Eskimos: interesting facts from the life of the northern people. Eskimos - Indigenous peoples of the Far East Ancient Eskimos


Eskimos (a group of indigenous peoples that make up the indigenous population of the territory from Greenland and Canada to Alaska (USA) and the eastern edge of Chukotka (Russia). The number is about 170 thousand people. Languages ​​\u200b\u200bbelong to the Eskimo branch of the Eskimo-Aleut family. Anthropologists believe that the Eskimos - Mongoloids of the Arctic type. Their main self-name is "Inuit". The word "Eskimo" (eskimanzig - "raw eater", "one who eats raw fish") belongs to the language of the Abenaki and Athabaskan Indian tribes. From the name of the American Eskimos, this word turned into a self-name both American and Asian Eskimos.

Story


The everyday culture of the Eskimos is unusually adapted to the Arctic. They invented a swivel harpoon to hunt sea animals, a kayak, an igloo snow house, a yarangu skin house, and special deaf clothes made of fur and skins. The ancient culture of the Eskimos is original. In the XVIII-XIX centuries. a combination of hunting for a sea animal and a caribou deer, life in territorial communities are characteristic.
In the 19th century, the Eskimos did not have (except, perhaps, the Bering Sea) tribal and developed tribal organization. As a result of contacts with a newcomer population in the life of foreign Eskimos, there were Big changes. A significant part of them switched from sea fishing to fox hunting, and in Greenland to commercial fishing. Many Eskimos, especially in Greenland, became wage laborers. The local petty bourgeoisie also appeared here. The Eskimos of Western Greenland formed into a separate people - the Greenlanders, who do not consider themselves Eskimos. The Eskimos of eastern Greenland are Angmassalik. In Labrador, the Eskimos have largely mixed with the old-timer population of European origin. Everywhere, remnants of traditional Eskimo culture are rapidly disappearing.

Language and culture


The language is Eskimo, of the Esco-Aleut family of languages. The Eskimo languages ​​are divided into two large groups - Yupik (Western) and Inupik (Eastern). On the Chukchi Peninsula, Yupik is divided into Sirenik, Central Siberian, or Chaplin and Naukan dialects. The Eskimos of Chukotka, along with their native language, speak Russian and Chukchi.
The origin of the Eskimos is debatable. The Eskimos are the direct heirs of an ancient culture spread from the end of the first millennium BC. along the shores of the Bering Sea. The earliest Eskimo culture is the ancient Bering Sea (until the 8th century AD). It is characterized by the extraction of marine mammals, the use of multi-seat leather canoes, complex harpoons. From the 7th century AD until the XIII-XV centuries. there was a development of whaling, and in the more northern regions of Alaska and Chukotka - hunting for small pinnipeds.
Traditionally, the Eskimos are animists. The Eskimos believe in spirits that live in various phenomena nature, see the connection of a person with the world of objects and living beings around him. Many believe in a single creator, Silya, who controls everything that happens in the world, all phenomena and laws. The goddess who gives the Eskimos the riches of the deep sea is called Sedna. There are also ideas about evil spirits, which were presented to the Eskimos in the form of incredible and terrible creatures. The shaman who lives in every Eskimo village is an intermediary who establishes contact between the world of spirits and the world of people. The tambourine for the Eskimos is a sacred object. The traditional greeting, called the "Eskimo kiss", has become a world famous gesture.

Eskimos in Russia


In Russia, the Eskimos are a small ethnic group (according to the 1970 census - 1356 people, according to the 2002 census - 1750 people), living mixed or in close proximity with the Chukchi in a number of settlements on the eastern coast of Chukotka and on Wrangel Island. Their traditional occupations are marine hunting, reindeer herding, and hunting. The Eskimos of Chukotka call themselves "yuk" ("man"), "yuit", "yugyt", "yupik" ("real person"). The number of Eskimos in Russia:

The number of Eskimos in settlements in 2002:

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug:

Novoye Chaplino village 279

Sireniki village 265

Lavrentia village 214

Provideniya 174

city ​​of Anadyr 153

Uelkal village 131


Ethnic and ethnographic groups


The Asian Eskimos in the 18th century were divided into a number of tribes - the Uelentsy, the Naukans, the Chaplins, the Sirenik Eskimos, who differed linguistically and in some cultural features. In a later period, in connection with the processes of integration of the cultures of the Eskimos and the coastal Chukchi, the Eskimos retained the group features of the language in the form of the Naukan, Sirenikov and Chaplin dialects.

Along with the Koryaks and Itelmens, they form the so-called "continental" group of populations of the Arctic race, which by origin is associated with the Pacific Mongoloids. The main features of the Arctic race are presented in the north-east of Siberia in the paleoanthropological material at the turn of the new era.

Writing


In 1848, the Russian missionary N. Tyzhnov published an ABC book of the Eskimo language. Modern writing based on the Latin alphabet was created in 1932, when the first Eskimo (Yuit) primer came out. In 1937 it was translated into Russian graphics. There is modern Eskimo prose and poetry (Aivangu and others). The most famous Eskimo poet is Yu. M. Anko.

The modern Eskimo alphabet based on the Cyrillic alphabet: A a, B b, C c, G g, D d, E e, E e, F f, Z s, I i, Y y, K k, L l, L l l, M m, N n, Nb nb, O o, P p, R r, C s, T t, U y, Ў ў, F f, X x, C c, H h, Sh w, Sh sch, b, Y s, b, e e, yu yu, I am.

There is a variant of the Eskimo alphabet created from the Canadian syllabary for the indigenous languages ​​of Canada.


Eskimos in Canada


The Eskimo people of Canada, known in this country under the self-name "Inuit", achieved their autonomy, with the creation on April 1, 1999 of the territory of Nunavut, allocated from the Northwest Territories.

The Eskimos of the Labrador Peninsula now also have their own autonomies: in the Quebec part of the peninsula, the Eskimo district of Nunavik is gradually increasing its level of autonomy, and in 2005, in the part of the peninsula that is part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Eskimo Autonomous District of Nunatsiavut was also formed. Inuit receive official payments from the government for living in difficult climatic conditions.

Eskimos in Greenland


Greenlanders (Eskimos of Greenland) - Eskimo people, the indigenous population of Greenland. In Greenland, between 44,000 and 50,000 people consider themselves "kalaallit", which is 80-88% of the island's population. In addition, about 7.1 thousand Greenlanders live in Denmark (2006 estimate). They speak Greenlandic, Danish is also widely spoken. Believers are mostly Lutherans.

They live mainly along the southwestern coast of Greenland. There are three main groups:

western Greenlanders (actually kalaallit) - southwest coast;

eastern Greenlanders (angmassalik, tunumiit) - on the east coast, where the climate is mildest; 3.8 thousand people;

northern (polar) Greenlanders - 850 people. on the northwest coast; the northernmost aboriginal group in the world.

Historically, the self-designation "kalaallit" referred only to the western Greenlanders. East and North Greenlanders called themselves only by their self-names, and the dialect of North Greenlanders is closer to the dialects of the Inuit of Canada than to the West and East Greenlandic dialects.


eskimo cuisine


The Eskimo cuisine consists of products obtained by hunting and gathering, the basis of the diet is meat, walrus, seals, white whales, deer, polar bears, musk oxen, poultry, as well as their eggs.

Since agriculture is impossible in the Arctic climate, the Eskimos collect tubers, roots, stems, algae, berries and either eat them or harvest them for future use. Eskimos believe that a diet consisting mainly of meat is healthy, makes the body healthy and strong, and helps to keep warm.

The Eskimos believe that their cuisine is much more useful than that of the "white man".

One example is the consumption of seal blood. After eating blood and seal meat, the veins increase in size and darken. The Eskimos believe that the blood of seals strengthens the blood of the eater by replacing depleted nutrients and renewing blood flow; blood is an essential element of the Eskimo diet.

In addition, the Eskimos believe that a meat diet will keep you warm if you constantly eat Eskimo style. One Eskimo, Oleetoa, who ate a mixture of Eskimo and Western food, said that when he compared his strength, warmth and energy with those of his cousin, who ate only Eskimo food, it turned out that his brother was stronger and more enduring. Eskimos in general tend to blame their illnesses on the lack of Eskimo food.

The Eskimos choose food by analyzing three links: between animals and people, between body, soul and health, between the blood of animals and people; as well as in accordance with the selected diet. Eskimos are very superstitious about food and its preparation and eating. They think healthy human body obtained by mixing human blood with the blood of prey.

For example, the Eskimos believe that they have made an agreement with the seals: the hunter kills the seal only for the sake of feeding his family, and the seal sacrifices himself in order to become part of the hunter's body, and if people stop following the ancient agreements and precepts of their ancestors, then the animals will be offended and stop breeding.

Freezing is a common way to preserve meat after hunting. Hunters eat part of the prey right on the spot. A special tradition is associated with fish: fish cannot be cooked within a day's journey from the place of fishing.

The Eskimos are famous for the fact that each hunter shares all the prey with everyone in the settlement. This practice was first documented in 1910.

Eating meat, fat, or other parts of an animal is preceded by laying out large pieces on a piece of metal, plastic, or cardboard on the floor, from where anyone in the family can take a serving. Since the Eskimos eat only when they are hungry, family members should not go “to the table”, although it happens that everyone in the settlement is invited to eat: a woman goes out into the street and shouts: “Ready meat!”.

The food after the hunt is different from the usual meal: when the seal is brought into the house, the hunters gather around it and are the first to receive portions as the most hungry and cooled down after the hunt. The seal is butchered in a special way, ripping open the stomach so that hunters can cut off a piece from the liver or pour blood into a mug. In addition, fat and brain are mixed and eaten with meat.

Children and women eat after the hunters. First of all, the intestines and the remains of the liver are chosen for eating, and then the ribs, the spine and the remains of the meat are distributed throughout the settlement.

The division of food was necessary for the survival of the entire settlement, young couples give part of their catch and meat to the elderly, most often to their parents. It is believed that by eating together, people become bound by bonds of cooperation.


The traditional dwelling of the Eskimos


The igloo is a typical place of residence for the Eskimos. This type of building is a building that has a domed shape. The diameter of the dwelling is 3-4 meters, and its height is about 2 meters. Igloos are built, as a rule, from blocks of ice or blocks of snow compacted with the help of wind. Also, the needle is cut out of snowdrifts, which are suitable in density, as well as in size.

If the snow is deep enough, then they break through the entrance in the floor, and also dig a corridor to the entrance. In the case when the snow is still not deep, then the front door is cut into the wall, and a separate corridor built of snow bricks is attached to the front door. It is very important that Entrance door in such a dwelling was below the floor level, since this ensures good and proper ventilation of the room, and also retains heat inside the igloo.

Lighting in the dwelling comes from snow walls, but sometimes windows are also made. As a rule, they are also constructed from ice or seal guts. In some Eskimo tribes, entire villages of igloos are common, which are interconnected by passages.

From the inside, the igloo is covered with skins, and sometimes the walls are also hung with the igloo. To provide even more illumination, as well as more heat, special devices are used. Due to heating, part of the walls inside the igloo can melt, but the walls themselves do not melt, due to the fact that the snow helps to bring excess heat out. Thanks to this, the temperature in the dwelling is maintained at a comfortable temperature for the existence of people. As for moisture, the walls also absorb it, and because of this, the inside of the igloo is dry.
The first non-Eskimo to build an igloo was Williamour Stefanson. It happened in 1914, and he talks about this event in many articles and in his own book. The unique strength of this type of dwelling lies in the use of uniquely shaped slabs. They allow you to fold the hut in the form of a kind of snail, which gradually narrows upwards. It is also very important to take into account the method of installation of these improvised bricks, which involves the support of the next slab on the previous brick at three points at the same time. In order to make the structure more stable, the finished hut is also watered from the outside.


The most eastern people of Russia who live on the Chukotka Peninsula.

self-name- yuk - "man", yugyt or yupik - "real person". Local self-names were also used: Ungazigmit or Ungaziktsy - Chaplinets (Ungazik - the old name of the village of Chaplino), Sirenigmit, Sireniktsy, Navukagmit - Naukans. On the Chukchi Peninsula, Yupik is divided into the Sirenik, Central Siberian (Chaplin) and Naukan dialects. The Eskimos are the direct heirs of an ancient culture spread from the end of the first millennium BC. along the shores of the Bering Sea.

The main type of economic activity there was sea hunting. They ate the meat, entrails and fat of marine animals, heated and illuminated the dwelling with fat, made tools, weapons, utensils, skeletons of dwellings from the bones, covered the dwelling with skins, fitted canoes, kayaks, sewed clothes and shoes from them. Whales were shot with harpoons from several canoes, and later with harpoon guns. The most important object of the fishery was the walrus. In spring it was taken on floating ice or from the ice edge with a long spear or harpoon, in summer - in open water from boats or on haulouts with a spear. They shot seals, bearded seals, and spotted seals from kayaks with short metal darts and harpoons, from the shore - with harpoons, on the ice - they crawled up to the animal or lay in wait for it at the vent, which the animal makes through the ice.

To move on water used canoes and kayaks. Baidara (anyapik) - light, fast and stable on the water. Its wooden frame was covered with walrus skin. Kayak - a man's hunting boat for pursuing a sea animal. Its frame was made of thin wooden or bone planks and covered with walrus skin, a hatch for the hunter was left on top. On land they moved on arc-dusty sleds. Dogs were harnessed with a "fan", and from the middle of the 19th century. - train (team of the East Siberian type).

Settlements they were located at the base of pebble spits protruding into the sea, on elevated places so that it was convenient to observe the movement of the sea animal. These places include Avan, Kivak. The most ancient type of dwelling is a stone building with a floor deepened into the ground. The remains of such dwellings remained, for example, in Naukan.


Kitchen - traditional
native clothing

clothing Asian Eskimos - deaf, from deer and seal skins. The men's costume consisted of narrow collars made of sealskin, short shirts made of reindeer fur (atkuk), fur trousers to the knees and torbasses. In summer, to protect against dampness, a cloth camley or a cloak with a hood made of walrus intestines was put on over it. Waterproof shoes were made from dressed seal skins without wool. Women wore wider than men's natazniki, over them - fur overalls (k'al'yvagyk) to the knees, with wide sleeves; in winter - double. The shoes were the same as the men's, but taller because of the shorter pants. The clothes were decorated with embroidery or fur mosaics.


festive
eskimo torbasa

main meal the meat of marine mammals is considered: walrus, bearded seal, akiba. Meat for the winter was fermented in pits and eaten with fat, sometimes semi-cooked. Raw whale fat with a layer of cartilaginous skin (mantak) was considered a delicacy. The fish was dried and dried, and freshly frozen in winter. Reindeer meat was highly valued, which was exchanged with the Chukchi for the skins of marine animals. Summer and autumn in in large numbers ate seaweed and other algae, berries, edible leaves and roots.

Prey of a large animal dedicated trade holidays. Especially famous are the holidays on the occasion of whale hunting, which were held either in the fall, at the end of the hunting season, - “seeing off the whale”, or in the spring - “meeting the whale”. For example, in s. New Chaplino in August is Whale Day. On this day, hunters go fishing: they catch a whale for all the inhabitants. National dances are performed in the village, competitions in national sports are held.

To the most early stages development of the Eskimo arctic culture includes bone carving: sculptural miniature and artistic engraving. Music (aingananga) is predominantly vocal. A special feature is the guttural female singing, imitation of the sounds of nature: animals, birds. Dance music is inextricably linked with poetry and dance. Tambourine (yarar) - a personal and family shrine (sometimes used by shamans) - occupies a central place in music. One of the symbols of the sun, fertility and a magical amulet is eskimo ball.

Far beyond the borders of Chukotka, the ensemble "Ergyron" is known. Schools study National language up to grade 11. But one of the problems is the extinction of the language. The textbook "Eskimo language" and the Eskimo-Russian and Russian-Eskimo dictionaries were created. Programs in the Eskimo language are prepared by the Chukotka State TV and Radio Company.

Chukchi clothing was deaf, that is, without a longitudinal cut in front or behind. Both the coastal and reindeer Chukchi sewed clothes from the skins of young deer and seals. Men put on a double fur shirt on their naked body (the Russians called it kukhlyanka or cuckoo) knee-length or shorter; the undershirt was worn with the fur inward, the upper one with the fur outward. It was sewn so wide that you could freely pull your hand out of the sleeve inside it. The hem, sleeves, and often the collar of the shirt were sheathed with dog or wolverine fur. Trousers were also double (the upper ones were made of reindeer fur, kamus or sealskin; the lower ones, as a rule, were made of deer skins), narrow, ankle-length, tight-fitting legs. Shoes were worn short with fur stockings. The sole of the shoe was usually made of bearded seal skin or deer brushes (skin with hard wool from under the hooves of a deer). The kukhlyanka was girded with a belt, so that an overlap was formed. A knife, a pouch and other items were hung to the belt. The Chukchi rarely wore hats, even in winter they went bareheaded, putting on a hat mainly on the road. The most common was a hat in the form of a bonnet; on the road during snowstorms and severe frosts, they put on a hat with a cape that covered the neck and chest. Sometimes a squirrel tail boa was worn around the neck. In addition, there was still a small cap with headphones, covering the forehead and back of the head, but leaving the top of the head open. During snowfalls and blizzards, they wore a cloth or rovduk hoodie to the knees, with a hood. Summer clothes and footwear were sewn from rovduga and seal skins. In rainy weather, the Primorye Chukchi wore clothes made from walrus intestines.

Women's clothing consisted of a fur overall (kerker) knee-length, with wide sleeves and a collar; in winter the overalls were double, in summer single, with fur inside. Women's shoes were made in the same cut as men's, but up to the knees.

There were no special differences in the cut of clothing between the reindeer and coastal Chukchi.

Children up to 4-5 years old wore special clothes such as overalls. In infants, sleeves and trousers were sewn up tightly for warmth. A hole was cut in the pants, closed by a special valve, on which dry moss or reindeer hair was placed as bedding.

Chukchi in the past were tattooed. Despite close contact with the Eskimos, whose tattoo was highly developed, the Chukchi tattoo was extremely simple: it usually consisted of small circles around the edges of the mouth for men, two straight lines on the nose and forehead, and several lines on the chin for women. Complex tattoo met only as an exception. The purpose of the tattoo was religious and magical - protection from evil spirits. Childless women against infertility applied three rounded lines on both cheeks at an equal distance from each other. The tattoo was applied with a needle with a thin thread, rubbed with soot or gunpowder, which was pulled through the skin. The Chukchi used bracelets and necklaces made of beads as decorations. Bracelets were made from a narrow leather strap with a bead tied at the end. Men's hairstyles were very diverse. Usually the Chukchi shaved the upper part of the head, leaving the hair near the forehead and on the back of the head in the form of a circle; sometimes the same circle of hair was left around the crown itself. The usual hairstyle for women is two tightly braided braids, the ends of which were tied together with a strap; sometimes beads or beaded pendants were woven into braids.

The Eskimos wore clothes and shoes made from the skins of a sea animal and deer fur. Only a few, the richest Eskimos, used linen and had urban cotton or wool outerwear.

Men's clothing consisted of narrow collars made of sealskin, a shirt made of reindeer fur (atkuk), similar to Chukotka, fur pants and a bag. The summer shirt was sewn single, with fur inside. winter - double, with fur inside and out. At the level of the hips, the shirt was tied with a belt (tafsi) made of sealskin, embroidered with white deer hair.

On the legs, over fur stockings, they wore seal torbaza (kamgyk) of various heights (usually up to the middle of the lower leg).

In winter, on a long trip, over a single shirt, they put on a wide kukhlyanka (parka) made of reindeer skins, knee-length, with a hood.

Women wore leather underpants on their naked bodies, over them they wore a fur overall, the same as that of the Chukchi. Women's shoes did not differ in cut from men's, only they were higher (reached the knees). Winter torbaza were often made from kamus obtained from Chukchi reindeer herders.

Even at the end of the 19th century, and in isolated cases even later, the Eskimos wore long kukhlyankas made of bird skins, which, with the development of exchange with the Chukchi reindeer herders, were replaced by clothes made of deer fur. In the old days, sleeping curtains and beds were also made from bird skins.

Men and women wore fur hats and mittens only on the road. The rest of the time, even in severe frost and wind, they walked with their heads uncovered.

The hairstyle of all women was the same - two braids with a parting in the middle. For men it was more varied. Usually, hair was cut, leaving long strands at the crown, or, conversely, the crown was cut smoothly, leaving a “fringe” around the head.

More about the beginning of the 20th century. Eskimos used tattoos. In men, it was limited to drawing circles near the corners of the mouth (1.5-2 cm in diameter), which was undoubtedly a relic of the earlier custom of wearing a lip plug. The tattoo on the woman's face consisted of straight or slightly concave parallel lilies covering part of the forehead, nose and chin. A more complex geometric ornament was applied on the cheeks. A particularly complex and varied pattern was the tattoo of the hands: hands and forearms.

"Peoples of Siberia". Ethnographic essays, publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow - Leningrad, 1956

By the end of XIX. Eskimos - dead clothes - a park of bird skins with feathers inside. It consists of wide fur pants, tight boots and bindings so keep out the water, a fur jacket without a door but with a hood and hat.

In women, trousers and shoes sometimes form one whole; on the back is a bag for children.

Clothes, especially for women, are decorated with colored leather ties, cervix, leaves and squirrels,

Kettle, Camel and 5 other traditional clothing of peoples in the Long North

etc. The clothing material is mainly deer, then seals, dogs, polar foxes and birds.

It is characterized by mammalian and bubble waterproof upper garments, made with excellent taste and finesse, like bird skin garments.

With the development of the exchange with the Kukin deer, the shepherds began to wear clothes made from deer fur. Summer clothes, both men and women, were blind camellias, a visit from the sealing, and later purchased fabrics.

Traditional shoes are fur boots (kamgyk) with a cut and often slush, men - up to the middle of the sword, men - up to the knees; Leather pants with a sock, the cut significantly raised the legs like a "bubble".

Women's knitted hair in two braids, men's shaving, leaving a circle or some strings at the top of the head.

The tattoo in men is circles around the corners of the mouth (a relic of the custom to wear a lip sleeve), women have complex geometric patterns on the face and arms. It was colorful. Nasal ornaments made of rings, feathers, granules, lupine fragments are characteristic; similar objects are also inserted into sections under the lower lip, sometimes in a whole row, filled with shell buttons and similar to other types of teeth.

The main food is sailor, seal and whale meat - ice cream, sauerkraut, creamy, boiled.

Popular foods are deer meat, blood, stomach contents, head fish, etc. Grass served as plant food, seaweed, shellfish.

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As a rule, Eskimo clothing has developed over the centuries in a cool atmosphere. The warm fur from which it is combined and the blind cut perfectly protect the body from frost, wind and moisture.

Men's clothing, consisting of short kukhlyanki, embroidered from deer or seal, fur that sticks out with the body, in case of a cold cut, allows, holding hands by the sleeves, to warm them to her naked body. The Kukhlyanki have hats. More than short (15 cm) leather men's socks put on trousers made of jelly leather, seal or polar bear. Pants reach to their knees. On the feet, socks are worn with fur, fur facing the feet, SH fur boots outward, seam venison (deer skin with feet) or skin seals.

Women's clothing is made from the same material as men's; in the form of views very similar to men.

Women wear a leather shirt with a back extension on the back. A short bag without a cut is usually decorated with embroidery, front and back walls of muses.

Unlike men, a leather bag for women is a bag for a bag in which a child is put on. The clothes are sewn and attached so that they don't soften anywhere.

Local versions of Eskimo clothing vary in the length of the kitchen, details of cutting and trimming. The most distinct from the general Eskimo types of clothing parks are the Pacific Eskimos and the Aleuts. They are sewn from the skin of seabirds without a lid. Also, these Eskimo groups are not worn by naturopaths.

For kayaking, waterproof clothing is made in the guts of the sea.

food

In the past, the Eskimos ate whatever they could get, hunting or fishing. Now they are buying some groceries. Almost their only food was, and in part, the meat of marine animals, as well as deer.

National traditional clothes of the Chukchi

It is eaten boiled, dry and raw.

Strawberries and edible roots take up little space in the diet. The meat of marine animals is rich in vitamins and good protection against scurvy. meat diet frees the sketches from the need to extract salt, since the meat is in sufficient quantity.

This diet was adapted to the climatic conditions. The transition of the Eskimos under the influence of Europe from meat to oatmeal, tea with sugar and canned food negatively affected their health. A characteristic feature of the Eskimo diet is its high water intake.

Before the arrival of Europeans, there were no alcoholic drinks from the Eskimos.

social order

Late 19th - early 20th century. The Jesuits lived in a primitive common system. At this time he was not an Eskimo clan. * The basic social unit was housing. Nearly all of its inhabitants were associated with intimacy or wealth. In western Alaska, someone's camp was born to a man in "my" camp who was treated as a relative.

The central and Greenland Eskimos had fewer allied ties than those in Alaska, and neighboring ties between camp residents were more pronounced.

In general, the Eskimo camp was a community that contained the remains of important ancestors, stronger in the west and somewhat weakened in the east. General relations were fully preserved in production and consumer relations. All hunters of the settlement participated in hunting and fishing. For example, the entire camp hunted caribou or trap during the spring spawning season.

Obtaining from one hunt also led to a general distribution in accordance with certain norms. These norms were not the same for different Eskimo groups, but b In this regard, some legitimacy can be traced.

So, the hunter who obtained the seal, he received, as a rule, very little, most of the corpses were divided among other hunters on the hunting side. In addition, members received their own portion of the camp, did not participate in the hunt for urgent work or illness, as well as the elderly, widows and orphans. By the end of XIX. century. this order of product distribution is largely degenerate. However, the measure of mutual aid is still maintained, especially in times of famine, when food supplies are so small that they can be distributed among all the members of the camp.

Primitive communal norms in the late XIX - early XX century. century.

continue to insist on the distribution of whale meat: everyone can take it in any amount.

In the Eskimo during the period described, personal property is considered as weapons, kayaks, sleds, hunting traps, clothing, household items, toys,

The personal pages were ice platforms with airtight breathing holes. In Greenland, a hunter found that a product had a label attached to it, indicating its owner. In the Eskimo Bering Strait, every family had all their belongings with the sign of tamanga. The presence of signs of ownership was confirmed by the disintegration of the primitive common system.

The whole family's property was food.

Ownership of the entire camp as a whole is considered: stone fences, which were built by all members of the group and hunted deer; fishing dams; holiday home, etc.

Obviously, there was tribal ownership of the hunting grounds and fishing areas of the sea animal.

Personal property settings can be provided.

Loss or breakdown of a borrowed item cannot be refunded or returned to the affected country, and the owner is not entitled to claim damages for damage caused.

Also, the owner in Alaska usually thought it was unpleasant to demand back the returned goods, because, according to the Eskimo, a person who can work on his property has more than he needs. And the owner of the trap, if he did not use it, had to give it to someone who needs it.

When a married man died, part of his deceased property was placed with him in the grave.

He inherited the rest of the property with his relatives, especially children, sons who inherited hunting rifles, daughters who inherited household items. The widow did not inherit anything, but she returned to the dock. In Greenland, a man who owns a tent cannot inherit another, just as in the possession of one hollow, I did not receive another, and so on. N. in Alaska, which no longer adheres to this limitation of inheritance, and the layoffs were between the Eskimo of Alaska and the Eskimo of another region.

The proportion of inheritance received by older and younger children varies from place to place. Thus, in Greenland, the eldest son received most of his father's property.

There was no difference between "copper" Eskimos in the order of succession of oldest and youngest sons. In Alaska, the younger children received the eldest son. All valuable things went to the younger sons. The wife of the deceased distributed the legacy of the Alaskan Enskoches.

In the second half of the XIX century.

there were strong trade links between the various territorial groups of the Eskimos, which were carried out along the same routes from year to year. Fairs, especially in Alaska, took the form of festive celebrations and various ritual rituals. Such fairs were usually held in the same cities, on the border between different groups. Trade was carried out by exchanging one product for another. The only price was made by the skin of adult otters, and later by the drum skin.

According to the American scientist E.

W. Nelson, Alaska, in the 1990s, XIX. in every village you will find a rich man gathered with a large store with an Inuit concept of ownership (worth a few hundred dollars). These rich people organize a holiday for their fellow villagers from time to time and give them food and gifts. If a wealthy Eskimo avoided organizing the festival, the villagers killed him and took everything he had, or the power that organized the festival and gave her all their possessions.

In the latter case, under the pain of death, he had to give up every thought in order to become rich. This suggests that they were for the Eskimans in the second half of the 19th century. Your own inequality was new and an unusual phenomenon. But even during this period, the deciding vote in the village usually belonged to the richest resident, since everything depends on him.

On the island of Nunavik a few decades ago, property was in every associated group of a public nature.

All objects were labeled with symbols that looked like straight lines or broken lines, but the number of symbols was very limited. All people who had a common male ancestor mark their property with one character. To separate individual branches of the genealogy tree or individual families in a related group, more than one character to objects (but not more than five) was transferred.

In Alaska, among the Eskimos who lived in the middle of the river.

Kuskokwim and Kotzebue Bay, late 19th century. the division into totemic groups remained. The most common were the totems of Folk, Falcon and Crow. All members of the group of totems were considered relatives. Unfortunately, it is not known whether such a group was exogenous or not, that is, it is a genus or only its remaining part.

Askim of Alaska and Hudson Bay until the middle of the 19th century. century.

Men's houses (kazimi) were widespread, the existence of which is usually associated with the mother's family. In each Eskim camp there was a special building where people spent time without hunting. They worked, ate and burned there. All meetings and celebrations were organized there.

A married couple of Eskimos.

On the Pacific coast in the late 18th century - early 19th century. century. there were marriage weddings, that is, weddings between the children of a brother and sister. This form of marriage is associated with a clan system, or with a mother clan and dual exogs.

Alignment after marriage can be matrix and patrilocal, but in Alaska and on the islands of Nunivak, Kajak and the Aleutian jb of the 19th century. dominated at first. The separation was carried out smoothly at the request of husband and wife. The children stayed with their mother and their father lost all his rights. The woman in the family was almost the same as the man.

In the terminology of affinity, paternal and maternal lines are distinguished, which can only be satisfactorily explained by the fact that this terminology was created as a reflection of the clan system that existed in the past.

There are many other testimonies of the existence of the Eskimos in the past, and this is the mother. Apparently, tribal organization has disappeared with development, the vast uninhabited Arctic expanses, as independent tribes are far apart, often rotting and intertwining as they move.

In the later decommissioning of exogamy, the nomadic way of life of the Central and Eastern Eskimos played an important role, which made it difficult to maintain intergenerational ties.

In this connection, it is interesting that on the west coast of the United States the Eskimo Tribal Rescue System survived to a much greater extent than in the rest of the Eskimos. This is due to the fact that they will not have to develop such large spaces as the central and Greenland Eskimos, and the fact that their life is more sedentary due to the nature of the opportunity, the sea of ​​hunting occurs not only in winter, but also in the summer months .

The process of decommissioning the clan relations between the Eskimos is, of course, closely connected with the course of the colonization of the Arctic by the Americans and the influence of capitalist relations.

It is likely that the process of decommissioning the clan system was recently completed, especially in Alaska and neighboring islands, where the genus probably existed in the 18th century.

or even later. The mother's family was compensated, apparently, directly by the community of the neighborhood, and not by the paternal clans. In any case, this can be clearly defined for Alaska by Eskimi.

Most of the Eskimos in the middle of XIX. century. but later there were no leaders, but he was always one of the older experienced hunters in the camp, especially if he was a shaman, he had more authority than other old people; he was called "good", "I think", "adviser": this may be a sign that it is better to move around the camp, which sent hunting seals, which are deer; but his advice was not followed, and he had no power to force himself to carry out his orders.

Public opinion played an important role in the life of the Eskimos.

Everyone could act as you like, as long as he did not violate the general well-being. If a person violated normal norms, he was encouraged by one of the old or old women. To a large extent, such incentives worked well because they were considered highly offensive.

If he still violates the rules of the hunt, annoys and misleads the neighbors, then he exposes the boycott: he was not allowed to participate in public affairs, was not allowed in his cottages, no one wanted to talk to him or have a business deal; if he was hated by his neighbors because of the crimes he committed, he could kill him when the community deemed it necessary.

Sometimes someone was called to fulfillment; He volunteered to talk about all his neighbors and killed his felon with his consent. Sometimes the neighbors organized a meeting and selected the executor from their decision from the community and did not have the right to refuse, even if the convicted person was his brother.

The performer or one of the members of the community took the family of the executed.

Unlike this murder, which was put on because it would be legal, every other murder must be repulsed by the next of kin of the deceased, and the custom of bloodshed was one of the most necessary in the ordinary law of the Eskimos.

Traditionally, the Eskimos (Inuit) eat mainly fish, marine mammals and land animals. Roots, herbs and strawberries are a small part of the Inuit diet. Modern initiates have adopted Western dietary habits.

Several tribes are Inuit, also called Eskimos.

Traditional clothing of the Greenlandic Eskimos

The Inuit people live in areas such as Alaska and Northern Canada, where last years the temperature is very low. They are professionals in the field of hunting and fishing, living off what is available in the immediate vicinity.

Popular Inuit foods include beluga whale, seal, fish, crab, sea, caribou, louse, duck, quail, and geese.

In summer, roots and strawberries are included in the food. Due to the harsh arctic climate, the Inuit are mainly kept on meat and fish. Plants are missing from their diet because they don't grow in such a poor environment.

Many people wonder how the Inuit can survive without eating the balanced diet that is common in other cultures. Researchers have found that animals and fish containing Inuit contain various nutrients that the body needs to survive.

The Inuit enjoy fresh meat.

Modern Inuiters eat a mixture of traditional foods and westernized foods.

The shoes and clothing of the coastal and tundra Chukchi did not have strong differences and were almost identical to those of the Eskimo. Basically, it was deaf clothing made from the skins of seals and deer. The men had a double knee-length kukhlyanka shirt.

They girded it with a belt, and hung a pouch, a knife and other accessories from it. There were also tight double trousers and short shoes with fur stockings. Among the coastal Chukchi, clothing made from walrus intestines was widespread. As for headdresses, they were rarely worn, unless on the road.
Winter clothes were sewn from two deer skins with fur outside and inside.

The coastal Chukchi also used the elastic, durable and almost waterproof seal skin, from which they made pants and spring-summer shoes; Kamlikas, raincoats and various raincoats were also sewn from walrus intestines.

Eskimo clothing, food

Reindeer Chukchi for pants and shoes used the old smoky coating of yaranga, which does not deform under the influence of moisture.
Regular mutual exchange of various products of the economy helped the tundra Chukchi to receive shoes, clothes, leather soles, lassoes, belts made from the skins of marine mammals. Coastal for winter clothing used reindeer skins.

And in the summer they wore already worn out winter clothes.
All deaf clothing of the Chukchi is divided into festive and ritual and everyday household: women's, men's, children's, old people's, youth, and even ritual funeral.
Fur overalls (the so-called kerker) with wide sleeves were popular among women, single in summer and double in winter, and short pants.

Shoes were made of fur, mostly to the knees. Women liked to wear various kinds of necklaces and bracelets.
An interesting fact: the Chukchi made tattoos on their faces, men - circles at the mouth, and women - two stripes on their forehead and nose.

Men's hair was cut in a kind of circle, shaving the crown, and women, as a rule, braided two braids.

Examples of the use of the word pima in the literature.

The whole first week, from Verkhneudinsk to Kyakhta, she rode in a wagon rented for her, like an accidental companion of the expedition, in a huge fur coat over a sheepskin coat and in Siberian pimah.

Super-warm clothes - malitsu, panic, sovik, reliable shoes in both frosts and thaws - toboks, pima, lipty, the strongest thread-tendons are given to the northerner by a kind and faithful friend-deer And meat, excellent, tender, tasty, hearty deer meat - boiled, fried in a pan or on a rod, raw, hot with blood straight from slaughter or frozen stroganina.

The hunters were warmly shod, but the frost penetrated through the fur stockings - lipta - and pima.

I ask you if you, while in Connecticut, were personally acquainted with the family Pimov, who lived on the island of Nantucket and was related to one of the prominent lawyers of the state.

So, Mr. Jorling, - the captain spoke in a sharper voice, the trembling of which betrayed irritation, - you did not know the family Pimov and did not meet with its members either in Hartford or on Nantucket.

Eskimos. There are many names for this brave people of the North, living in the most severe conditions, known to man. What do we really know about them? Apart from the fact that they hunt seals and walruses with harpoons and wear hooded fur coats, most people know very little about these hunter-gatherers and reindeer herders.

10. Clothes and armor

The Inuit people are, by necessity, quite skilled at making warm, durable clothing. In terms of heat preservation, Eskimo clothes have no equal, because in traditional Eskimo clothes you can safely stay in the cold at -50 degrees for many hours.

However, when they went hunting to survive, they were also able to make very strong armor for clothing. After all, they went out to hunt massive beasts and needed protection too. The armor of the Inuit had a lamellar structure, consisting of bone plates (often from walrus teeth, known as walrus tusk). Raw leather straps connected the plates together. It is curious that the design of such armor resembles the ancient armor of Japanese warriors. The fact that the Inuit were able to come up with such extremely functional armor speaks volumes about their talent and ingenuity.

Often used in a neutral context, the term "popsicle" is generally considered slightly racist, in the same way that the term "Indian" is offensive to Native Americans. However, this is technically considered acceptable, and the scientific term usually has a fairly solid etymology. Although the word “eskimo” is thought to be Danish and French (from “eskimeaux”), the name is likely based on the old term “askimo.” Researchers don't seem to be able to agree on whether this means "meat-eaters" or "raw-eaters."

However, many Eskimos find this term offensive to themselves, so out of respect for this proud people, we will avoid using this term. The generally accepted, politically correct name (many of them also use this term for themselves) will be the word - Inuit.

8. Eskimo kiss

An Eskimo kiss, as a sign of love, is when two people rub their noses. The Inuit have developed such a gesture over the millennia, because with an ordinary kiss in the cold, due to saliva, you can freeze to each other in an awkward position.

The Eskimo kiss is called "kunik". This is a type of intimate greeting often practiced between spouses or children and their parents. Those who meet may look like they are rubbing their noses, but they are actually sniffing each other's hair and cheeks. Thus, two people who have not seen each other can quickly remind the other person of themselves with their individual smell.

Although kunik doesn't really fit into the concept of a kiss, it is considered an intimate gesture.

Vegetarianism is not very common among traditional Inuit tribes. Because they live in a barren, cold environment, their diet mainly relies on various types of meat and only occasionally, on some types of berries and algae. Even in modern times, fruits and vegetables are scarce and expensive to import to the cold northern regions, so they still rely on their traditional diet.

The Inuit have always been excellent hunters. They consume narwhals, walruses, seals and different birds and fish. Even polar bears occasionally appear on their menu. There are many traditional ways of preparing food: drying, boiling or freezing. Some foods are not cooked at all. Some people think that frozen meat is a real delicacy, like ice cream.

While one might think that a diet that relies heavily on meat leads to serious health problems, the Inuit who follow this diet are actually some of the healthiest people in the world. This "Inuit Paradox" has long been the subject of serious scientific interest.

The igloo is the quintessential Inuit dwelling: an ingenious domed structure built from blocks of ice and snow.

Although most people have seen pictures of igloos as small snow domes, they do exist. various forms and dimensions, as well as materials. For the Inuit, “igloo” is simply a word for a building in which people live.

5. Kallupilluk

Every culture has its mythical monsters. The Inuit spent their days bypassing the dangerous ice fields, hunting huge and strong walruses and aggressive bears. It would seem where you can come up with a fantastic monster. However, the Inuit also had one creature that was used to scare naughty children. This is Kallupilluk, literally meaning "Monster". According to legend, he lived under the ice and waited for people who fell into the water. Then the monster pounced on them and dragged careless people into the icy deep sea. It was a natural and healthy fear in the Arctic, where falling into water often meant death.

4. Blond Eskimos

In 1912, an explorer named Stefansson found a strange tribe of Inuit, which consisted entirely of blond, tall, Scandinavian-like people. This caused a heated discussion about the nature of this tribe. Most people eventually agreed that these blond Inuit in the Canadian Arctic were the descendants of the Vikings who sailed here at the dawn of time. However, DNA studies in 2003 debunked this hypothesis. The fact is that with marital relations and closely related incest, blonds are often born.

3. Words to describe snow.

Most of the world's languages ​​have one or more words for snow. However, the Inuit language has a huge number of words to describe snow. The Inuit can describe snow in 50-400 different words, eloquently crafted to describe a very specific kind of this frozen sediment.

For example, the word Akuilokok means: “snow is falling quietly”, and pyegnartok is “Snowy weather, good for a hunting trip”, and so on.

2. Weapons.

Although contact with European culture gave them access to firearms and other modern species weapons, traditional Inuit weapons were made from stone or the bones of slaughtered animals. They did not have the ability to forge metal, so bone was one of the main features of their weapons. Bows were made from leather, bones and tendons.

Because most Inuit weapons were used for hunting and butchering, they were purposely made to inflict maximum damage. The edges were sharp and often serrated, meant to be torn and torn rather than neatly cut and pierced.