camp shortly after the incident,
vanquished her in a running-matclh, and was accepted. The next fall the neighbor who had scratched
the woman's face invited the people, saying, 'Let us again have races and running-matches!' All
the people assembled, and all took part in a running-match. The newly married one did not take
off his outer fur shirt. He ran in his usual clothes. Nevertheless he came back first. All the
others were behind. Then he sprang forward, and said, 'Well, come on [for a wrestling-match].'
His face was inflamed with anger. 'Who wants to try? Hurry up!' - 'Who knows?' answered
the others. 'Let this one wrestle with me!' and he pointed out the neighbor who in the past year
had scratched his wife's face. 'No,' says the neighbor, looking down. 'Hurry up!' said the other.
He continued to refuse. Then at last the lucky suitor sprang toward him and kicked him in the
face. The other one fell down and swooned. After a while he sat up on the ground. 'Hurry up.!'
He rose, but continued to refuse. Then the lucky suitor caught him, threw him down, and pressed
hitn with his knee to the ground. Then he took out his girdle-knife, and cut his nostrils all over,
also his eyelids and his cheeks. His whole face he cut into strips, in revenge for the treatment of
his wife."

Compare p. 573.

Cases like this happen in modern life, and I will describe some later on.
Of course, in order to inflict a chastisement of such a kind on the offender,
one must be able to overcome him in a struggle. Whenever I mentioned
this to my Chukchee friends, they would instantly answer, "A wronged man
will be victorious." This is the leading idea of all ordeals and of single combats for the sake of law. In actual life some encounters of this kind have
issues of exactly opposite character. Thus one of the three brother-avengers
of whom I spoke before, Vaatu'wge by name, while still quite young, had a
drunken brawl with another young Chukchee, whose name was Peine'wgi.
They had a wrestling-match; and Vaatu'wge, who was by far the stronger,
threw his adversary down, and, seizing one of his legs, pulled it violently and
drew it out of the socket. In consequence of this act, Peine'wgi remained lame
until his death. Now, Peine'wgi was of a meek disposition; and his cousin
Peiielqu't, though cross-tempered enough, was but an indifferent fighter. The
offender, on the contrary, was one of the three brothers who had prepared
for murder from their youth up, and all three were strong and nimble men;
so that the wrong of Pefie'wgi was left without retaliation.
Another case within my knowledge happened in the country of the Upper
Anui River, while I was travelling there. One man, U'mkuum by name, took
a liking to a young woman, the wife of another Chukchee, O'oqai, who lived
in a neighboring camp. The young woman refused his courtship; but at last
he came to her house in -the absence of her husband, caught her in the entrance of the outer tent, and violated her. This was done in broad daylight
and in the middle of the camp. He promised to give her for this a new
seal-skin, but failed to fulfil his promise. Then she complained to her husband,
who challenged the offender to a wrestling-match; but both men proved to
be of equal physical strength. The wronged man belonged to a strong family;
and the number of his brothers, all full-grown and active, was seven. Shortly
after that, four of the best reindeer of U'mkuum were lost. The people in
the camps around laughed, and said that they were sold off for a single
seal-skin.
In a camp of the Anui country, two young men had a quarrel while
playing cards. A wrestling-match followed, and the one who considered himself wronged threw his adversary to the ground. The vanquished one sprang
up and seized a large piece of wood that had been prepared to be fashioned into a sledge-runner. He wanted to strike the victor upon the head
with the wood; but the latter succeeded in catching hold of it by the
other end, and in wrenching it from the hands of his assailant. He threw it
away; then, incensed by the attack, he kicked his adversary in the face, just
as described in folk-lore. The other one fell down, his face bleeding. NoAv,
the young man belonged to a strong family, with a number of uncles and
cousins: so the next day some of his people came to the camp of the offender.

Knives were drawn and they threatened to cut the sinews of the legs
of the offender, that he might not be able to kick again. Nevertheless
they -did not come to blows. A few days afterwards, when the passions of
both parties had cooled down, the young man who was threatened declared
that he was in the right when he wrenched the piece of wood from his assailant and kicked him; and he therefore wanted to have reparation for the
unsheathing of iron in his camp. Finally he was actually given as ki'tkau
("hard return," i.e., reparation, see p. 669) a set of reindeer leg-skins. The
value of the gift was insignificant, and it had chiefly a moral effect.
Shortly after my first arrival at the Anui fair, I had a visit from Ei'heli,
Qitu'wgi, and other chiefs of the Chukchee. They bade me welcome in a
manner rather ceremonial, but they were really wishing for a drink of brandy
as a token of welcome on my part, which they accordingly received. There
were five or six of them. Then more people came and asked for the same,
and at last I stopped the supply. One of the later comers, who had had
nothing, insisted also on having a sip of the liquor. Soon he became so importunate, that I lost patience and asked him to leave me in peace. He sat
down in his place, grumbling to himself. A couple of hours afterwards I
was standing in the gate of the fortress, talking with the people who were
passing to and fro, and making Qccasional notes in a little note-book that I
held in my hands. Suddenly my recent guest came up from behind and struck
me with his fist on my right wrist, so that my note-book fell to the ground.
"You so and so!" cried he, "you come here and hobnob with the people for
hours and scribble notes on a paper, but one cannot get a draught of brandy
in your blessed house." After that he retreated a little, stripped off his fur
shirt, and was quite naked down to his waist. 'Then he requested me to do
the same, and to have a wrestling-match with him. "I am standing on my
own ground," added he, "and I may challenge you to a test." He was right,
in so far as even officially only the interior of the fortress was considered to
be Russian territory, and all the space outside of it was admitted to belong
to the Chukchee. Every evening all the Chukchee were turned out of the
fortress and the gate locked, so that the difference was more than theoretical.
A young boy of about ten years kept tugging at the clothes of this man with
all his might, trying to persuade him to be off to the house. This was his
son. But the father was firm in his intention. My adversary was a man of
fifty, of Maritime extraction, Ri'nto by name. He was of slender frame, but
his temper was undaunted. As a result of this, he had two ugly scars in
the region of his abdomen. I felt no desire, however, for the unexpected
wrestling-match. At the same time I .did not like the idea of openly retreating
before my adversary, though he stood on his own territory, and I stood on
mine. The difficulty resolved itself, however, by the arrival of one of my
friends, a political exile like myself, who was a man of powerful build and

of great physical strength. Without paying any attention to the difference in
the territories, he stepped over to Ri'nto, caught him by the head, and lifted
him from the ground up in the air. Then he put him down. "Now, say,
what do you want?" he asked with a smile. His temper was quite sweet and
peaceful, and he did not want to hurt anybody. Ri'nto said nothing, and
went away to his own house. The next day he came into the fortress, and
brought with him expiatory presents, - a reindeer-tongue for my friend, as
being the stronger of us two; and a piece of ordinary meat for me. "I was
ugly yesterday," said he. "Take this ki'tkau, 1 as is the custom; and now
give me my draught of alcohol." This was so ingenuous, that my friend was
quite charmed, and insisted on having Ri'nto's wish gratified.
THEFT. - As I have stated before thefts frequently occur among the
Chukchee, especially among the reindeer-breeders. The chief objects taken
are reindeer. Retribution for theft is of the same nature as that for more
serious crimes, - either wrestling-matches and personal chastisement, or the
payment of damages and a fine. I was told that the common rule required
that the amount paid shall equal the value of the stolen article, together with
a certain surplus as a fine for the deed. This, however, may happen when
the thief confesses his action and expresses a desire to make it good,
"compelled by shame," as the Chukchee say. If the thief persists in denying
his guilt, however, it is difficult to make him return the stolen property.
Thus the result depends much on the strength and the temper of the contesting parties. I will mention a few such cases within my knowledge.
One reindeer-breeder, a man of peaceful temper, lost^a group of reindeer,
nine in number, which strayed away from the herd, as reindeer often do, and
could not be found. It appeared afterwards that they had gone to the herd
of one of the neighboring camps, and had been appropriated by the master.
His own camp assistant gave information of the fact; but the offender was
obstinate, and denied it till the end. Then the wronged man became angry,
and sent his people to seek retribution. His son and one of his neighbors
visited the herd of the offender in the latter's absence, and took from it two
strong driving-reindeer, one young buck well broken, and three reindeer of
the average sort. They said to the herdsmen, "Go and tell the master that
we did this." Still this was not enough. The next day they visited the camp
of the unfortunate thief. The nephew was of a quarrelsome disposition, and
said before departing, "Maybe he will show his anger. Then we will give
him a thrashing'." They came to the camp, and spent some time there talking with the house-mates of the offender. He, however, sat quite silent and
looked at the ground. 'He had not the courage to pick a quarrel. I should
also mention that the quarrelsome nephew belonged- to a strong family, and
the number of his brothers was six. After the visit, they went home and
I

Compare p. 669.

divided the spoil. The young buck was given to the nephew. The son took
the team, and the father the remainder. The neighbors said, "It is enough
for him, because he lost something dear to his heart, the driving-reindeer."
I have this description from one of. the participants.
Another case ended more peacefully. In the summer-time another group
of reindeer had strayed from their own herd and gone to that of a neighbor.
The herdsmen saw that one of the animals was quite fat, and wanted to
slaughter it for their own private use. They threw a lasso; but it snapped
in two, and the reindeer escaped with a fragment of the lasso wound around
its antlers. Two hours later the master of the first camp came to the other
herd, bringing with him the fragment of thona. The reindeer came back to
him, and he rightly guessed who were the authors of this attempt to steal.
"Whose lasso is this?" asked he, laughing. He was an old man, and no
further trouble arose from the incident. Moreover, the herds were too near
to each other. Under such conditions, the reindeer frequently become intermingled, and the herdsmen consider it no great crime to slaughter a strange
reindeer when it comes to their herd. Sometimes they will even slaughter a
reindeer, and then, of their own free will, confess to the owner, "Oh, I stole
your reindeer." Then, of course, they give him a good reindeer from their
own herd. I mentioned before that on the Arctic seashore, in the summertime, the mutual stealing of reindeer comes to be a serious annoyance.
One of my acquaintances, Leu'tiqai by name, said to me concerning the
matter, "It is too bad for one to stay in summer on the Palau' River. The
herdsmen steal too much. When I was staying there, in almost every hollow
I found the carcasses of my reindeer. The legs were cut off and consumed,
and everyhting else was left to rot; and whomsoever you asked, 'Who left
that carcass here?' the answer was always, 'I do not know.' One time I caught
Qopti'Irgin, son of Ti'qo, sitting by a slaughtered reindeer, gnawing at a
thigh-bone. I asked him, 'Why did you not carry the carcass to your father,
who is also hungry, since you slaughtered it?' He said nothing. 'Or perhaps,
if you desire it, I shall give you my whole herd.' We both took off our
fur shirts. He was a young man, but could not do anything, because great
anger overcame me. I threw him down, then seized my thick rawhide girdle,
and struck him with that upon his bare back until it was all covered with
blood. After that I resolved never again to go to that land of thieves."
Leu'tiqai was a man of about fifty and of mild temper; but the wrong had
been repeated too often to let it go unpunished.
"Chief" Ei'heli and the Maritime trader e,epa't also had a quarrel over
the stealing of reindeer. (eepa't, being of Maritime origin, had not had any
1 The Chukchee herdsmen, when they have no cooking-kettle and no fuel, but feel keen hunger, sometimes slaughter a reindeer and feed on its four legs. The hard sinews and the marrow of the bones are eaten
raw. The rest necessarily has to be left on the spot.

too much experience in keeping reindeer. His herd, too, consisted, for the
most part, of new animals just bought from strange herds, and the mtutual
attachment of these reindeer was less strong than in an ordinary herd: so
(epa't lost a few animals almost every summer. One year, quite -a large
group of reindeer, more than three hundred, strayed off and were lost. Then
news came from the Oloi River that the reindeer had gone to Ei'heli, and
had been appropriated by him. After that, every time they met at the spring
fair, (eepa't asked Ei'heli about his reindeer, but Ei'heli most stoutly denieWd
having any knowledge of them. In the year I895, (eepa't even talked about
his intention of robbing' the camp of Ei'heli on his return home. Then followed the scuffle already described, and the thoughts of 1epa't were drawn
elsewhere.
Theft among the Maritime Chukchee is less frequent than among the
Reindeer tribes, perhaps on account of the absence of valuable objects. I
know of some cases of robbery, however. One had already been mentioned.'
It refers to the people of Qulu'ci, who complained of the inhabitants of
LuC/ren. The latter robbed the dog-drivers of Qulu'ci when they were returning
to their country from the Pacific shore with a load of foreign wares.
Another case refers to a Chukchee of Mariinsky Post, Qopla'nto by name.
This man, in the winter of I898, met in the open country two young men
of the village Valqa'Len, who were going to Mariinsky Post with a supply of
brandy for trading-purposes. Qopla'nto joined them, spent a night with them
on the snow, bought some liquor of them with fur-skins he had with him,
and in the end robbed them of more of their brandy, and went away. They
were two, but, being in a strange land, they did not offer much resistance;
the more so, as Qopla'nto was the master of the front house of the Chukchee settlement on the north shore of the Anadyr estuary, opposite the Russian post. When Qopla'nto was leaving, however, they said to him, "Now,
you too be careful not to come to our country. We shall take our chance
then." In the winter of the year I 900, when I wanted to go to the northern
villages, Qopla'nto at first offered his assistance in transporting my load; but
when the time for departing drew near, he declared that he was afraid to visit
the village Valqa'Len on account of that affair; so he had to stay at home.
LAWS REGARDING PROPERTY.- I have already stated that with the Reindeer
Chukchee the palerfamilias is considered to be the owner and the master
of the herd, even though he be of extreme old age and infirm. I have noted
down some facts within my knowledge referring to this subject. On the
other hand, I was told by my Chukchee informants that when the son becomes full-grown and able to take care of the herd, the father, often of his
own free will, transmits to himn the direction of the herd, and himself takes
the position of an assistant, even though he still be strong and able to work.
I Compare p.

50.

Also when the son marries, and they have only a single sleeping-room, the
father cedes to the son the master's side (aigisqaoro'n, "the left one.")' If,
however, they should -prefer to have separate houses, the father gives over
to the son the front house, and puts up for himself a new house in the rear.
Still I found but few facts corroborating this information. Everywhere old
men ruled, and disposed of their property; and the houses of the sons were
in' the rear, not those of the fathers. When a man like Aiinanwa't really
does cede his house and herd to his'son, it is because of personal motives,
mostly referring to the "reindeer-luck" which the old man is supposed to have
lost, while the young one hopes to acquire it again.
In the family of Ei'heli, with his numerous sons a latent and wary
struggle against the father's authority really took place; but the old man
jealously watched every encrioachment upon his rights; and, so far as I know,
he was in full possession of them until his death, which followed a couple of
years after I left the Kolyma country.
The family or the 'family-group has no formal rights over the property
of its individual members. Still a man who becomes impoverished may be
reasonably sure that his nearest kinsmen will give him essential support, unless they are too poor or too stingy. Brother applies to brother, or cousin
to cousin, and receives a good part of the latter's herd, so that he may be
able to start anew with his own reindeer-breeding. Thus, in the year i-894,
three brothers, sons of Ta'tko, though the eldest of them was reported to be
close-fisted, still gave to a cousin of theirs five scores2 of their reindeer-does.
This cousin, in former times, also had owned a large herd, but he had squandered it away. Now he was older, and expressed his intention to reform.
Another acquaintance of mine, Ai-na'irgin, whose name has been mentioned before, also became poor. Then his kinsmen on the Indighirka tundra
,ave him a hundred and fifty does, so that he was able to begin anew. In
other cases impoverished kinsmen are accepted as assistants under favored
conditions, with the promise of being given, after a while, a certain part of
the herd.
The chief part of the inheritance goes to the "principal heir" (e'un-mi'lhilin).
He receives the house, and becomes the front-house master. He takes with
the house the principal ear-mark, the oldest in the herd, with which always
the greater part of the animals are maked. Other sons, and also daughters,
receive animals marked with their own ear-mark, which is assigned to them
by the father himself. When a well-to-do reindeer-breeder has *no sons, and
no daughters either, he will make every effort to procure an heir during his
lifetime. For this purpose he will invite some kinsman to his camp as an
I Compare p. 112.

The Chukchee count bv fives, which are called "hands;" and by scores, which are called "men" (compare, p. 50).

85-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED.1 VOL. VII.

assistant, and 'then- leave him the herd. A childless man, feeling that his end
is approaching, sometimes even calls in a kinsman or a friend, who lives
alone, and hands over his property to him. More frequently such a childless
man will adopt some boy or girl, also from one- of his kin, have him or her
married, and then he makes him the principal heir of the house and the herd.
It sometimes happens that a rich reindeer-breeder" leaves his herd without any
definite heir. This may occur, for instance, because of some disease which.
has taken away the only son and heir. The -old father, from mere sorrow,
may follow soon after, since the Chukchee are "soft to die.". In such cases,
the kinsmen come; and by counting the degrees of kinship decide who is the
nearest to the deceased. There exist, however, no settled rules about this
matter. I was told that in earlier times the family-group. would gather and
come to a decision, but of late no such gatherings are known to me. Kinsmen
of the same degree may divide the inheritance into equal shares, or the poorer
man will receive a larger share. On the other hand, I know of cases where
those of the kinsmen who were at hand took the whole, and the other relatives, though nearer to the deceased, could get nothing. Thus, for instance,
while I was on the Wolverene River, a quarrel took place about such an
inheritance. An old Chukchee of Maritime extraction, who ha(l a good-sized
herd, died heirless. His herd was taken by a third cousin (parent's cousin's
child), who came with him from their parental village, and now was the fronthouse master of the neighboring camp; Nobody protested, and a few years
passed away without incident. The man who received the inheritance died
also, and the herd passed to his son, Akimle'k& Then two young men came
from the Arctic shore, who said that they were sons of a first-cousin of the
deceased: so they had a better right to the property than Akimle'k'e They
requested restitution. Akimle'ki was a "strong man" (e'rme6in), always ready
for strife: so he refused to comply with the request. The younger of the two
brothers, however, whose name was U'mki ("polar bear"), was a large fellow
of considerable strength and temper. He declared that he would rather die
than go back empty-handed. While I was there, they met at a large reindeercourse, and nearly came to blows, but were prevented by the others present.
I left the country before the matter came to a final issue.
When' the principal heir is a daughter, who stays in the father's
house, even after she is married, her rights to the inheritance are the same
as those of a male heir. A daughter who is married elsewhere receives only
the animals marked with her private ear-mark. Some of these remain in her
father's herd, even after her marriage. On the division of the inheritance,
they fall to her possession, anyway. A female relation of more remote degree
has no part in the inheritance of a childless man, and cannot contend with
male relatives. A childless widow has no part in the inheritance, and has to
I

Compare p. 4I.

leave the house and has no claim to any utensils. She may take only the
reindeer marked with her own private ear-mark. With these she returns to
her own family. In the same way the adopted son-in-law has to go, after
the death of his wife, leaving everything behind him, unless he marries another woman of the family.
A young widow with small children becomes part of the heritage left by
a man. With the herd she passes to the heir.of the deceased, and becomes his
wife. Otherwise she must. go to her own family, leaving everything behind.
She may take the children to her own family, but then they forfeit every
right to the inheritance. An elderly 'widow'with youthful sons retains the herd
.after her husband's death, and may, hold possession of the property.'
Among the Maritime Chukchee, until recent times, there was but little
-property to be; inherited.. After the death of the father, the sons divide his
arms,- nets, and seal-skins. The older son has a better share than the others;
for instance, the best rifle. The house also is frequently divided into parts,
because every son, when married, wants to have a house of his own. As
soon as he finds enough. timber, he. proceeds' to construct a separate house.
With the Reindeer Chukchee, to divide the house into parts is a great wrong.
They would rather desert the house entirely. The Maritime Chukchee simply
break down the house, take away the skins, poles, etc., divide them among
themselves, and use them for their own purposes.
Compare p. 551.

DISCOVERY. - The first information concerning the Chukchee was brought
by the Cossack Michael Stadukhin, who, in I644, went to the Kolyma River
and founded the winter hamlet (3BMoB6e) of Nishne-Kolymsk.
1 The historical sketch contained in this chapter is based on data collected by the author in the Archives

of Sredne-Kolymsk, Nishne-Kolymsk, Markova on the Anadyr, also extracted from old documents of the same
provenience, which are in the possession of the author. Besides the sources enumerated in the list of authorities (p. 3), several other works and editions of documents have been used. Almost all of them are Russian,
and their titles are given with English translation.
1. ICTOPHIecKie AKTI.I, co6paHHmie H H3,4aHHbe Apxeorpa4)nHecKori KoMraucleil, III, IV, V.
Historical Acts, collected and edited by the Archeographical Commission, III, IV, V (cited Acts, III, IV, V).
2. Ao110AHeHiH KE IHCTopUreCKH'1'a AKTaM,¶, co6paHHhla H H34aHHbla Apxeorpa4HrecKoh KoMvileiehi, 11, IV, V.
Supplements to the Historical Acts, collected and edited by the Archeographical Commission, III, IV, V
(cited Supplements, III, IV, V).
s. naMHTHIIKH CH6F1pcKoi l4cTopi't XVIII BIKa, I, II.
Monuments of the History of Siberia in the XVIII Century, I, II (cited Monuments, II II).
4. CBo4i 3aKoHouB PocCificKoki 1l4hElepiH. 1434aHiHI 1857, 1876, ]892, 1899.
Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. Editions 1857, I876, 1892, I899.
5. CeHaTcKifi ApxHBb, Tomi, 1i.
Archive of the Senate, Vol. I1.
6. AonoAHeHia Kb TBopeHiHM-I CBRTbxlb OT4OBI, 'laCTII 9, 11. (Moc'Ba, 1850-52).
Supplements to the Works of the Holy Fathers, Parts 9, ii (Moscow, I850-52).
7. PyCCKidi HaAOMHHKi 1887.
Russian Pilgrim (monthly), 1887.
8. CAOBLtOWb, H. I4cTopHpecMoe O6o3plHie CH6HpH, C-HeTep6yprb, 1886.
Slovtzov, P. Historical Survey of Siberia, St. Petersburg, i886 (cited Slovtzov).
9. CI3BepHalh ApxIUBb, 1825.
North Archive (periodical), I825.
10. %kypHaA'b MHHHCTepCTBa Hapo4HarO HpoCBI3u4eHin, 1890.
Journal of the Department of Education (monthly), I890.
11. Co6paHie Coq'tHeHi(1 H36 rnl;cn4ecAinOBBb pa3AUYHShX'b AIT-b, C-HeTep6yprb, 1790.
Collection of Papers selected from Monthly Records of Various Years, St. Petersburg, I790.
12. Fischer, Johann Eberhard, Sibirische Geschichte, I, II, St. Petersburg, 1768.
13. Miller, G. F. Description of the Siberian Kingdom, St. Petersburg, 1750.
14. nplIKAOHMCKi, B. A. Xp)oHUKa flKyTCKOfl OOlaCTH, COCTaBAeHHafi no o44+HliaAbHJ.larb H HcTopntieCKH^* 4bqaH-

HhIMib, KpaCHO0pCKsb, 1896.

Priklonsky, V. L. Chronicle of the Country of Yakutsk, arranged from Official and Historical Data, Krasnoyarsk, I 896.
15. 1jerAOBIb, H1. B. XPoHoAO1rwieCKli nepeqeHb BamHRs1mhlX AaHHubIx H3- HCTOpil1 CuH'1plI, IIPKYTCK'b, 1883.
Shcheglov, I. V. Chronological List of the Most Important Data of the History of Siberia, Irkutsk, 1883
(cited Shcheglov).
16. AH4pieUmt, B. K. H4CTopia CH6HpH, I, It, C.IeTep6ypri,, 1889.
Andriyevich, V. K. History of Siberia, I, II, St. Petersburg, I889 (cited Andriyevich).
17. THTOBI, A. CH6HPb BI XVII BIKS, MOCKBIa, 1890.
Titov, A. Siberia in the XV1I Century, Moscow, I890.

[68o]

68 I

Manykin-Nevstruyev says that the Kolyma River was discovered in the
year i638. Maydell mentions as the discoverer of the Kolyma the Cossack
Ivan Erastov, with his companions. He says that in I644 three winter hamNishne-Kolymsk, Sredne-Kolymsk,
lets were founded on the Kolyma River,
and Verkhne-Kolymsk (Lower Kolymsk, Middle Kolymsk, and Upper Kolymsk).
I am not sure that all three hamlets were founded as early as that, and all
in exactly the same year. On a copy of a chart of Siberia, made in the
the Lower, the Middle,
year 1672 all three winter hamlets are mentioned,
and the Upper. Nishne-Kolymsk in some documents was called "Dog Fortress,"
doubtless because of the dogs used for driving. It was the largest of the
three settlements. From Michael Stadukhin we have a report of the 2 2d of
April, I 647, taken down, as was the custom, from his own words, by the
Government clerk in the assembly-room (c%t3;;aa ii36a), in the presence of the
two governors of the Yakutsk Province, Pushkin and Suponev.Y In this report
it is said that "the public-service official (cJiyZtuuJIM lleJ1oBtlcL),3 Michael Stadukhin,
who, in the past I 54th year (I646), went from the Kolyma River with the
Czar's tribute, relates that he was on the Kolyma River two years for collecting the Czar's tribute. The Kolyma is a great river of the size of the
Lena, It runs in the same direction, east and north. On this Kolyma River
live the natives, Kolyma men of their own tribe, driving [Reindeer] and walkina
[sedentaryl,4 - numerous people, - and they have a lang uage of their own;
on this Kolyma, and also on a separate river, the Chiukhcha (iuiomxa), - and
this river Chiukhcha flows directly to the sea, and its mouth lies on this side
18. MaHhIKiH4-HeBiCTPyeBl, A. IH. 3aBOeBaTeA'4 BOCTO{4OH CH6HpH, fiKyreKie Ka3aKts, MOCKBa, 1883.
Manykin-Nevstruyev, A.I. Cossacks of Yakutsk, Conquerors of East Siberia, Moscow, 1883.
19. HcTOpHwecKaFi 3anHcKa o 'IyKOTCKo3r1 Hapo,4-t (BtCrTHHK'h HMnepaTOp)CKaro PYCCKaro 1'eorpa4)HqeCKarO
06u4ecTBa, 1856, V).
Historical Sketch of the Chukchee People (in Messenger of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, i856, V.).
20. KapTa 'IYKOTCKOH 3eMAN4, COCTaBAeHa flAeHHCHepOm&r (3an4CK4 I'tI4porpa4)14qeCKaro AenapTarleHTa MOPCKoro

MHHHCTeJeCTBa 1852, 'IaCTb X).
The Chart of the Chukchee Land, projected by Plenisner (in Memoirs of the Hydrographical Department,
I852, Part X).

21. BapaMhirHHI, M. HlyTeBonl iIypH8AI Bo BpeMn nOI34KH UB

AHIonCKyo KprnoCTI, (3anKCKH CHI6IPCKarO

OT41iAa H,l*ine)aTop)cKaro PYCCKaro I'eorp)a+HqeCKaro 006neCTBa, 57, KH. 4).

Baramygin, M. Diary of the Voyage to Anui Fair, I855 (in Memoirs of the Siberian Section of the Imperial
Russian Geographical Society, 57, Vol. 4).
For other authorities see references in the text.
Compare Maydell, II, p. 73.
2 The Russian governors (Iloetno4b,I) of the Moscow period were often sent in pairs, partly with the idea
that one would prevent any misdemeanor of the other.
3 Thus were called all categories of soldiers and lower officials in the service of the Government.
4 The Maritime (sedentary) Chukchee usually are called in the reports "walking," in contrast to the
Reindeer division of the tribe. Among the Reindeer Chukchee each member of the family has a team of its
own: so all can drive. Among the Maritime Chukchee a family usually has but one team, and most of the
people have to walk. It seems that in earlier times the dog-teams of the Chukchee were still more unfit
for swift and efficient driving than they are now, in comparison with the dogs of the Maritime Koryak and
Russianized natives. So in a campaign the warriors of the Reindeer Chukchee were usually driving reindeer,
while the warriors of the Maritime Chukchee had to walk.

of the Kolyma River on our way (from the west), - on this Chiukhcha River
live natives of their own tribe. They are called 'Chiukhchee,' the same as
the Samoyed, Reindeer and sedentary. He had a woman captive from the
Kolyma, Kaliba by name. That woman had lived among the Chiukhcha for
three years. She told him about the island which is in the sea, - when
going by ship to the Kolyma River, on the left hand. Those Chiukhcha, in
the winter-time, go in one day from their dwelling-place on their river to that
island, and there they kill walrus and bring home the walrus-heads with the
tusks; and, according to their custom, they pray to those walrus-heads."
Stadukhin himself had not seen any walrus-tusk, but the Russian hunters
(nPOMMIueHHIe aiojiu) 1 had told him that they had seen walrus-tusks in the
possession of the Chiukhcha. He continues: "The runners of their reindeersledges are made of the same walrus-tusk. These Chiukhcha have no sables,
because they live on the tundra near the sea, and the best and the darkest
sable comes from the Kolyma."2
This report is very interesting. The name "Chiukhcha" is mentioned in
it for the first time; and from the words of Stadukhin it follows that in that
time, on the Chukchee River, to the west of the Kolyma, there lived natives
called Chukchee, Reindeer and sedentary. I mentioned before that those natives were probably of (ia'acen stock.3 Still more remarkable are the details
concerning the walrus-hunt of those natives on one of the Bear Islands.
Walrus, even in modern times, migrate to the northern shores of the BeatIslands; and the Reindeer Chukchee sometimes go over to those islands for
the purpose of hunting them, just as described in the report. In the time of
Stadukhin, however, walrus-hunting was evidently carried on more extensively.
The natives brought home walrus-heads and prayed to them; that -is, they
arranged a certain ceremonial with walrus-heads. Up to the present, walrusheads have played a prominent part in the principal ceremonials of the
Maritime Chukchee.4
WARS. Seventeenth Century Wars. - Soon after the discovery of the
Kolyma, in I 647, the Cossack Basile Kolesnikov founded the fortress of
Anadyr, though, according to other information, it was founded by Semen
Deshnev in i 649.' Semen -Deshnev, with Theodote Alexeiev and Gerasim
Ankudinov, after a first ineffectual attempt in the year I 647, succeeded a
year later in rounding East Cape. Most of their ships were lost. Two
stranded somewhere to the south of Anadyr.6 The year 1649 actually found
I Parties of hunters and traders used to go with the first conquerors of the new countries, Cossacks and
and other public-service men. They were also armed, and often took part in war-expeditions.
2 Supplements, III, No. 24, p. 99.
3 Compare p. iS.
4 Compare p. 389.
s Compare Plenisner, Chart of the Chukchee Land, drawn in I763 (Memoirs of Hydrographical Department, 1852, Part X, p. II9). Plenisner was the chief officer of the country of Okhotsk in the sixties of the
seventeenth century, and had much valuable information from the Cossacks and natives.
di The reports of Deshnev about this journey are well known in literature.

several parties of Cossacks and service-men on the Anadyr. One party was
headed by Semen Deshnev and the inspecting service official (CJiy;wHHutf
upiIa3HhTlI eBeJloBtKL)1 Semen Motora. Another party was headed by Michael
Stadukhin, who had come from the Kolyma River. Stadukhin made attempts
to subjugate to himself all other parties, and to be the chief leader of the
public officials of Anadyr. The strife brought forth several reports, which
were presentedt to the Governor of Yakutsk.- All these reports are just as
interesting as the report of Michael Stadukhin concerning the Kolyma.
Thus one Theodore Vetoshka, in a report of i 655, says, "In the past
I57th year (1649) it became known on the Kolyma River - from the lips
of Angara, the hostage of the Khodyntzy,3 whom we, your slaves' [the report
is formulated as a direct address to the Czar], took on the upper stream of
the Anui River, and fromn other captives in the same raid of ours - that a
new trans-mountain river, the Anadyr,4 comes quite near to the upper course
of the Annii. By reason of these facts we have gathered together among
ourselves volunteer hunters, and we have struck the around (i. e., petitioned)
before you, 0 Czar! because we desired to go to that new country with the
intention of bringing down the tributeless tribes under your high hand, and
we had to give into your treasury forty sables. Then we were given leave
to undertake that service, together with the public officials Semen Motora
and comrades.... And in the same I 57th year, in the month of July, the
service-men Michael Stadukhin and comrades made an attempt to go by sea
from the Kolyma River to the new river Pahycha,5 but came back from the
sea to the Kolyma on Sept. 7. When we came over the mountain to the
Anadyr River, and he (Michael Stadukhin) was going down the Anadyr and
passed by our camp, he sent to us, requesting that we come to him and ask
to be accepted into his regiment, and stating that if we did not consent, he
would order all of us to be exterminated. Then he took from us by force
the inspecting official Semen Motora, and put him into the stocks for nine
days, and extorted from him a paper promising to remain under his (Michael's)
command."
It seems that Michael Stadukhin could not accomplish his purpose. So
I An official of this kind was added to cossack parties to collect tribute and to take care of it.
2 Supplements, IV,

pp. 9-27.

3 Compare p. i8.

4 In these oldest reports Kolyma is often calied "Kovyma", and Anadyr is called "Anandyr."
5 The name "Pahycha River" is repeated several times in the reports. The Pahycha River is said to be

rich in sables. Some recent scientists have suggested that this name may have referred to the Amur River,
which in reality, even up to the present, abounds in sables; but the natives of the Kolyma hardly knew anything of the distant Amur. They had knowledge only of the nearest rivers, such as the Anadyr and the
Penshina. Of these rivers, the Anadyr is mentioned as being, ever. at that time, poor in sable. The next
large river is the Poqa'6, which forms the northern boundary-line of the sable territory, and which even now,
when the sable is rapidly vanishing in the north, still has some of the darkest and most valuable sables. It
is quite probable that the natives of the Kolyma, when speaking of Pahycha, had in mind this Poqa'6 River;
and also the Kolyma Cossacks, in their search for sable, wanted to find the said Poqa'6, the boundary-line of
the sable territory.

in the next year, the I58th (I650), on April 23, according to another report,
Semen Motora and comrades went to the winter hamlet of Semen Deshnev,
founded for tribute purposes. Then follows in the report a description of the
continuous warfare against the natives.
"The Anadyr River is populous," say the Cossacks, "and the men in
the public service are too few. In the I5gth year (I65I) we went against
the people of Anauli,1 and God helped us to take their fortified hamlet
(ocTpoze1rb). They had stakes prepared for the purpose, axes put on long
handles, and knives. We fought with them hand to hand. They killed four
of our men and wounded many with those stakes; and in the i6oth year
(1 652), Dec. 7, in a similar fight, they shot at us, and killed Semen Motora,
the inspecting official.'
The Cossacks asked for sables: but the Anauli men said, "We have no
sables, because we do not live in the woods. The Reindeer people come to
us. When they come, we shall buy sables from them and bring the tribute
to the Czar." And in this i63d year (i 65 5), adds the repqrt, Kolupai and
Lok, the Anauli hostages, went to the mountains to buy sables from the
Reindeer. Khodyntzy men for tribute.
This report shows that the Anauli and the Khodyntzy were friendly
among themselves. The former lived on the river; the latter had reindeer,
and wandered with them on the mountain with wood and sables: i.e., to the
south from the Anadyr River. Both tribes were probably of Chuvantzy stock,
though the latter are mentioned separately as a Reindeer people. At the
same time the tribute hostages, Chekchoi and brothers, presented a petition:
"Over the mountain from the Penshina River there have come to us numerous
unpeaceful Koryak men. They have murdered our kinsmen, plundered our
houses, captured our wives and children, and driven away the reindeer. We
suffer pillage and abuse all the time from those people, and we cannot abide it
any longer." The Koryak frontier lay somewhere along the upper course of
the Penshina River, nearly as it is at present. The country on the Anadyr
River and its affluents was occupied by several branches of the Chuvantzy
stock, Reindeer and sedentary, such as the Khodyntzy, the Anauli, and the
Chuvantzy proper.
In another report Semen Deshnev and his comrades say, "And in the
i6oth year (i652) we went by ship to sea, and at the miouth of the Anadyr
River we found a spit. It came into the sea beyond the bay. On that spit
the walrus come out, and on that spit may be found the tusks of the dead
walrus. They come in great numbers, and their place on the cape is all
around for more than half a verst2 and upshore for thirty or forty sashen.3
I

Compare p. i8.

3 2I0-280 feet.

2 Half of verst is about a third of a mile.
A sashen is equivalent to 7 feet.

All the game does not come from the water to the shore. Much of it is
in the water near the shore; and the hunters who are from the Russian
Arctic Sea say that game is less numerous in the Russian Sea."
The spit mentioned here is probably Geek Cape, on the south end of
Anadyr Bay, called in Chukchee Gxi'ggrin. Even nowadays walrus are in the
habit of going to that low sandy shore, and the Anadyr Chukchee and Cossacks visit it for hunting-purposes; but the walrus-herds of the ancient time
have dwindled down to little groups, and no tusks of dead animals can be
found on the shore.
At the time of the first conquest, walrus were so numerous, that one
party of public-service men presented to the Treasury fifty puds' of walrusivory. The report of that party says, "We found on the spit near the mouth
of the Anadyr River ivory of dead walruis. We gathered that ivory, put away
for the Czar three puds of it,2 and the remainder we divided among ourselves. Altogether, we gathered for the Czar a great profit, - fifty puds
of walrus-ivory, the first pud three tusks, the second pud four tusks, etc."
So the tusks of the first pud each weighed twelve pounds Avoirdupois. The
same report states, "In the i62d year (i 654), when we were on that spit
for the purpose of gathering those walrus-tusks, close to that spit lived also
some Koryak people, who slunk along with the intention of murder. Then
I, Yuriy, and my comrades, and the service-men Semen Deshnev and comrades, went against those men, and found their hamlet, fourteen large houses.
And their place was fortified; but with the aid of God we took that fort,
and also women and children. The best men, however, escaped, and took
with them their wives and children. Because they were quite numerous, each
house had ten families and more. We, on the contrary, were not many, twelve men in all."
The Koryak in question could have been no other people than the Ke'rek
from Cape Navarin. Though at the present time quite wretched and rapidly
dying out, the Ke'rek, according to their own traditions, were in former times
much more numerous, had large boats, and lived on walrus. They also may
have been in the habit of going to the Anadyr spit for hunting. Nowadays
almost the whole number of the Ke'rek tribe hardly equals the population
of that single ancient village, which, according to the report, had fourteen
large houses, with ten families and more in each house.'
In this way the Kolyma and the Anadyr Rivers were occupied by the
Russians. The chief desire of the Cossacks was for sable peltries, and everv2000 Russian pounds; i.e., I6oo pounds Avoirdupois.
I20 Russian pounds, or 96 pounds Avoirdupois.
3 For the present villages of the Ke'rek compare Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 440.

The data were collected by myself. The largest village has three houses and fifty inhabitants. Other villages
have mostly one single house and some twenty or twenty-five inhabitants.
86-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOl.. VII.

where they asked the natives for these. As mentioned above, the Kolyma
River, which for the last fifty years has known no sables, abounded at that
time, on the contrary, in the best, very dark sable. According to Slovtzov,
in the eighteenth century the fair of Sredne-Kolymsk brought to the treasury
as the usual tithe ninety doublescores of sables. Therefore the whole number
of sables brought to the fair was about thirty-six thousand.
The Anadyr River, on the other hand, as may be seen from the reports
quoted above, even in earlier times, had no sables because of the scarcity
of wood. In the first years, however, the Cossacks succeeded in extorting
from the natives a considerable number of sable-skins, whole and split, probably acquired by the natives from their southern neighbors. On the Anadyr
River and to the north of Kolymsk, the Cossacks turned their attention to
walrus-tusks, which were also of great value. According to a record contained in one of the reports mentioned, fourteen sables were equivalent to
one pud of walrus-ivory; so that the fifty puds of walrus-ivory mentioned
above were equivalent to seven hundred sables; i.e., to seventeen doublescores and a half of sable-peltries. Numerous decrees of the Government were
isoued in reference to the quality of the tribute to be collected from the natives. Most of them say, "You have to take good and whole sables, without
bare spots, with tails and with bellies; and you must not take as Czar's
tribute sables not whole, and with bare spots, or rotten and torn ones, and
not full-haired. You have to take the tribute and presents and enter them
in the tribute-books, year after year, and one name after another. You have
to take of walrus-tusks, as tribute, only the best, and of medium size. Small
tusks, weighing less than one pound each, you must not take for tribute."
A great number of natives were exterminated by the conquerors. The
reports are full of remarks like the following: "The village was taken, and
all the people put to death." The natives defended themselves with the courage
of despair; but in the contests, they could do no more than kill a few of
the assailants. Then they had to give way before steel blades and fire-arms.
Those that were left alive promised to pay tribute, and gave the best men
as hostages. The Cossacks, however, were quite far from enjoying their
position. The northern clime and the conditions of life were too severe even
for those adventurers. Thus one report says, "We live on dead red-fish
[several species of Oncorhyncus, such as 0. kefa, 0. niarka, 0. gor&lsha].
Of white-fish we catch but little, because we have no good nets. We do
not dare to feed the Czar's hostages with that dead fish, lest they die from
scurvy: so we spare the white-fish and feed them with that." Another report
says, "We are starving to death, we feed on cedar-bark. Whatever fish was
left we spared for the hostages, and portioned that off to them."
Along with war came trade with the natives. Thus, in the year I646
1 Sables were counted by doublescores.

a certain Isai Ignatyev went by sea from the mouth of the Kolyma eastwards. Hie was passing between the ice-fields and the shore, and went as
far as Chaun Bay. There he carried on traffic with the Chukchee, and then
returned to the Kolyma.'
In I649 a public-service inan of the Yakutsk fortress, Timothy Bulgakoff;
was sent to the Kolyma. He left the mouth of the Lena, and reached the
Omoloi River. There be staid for four weeks, because of the ice and the unfavorable weather. After that he went farther, but could not reach the
Kolyma: so he turned back toward the mouth of the Lena. On the way
he met eight galiots (galleys) full of the Czar's serving-men, traders and adventurers, who also were waiting for a favorable wind. At last the south
wind cleared off the ice. So they joined forces and set off for the open sea.
At sea they met four other ships going from the Kolyma. Near the Bay
of Khroma all of them were caught in the ice. The ships were crushed; but
the people escaped on ice-floes, and after many hardships succeeded in landing
at the mouth of the Indighirka River.2
This lively movement of the Russians in the Arctic waters of eastern
Siberia presents a strange contrast to their modern inactivity. The Russian
creoles, the descendants of the first conquerors, forgot the art of constructing
ships and their use. One of the reasons of this was that those ships were
too helpless and unwieldy to be used for travel among the ice of the Arctic
Ocean, and almost every other voyage ended in ruin.
The ships used by the Cossacks were called "cocha" (Kcona, pt. Kow').
They were large and uncouth, made of wooden planks tied together with
split willow-roots. These were fastened in the drill-holes with wooden pins.
Splhagnum was used for caulking. A heavy stone served for an anchor.
The sails were made, for the most part, of curried reindeer-skins sewed together. Up to the present time the small river-boats of the Kolyma River
have been built in the same way by Russian creoles and by the Yukaghir
of the Upper Kolyma. By the way, the Yukaghir far surpass the Russians at
present in their skill in making boats, and their boats are eagerly bought by
Russians in Sredne-Kolymsk and Nishne-Kolymsk, though there cannot be the
slightest doubt that the Yukaghir learned the art of boat-making from the Russians.
The art of constructing those clumsy ships was almost lost as early as
the beginning of the eighteenth century. Thus, in one of the reports of -the
first years of the eighteenth century, the Cossacks say, "Our ships are small,
and the sails weak. We are unable to make larger ships, as in former times."
For the next half-century we have only one historical date, I690. In
this year the Cossack officer Basile Kusnetzov went on an expedition to the
country of the Koryak, and then to the country of the Chukchee. There
he was murdered by the Chukchee, together with all his followers.3
I

Shcheglov, p. 96.

Shcheglov, P. IOI.,

3 Acts, V, p. 353-

Wars in the Eighteenth Century. - From the first years of the eighteenth century we have again a series of interesting reports of Cossacks and
service-men. One of these reports, of March 14, I7IO, runs as follows: 1
"In the year I 70I the tribute-men of Anadyr, the Yukaghir of the
Khodynsky clan,2 Nekrasko and his kinsmen, petitioned the official of Anadyr,
the boyar-son (60.pcRici CMHrL) 8 Semen Chernyshevsky, asking him to send
service-men against the unpeaceful Chukchee of Anadyr Cape, who assaulted
them, - the Yukaghir, - in the time of reindeer-hunting, with murder and
depredation. According to that petition Semen sent the narrators - twentyfour Russians and one hundred and ten Yukaghir and Koryak - against
the Chukchee. They left in the month of April, and were on the expedition
twenty-eight weeks. They found on the seacoast thirteen houses of the walking
(sedentary) Chukchee, and requested them to bow down under the high hand
of the great Czar and to pay tribute; but the Chukchee gave no tribute, and
retreated into their houses. The Cossacks made an attack. Ten men were
killed, and their wives and children taken captive. Many of the captives
strangled themselves and stabbed each other to death. Other Chukchee escaped,
and all of them began to gather in one place on the cape. The Cossacks
going back from the battle-place met them, about three hundred, and fought
again and killed two hundred and more. The others escaped. The next day
they met the Chukchee again in great numbers, Reindeer and walking (sedentary)
Chukchee, three thousand and more. They fought the whole day until evening,
and killed many; but the Chukchee also wounded seventy men among the
Cossacks and the tribute-paying Yukaghir. After that the Chukchee retreated
and staid not far away. The Cossacks were besieged by them for five days,
and then fled to the Anadyr."
According to another report, the public official Ivan Lokosov, in the
year I 709, was sent against the unpeaceful Chukchee. He brought one Chukchee
man, who consented to pay tribute, also the Cossack son Ivan Ankudinov,
who was captured by the Chukchee and lived in captivity twelve years and
a half.4
In still another report, some public-service men - Ivan Zerkalnikov. Athanase
Troizkoi, Cyril Jaravlev - say, "We were going by sea from the fortress
of Zashiversk [on the Indighirka River] under Daniel Busormanov, along the
coast, off the ice. The water was shallow and difficult; the weather, unfavorable.
God gave us no way. We had many halts, and could not reach the mouth
I Monuments, II, No. 122, p. 524.
p. i 8, also p. 684.
3 Thus were called the members of a large class of gentry. They must be distinguished from boyars
proper, who belonged to the nobility. In origin the boyar-sons were probably the descendants of those boyars
2 Compare

who had lost the greater part of their wealth and influence.
4 Ho,1TpeTb,443Tb; i.e., half of the third to ten.
half" (Andrieyevich, I, p. I21).

V. Andrieyevich states erroneously "one and a

of the Kolyma River, and Daniel Busormanov remained on the shallow coast
near the mouth of the Konkova River. We were starving. So he, Daniel,
sent us by tundra to the winter hamlet (BHMoMBe) of the Lower Kolyma. We
lost our way and fed on weeds, and reached the Kolyma on the tenth day,
where we found Cossacks occupied with fishing. There we have staid until
this present year I 7I0. In January of this year some Chukchee robbers came
with deceit to the Lower Kolyma winter hamlet. One of them was taken
captive, Ni'tkal, according to his Chukchee name. The said Ni'tkal said that
Daniel Busormanov, going by sea, did not recognize the mouth of the Kolyma,
and passed beyond as far as the mouth of the Big River; and there the
Shelag Chukchee murdered him and his comrades." 1 This is the first direct
mention of the unknown Shelag, much earlier than that by Wrangell.2
Still more interesting is the report of Sept. 2, 171I, presented in the
fortress of Anadyrsk, in the judicial chamber (CyjiHaHI H36a), to the officer
Matthew Skrebykin by the serving-man Popov, who was sent to the Chukchee
Land to collect information concerning the Chukchee, and also to invite them
to pay tribute.
The report says, "He [Popov] and the Anadyr hunter George Toldin,
and the newly baptized Yukaghir Ivan Tereshkin, went from the mouth of
the Anadyr to Chukchee Cape. And those unpeaceful Chukchee said that
before that the Russian men had come to them by sea,8 but they had paid
them no tribute. Likewise at the present time they would not pay anything,
nor would they give hostages . . . And from that cape he came with his
comrades to the Anadyr River, and collected tribute from the River Chukchee
Nokon and his comrades, - five red foxes, one fox from every man. The
Reindeer Chukchee liv.e on the cape along the hills. The 'walking' Chukchee
live on both sides of the cape, in earthen houses along the spits, near the
sea, where the walrus dwell . . . According to their custom, the Chukchee,
when concluding an agreement, call on the Sun as a witness.
"And opposite that Anadyr Cape, on both sides of the Kolyma Sea
and of the Anadyr Sea, there is to be seen an island. About that island, the
Cape Chukchee Makachkin and his kinsmen have told him for quite certain
that there live upon that island (large) toothed people. Their religion and
customs and language are different from those of the Chukchee, and since
ancient times there has been no peace between the Cape Chukchee and those
island people. They attack each other and fight. The fighting of the islanders
is with bows, and of the Chukchee the same. Of those island people he has
seen among the Chukchee about ten or more taken captive. Besides their
natural teeth, they have small pieces of walrus-ivory put in through the cheeks
close to the natural teeth.
1 Monuments, II, No. 123, p. 527.
2 Compare p. 17.
3 Probably Semen Deshnev and his men, in

I648.

"And from the Cape to that Island it is possible to go in the summertime in one day, in a baidara with oars; and in the wintertime, with reindeer,
also in one day. Upon this island are game of every kind, sables and martens,
foxes, polar foxes, wolves, wolverenes, polar bears, marine beavers (sea-otters)..
They feed on, sea-game, roots and berries, and weeds. Upon this island also
are trees of every kind, - cedar, pine, fir, larch. And the wood of those
island trees they (Peter and his comrades) have seen in the houses, on the
baidaras and canoes of those Chukchee. And those island people live in the
same way as the Chukchee, and they have no authorities. And on the Cape
there are no peltries besides wolves and red foxes, and even those are few,
because there is no wood at all. And these Chukchee, Reindeer and walking
[sedentary] have bow-men, approximately about two thousand, besides those
of the Anadyr River, who have fifty bow-men and more. As to the island
people, Makachkin and the captive islanders said to him, to Peter and his
comrades, 'They are three times as numerous as the Chukchee;' and he
(Makachkin) has been visiting that island on war-expeditions during many
years. And the Chukchee call that island a large land.'
This description of polar America adjacent to Bering Sea is quite clear
and detailed. One must not forget that it was made seventeen years earlier
than the voyage of Bering. "(Large-) toothed" is evidently a translation of
the Chukchee "(large-) mouthed" (yikirga'ulit). Semen Deshnev, in his reports
of I648, also mentions the (large-) toothed men living on 'two small islands,
evidently on the Diomede Islands. Not without interest is the mention of the
River Chukchee of the Anadyr, Nokon and his comrades, who paid tribute for
five men. Up to the present time the River Chukchee of the Middle Anadyr
pay about the same amount of tribute. Much in use among them is the
name "Nikon." This name is of Greek origin, and belongs to the GreekOrthodox calendar; but it may have some connection with the name "Nokon"
of the beginning of the eighteenth century.
From all this information it may be seen that the war against the
Chukchee was carried on almost without interruption, and certainly without
mercy. The Chukchee, however, in this respect, did not remain behind the
Russians.
I collected in the village Pokhotsk, on the Lower Kolyma, several
interesting tales of the inroads and raids of the Chukchee against the Russian
settlements on both the Kolyma and the Anadyr. Pokhotsk, for example, is
a large village at the western mouth of the Kolyma. It is inhabited by the
descendants of the ancient Cossacks, who in i876 were transferred to the
burghess class (MligaHe). The former Cossack race has preserved itself in
that village comparatively in its purest form. The tales probably refer to the
first decades of the eighteenth century:I

I Monuments, I, No. io8i P- 456.

I

Compare p. 2 I .

.69 I

"It was in the Chukochya (adjective from Chukchee) hamlet. This hamlet lies forty miles to
the west of Pokhotsk. It is now uninhabited, save that some fishing is done there early in the
fall. There was a watch-tower there. Now it has fallen down, and lies on its side. It happened
long ago. The tower was built to watch from there for the Chukchee. It was quite large. Every
wall was four sashen (twenty-eight feet) high. Its top was on exactly the same level as the church
in the town (of Nishne-Kolymsk). It had two floors, one below and another above. One time an
old man stood on the top of the tower watching. The morning was dawning. He looked over
the river (a tributary of the Kolyma, the so-called 'Chukchee Channel,' quite narrow and quiet).
The trunk of a tree, lying on its side, was visible, and all at once it appeared to him as if a man
clad in a Chukchee overcoat, - an overcoat made of sealintestines, similar to our window-covering, were stepping over that trunk. The old man said to the younger people, 'Look here, boys! It
seems as if the Chukchee were stealing about and wanted to attack our village.' Tlhe younger
people did not believe him. He took a bag on his back, a walking-staff in his hand, and walked
away to Pokhotsk. They staid the-re for the summer, then for the fall also. When the nights
grew longer, the Chukchee came, surprised them in their sleep, and killed all of them. As soon
as any one ran out of the house, they would kill him then and there. Two brothers, however,
were so nimble that the Chuckchee could not, in spite of all their efforts, either stab them with
spears, or hit them with arrows. So they ran about. At last the older brother passed by an old
Chukchee woman sitting on a reindeer-sledge, - so old she could hardly walk. She threw a bone
arrow at him and hit him under the knee. He fell down, and exclaimed, 'Oh, you, my brother!
Do you want to live in the world all alone by yourself? How could you live like that?' The
other immediately surrendered, and both were killed. Still another young man fell down among
the dead with face upwards, simulating death. He lay there thus, and looked on. They dressed
one brother in an overcoat of white reindeer-skins, and on the other one they put an overcoat of
spotted reindeer-skins. They laid the first one on bedding of white skin, and the other on bedding
of spotted skin. The old woman, unable to walk, crept along from corpse to corpse, and looked
into each face. When she reached the one feigning death, she took her tailoring-knife. It was
of iron and very old, with no edge, because the Chukchee in that time had hardly any iron. With
that blunt-edged knife she began to chop him quite slowly across the forehead. Tap, tap! tap, tap!
She broke all the middle portion of his forehead; but he uttered not a sound, God granted him
such patience. When they had gone, he arose and went to Pokhotsk with the news. The
report was sent to the fortress of Nishne-Kolymsk. At that time the Cossacks in the fortress were
as numerous as mosquitoes. The magazines, at present empty, were filled with flour up to the
ceiling. So a party was sent, properly armed, to overtake the Chukchee. They came to the
Chukochya hamlet, and saw smoke off the ridge of hills, - the so-called 'Chukchee Ridge,' to the
west of the Kolyma. Still they did not want to have a fight. In those days they were afraid of
the very name of the Chukchee. So they played false, and said nothing about the smoke. They
came back and said, 'We have seen nothing.'
"In after times the Chukchee related the following: 'We came from over the river upon the
ice, and spent the summer on the Chukchee Ridge. When the Russians came to hunt moulting
geese, we tried to throw our grass insoles 1 across the path of those who were friendly to us, in
order to make them think of it; but they paid no attention.' After that the Chukchee wandered
in various directions. One party reached the Indighirka River. Some young men went to hunt
geese. There was an old man, Portniaghin, on the Portniaghin fishing-coast. They came to him,
and said, 'It is very strange! When we are hunting geese, Chukchee bone arrows come over to
us from somewhere. One of our number has already been killed. Still, when we land on the
shore and look for the enemy, we are unable to find anything.' He said, 'Take me to that
place. Perhaps I can find them.' So they went together. 'Where is the place?' - 'This
here.' They landed, and ascended the bank, but nobody was there. Only a number of
hummocks were to be seen on the swampy plain, - very many of them, and quite big ones.
'There!' said the old man, 'shoot at those hummocks!' They shot at the hummocks. With every
I The grass insoles of the Chukchee boot are more obtuse and rounder at the toe than those of the
Russians. An experienced eye can distinguish without much trouble one from the other (compare p. 239).

shot a Chukchee man falls down. The Chukchee would tear up a hummock, and dig out a place
under it. Then they would sit down and cover themselves with hummocks,' looking through the
long grass hanging around. Thus they killed them all, and they were more than twenty.
"Another party went across the tundra, and arrived at the hamlet Duvannoye, on the Kolyma
River. It was in the night-time. Numerous people lived there. The Chukchee killed them all.
Previously they had pierced with knives the bottoms of the boats lying on the shore, so that when
the people tried to flee to the river with these boats, the boats sank and the people were drowned.
From there the Chukchee went to the mouth of the Omolon River, but the Yukaghir of Omolon
drove them back. They tell that tale themselves. Many other Chukchee dispersed on the tundra.
The ancient Yukaghir used to put beads into their dead-falls for bait. They would string them on
a thread and hang them inside, and connect them with the trigger. The Chukchee would creep
in for these beads, and then be caught under the falling weight. The owner would come and see
the blockhead lying there still alive. Then the Chukchee would try to speak Russian: 'Kotora
topora, shita, bita!' The Russian would thereupon treat the guest to whatever he had in his hand,
were it axe or spear. So after a while all of them were exterminated."

Another tale is as follows:
"On the Anadyr side there were also numerous people, and the Chukchee exterminated all
of them. There was a town there. People lived in that town early in the fall. Then in the
evening ravens began to gather from all sides, croaking incessantly. The old men and the old
women would say, 'Why are they croaking so? It seems as if the Chukchee wanted to attack us
again!' Some gave credence, and others did not. Then the Chukchee really came at early dawn,
attacked them in their sleep, killed the men, and took the women captive. One woman had a
babe at the breast. She fled with that child in her arms. After a while she heard pursuers coming.
Looking back, she saw two men driving reindeer and following her. When she looked back, one
shot at her and hit the baby. So it was killed. The mother fell over the little one with a loud
wail. They caught her and carried her away. She had a knife, so she drew it forth and killed
herself. Three other women were led away by the Chukchee. On the way one escaped. There
was a steep, overhanging river-bank partly fallen down. She crept into the hollow, and they could
not find her. They thrust their spears into the hollow, pierced her coat in several places, but were
unable to hit her body. They spent a whole day there, and at last went away. Two other women
were carried away. Their husbands were absent. Both were rich. When they came back and
found no wives, they began to prepare something by way of ransom. They bought tobacco.
Those Chukchee lived on an island across the strait. The two husbands went in a boat to that
island. One woman, seeing her husband, began to cry. The other was quite insensible. At the
same time both had nursing infants in their arms. The men offered ransom, - a bagful of
tobacco for each head. The Chukchee said, 'We will give back the women, but the children we
will not give back.' So they put the women into the boat and rowed away. The Chukchee
husbands stood on the shore with the babes in their arms. As soon as the women left, one of
the Chukchee wailed aloud and slapped himself on his thighs with open palms. 'Oh, but I am a
fool! I took the tobacco and lost the woman! Where shall I find another one like her!' The
other was silent, as if insensible; and lo, the other woman three times fled back to the Chukchee.
Twice she was rescued betimes; the third time she was lost altogether. Doubtless the Chukchee
altered her soul by means of shamanistic magic."

It is not easy to distinguish in these stories the element of fiction from
possible historical events. The watch-tower in the Chukochya hamlet really
existed. When visiting the place, I have seen its ruins on the ground. The
watch was probably directed against the western people living on the Big
Chukchee River. We find thereabouts a number of geographical names
1 This episode is perhaps connected with the name the Chukchee sometimes give to themselves in their

folk-stories, "Hummocky-Heads" (cf. p. 33).

connected with the Chukchee, - Chukchee Channel, Chukchee Ridge, Chukochya
Hamlet.' Still the story mentions that the Chukchee came over from the
other side of the river.
The attack of the Chukchee on the hamlet Duvannoye is also an historical
fact. Even the name Duvannoye ("Spoil Shared") is connected with the
attack. In front of the hamlet stands a high wooden crucifix, as is the custom
in many Russian villages of the Kolyma. The inhabitants show the traces of
Chukchee arrows that were shot at that crucifix during the assault. A number
of other names of villages and localities of the Lower Kolyma have reference
to the atrocities supposed to have been perpetrated by the Chukchee invaders, the village Pogromnoye ("Destroyed One"), the river Ubiyenna ("Murdered
One"), the river Tomilina ("Languishing").2
In the story referring to the Anadyr, some episodes are clearly borrowed
from Chukchee folk-tales. Thus the episode of the woman who concealed
herself in the hollow and escaped the thrusts of the spear is met with in the
Chukchee tale about "Ele'ndi and his Sons" which has been mentioned several
times before. In that tale it concerns a Chukchee girl captured by Koryak
invaders. The episode of the ransoming of captive women from an island
across the strait must have been taken from a Chukchee tale referring to a
war with the American Eskimo.
Pavlutsky's Expedition. - I presume that the Chukchee raids may have
been one anmong other causes which led to the organization of the military
expedition of Shestakov and Pavlutsky, the most important of all that ever
had place in those countries. It began in the year 1729; and in the next
year Shestakov was defeated, and perished.' Pavlutsky undertook several
more expeditions; but he also was defeated, and perished in the year I747.
Mr. Jochelson4 has given most of the details of those expeditions, and has
also discussed the strange theory of Maydell, who wanted to prove that most
of the Chukchee fighting was treacherously done by disguised Koryak.
I have mentioned some details in regard to the death of Pavlutsky, taken
chiefly from local tradition. A few more facts may be added from historical
sources. According to Slovtzov, the first expedition of Pavlutsky started in
1731 from the fortress of Anadyrsk, and proceeded northward to the Arctic
Sea. He had two hundred and fifteen Russians and about two hundred
Koryak and Yukaghir. After two months of marching, he reached the seashore,
I Compare p. i 6.

According to tradition, a young girl, wounded by the Chukchee, was languishing on the shores of
that river.
3 These were the years in which the great expedition of Bering took place. Krasheninnikoff mentions
that the ship "Gabriel," which was at the disposal of that expedition, also took part in the war against the
Chukchee. This ship visited Chukchee Cape. The inhabitants fled, and left their houses; and the Cossacks
took from them various things, among other objects a chain cut from a whole walrus-tusk, Koryak fashion
(Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 50).
4 Vol. VI of this series, p. 789.

8 7-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED.) VOL. VII.

and travelled along it for two weeks. Then he had an encounter with the
Chukchee. Three battles were fought in the course of a month. The Chukchee
were defeated. Pavlutsky turned to the Bay of Anadyr, and reached Anadyrsk
on OCt. 2I. According to other information, Pavlutsky took a great number
of reindeer, also about three hundred Chukchee women, who, however, all
perished on the way to Yakutsk. Notwithstanding all such captures, Chukchee
female prisoners are but rarely mentioned in the lists of population of those
districts, of which we have several referring to the period spoken of. Thus,
in the register of I762, among the population of Nishne-Kolymsk is-mentionedone captive woman, a Chukchee native, Lili'ina. In the documents of i8ii
is mentioned an old Cossack widow, Krasnoyarov, born a Chukchee woman,
Shishukha (probably Ci'vcene), etc.
In I738 about two thousand Chukchee, armed with bows, made a raid
against the Koryak of the Anadyr district, killed many, and drove off their
reindeer-herds. In I74I the Cabinet Council of Russia resolved to increase
the garrison of Anadyrsk and to renew the war. The Cossack party soon
gained such a victory over the Chukchee, that the Cossacks were able to
replace the hard bread for three months and a half with dried meat captured
from the Chukchee. The garrison included four hundred Cossacks and
one hundred other men, besides the exiled criminals who also were sent to
Anadyr until March of the year 1764. In the year I 747 the Chukchee
began again to make inroads into the Koryak territory. On March 2 I,
Pavlutsky went in pursuit of a large Chukchee party. He bade the main
body of his soldiers to follow behind, and he himself went forward, having
with him only eighty men. Soon he overtook the enemy, who were very
numerous, standing on the hill, The Russians held a council. One lieutenant
proposed to wait for the other party; but the other lieutenant, Gornitzyn, said
angrily, "It seems that our Cossacks are warlike only at home, and in
battle they are weak-hearted. The present is the time to strike the enemy.'
So they rushed onward, but a part of the Chukchee caught them from behind.
A part of the Cossacks fled with driving-reindeer, and escaped the peril.
Pavlutsky and some others fought valiantly, but were all killed. The hill
here mentioned is, according to tradition, the Yukaghir Hill not far from
Markova. The other stories mentioned before agree well with this historical
account, and give even the same name of the lieutenant, who goaded the
Cossacks on to battle. According to the tradition, he was the first to flee
from the Chukchee.1
The war continued after Pavlutsky's defeat. The next year, I748, there
came to Anadyrsk a company of soldiers and some more Cossacks. In the
year 1752 a hundred soldiers were sent to Anadyrsk under Major Shmalev.
In the year I759 the Chukchee besieged the fortress of Anadyrsk. The people
I

Compare p. 653.

were starving. At last Lieutenant Kekurov, with three hundred men, sallied
forth through the besieging multitude, and secured provisions from a successful
reindeer-hunt.
Further details of the first expedition of Pavlutsky are contained in the
report of eleven of its members, presented to Lieut-Col. Plenisner, the commandant of Okhotsk in the year I 763.1 They vary slightly from the preceding
account as to the number of soldiers and the dates of battles; and I should
consider them quite trustworthy were it not for the fact that the report was
written tnirty-two years after the events described. According to that report,
Pavlutsky's party was made up of 236 Russians, and 280 Koryak and Yukaghir. They went across the desert to the Arctic Sea, and on reaching it,
turned to the east. On May 9 they found a house of the Maritime Chukchee
and murdered all the people. Shortly afterwards they found another house,
and also murdered its inmates. Then they had a battle with a large party
of Reindeer Chukchee, in which about four hundred and fifty of the enemy
were killed, and a hundred and fifty women and children taken captive. On
the Russian side two were killed and about seventy wounded, but none severely.
After that they found a Chukchee fortress which was constructed of drivingsledges and pack-sledges, covered with walrus-hide and strengthened with large
stones, hummocks, and earth.
All this was bound around with thong. They took it and destroyed
everything. Inside of it were five housesY On the 29th of June there was
a second battle. The Chukchee were about one thousand strong, and the
battle lasted from morning until dinner-time. About three hundred were
killed, but only ten were captured. All others escaped. At the same time
large herds of reindeer were captured; in all, about forty thousand heads. In
a third battle about five hundred Chukchee took part, about forty of whom
were killed, and all the others escaped. One Cossack was also killed. They
came to the Anadyr in the first days of November. In the summer-time
they travelled on foot, carrying their flintlocks and ammunition. The provisions
were carried on pack-reindeer. They had enough food, but several died on
the expedition from various diseases.
Another report of I763 describes an expedition of Pavlutsky that was
undertaken in I744, and began on the 4th of February. Pavlutsky had with
him four hundred Russians. The party went along the Pacific shore as far
as Meci'wmin Bay, and then returned. Several Chukchee houses, of the
Reindeer tribe as well as of the Maritime people, were destroyed, and the
people exterminated. The Russian party suffered from want of fuel and
North Archive, 1825, Part x8, p. 176.
evidently belonged to the Reindeer Chukchee. All the details of the description are quite
plausible, and correspond to the conditions of Reindeer Chukchee life. The people evidently constructed around
their camp a kind of corral with all their sledges, and strengthened it by such means as are used against the
fury of the tempest; but the Russians proved to be stronger than the tempest.
'

2 This fortress

also from starvation, and could hardly reach the shores of the Anadyr again.
To the same year, 1763, belong three other reports,' taken down, one from
Chukchee visitors to the Anadyr River; another from a Cossack who was
taken captive by the Reindeer Chukchee and spent about two years with
them; and the third from a captive woman, a native of America, who was
taken by the islanders when ten years old, then sold to Reindeer Chukchee for
an iron-headed spear and two white fawn-skins, and by her last owner given
to a Cossack of Anadyr in exchange for a copper kettle. All these reports
contain interesting details concerning the Chukchee and -also about America.
Regarding the Chukchee, the Russian captive mentions that he has seen how
a father killed his son, and a brother' killed another brother. Then he describes
how the Yukaghir of the Anadyr came to the Chukchee to ransom off their
captives. The Yukaghir brought tobacco, kettles, knives, axes, bows and
arrows, and beads. They ransomed off nine people. The Chukchee were quite
contented, and gave to the Yukaghir fawn-skin coats, white fawn-skins, white
reindeer-leg skins, coats of marten-skin, red foxes. As to America, the Chukchee
visitor, in the first report, mentions that the people living there are called
Kykhmyn.2 They have needles of copper. This copper is red, and they get
it in their own country, but in which way they procure it he does not know.
In the winter and in the spring those American people arrange large hunts
for wild reindeer. They cut down for this purpose large abatis and arrange
fences so that the reindeer are caught by thousands. They bring sacrifices
to the sun and to the sea, saying, "I give you here a sacrifice from my labor.
You also be my assistant in my need" (this short incantation is quite Chukchee,
both in sense and in style).3
The captive woman said that the American people had houses made of
green wood, poplar, larch, and aspen, beam to beam standing aslant. Their
form is round. They are covered with earth. The summer lodges are also
of round form, covered with reindeer-skins and walrus-hide. The store-rooms
are dug into the ground. The people have no iron, with the exception of a
few iron knives bought from the Chukchee. They obtain fire by striking one
stone 'against another. They cook their food in earthen pots manufactured
for the purpose.
It may not be out of place to mention here several expeditions of
Demetrius Laptev, the marine lieutenant who in I739-42 surveyed the Arctic
coast from the Lena River to the Large Baranov Cape, though his expeditions
were purely scientific, and had no reference to Chukchee wars. Laptev, with
his assistants, had to pass a winter in the desert, on the eastern branch of
Archive, i825, Part i8, p. I64.

1 North
2 Compare

the Chukchee term KI'imin and Asiatic Eskimo Ki'xmi (p. 2i). The exactness of this name
shows how correct must have been also all the other information.
3 Compare p. 474.

the Kolyma River, near the ocean. They built there, on Thick Cape, large
wooden barracks and a high tower, standing apart, on the cape. Both are
still standing at the present ti'me. The tower is called by the people "Laptev's
Beacon)." They say that a fire was burning on the top of this tower as a
beacon for Laptev's people straggling in the desert, though the top of Thick
Cape is much higher than the top of the tower, and more open to view, so
that there was no need of a special wooden tower.
I will also mnention two merchants of Yakutsk, Shalaurov and Bakhov,
wiho in-I755- 64 went on several expeditions from the mouth of the Lena
River eastwards. They went for trading-purposes, and got as far as Cape
Erri. There they perished, with all their companions. The so-called Shalaurov
barracks, which they built for use during one of those winters, are also still
standing on the Lower Kolyma shore, near the ocean.
Cessation of War. - The expedition of Pavlutsky was the last military
enterprise of the Russians against the Chukchee. Shortly after that the
Government decided to abandon a plan which turned out to be so difficult
and expensive, and which did not promise any valuable results.
Mr. Jochelson's surmise that the cessation of Russian expeditions to the
country of the Chukchee was due to the fact that the latter were poor in
objects of tribute,' may be corroborated by evidence.
Thus numerous reports of the Cossacks and public-service men, some of
which I have already quoted, repeat always, "There [in the country of the
Chukchee] is no game except wolves and red foxes, and even these are scarce
because of the lack of wood." In answer to these reports, the Government
issued orders as follows: "You are to. go there to the unpeaceful Chukchee,
and request them to bow down under the Czar's high hand, to the eternal
payment of tribute, and to take from them an oath of allegiance to arrange
register-books and to have them taxed with tribute according to those books;
and if in that country sables and foxes are really scarce, take for tribute
walrus-ivory." I
Seventeen years after the death of Pavlutsky began the breaking-up of
the Russian military reign in the extreme northeast of Siberia. The fortress
of Anadyrsk was given up in the year 1764. The Governor-General of East
Siberia says in his report of Nov. 24, I792, "The fortress of Anadyrsk, which
existed during the years 17i0-64, cost the Treasury 539,246 rubles, and it
also caused a loss of 84I,76o rubles to various peoples who had to carry
Government freight, the total expenses being I,381,607 rubles: revenue for
the whole time, 29,I52 rubles. For this reason it was abandoned in I764."

Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 785.

Walrus-ivory was costly enough, but that of the Bear Islands and at the mouth of the Anadyr was
soon exhausted. The Reindeer Chukchee, who were the nearest to the Russian forts, and against whom the
war was chiefly directed, did not even have walrus-tusks.

3 Historical Sketch of the Chukchee People (Messenger of Imperial Russian Geographical Society, I856,

V.).

The total expense for one small arctic fort is almost incredibly large, especially
when account is taken of the utter destitution of the inhabitants of Eastern
Siberia; and when we consider the value of money in the eighteenth century,
this total should really be trebled. As to the exact year of the abandonment
of Anadyrsk, some historians give it as I771. I found in the Archives of
Nishne-Kolymsk, however, quite certain indications that this happened in I764.
The church of Anadyrsk was dismantled, and its, bells and utensils taken to
the Anadyrbells were
Gishiginsk and Sredne-Kolymsk, in I766. In j
transferred from Sredne-Kolymsk to Gishiginsk.In 1769 the greater part of the military garrison of Nishne-Kolymsk was
also recalled.' According to the Register of I762, the entire population of the
fortress was, full-grown men, 585; children, 53; women, 236. Most of the
people were soldiers, Cossacks, and "public-service men." Only a part of these
Cossacks were left in the country. A century later the whole number of
Russian full-grown men in the whole country of the Lower Kolyma was I 28
(data taken from my census in I895). The remaining Cossacks were used
for various local needs, chiefly for guarding the Government store-houses and
for carrying mail, also as orderlies, servants, and guides assigned to all officials
of somewhat higher rank. Fig. 302 represents the envelope in which a
package was sent by an extra messenger
with the utmost speed. A swan-feather
fastened to the paper with sealing-wax ini

dicated

to

every

one

that

the

messenger

had to fly onward like a bird, and no delay
was

to

be suffered.

A

package of this kind

"flying post.'
Perhaps it would be interesting to
mention that some of these Cossacks were

is called

Fig. 302. Envelope officially seated.

armed with bows as late as the thirties ot

the nineteenth century. Thus I have the
list of Cossacks who were sent to the Anui fair in the year I 837. It runs
as follows: "S. Kotelnikov, bow; Miron Popov, flintlock; Ivan Kyprianov,
bow;" etc.
These remaining Cossacks were divided into two parts. i. Settled Cossacks (cTaHwHIqHe Ka3aKH) lived in the village Pokhotsk, at the western mouth
of the Kolyma and its dependencies. They had to perform only local service.
In I876 the settled Cossacks were partly dismissed, and partly transferred to
the position of common citizens of the burghess class (MtuaHe). 2. The
serving Cossacks proper were scattered all over the country, chiefly in the
towns of Sredne-Kolymsk and Nishne-Kolymsk. They formed two companies
or "commandoes.' Together with other Cossack companies scattered in various
I Archives.

towns and districts of the Province of Yakutsk, they formed the Cossack
regiment of Yakutsk, the single Cossack regiment belonging to the infantry,
and governed, as an exception to the military rule, by the Minister of the
Interior.
Settlement on the Anadyr began again in the year I784, but the new
settlers were not so much Russians as Russianized natives. The village was
moved to Markova, seven miles distant from the former site.
The settlement of Nishne-Kolymsk was moved in I773 to its present site.
Before tai it- was situated fifteen miles away, on the so-called Stadukhin
Channel. This channel was formerly a large branch of the river, but gradually
it became shallow. The new settlement was founded on the main river,
opposite the mouths of both Anui Rivers, which enter the Kolyma River almost
at the same place. The new place had some houses before this transfer. It
had no strategic advantages, but was excellently chosen for purposes of traffic.
The old fort was surrounded by palisades. The new one had no palisades,
though, according to a former tradition, it was also called a "fortress." SredneKolymsk, on the Middle Kolyma, was also fortified in olden times. One small
wooden tower still stands on the corner of the church courtyard on the hill
in the middle of the town (see Plate xxxv, Fig. i).
Even these facts show that the Chukchee war ceased altogether. The
Chukchee, when let alone, changed with surprising rapidity from an "unpeaceful"
to a "peaceful" people.
TRADE. - One might suppose that some relation still existed between
the Chukchee and the Russians. Thus, in the year i 779, the Cossack lieutenant,
Ivan Kobelev, was sent from Gishiginsk to Chukchee Cape.' This Kobelev
afterwards accompanied Billings in his journeys through the country of the
Chukchee. In the succeeding half-century he served as the first official interpreter of the Chukchee language. He lived to a very old age, more than.
a hundred years, and his name is mentioned as late as I849.
Some trade was carried on by barter on the Middle Anadyr, near the
mouth of the Red River, one of its affluents. There the summer hunting of
wild reindeer was participated in by all the tribes of the vicinity: and along
with the Yukaghir and the Chuvantzy, the Reindeer Chukchee also came
there, and even the Maritime Chukchee in their skin boats. We have information of such a visit of the Chukchee on Aug. 5, I 763.2
Opening of Trade on the Kolyma. - Intercourse with the Chukchee was
renewed on a large scale in I788 by Banner, the chief officer of Zashiversk.
Zashiversk was a town on the Indighirka River. After the recall of the garrisons, the Kolyma officer was made subordinate to the Indighirka officer, the
one nearest to the west. At the present time, Zashiversk has ceased to exist,
the Kolyma is again a separate district, and the Indighirka is subordinate to
1 Papers selected from calendars, 1784.

2 North Archive, Part

i8, p. I64.

the town of Verkhoyansk. The Chukchee were quite eager to trade with the
Russians. They wanted Russian wares; above all, iron and tobacco: so the
Russians and the Chukchee agreed to meet every year in the spring-time for
trading-purposes, in some place to the east of the Kolyma. At first a place
on the Large Anui, at the mouth of its affluent the Angarka River, was
selected for this purpose. In the year i805 Zashiversk was deprived of its
governing position, and the official centre of the Kolyma country removed to
Sredne-Kolymsk. A few years after that the Chukchee spring fair was also
removed to the Dry Anui.
Anui Fair. -. A wooden fort was built and surrounded by palisades,
as was usual with the forts of former times. The Russians were still afraid
of the Chukchee, and wanted to be protected against sudden attacks; but the
attacks never occurred, and other fairs were arranged in the country of the
Gishiga, without any palisades, in a cluster of block-houses built for the purpose,
or even in the open tundra on the snow.
I obtained from the Chukchee a curious story about the beginning of
Anui
fair. According to that story, the Chukchee wanted trade so badly,
the
that they were ready to force the Russians to open it, even by personal
constraint. "Many years after the murder of Yaku'nnin [Pavlutskyl] the spring
fair on the Anui Fiver was opened for the first time. Numerous people
gathered, - Chukchee, Russians, Chuvantzy,
and wanted to begin bartering
at once. An officer from the Czarina (Katherine the Second) also came and
declared, 'My heart is full of anger. You have killed so many men of the
Czarina, I will not permit this traffic.' The Chukchee people began to deny the
accusation. 'We did not do it. The people of Anadyr did it.' Four strong
men walked around in the Russian fortress. There is nothing to do. They
peep into the house of the offiCer through a chink in the door quite attentively.
.There he sits, clad in red, - red cap, red coat, red boots. One says,
'Let us break down this door and seize him!' They broke the door, caught
the red man, and carried him to one of the camps. He cried out, calling
'for rescue, but nobody heard his voice. The next morning the Russian people
made 'an outcry. The local officer requested that they give back the officer
of the Czarina. '.No, ' said the Chukchee, 'we must first open up trade.'
The four strong men released the captivre, and, to appease his anger, they
gave him two black foxes. Then the people said, 'We cannot trade without
an interpreter.' So they found Ke'ka, a man of Chuvantzy stock, who lived
on the Big 'River, and made him their interpreter." 2
Another tale referring to the same time states, "After a while they ceased
fighting. The people of E'tel (Chuvantzy) who used to be'killed by both
parties became their interpreters. They all became friendly, and the war ceased.
Then Nute'wgi, a man of Chuvantzy stock, went to a Chukchee strong man,
ICompare p. 652.

2 See

Bogoras, Chukchee Materials. P- 391

Jesup North Pacific IExpea., Vol. VII.

Plate XXXV.

FIG. I. TOWER IN SREDNE-KOLYMSK.

FIG. 2. FATHER VICTOR,
CHUKCHEE MISSIONARY.

FIG. 3. CHAPEL IN POKHOTSK.

The Chukchee.

70I

Eeinei'vu, and carried a paper relating to the stopping of the war. Along
with that paper he took a large medal of silver."
The paper in question, together with the medal, were actually preserved
in a Chukchee family on the Large Anui River. The owners put them in a
flat wooden box, and ustd this box in the ceremonial as one of the family
charms. I bought it from them. The paper proved to be a document dated
Feb. 8. I 789. It was directed to a "Chukchee Chaun Chief, Khamakhei,
who in the year I788 expressed his desire to become a subject of her Majesty,
and to pay tribute, together with his kinsmen. For that promise he was
presented with a crimson coat, and with a parade dagger bearing the inscription
'Russian true subject.' Thus all authorities would thereafter have to meet
him as a true subject and a slave of her Majesty."
Khamakhei is the Chukchee name Qi'miqai ("Little Worm"). Another
man of this name, whom Wrangel met on Cape Erri, may have been the
descendant of this first "true subject." It may be seen from this document
that the Russian officials sought again to induce the Chukchee to become
subjects, and to pay tribute; but from this time on, it was done with great
caution, by means of persuasion and without any constraint. This policy has
not changed up to recent times, notwithstanding the fact that efforts were
made by a few officers to force the Chukchee into more real subjection.
The most active of all in this respect was Maydell.
Even the Russian Code contains special articles referring to "natives not
wholly subjugated."' Of these articles, the I25 4th says. "They are governed
and judged according to their own customs and usages, and are subject to
Russian law only in case of murder or pillage committed on Russian territory."
I mentioned before that at the Anui fair only the inner space of the fort is
considered to be Russian territory. Outside the gate begins the free territory
of the Chukchee.
Article 1256 says, "The Chukchee pay tribute in quantity and quality
according to their own free will." This article, however, was excluded in the
next edition of the Code, in 1876.
Chukchee Tribu/e and "Chukchee Presents." - In order to induce the
Chukchee to consent more readily to the payment of tribute, Banner obtained
from the Government a yearly assignment for the so-called "Chukchee presents."
The sumn was-assigned from funds of his Imperial Majesty's own Cabinet, in
accordance with the fact that tribute from the natives was turned likewise
into the same Cabinet. The sum varied greatly from year to year. Thus,
in the year I79I it was 500 rubles; in the next year, only 85 rubles; a
century later, in i86i, and after that, it was 150 rubles. Maydell mentions
I43 rubles as the probable sum for the year 1869. With this money were
bought tobacco, kettles, and knives, which were then taken to the fair and
I

Kussian Code, edition of I857, IX, Articles I25I-I256.

88-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

given to the Chukchee as if in payment for their tribute. The tribute was,
as in earlier times, from each man one fox, mostly red, but sometimes also
white, though the white fox is considerably cheaper than the red one. It
seems that in the beginning the Chukchee, in their eagerness for trade, were
even ready to pay some real tribute.
Thus, the tale about the opening of the Anui fair, cited before, continues
as follows: "The officer from the Czarina said again, 'My heart is angrry.
Why have you killed so many of the Czar's people?'- 'Control your anger,
said the Chukchee. 'Stop asking about the murdered men. Better assign a
chief to count all the people. Let the chief, with the people, pay to the
Czarina tribute in restitution for the murdered men.'"
I have this tale from a member of the family of Ei'heli, whose name has
been mentioned several times; and probably it reflects knowledge of the more
recent measures carried out by Maydell. Still most of it refers to an earlier
time. The Russians certainly could have succeeded in exacting some kind of
trade-tax, to be collected at the fair. Instead of that, they tried to introduce
again tribute by subjection, the same as that which led to all the earlier wars.
This tribute was paid very irregularly, - one year (i 835) by twenty-seven
men, another year (I837) by twenty men, and still another year (I838) by
only eight. And with the presents of the Government the paying of tribute
soon became quite similar to traffic. The Chukchee wanted to get the mlost
possible, the Russian officer wanted to give less, and thus haggling over the
tribute ensued. Still, in most cases the present given represented the current
price of the furs brought for tribute. Thus in i8o6 the Chukchee tribute was
ten red foxes; as an equivalent in presents, 27 pounds of tobacco, valued at
40.5 rubles, were given. The Governor of the Yakutsk Province, however,
was displeased with the transaction, because the value of the foxes was equal
to the value of the tobacco, plus transportation. In i832, for each red fox,
three pounds of tobacco and an iron spear-head were given, which was still
less favorable for the Russians. In I837, for each red fox, two pounds and
a half of tobacco, a large knife, some beads, needles, also candy, hard tack,
etc., were given.
The so-called "complimentary tribute" (HoIKJIoHHu I4 acawrb) 1 also appeared
from time to time. Thus in i 8I 2 there were presented to the Czar seven
black foxes on the part of seven different men. In I8I4 there were presented
to the Czar by the Chukchee seventy puds of walrus-ivory and seventeen
puds of peltries. This last present is uncommonly large. I presume that it
was simply the result of traffic carried on by officials with Government property
for the benefit of the Treasury.
Some of the Chukchee tribute was paid by the Reindeer Chukchee,
another portion by the Maritime Chukchee traders (kavra'lit), who played such
1 Compare Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 799.

an important role in the Russo-Chukchee trade. The presents, consequently,
were distributed between these two groups of tributaries. The Maritime group
was much more important, because all the best peltries of American provenience
were brought by the traders of this group.
Regulations of Treskin. - Trade at the Anui fair was carried on more
or less uninterruptedly until i 8 I. In that year General Treskin, Governor
of Irkutsk, introduced a set of rules which were to regulate with the utmost
strictness trade with the Chukchee. These rules were put into force in I812,
and observed, until I 869, when they were repealed by Maydell. Treskin,
even for his time, was famous for his cruelty and corruptness, and his career
terminated by his being officially prosecuted in court. Among his other qualities
was his constant desire to regulate strictly the whole course of life, which is
so characteristic of all the bureaucracy of the St. Petersburg period of Russian
history. The most essential feature of his rules and regulations was the fixed
table of prices for all the more expensive objects of sale brought to the fair;
such as beavers, all kinds of foxes, martens, and walrus-ivory, and, as the
Russian equivalent, tobacco, and often also kettles, iron, and copper. The staple
article of value offered for sale by the Chukchee was the red fox; and that
offered by the Russians, tobacco. Objects of minor value, such as reindeer-meat
and seal-thong, were sold at free prices in exchange for iron-work, sugar, etc.
In some years fawn-skins were included in the table, but for the most part
these were sold free. In some years Cossacks and the common citizens were
given the right to carry on some small traffic with the Chukchee to the
amount of one pud of tobacco, but only for the necessaries of life, such as
meat and clothing. In other years even that right was taken away.
The table of prices had to be established every year by deputies of
traders, in accord with the chief officer and the principal Chukchee traders;
but usually it ran on from year to year without change, as follows:Chukchee Equivalent.
i pud (36 lbs. Avoirdupois) tobacco, or
i pud of iron kettles, or
i pud of copper kettles

.0 red foxes.

X black fox .20 red foxes.
i gray fox.
2 red foxes.
i beaver or otter .2 red foxes.
i lynx.3 red foxes.
i overcoat of marten .5 red foxes.

t bear-skin.i red fox.
3 martens.i red fox.
i red fox.
4 white foxes .
i red fox.
4 average walrus-tusks.
4 fawn-skins .i red fox.
i parkee.iI red fox.

The foxes and all other peltries had to be full-haired and whole, with a tail

and all four paws. Before the opening of the fair, all the tobacco was divided,
under the inspection of deputies, into piles of one or two puds, put into leather
bags, and then sealed. It had to be quite dry and of good quality. Sprinkling
with water, which adds to the weight, was forbidden. Trade with objects of
fixed value was permitted but one day. After that the less important trade began,
which was free. Thus the chief object of value offered in trade by the Russians was made, like money, quite uniform among all the traders. The kettles,
iron or copper, were also of about the same quality. The peltries of the
Chukchee, on the contrary, varied considerably in quality and value. This
unequal position of the two trading-parties led to the strange scenes described
by Wrangell.' For instance, trade was opened on the ice of the river near
the fortress. When the signal was given, the Chukchee quietly remained by
their sledges; while the Russians would rush ahead, dragging their tobacco
and doing their utmost to outrun each other and to secure the best peltries.
The merchants as a body were inclined to support these regulations,
because they hoped by their means to keep the price of Russians articles
of value on a certain level, sufficiently high, and purposely so fixed; or, as
it is stated in the first draught of the regulations drawn up in the year i 8 i i,
"Nobody has a right to make exchanges under value. On the contrary, every
one must take care to raise the price as high as possible, so that the traffic
shall be more profitable for our side."
This is plain enough. Still in the course of time some changes in the
table became necessary. They appeared in the shape of so-called "supplements,'
added to the fixed prices. Thus in the forties of the nineteenth century io red
foxes were worth i pud of tobacco, and a kettle as supplement; 20 foxes
brought 2 puds of tobacco, a kettle, and a wolverene-skin. Individual traders,
on the contrary, were all the time trying to elude the regulations, underselling
the others, buying articles of lesser value with tobacco, selling to the Chukchee
traders on credit, which was also forbidden. Some merchants had a secret
agreement with their Chukchee friends, and put into their sealed tobacco-bags
some special "supplement." One merchant, for instance, found a way for many
years of putting into each large bag of tobacco a small flask of alcohol. His
trade was quite prosperous. All this brought on continuous trouble, mutual
complaints, denunciation, and endless chicanery. The trespassers were punished
with the utmost severity, especially those of the poorer class. Thus in the
year I838 a trader named Bereshnov was deprived of the right of trading for
ten years because he exchanged with one Chukchee ten pounds of tobacco
for such reindeer-skins as were not included in the table. He wanted those
skins for his sister's clothing. In bartering for foxes, he was short by threefourths of a fox-skin. In the year i842 Miastukov, a-poor man, underwent
the same penance for thirteen years, because in bartering for foxes he was
1 Wrangell I, p. 282, German edition, Report of Matiushkin.

short one paw. On the other hand, the merchants, acting as a body, were
bent on monopolizing the whole trade with the Chukchee at the yearly Anui
fair, to the exclusion of every other way and place. Thus in the year I849
the merchants of Kolymsk entered a complaint against the Yakutsk merchant
Basile Trifonov because he wanted to re-open the disused trail to Anadyr
and Gishiga. This Trifonov was very active. He made several attempts to
find the trail. One time guided by the official chart, he lost his way, and
returned to Omolon. On the way he visited the camps of the Chukchee and
the Lamut, and the merchants complained to the authorities that this was an
infringement of the regulations of the Anui fair.
In the year i 859 a similar complaint was entered against another merchant,
Nicholas Bereshnov, by his three cousins, Paul, Lucas, and Gabriel Bereshnov,
and it had immediate effect. I could give a long series of suclh examples
from the Archives of the Kolyma. Earlier than that, in the year I834, the
Cossacks of Nishne-Kolymsk made a complaint even against the Yukaghir of
Yelombal, on the Large Anui River, because, in order to get food for themselves, they worked on iron and traded off the products of their work to the
Chukchee; and this was immediately forbidden.
Nevertheless, in the year i826, the whole body of merchants complained
of the restrictions on trade. They accused the officials of having put a restraint
on trade for their own private interests, since they themselves carried on considerable trade. In accordance with these complaints, the Siberian Committee,
in I83I, tried to establish free trade. The Report of the Committee points
out that because of these restrictions, the prices of imported wares are
exeedingly high. Thus tobacco, which is valued in Yakutsk at eighteen rubles
per pud, is valued in Verkhoyansk at five rubles per pound; i. e., at more
than ten times the original price. An axe is valued at ten rtubles. It is
remarkable that the permission given by the Siberian Committee for free trade
had no effect at all. On the contrary, in I837 the order forbidding merchants
to go to the camps and settlements of the natives was reiterated. The same
was repeated several times, in i 839, I840, I847. The restraint was evidently
stronger than the permission to exercise freedom in trading.
Maydell's Reform. - This condition of affairs lasted until I859, when
Maydell repealed the regulations, and established free trade. At the same
time he tried to abolish the custom of giving to the Chukchee presents in
exchange for tribute, and to introduce a real tribute. He accomplished this,
together with a curious administrative reform in regard to the nearest groups
of the Reindeer Chukchee, while the Maritime Chukchee remained outside of
his sphere of influence. Still, in I869 he gave no presents at the Anui fair,
not even to the Maritime traders, for their tribute. I have already spoken
of Maydell's reform, which was based on the attempt to create official clans
for the purpose of exacting tribute; these clans were to have chiefs at the head,

with a "Highest Chief of all the Chukchee," as a kind of hereditary prince,
ruling the whole tribe. The family to whose lot this dignity fell was in reality
one of the richest reindeer-breeding families in the whole country. The head of
this family, in Maydell's time, was Amra'wkurgin, a man of great personal
ability, both physical and moral. His father's name was Ya'tirgin; and
Ya'tirgin's father was Gila'irgin ("Marmot"). In a document of I 8I 2 this
"Marmot" is called the " Chaun Chukchee Chief." Khamakhei, in the document
of 1789 cited above, was also called "Chaun Chukchee Chief." The western
limit of the Chukchee in that time lay near the Chaun River.
I mentioned before that the Russian authorities, from the very firstyears,
tried to find chiefs among the Chukchee, in order, through their mediation,
to exert an influence over the whole tribe. Since the Chukchee had no chiefs,
the Russian officials addressed their attentions simply to the more wealthy
and influential persons, and bribed them with presents, - gave them gaudy
coats, bright medals, and daggers inlaid with silver, - although usually without practical result. Amra'wkurgin inherited from his father two such medals
and one coat. He was given several others besides; so that his son Ei'heli
was able to hang form his neck, when in full parade dress, five ponderous
disks in yellow and white. Amra'wkurgin was very modest about displaying
his strange rank; but Ei'heli, who had far less good sense than his father,
often presented quite a foolish appearance. I will quote the official report of
the chief official of the Kolyma for i884: "This funny man came to me in
full parade, saying, 'I am the Chukchee chief. I' am the Czar.'"
I witnessed a meeting of Ei'heli with another official newly come from
Yakutsk, and inexperienced in local affairs. Ei'heli was quite drunk, and his
crimson coat was all besmeared with filth. Still, when he hiccoughed out his
usual "I am the Chukchee Czar," the haughty official hastily stood up and
did obeisanse. After that, when Ei'heli was going, he sped forwards and
opened the door with his own hand for the Chukchee majesty. Following
this example, the other Russians often called Ei'heli "the black Chukchee
czar" or "the tundra czar." I was witness to another occurrence, when a
well-to-do trader fell upon his knees before this dignitary with a complaint
against some Anui Chukchee who had charged too high a price for their
slaughtered reindeer. Ei'heli said nothing: he had no influence with the people
in question. Other chiefs, supposed to rule their clans, have just as little
influence as the first dignitary. After a while, all the "clans" became mingled.
The supposed clansmen changed their abode, and quite forgot their former
relations. I remember that in the year i895 one To'hi-no an acquaintance of
mine, was made an assistant to the chief of the Anui clan. He told me very
judiciously, "Now I am a chief, and I have this dagger and a-package of
papers as signs of my dignity. Still where in the world are my people?
I am unable to find any."

Expansion of the Reindeer Chukchee and New Tribute. - As one
reason for the introduction of the new tribute among the Reindeer Chukchee,
Maydell cited the circumstance that from the time of the cessation of hostilities
they were slowly but incessantly moving westward and southward. In the
time of the Russian war their western frontier was somewhere west of the
Chaun River and on the upper courses of both Anui Rivers. In the thirties
of the nineteenth century their camps extended to the Large Baranikha River,
although this country was considered as having belonged, from times of old,
to the Yukaghir of the Anui. In the fifties of the nineteenth century the
Chukchee proceeded first to the Labugen, then to the Pohinden, both affluents
of the Dry Anui River. Their onward movement was connected with the
vanishing of the Yukaghir. These last died out, or receded to the Kolyma,
because the wild-reindeer herds were turned away from their yearly migratory
route across the Anui and Kolyma Rivers. This last circumstance was probably
due to the increase of the Chukchee herds. Thus the pacification of the
country proved unfavorable to the lower material culture of the Yukaghir
hunters, and quite favorable to the nomad culture of the Chukchee, which
was higher than that of the Yukaghir, though in other respects the Chukchee
were more primitive.
In the end of the fifties of the nineteenth century the foremost Chukchee
camps crossed the Kolyma River to the west, and were approaching the
Omolon River on the south. All this territory was formerly occupied by the
Yukaghir, who were already half extinct; but the Chukchee were conscious
that the land was not theirs, and considered themselves under obligation to
pay at least something for those new pastures. Maydell asserts that he was
the first to give permission to the Chukchee to cross the Kolyma River, but
this is not the case. Some Chukchee crossed the Kolyma as early as i 859
with the permission of one of the predecessors of Maydell. Another party
crossed the Kolyma River in i866. As to the tribute, Maydell had good
sense enough to abolish the former standard of one red fox per head as too
high, and not easily obtained by the reindeer-breeding Chukchee on their
treeless tundras. He established a new standard, low in price and easily
procured, - one reindeer-skin scraped and worked into soft leather. A considerable number of such skins are prepared by all the tribes of the country.
Some of theim are used for clothing; others are exported to Yakutsk, there
to be used by the Yakut also for clothing. Each Chukchee family has,
besides, a number of spare reindeer-skins. Thus the women are able at all
times to prepare soft curried leather. Still the collecting of soft skins as tribute
proved a failure. Many of the Chukchee brought skins of bad quality or none
at all; and the deficiency was paid by Amra'wkurgin and the other chiefs.
Here Maydell again showed his good sense by substituting a money equivalent
for the tribute of skins, one ruble for every single skin. This standard is

7o8

the lowest, in comparison with that of all other native tribes of East Siberia;
and the whole amount of tribute was put at 247 rubles. From that time on,
this tribute was paid every year by the Reindeer Chukchee, although a goodly
portion of it was not paid by the tributaries, but was furnislhed instead by the
rich chiefs of the clans. From that time, the Reindeer Chukchee also ceased
to receive presents for their tribute.
Maydell forbade the giving of tribute-presents to the Maritime traders
also. This might have been the last of the Chukchee presents had not a new
factor come into play, - the loss of importance of the Anui fair, and the
desire of the authorities to give it some support. The chief reason of this
decrease in importance was the diminution in the number of American peltries
brought to the Kolyma market. Before this, all beavers and martens and
fully half of the foxes, sold on the Kolyma, were of American provenience.
A large portion of the iron and tobacco also went to the American shore,
even far inland, through the mediation of the Chukchee. In more recent
times these peltries have found their way from Alaska to the United States.
Some of the beavers and martens, which bring quite a good price in Asia,
were still going the former way, but chiefly those of inferior quality. Even
a large part of the peltries from the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic
Eskimo went to America through the medium of whalers. The Maritime
traders (kavra'lit) would take American wares and carry them inland to the
Reindeer camps to be exchanged for fawn-skins and ready-made garments.
Thus this branch of the trade, also, did not reach the fairs of the Kolyma.1
The number of Maritime Chukchee who attended the Anui fair, which
in former times usually amounted to a couple of scores, fell to ten and even
less. Then the authorities thought to attract them again by restoring the
tribute-presents. This was done very soon after Maydell's time. In the year
I889 the Governor of Yakutsk, Svetlitzky, ordered that these presents be
increased as the only means of attracting the Maritime Chukchee. Every one
who should bring a companion with him would be' entitled to special recompense.
According to this order, each individual share was more than doubled. In
the year I889 twelve Maritime Chukchee paid tribute at the fair, and received
for one red fox, for instance, one large kettle, one knife, one spear-head,
several pounds of tobacco, beads, candy, and hard-tack. The value of the
presents was much higher than that of the tribute. In the official papers of
that time these presents are called "return presents to the Chukchee, not
subjected to Russia." This state of things lasted up to very recent, times.
Four or five of the Maritime tributaries would come to the fair every year,
bringing a dozen tribute-foxes, their own and those of their absent friends
"entered in the register." A few new-comers would also ask to be put on
the tribute-list; but the chief official would usually refuse to do so, because
I

See pp. 57, 66.

new bargains of such a kind would be of little use. The tributaries would
come to the Anui fair without a large amount of peltries for trade, only with
their tribute and a few skins for buying liquor; and the whole transaction
degenerated into a complete sham. I was informed that for the last two or
three years the Chukchee presents have been withheld again, but I am not
quite sure about this.
On account of hard times, when the fortress of Anadyrsk was abolished,
the Russian authorities were under the impression that in dealing with the
Chukchee the utmost caution and prudence are required. This idea has been
retained up to quite recent times. I have spoken before of the Anui-fair riot
of 1895, the details of which are so characteristic. Another interesting incident
happened ten years before, in I 884. A Russian creole of Nishne-Kolymsk,
Semen Drushinin, while on a trading-trip to Cape Erri, had some difficulties
with the Maritime Chukchee of that place about a seal-carcass that was offered
for sale. He paid a "false price" for it, and the seal was taken back from
him against his will. Angered by this, Drushinin declared that the Governor
of Yakutsk would come to the Kolyma in order to punish the Chukchee, for
which purpose he would bring powder and ammunition to the amount of ten
pack-horse loads. When the Chukchee made light of this threat, he added,
pointing up to the sky, where the aurora borealis was shining with uncommon
brightness, "See that flame! Have you seen the like before? God is warning
you! That is your blood!"
The whole affair sprang from a denouncement by another creole, hostile
to Drushinin, and seems to be grossly exaggerated. Nevertheless it caused
great commotion among all the Russian authorities of the country. Drushinin
was arrested and put into jail. An extra messenger was sent to the Governor
of Yakutsk; another was sent to the Chukchee "chiefs" with the solemn
declaration that the Russian Government had no part in the words of Drushinin.
The chief official even proposed to the Chukchee, that, if required, he would
come himself and assure them of the peaceful intentions of the Government.
The Russian creoles were warned that they must take care not to give the
Chukchee even the slightest reason for displeasure, under heavy penalty
according to martial law, etc. I do not know the result of all this, nor
whether Drushinin was really court-martialled.
CHIEF OFFICERS OF THE ANADYR. - The Anadyr country, after the
abolishment of the fortress in I764, had no officials, and was governed from
Gishiginsk. The first official was appointed in I 889, at the time of the
opening of the steamship-line from Vladivostok to Mariinsky Post once a year.
This first official was Grinevitsky, a doctor of medicine, who died there a year
afterward, having asked in vain for a furlough to more civilized countries.
He also made a request in his official report for permission to be called,
not the chief official, but only the doctor, because the Chukchee are a freedom89-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL VII.

7IO

loving people, and must first become accustomed to the idea of authority.
His request, however, was not granted. After that, for three years Anadyr
again had no representative of the official authority. Only a few Cossacks,
from Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka, were sent to stay at Mariinsky Post. Life
there was quite wearisome. Thus one year no fuel was left for them by the
state steamer, and they were obliged to gather driftwood throughout the
winter from under the snow. They had no dogs, and had to drag their fuel
themselves on a sledge. They would go for fuel, and lose their way in a
snowstorm. Some of them told me, in speaking about this, "We knew nothing
about the country, and were sent against our will. We left our families in
Kamchatka. So, when we were in the greatest trouble, some one of us
would fling himself on the ground, and wail aloud (in old Russian fashion),
'Oh, my mother! why have you borne me for this trouble? 0 God! why
have you brought me to this country? Oh, we are wretched!' etc."
Then, in I894, N. Gondatti - at present Governor of the Tobolsk
Province - was appointed chief officer of the Anadyr. He staid there three
years. Mr. Gondatti, who, like Maydell, was partly moved by scientific interests,
tried to imitate him also in his administrative activity. Thus he sent his
assistant, Ankudinov, to the Ke'rek to induce them to pay tribute. The Ke'rek
are the most wretched tribe of all northwestern Siberia, perhaps even more
wretched than the Yukaghir; and they are rapidly vanishing, partly through
starvation. It is only just to say that no violent means were used, and that
the timid Ke'rek were rather coaxed into paying a few fox-skins into the
Russian Treasury. In a report by Mr. Gondatti the exaction of this tribute
is extolled as "the subjection of a tribe heretofore quite independent." It
should be added that the Ke'rek paid their tribute once or twice. Then they
ceased to come to the Anadyr and also to pay tribute. When on a visit to
Indian Point, Mr. Gondatti also displayed much official zeal, as he himself
has described partly in his papers,' partly in conversation. Thus he sealed
in the village of UIni'sak, with the sealing-wax of the Russian Crown, one of
the native storehouses filled with strong liquors; and the seals were not broken
until the time of his departure, which, however, happened shortly afterwards.
He also tried to counteract the supposed influence of the "transformed shamans,
going so far as to employ chastisement personally inflicted ad hominem. He
selected also three trustworthy men, and appointed all three elders or chiefs
of the village Uini'sak. With each of these chiefs he left a duly written paper
and a Russian flag, with instructions to hoist the latter as soon as a Russian
ship should come into the harbor. This happened so rarely that the whole
ceremony very soon fell into desuetude. In the same spirit Mr. Gondatti,
I The Population of the Anadyr District (Memoirs of the Amur Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. III, Part I). When writing Part I of this volume in New York, I had not this paper
at hand (cf. p. 27), but I found it afterwards in St. Petersburg.

7 I I.

during the three years of his stay at Anadyr, kept a detailed account of all
sales and purchases, debits and credits, of the Russianized natives.1
I know another official who at the very same time held sway on the
Lower Kolyma, and who, in order to exterminate syphilis, kept another account,
not less detailed, of all sexual intercourse between men and women, hoping
in this way to find the bearers of the original disease. Both records were
failures, but they are very characteristic for the whole system of the administration of the country.
TRADE IN ALCOHOL. - I made mention before of the brisk trade in
strong liquor which is carried on in the Kolyma country between the Russians
and the Chukchee. 2 A few more words regarding this matter may be interesting. In the thirties of the nineteenth century, liquor was still very scarce at
the Anui fair. Only the aged interpreter Kobelev, whose name has already
been mentioned, was able to sell some at retail. The price of the liquor was
a marten-skin for a small glassful. One of the documents adds, that because
of this traffic, he was greatly loved by all the people. At the same time,
however (i 827), Nishne-Kolymsk had a regular saloon, where even fruit-brandy
(five barrels 3) was sold. In I842 there was a great famine on the Lower
Kolyma, and some cases of death by starvation on both Anui Rivers. In
the same year the saloon above mentioned sold thirty barrels of undiluted
alcohol, and in I847 even fifty barrels. In I864 the price of alcohol at the
Anui fair was two beaver-skins for one bottle.
From that time on, the imports of alcohol into the Kolyma country
increased quite regularly until they reached three hundred barrels yearly. At
the same time the price regularly decreased. During my stay on the Kolyma,
the price of alcohol in the saloons of Sredne-Kolymsk was two or two and a
half rubles per bottle. The saloon of Nishne-Kolymsk was abolished, but
plenty of liquor was to be had on the Lower Kolyma. The price at the
Anui fair was a red fox-skin per bottle, which is five times cheaper than the
price in I864. In I 895 the Cossack commander of Sredne-Kolymsk, by
official order, sent a man to the Reindeer Chukchee of the western tundra
to buy reindeer for alcohol, only in the order the alcohol was called simply
"liquor." The man brought with him one barrel of this liquor, and slaughtered
twenty-two reindeer. I was a witness to the whole transaction. I was informed
I After the energetic activity of Mr. Gondatti, there came for the Anadyr a period of quiet. So the
Governor in Vladivostok said to the successor of Mr. Gondatti, "You must remember that we gave to Grinevitzky
two thousand rubles for the investigation of the country, and to Gondatti fifteen hundred rubles. Now we
consider that the country is thoroughly investigated. And you are to be, not an investigator, but a simple
chief of the district." I may agree with the idea expressed in these words, in so far as the less active the
representative of the Russian authority is, the better it is for the inhabitants of the country.
2 Compare p. 6I.
3 A barrel of the kind in question forms one-half of the load of a pack-horse. It contains 3 vedros
("buckets") of 20 bottles each. A Russian vedro is equal to 3249 gallons.

71I 2

recently that the importation of alcohol into the Kolyma country has lately
been forbidden. It remains to be seen how strictly this prohibition will be
enforced; but of course some such law, however slack, is much better than
to allow the importation to go on unhindered. If the trade in liquor could
also have been stopped from the American side, the vanishing of native
tribes of this country would probably proceed at least more slowly than
at present.
GENERAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIAN ADMINISTRATION. - Such is the history
of the official influence of the Russians upon their Chukchee neighbors. To
understand it properly, one must bear in mind the general character of the
Russian Administration in the far east of Siberia. The rule of the Moscow
Government, which lasted in European Russia until the beginning of the
eighteenth century, continued in Siberia half a century longer. Thus all the
Chukchee wars, and those who took active part in them, the Cossacks and
public-service men, the boyar-sons, their reports, and all the search for tribute,
belong wholly to the old period of Russian history. The Government of this
period was at least frank and plain in its dealings. The Cossacks and their
chiefs wanted tribute and submission of the natives. Their principal means
of enforcing their desires was by the use of fire-arms (orHeHHUtI 6o0), by taking
hostages, by torturing on the rack, and by executions.
In the latter part of the eighteenth century the St. Petersburg method
of administration was extended also to Siberia. German terms took the place
of Russian ones in all branches of the Administration, the ample coats of the
old style were exchanged for foreign-looking uniforms, and the system of
bureaucracy developed to its full vigor. For the next century and up to the
present time it has remained in Siberia almost without change. Kolyma,
Yana, and other remote districts of the arctic zone, are the worst governed
of all.
Expenses. - As an example, the expenses of administration of the Kolyma
district may be given. The personnel of the Administration consists of five
people, who receive yearly, in round numbers, a total of ten thousand rubles
salary and three hundred puid of flour. Each "serving" Cossack also has a
right, from his seventh year of age up to his dismissal after twenty-five years
of service, to a single "ration" (u1aewb), which is equal to a hundred and fifty
rubles and twelve pud of flour each year. The whole number of such rations
is about one hundred: so that the total of merely the salaries of members of
the Administration is about twenty-five thousand rubles and fifteen hundred
pud of flour. If we count the flour at only eight rubles and a half per pud,
as it was in the early nineties of the nineteenth century, the total for salary
would be thirty-seven thousand five hundred rubles. Moreover, the priests,
of whom there are seven, receive eight thousand rubles salary, and five hundred
pud of flour. The total expenses of the State for administration thus reach

71I3

probably about fifty thousand rubles.' All this is spent for a population of
three thousand who are more or less sedentary, and of another three thousand
wandering natives; i.e., more than eight rubles per man. The total revenue
of the Government from the Kolyma country is less than ten thousand rubles
per year.
As a rule, the officials are sent to remote districts such as the Kolyma
either as punishment for some trespass, or they go tempted by the comparatively
high salary and the short term of service (ten years) necessary for a full
pension. They enjoy the full freedom of their administrative position, which
leads them very soon to indulge in excesses. After two or three years a
higher official is sent from Yakutsk to inspect and to verify the actounts.
This often ends either in the district official heavily bribing the inspector, or
in his being deprived of his position and impeached before the court. Fully
one half of the chief officials of the Kolyma have ended their careers and
even their lives while under impeachment. Some of them, too, have been
adventurers from the very beginning. Even criminals sent from European
Russia to Siberia have then been accepted again into service and sent as far
as the Kolyma' I may mention here Vinogradov, who was in service in the
thirties of the nineteenth century. In the year 'I837 a member of the Provincial
Council, Ring, was sent to inspect his office. Almost immediately the two
got into a violent quarrel, which ended all of a sudden in the death of
Ring. Local tradition says that Vinogradov caused Ring to be poisoned; and
I have found in the Archives an order, directed by Vinogradov to the private
commander of the Cossacks of Nishne-Kolymsk, referring to the death of
Ring, and of rather doubtful significance. Another document referring to
.i839, when Vinogradov was dismissed and impeached before a court, mentions
his attempt to murder his wife, for which he was legally prosecuted. His
wife was the daughter of a local priest. He accused her of improper conduct,
"too improper even for the Kolyma," as it is stated in the document. I might
mention more episodes of a similar character and of more recent date.
It is no wonder that the doings of such an Administration present forms
quite strange, to say the least. I will give a few instances. The inquiries
for all persons wanted by the courts or police throughout the immense empire
are sent, as a rule, to every district, however remote. Thus the mail, which
up to very recent times came only three times a year, would bring piles of
such orders, and all local archives are full of them: as, for example, the order
of the chief secretary of military affairs inquiring for the dismissed Lieut-Col.
von Stempel and his step-daughter Eugenie Krumones, in reference to their
I At

least another fifty thousand rubles should be added to cover the expenses, legal or illegal, falling
directly upon the shoulders of the population; such as the conveying of officials from village to village, the
rebuilding of governmeDt houses, the carrying of loads, though in theory this has to be paid for; also various
extortions, requisitions, bribes, presents, etc., should be included.

7I 4

petition for the acceptance of the said Eugenie Krumones into the Institution
for the Education of Gentle-born Girls;- another order inquiring for a banker,
Matthias Leibion, from The Hague in Holland; and many more; not to
speak of the political refugees who fled abroad, and none of whom of course
might wish to go to the Kolyma of their own free will. These orders are
followed by circulars, not less numerous,.concerning the collection of "free-will
offerings" of official character, chiefly for building monuments, - for the monument to Count A. A. Bobrinsky, for which 3.35 rubles were collected; for the
monument to the composer Glinka in Smolensk, for which I.50 rubles were
collected from the Yukaghir in I822; for the House of Good Intention in
Nishne-Kolymsk, for which 225 rubles were collected (this was to have been
a kind of club-house; the plan probably originated with Wrangell, but the
house was never built). There are also collections for the hospital in Constantinople, for the Voluntary Fleet, etc. After that follow long tables of local
statistics, which year after year are compiled in the following manner:
Asses and mules .ooo
ooo
Camels and buffaloes.
Catholics. ooo
ooo
Protestants . . .
Corn sowed . . .
ooo

Corn gathered .. . .
ooo
Tanneries.. . .
ooo
Tallow-boileries .... ooo
Pay to a working-man per day . . . . ooo
Pay to a working-woman per day . . . ooo

and so on for scores of pages. If any of these ooo are not sent in time to
Yakutsk, there comes from there an angry reproval, with a threat of punishment
by law. I have in my collection several samples of such official correspondence.
I should mention also that, though not an official in the service of the Government, still even I have received an official circular from the Russian Society
of Sericulture, with the offer to undertake the same in the Kolyma country.
A promise of a moderate subsidy was added at the end. I must confess
that I did not answer the circular. So in due time (after nine months) I
received from the same society a letter the purport of which was politely put
with much insistance to remind me of the former offer.
When the local official scientists want to produce somne original statistics,
they turn out to be original indeed. Thus, in the Archives of a settlement
in Kamchatka I found a copy of a statistical report, which, among other
items, included the following account:
Peter Rybin.
52 years old.
Semen Bereskin.43 years old, etc.
Total the whole village .2236 years old.

Extortion. - lJnder piles of such fantastic documents are concealed
oppression and extortion of every kind, very real, and often not bereft of
cunning. Thus salt is taken from Yakutsk to the Kolyma at the expense
of the Government, to be sold there to all the inhabitants. The expense of
transportation is 8.5o rubles per pud, and more. The price is established

7I5

once for all, I .20 rubles per pud. The difference is over 7 rubles. Thus
the merchants who undertake every year to carry the salt allowance from
Yakutsk to the Kolyma prefer to carry one tenth of the quantity agreed
upon; for the other nine tenths they get the receipts from the chief officer
at Sredne-Kolymsk. The salt of the previous years remains in the storehouse,
and only a small quantity is sold to the people. The large profit is divided
among the merchant contractors and the officials interested in the transaction.
It is needless to mention that all the state provisions in the care- of such
keepers are subject to constant reduction and destruction by mice, wind,
inundation, moisture, mildew, fire, partly real, partly fictitious, for the benefit
of the supervisors. I found in official reports paragraphs in which even sheetlead is mentioned as subject to desiccation.
I will give still another example. In all clans and communities of natives
and creoles, besides the ordinary tribute and taxes, there is collected also
the so-called "dark collection" (TeMHUII c6op%), which is spent without any account
being kept of it. It goes to all the officials, from the lowest clerk up to
the chief of the district. I know also of cases where the chief of the district
would lose at card-playing the whole amount of the taxes of some community,
and then would make the accounts so complicated that they had to pay it
again the next year as arrears.
Strange Reforms. - When administrators of this kind undertake certain
reforms, still worse things than extortion result. Thus the chief officer of the
Kolyma, in the year i888, suddenly conceived the idea that he would
introduce into his district the smoking of herrings. It must be borne in mind,
first of all, that there are no herring in the Kolyma River; but there is a
small fish there, Coregonus al?ula, the meat of which is soft and very tender,
which goes under the name of herring. The places for smoke-drying were
selected, as if purposely, up the river, where even this species of Coregonus
is quite scarce. The inhabitants built the sheds and undertook the smokedrying. Of course they knew just as little about it as did the official instigator
of the experiment. As may have been expected, the result was that some
of the "herring" were charred to coals, others dropped off from the rods, and
some of the remaining ones were quite bitter and unfit for eating. It should
not be forgotten that the people on the Kolyma River live on fish as their
staple food, without bread or vegetables. Only freshly caught or frozen fish
is suitable for such a diet. Fish dried in the sun and slightly smoked afterwards, as is done by the inhabitants, and fish slightly salted (three pounds
of salt to a hundred pounds of fish, the proportions used among the Russian
creoles of the Kolyma in salting), are also eaten by them. Strongly salted
fish, on the other hand, or fish smoked in the usual civilized way, is almost
unfit for the local diet.
One year the catching of spawning fish was suddenly prohibited, though

7I6

fish-roe forms one of the important items in the diet of the inhabitants, and
is used, mixed with flour, for baking a special kind of cakes. Moreover, the
fish come into the rivers full of roe for the purpose of spawning. To catch
no spawning fish is to catch almost nothing. The next year the same official
ordered the Russian creoles of the Lower Kolyma to undertake another
experiment, that of making salt. A party was sent to the seashore. They
took with them a large kettle, gathered some fuel, and tried to extract the
salt from the water by boiling it. All these experiments, too, were undertaken
in the summer-time, when every pair of working hands and every hour of
time are of exceeding value to the population.
Two years before that the Governor of Yakutsk also was possessed by
the idea of reforms. So he ordered the chief officer of Kolymsk to exterminate
immediately all the team-dogs of the Kolyma country, and to replace them
with driving-reindeer. Each house-master had to receive five reindeer. The
order says, "The dogs consume the food of men. Therefore famine comes
so often." This order, however, was not put into execution. Otherwise the
whole fishing population of the Kolyma River, Russian, Yakut, and Yukaghir,
who know nothing about reindeer-breeding, would be left "walking," as they
say on the Kolyma. It is needless to add that this population literally could
not exist without their dog-teams. Reforms of this kind have not ceased up
to the present time. Thus I was informed that in the year I906 a new one
was undertaken. In this year, after the well-known revolutionary outbreaks,
an order was issued in St. Petersburg for the confiscation of arms throughout
the country. This order duly reached the Kolyma. Then the assessor of
the district went up the river, taking the firelocks from the Tungus hunters,
and even the belt-knives 1 from the whole sedentary population.
Relief of Famine. - It is at least the duty of an Administration that
costs so much, both to the state and to the population, to assist the people
in times of public calamities, which in these countries occur almost yearly as
regularly as the seasons change. The Administration has to lend assistance
in times of famine, and to afford medical succor in times of disease. Only those
that pay tribute have a right to this official assistance. Famines occur on
the Kolyma at least every other year. Their usual season is during the months
of March and April, when all the stored provisions are exhausted, and fresh
supplies have not yet come to hand. To relieve famine, the Administration
has arranged for the collection of supplies of dried and frozen fish. Each
community has its separate stores, and the members of some are obliged to
turn over yearly one tenth, and even one seventh, of the whole product of
their fisheries. Accordingly the stores must increase from year to year in
1 A man in these countries literally cannot exist without his belt-knife. "Man without knife," in local
Russien, is an expression of utter contempt and derision.

7I7

a. very large measure. The trouble is, however, that the fish cannot be
preserved in good condition for too long a time. Therefore, when a famine
comes, it happens too often that the fish-stores are either gone or quite putrid
and not fit for use. In cases of great need, the Administration distributes among
the starving population some of the rye-flour from the storehouses of the Crown.
This is given as a loan, which is to be covered afterwards, and the heavy
official price paid in full. In some years this is as high as fourteen rubles
per pud (twenty cents in American money per pound Avoirdupois). All this
(i.e., fish and flour), however, falls to the share only of the Russian creoles
and the Russianized natives. The others, especially those that dwell too far
from Russian towns, receive no succor, and are not rarely reduced to death
by starvation and to cannibalism. I am informed that in the last few years,
when fishing on the Kolyma has not been fairly successful, cases of starvation
and cannibalism among the Tungus and Yukaghir have happened quite
frequently. The latter tribe is dwindling away quite perceptibly.
The Chukchee, who for the most part pay no tribute, have no right to
official assistance, but it seems they do not feel themselves much the worse
for that. I mentioned before a Russian creole who grew up among the
Chukchee and lived the same life as they do in a nomadic camp, and with
a herd of reindeer. His name was Alexis Kasanov. Still, being a Russian
creole, and moreover a member of the Russian community on the Lower
Kolyma, which is burdened to the utmost with taxes, collections, and requisitions,
he had to bear a goodly share of all these payments. When he was in
arrears, his fellow-citizens contrived to seize him at the Anui fair or in
Nishne-Kolymsk; and he was released only after full payment. His Chukchee
neighbors paid nothing. Naturally he was not well contented with his Russian
origin. One time in my presence he came to the chief official of the Kolyma
and wanted to enter a petition to the Czar, asking to be released from the
rank of a Russian creole, and to be lowered to the position of a tributary
Chukchee. "They pay only one ruble per year," said he. The chief official
declared that this was impossible. "Then you would forfeit any right to the
assistance of the Administration," added he. "Do not bother me with your
exactions," said the poor Russian nomad, and I will never ask for your
assistance." Kasanov married a Chukchee woman according to Chukohee
rites. He refused to have the Christian rite performed. "Then my children
would be entered as Russians," he explained. "I prefer to have them illegal
and Chukchee, as their mother is." The whole mode of thought of this man is
quite Chukchee. Thus he says that if the authorities will continue to be so
severe on him in the payment of arrears, he will settle the question by
destroying his own life. All this took place in the year I895-96. I do not
know whether Kasanov is still alive.
Medical Succor. - Medical succor is another branch of official assistance.
90-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

7I8

The Kolyma country is ravaged by various diseases, among which syphilis
and leprosy have attracted most of the attention of the authorities, perhaps
for the reason that their external forms are so horrible and shocking. The
town of Sredne-Kolymsk even had a hospital destined for the poorest people
suffering from these two diseases. No words are adequate to represent fully
the horrors of this hospital. It stood in the middle of the so-called "Hungry
Ward" of the town, and was in the shape of a large hut of Yakut style.
Not only its walls, but even the ground all around it, were soaked with filth.
The patients were mostly Yakut, all suffering from the worst forms of the
disease. Only such were brought to this hospital. All the others, if there
was still a single ray of hope for them, were kept out. I witnessed a case
where a man suffering from syphilis was brought in from the country. He
had made a journey of a hundred miles crouched on a small Yakut sledge,
which was drawn by a saddle-horse attached by means of long traces fastened
to the saddle.bow, in Yakut fashion. When the assistant surgeon bade him
strip, he tucked up his fur shirt and showed us a round birch-bark vessel tied
up to his loins, and filled with completely destroyed tissues. When these
were cut off, he did not even feel any pain.
I should add also that the better half of the food destined for the sustenance
of the sufferers was appropriated by the warden; so that they had to apply
for alms to private individuals. Sometimes, when their diet ran too short,
they would send in a threat that they would leave the hospital in a body
and crawl around from house to house (most of them were unable to walk).
Then the citizens would pay a ransom to keep them quiet.'
This is the sort of medical assistance that is given to the population in
the Kolyma country. A surgeon is included on the official staff of the district,
but his place almost always remains vacant. Those that are occasionally sent
from Russia find employment much nearer than the Kolyma. Even the
southern part of eastern Siberia has so little medical assistance, that a real
graduated physician is not allowed to pass through into the arctic desert.
Thus in the Kolyma district there are only non-graduated assistant surgeons
without knowledge and experience, who go there either on account of the short
time of service that entitles them to a pension, or half crazy from drinking
and- sent to the Kolyma as a punishment.
Vaccination has been practised in the Kolyma district for a full century,
ever since i 8o6. Young men specially selected for the purpose, the so-called
"vaccination-boys," received brief instructions from the assistant surgeon, and
travelled from village to village, vaccinating the young and the old. In I 884,
as soon as the first news came of the small-pox epidemic having broken out
in the neighboring districts, a small-pox committee was organized, and the
I was informed that two years after my departure, in the first year of this century, this hospital was at
last pulled down and a new one built in its place through the exertion of the new district surgeon, a political exile.

17 I 9

vaccination-boys were sent to inspect the population. They found that nearly
everybody had been vaccinated. Those that were not, were vaccinated this
time. Immediately after that, the small-pox came, and destroyed about one
third of the whole population. It proved afterwards that the vaccine sent
from Irkutsk sealed in small tubes was worthless, and the vaccination-boys
kept their lancets in such a state, that they were more suitable for inoculating
syphilis than for simple vaccination. Exactly the same occurrences were repeated
in I889, at the second outbreak of the small-pox.
The first graduated physician visited the Kolyma in i8I7. He was Dr.
Reslein, chief physician of the province of Yakutsk. He was, according to
Gedenstrom, one of the most charitable men of his time, but at the same
time he was of a quite eccentric character. He would receive no payment
or presents for his medical assistance. The greater part of his salary he left
in the Treasury, and took only as much as he thought necessary for his
scanty sustenance. Any cynic of modern times could hardly surpass him in
his mode of life. In the winter-time, during the most severe cold, he used
to wear summer clothes, a light uniform, a hat, rarely an overcoat of broadcloth.
In the year i 8I7 he received an order from the Government to send some
physician from Yakutsk to Zashiversk and Sredne-Kolymsk, on account of
syphilis and leprosy, which were ravaging those countries. Reslein, who was
about seventy years old, chose to go himself. He left Yakutsk in October,
notwithstanding the cold, clad in broadcloth. On the way he used to alight
from his horse, run about, or even turn somersaults, in order to keep himself
warm. In this way he made fifteen hundred versts, and then his feet were
frost-bitten. He was taken to Sredne-Kolymsk on a litter, wrapped in skins.
There he amputated several of his toes himself, and after six months he died.
He lies buried in Sredne-Kolymsk. He left a great number of manuscripts,
which came into possession of his heirs.'
The strange fate of Dr. Reslein has served as the basis of a tale, which
I collected on the Lower Kolyma. The old doctor is described as a young
courtier of very high blood, who was sent to the Kolyma for political reasons,
and -preferred to destroy his own life. "The Kolyma is not worthy of such
a man," he would say before his death. All this, of course, is pure fiction.
Since this first medical visit of Reslein, I am aware of but one other
graduated surgeon, Dr. Nekrasov, who lived in the Kolyma district during
the seventies of the nineteenth century, and died there. Another one came
during our stay in the early nineties. He seemed not to be in his full mental
health, and had to leave very soon. In the last years of the nineteenth
century, Dr. Mitzkevich, a political exile to one of the southern districts of
the Yakutsk Province, proposed to go to the Kolyma as a district surgeon,
and was allowed to do so. When his term of exile expired, he was replaced
1 Gedenstrom, Siberian Fragments (Russian), p. II 7.

by another exiled physician, Dr. Popov, who also went to the Kolyma of his
own free will, and remained there more than two years.
Schools. - A few words will not be amiss regarding the Kolyma schools.
There are schools in Sredne-Kolymsk and Nishne-Kolymsk, and even in
Piatistennoye on the Large Anui River. All of them are parish schools.
The teaching is of such a kind, that the children have to be brought there
by requisition; although at the same time every private attempt at teaching
(by political exiles) finds pupils enough, and even pays. Among others, the
Yakut clans of Sredne-Kolymsk are obliged to send pupils to the school of
the town. They send orphans and children of the poorest people. Some
of these somehow learn to read and write without having learned the Russian
language; so that on the Kolyma one may sometimes see the strange sight of
a half savage man reading aloud a letter in a language almost wholly unknown
to himself, for the benefit of a Russian creole who knows the language, but
is illiterate.
Scientific Expeditions. - Even scientific expeditions arranged by the
Government, when going to these remote countries,- too often only served to
increase the oppression of the inhabitants, Russians and natives. Slovtzov
mentions one of the first instances of this. Gmelin and Muller, in I 735,
when leaving Irkutsk for Lake Baikal with light baggage, were not contented
with the thirty-seven horses assigned to them by the authorities, but sent their
men to the market-place and ordered them to capture more horses. They
started from the station Goloustnaia with a hundred and fifty horses. All
these horses were not paid for. They were delivered on requisition. For
the expedition of Bering, enormous quantities of provisions and ammunition
were dragged by the Yakut through the whole Yakutsk Province to Okhotsk.
Most of the horses perished on the way. To this Slovtzov adds, "No expedition of such greatness and fame had, up to that time, gone through all
Siberia. God grant that, out of compassion for the poor country, future times
may never know a fame so ruinous!"' Of all the expeditions of former times
that visited the Kolyma country, that of Baron Wrangell (I820-24) seems
to have been the most scrupulous and sober-minded. Still local tradition
looks upon this expedition in a light very similar to that given in the opinion
of Slovtzov, cited above. I collected this tradition on the Lower Kolyma,
among the Russian creoles.
"In the olden times there came an expedition. Its chief was a baron; and another one was
a steersman, Anjin (Anjou). They brought with them a large boat, and put it in the middle of the
river; and neither wind nor tempest could do anything to it. It was only rocking slightly underit.
The steersman ordered his bedding to be hung up like a baby's cradle. In this cradle he slept
usually, rocked by the wind. He would awaken only when the wind subsided and ceased rocking

the cradle.
"They visited all the villages, and in every village they would arrange a feast. To that feast
I Slovtzov, I, p. 255.

72 I

they invited the people, - husbands with young wives, fathers with grown-up daughters. All night
they sang and danced and played, till the time came to go home. Then they would choose such
women or girls as suited their fancy, and would detain them, of their own free will or by force.
A husband who came with a wife would return alone, or a father without his daughter, or a brother
without his sister. The women and girls had to stay with them as long as they remained in the
village. After a while they would leave the village, and everything in their houses would be left
to the women. Some of the husbands would receive them back, and some would not. In the
latter case the women had to live alone and be wretched. Oh, these husbands! How foolish they
were! It was not their will nor the woman's will. The superiors gave the order, and what could
be done? Thus they lived in our country through the spring and the summer. When fall came,
they went to the sea with their dogs. They took with them the best men of all the country,
those that knew the sea and were clever in travelling. When driving on the sea, they saw an island.
There were churches with golden tops, houses and people all of purest gold. When they came
nearer, an old woman came to meet them. The baron was a pipe-smoker, so she gave him a golden
pipe. Anjou took snuff. She gave him a snuff-box. Then she said, 'I know you are seeking the
passage to America. Better go back. This is the limit of human travel. If you want to pass
on, you shall never go back.' They held a council, and then turned from the island and went
across the sea. After a while they found open water. In the middle stood a tree, high up to the
very sky. This tree woald bend down and enter the water. After a while it would emerge from
the water full of fish. And while it was swinging up high, all the fish were being consumed. They
felt afraid of this tree, and turned off to the right, toward the land. After a while they found
another island. It was quite deserted. Tobacco was growing there; and the leaves were so large,
that each one would suffice to swaddle a man's head in it. They took some and left the island,
going to the land. At the place where they stopped the first night, a thundering noise came
suddenly from the direction of the island. The drivers were frightened, and woke them up. They
sat down upon the sledges, and the dogs ran away at a furious rate. Still the noise grew nearer and
nearer. Finally the ice began to heave and roll like billows. They drove on without sleeping or
eating, and at last reached the land. There they stdpped to rest. When they awoke in the morning,
they saw that all the ice was broken, and gathered into icebergs. They came to the fortress (of
Nishne-Kolymsk), went to the church, and took a solemn oath to keep silence corcerning the things
they had seen on the sea, because they knew that if they should disclose these secrets, all the people
in the country must perish. So they kept their oath, and not until many years later did some old
men relate a part of their adventures."

GENERAL CHARACTER OF CREOLE POPULATION. - The manners and the
ways of the Russian creole population, who represent on the Kolyma the
race of the conquerors, fully correspond to the kind of government they have.
I have mentioned before the extreme looseness as regards sexual life which
reigns in all Russian settlements of the arctic part of eastern Siberia, from
the mouth of the Yana to the southern part of Kamchatka. The people on
the Kolyma say, "Our water is of such quality that we cannot do otherwise."
Perhaps in reality this easy excitability is influenced, not by the water, indeed,
but by the diet of fat fish which prevails on the Kolyma. Mr. Jochelson,
believes that the sexual looseness of the Russians has arisen under Yukaghir
influence, and even asserts that the Russian term "maiden-children" is a term
adopted from the' Yukaghir ma'rxid-u'o (i.e., "child born by a maiden").' It
cannot be denied that the Yukaghir influence on the Russian population was
quite considerable. Still for such things as illegal children, the Russians had
I Jochelson,

The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 736.

72 2

their own terms, quite ancient, and brought over from across the Ural Montains.
Thus, besides the "maiden-children," the Russian creoles have also "widowchildren," and the joint number in both categories forms about thirty per cent
of all the Russian infants. Exactly the same proportion exists among the
Chukchee. Some Russian families, numerous and well-to-do, have at their
head an old female who bore all her children in the maiden state. Even the
family names are derived from a Christian name of such a maiden patriarch,
or rather matriarch; for instance, IIaTamOHIuH ('sons of Nathalie"), RaTaKOHKH
("sons of Kate"), etc. There are families in which aversion to marriage has
even acquired' a morbid character. The people say that in such families old
mothers will take an oath from their sons that they will never marry. "You
may live in fornication, if you desire it; but to your marriage I shall not
give my blessing." Their aim is to extinguish their name. The daughters
are allowed to marry. The two rich families, Chertkov and UIJarovsky, are
said to have stood under such an oath in the last generation. The first family
has already vanished. The second one contains two brothers. Both have
paramours and children; but, since they are not married, their children bear
another name. All this is told on the Kolyma from mouth to mouth with
many comments, though I cannot tell how far it is true. Still, I have noticed
also among the Russianized Yukaghir of the Lower Kolyma, who are rapidly
dying out, the same morbid aversion to marriage, though in connection with
other facts. "Too much trouble," say these wretched people in reference to
marriage.' The Russian creoles are dying out only a little more slowly than
the Yukaghir.
Syphilis has also taken quite deep root among the Russian creoles. The
blood of new generations is tainted, and the remnant of their vigor is dying
away. Card-playing in its worst forms is also widely spread among the Russian
creoles. Games of hazard prevail; and regular cheating, even among the
upper crust, is almost considered a lawful means of winning a fortune. Social
relations are harsh and egotistic. All the people who are a little better off
than others lend money or food in small quantities at fabulous rates; two
hundred per cent yearly, and even more, being charged; and even the poorest
people consider this as quite natural. "Why," explained one of the poorest
debtors to me, "since he had a chance, he pressed me dry. If I could, I
should do the same to him." On the Lower Kolyma such mutual relations
assume an almost artless character. All are quite poor, all charge each other
large percentages and demand heavy payments, and in the end nobody receives
anything. The amounts are credited, and the credits balance very nearly.
Even taxes and other exactions are hardly paid by the community.
The creoles are of one accord in the belief that the natives of all the
various tribes may be oppressed and bled in every manner possible. In common
1 Compare P. 36.

parlance, they do not call them "men," but "beasts," "creatures." Their tribal
names are used in diminutive terms of derision, as is proper in the Russian
language: qyuclHmtcm, "(those) small Chukchee;" JIKyTHminKR "(those) small Yakut."
GREEK ORTHODOX MISSION.
The Russian Orthodox Church has always
of
the
Russian
a
branch
Government. Its missionary work in
been merely
Siberia was performed solely at the expense of the State and under the control
of the Administration. One of the influential participants in this work even
goes so far as to say, "Most of all, they [the natives] point to the fact that
there does not exist a direct order of the Czar for the adoption of the Russian
creed. They say, 'If the Czar should desire that all of us become Russians,
he would certainly send an order to that effect.' They understand by instinct
that the adoption of the Russian Creed is not only an affair of the Church,
but also that of the State."' On the other hand, and in direct connection
with this position, the history of the' activity of Greek-Orthodox missionaries
among the tribes of Siberia, as Mr. Waldemar Jochelson justly remarks,' cannot
be considered honorable, with the exception of a few noble personalities, like
the Aleut missionary Veniaminov or the Altai missionary Verbitzky.
The first attempt to baptize the Chukchee was probably made immediately
after the first encounter of the Russians with that tribe. In the first halfcentury, however, this was rather difficult, because of the absence of priests
or missionaries. Thus, Argentov mentions that in the chapel of the Kolyma,
in the absence of priests, the service was performed by laymen. Even later
laymen would perform baptism. Nil, Archbishop of Irkutsk, even as late as
I848, ordered the priests to denounce and extirpate this evil.8
The first church in the Kolyma district was built in Nishne-Kolymsk
during the first years of the eighteenth century. In I704 a communion-cloth
was sent from Tobolsk in western Siberia to Dog Fortress. In I77I SredneKolymsk had also a church, that of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin, but
this church was a "black" one.4 In the same year Sredne-Kolymsk had only
three houses. About the same time Verkhne-Kolymsk had only a chapel
dedicated to St. Nicholas. The Anadyr Church, according to Argentov, was
built in I 743. The next year the first missionary, the monk Flavian, with
three assistants, was sent to this country; but all of them were murdered by
I Veniamin, Archbishop of Irkutsk (The Live Questions of the Greek Orthodox Mission in Siberia,
St. Petersburg, i885, p. 7). In some discordance with this high-flowing assertion, the chief official of the Kolyma
says in his report of 1884 (i.e., just about the time when the Archbishop Veniamin wrote his book), "And they
[the Chukchee] declared that they are afraid to adopt the Russian Creed, lest the chief Russian devil should
strangle them immediately." I mentioned before the Chukchee tradition about tribute of the same disrespectful
kind (cf. p. 292, footnote).
2 Jochelson, The Koryak, Vol. VI of this series, p. 807.
3 Argentov, in Memoirs of Siberian Sections of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 1875, Part IV.
4 Block-houses, which are called black, have stoves without pipes; so that when burning, the smoke has
to come out into the room, and escapes through the opened door. This system gives much warmth, but still
more soot and charcoal-fumes.

the Koryak in I745. The first priests in both countries belonged to the
family of Trifonov. Thus, we find in Nishne-Kolymsk, in the year 1753, the
priest Michael Trifonov. This priest was the sole one for the whole country,
and had to visit all three of the Kolyma towns; and before that he was
priest of the Anadyr Chukchee. In 1757 we find another priest, Procope
Trifonov, who was transferred to Anadyr in I758; but in I764, after the
abolishment of the fortress of Anadyrsk, he was restored to his former place.
In I8I2, with the new trade-regulations, the priest of Nishne-Kolymsk
received a new nomination as a Chukchee missionary. The name of this
first missionary was Gregory Slieptzov. He remained in his former parish,
however, and only had to visit the Anui fair once a year. Argentov mentions
that in I8 I I-I 2 Slieptzov made a trip to the Chaun country. The next "parish
missionary," A. Trifonov, who went to the Kolyma in i8I6, has never visited
the Chukchee. In his time the Archbishop of Irkutsk, Michael, wrote an
epistle to the Chukchee, exhorting them to adopt Christianity (i 8 I 8). I wonder
how mnany Chukchee have read the said epistle!
In I848, at the instance of Archbishop Nil, a small church was built
on the Arctic shore at the mouth of Big River (Large Baranikha lRiver),
two hundred miles from Nishne-Kolymsk, and A. Argentov was appointed the
first missionary. It seems that before that he had been an ordinary priest
on the Lower Kolyma for more than four years. He says in his diary that
the place was selected not very happily, because the Chukchee do not live
there continually, but only come from time to time. This, of course, is quite
true. Nevertheless Argentov went to his church along the seacoast with five
boats of the usual Kolyma type. These boats are so clumsy and fragile that
it is a matter of wonder that the expedition did not meet with some catastrophe. The people who came in the boats built a block-house for Argentov,
and then* went back, leaving him with his wife and a maid-servant. A few
months after that Argentov was obliged to flee from his mission, because the
Chukchee neighbors wanted to compel him to enter with them into a bond
of group-marriage. The story is well remembered on the Kolyma among the
Russians as well as among the Chukchee. Argentov, who travelled much
among the Chukchee, and visited Chaun River and Cape Erri, was tempted
to conclude friendship with one Chukchee, Ata'to, and also with his wife.
Probably at that time he did not know the rules of the Chukchee groupmarriage; but after a short time Ata'to returned the visit, and asked for
reciprocity. He had some companions with him, and so refusal was of no
avail. At the critical moment, however, the maid-servant consented to take
the place of the mistress. The Chukchee probably did not know the difference;
and, moreover, according to Chukchee ideas, the family has a right, in marriage
complications, to substitute one woman for another. Some of these details I
have from Ata'to himself, who in I895 was still living. Shortly after that,

Argentov left his lonely church. This was the first and the last attempt of
the Chukchee missionary to live among the Chukchee in the desert. Maydell,
in I870, undertook to build a church on the Yelombal River, an affluent of
the Large Anui River. This church was to be the centre of the Christian
propaganda among the Reindeer Chukclhee. Amra'wkurgin donated to the
church four hundred reindeer for slaughter. These were eaten by the Russian
creoles; and the church, and the house for the priest, were built, but nobody
ever lived there.
The next missionaries - probably owing to the unhappy episode told
above - were selected among the monks. Their number gradually increased.
At the close of the nineteenth century three of them were already on the
one as head of the mission in Nishne-Kolymsk; another in
Kolyma,
the village Piatistennoye, on the Large Anui River; and the third in the
Yakut settlement Sen-quel, on the outskirts of the western tundra. The place
for this missionary was selected personally by the Bishop of Yakutsk, Dionisius;
and it was to be on the Big Chukchee River, in the middle of the desert.
The bishop says in his order, "The very name of the river shows that this
place has served from ancient times as a habitation of the Chukchee." Bishop
Dionisius evidently wanted by his order to solve the ethnographic problem of
the Big Chukchee River, which has not yet been solved by scientists. The
place has really served as a habitation in times far remote, but serves no
longer as such. Since the country about the Big Chukchee River is so
thoroughly a desert, the new missionary had to remain on the outskirts of
the tundra, in one of the outlying Yakut settlements.
At the present time the Kolyma country has seven priests, with a corresponding number of churchmen, - four with parishes, and three Chukchee
missionaries. For a Christian population of about four thousand, including
the baptized Chukchee, this number is perhaps a little too large. VerkhneKolymsk, Sredne-Kolymsk, and Nishne-Kolymsk have wooden churches. Other
villages have only rough wooden chapels, where services are held once or
twice a year by the priest, who comes for the purpose. Plate xxxv, Fig. 3,
represents the chapel of the village of Pokhotsk, on the Lower Kolyma. The
Anadyr country has one parish priest, who at the same time acts as missionary
to the Chukchee.
It is not my plan to speak about the parish priests of the Kolyma.
Incidentally I will mention only one fact. In the eighties of the nineteenth
century there was in the province of Yakutsk one single priest of pure Yakut
blood, newly ordained at that time. Now, in the whole province of Yakutsk
there is a single parish, where the inhabitants do not know anything of the
Yakut language, and rather despise the Yakut national element. This parish
is Nishne-Kolymsk. The single Yakut priest was appointed to the single
anti-Yakut parish, I do not know whether purposely or not. After a few
91-JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPED., VOL. VII.

years spent in his parish, the Yakut priest became consumptive and died in
the middle. of the nineties.
I mentioned before that the manner and customs of the clergy of the
Kolyma do not differ much from those of the other Russian creole population.
Not to speak of modern times, the Archives are full of historical indications to
that effect. I will cite only some of those that are connected with the mission.
Thus in 1 82 I the priest of Sredne-Kolymsk, Michael Sivtzov, was impeached
before the court because he took from a newly baptized Lamut his wedded
wife, and forced her to remain in his house. Many more accusations were added.
In I826 the priest Basile Trifonov was impeached before the court on account
of his traffic in alcohol with the Chukchee. In I837 the above-mentioned
chief official, Vinogradov, wrote a letter to the preacher of the Chukchee
mission of that time, saying that the said pieacher had brought from the
Anui fair "a pile of Chukchee sins, to the amount of four pack-horses" (twentyfour puds). The preacher answered, 'This letter shows your lack of zeal for
the building-up of the church and for service to the fatherland." The missionaries received funds and wares for presents to the Chukchee, and distributed
them in the same way as the civil authorities of the country. Thus each
newly baptized heathen received sugar, tobacco, and other things of value,
the same as when paying allegiance to the Czar. Both acts, however, usually
went together; and, as one of the missionaries writes in his report to the
bishop, "To be baptized for the heathen means to pay the tribute to the Czar
of heaven." This method of encouraging people to be converted by bribing
them with presents led to many strange scenes. One of them is described
.by Matushkin in "Wrangell's' Voyage." 1 It happened at the Anui fair, where
a young Chukchee suddenly jumped out of the baptismal font and ran stark
naked around the room, crying, "Enough! I do not want any more of it!
Where is my tobacco?"
It seems that sometimes the missionaries, even, were at the same time
the collectors of the 'tribute. Thus, in the year i 814 the before-mentioned
Gregory Slieptzov, when on his visit to the Chaun Chukchee, induced seventy-six
Chukchee men to take the oath of allegiance. Some of them were also
baptized. On this occasion he brought to Nishne-Kolymsk eighty-seven puds
of walrus-ivory and of various peltries; and all this he turned into the Treasury.2
The Chaun Chukchee, it seems, attempted to take his life on account of
these peltries and walrus-tusks; and he was saved only by the assistance of
a rich Chukchee, Valetka, who persuaded them to desist.' In modern times
the conditions are just the same. I have seen an official paper sent from the
consistory of Yakutsk to the head of the church mission on the Kolyma. It
referred to the question of keeping Lent by newly christened Chukchee, who
I

Wrangell, I, p. 282 (German edition).

2 Northern Post (daily), I814, No. 9I.
i888), Period IV, p. 52.

3 Philaret Gumilevsky, History of the Russian Church (St. Petersburg,

live exclusively on meat diet. On the margin was added in pencil, "Send
me some good dried fish. I like it very much." The request was signed
"Father Dorimedont." Perhaps this private request for dried fish had some
connection with the question of Lent. The fish was duly sent to the amount
of three "bundles" (one hundred and twenty large fishes), and was never paid
for, as is the custom in such matters between superiors and inferiors.
PRESENT STATE. - Of the three Chukchee missionaries who were on the
Kolyma in the nineties of the nineteenth century, during my stay there, one,
Father Victor (see Plate xxxv, Fig. 2), lived constantly in Nishne-Kolymsk.
He was the missionary for the Maritime Chukchee, and the head of the
mission. The chief interest of his life lay in dog raising. He spent all his
salary on his team, though he could not drive it himself, but kept a special
driver. As to the interests of the mission, year after year he made preparations
for some far-off trip, but somehow every year his plans were frustrated. The
nearest Maritime Chukchee lived on Cape Erri, and at one time a voyage
to Cape Erri was actually undertaken by him. He found the people in the
first Chukchee settlement all murdered, and fled back, horror-stricken. I have
referred to this episode before. Father Victor knew nothing of the Chukchee
language, or even of the trade jargon.'
Father Venedict was the missionary for the western Reindeer Chukchee.
He lived, as already mentioned, on the western tundra, in a Yakut settlement,
Sen-quel. Some of the Reindeer Chukchee. of the western tundra would
occasionally come to his place, and he would try to have intercourse with
them. For this purpose he had to employ two interpreters. One translated
from Russian into Yakut. All the Russian creoles from the Middle Kolyma
can do as much. The other interpreter, usually one of the Yukaghir of the
tundra who wander thereabouts, translated froim Yakut into Chukchee. Through
this double medium Father Venedict had to preach the Gospel to his Reindeer
Chukchee flock. One may imagine the success he would have in this enterprise. HIis stay at Sen-quel was interrupted by an unpleasant official investigation concerning a certain kettle that was spirited away from one of his
neighbors. The accusation was not proved, and so came to nought. After
that, however, he did not care to stay at Sen-quel. Father Venedict was a
man of many eccentricities. He was said to have come from Russia to Yakutsk
on foot. While on the Kolyma, he wrote several letters to the civil and
spiritual authorities, denouncing other priests of the Kolyma, and also various
laymen. His denunciations were quite groundless, and without result. He
also boasted aloud of having promised the Bishop of Yakutsk, that, unlike
the other missionaries, he would make the rounds through all the villages
and camps of the Chukchee, and bring them all to holy baptism. For this
purpose he received from the bishop two thousand rubles. His enmity towards
I Compare pp. 22 and 299.

the other priests and missionaries led him to act very strangely at times.
Thus he would pay no attention to religious ceremonials performed by other
priests, and would perform the church marriage-ritual for a Chukchee man
already married, etc.
After the affair of the kettle, Father Venedict suddenly resolved to make
good his promise to the bishop, and he actually went away with some Reindeer
Chukchee who were going toward East Cape. He travelled about two years,
and visited all the Chukchee villages along the coasts of both oceans. Of
course, he had to suffer many hardships. All his provisions were exhausted,
and during the last part of his journey he lived comnpletely the life of the
natives. I met him on the Wolverene River, when he had fairly started on
his voyage. This was in the spring of I897.
While on another journey through the Chukchee villages on the Pacific
shore, three years afterwards, Kila'ti, a Chukchee in the village of Valka'Ltn,
gave me some interesting details about his return to the Anadyr. Father
Venedict went to see Kila'ti with some Maritime Chukchee, and staid with
him for eighteen days. Before that he had lived some days in the American
log-cabin on St. Lawrence Bay. The Americans were acting as agents of
the American Government for buying reindeer. Mr. I. Kelly was one of them.
They showed much kindness to the travelling priest, gave him some provisions,
a rifle, a knife, a hatchet, etc. Kila'ti related the story thus: "Our place is not very windy; but farther on to the south, halfway to the village Re'tken,
near the river Iru'-ve'em, the wind blows all the time: so it was impossible to go there. We told
hitm so. He would not believe us, and, after a few days of waiting, left on foot, quite alone, and
without provisions. He was much afraid to stay with our people for another winter. We said to
him, 'The Russian settlement is not far, you will have time to reach there;' but he thought we
were deceiving him, so he left on foot along the shore. I caught him, however, and brought him
back. He left again, and this time gained quite a little headway. The wind was cutting; but I
harnessed my team and went in pursuit. After some time I saw him on the shore. Then I stopped
my dogs, and began to steal along towards him as one steals up to a wild reindeer, because he was
greatly agitated, and I was afraid that he would run away. Then all of a sudden I stepped out in
front of him. Then I said, 'Now, do come back! You see it is impossible to go. We have no
chiefs or authorities. So, if the wind should blow you into the sea, your people would not believe
it. They would say that we killed you. It would be a bad thing, a great calamity, and interrupt
the traffic.' He said nothing, but lay down on the ground and turned away from me. All at once
a white fox jumped out from the stones. The dogs followed. I caught hold of the sledge, but was
unable to stop it: so I tried at least to direct it properly; but we were so near to the brink, that
I expected every minute to fall into the water. At last I succeeded in stopping the dogs. The
water was as if boiling underneath. I felt very angry, and said to the priest, 'See, now! Foryour
sake I nearly lost my life by being drowned in the water. Sit down on the sledge! Otherwise I
shall bind you.' So I brought him back. In a week after that the wind subsided. Then I said,
'Now let us go!' So we went, and reached Mariinsky Post."

At Mariinsky Post, Kila'ti was rewarded with some tea and tobacco. Father
Venedict himself had no shirt on, and his fur clothes were full of insects.
He proceeded to Markova, and thence to Kolyma. On this last journey he
again had bad luck. He and his companions lost their way in the snow, and

were almost starving, when some Tungus who were passing by saw their
tracks and came to their rescue. Shortly afterwards Father Venedict left the
Kolyma and went to Yakutsk. I do not think that he will ever come back.
The journey of Father Venedict is quite remarkable. I do not think, however,
that he has done much for the spread of the Gospel. When starting on
his journey, he knew absolutely nothing of the Chukchee language. In his
camp was a young Russian woman who was married to a Chukchee. This
woman acted as an interpreter for him. They parted somewhere on the
Arctic shore. After that he had to give all his attention to the mere necessities of life and to the continuation of his journey; at least, Kila'ti and the
other Chukchee said nothing about Venedict's preaching. On the contrary,
they related that he was silent for the most part, but all of a sudden began
to cry "like a little baby." His trial was too hard.
The third missionary of this time was Father Michael. This one was
not a monk. He was a deacon for a long time, and wanted greatly to be
ordained as a priest. For this purpose he began to visit the Chukchee camrps,
though he was occupied, not with preaching, but with trading. He also tried
to write a dictionary of the Chukchee language. The people of the Kolyma
said laughingly, " He writes his dictionary on fawn-skins, and sends it to
Nishne-Kolymsk by large bagfuls;" and, indeed, there was much truth in this.
For instance, he brought with him some small pictures representing images
of the saints, printed on paper, which he received free of cost from Yakutsk.
He sold these pictures to the pious Lamut and Yukaghir at the rate of a
squirrel-skin for each piece.
At last he was ordained. Then, not needing his dictionary any longer,
he gave it to me. I have it now among my papers. It is a small quire of
paper, quite greasy, unbound, and written in pencil. Father Michael's system
was the following. He copied all the words from a small printed RussianGerman dictionary, and then tried to translate them into Chukchee with the
aid of an interpreter. Among other words translated were "duke," "governess,"
etc. Apart from this attempt at scientific work, he knew very little of the
Chukchee language. He was made Chukchee missionary because at the time
of his ordination there was no parish unoccupied. He was appointed for work
among the Reindeer Chukchee to the east of the Kolyma. He made frequent
journeys among the camps, but chiefly for trading-purposes.
With such preachers, it is no wonder that most of the Chukchee, with
the exception of those who live nearest to the Russian settlements, have
remained until now unbaptized. Even those that have, properly speaking,
been baptized, cannot be called Christians even in name. Not one of them
knows so much as the name of Christ. They do not care to remember the
new Christian names given to them. They live as they have lived, bring
sacrifices to the "good beings" and to the "evil spirits," practise magic and

shamanism. I may mention here that the Russian creoles, even in this respect,
do not differ very much from the Chukchee. During my stay on the Kolyma,
I brought back from the Large Anui River the ancient dress of a Yukaghir
shaman, along with his drum and other appurtenances. About this time a
well-to-do merchant, Nekhoroshev, who had come from Yakutsk a few years
before, suddenly had an attack of some mental disease. His wife invited a
Yakut shaman to practise some magic for his recovery. The shaman declared
that he wanted to use my shamanistic dress. The woman, afraid of the
consequences, applied to the priest of Sredne-Kolymsk, who performed the
duties of superintendent. He said with great prudence, "If it can be of any
use, I permit you to use both the shaman and the dress." A few years
afterwards, in I 902, a large sum of money (28,000 rubles) was spirited away
from the Board of Police of the Kolyma. After some ineffectual searching,
the chief officer, acting on the advice of the same superintendent of the church,
applied to shamans. At first a Yakut shaman was invited, then a Tungus
shaman; but both proved to be more sober-minded than the members of the
Administration. They declared that the paper moneys of the Government
have water-marks in their tissue, so their assistant spirits cannot look for them.
Two years after that it appeared that the money was stolen by the sacristan
of the church. These two episodes may give an idea of the actual state of
Christianity among the Russian creoles on the Kolyma.
AMERICAN INFLUENCE. - The Maritime Chukchee keep almost wholly
beyond the reach of Russian influence. Instead of that, on the Pacific shore,
chiefly in the Eskimo villages, American influence is felt in some degree.
This influence has come about through trade with the whalers. I have spoken
of it before. After half a century of commercial intercourse with American
whalers, not a few of the younger people speak some English. They have
learned civilized methods of counting, the use of the calendar, of watches,
and of the ship's compass. Some of them are employed on whaling-ships
as extra hands, being good seamen. Occasionally they visit Cape Nome,
St. Michaels, and even San Francisco. When I was at Indian Point, some
of my younger native friends expressed a warm desire to learn reading and
writing. One of them, (te'lqar by name, had succeeded by his own efforts
in telling the letters of the alphabet when printed in large type. I have
a letter of his, written in large printed characters, with barbarous spelling
curiously phonetic. The letter runs as follows: "I WLTL YUO ALASNEIT
ME CAM POORESSEB ME NO KERDT NETD. MERAKN MAN.
NOO . GOOD. MAI POOI. CEREI AYN PEIEB E LIKM ROOSEN
MAN GOOD MAN SOOBBOS E KVTM MAI POOI PEIEB MEI VEL
GOOD." This signified, "I will tell you. Last night me came board o' ship.
Me no got nothing. American man no good. My boy cried (to have a)
pipe. He like him. Russian man good man. Suppose he gave it him my

boy pipe, my feel good." The letter was signed "Salker." 1 After such a
letter, I had to give the boy a pipe to prove that his judgment was not at
fault and that I was a good man.
The young men even went so far as to reproach me for the absence of
a school at Indian Point, saying, "The Americans on St. Lawrence Island
teach the children. why do not you do the same here?" All this produced
a pleasant impression, the more so, as it came quite voluntarily and unconstrained.
Another result of American influence, far less pleasant, is that due to
the great destruction of animal life in the waters of Bering Sea, chiefly that
of whales, and partly also of walrus. Thus, the whalers take the whalebone,
and leave the carcass floating on the water. This wanton extermination of
the largest species of animal on earth brings with it the gradual restriction
of resources for all the natives living along the coast. The Ke'rek are starving,
because the walrus have ceased to visit the coast south of Anadyr Bay.
It is fortunate for the Maritime Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo that the
whalers of late have ceased to hunt walrus, because it does not pay. The
walrus plays so important a part in the diet of these tribes, that without it
they might have gone the way of the Ke'rek. One of my Eskimo acquaintances put it in the following simple way: "When the Americans came to us,
we had a talk with them, and we said, 'Take the whales, but leave us the
walrus. We also want something to eat. We shall give you all the walrustusks.' And they consented."
From the native point of view, the decrease in animal life on the seashore is brought about, first of all, by the infringement, on the part of the
Americans, of the well-known taboo against the burning of fuel during the
whole winter season.2 For this reason the natives are generally averse to
the idea of having an American settlement in their vicinity. As another of
my Eskimo acquaintances expressed it in his broken English, "Russian king
big captain. American king big captain, not very. Speak em, sell em, twelve
miles this shore, twelve miles that shore. Twenty-four miles land down on
the beach. American man speak: 'Give you ten thousand dollar.' - 'No!''What is the matter?' - 'No!' - 'American man plenty fire, smell im by
and by, walruses, seals, come away. Indian Point men seek em, hunt em,
no, nothing. By and by die. No! American man trade em whiskey plenty.
Indian Point men drink em, fight. No good. American man plenty s- of b-.'"
This is a description of how a "Russian king," being asked by the
Americans to sell them twelve miles of the seashore in Asia, declined to do
I Another native boy, half Chukchee and half Eskimo, who lived at Mariinsky Post on the Anadyr, was
taught by the Cossacks to read and write Russian, and also some arithmetic. He could work out fairly well
problems coming under the first four rules, even with numbers of several figures.
2 Compare p. 492.

so out of regard for the well-being of the Asiatic coast dwellers. Human
nature is everywhere the same. "Indian Point men" know quite a good deal
of the Americans, and very little of the Russians: so they denounce the
former, and represent the latter' in a romantic light. The Reindeer Chukchee
from the shores of both Anui Rivers, and even from Anadyr, do exactly the
reverse. Thus one of the Anadyr Reindeer Chukchee told me about the
matter: "The Americans are very good. They come with steamers, and they
have everything. They sell cheap, and give without any pay. They bring
rifles and ammunition, and say, 'You shoot game, and the peltry bring to us,
and we will buy it.' They kill a whale and take only the whalebone. The
meat they give to the people. They are clever hunters, hardy seamen, they
kill every living thing. You Russians are quite bad. You sit down at home.
You do not know how to hunt. You have nothing. Your sale is heavy.
You would not give without pay even a tobacco-quid. Therefore we do not
love you, but love them."
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. - In conclusion, I must repeat, in the first place,
that the Russianization of the Chukchee has made no progress at all during
the two centuries of Russian intercourse with the Chukchee. The Chukchee
kept the language, all their ways of living, and their religion. Even the few
families of the river Chukchee of the Middle Anadyr have not adopted the
Russian language. They have adopted the Russian chimney on their huts;
and under Russian influence there have sprung up among them riddles and
proverbs, partly translated from the Russian, and of a character different from
that of the other folk-lore of the Chukchee; and that is all.
As to the question of what was brought into the life of the Chukchee
through Russian influence, I should say that the first thing brought by the
Russians was a request for tribute and war. The fate of the Chukchee, however, was different from the fate of all other native tribes, in that they successfully repelled the first, and held their ground in the second; and, when the
war at last ceased, they preserved intact all their national vigor, and so they
could avail themselves of peace. This explains the spread of the Reindeer
Chukchee westward and southward, and the subsequent increase of their herds.
In modern times, the same as two centuries ago, Russianization for this
nomadic and primitive people would mean destruction and death. It is their
good fortune that the latest contrivances of the Russian Administration, like
the "clans" and the "chiefs," and the voluntary tribute, are mere outward
forms, and do not produce much change in their material or special life.
Russian influence has brought to the Chukchee tools and instruments of
iron, flintlocks and powder, iron kettles, and hardware. These are real acquisitions. Colored beads, and overcoats of gaudy calico, are also to be counted
among such acquisitions, since they satisfy the asthetic sense much better than
the corresponding native objects. I wonder whether such a thing as a calico

shirt should also be added to the total number of useful innovations. Even
the Russian creoles use a single shirt without change, and keep it on their
backs until it drops off in old greasy rags. The Reindeer Chukchee occasionally put on an old shirt bought from the Russians. They call it "lousecatcher' (micu'kwun), and assert that its chief purpose is to attract the lice
from the skin, so that they can be easily destroyed.
Along with all these acquisitions were also brought contagious diseases,
alcohol, and card-playing, and their influence certainly equals that of the newly
introduced inventions. I will repeat once more the words of Kuva'r, the Eskimo
trader at Indian Point (see p. 36), in reference to this very circumstance: "The
spirits, it seems, take care that the people of this country shall not multiply.
In olden times war was sent down to ward off increase. After that, in spite
of the abundant variety of sea-game, famine would come and carry off the
surplus. At present, with the fulsome supply of American food, the disease
comes down, and the result is exactly the same."
From all that has been said, the general conclusion may be drawn that
the Chukchee tribe, Reindeer or Maritime, being very primitive, may continue
to exist in its barren desert only if left alone by civilization. As soon as the
latter comes too near, the Chukchee must follow in the way of so many other
primitive tribes, and die.