Eskimo rituals. Experience in studying the life and everyday life of the Eskimos

When you hear the word “Eskimo,” your imagination pictures a plague among snowy expanses and little men wrapped from head to toe in reindeer skins. Some people associate this term with ice cream on a stick. Few people know what the Eskimos are ancient people, who lived in the northern regions even before our era. They have original culture, traditions passed on from generation to generation. Some customs of these northern people so different from ours that they can even cause shock.

Nation

The Eskimos are an indigenous people living in the far north. They occupy the territory of Greenland, their settlements are in Canada (Nunavut), Alaska, and the Chukotka Peninsula. Scientists classify this people as a group of Arctic-type Mongoloids. They are also called the term “Inuit” (from the English word inuit), which is a politically correct name for the nation. Together with other indigenous peoples of Kamchatka, they form the continental Arctic race. The origin of the word "Eskimo" goes back to the Indian name Eskimantzig, that is, “a person who eats raw fish.” This name, coined by the natives of America, is still in use today. Groups of indigenous peoples living in Chukotka, the Far Eastern islands, and various areas of Alaska call themselves “Yupik,” which translates as “real people.” All representatives of this nation speak Escaleut languages, which are a collection of related dialects.

Number

Taken together, all representatives of this northern people living on different continents amount to only 170,000 people. Most of them are located in Greenland (about 56,000) and Alaska (48,000). The rest settle in Chukotka, the islands of St. Lawrence, Wrangel, and Canadian Nunavut. Some tribes live in northern Europe (in Denmark and other countries). On Russian territory Approximately 1,500 people live there.

Appearance

Representatives of this people look like typical Mongoloids. They are characterized by the following features:

• dark skin;
• narrow eye shape;
• wide nose;
• black hair;
• round shaped face.

Women, like men, have a stocky build. They are a short race, Europeans are much taller than the average Eskimo. Girls wear long hair, which is braided.

Story

To designate the ancient ancestors of modern Eskimos, anthropologists proposed the term “Paleo-Eskimos,” which is conventional. Scientists distinguish among them the cultures of Saqqaq and Dorset. In parallel with them, the Independence culture developed, divided into I and II (according to time periods). The oldest of them is recognized as Saqqaq, which existed from approximately 2500 to 800 BC. BC. In her time there was Independence I. It is believed that modern Chukchi and the Saqqaq people have only prehistoric ancestors. An ancient Paleo-Eskimo site was found on Wrangel Island in the 70s of the last century. A harpoon was discovered there, which, according to archaeologists, had lain in the ground for more than 3,300 years.

Later is the Dorset culture. People belonging to it inhabited the northern regions of Canada back in the first millennium BC. Hunters of these ancient tribes used spears and forts to hunt animals. At the site of the remains of dwellings, stone lamps were found that ran on seal oil. Representatives of Dorset knew how to carve figures from seal tusks and decorate them with patterns. There were tribes near Dorset dating back to Independence II. From their mixing in the 8th century AD, peoples called “Thule” were formed - the ancestors of modern Eskimos. In order to draw such conclusions, scientists took DNA samples from the remains of ancient people who lived in the northern territories. Representatives of the Thule occupied Canadian territories in the ninth century, displacing more backward tribes from them. In the 13th century they moved to Greenland.

Life

Eskimos form communities that include residents of one settlement (winter). They consist of many families in which everyone has certain duties. A family can include not only a husband and wife and their children, but also immediate relatives. Several families often live in one dwelling. Married couples sleep with their children in the center of the house. Lonely members of the community take seats at the edges. For the most part, marriages are monogamous, with each man having one wife. However, no one forbids him to marry two girls or get a divorce. But this rarely happens, since the way of life of the people is aimed at preserving the well-being of the family and society as a whole.

The Eskimo way of life involves close cooperation, which requires high consciousness from each member of society. They hunt together and use items belonging to the entire village. Residents constantly communicate with each other, there are unspoken laws between them. The postulates are expressed in the following rules:

1. Strangers do not have the right to build a house inside the settlement without the consent of all its residents.
2. Each settler takes for himself a certain most production In this case, the members of the successful hunter’s family receive the meat and fish first. Thanks to this, none of the villagers go hungry.
3. Each person can live and hunt outside the community if he wants.
4. If someone finds any objects or things and their owner is not found, the finder takes them for himself.
5. When none of the hunters have any luck in the hunt for a long time, the richest families invite others to dine with them.

The Eskimos do not have any self-government organizations. All problems are discussed within society and resolved immediately. Scandals and quarrels on any occasion are prohibited. This rule is dictated by the need for peaceful coexistence in a small territory. The languages ​​of these peoples do not have swear words. With this lifestyle, there is practically no crime among the population. If a murder occurs (which is extremely rare), this requires retaliation according to the law of blood feud. The person who committed this act must be killed by a relative of the murdered person. When vengeance is taken, relatives are notified.

Women

Girls in Eskimo families accept a subordinate position. In order to get married, you need the permission of both parents. When there are boys (brothers) in the family, they must also give their consent. If the parents do not want to let their daughter go, she will stay with them. A man can take a girl to be his wife by force if her parents (but not she) agree to this. There are no marriage ceremonies. The girl simply comes to a new house, taking with her clothes, sewing supplies, and a knife.
The wife has no voice in the family, she must obey her husband and mother-in-law. A man can hit his wife for any offense. But their children are never punished. In the event that a husband decides to have another wife, the first one still remains the main one. As a rule, a second girl is needed for procreation if the first wife cannot have children for some reason.

Men

The male half of the population is mainly engaged in food production. This is their main responsibility. Every man of working age should hunt and fish until his strength leaves him. He is obliged to accustom his sons to this from childhood. Men often hunt in an organized manner, so there should be friendly relations between them. Because of this, there are no disputes over mining. If two hunters simultaneously harpoon a seal or game, the meat is divided in half. Whales are hunted communally and are initially considered common prey.

When hunters take things from each other (harpoons, arrows, guns), no compensation is paid if they are lost. If one person sets traps for an animal or fish and then neglects to keep an eye on them, other hunters can take the prey for themselves. It goes to the one who first found them, repaired them, and began to take care of them. Such rules are determined by concern for the preservation of their kind.

Housing

By standards civilized man Eskimo houses are very unusual. They have two types of dwellings: summer and winter. Summer ones look like a tent or a tent. The design is very simple. Several long poles are fastened at the top, and their ends rest against the ground, forming a circle. Then they are covered with deer skins, sewn together into large panels. On one side, the skins are pushed aside, forming a passage.

Winter houses have different structures, depending on the region where the tribes live. In Greenland these are traditional snow buildings called "igloos". Eskimos living in Chukotka build houses from boards, earth, and bones. In countries like Denmark, housing is made of stones and wood. The entrance to them is very narrow and low. A long corridor leads to a large room in which several families live.

Greenlandic Eskimos build igloos out of snow. First, rectangular blocks up to half a meter in length are molded from the snow mass. Mark a circle of the desired diameter and lay snow parallelepipeds around the circumference. The blocks are tilted slightly toward the center to form a cone. At the top they are rounded, forming a dome. The very top of the needle is not covered, leaving a hole for the smoke to escape. In the very center of the house there is a fireplace.

The round room is divided into parts, each of which is occupied by one family. There is no furniture there, only a bed for sleeping. There is a lamp nearby. The average diameter of a house is 3-4 meters. 10-12 people live in it. Sometimes they make an igloo with a diameter of 15-20 meters for 8-10 families. Tunnels are laid between dwellings in order to move from one to another without getting exposed to frost.

Clothing and household items

Women and men wear approximately the same clothes. These are long jackets made of reindeer skins with a hood trimmed with arctic fox or sable fur. They are decorated with national ornaments, tails, and fur inserts of contrasting colors. On their feet they wear high boots - thick boots made of deer or dog skins with the fur facing out. Hands are protected from frost with warm mittens.

Eskimos have very few household items. They do not accumulate property. These are sedentary tribes that live for some time in one place, and then leave and move to another. They transport the tents on sleighs along with the utensils. These people stock up only on food. At the same time, the richest families do not store food for more than a year. Tents, sleighs, boats, dog sleds, and dishes are considered the common property of all families living in the same dwelling. Personal items may include:

1. Clothes.
2. Tools.
3. Sewing accessories.
4. Weapon.
5. Fishing equipment.

Eskimos can exchange certain things with other tribes. These are mainly animal skins, seal tusks and fangs, and whalebone.

Classes

The two main activities of this northern people are hunting and fishing. They also engage in marine fishing - catching walruses and seals. Tribes living in Canada and Kamchatka hunt deer, arctic foxes, and game. With the advent of civilization in Greenland and the formation of cities there, many Eskimos became hired workers. They get jobs on fishing boats and do the same thing, receiving a salary. Those people who are engaged in their own fishing have the following equipment:

• wooden boats covered with seal skins - kayaks;
• waterproof kayaker jacket;
• harpoons, spears;
• sleighs, dog sleds;
• traps, traps.

Hunters make special protective suits for hunting wild animals, which can be compared to body armor or knightly armor. Thin plates of walrus tusks are connected to each other with leather laces. The armor is distributed on the body in such a way as to protect vital organs. It is light and does not restrict movement.

Seals are very important to the Eskimos, as their meat forms a large part of the menu. Some species of these animals are hunted all year round. Special traps are placed on the ice to warn of the approach of a seal. When he emerges from the water, he is killed with harpoons. Before death, the animal is given a drink of water to appease the water spirit, the mistress of sea animals, Sedna. Walruses and whales are hunted in groups as they are very large animals. There is enough bowhead whale meat to feed an entire village for a year. Therefore, catching him is a great success.

Food

Eskimos mainly eat the meat of animals they hunt. For the most part this is:

• seals
• walruses
• seals
• deer
• White bears

The Eskimo style of eating is even called a meat diet, due to the predominance of this product in it. The rest of the diet consists of sea and freshwater fish and sometimes game. People are unable to engage in farming because they are surrounded by permafrost. Sometimes women collect roots and berries if plants are found near the winter hut. Seaweed is also eaten. People of this nationality are of the opinion that it is the meat diet that gives them strength, makes them healthy, and helps them accumulate energy in conditions of constant cold.

Animal fats and proteins found in meat replace the Eskimos with all the vitamins and minerals that the majority of people take from a wide variety of natural products. Medical research has shown that a meat diet provokes cardiovascular diseases, vein thrombosis, strokes. The mortality rate from apoplexy among this people is twice as high as among the white population. Eskimos eat all edible parts of the body of fish and animals, so they compensate for the lack of vitamins. Retinol and calciferol are present in the liver of fish and mammals, and ascorbic acid is found in seaweed, seal skin and brain.

A special feature of the diet is that foods are consumed raw. In this case, no spices are used. After cutting the animal, pieces are cut off and placed on metal or cardboard plates. Brains, entrails, fat are eaten along with meat. If people have not eaten for a long time, then the entire settlement is invited to the table. The concept of “lunch” or “dinner” does not exist, since food is taken when hunger is felt, and not when certain time. Female half The population and children eat after men, since hunters need a lot of strength to engage in hunting.

In addition to eating animal entrails, Eskimos also drink their blood. They consider it extremely beneficial for health. The benefit is explained by the fact that the nutrients contained in the animal’s blood saturate the human blood missing elements. This gives strength, endurance, and helps withstand abnormal cold.
Popular Eskimo dishes:

1. Akutak. The dish consists of seal or walrus fat mixed with berries and fish fillets. Sometimes roots and edible plant leaves are added there.
2. Anllek. It is considered a delicacy dish. It is done like this: when it is possible to find supplies of voles collecting seeds and grains in their burrows, they are taken away and some other food is put in return. The grains are eaten raw or mixed with meat and fat.
3. Igunak. This is the carcass of a killed animal (deer, seal, walrus, etc.), buried in the ground and lying there for some time. Fermentation occurs inside it, as well as partial decomposition. The meat contains cadaveric poison, so Europeans cannot eat such dishes. Eskimos are immune to it due to the fact that the food has been present in the diet for many generations.
4. Maktak. This is a whale skin with a fat layer, previously frozen.

Religion

The appearance of white people greatly influenced the lives of server peoples. This also affected religious beliefs. Therefore, some tribes now profess Christianity, but this is a consequence of the intervention of civilization. The main religion of the Eskimo tribes is animism. This is a belief in spirits that can help or harm a person, so they need to be worshiped and brought gifts. Nature is considered to be animate, and all animals are considered to have a soul.

The entire world is ruled by a creator, under whose command are various deities. For example, the goddess of the sea and animals is Sedna. She also rules the kingdom of the dead. Each settlement has its own shaman. This is a person who has the gift of penetrating the world of spirits. He mediates between people and gods. The shaman performs rituals to appease the spirits and tells mortals about the plans of the gods. They are also folk healers. In difficult situations, they are asked for advice and asked to resolve a dispute.

Religion obliges people to treat animals with respect. You can kill them only for food and never for idle fun. There is a legend among the Eskimos that they agreed with Sedna that they would destroy walruses and seals only for food in order to survive the species. The goddess commanded sea animals to sacrifice themselves so that after death they would become part of the human body and thereby continue the human race. To do this, she gave them the ability to create offspring.

Traditions

Some features of the life of the Eskimos are not entirely clear to white people. Exchanging wives for a time is a common practice among representatives of this nationality. There are situations when a woman must accompany her husband on a trip, prepare food for him, take care of him, but for health reasons or other reasons it will be difficult for her to do this. Then the man borrows his wife from another settler. After completing the planned task, the woman returns to her former husband.

Eskimos do not kiss their loved ones. Instead, they rub noses together. Europeans believe that this is due to negative weather conditions. There is a danger of frostbite on the lips, since moisturized areas of the body are immediately covered with ice. Often the lower part of the face is completely closed, as icicles appear under the nose from warm breath. And for men, the beard can become completely frozen.

Eskimos have no opportunity to wash themselves due to the extreme cold. They smear their bodies with seal or bear fat and rub their faces with fish oil. This helps resist frost and reduces the possibility of skin frostbite. Representatives of tribes living in Europe and America wash themselves once a year, summer time.

Now travel agencies organize excursions to Eskimo villages for those who want to get acquainted with the life and customs of this people. You can even rent an ice house and spend the night in it. For thrill-seekers, they can bathe in a heated bathtub, which is installed in the middle of a snow house.

Number of people: 1718 people. The language is the Esco-Aleut family of languages. Settlement - Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Magadan Region.

The easternmost people of the country. Live in the northeast Russia, on the Chukotka Peninsula. The self-name is yuk - “man”, yugyt, or yupik - “real person”. The 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 Naukansky dialects. Chukotka residents, along with their native languages, speak Russian and Chukotka.

The origins of the Eskimos are controversial. are direct heirs ancient culture widespread from the end of the first millennium BC. along the shores of the Bering Sea. Earliest Eskimo culture- 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 in the more northern regions of Alaska and Chukotka - hunting for small pinnipeds.

Main view economic activity there was sea hunting. Before mid-19th V. 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 canoes 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. WITH late XIX V. 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. Most ancient type dwellings are 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.
Until the 18th century, and in some places even later, they lived in semi-underground frame dwellings (nyn`lyu). In the XVII-XVIII centuries. frame buildings (myn`tyg`ak) appeared, similar to 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 one was applied to the cheeks geometric ornament. 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.

They were practically not subjected to Christianization. They believed in spirits, the masters of all animate and inanimate objects, natural phenomena, localities, wind directions, various human states, and in the kinship of 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 of oral creativity are divided into unipak - “message”, “news” and 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 development of the Eskimo Arctic culture include thread on bone: sculptural miniature, and artistic engraving of bone. 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. Songs are divided into “large” public ones - hymn songs sung by ensembles and “small” intimate ones - “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

05/07/2018 Sergey Soloviev 2632 views

Russian Eskimos live in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Magadan Region. Less than two thousand Eskimos live in Russia.

The origin of the Eskimos is not known for certain. Some researchers consider them heirs ancient culture, which was widespread in the first millennium BC along the shores of the Bering Sea.

It is believed that the word “Eskimo” comes from “Eskiman”, that is, “raw food eater”, “chewing raw meat and fish.” Many hundreds of years ago, the Eskimos began to settle in vast territories - from Chukotka to Greenland. Currently, their numbers are small - approximately 170 thousand people worldwide. This people has its own language - Eskimo, it belongs to the Esk-Aleut family.

The historical connection of the Eskimos with other peoples of Chukotka and Alaska is obvious - it is especially noticeable with the Aleuts. Also big influence The formation of Eskimo culture was influenced by the neighborhood with another people of the North - the Chukchi.

Eskimos traditionally hunt fur-bearing animals, walruses and gray whales, donating meat and fur to the state. Photo: Konstantin Lemeshev/TASS

On land, the Eskimos moved on dog sleds - the so-called arc-dust sledges, into which the dogs were harnessed in a “fan”. In the 19th century, the Eskimos slightly changed their movement technique - they also began to use short, dustless sleighs, in which the runners were made from walrus tusks. To make it more convenient to walk on snow, the Eskimos came up with special “racket” skis, which were a small frame with fixed ends and transverse struts intertwined with leather straps. From below they were lined with bone plates.

Native inhabitant of Chukotka. Photo: Konstantin Lemeshev/TASS

Back in the 18th century, the Eskimos “spied” on the Chukchi technology for constructing frame yarangs. Previously, they lived in half-dugouts with a floor sunk into the ground, which was lined with whale bones. The frame of these dwellings was covered with deer skins, then it was lined with turf and stones, and the skins were laid on top again. In the summer, the Eskimos built light, quadrangular buildings with pitched roofs on wooden frames, which were covered with walrus skins. At the very end of the 19th century, the Eskimos began to have light plank houses with gable roofs and windows.
It is believed that the Eskimos were the first to build snow huts - igloos, dome-shaped buildings with a diameter of two to four meters and a height of about two meters from compacted snow or ice blocks. Light entered these structures either directly through the snow blocks of the walls, or through small holes that were closed with dried seal intestines.

The Eskimos also adopted their clothing style from the Chukchi. Eventually, they stopped making clothes from bird feathers and began making better, warmer clothes from deer skins. Traditional Eskimo shoes are high boots with inserted soles and slanted shafts, as well as fur stockings and seal boots (kamgyk). Eskimo waterproof shoes were made from seal skins. Eskimos did not wear fur hats and mittens in everyday life; they were worn only during long journeys or migrations. Festive robes were decorated with embroidery or fur mosaics.

Eskimos perform for members of the Soviet-American Bering Bridge expedition on Little Diomede Island (USA). 1989 Photo: Valentin Kuzmin/TASS

Another animal that the Eskimos treated and still treat with special respect is the walrus. Around mid-summer, a period of storms began, and hunting at sea temporarily ceased. At this time, the Eskimos held a holiday in honor of the walrus: the carcass of the animal was pulled out of the glacier, the shaman began to frantically beat the tambourine, calling all the inhabitants of the village. The culmination of the holiday is a joint feast, where the main dish was walrus meat. The shaman gave part of the carcass to the water spirits, inviting them to join the meal. The rest went to the people. The walrus skull was solemnly placed on the sacrificial place: it was assumed that this was a tribute to the main patron of the Eskimos - the killer whale.

Many fishing holidays have been preserved by the Eskimos to this day - in the fall, for example, they celebrate “seeing off the whale,” and in the spring, “meeting the whale.” Eskimo folklore is quite diverse: all oral creativity is divided into two types - unipak and unipamsyuk. The first is directly “message”, “news”, that is, a story about recent events, the second is heroic legends and stories about events of the distant past, fairy tales and myths.

Eskimos also love to sing, and their chants are also divided into two types - public songs-hymns and “songs for the soul”, which are performed individually, but certainly accompanied by a tambourine, which is considered a family heirloom and is passed on from generation to generation - until until it fails completely.

Guest article

Eskimos inhabit the northern parts of the continents. They can be found in Canada, Greenland, and Alaska. Total number nationality is equal to 115 thousand people. This people has its own distinctive culture and many customs that are directly related to the harsh living conditions. As a result of thousands of years of survival in a cold climate, the Eskimos created dwellings covered with reindeer skins, dome-shaped igloos, fat lamps, harpoons with a rotating tip mechanism and other devices. Among this nation, barter trade between fellow tribesmen was widespread, which led to the emergence of property inequality.

Life of the Eskimos

The traditional home of the Eskimos is the igloo, which is a frame made of whale bone and stones, lined with deer skins. Top part The building has an exhaust vent. Clothing was made from animal skins and wool. Some residents used bird feathers for additional insulation and beauty. Everyday life was arranged rather sparsely: minimalist dishes and interior items were made from wood or the skin of sea inhabitants. Eskimos ate meat sea ​​creatures, roots and seaweed.

Family traditions

In most Eskimo families, matriarchy reigns. The husband enters the wife's family after marriage. In the event of divorce or death of his wife, he returns to his home. It is believed that kinship through the female line is the closest. Eskimos settle in families of 2-3 nearby. Usually one family lives in one dwelling. It is very difficult to find a large settlement of 10 or more houses.

Marriages take place at a young age. Spouses are chosen by parents. To enter into a marriage, the consent of the woman's brothers and father is required. The ceremony of concluding an alliance is carried out with an imitation of the abduction of the bride. In Eskimo settlements, it is considered customary to temporarily give up your wife to a fellow tribesman or exchange spouses. In spring there is certain period when wife swapping is welcomed.

Doesn't occur in families rude attitude men to women. This is due to the fact that a woman is protected by her entire family. Spouses own property separately, and in the event of the death of one of them, ownership passes to the eldest son.

Religious traditions

It is difficult to classify the Eskimos as belonging to a specific religious system. Many of them are Christians. Religion in the usual sense is not characteristic of a nationality and is not a religion in its traditional form. The people are rather not subject to a certain faith, but have a fear of certain forces or spirits. Many Eskimos believe in the animation of things around them and the presence of intelligence in animals. Part of the carcass of a half-eaten animal is thrown away. Ritual discarding is done to restore the animal.

Shamanism is quite common among northern peoples. Tamers of evil spirits perform certain rituals that are necessary to combat them. Eskimos believe that rain is the tears of the dead, and the northern lights are the play of deceased children. Shamans not only worked with spirits, they played the role of spiritual guides, healers and spell casters. Spells were accompanied by ritual dances with songs and playing tambourines. They did not become shamans, but were born.

Funeral rite

There is still an ancient tradition of burying the deceased. He was dressed in new clothes, tied with belts and covered with skin. This was done so that the deceased would not remember the way back and would not be able to return to the world of the living. A new exit was specially made into the dwelling through which the deceased was carried out. After the burial, the exit was not used and was sealed. The deceased was left in the tundra in a special place, clothes were cut, things were broken and covered with stones.

Eskimos (a group of indigenous peoples that make up indigenous people territories from Greenland and Canada to Alaska (USA) and the eastern edge of Chukotka (Russia). Number of people: about 170 thousand people. The languages ​​belong to the Eskimo branch of the Eskimo-Aleut family. Anthropologists believe that the Eskimos are Mongoloids of the Arctic type. Their main self-name is “Inuit”. The word “Eskimo” (Eskimantzig - “raw food 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 the self-name of both American and Asian Eskimos.

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Language and culture

Eskimos in Russia

Ethnic and ethnographic groups

Writing

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

Modern Eskimo alphabet based on the Cyrillic alphabet: A a, B b, V c, G g, D d, E e, Ё ё, Жж, Зз, И и, й й, К к, Лл, Лълъ, М m, N n, N' n', O o, P p, R r, S s, T t, U y, Ў ў, F f, X x, C c, Ch h, Sh w, Shch, ъ, S s, ь, E uh, Yu yu, I I.

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

Eskimos in Canada

Eskimos in Greenland

Eskimo cuisine

Traditional Eskimo dwelling