Where do the Eskimos live and what is their home called? Eskimos

The easternmost people of the country. Live in the northeast Russia, on the Chukotka Peninsula. Self-name - yuk - "man", yugyt, or yupik - " real person". Eskimo languages ​​are divided into two large groups- Yupik (western) and Inupik (eastern). On the Chukotka Peninsula, Yupik is divided into Sireniki, Central Siberian, or Chaplin and Naukan dialects. Eskimos Chukotka residents, along with their native languages, speak Russian and Chukotka.

The origins of the Eskimos are controversial. Eskimos are direct descendants of an ancient culture widespread from the end of the first millennium BC. along the shores of the Bering Sea. The earliest Eskimo culture is the Old Bering Sea (before the 8th century AD). It is characterized by the prey of marine mammals, the use of multi-person leather kayaks, and complex harpoons. From the 7th century AD until the XIII-XV centuries. was going on development whaling, and more northern regions Alaska and Chukotka - hunting for small pinnipeds.

Main view economic activity there was sea hunting. Until the middle of the 19th century. The main hunting tools were a spear with a double-edged arrow-shaped tip (pana), a rotating harpoon (ung'ak') with a detachable bone tip. To travel on water they used canoes and kayaks. A kayak (anyapik) is light, fast and stable on the water. Its wooden frame was covered with walrus skin. There were kayaks different types- from single-seaters to huge 25-seater sailboats.

They moved on land on arc-dust sledges. The dogs were harnessed with a fan. From the middle of the 19th century. The sleds were pulled by dogs drawn by a train (an East Siberian type team). Short, dust-free sleighs with runners made of walrus tusks (kanrak) were also used. They walked on snow on “racket” skis (in the form of a frame of two slats with fastened ends and transverse struts, intertwined with sealskin straps and lined with bone plates at the bottom), on ice with the help of special bone spikes attached to shoes.

The method of hunting sea animals depended on their seasonal migrations. Two hunting seasons for whales corresponded to the time of their passage through the Bering Strait: in the spring to the north, in the fall - to the south. Whales were shot with harpoons from several canoes, and later with harpoon cannons.

The most important hunting object was the walrus. Since the end of the 19th century. new fishing weapons and equipment appeared. Hunting for fur-bearing animals spread. The production of walruses and seals replaced whaling, which had fallen into decline. When there was not enough meat from sea animals, they shot wild deer and mountain sheep, birds with a bow, and caught fish.

The settlements were located so that it was convenient to observe the movement of sea animals - at the base of pebble spits protruding into the sea, on elevated places. The most ancient type of dwelling is a stone building with a floor sunk into the ground. The walls were made of stones and whale ribs. The frame was covered with deer skins, covered with a layer of turf and stones, and then covered with skins again.
To XVIII century, and in some places later, they lived in semi-underground frame dwellings (nyn'lyu). In the XVII-XVIII centuries. frame buildings (myn'tyg'ak) appeared, similar to the Chukchi yaranga. The summer dwelling was a quadrangular tent (pylyuk), shaped like an obliquely truncated pyramid, and the wall with the entrance was higher than the opposite one. The frame of this dwelling was built from logs and poles and covered with walrus skins. Since the end of the 19th century. light plank houses with a gable roof and windows appeared.

The clothing of the Asian Eskimos is made from deer and seal skins. Back in the 19th century. They also made clothes from bird skins.

Fur stockings and seal torbas (kamgyk) were put on the legs. Waterproof shoes were made from tanned seal skins without wool. Fur hats and mittens were worn only when moving (migration). Clothes were decorated with embroidery or fur mosaics. Until the 18th century Eskimos, piercing the nasal septum or lower lip, they hung walrus teeth, bone rings and glass beads.

Men's tattoo - circles in the corners of the mouth, women's - straight or concave parallel lines on the forehead, nose and chin. A more complex geometric pattern was applied to the cheeks. They covered their arms, hands, and forearms with tattoos.

Traditional food is meat and fat of seals, walruses and whales. The meat was eaten raw, dried, dried, frozen, boiled, and stored for the winter: fermented in pits and eaten with fat, sometimes half-cooked. Raw whale oil with a layer of cartilaginous skin (mantak) was considered a delicacy. The fish was dried and dried, and eaten fresh frozen in winter. Venison was highly valued and was exchanged among the Chukchi for the skins of sea animals.

Kinship was calculated on the paternal side, and marriage was patrilocal. Each settlement consisted of several groups of related families, which in winter occupied a separate half-dugout, in which each family had its own canopy. In the summer, families lived in separate tents. Facts of working for a wife were known, there were customs of wooing children, marrying a boy to an adult girl, the custom of “marriage partnership”, when two men exchanged wives as a sign of friendship (hospitable hetaerism). There was no marriage ceremony as such. Polygamy occurred in wealthy families.

Eskimos were practically not Christianized. They believed in spirits, the masters of all animate and inanimate objects, natural phenomena, localities, wind directions, various human states, family connection a person with any animal or object. There were ideas about the creator of the world, they called him Sila. He was the creator and master of the universe, and ensured that the customs of his ancestors were observed. The main sea deity, the mistress of sea animals, was Sedna, who sent prey to people. Evil spirits were represented in the form of giants or dwarfs, or other fantastic creatures that sent illness and misfortune to people.

In every village there lived a shaman (usually a man, but female shamans are also known), who acted as an intermediary between evil spirits and people. Only one who heard the voice of a helping spirit could become a shaman. After this, the future shaman had to meet privately with the spirits and enter into an alliance with them regarding mediation.

Fishing holidays were dedicated to the hunt for large animals. Especially famous are the holidays on the occasion of whale catching, 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”. There were also holidays for the beginning of sea hunting, or “launching the canoes” and a holiday for “walrus heads,” dedicated to the results of the spring-summer fishery.

Eskimo folklore is rich and varied. All types oral creativity They are divided into unipak - "message", "news" and into unipamsyuk - stories about events in the past, heroic legends, fairy tales or myths. Among fairy tales, a special place is occupied by the cycle about the raven Kutha, the demiurge and trickster who creates and develops the universe.
The earliest stages of the development of the Eskimo Arctic culture include bone carving: sculptural miniatures, and artistic bone engraving. Hunting equipment and household items were covered with ornaments; images of animals and fantastic creatures served as amulets and decorations.

Music (aingananga) is predominantly vocal. The songs are divided into "large" public ones - hymn songs, which are sung by ensembles and " small“intimate - “songs of the soul.” They are performed solo, sometimes accompanied by a tambourine.

The tambourine is a personal and family shrine (sometimes used by shamans). He takes central place V

Everything about everything. Volume 3 Likum Arkady

Where did the Eskimos come from?

Where did the Eskimos come from?

Eskimos are a type of North American Indian. They are similar to the Mongols, but no more than some other aborigines of the North and South America. The Eskimos, like the Indians, came from Asia. It is believed that the first Eskimos entered North America through the Bering Strait and Alaska 2000–3000 years ago. Then some of them moved along the eastern and southern coasts of Alaska and reached the place where modern Anchorage is located. Others settled in the Aleutian Islands, but most moved west along the northern coasts of Alaska and Canada.

The first known meeting of Eskimos and Europeans took place around 1000 AD, when Scandinavian travelers saw Eskimos in Labrador or Newfoundland. Later, in Greenland, the Eskimos met the Norwegians. During the 12th and 13th centuries, Greenland saw large numbers of intermarriages between Europeans and Eskimos. Today many Eskimos there look like Europeans.

It is important to understand that Eskimos are as different from each other as most Europeans. Some of them look like fair-haired Scandinavians or Germans, others look like dark-haired Italians. Probably the reason the Eskimos live in the North is that they are hunters, and their country is one of the best in North America for hunting.

author Likum Arkady

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How did forks come about? The first person to use a crude version of a fork while eating probably lived thousands of years ago. However, the fork that we use at dinner was invented quite recently. Primitive man used it as a fork to eat meat.

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Where did the candy come from? In almost every country in ancient times, people ate something similar to candy. During excavations in Egypt, pictures and notes were found that contained information about what the candies looked like and how they were prepared. In those days, refined sugar was unknown to people, so honey

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Where did the stars come from? From a scientific point of view, we do not have an answer to the question of how the Universe was born. There are many different scientific theories about this, but there is no answer to the question yet. Be that as it may, we are considering these theories in an attempt to explain the life history of a star. Star -

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Where did the plants come from? Was there a time when there were no plants on Earth at all? According to scientific theories - yes. Then, hundreds of millions of years ago, tiny particles of protoplasm appeared on Earth. "Protoplasm" is the name of living matter, which is also found in

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How did rivers appear? There are many rivers on Earth. Small rivers and streams merge to form larger ones. They carry their waters to the seas and oceans. Others - like the Volga - flow into inland seas and lakes. And some, flowing through dry regions,

From the book Everything about everything. Volume 3 author Likum Arkady

How did lullabies appear? In many countries around the world, children know hundreds of rhymes and songs that were known to their great-great-great-grandfathers. Although in English The word "lullaby" appeared only in 1824; such tunes existed for many centuries. Lullabies

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How did pins come to be? If we remember how many things are held in place with pins, we can only marvel at how man ever managed to get along without them. Pins of one shape or another, from one material or another, were used by people with

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How did fairs come about? In ancient times, most people lived on farms or on large estates. There were no shops at that time, since small settlements were located too far from each other. In addition, there were not enough goods and people for daily trade. But people

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Where did rats come from? Nobody likes to talk about rats because they are very unpleasant creatures. But they significantly influence a person’s life. Brown rats carry fleas, which can spread a terrible disease - bubonic plague, or Black Plague.

author Likum Arkady

How do Eskimos build their igloos? For most of us, the word "igloo" means a dwelling made of snow. But this word can be applied to any type of Eskimo dwelling, not necessarily built of snow. In addition, it can be not only housing, but also a school,

From the book Everything about everything. Volume 5 author Likum Arkady

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Where did the names of relatives by marriage come from? DMITRY SICHINAV Senior Researcher, Department of Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Poetics, Institute of Russian Language. V. V. Vinogradov RANV Russian and others Slavic languages there are a number of words that mean

Faces of Russia. “Living together while remaining different”

The multimedia project “Faces of Russia” has existed since 2006, telling about Russian civilization, the most important feature of which is the ability to live together while remaining different - this motto is especially relevant for countries throughout the post-Soviet space. From 2006 to 2012, as part of the project, we created 60 documentaries about representatives of different Russian ethnic groups. Also, 2 cycles of radio programs “Music and Songs of the Peoples of Russia” were created - more than 40 programs. Illustrated almanacs were published to support the first series of films. Now we are halfway to creating a unique multimedia encyclopedia of the peoples of our country, a snapshot that will allow the residents of Russia to recognize themselves and leave a legacy for posterity with a picture of what they were like.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Series of audio lectures “Peoples of Russia” - Eskimos

General information

ESKIMS,- one of the indigenous northern peoples, ethnic community, group of peoples in the USA (in Alaska - 38 thousand people), in the north of Canada (28 thousand people), in Denmark (Greenland island - 47 thousand) and Russian Federation(Chukchi autonomous region Magadan region - 1.5 thousand people). Eskimos inhabit the territory from the eastern edge of Chukotka to Greenland. The total number is 115 thousand people (less than 90 thousand people in 2000). In Russia, Eskimos are a small ethnic group - according to the 2002 Census, the number of Eskimos living in Russia is 19 thousand people, according to the 2010 Census - 1738 people - living mixed or in close proximity with the Chukchi in several settlements on the east coast Chukotka and Wrangel Island.

The languages ​​of the Eskimo-Aleut family are divided into two groups: Inupik (closely related dialects of the Diomede Islands in the Bering Strait, northern Alaska and Canada, Labrador and Greenland) and Yupik - a group of three languages ​​(Central Yupik, Siberian Yupik and Sugpiak, or Alutiiq) with dialects spoken in western and southwestern Alaska, St. Lawrence Island, and the Chukchi Peninsula.

They formed as an ethnic group in the Bering Sea region until the end of the 2nd millennium BC. In the 1st millennium AD, the ancestors of the Eskimos, carriers of the archaeological Thule culture, settled in Chukotka and along the Arctic coast of America to Greenland.

The Eskimos are divided into 15 ethnocultural groups: The Eskimos of southern Alaska, on the coast of Prince William Sound and Kodiak Island, were subject to strong Russian influence during the period of the Russian-American Company (late 18th - mid-19th centuries); The Eskimos of western Alaska preserve their language and traditional way of life to the greatest extent; Siberian Eskimos, including the Eskimos of St. Lawrence Island and the Diomede Islands; The Eskimos of northwest Alaska, living along the coast from Norton Sound to the US-Canadian border and in the interior of northern Alaska; The Mackenzie Eskimos are a mixed group on the northern coast of Canada around the mouth of the Mackenzie River, formed in the late 14th and early 20th centuries from indigenous people and Nunaliit Eskimos - migrants from northern Alaska; Copper Eskimos, named for tools made of native copper, made by cold hammering, live on the northern coast of Canada along Coronation Sound and on Banks and Victoria Islands; Netsilik Eskimos in Northern Canada, on the coast of the Boothia and Adelaide peninsulas, King William Island and in the lower reaches of the Buck River; close to them are the Igloolik Eskimos - inhabitants of the Melville Peninsula, the northern part of Baffin Island and Southampton Island; Eskimo Caribou, living in the interior tundra of Canada west of Hudson Bay mixed with other Eskimos; Eskimos of Baffin Island in central and southern parts island of the same name; The Eskimos of Quebec and the Eskimos of Labrador, respectively, in the north - northeast and west - southwest, up to the island of Newfoundland and the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the coast of the Labrador Peninsula, in the 19th century participated in the formation of the mestizo group of "settlers" (descendants from marriages between Eskimos women and white hunters and settlers); The Eskimos of western Greenland are the largest group of Eskimos and have been subject to European (Danish) colonization and Christianization since the early 18th century; polar Eskimos - the northernmost group of indigenous people on Earth in the extreme northwest of Greenland; The Eskimos of eastern Greenland, later than others (at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries), encountered European influence.

Throughout their history, the Eskimos created forms of culture adapted to life in the Arctic: a harpoon with a rotating tip, a hunting boat-kayak, thick fur clothing, a half-dugout and a domed dwelling made of snow (igloo), a fat lamp for cooking food, lighting and heating the home, and etc. The Eskimos were characterized by an unformed tribal organization and the absence of clans in the 19th century (except, apparently, the Bering Sea Eskimos). Although some groups were Christianized (18th century), the Eskimos actually retained animistic ideas, shamanism.

The traditional occupations of the Eskimos are sea hunting, reindeer herding, and hunting.

The Eskimos have five economic and cultural complexes: hunting large sea animals - walruses and whales (Eskimos of Chukotka, St. Lawrence Island, the coast of northwestern Alaska, the ancient population of western Greenland); seal hunting (northwestern and eastern Greenland, islands of the Canadian Arctic archipelago); fishing (Eskimos of western and southwestern Alaska); wandering caribou hunting (Eskimo Caribou, part of the Eskimos of northern Alaska); a combination of caribou hunting with sea hunting (most of the Eskimos of Canada, part of the Eskimos of northern Alaska). After the Eskimos were drawn into the orbit of market relations, a significant part of them switched to commercial fur hunting (trapping), and in Greenland - to commercial fishing. Many work in construction, iron ore mines, oil fields, in Arctic trading posts, etc. The Greenlanders and Eskimos of Alaska have a wealthy stratum and a national intelligentsia.

By the middle of the 20th century, four independent ethnopolitical communities of Eskimos had formed.

1) Eskimos of Greenland - see Greenlanders. 2) Eskimos of Canada (self-name - Inuit). Since the 1950s, the Canadian government began to pursue a policy of concentrating the indigenous population and building large settlements. They preserve the language, English and French languages(Eskimos of Quebec). Since the end of the 19th century they have written on the basis of the syllabic alphabet. 3) The Eskimos of Alaska, largely English-speaking, are Christianized. Since the 1960s they have been fighting for economic and political rights. There are strong trends towards national and cultural consolidation. 4) Asian (Siberian) Eskimos, Yupigyt, or Yugyt (self-name - “real people”; Yuits - the official name in the 1930s). The language belongs to the Yupik group, the dialects are Sirenik, Central Siberian, or Chaplin, and Naukan. Writing since 1932 based on the Chaplin dialect. The Russian language is widespread. Settled on the coast of the Chukotka Peninsula from the Bering Strait in the north to Cross Bay in the west. The main groups: Navukagmit ("Naukans"), living in the territory from the village of Inchoun to the village of Lawrence; Ungasigmit (“Chaplinians”), settled from the Senyavin Strait to Providence Bay and in the village of Uelkal; Sirenigmit ("Sirenikians"), residents of the village of Sireniki.

The main traditional activity is hunting sea animals, mainly walrus and seal. Whale production, developed until the mid-19th century, then declined due to its extermination by commercial whalers. The animals were killed on rookeries, on ice, in the water from boats - with darts, spears and harpoons with a detachable bone tip. They also hunted reindeer and mountain sheep with bows and arrows. Since the mid-19th century it has been spreading firearms, the commercial value of fur hunting for foxes and arctic foxes has increased. Bird hunting techniques were close to those of Chukchi (darts, bird balls, etc.). They also engaged in fishing and gathering. They bred sled dogs. Natural exchange was developed with the reindeer Chukchi and the American Eskimos, and trade trips to Alaska and St. Lawrence Island were regularly made.

The main food is walrus, seal and whale meat - frozen, pickled, dried, boiled. Venison was highly prized. The seasoning was plant food, seaweed, shellfish.

Initially, they lived in large settlements in half-dugouts (now "lyu"), which existed until the mid-19th century. In the 17-18 centuries, under the influence of the Chukchi, frame yarangas made of reindeer skins (myn "tyg" ak") became the main winter dwelling. The walls of the yarang were often covered with turf and made of stones or boards. The summer dwelling is quadrangular, made of walrus skins on wooden frame, with a sloping roof. Until the beginning of the 19th century, community houses remained - large half-dugouts in which several people lived. families, as well as meetings and celebrations.

The main means of transportation in winter were dog sleds and foot skis, and in open water - leather kayak boats. The sledges, like the Chukchi ones, were, until the mid-19th century, arched and drawn by a fan, then the East Siberian sledge with a train harness spread. The kayak was a lattice frame, covered with leather except for a small round hole at the top, which was tightened around the rower's belt. Rowing with one two-blade or two single-blade oars. There were also multi-oared canoes of the Chukchi type for 20-30 oarsmen (an "yapik").

Until the end of the 19th century, Eskimos wore closed clothing - a kukhlyanka, sewn from bird skins with feathers inside. With the development of exchange with the Chukchi reindeer herders, clothing began to be made from reindeer fur. Women's clothing is a double fur overalls (k'alyvagyn) of the same cut as those of the Chukchi. Summer clothing, both men's and women's, was a closed kamleika, sewn from seal intestines, and later from purchased fabrics. Traditional shoes are fur high boots (kamgyk) with a cut sole and often with an obliquely cut boot, men's - to the middle of the shin, women's - to the knee; leather pistons with a toe cut much larger than the instep of the leg in the form of a “bubble”. Women braided their hair in two braids, men shaved it. , leaving a circle or several strands on the top of the head. The tattoo for men is circles near the corners of the mouth (a relic of the custom of wearing a labial sleeve), for women it is complex. geometric patterns on the face and hands. Face painting with ocher and graphite was also used to protect against diseases.

Traditional decorative art - fur mosaic, embroidery with colored sinew threads on rovduga, beads, carving on walrus tusk.

The Eskimos were dominated by a patrilineal account of kinship, patrilocal marriage with labor for the bride. There were canoe artels (an "yam ima), which consisted of the owner of the canoe and his closest relatives and in the past occupied one semi-dugout. Its members divided the hunting catch among themselves. Property inequality developed, especially with the development of barter trade; large traders stood out, who sometimes became at the head of the settlements ("owners of the land").

The Eskimos invented a rotatable harpoon to hunt sea animals, a kayak, an igloo, and special clothing made from fur and skins. The Eskimo language belongs to the Eskimo branch of the Eskimo-Aleut family. The Russian Eskimos have a textbook of this language. There is also a dictionary: Eskimo-Russian and Russian-Eskimo. Broadcasts in the Eskimo language are produced by the Chukotka State Television and Radio Company. Eskimo songs become lately increasingly popular. And largely thanks to the Ergyron ensemble.

Anthropologists believe that the Eskimos are Mongoloids of the Arctic type. The word "Eskimo" ("raw foodist", "one who eats raw fish") belongs to the language of the Indian tribes Abnaki and Athabascan. From the name of the American Eskimos, this word turned into the self-name of both American and Asian Eskimos.

Eskimos are people with their own ancient worldview. They live in unity with nature. Despite the fact that some groups of Eskimos were Christianized back in the 18th century, this people retained animistic ideas and shamanism.

Eskimos believe in the master spirits of all animate and inanimate objects, natural phenomena, localities, wind directions, and various human states. Eskimos believe in the kinship between a person and some animal or object. Evil spirits are represented as giants and dwarfs.

To protect against diseases, Eskimos have amulets: family and personal. There are also cults of the wolf, raven and killer whale. Among the Eskimos, the shaman acts as an intermediary between the world of spirits and the world of people. Not every Eskimo can become a shaman, but only those who are lucky enough to hear the voice of a helping spirit. After this, the shaman meets alone with the spirits he hears and enters into some kind of alliance of mediation with them.

The Eskimos believed in good and harmful spirits. Of the animals, the killer whale was especially revered, considered the patron of sea hunting; she was depicted on kayaks, and hunters wore her wooden image on their belts. The main character of cosmogonic legends is Raven (Koshkli), the main plots of fairy tales are related to the whale. The main rituals were associated with fishing cults: the festival of Heads, dedicated to the hunt for walruses, the festival of Kita (Polya), etc. Shamanism was developed. After the 1930s, the Eskimos organized fishing farms. Traditional activities and culture began to disappear. Traditional beliefs, shamanism, bone carving, songs and dances are preserved. With the creation of writing, the intelligentsia was formed. Modern Eskimos are experiencing a rise in national self-awareness.

N.V. Kocheshkov, L.A. Feinberg

‘ENTS, enneche (self-name - “man”), people in the Russian Federation, indigenous population of the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug (103 people). The total number is 209 people. According to survey data, the number is about 340 people (in the census data, part of the Entsy people are recorded as Nenets and Nganasans). According to the 2002 Census, the number of Enets living in Russia is 237 people, according to the 2010 census. - 227 people..

The name "Enets" was adopted in the 1930s. In pre-revolutionary literature, the Enets were called Yenisei Samoyeds, or Khantai (tundra Enets) and Karasin (forest Enets) Samoyeds, after the names of the camps where yasak was paid.

Settlement - Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. They live in Taimyr, live in the Ust-Yenisei and Dudinsky districts of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

The language is Enets, the dialects are Tundra, or Somatu, Khantai (Madu-Baza), and Forest, or Pe-Bai, Karasin (Bai-Baza), the Samoyed branch of the Ural-Yukaghir family of languages. Russian (75% speak fluently, 38% of Enets consider it their native language) and Nenets languages ​​are also widespread.

Both the local population, reindeer hunters, and the Samoyeds who assimilated them - newcomers from the south of Siberia and the middle Tomsk region - took part in the ethnogenesis of the Ents. In Russian sources, the Enets have been mentioned since the end of the 15th century as Molgonzei - from the name of the Mongkasi family, or Muggadi (hence the name of the Russian fort Mangazeya). In the 18th - early 19th centuries they were referred to as Yenisei Samoyeds. The Enets were divided into tundra, or madu, somata, Khantai Samoyeds, and forest, or pe-bai, Karasin Samoyeds. In the 17th century, madu roamed between the lower reaches of the Yenisei and Taz, pe-bai - on the upper and middle reaches of the Taz and Yenisei and on the right bank of the Yenisei in the basins of the Khantaika, Kureika and Lower Tunguska rivers. The number of Ents at the end of the 17th century was about 900 people. From the end of the 17th century, under pressure from the Nenets from the west and the Selkups from the south, they retreated to the lower Yenisei and its eastern tributaries. Some of the Ents were assimilated. Since the 1830s, groups of tundra and forest Enets began to roam together. Their total number at the end of the 19th century was 477 people. They were part of the right bank (eastern coast of the Yenisei Bay) and forest-tundra (Dudinka and Luzino area) territorial communities.

The main traditional activity is reindeer hunting. Fur hunting was also developed, and fishing on the Yenisei. Reindeer herding was widespread, mainly pack reindeer herding; harness reindeer herding was also borrowed from the Nenets. The Enets sledges were somewhat different from the Nenets. In the 1930s, the Enets were organized into reindeer herding and fishing farms.

The traditional dwelling is a conical tent, close to the Nganasan one and differing from the Nenets one in details of construction and covering. In the 20th century, they adopted the Nenets type of chum, and from the Dolgans - the sled chum-beam. Modern Enets live mainly in permanent settlements.

Winter men's clothing - double parka with a hood, fur pants, high shoes made of reindeer skins, fur stockings. The women's parka, unlike the men's, had a swing parka. Underneath they wore a sleeveless jumpsuit, sewn with fur inside, with sewn copper decorations: crescent-shaped plaques on the chest, rings, chains, tubes on the hips; a needle case, a bag for flint, etc. were also sewn onto it. Women's shoes was shorter than the man's. The women's winter hat was also sewn in two layers: the bottom layer with the fur inside, the top layer with the fur outside. From the 2nd half of the 19th century the forest Enets and from the 20th century the tundra Enets adopted Nenets clothing.

Traditional food - fresh and frozen meat, in summer - fresh fish. Yukola and fish meal - porsa - were prepared from fish.

Until the 18th century, the Enets had clans (among the tundra Enets - Malk-madu, Sazo, Solda, etc., among the forest Enets - Yuchi, Bai, Muggadi). Since the end of the 17th century, due to the resettlement to the east and the destruction of traditional tribal land use, they have broken up into smaller exogamous groups. Until the 19th century, large families, polygamy, levirate, and marriage with the payment of bride price were preserved. Since the end of the 19th century the main form social organization neighboring camp communities become.

The forest Enets were officially converted to Christianity. The cults of master spirits, ancestors, and shamanism are preserved. Folklore includes mythological and historical legends, tales about animals, and fairy tales. Artistic appliqué on fur and cloth and bone carving are developed.

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STILL THERE IS NO UNIFIED OPINION AMONG SCIENTISTS REGARDING their origin and settlement. There is an assumption that the current Eskimos are descendants of a people that arose in the third millennium BC. and that they are immigrants from the Pacific coast of East Asia, from where the ancestors of the Eskimos reached the Bering Sea through Kamchatka. Then, in the first millennium AD, they settled in Chukotka and along the Arctic coast of America to Greenland. Their main self-name is Inuit (in Canada) and Yupigyt (in Siberia). The Chukchi call them "ankalyn", which means "Pomors".

The Eskimo language belongs to the Eskimo branch of the Eskimo-Aleut family. Eskimos are divided into 15 ethnocultural groups: Eskimos of Alaska, Siberian Eskimos, Eskimos of Canada, Greenland, etc. By the middle of the twentieth century. Four independent communities were formed: the Eskimos of Greenland, Canada (Inuit), Alaska, and Asian (Siberian).

There are two in Greenland state languages- Eskimo and Danish. The Greenlandic Eskimos have had a written language since the 18th century. This is due to the activities of Danish and German missionaries and the colonial administration. During the twentieth century. Greenlandic Eskimo writers created a very significant volume works of art different genres. Most of the population of modern Greenland are of a mixed Mongoloid-Caucasian type (from white men and Eskimo women). Therefore, the indigenous inhabitants of the island consider themselves Greenlanders (qalatdlit), and not Eskimos, which emphasizes their difference from the Eskimos of Canada and Alaska, and also indicates the fact of the emergence of a new people in Greenland. Canadian Eskimos have their own written language based on the Canadian syllabary. However, English and French are also common languages.

The Eskimos of Canada have their own autonomous territories within the northwestern regions of the country and parts of the Labrador Peninsula. The Eskimos of Alaska are distinguished by the greatest degree of preservation of their language along with knowledge of English. In Russia in 1848, the Russian missionary N. Tyzhnov published a primer of the Eskimo language. Modern writing based on Latin graphics was created in 1932 (the first Yuite alphabet book). In 1937, the writing of the Russian Eskimos was transferred to a Russian graphic basis. IN modern language Russian Eskimos are influenced by the vocabulary, elements of morphology and syntax of the Chukchi and Koryak living next to them. They also speak Russian and Chukchi languages. There is modern Eskimo prose and poetry.

TODAY THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ESKIMOS IN THE WORLD IS 170 thousand people. Of these, about 56,000 people live in the United States (48,000 in Alaska, the rest in the states of California and Washington), just over 50,000 in Canada, about 50,000 in Greenland and about 19,000 more on the Jutland Peninsula. In Russia, mainly in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug The Magadan region is mixed or in close proximity to the Chukchi - just over 1,700 people.

Eskimos are unusually adapted to life in the Arctic. They invented a rotatable harpoon for hunting sea animals, a kayak, an igloo snow house, special clothing made of fur and skins, and adopted the art of building a house from skins - yaranga - from the Chukchi.

Eskimos believe in spirits that live in various phenomena nature, see the connection between man and the surrounding world of objects and living beings. In their opinion, there is a single creator, Silya, and the mistress of sea animals, Sedna, bestows all the riches of the sea on the Eskimos. The owner of the bears is Nanuk, and the owner of the deer is Tekkeitsertok. Eskimos greatly revere the killer whale, the patroness of sea hunting. In the view of the Eskimos, evil spirits are incredible and terrible creatures. Every Eskimo village has a shaman, and the tambourine is considered a sacred object.

The Eskimos have their own funeral ritual. When an Eskimo died, he was buried immediately, after having been wrapped in the skins on which he slept, and added extra clothes so that the soul of the deceased does not freeze. The body was then tied with a rope and dragged head first from the deceased's home to a place where many stones could be found to cover the body. The corpse was covered sufficient quantity stones to protect him from dogs, arctic foxes and crows. The burial ended here, since in permafrost conditions it is almost impossible to dig a hole of sufficient depth. Near the grave (stone embankment) they usually left the things of the deceased that he might need in the afterlife - a sleigh and a kayak along with weapons, if the deceased was a hunter; a lamp, a needle, a thimble and other sewing supplies, some fat and matches if a woman was dying.

There is every reason to recognize the Eskimos as the most peaceful people. According to custom, disputes between them are resolved, so to speak, by a “singing competition” - whoever sings better is right.

Among the Eskimos there was a custom of working for a wife, the custom of wooing children, marrying a boy to an adult girl, the custom of “marriage partnership”, when two men exchanged wives as a sign of friendship. Polygamy occurred in wealthy families.

THE MAIN OCCUPATION OF THE Eskimos TODAY REMAINS HUNTING SEA ANIMAL – WARLUS AND SEAL. Until the middle of the 19th century. They also hunted whales, hunted reindeer and mountain sheep, and from the middle of the 19th century. They began to make a living by hunting arctic fox and fox. They also engage in fishing and gathering (collecting tubers, roots, stems, algae, and berries). Eskimos breed sled dogs. Carvings on walrus bone and whalebone are well developed. Nowadays, many Eskimos work in construction, in mines, oil fields, in Arctic trading posts, etc. The Greenlanders and Eskimos of Alaska have a wealthy stratum and a national intelligentsia.

Eskimos are surprisingly tactful. In the relationship between a man and a woman, there is special respect for the hunter who obtains food for the family at constant risk to life. Perhaps it is precisely this perception of a man, combined with his peculiar beauty and sophistication national clothes often attracted European travelers who willingly married Eskimos.

The Eskimos have their own traditional diet, which is dominated by the meat of walruses, seals, and whales. Required element diet - seal blood. Venison is especially valued - the meat is tasty, but rather dry, lacking fat, as well as the meat of polar bears and musk oxen. Seasoning for meat is seaweed and shellfish. They believe that meat warms and gives strength. Rotten seal oil with cloudberries is considered a delicacy. Eskimos also eat birds, bird eggs. Traditionally, meat was eaten raw, dried, frozen, dried, boiled, or stored for the winter: fermented in pits and eaten with fat, sometimes semi-cooked. Raw whale oil with a layer of cartilaginous skin was revered. The fish was dried and dried, and eaten fresh frozen in winter.

Previously, the Eskimos lived in large settlements in half-dugouts. In the XVII - XVIII centuries. They adopted from the Chukchi the method of constructing frame yarangas covered with reindeer skins, and they became the main type of dwellings for them. To beginning of the nineteenth V. The Eskimos maintained communal houses - large half-dugouts in which several families lived, meetings and holidays took place.

The Eskimos built their igloo houses from snow blocks. The inside of the igloo was covered, and sometimes the walls were covered with the skins of sea animals. The home was heated by fat stoves. The inner surfaces of the walls melted as a result of heating, but the walls did not melt, because... the snow easily absorbed excess moisture.

Nowadays, the life of the Eskimos has changed in many ways. They gained access to the benefits of civilization. However, life in the Arctic requires courage and constant composure from them. You can’t relax, the North doesn’t forgive this. The courage of the Eskimos deserves special respect. This is a life of constant struggle, overcoming difficulties and seeking harmony with harsh nature.

Each people of the world has its own characteristics, which are absolutely normal and ordinary for them, but if a person of another nationality falls into their midst, he may be very surprised by the habits and traditions of the inhabitants of this country, because they will not coincide with his own ideas about life. We invite you to learn 8 national habits and characteristics of the Eskimos, some of which will greatly surprise you.

They can borrow someone else's wife

If the permanent wife is sick or has small child, it is convenient to change it to a young one and strong woman, which is easier to navigate. After all, on the way, a woman must not only fulfill her marital duty, but prepare food, help the head of the family in every possible way and share the hardships of the road. There is a special term for exchanging wives for several days - “areodyarekput”.

They call internet travel

At the beginning of the 21st century, Eskimos became acquainted with the Internet, and this term needed to be translated into their language. The experts chose the word ikiaqqivik - “journey through layers.” Previously, this was the name for the ritual of a shaman who, in search of an answer to a question, “traveled” through time and space.

They sniff each other when they meet

The traditional Eskimo greeting, used mainly by relatives or lovers, is called "kunik". It looks like this: one of the people greeting presses his nose to the forehead or cheeks of the other and draws in air - as if sniffing, inhaling a familiar smell. They said that the custom arose because in severe frost the lips freeze and you cannot kiss, and they even called it the Eskimo kiss. In fact, this greeting is purely friendly and is due to the fact that those meeting in the cold may have the lower part of their face covered.

They compete in pulling the thread with their ears.

To the World Eskimo program olympic games includes a special competition - pulling the thread with the ears. Loops are made at both ends of the thread. The opponents sit face to face, and a loop is put on each ear. And just as others pull a rope with their hands, they use their ears (or rather, their heads and even the tilts of their torsos) to try to pull the thread until someone refuses further competition due to pain. It must be said that not every ear can withstand such a struggle.

They risk their lives for a handful of mussels

The monotonous food sometimes becomes so boring that the Eskimos decide to undertake an extremely dangerous undertaking - collecting mussels under the ice. On the surface of the Arctic seas almost all year round- a thick layer of ice. You need to catch a short time of low tide, when a hollow space is formed under a huge ice sheet, cut a hole in it, go down and harvest mussels from it.

This is a really risky business. The collectors have no more than half an hour to leave the ice cave before the wave arrives - if they don’t have time, death is inevitable. In addition, ice hanging almost in the air at low tide can collapse on desperate pickers. And all for the sake of a handful of mussels, which are eaten in one sitting.

Their women use moss and seaweed instead of pads

Eskimo women use skins of fur-bearing animals, reindeer moss and thin wood shavings made from alder as means of protection on critical days. Those who live near the sea prefer algae.

Their children are afraid of Kalupiluk

Every culture has its own specific monsters and monstrosities that they use to scare children if they don’t go to bed now. Eskimos are afraid of Qalupalik or Kallupilluk - a ghost who is just waiting to drag unwary people under the ice, to the bottom of the sea.

They put iPods on graves

The custom of leaving the deceased his favorite things exists among many northern peoples. By sending the deceased to the “upper people,” the living “sent” with him everything that, in their opinion, could be useful in another life. Previously, these were knives, crafts made from walrus tusk, now - modern household appliances. Most often - video cassettes and players.