Siberian Yupik people

For the language, see Siberian Yupik language.
Siberian Yupik

A Siberian Yupik woman holding walrus tusks, photo by Nabogatova
Total population
(1,010[1])
Regions with significant populations
Chukchi Peninsula in the Russian Far East, St. Lawrence Island in Alaska
 Russia 1,200-1,500
 USA 1,100
Languages
Central Siberian Yupik language
Related ethnic groups
Alutiiq, Central Alaskan Yup'ik

Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits, are a Yupik Eskimo people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far northeast of the Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Central Siberian Yupik (also known as Yuit), a Yupik language of the Eskimo–Aleut family of languages.

They are also known as Siberian or Asian Eskimo (Russian: эскимосы). The name Yuit (юит, plural: юиты) was officially assigned to them in 1931, at the brief time of the campaign of support of indigenous cultures in the Soviet Union. Their self-designation is Yupighyt (йупигыт) meaning "true people".

Sirenik Eskimos also live in that area, but their extinct language, Sireniki Eskimo, shows many peculiarities among Eskimo languages and is mutually unintelligible with the neighboring Siberian Yupik languages.[2]

Material culture

Asian/Siberian Yupik settlements (in Russia and the USA)

Traditional crafts

The Siberian Yupik on St. Lawrence Island live in the villages of Savoonga and Gambell, and are widely known for their skillful carvings of walrus ivory and whale bone, as well as the baleen of bowhead whales. These even include some "moving sculptures" with complicated pulleys animating scenes such as walrus hunting or traditional dances.

Dwelling

Main article: Yaranga

The winter building of Chaplino Eskimos (Ungazighmiit) was a round, dome-shaped building. It is called "yaranga" in the literature, the same word referring also to the similar building of the Chukchi. In the language of Chaplino Eskimos, its name was /məŋtˈtəʁaq/.[3] There was a smaller cabin inside it at its back part, the /aːɣra/, used for sleeping and living. It was separated from the outer, cooler parts of the yaranga with haired reindeer skins and grass, supported by a cage-like framework. But the household works were done in the room of the yaranga in front of this inner building, and also many household utensils were kept there. In winter storms, and at night also the dogs were there. This room for economical purposes was called /naˈtək/.[4]

There were also other types of buildings among Chaplino Eskimos: /aːwχtaq/ was a modernized type,[5] and /pəˈɬʲuk/ was used for summer.[6]

Spiritual culture

Shamanism

Many Eskimo cultures had persons acting as mediator (between human and beings of the belief system, among others) — usually termed as "shamans" in the literature. As Eskimo cultures were far from homogenous (although had some similarities), thus also shamanism among Eskimo peoples had many variants.

Siberian Yupiks had shamans as well.[7][8] Compared to the variants found among Eskimo groups of America, shamanism among Siberian Yupiks stressed more the importance of maintaining good relationship with sea animals.[9] Ungazighmiit people (the largest of Siberian Yupik variants) had /aˈliɣnalʁi/s, who received presents for the shamanizing, healing. This payment had a special name, /aˈkiliːɕaq/ — in their language, there were many words for the different kinds of presents and payments and this was one of them.[10] (The many kinds of presents and the words designating them were related to the culture: fests, marriage etc.;[10] or made such fine distinctions like "thing, given to someone who has none", "thing, given, not begged for", "thing, given to someone as to anybody else", "thing, given for exchange" etc.[11]).

Name giving

Similarly to several other Eskimo cultures, the name-giving of a newborn baby among Siberian Yupik meant that a deceased person was affected, a certain rebirth was believed. Even before the birth of the baby, careful investigations took place: dreams, events were analyzed. After the birth, the baby's physical traits were compared to those of the deceased person. The name was important: if the baby died, it was thought that he/she has not given the "right" name. In case of sickness, it was hoped that giving additional names could result in healing.[12]

Amulets

Amulets could be manifested in many forms, and could protect the person wearing them or the entire family, and there were also hunting amulets. Some examples:

Concepts regarding the animal world

The orca, wolf,[8][15][16] raven, spider,[17] whale,[18][19] were revered animals. Also folklore (e.g. tale) examples demonstrate this. For example, a spider saves the life of a girl.[17][20] The motif of spider as a benevolent personage, saving people from peril with its cobweb, lifting them up to the sky in danger, is present also in many tales of Sireniki Eskimos[21] (as mentioned, their exact classification inside Eskimo peoples is not settled yet).

It was thought that the prey of the marine hunt could return to the sea and become a complete animal again. That is why they did not break the bones, only cut them at the joints.[22]

Orca and wolf

In the tales and beliefs of this people, wolf and orca are thought to be identical: orca can become a wolf or vice versa. In winter, they appear in the form of wolf, in summer, in the form of orca.[8][9][15][16] Orca was believed to help people in hunting on the sea — thus the boat represented the image of this animal, and the orca's wooden representation hang also from the hunter's belt.[8] Also small sacrifices could be given to orcas: tobacco was thrown into the sea for them, because they were thought to help the sea hunter in driving walrus.[23] It was believed that the orca was a help of the hunters even if it was in the guise of wolf: this wolf was thought to force the reindeer to allow itself to be killed by the hunters.[9]

Whale

It is thought that during the hunt only those people who have been selected by the spirit of the sea could kill the whale. The hunter has to please the killed whale: it must be treated as a guest. Just like a polite host does not leave a recently arrived dear guest alone, thus similarly, the killed whale should not be left alone by the host (i.e. by the hunter who has killed it). Like a guest, it should not get hurt or feel sad. It must be entertained (e.g. by drum music, good foods). On the next whale migration (whales migrate twice a year, in spring to the north and in the autumn back), the previously killed whale is sent off back to the sea in the course of a farewell ritual. If the killed whale was pleased to (during its being a guest for a half year), then it can be hoped that it will return later, too: thus, also the future whale hunts will succeed.[18][19]

Celestial concepts

In a tale, the sky seems to be imagined arching as a vault. Celestial bodies form holes in it: beyond this vault, there is an especially light space.[24]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "POPULATION STATISTICS",
  2. ↑ Menovshchikov 1990: 70
  3. ↑ Рубцова 1954: 514
  4. ↑ Рубцова 1954: 100–101
  5. ↑ Рубцова 1954: 518–520
  6. ↑ Рубцова 1954: 521
  7. ↑ Menovščikov 1968:442
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Духовная культура (Spiritual culture), subsection of Support for Siberian Indigenous Peoples Rights (Поддержка прав коренных народов Сибири) — see the section on Eskimos
  9. 1 2 3 Vajda, Edward J. "Siberian Yupik (Eskimo)". East Asian Studies.
  10. 1 2 Рубцова 1954:173
  11. ↑ Рубцова 1954:62
  12. ↑ Burch & Forman 1988: 90
  13. 1 2 Рубцова 1954:380
  14. ↑ Рубцова 1954:380,551–552
  15. 1 2 Рубцова 1954:156 (see tale The orphan boy with his sister)
  16. 1 2 Menovščikov 1968:439,441
  17. 1 2 Menovščikov 1968:440–441
  18. 1 2 Menovščikov 1968:439–440
  19. 1 2 Рубцова 1954:218
  20. ↑ Рубцова 1954, tale 13, sentences (173)–(235)
  21. ↑ Меновщиков 1964: 161–162 163 (= 165)
  22. ↑ Рубцова 1954:379
  23. ↑ (Russian) A radio interview with Russian scientists about Asian Eskimos
  24. ↑ Рубцова 1954:196

English

Russian

Further reading

  • Krupnik, Igor, and Nikolay Vakhtin. 1997. "Indigenous Knowledge in Modern Culture: Siberian Yupik Ecological Legacy in Transition". Arctic Anthropology. 34, no. 1: 236.

External links

Old photos
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