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Volume 1, Number 4 \ I 1 1 I Ethnographic l$ummary: The Chuko tka Region

J I / 1 , , ~lexdderI. Pika, Lydia P. Terentyeva and Dmitry D. ~dgo~avlensly Ethnographic Summary: The Chukotka Region

Alexander I. Pika, Lydia P. Terentyeva and Dmitry D. Bogoyavlensky

May, 1993

National Economic Forecasting Institute Russian Academy of Sciences Demography & Human Ecology Center Ethnic Demography Laboratory

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DPP-9213l37. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recammendations expressed in this material are those of the author@) and do not ncccssarily reflect the vim of the National Science Foundation. THE CHUKOTKA REGION

Table of Contents

Page:

I . Geography. History and Ethnography of Southeastern Chukotka ...... 1 I.A. Natural and Geographic Conditions ...... 1 I.A.1.Climate ...... 1 I.A.2. Vegetation ...... 3 I.A.3.Fauna ...... 3

I1. Ethnohistorical Overview of the Region ...... 4 IIA Chukchi-Russian Relations in the 17th Century ...... 9 1I.B. The Period and Increased American Influence in Chukotka ... 13 II.C. Soviets and in Chukotka ...... 21

I11 . Traditional Culture and Social Organization of the Chukchis and ..... 29 1II.A. Dwelling ...... 30 1II.B. Clothes ...... 31 1II.C.Food ...... 32 II1.D. Social Organization ...... 32 III.D.l. Marriage, Family, and Demographic Behavior ...... 36

IV . Traditional Subsistence and Economy of the Indigenous Populations of Southeastern Chukotka ...... 40 1V.A. Breeding ...... 47 1V.B. Hunting Industry ...... 50 1V.C. Fur Breeding ...... 53

V. The Present Socio-Demographic Situation in the Providenski District ...... 57 V.A. Distribution, Demographic Processes and Health of the Population .... 57 V.A.1. Population ...... 57 V.A2 . The Present Distribution of Population and ...... 58 V.A.3. The Structure of Population and Demographic Processes ..... 62 V.A4 . Health Care ...... 69 V.A.5. Morbidity ...... 72 V.A6 . Health and Diet ...... 74 V.B. Socio-Demographic and Ethnic Problems of Indigenous Populations ... 76 V.B.1. Family Birth Control ...... 76 V.B.2. The Problems of Alcoholism and Violent Death ...... 80 V.B.3. Ethnically Mixed Marriages and the Problem of Ethnic Assimilation ...... 84

References ...... 91 Tables Page:

1. Chukchi Kinship Categories Distinguishing Age and Sex ...... 34 2. Populations of Coastal Villages Engaged in Hunting ...... 43 3. Mammals Harvest in Southeast Chukotka ...... 43 4 . Sea Mammal Harvests by Villages in Southeastern Chukotka ...... 44 5. Average Annual Sea Mammal Harvests ...... 47 6. Reindeer Herd Sizes ...... 48 7 . Purchases of Foz/Common Fox in Kolkhozes ...... 52 8. The Number of Hunters and Their Implements in Kolkhozes ...... 54 9 . Dynamics of Ethnic Composition ...... 58 10. Ethnic Composition of Population ...... 59 11. Demographic Changes Among the Native Populations ...... 66 12. Dynamics of Demographic Indices ...... 67 13. Dynamics of the Average Life Expectancy ...... 68 14. Availability of Personnel and Hospital Beds ...... 71 15. Cases of Violent Deaths ...... 83 16. The Share of Children Born into Families with One Parent Being Non-Indigenous (by region) ...... 87 17. The Share of Children Born into Families with One Parent Being Non-Indigenous (byvillage) ...... 88

Maps

1. RussianStudyAreas ...... 6 2 . Chukotka Study Sites ...... 7 I. GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY AND ETHNOGRAPHY OF SOUTHEASTERN

CHUKOTKA

1.G Natural and Geographic Conditions

The Providenski district (covering 26.8 thousand square km) occupies the southeastern portion of the Chukotski Peninsula. The southeastern coast of the district is surrounded by the , while the northeast boundary borders the Chukotka district and the western edge neighbors the Yiultinsky district. Prior to 1957, the

Providenski district was incorporated into the Chukotka district.

The Providenski district lies on the Chukotka Plateau. This plateau covers a vast area, extending from Chaunskaya Bay to the Bering Straits and continues to the Bay of

Provideniya. The Chukotka Plateau is a watershed that lies between the right tributaries of the River. The heights of the Plateau vary between 1,200 to 1,500 m

(averaging around 800 to 1,200 m). The Plateau relief is smooth with flat mountain tops made of effusive chalk rocks (NFE 1970: 58).

The lowlands, prevailing in coastal areas, are the remnants of alluvial plains that were once submerged. As the lowlands approach the foothills, towards the spits near the sea, they shift from a distinguishable polygonal relief to a hilly moraine landscape.

The Mechigmentskaya Depression is the largest of all the coastal lowlands. The river network in the lowlands is poorly developed with very few lakes.

I.A.1. Climate

The climate in the Providenski district is moderately continental and coastal. Due to the influence of the Pacific air mass, the climate is somewhat milder than the central

Social Transition in the North Chokotka Ethnography, Page 1 and northwestern areas of the Chukotka Peninsula. Winter is long and cold and may last up to eight months. On the coastline of the , the temperatures, in January, range from minus 21" C to minus 45" C. The snow cover reaches between 80 to 90 cm.

Break up occurs around early June; and the snow has usually melted in the mountains by

July (NFE 1970:lll-113). Between the months of September and May, the numbers of frequent snowstorms (ranging 60 to 80 stormy days) leave snowdrifts that do not completely melt until the summer months. During the winter, the air currents from the ocean bring about strong winds and precipitation in the form of rain and wet snow that often ices up and thaws frequently.

Summers are cold and cloudy (usually lasting about 75 days). The average temperature in July does not exceed 10" C. Light frosts and snowfalls are not uncommon during the summer months. The mean precipitation reaches around 650 to

700 mm annually.

There are two currents which surround Chukotka in the and the Bering

Sea. The "warm" current crosses the Bering Sea from south to north and approaches the

Chukotka shore only near the of Chaplino and in the Bering Strait. As this current flows north, its direction shifts northwest while gradually moving away from the shores. The other current is cold and runs from the northwest to the southeast along the northern coast of Chukotka. The "cold current often penetrates and joins the oncoming

"warm" current in the Bering Strait.

In spring, when the Bering and the Chukchi begin to thaw, herds join the northern ocean current by traveling on drifting ice-floes. Because of their close

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Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 2 proximity to the ocean currents, Chaplino, and a few other settlements maintain good catches of walrus.

I.A.2. Vegetation

The majority of the vegetation consists of a variety of tundra types. The plains are covered by a maze of swamps; while higher ridges are made up by tundra composed of sedges, sheathing cotton grass, dwarf shrubs, spotty mosses and lichens. The plain tundra shifts to highland tundra by forming gentle slopes that rise to altitudes ranging from 100 to 150 m. Along the stream beds the tundra consists of sedges, short grasses

and hillocks interspersed with dwarf alder thickets. Mountain slopes are covered with

spotty arctic tundra and detritus; while flat lower watersheds are blanketed by dwarf

shrubs and detritus. In the higher elevations the land is barren and snow pockets prevail

(NFE 1970:266-270).

I.A.3. Fauna

The faunal resources of the Chukotski Peninsula are rather diverse. Among the

large mammals which are dependent upon the fauna are reindeer (Rmgifer tarandus).

Reindeer have continued to persist in this region (from ancient times to the turn of the

nineteenth century). Historically, during the reindeer's spring and summer migration,

herds would span the entire Chukotski Peninsula and extend out to the coastline of the

Arctic Ocean. However, by the beginning of the twentieth century their numbers were

reduced sharply; and presently, according to certain estimations, there are less than

several hundred reindeer remaining in this area.

The reduction of the reindeer herd is due, in part, to animals of prey which are

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Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 3 represented by two species of bears (brown and white), polar wolves and wolverines

(Gulo gulo). The numbers of brown bears (Ursus arctos) and wolves are quite large, because the region's indigenous population refused to hunt the animals (it was disapproved of by traditions). In contrast, wolverines have been less abundant because their fur is widely used for trimmings. Coastal populations used to hunt sea bears (Urn maritimus) until it was banned. Arctic foxes (Alopa lagopus) and common foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are ordinary and hunted along the coast of the Chukotka Peninsula. The major

hunting resources in this area are the various species of small pinnipeds, such as ringed

seals, harbor seals, ribbon seals and bearded seals (Phoca hispida Shreb., Phoca vitulina laigha, Erignathus barbatus Farb.). (Odobaenus rosmanrs), Bowhead whales

(Balaena rnysticetus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), grey whales

(Eschrichtius gibbosus) and belukha (Delphinaptem leucas) are also hunted.

Among the types of fresh water fish that are commercially fished are nelma,

broad whitefish, sig, pike and burbot. However, of greater commercial importance are

the species of migratory salmon, such as chum, humpback salmon, sockeye and Arctic

char.

The tundra and coastal areas abound with numerous flocks of migrating birds,

such as brunnich' guillemots (Uria lomvia), cormorants, puffins (Lunda cirrhata),

ptarmigan and white grouse. In addition to these birds, various species of ducks and

geese are also hunted.

11. ETHNOHISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE REGION

The and Chukchi populations make up the indigenous (aboriginal)

S&il Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 4 population of the Chukotski Peninsula and its southeastern region. The Eskimos are the most ancient population of the Bering Sea region and have inhabited the area for over

5,000 years. Gradually they spread to the Arctic regions of , Greenland and . (Maps 1 and 2 orient the reader to the study area. Map 1 depicts both study areas in the ; Map 2 displays study sites in Chukotka.)

The Eskimos belong to the Arctic race of the great Mongoloid race; and their language belongs to the Eskimo-Aleutian family of languages and is divided into two groups - Itiupiaq and Yup'ik. The Siberian (Asian) Eskimos are subdivided into several cultural and language communities. The northern group, nyvuk'ah'mit, generally resides in the villages of Naukan at Dezhnev and Imakliq on Ratmanov' Island (Big

Diomede). The language spoken by this group of Eskimos differs from that of their southern neighbors, but is similar to the languages of the Eskimos who live on Little

Diomede Island and in the northern part of . The majority of this group of

Siberian Eskimos live the villages of Lavrentii, and in the Chukotski district which neighbors the Providenski district.

The southern group of Siberian Eskimos (Uit, Upigyt) is subdivided into several communities and dialect groups. The un'gazig'mit dialect is spoken by the people who live in the village of Ungazik, with the majority of these residents now living in the village of New Chaplino. Another dialect group is avatmit which is spoken by the people living in the villages of Avan and Kivak, with most of the people from these villages today also reside in New Chaplino. And finally, another distinct population of Southern

Siberian Eskimo is si'ginygmit. This group originally lived in the villages of and Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 6 Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 7 Imtuk, but they now inhabit Sireniki. Although in the past the dialects of the southern group of Siberian Eskimos varied a great deal, today these dialects belong to the common language group of Upik. At present, the Sireniki language has become practically extinct. Today, most of the Sireniki villagers speak the Chaplino dialect, with only a few elders speaking the Sireniki language (Menovshikov 1987:l-6).

According to archeological data (Dickov 1971), the ethnogenesis of the developed on the coasts of the Okhotsk Sea. They migrated toward far northeast region of in the first millennium B.C.

The Chukchis can subdivided into two groups based on their language and economic/cultural identity. These two groups are nomadic reindeer breeders and settled sea hunters. The Chukchis iden@ themselves as chmchu (reindeer breeders) and ankalyn (hunters). The is related to the Chukchi- group of the Palaeoasian . The Chukchi language is subdivided into two main dialects (reindeer type and coastal) as well as a number of local patois.

Historically the initial contact between the Chukchi and Eskimo goes back to the first millennium B.C. Initially, the Chukchi were superior to the Eskimos in military and hunting skills. The Eskimos were forced out of their primordial locations by the

Chukchi, especially the areas that were most favorable for sea hunting, such as the summer walrus breeding grounds.

The extensive historic habitat of the Eskimos on the Chukotski Peninsula were reduced considerably during the first millennium AD. The Chukchi and Eskimo communities survived only in the mountainous region near the coastline of the Bering

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 8 Strait. The Eskimos were much better adjusted to the life on the arctic sea coasts than

the Chukchis. When the Chukchis settled on the coasts of the Bering Sea they either forced out the Eskimos or they assimilated with the indigenous Eskimo population while

simultaneously adopting the Eskimo's economic and cultural traditions and their

subsistence patterns.

Gradually the contact between the Chukchi and Eskimos evolved into a major

cultural and historic relationship during the 1st millennium AD. Rather than consisting

as two diverse but interrelated forms of economies made up of nomadic reindeer

breeding and sea hunting, as they had done historically, this alliance was better adjusted

to rigorous arctic conditions. This relationship gave way to new and more favorable

possibilities for economic exchange and cultural interaction between the tundra and

coastal populations of Chukotka. As conditions for sea hunting deteriorated, because of

long term and sudden changes in the natural environment, the Chukotka populations

accumulated two cultural and economic traditions that were adapted to inland hunting

and reindeer breeding. And vice versa, with the deterioration of

conditions the Chukchis and Eskimos could shift to sea mammal hunting (Krupnik 1989).

IIA Chukchi-Russian Relations in the 17th Century.

By the time the came to northeast Asia the relations between the

Chukchis and the Eskimos were relatively peaceful due to an active exchange of goods

between the native coastal and tundra populations. Long before the Russians appeared

in Chukotka, permanent locations for trade and exchange were established by both

Chukchi and Eskimo reindeer breeders and sea hunters. The trade fair near the

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 9 Kurupka River was one of the most popular places in the southeastern Chukotka. This fair was attended by the Chukchis from the tundra and villages along the

Mechigmenskaya Bay, and the Eskimos from the villages of Sireniki and Ungazik, and by residents of other settlements in the nearby region (HCC 1987:42).

The various stages of contact by Russian explorers and in Chukotka are well known. The first information documented on the Chukchis was given in the reports of Cossack Michael Stadukhin who encountered the Chukchis on the as far back as 1644. In 1648 Russian explorers Fedot Popov and Semen Dezhnev arrived, by sea, at the far northeastern end of Asia (), and had skirmishes with the Chukchis.

By that time two Russian settlements on the Chukchi lands had already been founded

750 krn from the mouth of the Anadyr River. The first settlement, Nizhnekolymskoye

Zimovje, was made up of fortified winter cabins and the second was the stockaded town of Anadyrsky Ostrog.

In the second half of the 17th century numerous attempts were made by the

Russians to force the Chukchis to pay a tribute () to the Czar of in furs, walrus tusks or handicrafts. This action (to pay a yasak) was inflicted on all Siberian hunters who were subjected by the Russians. By the beginning of 1649, several unsuccessful campaigns against the Chukchis were attempted by the Russians to force them pay a yasak to the Czar. The Chukchis retaliated by making raids on the Russian settlements. In 1653 a Chukchi troop, numbering several hundred soldiers, laid siege on

Nizhnekolymskoye Zimovje. During the 1670s the Chukchis continued to raid Anadyrsky

Ostrog. At this time, the Russian settlers and servicemen were having difficulty

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 10 obtaining walrus tusks, furs and food. As a result of their misfortune, they pressured the governor of Yakutia province, Voevode A. Barnashlev, to send a petition to Moscow with a request to abolish the settlement.

At the end of the 17th century, after a number of devastating epidemics swept across the western part of Chukotka nomadic Chukchi camps, a period of strengthened

Russian influence began in the region. The Russian population and, especially, the number of servicemen and Cossacks at Anadyrsky Ostrog increased. With the appointment of V. Atlasov as steward of Anadyrsky Ostrog (1695) a new advancement of

Russians moved towards the east to Kamchatka. Anadyrsky Ostrog played an important role in the conquest of Kamchatka. This conquest became central in determining how communications with Kamchatka would be maintained.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Chukchi military made frequent raids on the Koryak reindeer breeders, who roamed in the north of Kamchatka, and on the

Yukagirs who were in close contact with the Russians. Once again, the relations between the Russian settlers on the Anadyr River and the Chukchis became aggravated.

Anadyrsky Ostrog became the starting point where the Russian campaigns against the

Chukchis originated. In 1727 the Senate's ukaz (edict) was issued to organize a military

expedition. The edict was aimed to "call unfriendly aliens residing on the lands adjacent

to the Siberian parts to take out citizenship of the Russian possessions." The edict,

however, proved to be impossible to execute after the commander of the expedition,

Cossack chief of , Afanasy Shestakov, was killed during the very first clash with

the Chukchi detachment, south of Kamchatka, in the village of Perenj. Taking his place

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 11 in the fall of 1731 was Major Dmitry Pavlutsky, who took to the field with a team of 230

Russian and Cossack soldiers and 270 loyal and Yukagirs. The campaign went on for several months and ended successfully for Major Pavlutsky. The spoils of war included several thousand (though only 500 reindeer su~vedthe trip back to

Anadyrsky Ostrog). In 1733, however, the Chukchis approached Anadyrsk again and drove the reindeers owned by the residents away. They repeated the operation in 1738.

In 1742 the Senate issued another ukaz declaring war on the Chukchis and ordered them to ". . . advance with arms on the aforementioned unfriendly Chukchis, drive them out of their dwellings and henceforth settle them apart across the Yakut province in different ostrogs and villages among loyal residents" (HCC 1987:125).

To fulfil the ukaz Dmitry Pavlutsky took to the field again in February 1744 to fight against the Chukchis with a team of 407 Russian Cossacks and soldiers as well as with an auxiliary detachment of 170 Koryaks and 67 Yukagirs. Once again reindeer were seized; but the Russians failed to persuade Chukchis to become Russian citizens or to make them pay the yasak.

In 1746 still another campaign was organized with the same result. In 1747 a detachment of 500 Chukchis approached Anadyrsky Ostrog and captured the reindeer.

D. Pavlutsky was killed in the fight.

The struggle for regional domination between the Russian settlers and the

Chukchis continued until the 1750s. Finally in 1764, Anadyrsky Ostrog was abandoned by the Russians and Chukotka was governed thereafter from the remote Gizhiginskaya

Fortress. Since then the Chukchis began to settle closer to the Anadyr River; and later

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 12 in 1784 Anadyrsky Ostrog (or Anadyrsk) was restored. Many Anadyr Chukchis agreed to pay a yasak, though irregularly and on the condition that they would also receive g&s in return. Not until 1789 were the Chukchis and Eskimos finally granted Russian citizenship and their territories annexed. Empress Catherine the Great officially declared that the Chukchis be granted Russian citizenship on October 11, 1789. At this time, metal state emblems were erected along the coast of the Bering Strait. These emblems were to symbolize, to the Chukchi, that the coastal areas belonged to

(Dolgikh 1960554). However, this government action remained largely misunderstood by the Chukchis and they continued to consider themselves free and independent for a long time after in their dealings with the Russian Empire.

1I.B. The Whaling Period and Increased American Influence in Chukotka.

In the 19th century the relations between the Chukchis and Eskimos, with regard to the Russian state, were quite peaceful. In 1822 a new liberal Russian law was legislated concerning the "Regulations of Governing Siberian Non-Russians (aliens)."

This law was promulgated under the guidance of the prominent statesman, M. M.

Speransky, who was once the former governor general of Siberia. This ordinance

allowed the Chukchis and Eskimos, as well as other nations of Siberia, to pay the main state tax (yasak) at their own discretion. The populations of Chukotka were under no district council (Zemstvo) obligations, and therefore did not pay, nor were they under the jurisdiction of the Russian court of justice, except under extremely grave criminal

offenses and acts of treason. The Siberian administration reserved the right to control

the state frontiers and regulate trade with the territories populated by the Chukchis and

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 13 Eskimos.

A new period in the history of Chukotka began in the 1840s. But prior to this period, cases of foreign fishing, whaling and trade ships intervening in the Russian waters in the northern part of the Pacific became more frequent. This action caused the

Russian government to pay more attention to Chukotka.

The Senate's ukase, dated September 4, 1821, declared that all property estates, along the northwestern coasts of America, from the Bering Strait to the 51st parallel, including the Aleutian Islands, eastern coasts of Siberia and the (as far as the southern promontory of the Urup Island), were in the possession of Russia.

Whaling, fishing and trade with the aboriginal populations, within the Russian boundaries, was allowed for Russian subjects only.

However, in 1824 the Russian government was forced to form a Convention with the government of the . This convention stipulated the free calling of ships at any bay, gulf or harbor, within the borders of either state, and allowed free whaling and trade with the aboriginal population of Russia. However, Russia considered the waters washing the coasts of Chukotka and Kamchatka and the her own.

In 1834, when the Convention expired, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the .S. government to bar U.S. shipping within Russian territorial waters of

Kamchatka and Chukotka. The U.S. government complied with this request by the

Russian Ministry and the notices announcing the ban on American ships sailing in the

Russian waters were published in American newspapers (Vdovin 1965:144). This ban,

however, failed to bring the expected result. The activities of foreign'whalers along the

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Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 14 Russian coasts intensified. Dozens of American whaling ships operated along the coastline of Chukotka and traded with the Chukchis and Eskimos. In 1851 there was a clash between the Chukchis and a British armada that was sailing under the American flag. The quarrel was allegedly initiated by "the Chukchis who wanted to take away fragments of the ship's anchor chain." Contraband trade, poaching and conflicts between whalers and indigenous populations of Chukotka intensified during the Crimean War

(1856-57) and especially after 1867, following the U.S. purchase of the Russian-American

Company (RAC) lands and property in North America.

After the U.S. purchase of the Russian-American Company the waters of the

Bering Sea were divided into charted territories. The U.S. government entrusted the entire fur trade and the complete American coastline trade to the care of the Alaskan

Company which took pains to prevent any violations of their monopoly. At the same time the U.S. government introduced a cruise patrol and imposed a ban on the import of alcoholic drinks in Alaska. These measures helped to safeguard the coastline of Alaska against the poaching ships of hunters and whalers. As a result these ships sailed closer to the shores of Chukotka and Kamchatka in search of prey.

Complaints from the Chukchis and Eskimos grew louder. In 1875 the Russian clipper "Guidamak" started to cruise along the coastline of Chukotka. In 1876 it was joined by clipper "Vsadnik" and by 1883 regular visits of Russian war ships were introduced in the Bering Sea.

However, effective control over foreign shipping around Chukotka was dificult to

accomplish. From time to time American ships were halted and contraband goods were

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 15 seized. Although the importation of liquor to areas where the Siberian natives resided and the use of alcohol for trade was prohibited by Russian law, large quantities of rum and spirits continued to be imported by American commercial and whaling ships.

Alcohol was traded in exchange for Siberian furs, whalebones, tusks and fur clothing

(HCC 1987: 133).

As early as the 1860s, the population of sea mammals on the Chukotka shores started to decline due to intensive commercial hunting. The Chukchis repeatedly complained to Norwegian seafarer, 0. Nordkvist. They were concerned that American whaling schooners had exterminated too many whales and walruses, thus impoverishing the native population.

In 1886 the Chukchis and Eskimos addressed similar complaints to Colonel

Resine, stating that the Russian government had failed to protect them from the depredations of American whalers. They were womed that "the natives would have to starve to death." The Chukchis and Eskimos' complaints were justified. In 1885 21 whales were killed, 4 of which were killed by local residents, off the coast near the

Eskimo village of Unyin (Chaplino). Whaling in the Bering Sea and in the waters of the

Chukotka coasts failed to decline. Thus, in the Bering Sea alone 63 whales were killed

in 1900,39 in 1901, 52 in 1902 and 38 in 1903. In 1914 11 whales were slaughtered in

the Chukotka basin compared with only 6 in 1915. Both the whale and walrus

populations were in danger of being over-killed.

Pravitelstvenny Vestnik (the Government Herald) made the following statement

in 1890: "Extermination of whales in the Bering Sea goes along with extermination of

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 16 seals, walruses and some other sea mammals and unless timely measures against such extermination are taken whales will become extinct the way walruses and seals have. It is already known that every year 10 large schooners leave the ports of San Francisco and

Victoria alone heading for the Bering Sea though a considerably greater number of

American ships engaged in illegal operations along the Russian shores remain undocumented." (HCC 1987:66)

On the other hand, contact with the whalers also had a positive si@cance for the indigenous populations. This was especially the case for the residents of the coastal villages of Chukotka, since many Eskimos were hired by American whaling schooners for hunting operations, and for those who lived in the inland areas of the tundra.

American whaling rifles and harpoons with explosive devices became common in

Chukotka as early as the turn of the 20th century. In 1915 there were 511 pieces of rifled weapons of various systems and 207 small-calibre whaling guns, mainly American made, in 667 settlements of the coastal Chukchis and Eskimos.

American whaling boats started to appear in the coastal villages of Chukotka by the end of the 19th century. In 1909 there were 15 whaling boats in just one Eskimo village of Chaplino (Ungazik). In 1915 the sea hunters of Chukotka owned 101 whaling boats and 523 baidara boats (walrus skin boats with wooden framework and usually a fore-and-aft sail). Well-to-do Chukchis and Eskimos began to buy schooners with gasoline motors from the Americans. In 1911 there were 5 American schooners in

Uelen, Naukan, Chaplino, Estikhet (near ) and on Cape Bering.

The schooners were used for sea hunting and coastal trade. The demand for tusks,

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 17 whalebones, blubber and seal oil, skins and goods made of skin increased sharply in

Chukotka. A large part of these products were exported to Alaska. Thus according to the data, which are far from being complete, in 1895 American commercial ships took

1,240 plates of whalebone, 658 walrus tusks, 67 pairs of ringed seal trousers, 402 pairs of seal skin high boots and other goods from Chukotka. In 1905 9,850 ringed seal skins,

8,200 pounds of walrus tusks, 8,000 pounds of whalebones, 230 seal skins and 15 walrus skins were exported to America. Annual exports of raw materials and handicrafts from

Chukotka amounted to hundreds of thousands of U.S.dollars (HCC 1987:64).

This economic and trade boom influenced not only the coastal populations, but to a considerable degree the natives in the Chukotka tundra as well. A special division of trade agents (kavrallyt - chukchi) was formed, mostly stemming from the coastal Chukchis who distributed imported goods, especially liquor, weapons, gunpowder and ironware all across the tundra in exchange for furs.

To counterbalance the American iduence on the Chukchis and Eskimos, the

Russian administration took a number of measures. One of these measures was the formation of a new permanent settlement, Novo-Mariinsky Post, established at the

mouth of the Anadyr River. Warehouses were built for public goods to be subsequently

removed and carried to the outlying regions of Chukotka. New locations for trade fairs were organized on the and Yeropol Rivers where the reindeer roamed.

However, the inland areas north of the Bay of the Cross, and the coasts of the Bering

Strait, remained virtually outside Russian control (Vdovin, 1965, p.244).

In 1900 the Russian government granted Colonel Vonlyarlyrsky and his joint-stock

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 18 enterprise, the Northeastern Siberian Society (NESS), an exclusive right for gold prospecting and mining in Chukotka. Two years later, however, the controlling block of

NESS shares changed hands and was bought by an American trade and industrial syndicate headed by John Rosine. American trading stations of NESS were opened in the village of Dezhnev, on Cape Providence, and in the Bay of Lavrentius. As the

Russo-Japanese War broke out the NESS was charged by the government with food provision of Chukotka coasts. But gradually many foreign employees and NESS prospectors showed preference to the Chukchis and Eskimos by importing ammunition and liquor. In 1906, the mountain police surveillance was introduced in Chukotka resulting in NESS becoming the property of American industrialists. To counterbalance the American trade the government started to encourage Russian merchants by giving them a number of privileges, including the free delivery of goods from on navy and administrative vessels (HCC 1987: 140).

In 1909 a law concerning the administrative organization of the Seaside region

(Primorsky Oblast) passed and resulted in incorporating the Anadyr and Chukchi uyezds

(districts). Cape became the residence of the first "chief of Chukotka,"

Baron Kleist, in 1911; and in 1912 the Chukotka uyezd administrative board was transferred to the village of Uelen (Vdovin 1965246).

In East Chukotka, especially in the coastal villages of the Bering Strait, the influence of American whalers and traders was considerable, but the cultural inhence of the Russians prevailed in the western regions around Russian settlements.

Until the mid-19th century Christianity was propagated by Russian

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 19 attending local trade fairs. In 1848 a church and house was built at the mouth of the

Bolshay Baranikha River (Rauchau River) for A. Argentov who subsequently conducted the first "people's census" of one of the western Chukchi groups. In 1860

Reverend Suvorov baptized several Chukchis in the "Argentovskaya" church. However, the Chukchis did not understand the ceremony's meaning or purpose, nor did they attach any importance to the baptismal act. In 1879 a Chukchi ecclesiastical mission was established under the auspices of the Yakut eparchy, but its activities were noticeable only in western Chukotka. A chapel was built and services were held in Anadyrsk.

Although great efforts were made to convert the indigenous populations of Chukotka to

Christianity, no appreciable results were brought about in converting the Chukchis.

A. V. Olsufyev reached the following conclusion having explored the Anadyr okrug (region) in 1895: 'The attempts to convert the Chukchis to Christianity so far failed to bring about any tangible results. Despite the fact that at present the majority of the Chukchis residing in the Kolyma okrug and about 700 of them in the Anadyr okrug

are recorded as orthodox believers the converts themselves have remained loyal to their pagan customs" (HCC 1987:142).

The development of education and health care in Chukotka started at the

beginning of the twentieth century. Two medical assistants' stations were formed in

Chukotka in 1905. One station was located in Novo-Maryinsk and the other was located

in the village of Markovo. A third site was added in 1916 at Cape Providence (Cape

Plover). The first parish school was inaugurated in Markovo in 1883 with the goal of

teaching children how to read and write. Russians, , Chukchis and Yukagirs were

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 20 among its pupils. In 1910 the governor general of the Prearnursky district approached

the Ministry of Interior with a report emphasizing the necessity of opening a school at

the Eskimo village of Unyin (Chaplino). His report stated that a school was needed for

the Eskimos and Chukchis. In addition to this report there was a request from the

resident population to open a school for them as well. In a letter addressed to the

Governor, the natives reproached the Russian government for "taking less care of them

than Americans cared about their Eskimos" (Vdovin 1965: 257).

In 1916 the building materials for the two schools were brought to Chukotka.

One of structures was built in the village of Uelen, and the other one in the village of

Chaplino (HCC 1987:143). The school at Chaplino admitted 46 native children (with

the majority being Eskimo). Evening classes were attended by over 30 adults who were

learning to read, write and do arithmetic (Vdovin 1965257).

1I.C. Soviets and Socialism in Chukotka

,I I Chukotka remained loyal to the Russian Provisional government from February

1917 until the summer of 1919. By August of 1919 the territory of Chukotka was similar

to the region of eastern Siberia that was ruled by Admiral Kolchak from the Siberian

1 government. The Soviet power in Chukotka was established when a local communist

cell, headed by M. S. Mandrikov, seized power in Novo-Maryinsk (now Anadyr) on

December 16, 1919. The Kolchak administration was arrested. The revolutionaries i organized a local sect of power called the Revolutionary Committee (First Revcom of

Chukotka) and elected M. S. Mandrikov as its Secretary. The authority of the First

Revcom was honored by the population of Novo-Maryinsk and the surrounding Russian

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 21 I settlements. Village Revcoms were set up in the villages of Markovo, Ust-Belaya,

Yeropol (near the Anadyr River). By January 1920 the towns people of Novo-Maryinsk had overthrown the First revcom. The Revcom power was to survive in the village of

Markovo where Baltic sailor V. Chekmarev was elected Secretary. Chekmarev organized an armed force to hold the line until the summer of 1920. After breakup, when the

Anadyr River was open for navigation, the Markovo detachment, headed by Chekmarev, went by boat down to Novo-Maryinsk and the power of the Soyiets was restored (Vdovin

1965:283).

With the establishment in 1920 of the so-called Wbuffer," the became dependent upon the USSR and the Chukotsky uyezd formed a part of the

Kamchatka district. The People's Revolutionary Committee (PRC) was established in

Anadyr in December 1920. This committee was headed by A. M. Bychkov, who was the commissioner for the Kamchatka District People's Revolutionary Committee. The PRC tried to institute control over the activities of the Russian and foreign traders in

Chukotka. Taxes and dues started to be collected for the PRC. However, as soon as

October 1921, a military detachment of Whites, under the command of Colonel

Bochkarev, arrived in the Kamchatka district from Vladivostok. The power in

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and throughout the Kamchatka province again passed into the hands of the Whites. A. M. Bychkov fled to America, and when he eventually returned to Russia he handed over the money collected as taxes and dues in Chukotka to the

People's Commissariat of Finances (HCC 1987:154).

In October 1922 a military expedition made up of the under the

Social Transition in the Noah Chukotka Ethnography, Page 22 command of M. P. Volsky was sent to the Northeast. The power again passed into the

hands of the Reds. A well-known trader, F.I. Karayev, who was loyal to the Soviet

power and who had been given the Commissioner's mandate of the Kamchatka District

Revolutionary Committee, received the authority to administer in Chukotka.

In January 1923, Karayev left for Uelen where he gathered the Chukchis and

Eskimos from the nearby villages and selected the 112 best hunters. Out of the

members of this group he formed a military detachment called "a detachment of people's

I security in the Chukotka krai (territory)" (HCC 1987:154).

In November 1922 the Far Eastern Republic ceased to exist and the Soviet power

was established in Chukotka. The year 1924 was the starting point for the period of

"socialist remaking" in Chukotka. Village Soviets were approved and elections of

deputies were held, while simultaneously the division of the territorial/administrative

division into districts was instituted.

In April 1926 Anadyr and Chukotka uyezds were reorganized into districts. The

Chukotka district covered the temtory from the Bay of the Holy Cross to Uelen (in the

northeast and westward to Chaunskaya Guba Bay). In accordance with the Provisional

Statute of the Administration of Indigenous Nationalities and Tribes, the Northernmost

Districts of the RSFSR was approved in Moscow on October 1926, by the All-Russia

Central Executive Committee (ARCEC). Although subordinate to local authorities, a

I I system of self-management was established by the Chukchis and Eskimos. Elections

were organized among coastal populations and tundra reindeer breeders to fill in for

"tribal" and "camp" Soviets that had existed amongst the coastal people since 1924. Later

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Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 23 these groups formed an executive committees of indigenous Soviets and renamed themselves "indigenous Soviets." In accordance with the plan, worked out by the Far

Eastern Committee of the North, an executive committee of indigenous Soviets formed.

This committee stipulated that two indigenous districts on the territory of the Chukotka

region in 1929 would be established.

The two districts would be the Northern distict of the Chauchu (Chukchi) people

and the Eskimo district. For the small population of the (400 people) it was

envisioned that they would form the Kereksly indigenous district. Formally, the above

districts were approved by the administrative and territorial division of power in

Chukotka. But they did not last long. In April 1932 the First Chukotsb Regional

Congress of Soviets took place in Anadyr and sanctioned the establishment of the

Chukotski National Ohg(Region) as well as elected its Executive Committee.

Tegrinkeu, a Chukchi dweller from the far-off village of Uelen, eventually took an

active part in consolidating the power of Soviets in northern Chukotka. He was

eventually elected as the first Chairman of the Chukotsb Regional Committee.

Podkorytov, a Karnchadal who came from far-away South Kamchatka, was elected to

Chairman of the Chukotski District Committee. With the establishment of the

Chukotski National Ohg"national districts" the self-management of the northern

nationalities of Chukotka's "indigenous Soviets" ceased to exist. I Socialist transformation of the economy and management in Chukotka began in

the late 1920s. After the Civil War and "War Communism" (1918-1921) the armed local

authorities, whether "Reds" or "Whites," considered it in their own right to dispose of

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 24 other people's lives and property and "a New Economic Policy" was declared in Russia.

In March of 1921 the Tenth Congress of the Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks

(RCPB) "headed for" a cooperative reconstruction of the country. Congress stipulated a similar course of action for the northern populations which stated: "First and foremost, the Soviet government should come through the network of the integral system of consumers' cooperative societies to the aid of indigenous semi-proletarian masses threatened with extinction as a result of economic dislocation" (Culture ?:162). The

original Chukchi cooperative societies were organized in the villages of Uelen, Yandogai and (Preobrazheniya Bay). The first Eskimo cooperatives appeared in the villages of Naukan and Chaplino (Ungazik). By the end of 1927 there were 148

members (125 men and 23 women) who joined the first cooperatives producers'

associations and artels (HCC 1987:164).

Stalin's collectivisation in Chukotka began in the mid-1930s. Collectivisation of property in the coastal villages was carried out in a relatively peaceful way, while in

contrast, the tundra Chukchi reindeer breeders put up resistance. Those refusing to obey

the authorities were called class enemies ("kulaks") and were deprived of civil rights

("lishentsi"). In 1935, more that 37 percent of the total adult indigenous population of

Chukotka were denied their civil rights. Organization of kolkhoz (collective farms) in

Chukotka, like everywhere in Russia, was based mainly on intimidation and repressions

and was, in fact, completed only in the late 1940s (Pika 1989:320).

Between the years 1950 and 1960 frequent re-organizations of kolkhozes took

place, and as a rule small and poor farms were required to join bigger and richer ones.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 25 Kolkhozes lingered in Chukotka until the end of the 1960s. In 1968, a government decision required the majority of all the kolkhozes of Chukotka (the farms with their members' collective property) to be rearranged into "Soviet farms" (sovkhozes). AU the property of the former kokhozes, as well as the property of collective farmers, was legally recognized as state-owned and no longer as collective property.

Industrial and transport development began in Chukotka in the mid-1930s. In

1938 a decree from the USSR government approved the building of a seaport, for the

Chief Department of the Arctic Seaway, in the Bay of Providence (Provideniya). In 1947 the Village Soviet of People's Deputies had already been registered in the village of

Provideniya. By the mid-1950s the establishment of a motor boat shop and fur breeding station at the Bay of Plover became a major event in the lives of the sea hunters around the Bay of Provideniya. The station was soon transformed into the Plover Sea Hunting

Enterprises. The functions of Plover Fur Enterprises included purchasing and selling of fish as well as the skins, tusks, blubber, seal oil and meat of sea animals and record keeping, sea mammal hunting, furnishing boats and equipment and finally, provisioning the Chukotka Kolkhozes.

With the creation of an integrated plant at Plover, traditional sea mammal hunting became established as an industrial activity and production figures began to increase sharply. The centers of sea mammal meat production annually produced between 30 to 40 thousand metric tons of meat. The plant at Plover functioned until

1971. During that period hundreds of Eskimos and Chukchis were offered vocational

training and gained modem production experience. However, the impact of the plant's

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 26 operations had an extremely negative impact on the sea mammal populations in the waters around Chukotka.

The sovkhozes existing at the present time in the Providenski district are called

"Novaya Zhizn" (New Life). Their center lies in the Chukchi village of Yanrakynuot.

Historically, the Eskimo village of Novoye (New) Chaplino "Udarnik" (Shock-Worker), has had its center branch located in the Eskimo village of Sireniki. "Mayak Severa"

(Beacon of the North) was located in the Chukchi village of Nunligran (with a branch located in the village of ).

These villages were formed by integrating 5 or 6 smaller kolkhozes into production artels/associations. As a result, in 1928 the Eskimo production "association"

(located in the village of Chaplino) engaged in sea mammal hunting. In 1949 the

"association" was given the status of "fishing artel" and the name, Novaya Zhizn. In 1951,

"Novaya Zhizn" of Chaplino was integrated with the "Sovetski Putj" (Soviet Way)

Association (from the village of Kivak). Later, in 1962, the Eskimos of Chaplino and

Kivak were joined together in one production entity along with the Chukchis from the village of . The organization of "Udarnik" sovkhoz proceeded along the same lines. "Udarnik'' joined the Eskimo villagers of Sireniki and Imtuk (an agricultural artel of "Udarnik" since 1944) as well as the Chukchi reindeer breeders. "Mayak Severa" sovkhoz was organized in a similar manner by consolidated the coastal Chukchis from the Bay of Provideniya, and the reindeer breeders from the tundra region adjacent to the

Lake of Achchen.

The construction of "modern" villages in the Provideniya district started as early as

- - - - -

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Pap 27 1930. The public buildings included schools, offices for village Soviets, production facilities and kolkhoz administrative buildings. In contrast, the collective farmers continued to live in traditional yarangas (skin tents).

In the 1960s a state housing program was initiated in the Chukotka villages.

However, the majority of indigenous people of Chukotka still live in outdated wooden two room dwelling-houses that were built between the 1950s and mid-1960s.

During the years 1930 to 1950 a network of schools providing national educational programs was implemented in the Chukota okrug. As early as 1930 there were 13 general education schools where 388 Chukchi and Eskimo children studied. By 1940, there were 68 similar schools with 1,925 indigenous pupils enrolled in classes. In 1939 a primary-school teachers' training college opened in Anadyr with the goal of training indigenous teachers. In 1943 Chukotka schools were staffed for the first time with aboriginal teachers. By 1967 the Anadyr college had trained 346 teachers, including 141

Chukchis, 37 Eskimos, 25 Evens, 10 Yukagirs and 34 Chuvantsis.

The first medical aid and research groups from the Russian Red Cross Society and the People's Commissariat of Health came to Chukotka in the mid-1920s. In the beginning of the 1930s, stationary outpatient clinics offering itinerant services to nomadic people were started up in a few villages. By 1940 there were already 12 hospitals with

165 beds, 17 doctors' assistants and obstetricians' stations, as well as over 800 medical professionals, including 18 doctors practicing in the Chukotski national okrug. In 1949, hospital aircraft began providing medical services to distant villages and nomads. This resulted the acquisition of a small PO-2 single-engine aircraft for the Chukotski hospital

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography. Page 28 aviation unit located at the Anadyr airport. The hospital in the village of Provideniya

was built in 1939 and initially functioned as a medical station at the Provideniya seaport;

but it was unable to provided medical service to villagers or tundra people. The central

I. district hospital, with 30 beds, was in the village of . A 5 bed hospital was

built in the village of Uelen. Doctors' assistants and obstetricians' stations were operated

out of the villages of , Serdtse Kamen, Naukan and Chaplino. In 1965, by

I order of the Minister of the Merchant Navigation Ministry, the medical station of the

Providenski seaport was handed over to the RSFSR Health Ministry and renamed as the

Providenski District Hospital. Sanitary and epidemiologic services were organized in the

Providenski district in 1974.

111. TRADITIONAL CULTURE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE CHUKCHIS

AND ESKIMOS

The classic ethnographic work written on the traditional material and spiritual

culture of the Chukchis and the Siberian Eskimos is by V. G. Bogoraz (Bogoraz 1934;

Bogoraz 1991). Other detailed descriptions and research on the issues and problems

concerning the ethnography of the Chukchis and Siberian Eskimos can be found in the

works of I.S. Vdovin, G.A. Menovschikov, .S. Rubtsova, IS. Gurvich, V. Leontyev, Y.

B. Simchenko, 1.1. Krupnik and others.

The culture and life of the Chukchi reindeer breeders is nomadic. The material

culture and the coastal Chukchi's way of life has been historically influenced by the

ancient culture of the Eskimo.

.. Social Transition in the North Chukotb Ethnography, Page 29 1II.A. Dwelling

The coastal Chukchis had several types of dwellings with the yaranga (liyeran,

Chuk.) being the most common structure. This structure has a wooden frame that is covered with reindeer hides. The inner space of a yaranga is filled with specially arranged reindeer hides (yoron, Chuk.) that form a warm shell-shaped shelter. Large yarangas could be made with up to five or six inner shelters separated from one another by hides. The size of the yaranga depended on the size of the family occupying the structure.

Another more ancient winter dwelling used by the Chukchi was the traditional

Eskimo semisubterranean house (k'legra. valkaran, Chuk.). The outside framework was made of whale and walrus bones covered with sod matting that rose one meter or more above the ground level. The inside floor could have wooden decking with the elevated parts covered with skins and hides. A vent hole, also used as a ceiling light, was cut into the roof. By the mid-19th century, this type of dwelling was rare and was gradually replaced by another type of dwelling. This wooden structure was similar to the yaranga in that it was covered either by walrus skin or sod matting.

The Eskimos' winter dwellings were semisubterranean houses of various designs.

They built large constructions designed for public purposes (hiyigi, Esk.), and smaller dwellings intended for single families (n'ynw, Esk.). In the 19th century framework constructions with sod foundations and walrus skin roofing (myn'ty'gak, Esk) were most widely used during the winter and summer. In the summer, especially in hunters' camps, people lived in light dwellings (Wljuk, Esk.).

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 30 Coastal Chukchis and Eskimos had almost identical sets of household utensils, implements and equipment. The most important household item, the oil lamp/heater

(nanik, Esk.), was used to illuminate and heat the inside of the dwelling. It was fueled by melted blubber or sea mammal oil. Special women's knives (uZyagyt, Esk.) were used in cooking as well as for skin dressing, currying, pattern-cutting and other tasks. These knives were widespread among all Eskimo groups. Men's equipment included reindeer and dog sleds, walrus skin boats (anyapik, Esk.) and later wooden whaling boats. By the beginning of the 19th century, hunting equipment ranged from spears, bows and arrows, firearms and included various types of toggle headed harpoons (ung'ak, Esk.) with inflatable floats made of seal skin (au'tahIpak, Esk.). For off-shore hunting, bone tackle

(zakidushka - Russ.) was designed to throw out and retrieve killed mammals out of the water, as well as fishing nets and rods.

1II.B. Clothes

The Chukchi reindeer breeders primarily wore reindeer hides. During the winter, men wore fur trousers made of reindeer hides and kuhZyankas (upper garments

made of reindeer hides), while the women and children wore fur overalls (kerker, Chuk.).

Because the Chukchi reindeer breeders spent so much time on their feet walking on the

stony tundra during the summer months, their footwear was important. Therefore,

strong soles made of bearded seal skin were considered indispensable. To emphasize its

importance the Chukchi reindeer breeders used to say that "the herd was tended by the

lakhtak (the bearded seal)." The Eskimos and coastal Chukchis' typical winter outfit was

reindeer trousers and kuhlyankas made of seal skins (ath'k, Esk.). The trousers were

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 31 worn with the facing on the outside (iZyulik, Esk.) and the upper body was covered with the fur on the inside (k'adjik atku'k, Esk.). Women wore fur overalls (kaljyvatyk, Esk.) and hats. The coastal population had various types of waterproof clothes made of walrus and whale intestines. Raincoats (kalik, Esk.) and ainusik were special clothes used by hunters while they butchered and fleeced whales in the water (Rubtcova 1964:499-549).

1II.C. Food

The Chukchi reindeer breeder's diet is made up of meat from reindeer, bears, bighorn sheep, fish, as well as the blubber and oil from sea mammals. During the winter, the basic diet of the coastal people is supplemented by the meat and the blubber and oil of sea mammals as well as augmented by the meat of wild animals, birds, fish and venison bartered from the reindeer herdsmen. The Eskimos also ate edible roots and greens (more than the Chukchis) (Zaytcev and Kurtyushkina 1964:203-206).

1II.D. Social Organization

Despite the fact that the Chukchis were rather warlike and able to muster military armies of considerable strengthin a short time, they had no permanent political institutions or power structures. One can read that the Chukchis of the early 18th century "were under no dominion and lived on their own authority willfully and in kinship groups" (HCC 1987:99). By the end of the 18th century their society remained very much like it had for centuries. In 1756 the Russian Cossack Kuznetsky was held captive by the Chukchis for two years, He wrote that the "Chukchis have no chief commander and any well-to-do man lives with his kinfolk and is his own master. And such well-to-do men are recognized as foremen and are the most revered due to the only

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Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Pagt 32 reason of who has more reindeers" (HCC 1987:99).

Social interaction for the Chukchi reindeer herdsmen revolved around nomadic camping. And for the Chukchi coastal people their sociability centered on a territorial community. Such units would consist of persons related by mamage varat, which means

"an aggregation of those who live together". To characterize these consanguines within a varat community, the term chin-iylyn or "a group of blood feud participants" was used.

As V. G. Bogoraz writes, ". . . the integrity of fire, the integrity of a property stamp, for example, on reindeer, and the integrity of rites performed served as a basis for autonomous nature and integrity of the Chukchi varat community and its consanguineal core" (Bogoraz l934:7 142-7344).

In the reindeer breeders' communities social relationships were formed around the owners of reindeer herds. In contrast, the coastal Chukchis' social relationships were centered around those who owned a baidara skin boat, whaling boat or a schooner.

"Boat chieftains" ,tvemechyin, Chuk.) were the most authoritative people in the coastal villages. The most important social units for the coastal Chukchis were the groups of hunters (usually, about 5 to 8 people) or "baidara artels" (-yiryn, Chuk.). Unlike the

Chukchis, who had no territorial kinship or clan structures, the Eskimos were subdivided into kinship groups by their territorial communities. Thus, the villagers of Ungazik

(un'azig'mit) were divided into 7 kinship groups, the villagers of Avan (avatmit) into 2

clans, the people of Kivak (k'ig'uag'mit) formed 2 clans and the inhabitants of Sireniki

(syg'inyg'rnit) were grouped into 6 clans (Krupnik and Chlenov 1979).

Age and sex, along with kinship relationships, form the basis for the social

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 33 structure of these societies, especially at the pre-industrial stage of development. The

Chukchi and Eskimo societies are patriarchal and patrilineal. The Chukchis have the following categories by age and sex:

Table 1

Chukchi Kinship Categories Distinguishing Age and Sex

Men l I chdchi

Adult man k'l yavil Married

atchekay Single yanran'av*

Teenager optyn'ank'ay Young lady n'evysk'etk'ay Boy I n'in'kay 1 Girl I n'avkad'an**

Source: Field materials of A.Pika * - literally "a separately living woman". ** - "dressed in women's clothes", girls were dressed in women's

overalls since they were 7 or 8 years old.

*** - till the age of 7 or 8 girls and boys wore identical childrens'

overalls. Additional age definitions can be used in speech, depending on the age as compared with the speaker: n'inchen - junior, ynpychfin, urettumgyn - person of the same age and others. Kinship terms used by Chukchis and Eskimos identiQ consanguineous

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 34 kindred relationships by marriage and differentiate between patrilineal and matrilineal relatives when determining the age differences between siblings and other relationships.

Consanguine (&bin) is defined as both living relatives and ancestors (yttyutlet). Kinship terminology distinguishes "family" (rozjvyn) as "those who eat from the same cauldron."

This is interpreted as a married couple with children and parents. Relatives by marriage are termed as chychetkin, while afEinal relatives living nearby are called terekot.

The etymology of some Chukchi affinal kinship terms is of certain interest. When marriage occurs between patriarchal families, the relative's father, regardless of his relation to the bride/wife or bridegroom/husband, is termed matalyin, while the mother of the wife/husband is called n'evmatalyin. The lexical meaning of the term matawn is

"the one who gets his share during the hunt for sea mammals." This means that marriage between families leads to the creation of rights and obligations. Marriage obligates family members to share what is harvested and assures that all will receive a share of subsistence foods.

The term used to define a husband's brother (k'legmatalyin) is significant in this discussion of kinship terminology. The linguistic particle k'leg indicates that a term is used to describe a man, or a male to be exact. For example, k'legryrb means bull walrus. The same particle is present in the very word "man" - kAal. It can be assumed that this term is related to the Chukchis' leviratic custom.

Also of interest are the specific Chukchi terms which define various types of relationships by marriages. One such term is n'avtumgyt "comrades-in-wives" which means that a wife is exchanged temporarily with a man other than her husband.

Social Transition in the North Qlukotka Ethnography, Page 35 Similarly, there are Eskimo kinship terms which define people engaging in temporary marriage relations, for example in'luzik, or "a temporary wife." For longer periods of sustained exchange, the gender orientation switches and the term uginu'ak is used which means "a temporary husband (Rubtcova 1954503). Chukchi and Eskimo kinship terminology also includes terms describing acquired kinship, such as adopted children and their new parents, as well as terms defining second wives (lymytlym, Chuk.). For the

Chukchi and Eskimo people, polygamy can be explained as "superfluous."

III.D.l. Mamage, Family, and Demographic Behavior

In any society, forms of mam'age, family and household management are major determinants, both in the past and in the present, for the reproduction of population.

Contrary to the populations of the European North and the northeast of Asia, in Siberia the Chukchis, Koryaks, Eskimos, and Nivhs never associated marriage with an exchange of property and ghbetween the families of a bride and a groom. Rather, these groups practiced bride-service, known locally as the custom of %orking off a wife"

(reindeer Chukchis called it "herding for the wife"). According to this custom, a young man was only able to marry the family's girl if he moved to the dwelling of the intended wife's father and lived and work for the him between 2 to 5 years.

It is noted by Bogoraz that it was permissible for Chukchi girls to have sexual intercourse rather early, sometimes before reaching puberty (the special term to define mothers who were too young was ettcvak-etlja which means heifer mother). The

Chukchis believed that early marriages were hazardous to women's health. It was considered permissible for the young woman to many only after she began her monthly

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 36 period and her breasts were noticeably developed (Bogoraz 1934:Zl). The wedding ritual consisted of the simple act of spreading the blood of a sacrificial reindeer on the faces of the newlyweds. Virginity at the time of marriage was of no importance, nor did it matter if the young women had conceived a child before marriage.

The marriage rate was apparently somewhat higher among the reindeer Chukchis than among the coastal populations. Without a wife a herdsman was absolutely unable to manage his household problems or lead a nomad's life. According to Bogoraz, reindeer Chukchis despised bachelors.

Eskimos had earlier and more frequent marriages than the Chukchis.

Traditionally the adequate age for marriage was between 13-15. The "working-off period was allocated time set aside to take a wife. This time period was shorter (1-2 years) for the Eskimos than it was for the Chukchi. There were no eloquent marriage ceremonies, and all that was needed was the consent of the young man; the girl's parents would give their okay by simply stating that "he was already married

(Menovschikov 1959).

Polygamy was common among Chukchis and Eskimos until the early 20th century.

Polygynous families were more evident among reindeer Chukchis, especially among wealthy reindeer breeders. Chukchis used to tell Bogoraz, "If I own one herd, I need one tent, if I have two herds I must have two households with a woman in each one of them" (Bogoraz 1934:139-140). According to his estimate, polygynous families with 2 or more wives constituted up to 15 percent of the total number of reindeer Chukchi families.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Efhnography, Page 37 The Chukchis and Eskimos had a custom of levirate. This custom meant that a husband's brother (usually the younger one) or cousin was obliged to marry and support the widow of his brother/cousin and her children. There are several reference made to this form of co-marriage (n'avhtmgyt "comrades-in-wives") in Chukchi ethnographies.

Kiber wrote that the Chukchis' ". . . most significant custom is wife-exchange . . .

Children born of different mothers enjoy equal rights" (HCC 1987:lOl). Karl Merk depicts this custom in terms of "Wife-exchange (nevtumgin) - husbands coming to an agreement for the sake of strengthening their friendship in this way, request their wives' consent (to n'evtumgyt) who would rarely refuse such a request . . . Usually Chukchis limit wife-exchange to one or two friends. There are cases, however, when such close relations are maintained with a good number of up to 10 males" (HCC 1987:lOl).

Moreover, ". . . since such a custom was common Chukchi children were obedient to those who were not their own fathers" Merk remarked. Bogoraz emphasized the extent to which n'evtumgyt relationships had spread amongst the Chukchi people, as well as the evidence of their social sigdicance. 'The family which is not a member of such a union has neither friends, nor well wishers or protectors in case of need" (Bogoraz

1934: 135-139).

Chukchi women had a large workload of chores. These tasks included daily cooking, keeping the dwelling tidy, constructing shield-hides and tent skins and sewing and mending fur clothing. Their responsibilities also consisted of keeping the oil lamp burning and the ice cellar well stocked with food for the winter months. Rightfully so, the social status of a Chukchi woman was not played down. It was noted by V.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 38 Kalinnikov, who travelled across Chukotka in 1905-1906, that " . . . women were almost equal to men in many aspects of a Chukchi way of life, and in case there was no old man in the household or he was absent, an elderly mother took over and dominated

(Kalinnikov 19l2:87).

In terms of childbearing and motherly functions Bogoraz wrote that the Chukchis were "the healthiest tribe in northeast Siberia." He noted that it was not uncommon for a Chukchi woman to bear up to 10 or more children, and for a Chukchi family to have 5 or 7 living children. The delivery usually took place in a yaranga. The laboring Chukchi or Eskimo woman sat or knelt to deliver the infant. Breast-feeding under favorable conditions lasted up to 2 or 3 years, but could endure for up to 5 years.

We have failed to find any evidence or traces of ancient traditional Chukchi or

Eskimo contraceptives, and there is no information on abortion or infanticide in the ethnographic and medical literature (nor could we find any during our field ethno- demographic studies in 1983, 1987 and 1989).

The Chukchis and Eslcimos had a custom of voluntary death, where the elderly or sick person could ask their for their "kindred to stop their suffering and help them pass away. Quite often the reason for a voluntary death was psychological suffering rather than a physical ailment. According to Bogoraz, the Chukchis had the idea that "the best places for habitation in the next world were given to people who had died voluntarily.

They were said to live in the red flames of the northern lights and spend their time playing ball - a walrus skull." (Bogoraz 1934: 108).

The above information characterizes a traditional society of Chukchis and

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 39 Eskimos prior to and during the period between the 19th and the early 20th centuries.

At present, one can hardly come across cases of n'evtumgyt relationships in the Chukchi and Eskimo villages (though sometimes it still takes place among reindeer herdsmen in the tundra). Today, there is no 'korking-off' for a wife either, children are delivered in modem hospitals, contraceptives are available, abortion is customary and rare cases of infanticide are recorded.

IV. TRADITIONAL SUBSISTENCE AND ECONOMY OF THE INDIGENOUS

POPULATIONS OF SOUTHEASTERN CHUKOTKA

Excavations of ancient Eskimo settlements in Chukotka indicate that the subsistence lifestyle of the coastal Eskimos and Chukchis during the last two millennia was based on sea hunting (Dikov 1979). Sea mammal hunting was supplemented by the

hunting of reindeer, bighorn sheep, marine birding and egg collecting, as well as fishing

and gathering edible plants. The historical evolution of sea mammal hunting has passed through several stages.

1. 1000 B.C. - 1000 A.D. This period embraced the well-known archeological

cultures known as the Ancient Bering Sea culture, Okvik culture and Bimik culture (1000

AD.) Walrus were predominantly hunted at this time, as well as seal and reindeer.

2. 1000 A.D - ca. 1500 A.D. The Punuk culture. This is the period when whaling

developed and Greenland whales were the most hunted.

3, ca. 1600's - 1930s. Whaling remains important; but there is a return to a large-

scale consumption of sea mammal resources.

Climatic changes, based on periods of rising and falling temperatures, also effect

-- -

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 40 the evolution of sea hunting in Chukotka. But apart from this flux, there was growth in the population of the Chukchi and Eskimo, as well as an improvement in the equipment and methods of sea hunting (Krupnik, 1989).

Preceding the spread of reindeer breeding in Chukotka, the semi-nomadic reindeer herder's subsistence also included fishing (Simchenko 1976). Reindeer breeding started to spread in the 1st millennium AD. At that time, herds of domesticated reindeers were small in number and wild reindeer hunting remained extremely important. After the 1950s the total number of domesticated reindeer increased dramatically. A highly specialized industry of nomadic large-scale reindeer herding was formed. As early as the beginning of the 1900s the sea mammal hunting and nomadic reindeer herding was represented by a comprehensive Arctic system of subsistence

(Krupnik 1989).

The development of reindeer breeding and hunting as practiced by the indigenous inhabitants of the Chukotka Peninsula in the early 20th century and during the Soviet period has been thoroughly studied and well documented in the scientific Literature (I.

Vdovin, I. Krupnik, M. Chlenov, L Bogoslovskaya and others). This current overview will be based on the previously mentioned author's writings as well as on our own field and archival materials.

According to Krupnik's estimates for the 1920s, 15 villages in the southeastern part of the Chukotka peninsula annually harvested on average 3-5 whales; between 800 to 900 walruses; about 1,000 large seals IaWztaks (bearded seals - Erignatus barbatus); and

4,500-5,000 small seals nerpas. (We use these words as commercial names of harvested

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 41 seals rather than biological species. The notion nerpa includes a ringed seal proper as well as harbor and ribbon seals). Harvests increased to even greater numbers with the establishment of commercial associations and kolkhozes in the 1930s when sea mammal hunting became a part of the state's planned economy aimed at the constant growth in production volumes. In 1937, foragers living in 27 villages in the southeastern part of the

Chukotka Peninsula harvested 1,600 walruses, 820 large seals, and 8,240 small seals

(Krupnik 1980: 108).

Between the years of 1937-40 the temtories of commercial "associations" and artels in the Chukotski district (which was incorporated until 1957, and is today part of the Providenski district) was overseen and organized by the People's Commissariat of

Agriculture (Narkornzem) who brought about land and water use management to the coastal populations. By the year 1938 there were 5 commercial artels and 16 commercial associations in Chukotski district. All of these Soviet-type collective farms stemmed from the coastal villages. Among the nomadic reindeer herdsmen, there was only one association engaged in the collective herding of 200 reindeer. Table 2 provides information concerning the number of collective farmers in the villages of the southern part of Chukotski district.

The collective farms in these 6 villages owned 36 whaling boats, 21' outboard motors, 4 baidara skin-boats, 330 rifled and 91 smooth-bore hunting guns. In 1938 foragers from the southeastern part of Chukotski district harvested more than 1,000 walruses, 500 lakhtaks (bearded seals) and over 6,500 small seals. Estimates of harvested sea mammals by individual village are given in Table 3.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 42 Table 2 Populations of coastal villages engaged in hunting in Southeast Chukotka

kolkhoz/village Establish. Number of Number of mllective farms' workus Number of Year collectivized hunte~s hunters Total Total males Total number females -- 1."K novoy pypli" 1929 n 304 148 156 28 Chaplino

2."Novaya zarya"' 1933 28 136 67 69 12 Yanrakynnot --- 3."Sovetskiy put'" 1934 20 % 49 . 47 11 Kivak

6."Yedinsw" 1932 25 122 64 58 16 Nunligran

Source: Narkomzem of RSFSR Chukotka land use expedition. Chukotski district. Draft initial land and water management project. 193740. Part 1.

* - Excluding Penkignei association. Table 3 Sea mammals harvest in Southeast Chukotka peninsula in 1938

Villages I I Sea mammal ha-t by collective I Private skin I Sea mammal ha- by private crews/hunters farms by collective farms Walruses Bearded Other seals seals

1. Chaplino 7/48 80 none none 1 18 115 2768

2. Yanrakimot 4/21 60 none 47 2 4 67 2532

3. Kink 5/23 W 13 2 4 8 22 653

5. Sireniki 7/42 415 193 116 ... 32 29 223

6. Nunligran 5/29 1% 31 36 2 none 111 63

Total 31/179 976 IS1 232 14? 68 434 6395

Source: Narkomzem of RSFSR Chukotka land use expedition. Chukotski region. Draft initial land and water management project. 19374. Part. 1.

Social Transition in the North Qlukotb Ethnography, Page 43 Walrus hunting in the 1930s was concentrated in new collective farms represented by artels and associations. For the time being, seal hunting remained outside the activities of collective farms. The commercial part of sea mammal hunting products, i.e. walrus, seal oil and skins, constituted 25 percent of the total harvest in 1938. Two thirds of the production was consumed by the local population. There is no reference to whale hunting in the documents of the initial land management surveys in Chukotka. Table 4 is based on the data gathered from the Anadyr land management expedition when they surveyed the Chukotski autonomous okrug in 1946-50. Table 4 Sea mammal harvests by villages in Southeastern Chukotka peninsula in 1946-50s *

Sea mammals 1947 1948 1949 1950 Annual average

Whales 4" none 1 1 15

Walruses 612 427 1020 1143 800

Beluga none 11 none 23 85

Bearded seals 335 370 434 210 337

Other seals 2740 4713 4057 3861 3843

Source: State archives of Chukotka autonomous okrug (SACAO). Fund 3, inventory #1, file 22. Materials of Anadyr land management expedition, 1946-50. - villages of Chaplino,Yanralrynnot, Kivak, Siniki, Nunfigran ** - incl. 3 whales in SiniLi, also whales of 1949 and 199.

Between the years 1940 and 1950 there was the greatest upswing in sea mammal

hunting in the villages of Southeast Chukotka. At this time almost all the old villages

still existed, yet all accessible hunting areas had been commercialized. The

I commercialization was enhanced by the coastal kolkhozes that were supplied with

schooners, whaling boats and fuel as well as by the weapons that were furnished by the

Plover state processing industries. The villagers consumed a major part of their

Social Transition in the Nofih ChukotLa Ethnography, Page 44 production sea mammal blubber, oil, meat and skins.

This situation began to change in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Military units were stationed at that time in Chukotka, with the heaviest concentration in the Bay of

Provideniya (V. Ureliki). The number of newcomers among the local population increased rapidly, and the industrial, social and consumer service infrastructure required by the new settlers took shape fast. Related to this process, in accordance with government's decision to consolidate the state-cooperative fanns into bigger units, was the accelerated conversion of purely state owned farms. This transformation was due, in part, to the influx in the population of the smaller villages of Chukotka moving to larger villages. In these villages the number of non-indigenous immigrant residents increased rapidly in order to staff administrative agencies, economic management offices, various state organizations, as well as meet the emerging industrial and social senrice infrastructure in Provideniye and the surrounding villages.

According to Krupnik, all these changes boiled down to the fact that sea mammal hunting had started to be viewed, both by immigrant settlers and the administration of

Providenski district, as a special and "exotic" outdated form of economy in urgent need of modernization, without a market outside the immediate region and no revenues available to support local farms in the district at large.

The development of the processing industries at sovkhozes, as well as the deployment of ships for hunting walruses and whales, was supervised by immigrant people (mainly Russians) and became a major force in the new economic and technological modernization of sea mammal hunting in Chukotka. The inhabitants of

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 45 the coastal villages of Chukotka had a difficult time participating in the so-called "ship hunting" of walruses and whales because of its devastating similarities to the Plover processing industries and Mechipenski motor and sea hunting station in the 1930s and

40s.

This industry worked on the assumption that hunting be done by non-traditional

Eskimo methods. Sea mammals were shot with large-calibre guns. Anti-tank guns were used, and air compressors were used to pump up killed mammals to keep them afloat.

Many of the wounded walruses and whales perished. This extremely intensive and irrational method of walrus hunting decreased the populations and resulted in the abrupt decline of the walrus harvested by schooners and power boats. Ultimately, this "modem" type of hunting brought the ship hunting industry to an end in the late 1960s (Volfson

1987).

Even though the offshore whaling industry was never revitalized in the 1970s, walrus hunting was gradually restored due to the efforts of the local hunters using whaling boats and baidara skin boats. Since 1972, all the whales for Chukotka sovkhozes were caught by the state-owned whaling boat Zvezdny and delivered to villages as ordered by sovkhoz managers. The average annual harvests of whales was usually within the grey whale hunting quota of 169 whales a year (as intr~ducedby the International

Whaling Commission in 1969) "for the needs of indigenous population".

Data related to whaling in Chukotski autonomous okrug during the 1950-1980 interval is given in the Appendices. Table 5 relates to the harvests of sea mammals in the Providenski region during the period of 1950-1980 period.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page. 46 Table 5

Average annual sea mammal harvests in Providenski district, 1956-1990

Sea mammals 195W 1%1& 1%70 1971F75 1976-80 1981-82 II I I I I I I I Whales 23 97 59 74 76 49

Walruses 818 nl 278 371 615 1091 845 Bearded Seals 782 724 810 526 327 335 Other Seals *" 2293 2964 1741 929 394 764 901 / Soum: Calculations made on the basis of annual reports data of sovkhaes in Providenski district of Chukotski autonomous olaug. Summary annual reports of kolkhozcs and sovkhaes in Pruvidenski district were used to calculate the 1950-1980 figures.

- The annual report of the Chukotka Inspection of Okhotsluybmd was used to arrive at the 1990 figures.

*' - of the total given 16 whales were delivered to Siniki, 2 each to Nunligran and to Chaplino and Yanrakynnot

"' - including harbor seal and ribbon seal.

W.A. Reindeer Breeding

Reindeer breeding failed to develop to any considerable extent in the areas of the

Chukotka Peninsula adjacent to the Bering Strait. This is due to insufficiently favorable natural and ecological conditions. Frequent thaws, glazed ice and strong winds hindered the herding, feeding and calving of domesticated reindeers in these parts. The severe climatic conditions, in this area, have had a negative impact on the reindeer breeding pastures of the Providenski district.. Even if there is enough good forage under the snow, residents try not to use the open space for reindeer pasture since it might lead to loss of livestock. Strong winds press the snow down so hard that a walking man is unable to break through the packed snow.

The areas most conducive for calving are within the southern slopes because they

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 47 are shielded by the mountains, against the northern winds, and the snow melts here earlier. Such areas can be found throughout the highlands. Herds that pasture in the coastal tundra find themselves in worse conditions. In this case only smaller herds, between 100 to 200 head, can find shelter in shallow shapes of the ground (Papers of the

Chukotka Land Utilization Survey Expedition 1937-1940). In this region only spring and summer are favorable for reindeer breeding. Fall and winter are difficult for the reindeer and during this time of year a considerable number of livestock, especially calves, are lost.

Traditionally, the major part of the annual occupational cycle of reindeer breeders was spent in the continental areas of Chukotka while the coastal areas were used for summer herding only. However, in the 1950s reindeer breeding, as an industry, had already become common for the local sovkhozes. To this day, the region of East

Chukotka is considered a "zone of risky reindeer breeding." The total number of reindeer in the Providenski region was not considerable compared with other districts of the Chukotski autonomous okrug (Table 6).

Table 6 Reindeer Herd Sizes in the Sovkhoses of Providenski district (year end estimates)

Reindeer, head 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991

Total 19503 19207 20315 21908 21777 21307 20606

Savkhoses 18403 18039 19085 Un44 2Q255 19479 18715

Individual households 1100 1168 1230 1164 1522 1828 1891

Source: Providenskoye district department of statistics. The comprehensive collection of economic estimates of Providenski district in 1991.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Pagt 48 State purchases of venison from the sovkhozes of the Providenski district amounted to 270 tons in 1985,265 tons in 1987, 412 tons in 1988, 413 tons in 1989, 413 tons in 1990 and 349 tons in 1991.

Between 1950 and 1960 reindeer breeding in East Chukotka remained traditional in its social structure, its methods of herding, and in the nomadic itineraries of herdsmen.

In the 1970s the process of changing the traditional reindeer breeding in Chukotka started, in an attempt to adjust to the tasks of the economic development of sovkhozes.

What is more, efforts were exerted to link it to the prevailing State ideological directive aimed at "rooting out the harmful survivals of the past in the life" of the peoples of the

North, in the process of building the so-called "developed socialism" in the USSR, to create a society in which all nomads had to be converted to a settled mode of life.

Dwelling houses were built on the Chukchi tundra; and trailers, made of plywood

("balkas"), were placed all across the herding territories for temporary habitation of sovkhoz herdsmen without their families. Such dwellings were called "reindeer breeding bases." To foster the further development of reindeer breeding, sovkhozes were provided with heavy-duty tracked cross-country vehicles, and funds were allocated to rent helicopters to serve teams of herdsmen to remove products from their camping sites.

The so-called "'shift-team" or "watch-type reindeer herding was introduced. This type of herding assumed that a herdsman only went periodically to the herd to do his job, but lived in his village. Male herdsmen stayed with the herd for one or two months, then returned to their village for a month to rest or work in the village. Their family members, wives, elderly parents and children had nothing to do with the sovkhoz herds.

Ski1 Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 49 Strict limitations were set so individual ownership could not exceed more than 60 reindeer per herdsman. Thus, the very foundation of traditional reindeer breeding, the patriarchal family with its own herd of reindeer and the territory for its herding and seasonal migration itineraries, was destroyed in no time. In addition to this, the traditional system of upbringing, socializing and training reindeer breeders was also eliminated.

Young reindeer breeders were now trained at the Providenski vocational training school (VTS), but the knowledge acquired in class was insufficient to do an adequate job on the tundra. Because of the lengthy education of young people first at boarding schools, and then at Providenski VTS, children began losing touch with their family traditions as well as the command of their native language. Social and demographic problems started to surface and young reindeer breeders found it more difficult to have a family working in the reindeer breeding industry, and as a result, a husband who was a herdsman became unattractive to potential spouses in the villages.

Reindeer breeding quickly began to become plagued with problems on the part of skilled specialists, increases of alcohol abuse, accidents and suicides. In addition, the conditions of the reindeer pastures deteriorated when the deployment of heavy-duty transport facilities in the tundra commenced, to transport ''watch'' teams of herdsmen, to and from their camps, in order to maintain supplies and remove finished products from their pastures.

N.B. Hunting industry

The wild reindeer was the main species of land mammals hunted in the Chukchi

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 50 tundra prior to European contact. In the past, the hunting of migrating reindeers took place in the spring and fall while reindeer herds crossed rivers. Other mammals that were hunted were bighorn sheep, polar bears, and Russian bears.

In the second part of the 17th century, Russian fur hunting expanded to East

Siberia and the Far East. The main fur game hunted in Chukotski peninsula were arctic foxes and red foxes. Wolves, ermine and hares were also hunted. The pelts from these animals became the main furs provided by the eastern (so-called "Cape" or "nosovye")

Chukchis and Eskimos from the Chukotski peninsula. However, fur game has never been the main line of business for the Chukchis and Eskimos. In winter they preferred to hunt ringed seals rather than arctic foxes. But in the 1930s fur hunting, and the delivery of pelts to the State, started to develop in the colfarm system as the sales of

Siberian furs abroad became a major source of hard currency in USSR revenues. At that time, according to the reports of the land use surveys in Chukotski district, in the

1937-1940 period fur game (before collectivisation of reindeer breeders) ranked second in importance as a source of money income for local farms, immediately following the sea mammal hunting industry.

During the above period almost all pelts were handed over to the State. The actual commodity output of furs in 1938 constituted 96.1 percent of the total estimated harvest. Inhabitants of coastal villages provided three quarters of the total fur output produced in Chukotski district in 1938; while a quarter of the overall production was provided by nomadic reindeer breeders.

The following range and scope of the 1938 harvest of the basic species of fur

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 51 game (arctic foxes and red foxes) was purchased by the State from the kolkhozes of

Southeast Chukotka: Chaplino - 91 arctic foxes and 22 red foxes, Sireniki - 104 and 34,

Yanrakynnot - 91 and 9, Kivak - 22 and one, Urelik - 44 and 12, and from Nunligran -

117 arctic foxes and 47 red foxes (Land use surveys). Table 7 shows that during the second half of the 1940s, the scope of the State purchases of arctic fox and common fox remained at the same level.

Table 7

Purchases of Arctic Fox/Common Fox in Kolkhoses of SouthEast Chukotka 1946-1950

Villagelyear 1946147 1947/48 1948/49 1949150 Annual average

1.Chaplino 95/11 5112 11012 13713 24715

2.Yanrakynnot 112117 7513 137/17 5416 95/11

3.Kivak w- 3012 -1- 1121- 5411 4.Sireniki los/S 185117 213111 152/21 16/14

5.Nunligran %/g 6915 326/9 12912 15.516 Total (district) 483141 410/29 786/39 584/a 56613.5

Source: SACAO, fond.3, inventory Y1, fde 22. Materials of Anadyr land management expedition, 1946-1950

Apart from polar foxes and common foxes, hunters handed over to the State 31

skins of white bear, 5 skins of Russian bear, 12 skins of wolf (all harvested by Sireniki

residents), 173 skins of ermine and 103 skins of hare between the years 1946-1950.

In the 1950s all kolkhoz hunters were aggregated to form teams (brigades) with

hunting territories assigned to them. These territories were divided into individual

hunting sectors. The hunting industry now implied not only hunting proper, but also

elementary bio-technical tasks such as additional foddering. Thus, during the 1957-1958

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 52 interval, annual supplies provided to the Providenski district to feed the arctic foxes totaled 15-16 tons of sea mammal meat and blubber. But due to the lack of transport, the forage was difficult to handle across the tundra and the supplies were left unmoved from the seashore.

Traditional dog teams were used as a means of transportation during fur hunting.

However by the 1950s not every hunter owned dog sleds and those without had to hunt on foot in the vicinity of their villages. As a reward for the furs handed over to the

State, hunters and trappers were given "work-day ticks" instead of money. The hunter's family could, then, be given some subsistence food in accordance with the number of

"ticks" made. Thus, in the Edinstvo kolkhoz (village of Nudigran) a hunter would be given 6 work-day ticks for a skin of arctic fox, 3.5 ticks for a common fox, 6 for a wolf, 3 for a bear and 0.5 for an ermine (provided all the furs were of top quality). The range of "work-day" estimates differed from kolkhoz to kolkhoz and could be changed during the year depending on the general economic condition of the colfarm or for other reasons. Such a system of "work-day ticks" payment for hunters' work prompted the kolkhoz to make up for its losses by constantly underpaying and withholding what was due to colfarm employees. Table 8 examines the number of professional and amateur hunters and their types of equipment in the kolkhozes of Providenski district.

W.C. Fur Breeding

In the 1950s the fur hunting and trapping industry were augmented by the production of finished furs at kolkhoz fur-farms. The first fur farm was built in Sireniki

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 53 Table 8

The Number of Hunters and their Implements in Kolkhoses of

Providenski District in season 1957158 year

Village/Kolkhoz Number of hunters Implements

Professional Amateur Trap CBR' Carbioes Dog sledges Fowling

1.Novoe Chaplino 18 4 700 19 21 13 14 "Novaya uisn"

2.Yanrakynnot 22 4 780 3 20 15 "Novaya zaryam

3.Sireniki 22 6 800 28 23 16 "Udamik"

4.Nunligran 20 5 540 21 16 11 "Yedinswo"

5.Enmelen 34 7 900 37 23 16 "Mayak Seven"

6.Ureliki 48 300 3

Total (in district) 116 74 4020 131 103 71

Source: Materials of land management expedition, the RSFSR Ministry of Agriculture "Hunting industry inspection and hunting land taxation in Providenski district kolkhozes". * - small-bore rifle. in 1958. It was supplied with 42 black-silver foxes by Zabaikalsk fur-sovkhoz. At a later date fur farms were redirected to breeding arctic fox. In the 1950s fur farms were built in almost in every large village of Chukotka. Their role in the economy and ecological environment of Chukotka villages has been extremely contradictory. Despite the fact that fur farms were allowed to take part in the harvests of the sea mammal hunting industry they still had a difficult time with their farm production in arctic conditions.

This was because of the immense demand for supplies and energy from afar needed to

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Uhnography, Page 54 convert this production into a capital business.

In the 1980s the fur animal production in the State owned farms of the

Providenski district increased slowly. In 1985 there were 2,709 "cage" reared arctic foxes in Providenski district, while in 1989 there were 3,121 and in 1991 3,033. Throughout the 1980s all the existing fur farms in Chukotka were deficient and unprofitable. The

State subsidized the farm production of furs in northern sovkhozes, and justified its policy because it was saving jobs for the indigenous population as well as other minorities of the North.

Currently, given the conditions of the market economy, with no more State subsidies available, compounded with the decline in the resources of the sea mammal industry and finally the need for staggering supplies of fodder and fuel needed to produce energy in northern villages, there will be eventually a drop in consumers' demand for furs and sovkhoz fur-farms will soon be phased out. Not only will this decline make the local economy healthier, but it will have a positive impact on the ecological and sanitary environment of the inhabited areas, because the fur-farms have been the worst source of pollution because these operations dump their waste in and around the villages. The elimination of fur farms would obviously also have a negative impact upon the economy of the Chukchi villages and would ultimately result in reducing the existing employment level by approximately 10 to 15 percent. The curtailment of the fur production by the farms should therefore be gradual and well-regulated, and at the same time foster and promote alternative forms of employment in the indigenous villages of Chukotka.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 55 In 1990 the State farms (sovkhozes) of Chukotka and traditional industries of the

Northern peoples entered a new stage of development. However, this new era lacked in the State subsidies that were previously used to finance sovkhozes' material and technical supplies, as well as the production and social infrastructure of Northern villages. The

Chukotski District Soviet of People's Deputies adopted decisions and regulations about the procedure of privatization in sovkhozes, including the privatization of the sovkhoze reindeer herds. Some of the sovkhoze reindeer herding teams opted for lease contracts without quitting the sovkhoze system.

As early as 1992 the sovkhozes of the Providenski district were forced to refuse further deliveries of grey whale meat to fur farms following the shortage of funds available. During the summer season of 1992 the whaler Zvadny remained idle. At present, suggestions are being put forward to organize bowhead whale hunts by professional sea hunters hired from among the Chukchis and Eskimos. To achieve this goal the International Whaling Commission fixed a commercial bowhead whale quota for the indigenous hunters of Chukotka (at the same time preserving the hunting quota of

169 grey whales). This, however, stirs up quite a few problems relating to the organization of the supplies needed by the hunters residing in the coastal villages of

Chukotka. Under the prevailing conditions the sovkhozes in the Providenski and

Chukotski districts have started to experience difficulties in marketing their venison and fur products. In the years to come one should expect a more profound reorganization of sovkhozes and the shaping up of the cooperative and private sectors of economy in the ethnic villages of Chukotka.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 56 V. THE PRESENT SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION IN THE PROVIDENSKI

DISTRICT

VA Distribution, Demographic Processes and Health of the Population

VAl. Population

According to the 1989 census 9,981 thousand people lived in the Providenski district (raion)at the time of the census; 55.5 percent of the population is urban and 45.5 percent is rural. The dynamics of change in the ethnic composition of the population in the Providenski district during the 1950-1980 interval is shown in Table 9.

Taking ethnicity in mind, the entire population of Chukotka is usually divided into an aboriginal or indigenous population and a non-aboriginal (non-indigenous) population. The non-indigenous population includes immigrants who are Russians,

Ukrainians, , Jews and other nationalities who are not peoples of the North.

While the indigenous population of the district basically consists of Chukchis and

Eskimos, along with an insigmficant number of other northern peoples, such as Eveni,

Koryaki, Chuvantsi, Mansi and others who also reside in this district.

The indigenous Chukchi residents of the district constitute 64.4 percent, while

Eskimos are 35.5 percent. The Chukchis are the most numerous minority of Chukotka and are settled more or less evenly across the whole territory of Chukotski autonomous okrug (ethnic district). Over 50 percent of the Siberian Eskimo population resides in the

Providenski district, and 77.2 percent of the total population of the district consist of non-indigenous people who are mainly Russians and Ukrainians. The major influx and formation of the immigrant population started in the late 1930s, and increased

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 57 dramatically during the 1950-1960, and continues to grow steadily.

Table 9

Dynamics of Ethnic Composition of Population

in Southeastern Chukotka (based on population census data)

'I Population Total popula- Native P* Chukcbi Eskimo Non-Nativc Russians Nativcs census tion pulation Population proportion year 1897 Sam Sam 3700 1300 - ... 100 1926 4950 4900 3700 12iM 50 ... 99 1939 6300 5100 4000 1100 lux) ... 81 1959' 9862 4087 3239 848 5775 ... 41

1959" 6267 1590 1028 562 4677 3747 25.3 1970 8728 1939 1310 629 6789 5559 22.2

1979 8736 1949 1331 718 6787 5394 22.3

1989 9981 2275 1467 808 7706 6087 22.8

*- within the boundaries of the former Chukotski district (mion). The populations in the territory of the present Providenski district are estimated for 1897,1926 and 1939. **- within the administrative boundaries of tbe Providenski district.

VA.2. The Present Distribution of Population and Villages The district center, Providenia, is the only urban-type settlement in the area, and has a population of 5,500. Other settlements are villages scattered a great distance from each other and from the district center, with the exception of Ureliki and Novoye Chaplino, which are connected with the center by aviation and sometimes they can be reached in the summer by sea. The villages of Nunligran and Enmelen are the most remote villages located 180 and 220 km from Providenia respectively. As shown in Table 10, the majority of the non-indigenous population of the Providenski district, 5,200 out of 5,500 residents (about 95 percent) are concentrated in the district center of Providenia and in the village of Ureliki nearby, on the opposite

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 58 shore of the Bay Komsomolskaya. The indigenous population of the district resides primarily in the other five villages. Table 10 The Ethnic Composition of Population in the Villages of the Providenski District(according to the 1989 All-Union Population Census)

Total Peoples of the North Non-Native population Total Chukchi Eskimo

11 Nunligran Enmelen

The present population settlement pattern in the Providenski district took shape

by the mid-1960s. The policy of closing small villages with the consequent resettlement

of indigenous residents into larger villages has been enforced since the late 1930s and

has led to a noticeable reduction in the number of settlements in the Providenski district.

Compared with 1926, when the first census of the economic units of the North was

conducted, the number of permanent settlements in Chukotka decreased substantially

and the distance between villages increased accordingly.

1- According to Krupnik, brief historical data indicates that the forced resettlement t. of the indigenous population of Chukotka, from age-old small villages to larger ones is

evident (Krupnik 1987235-90). The old Eskimo village of Avan was closed in 1942 and

- -- --

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 59 its entire population was moved to the village of Ureliki at the Bay Komsomolski and, then later in 1946, all residents of Ureliki were resettled in the village of Plover. In 1958 it was closed, and its Eskimo population then had to move to Sireniki, Providenia and

Chaplino. Declared to be "unpromising," the village of Kivak was closed in 1952 and its residents were resettled in Staroye (Old) Chaplino (Ungazik). Then, in 1958-1959

Chaplino (Ungazik) followed suit and its population was moved to a new village -Novoye

(New) Chaplino. This place was situated at the Bay Tkachen and was conveniently fit for housing construction and dwelling, but biologically the region was poor and was too remote from hunting areas. The residents of Enmelen, Nunligran and Yanrakynnot escaped resettlement. The population from these old villages on the coast increased considerably at the expense of tundra herders who were gradually deprived of their reindeers and made to live a settled way of life thereafter. The Eskimo village of

Sireniki also escaped resettlement.

The aggregation of villages into bigger units in Chukotka has no doubt saved government funds. The resettlement, however, has caused painful social and psychological trauma for the indigenous population. The Eskimos were especially affected, even more so than the Chukchis, by the relocation of their traditional settlements. The relocation of the cultural landscape and the altered linkage to traditional hunting grounds has led ultimately to the deterioration of subsistence conditions. The increase in the density of the population in the remaining villages, and the influx of migrants in the district and in the villages, have complicated the adaptation of native residents to the new lifestyle and eventually led to ethnic and social

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 60 degradation.

The living conditions, availability of lodging for the aboriginal population, and the amenities in their houses are much worse than those provided for the immigrant residents. The majority of Chukchi and Eskimo families still live in the wooden squared beam houses built in the late 1950-1960s. These housing resources are dilapidated, and many of the houses have not been repaired for years (or have never been repaired); and they do not correspond even to the minimum modem standards of comfort and practical hygiene. Street cleaning, sewage and domestic refuse removal take place in summer only. In winter, waste and scrap pile up in the streets near the houses. Moreover, in winter the village population is not provided with water in su£Eicient quantity. In certain villages of the Providenski district, the daily water consumption per resident in winter is not more than one litre (Slastina, 1985); therefore, the villagers use snow nearby to melt into water.

According to the information provided by the village Soviets of the Chukotski autonomous okrug, 85 percent of the total number of indigenous families lived in one- room flats (with kitchen) without running water or sewage in 1978. Among the families living in one-room flats 54.7 percent consisted of 4 to 6 people or more and 58 percent had less than 3.5 square meters of living space per person. It was not uncommon to come across families of 3 to 4 generations living together in just one room (Terentyeva

1987). At present, the situation has not changed much and may even have worsened.

According to the Chukotski district statistical department, the availability of living space among reindeer herders in 1991 was 5.3 sq. meters per person. In the Providenski

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 61 district residents of Enmelen and YanrakyMot are provided with less square footage of

living space than anybody else (4.2 and 5.5 sq. meters respectively). The best living

conditions are in Sireniki and Nunligran where there are up to 7.6 sq. meters of living

space per person. The basic ingredients of the modem social infrastructure, such as

schools, boarding schools, kindergartens, creches, clubs, outpatient clinics, hospitals, drug-

stores, and communications centers exist in the majority of villages in the Providenski

district. However, problems of their location, funding and technical supplies are equally

challenging almost everywhere.

V.A.3. The Structure of Population and Demographic Processes

An analysis of the historical demography of the indigenous population of the

region is presented in the papers of I. Krupnik. In one of his publications he closely

examines the historical demography of southeastern Chukotka (Krupnik ?:106). This

publication is based on the archaeological reconstructions and documentary data which

contains the estimates of population numbers in 45 old Eskimo villages. According to

the author, the population of the region, in the period of the Bering Sea culture, never

exceeded 500 or 600 people and grew up slowly reaching the level of 1,000 to 1,300

people by the Punuk period with the advent of Russians to Chukotka. In the 19th

century both the size and habitat of the Eskimo population was reduced due to diseases,

starvation and the advancement of the Chukchis to the coastal areas. By the end of the

19th century the Eskimo population grew for awhile only to drop down again during the

first decades of the 20th century due to unfavorable ecological and economic situations

(Krupnik ?: 110-111).

I Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 62 The modem demographic process involving the population of the Providenski

district has developed under the influence of major social and cultural changes which

started in the 1960s and continue to persist. The most common long term tendencies of

demographic changes are largely the same, be it immigrant or native residents, with the

birth and death rates of both groups gradually declining and the parameters of fertility

and mortality still varying a great deal. However, the variation in the age and gender

composition of the indigenous and immigrant population remains considerable.

For the Chukchi and Eskimo populations a high proportion of children and teen-

agers is typical - about 40 percent of the population is younger than 15 years old

(according to the census of 1989). The high fertility rate in the 1980s boosted the size of

the junior age group. This rise has had social consequences, which have resdted in the

need for greater capacities at child welfare institutions and schools.

The able-bodied population (in Russia this is defined as ages 16 to 60 for males;

and 16 to 55 for females) in the structure of the indigenous population of the

Providenski district accounts for about 54 percent, including 35 percent of the 20-39 age

group. This index indicates a relatively 'young" able-bodied population. The high

I proportion of teenagers can result in the drain of labor resources and cause possible

youth employment problems. Numerically, women prevail among the adult population.

The size of the aged population is only 5 percent and senior citizens are plagued by a

I high mortality rate. In contrast, in Russia one out of eight people who is 60 years or

older is over the age of 80. And among the Chukchis and Eskimo, one person in 30 over

the age of 60 exceeds the age of 80.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 63 The small proportion of aged people is, perhaps, the only similarity in the age and

gender composition of the indigenous and immigrant residents of the Providenski district.

This factor among the newcomers, however, is due to the constant outflow of those who

are nearing the pension age, rather than a high mortality rate (the whole structure of

newcomers in the North is determined by the migration of population). Among the

newcomers the proportion of middle able-bodied ages is almost 70 percent, with males

prevailing. Due to the high proportion of middle-aged people, the share of children

looks larger, and on the average it is higher than compared with the total population of

Russia, but smaller than that of the Northern peoples. There are very few teenagers in

the families of newcomers. The families with grown-up children and teenagers who have

finished high school and leave are replaced by others at the ages of 20-25 and older.

The demographic processes of fertility and mortality among newcomers should be

evaluated with regard to specific age structure characterized by a high proportion of

people aged 20 to 40. This factor strongly influences the overall birth and death rates,

setting fertility too high and mortality too low. Despite the fact that the birth rate

among newcomers in the Providenski district is imprecisely known (but probably ranges

between 15 to 18 per 1,000), it is clear that the fertility rate here is extremely low. In

the unstable environment, ensuing from high migration mobility, yomg people who move

to the North are in no hurry to have children. The Magadanskaya oblast (province) is

1 known to have the highest birth control rates in Russia.

Despite the high marriage rate here there are also many divorces. The death rate

among newcomers in the Providenski district is rather high, despite the severe migration

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 64 selection, which means that people with poor health fail to adjust to the local climatic and social conditions and leave more frequently than those who are physically fit.

Between the years of 1960-1970 the average life expectancy of the entire population of the Magadanskaya oblast was 3 to 4 years less than in the RSFSR. This difference depended largely on the high level of violent deaths (due to traumas, suicides and homicides). In the late 1980s the gap between the death rates in the Magadanskaya oblast and in the RSFSR became much smaller. The main factor in this was the lower mortality in the Magadanskaya oblast and, in particular, a decline in the number of poisonings and traumas during an anti-alcohol campaign in 1985-1987. Unlike the newcomers whose numbers and population rates are largely determined by the nature of migration processes, the dynamics of the size of the indigenous Northern population is determined by the demographic processes which can be seen in terms of fertility and mortality (as well as ethnic assimilation). As it was stated above, in the remote past, and in the period from the late 19th century onwards, there have been times of both accelerated and slower growth in the demographic history of the Chukchis and Eskimos, as well as periods when their numbers decreased due to high mortality caused by disease and starvation.

The last demographic disaster, caused by hunger and epidemics, fell in the late

1930s and raged on until the early 1950s. The data provided in Table 11 have been found by our researchers in the State archives of the Chukotski autonomous okrug (the village of Anadyr). For years it was marked as "top secret" because it shows the catastrophically high death rates in the native population of Chukotka in the years

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 65 Table 11

Demographic Changes Among the Native Population in the

Chukotski National Ohgin 1939-1941

--~- Population Year 1939 Year 1940 Year 1941 Results for Population Infant ** PUPs 3- in 1939' mortality Birth Deaths Births Deaths Births Deaths Chukchi 112 ls2 110 162 128 210 -163 12111

~skimo n 62 35 36 17 20 + 7 so2 Even 8 21 ls 20 9 25 -34 817

Chwantsy 69 20 25 -74 649

Other Nat- 36 47 18 31 9 16 -31 335 ives Non-Natives 143 34 185 39 191 78 + 368 5373 Total 372 316 363 357 365 374 +n 20787

- - Source: CHACAO, Fund 8, Chukotka District Health Department, List 1, fde 30.

* - according to the 1939 census.

** - number of deaths at the age of less than a year a. per 1,000 born.

"' - other peoples of the North.

In the late 1950s and in the early 1960s an increase in population was noted.

However, this increase came almost to an end in the late 1960s when a small generation of women born in the 1940s entered the fertility period and reduced the number of newborns. As early as the 1970s the cultural and ethnic assimilation of the Chukchis

(and especially the Eskimos) intensified and became significant. This integration was associated with an increase in the numbers of newcomers, as well as with the development of schooling and vocational training programs, both of which helped provide modernized lifestyles and employment for the Native population. As a result,

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 66 this led to the decline of birth rates following the widespread practice of birth control in families using modem contraceptives and abortion. During the 1970s the Chukchis and

Eskimos of the Providenski district experienced a typically low natural increase in population due to the constant drop in numbers of newborns (see Table 12).

Table 12

Dynamics of Demographic Indices for Aboriginal/Indigenous Population

of the Providenski District

11 Indicators 1 196064 1 1965-69 1 1970-74 1 1975-79 1 1980-84 1 1985-89 1 1990-92 11 - - - -- Crude birth rates 30.6 23.4 19.0 192 203 21.O 18.1 11 H I I I I

Infant mortality* 55 40 23 36 28 21 II I 11 Nuptiality 14.0 13.0 113 92 I 10.1 10.2 1 13.6 11 11 Divorces 1 4.7 1 85 1 7.4 1 7.8 1 5.9 1 6.8 1 7.0 11

* - per 1,000 population. " - dead before reaching the age of one per 1,000 newborns.

With the beginning of the 1980s the numbers of newborns have increased dramatically as a result of the structural change in the generations born during the 1960s who have entered their childbearing years. In the 1980s the USSR government adopted incentives to foster fertility and provide State assistance to families with children in the form of small monthly payments. This action has produced clear results. One result was that the highest birth rates on record were recorded in 1986-1988. But since 1989 the birth rate has decreased. The basic factor that has influenced the decrease in the fertility rate was low marriage rates and the spread of family planning practices. Birth control is more common among the Eskimo families than in the Chukchi families.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 67 Mortality in the aboriginal population is higher than among newcomers. This is confirmed by the data on the average life expectancy (calculated for all the Northern peoples in the Magadanski oblast) that is included in Table 13.

Table 13

Dynamics of the Average Life Expectancy of the Northern

Peoples of the Magadanski Oblast

Life expectancy 195859 1969-70 197879 1988-89 Year 1989. bars)

Both genders 43 44 45 56 69.7

Male 40 42 43 52 64.2

Female 46 46 47 60 745 - life expectancy of the RSFSR/Russia population.

Throughout the 1960s, and presumably the second half of the 1950s, the net death rates of the aboriginal/indigenous population decreased, with some variability by age and cause. Infant mortality declined while middle age death rates increased. Death from infectious diseases, which used to be the main cause of death prior to the 1960s, was now dropping at a rate of 5 to 7 percent. But on the other hand, traumas and poisonings already had ranked first as a principal cause of death by the beginning of the 1970s. If the changes in the mortality of the indigenous Chukchi and Eskimo populations are to be judged by the dynamics of overall death rates it can be clearly seen that after the period of a decline in mortality during the 1960s, a noticeable increase in mortality took place between the years 1969-1974. The death rate continued to decline slowly with this tendency and become most pronounced in the mid-1980s, with the minimum death rates

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 68 occurring between 1986-1988. The decrease of violent deaths, associated with alcohol abuse and alcoholism, occurred partially because of an anti-alcohol campaign that was waged by the State. In 1980-1984 traumas and poisoning caused more than 40 percent of all the deaths, while in 1985-1989 they accounted for less than 3 percent.

A considerable increase in the average life expectancy occurs during the same period (see Table 13). Recently, however, the share of deaths caused by traumas

(homicides and suicides included) and the crude death rate, in general, has increased.

The reason for this is primarily the termination of the abortive anti-alcohol State policy

(the campaign was waged by administrative methods, harsh propaganda and coercion only). Presumably, it can also be related to the general deterioration of the economic situation and health care in the region. The current decade (the 1990s) is likely to be characterized by a further decline in birth rates with some increase in the death rate among natives of Chukotka and the Providenski district.

V.A.4. Health Care

Medical care in the Providenski district is offered to the population in 12 medico- prophylactic institutions totaling 170 hospital beds. Ambulatory and polyclinic care can cope with 323 visits a day. The network of medical institutions at present is as follows:

Provideniya township

1. The Central District Hospital (CDH), includes 110 beds and is a polyclinic able to handle 180 visits of ambulatory patients per shift.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 69 2. The District antituberculous dispensary contains 30 beds and consists of an ambulatory

clinic that accommodates 18 visits per shift.

3. Two medical stations are available that handle 35 visits per shift.

1. 4. The Sanitary Epidemiological Station (SES).

Sireniki

5. The community hospital holds 10 beds and has a an ambulatory clinic that

accommodates 15 visits per shift.

! Enmelen

6. This community hospital contains 10 beds and houses an ambulatory clinic that will

accommodate 6 visits per shift.

Nunligran

7. The medical ambulatory clinic handles 6 visits per shift.

Yanrakynno t.

8. The community hospital provides 10 beds and can handle 6 visits per shift.

Novoye Chaplino

9. The medical ambulatory clinic will accommodate 50 visits per shift.

1

In addition to the medical facilities of the Providenya District the state farms of

Udarnik (Sireniki), Mayak Severa (Nunligran) and Zarya Kommunizma (Yanrakynnot)

I have three itinerant doctor's assistants and obstetrical stations (DAOS). The material

(resource) base of all the medical institutions in the Providenski district is poor. Almost

all the village hospitals and ambulatory clinics are stationed in old second-hand buildings

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 70 which do not meet modern sanitary and hygienic regulations. Considerable funds are

annually spent from the local health care budget to carry out repairs to maintain the

facilities in working condition.

[ Table 14 contains data on the availability of personnel and hospital beds in the

medical institutions of the Providenski district.

Table 14

Availability of Personnel and Hospital Beds in the Medical Institutions

of the Providenski District (for 1988)*

Number of Number of Number of Number of Beds available doctors doctors actually paraprofesionals paraprofessionals mandated pnsent @ercent) mandated actually PBnt (pemnt) Providenski district 52.1 73.9 155.4 81.6 in5

Russia 45.9 93.7 121.6 ... 135.8

- per 10,000 population.

It is obvious from these data that there was a sigdicant shortage of doctors in the

Providenski district during the late 1980s. In the following years, and currently, this

problem seems to have become more challenging. It is also important to bear in mind

that not only is the turnover of medical personnel extremely high, but the medical stas

general and specialized Arctic training is inadequate. The availability of hospital beds in

the Providenski district is adequate. According to the local health authorities, however,

:- ' a hospital bed can hardly "do the job" efficiently if it not supplemented with modern

medicine, state of the art equipment and skilled personnel. The major challenge is not

the number of hospital beds available, nor how many days a year a hospital bed is

I Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 71 t occupied; rather, it is vital to change the overall strategy of medical aid to the native population of Chukotka.

VA.5. Morbidity

Morbidity registration in accordance with standards matching the International

Classification of Diseases and Death Causes 1980 (the 9th revision), has been carried out in all the hospitals and ambulatories in the Providenski district since 1988. The purpose of the registration is to rationalize disease classifiation and diagnosis (using "Form 1").

Until 1988 another form of reporting was practiced (known as "Form 071y1'). This type of documentation covered only the most serious and most widely spread illnesses, and did not isolate classes of diseases. Statistical reports on the morbidity of the Providenski district in relation to the peoples of the North, the Chukchis and Eskimos, used to be drawn up until 1988 and was included in the annual reports of the Providenskaya .Central district hospital (CDH). At present, statistical reports on morbidity among the native peoples of Chukotka is required by Form 1, and is drawn up in village hospitals only.

This information is then forwarded with the annual reports to the medical statistics office of the Providenskaya CDH.

In the annual report, however, the information dealing with the morbidity of the

Chukchis and Eskimos in the Providenski district is not summarized, and the data collected by the village hospitals is not included in the annual report of the

Providenskaya CDH. Morbidity studies, according to Form 1 covering the district, separate the township population (Providenia) from the rural temtory (all the rest of the villages) without singling out native people. In addition, certain problems have been

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 72 encountered while collecting data on morbidity among the indigenous population of the

Providenski district. These problems are due to the fact that the administration of the

Providenskaya CDH refuses to provide any information pertaining to the health of the district population. Their noncompliance is declared in the Chukotski district health department's letter which ceased all access to research workers from the USSR Academy of Sciences and the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. The only exception to this ban was the Academician of the Siberian Section of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences

Comrade Nikitine who resides in Novosibirsk.

In response to our inquiry concerning the reasons for such a position at the

Chukotski district health department, the head doctor of the Providenskaya CDH revealed that it was done "at the request" of Comrade Nikitine. Therefore, at present, it appears to be difficult to conduct a survey of morbidity among the Chukchis and

Eskimos in the Providenski district. In the future, such a review will no doubt be accomplished. There are data available on the high morbidity rates among the native population. These data are on tuberculosis (Severnye Prostory 1991:37), infectious and parasitic diseases, acute respiratory virus diseases (ARVD), hepatitis, measles, scarlet fever and diphtheria biohelminthosis.

There is an upsurge in the number of diseases of blood circulation and sense organs, including chronic otitis, laryngitis and nasopharyngitis. Myopia is widespread.

Compared to other districts and ethnic groups of native populations a higher rate of morbidity and death due to cancer is recorded among the indigenous population of

Chukotka. There has also been an increase in alcoholism, mental disorders and suicides.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 73 Avitaminosis and iron deficiency anemia have recently become especially widespread.

VA6. Health and Diet

The results of research into the actual diet of the residents in Providenski and other districts of Chukotka indicate unfavorable conditions among both the native populations and newcomers. According to the research, the immigrant population consumes more fats, mostly animal, than is recommended, up to 40 percent of the total caloric value, with a high content of saturated fatty acids (NFA) - 17.1 percent, and a low content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PNFA) - 4.6 percent. This contributes to the development of atherosclerosis and higher death rates due to ischemic (coronary) disease. Besides that, the immigrant population consumes large amounts of sugar, 11.7 percent of the total caloric value, coupled with a low general consumption of carbohydrates, 42.1 percent, and an especially small intake of starch - 24.5 percent. This type of a diet eventually leads to the spread of coronary disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity and other diseases. The consumption of large quantities of canned goods (meat, vegetables) contributes to a greater share of sodium chloride in the diet (a factor which reinforces the development of arterial hypertension and atherosclerosis) (Astakhova et al. 1984).

The diet of the native population has its own peculiarities depending on the location of habitation (on the coasts or in the inland tundra areas). The diet of the population of Chukotka tundra reindeer herders is characterized by a high share of protein, 26 percent of the total caloric value, and by a large consumption of alimentary

cholesterol mainly derived from venison (601.2 mg/day). Fats account for 32 percent of

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 74 the total caloric value with monosaturated fatty acids (MSFA) providing up to 11.7 percent of fuel value; 37.6 percent of the total caloric value results from the consumption of carbohydrates. The caloric quota of sugar consumed is also very high -

21 percent. The traditional ration of reindeer herders in the past used to include more products from sea mammal hunting containing PNFA with lower concentrations of cholesterol. Currently, due to the disruption of exchange between the coastal population and reindeer herders the meat, oil and blubber of sea mammals is delivered to fur fanns instead of to the tundra and reindeer herders (Klochkova 1968).

The diet of the coastal population is characterized by a larger share of protein which amounts to 32.2 percent of the total caloric value. Lower concentrations of

cholesterol are evident among the coastal populations, as compared with reindeer herders and newcomers, and the diet has a high share of PNFA contained in the fats and meat of sea mammals.

The generation of the Chukchis and Eskimos older than 35-40 generally adhere to the traditional diet. The "European type" of diet is common among the young people.

This type of nutritional intake usually includes store bought cereals, bakery products, canned food and fruit - all with high sugar and salt content. There is no "national cuisine" of the Chukchis or Eskimos found anywhere in the public catering network The

switch-over of the younger generation to the so-called European diet, with greater

emphasis on canned goods, will eventually contribute to the further spread of

avitaminosis and iron deficiency anemia among children, and of cardiovascular diseases

and atherosclerosis among adults.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 75 V.B. Socio-demographic and Ethnic Problems of Indigenous Populations

There are numerous socio-demographic problems that have emerged in the process of long term social and cultural changes for the indigenous population of the

Providenski district of Chukotka. The three major challenges that are important to keep in mind while carrying out social reforms, developments in health care, and demographic policies are as follows: (1) a socio-cultural change conducive to lower birth rates; (2) alcoholism and problems of violent deaths - accidents, suicides and homicides; (3) ethnically mixed marriages and ethnic assimilation.

V.B.1. Family Birth Control

Beginning in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, against the background of increased numbers of newborns and the growth of the crude birth rates among the native people in the North, there was an allegedly favorable reproductive situation for the

Northern population. However, the greater than ever spread of deliberate adoption, the use of birth control in the family and an increased number of abortions made sociologists and demographers studying the North anxious and worried.

The research, concerning the reproductive situation of the peoples of the North, was undertaken for the first time as early as 1973 by Yakut scholar I.E. Tomsly. Among the minorities of Northern Yakutia, 170 women age 40 and less were questioned using a questionnaire. The results of the questioning showed that young women, and those with better education, desired to have fewer children and are better prepared for intra-family planning than are older women or women with lower levels of education (Tomsly

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 76 1980:119-121).

Subsequently, the All-Union census of 1979 revealed a considerable decline in the population growth rates of the Northern peoples, as well as a decline in the population in some of the other districts in the North. This study was undertaken by an ethno- demographic expedition from the Institute of Sociology of the USSR Academy of

Sciences in the Chukotski and Providenski districts in 1982-1983. Their findings revealed that despite the increase in the crude birth rates in the Providenski district, the number of children in the fourth and fifth sequence of birth declined, while the share of first born and second-born children increased dramatically.

Against the background of the crude birth rate growth, the aggregated birth rate

(ABR) suggests that the native population of the Providenski district is declining. Thus, in case of the village of Novoye Chaplino the BR estimate dropped in the 1970 to 1979 interval from 4.1 to 3.7.

A questionnaire form was given to 25 married indigenous couples with children in order to reveal and assess the sociocultural factors leading to the decline in the birth rates in Novoye Chaplino and Providenye. The opinions of the married couples about the number of children born to their families are as follows:

1. Only one husband failed to give a definite number to the question

concerning "ideal" number of children (How many children is it better to

have in a family?). Two husbands answered, and the rest of the

respondents gave definite figures averaging: men 3.8, and women 3.4.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page ?l 2. Four men and one woman were in favor of a maximum number of

children (5 and more) when responding to the question about the most

desirable number of children in their family under the best possible

conditions (How many children would you like to have in your family

under the best possible conditions?). Others gave a dehnite figure

averaging: men 4.6, and women 4.0.

3. Only one man and one woman from different families (not spouses)

intended to have a maximum possible number of children, and responded

to the question about the actually expected or "planned" number of

children in their family (How many children do you plan to have in your

family?). Others were in favor of a definite number of children (some of

them, however, specified that in the more distant future and under better

conditions they might change their opinion opting for a larger family):

men 3.7, and women 3.6.

4. Three men and one woman failed to answer the question about the so-

called "retrospective" number of children (How many children would you

like to have in your family if you could start your lie again?). Two men

and two women were in favor of the biggest number possible. Others gave

a definite figure averaging: men 4.2, and women 3.9.

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 78 5. 19 men and 11 women insisted on the impossibility of answering the

question about the so-called "redundant" number of children emphasizing

the senselessness of putting a question like this about children. (How many

children must be there in a family to be able to say that there are too

many of them?) Others gave a definite number averaging: men 7.6, and

women 6.3.

Furthermore, young women, of indigenous nationalities, with better educations, residing in urban-type villages and employed in the non-traditional sector of the economy

(management, culture or health care) planned to have less children. On the contrary, wives of reindeer herders and sea hunters wished, on the average, to have more children.

From these statistics, it is possible to draw conclusions about the formation of the socio-psychological aims in Chukchi and Eskimo families of the Providenski district concerning the definite number of children in the family (Pika and Bogoyavlensky 1989).

The actual number of children in the majority of families was less than the hypothetical minimum for natural fertility (HMNF), and birth control became indispensable to keep the number of children within the desired limit (Borisov 1976:25-69). According to the polls, 14 out of 25 married women with children have had an abortion at least once, and many women had several abortions. The abortions-to-births ratio was two to one.

According to the information provided by obstetrician-gynecologist L.M. Danilina of the Providenskaya CDH in 1983, abortions among Chukchi and Eskimo women were rare prior to the the 1960s. But after 1960, the number of abortions started to grow. In

Scciial Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 79 the late 1970s, a common form of birth control was the intrauterine devices (IUD).

Chemical and hormonal contraceptives have been, and still are, unpopular among the native people.

The creation of individual and family preferences (e.g., family planning choices) are comparatively new and, on the face of it, not an important phenomena. The spread of contraceptives and abortions among the indigenous natives relate to the number of children in the family and the new social standards which determine the number of children born to a family (as a rule, 3 to 4 children) in the village communities.

However, this may have serious consequences for the demographically vulnerable

Chukchi and Eskimos, considering the decline in the social and individual necessity to produce many children. This decrease may lead to the depopulation of the minorities of

Chukotka within the context of growing mortality and spreading assimilation.

V.B.2. The Problems of Alcoholism and Violent Death.

Between the years of 1986 to 1990 the number of narcoregistrants (registered substance abusers) in the Chukotski autonomous okmg declined from 2,594.1 to 2,331.4 per 100,000 people. The problems concerning alcohol abuse and alcohol-related complications in the Chukotski autonomous okmg generally remain highly unfavorable, given the growth in the registered number of alcoholic psychosis cases. By 1990 the number of patients suffering from alcoholic psychosis in the CA reached 7.7 per 100,000 people compared with the corresponding index of 2.5 for the Magadanski district and 1.7 per 100,000 people in the Russian Federation (data provided by Goskomsever RF). This problem was emphasized in a letter from the Deputy Chairman of the Soviet of People's

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 80 Deputies of the CAO, AD. Dallakyan to the former Supreme Soviet of the Russian

Federation (dated August 17, 1992, reference number 04-091245) that "an unfavorable

situation had arisen in the CAO due to the uncontrollable sales and distribution of

liquors in the areas of compact habitation of minorities." The results of this negative

phenomena resulted in the delivery of liquor to villages and reindeer herding camps by

commercial firms. Problems became apparent when labor discipline eroded and caused

thefts and fights at work. There were also numerous cases of the commercial traders

persuading the natives to become accustomed to alcohol in order to easily buy up their

furs, walrus tusks, bones, reindeer and stag antlers, and fish at dirt-cheap prices.

Alcohol abuse has remained the most important factor of the general

demographic situation among the native population of Chukotka. Poisoning and traumas

as a result of accidents, homicides and suicides stand out as the main cause of death

among the indigenous population of Chukotka, and in the Providenski district. By the

late 1970s poisonings and traumas ranked first in the list, followed by: (2) blood

circulation diseases, (3) tumors (neoplasm), (4) infectious and parasitic diseases

(Navasardov 1985); whereas in the 1950s they ranked fourth in the cause of death among

the native population of Chukotka. The growth in the number of violent deaths among

all the peoples of the circumpolar north has been recognized as extremely disturbing.

These numbers are partially the result of the fact that the indigenous people of the

L - North were forced to confront and adapt to the new living conditions that took shape in

the North during 1960-1980s. This change disregarded native interests, and rather was in

accordance with the priorities of the newcomers and the interests of the urban

!- Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 81 1 population and industry that dominated indigenous ethnic groups and communities

(Agranat 1990).

Special case studies and ethno-demographic research into mortality of the indigenous population of Chukotka were carried out by A.G. Volfson in the late 1970s

(Volfson 1979). The studies of the social, ecological and ethno-cultural specifics of violent deaths, accidents, homicides and suicides were carried out in a number of regions of the North, including the Providenski and Chukotski districts, in 1989 by a team of researchers representing the USSR Academy of Sciences and the USSR State Committee for Labor (Pika, Prokhorov and Bogoyavlensky 1990, and Pika, Bogoyavlensky and

Terentjeva 1992). Given the fact that there is a relatively small native population in the

Chukotski and Providenski districts (3,096 and 2,226 respectively in 1987), the data indicate that 5 to 6 lethal accidents, 2 to 3 homicides and 2 to 3 suicides were registered annually. The data on the dynamics and distribution of violent deaths in the villages of the Providenski district are given in Table 15.

Poisoning with alcohol and surrogates (23 percent), hangings (14 percent) and drowning (11 percent) prevailed among external causes of violent death. The majority of violent deaths took place in villages. The most lethal place for a person was their home, where up to 40 percent of all violent deaths happened, rather than in the wild Northern expanses. Deaths from poisoning and trauma can be classified on the basis of when the death occurred during the day. A few deaths happened in the morning, but the number of accidents grew during the daytime, and the greatest number of homicides and suicides occurred in the evening hours.

------

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 82 Table 15

Cases of Violent Deaths (Accidents, Homicides and Suicides)

Among Native Population of the Providenski District

(according to data files of the local registrars* offices)

Vilages/years 197&74 1975-79 1980-84 1985-89 1990-1992.

Providenia township 2 6 5 1 3"

Novoye Chaplino 5 11 13 3 9

Yanrakynnot 9 15 9 7 4

Sireniki 12 16 13 10 8

Enrnelen 13 4 15 8 1

Nunligran 12 8 6 7 1

Ureliki 1 1

Total 54 60 62 36 26

Total share of all deaths, 33.3 30.8 409 29.0 31.3 70

* - data covering these three years. " - April 20, 1991; 9 persons were poisoned with metylalcohol in Novoye Chaplino died at the Pddenskaya CDH.

During the calendar week the number of all violent deaths grew, reaching the maximum on Saturdays and Sundays (over 50 percent of violent deaths among the

Chukchis occurred on Sundays). On Mondays violent deaths were extremely rare. It can be speculated that this cycle was determined, most likely, by the regulations concerning the sale of liquor (until the spring of 1985, it was only sold on Saturday) in the villages of

Chukotka. No tangible seasonal variations in the number of violent deaths were noted during the calendar year except in the case of suicides which peaked in March. The ratio between male and female suicides was 3 to 1, and the majority of suicide victims

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 83 were Chukchi women and Eskimo men. Over 40 percent of those who took their own life were between 20-34 years old, including people both married and single, with different levels of education ranging from primary to higher (Pika, Bogoyavlensky 1991).

The studies revealed the occurrence of suicides in the native population at a rate of 70 to 90 cases per 100,000 people in Chukotka in various years. This preliminary estimate was supported at a later stage by the precise results from the special review of the State statistics on the Magadanski district by D. Bogoyavlensky covering the

1988-1989 period. The suicide rate among the native population was 86 and the homicide rate was 22 per 100,000 people compared with 19 and 7 respectively among the population of the former USSR in 1988-1989. For the sake of comparison the analogous estimate of suicide rates among the native population of Alaska is 40 (Hlady &

Middaugh 1987), and over 120 in Greenland (Thorslund 1988).

Long overdue in the Providenski and Chukotka districts are medical services which provide practical prophylactic work for the rural native population. There is a great need for psychological consulting rooms to open in village hospitals and clinics that are staffed by psychiatrists and specialists in social and psychological problems to work hand in hand with social and medical professionals of native origin. The United States and Canada have achieved success in such preventive programs dealing with violent mortality, and advantage should be taken of this experience.

V.B.3. Ethnically Mixed Marriages and the Problem of Ethnic Assimilation.

Ethnic processes, and in particular acculturation and assimilation and their demographic correlates, are recognized as the most important factors in the dynamics of

Social Transition in the North ChukotLa &ography, Page 84 population growth (Kozlov 1977). Assimilation is a process of interrelationship where one ethnos adopts the language and culture of the other, thus making one of them likely to lose their former ethnic identity. This is preceded or accompanied by the process of acculturation resulting in changes to the initial sociocultural patterns (Linton and others).

As a rule, one of the cultures involved becomes dominant. In the arctic and subarctic the process of acculturation proceeds in the form of "Europization" (Americanization,

Russification) of the aboriginal peoples of the North. Assimilation has ethno-cultural, genetico-populational, demographic, and other influences. In this paper we intend to focus only on the demographic effect of assimilative processes. The minorities of the

Siberian North and the Far East are both extremely vulnerable and challenged by possible ethnic and demographic assimilation.

Ethnically mixed marriages are viewed as a major factor in the process of ethnic assimilation. This is apparent after studying the dynamics of nuptials among the native population of the Chukotski autonomous okrug (Volfson and Terentjeva 1984) where there is constant growth in the number of such marriages. During the 1930-1939 interval such marriages in the Chukotski national okrug constituted only 4.8 percent of the total.

However, in the 1960-1969 interval there were 27.6 percent and in the 1970-1979 period over one third of the total number of marriages were ethnically mixed. Such marriages, in the overwhelming majority, were between women of the indigenous nationality and immigrant men (95 percent). This is partially explained by the increases in the number of newcomers to the villages of Chukotka, and by the social changes that began to occur, exposing women to non-traditional branches of the economy, as well as education

------

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 85 through vocational schools and institutes (colleges).

The build-up of the newly established male population in Chukchi and Eskimo

villages, coupled with the growth in the number of marriages between Chukchi and

Eskimo women to the male newcomers, has gradually led to ousting of native males from

the ranks of actual conjugal partners in Northern villages. The most disturbing situation

has formed among nomadic reindeer herders where there are a great many unmarried

men older than 25 years. The marriages between men of indigenous nationality and

female newcomers are extremely rare. The ethno-social and gender asymmetry of male

and female nuptials between the young and middle ages among indigenous nationalities

is the main cause of overall decline in marriages among the native population of

Chukotka (Code's nuptial indices decreased from 0.74 in 1924-1926, to 0.62 in 1969-1970

and further down to 0.53 in 1988-1989). This has had a negative impact on demographic

processes because the mortality rate among the unmarried young and middle aged men

has increased (due largely to alcoholism and violent deaths) while the number of

divorces increased and fertility rates declined.

According to the data collected by k Volfson and L. Terentjeva 5.3 percent of all

marriages entered into in 1930-1939 and 29.1 percent of marriages entered into in

1960-1969 were eventually terminated; 60 percent of discontinued marriages are due to

divorce where the motive was "the husband's departure to a former place of residence."

This research emphasized that ethnically similar marriages, made up of the newcomers,

ended as a result of the death of one of the spouses, most frequently the husband, rather

than divorce. The average duration of a discontinued marriage, with both partners being

I Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 86 of indigenous nationality, is 9.5 years; while the marriages between the native women and male newcomers is 4.1 years. The instability of ethnically mixed marriages most likely has been one of the factors in the overall decline in the reproductive potentialities of native populations (Volfson and Terentjeva 1984 and Terentjeva 1989). The growth of ethnically mixed marriages and the increase in the numbers of births out of wedlock among women of native nationalities with male newcomer partners, have brought about changes in the population structure of the of Eastern Chukotka and the Providenski district. Along with the destruction of traditional kin ties and communal relations (following the elimination of villages and resettlements) the process of "cross- breeding" has been underway among the native populations, and the size of the "metis group" or children born to Eskimo and Chukchi women and male newcomers (Russians,

Ukrainians and others) has been growing. This aspect of assimilation was studied in the

Providenski and the neighboring Chukotski districts in 1983 and 1987 (Pika and

Bogoyavlensky 1987). Changes in characteristics of the "metis group" in generations of the indigenous population with children born to Eskimo and Chukchi women and male newcomers can be seen in Table 16. Table 16 The Share of Children Born into Families with One Parent Being of Non-indigenous Northern Nationality (according to data files provided by the registrars' offices)

District/yean 1970-74 1975-79 1980-82

Providenski district % 23.4 31.1 35.6

Chukotski district % 16.1 175 15.8

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 87 Unlike the Providenski district, the aboriginal population of the Chukotski district followed the same overall direction of social and demographic processes but did not post a large increase in its share of the "metis group" in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and in fact that share declined somewhat in the last period. This happened due to the growth of fertility in mononational (Immixed) Chukchi and Eskimo families.

The centers of acculturation lie in the district hubs and in the large villages where there is a great deal of fluctuation in the recent population who are temporarily residing there. These processes are less intensive in the more remote villages. Table 17 depicts the share of children born to Eskimo and Chukchi women with male newcomer partners in various villages of the Providenski district for the 1975-1982 period.

Table 17

The Share of Children Born into Families with One

of the Parents of Non-Indigenous Nationality in Various Villages

of the Providenski District (1975-1982)

Providenski district (rajon), Share of children born, Chukotski district (rajon), Share of children born, villages percent villages percent Providenia township 725 La~entiyatownship 235

Novoye Chaplimo 29.3 Loxino 123

Yanrakynnot 18.8 Inchoun 11.8

Sireniki 255 Neshkan 7.7

Nunligran 39.6 Uelen 203

Enmelen 19.6 5.4

As of yet, the estimates of acculturation among the indigenous residents have not caused any apprehension, since the growth rates of "metis" populations and the share of

Soeial Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 88 the "metis group" are not too high, especially in the Chukotski district. Though judging by the data available, in comparison to other ethnic groups of the North, this process may go too far and undermine the population basis of the ethnos. Thus, the share of the

"metis group" among the Saami in the Murmanskaya oblast (province), looking at generations of newborns during the 1970-1980 interval, increased twice and reached 86 percent; among the of the Komandorski Islands this index has not dropped lower than 90-95 percent for the last several years, and in some years (1977, 1978, 1980) it was

100 percent. In other words, every born there had one parent who was a non-

Aleut newcomer. The consequence of ethnic mjxing may be not only the loss of useful genotypical properties by populations of indigenous residents of the North (Alexeyeva

1976), but also the loss of one of the most essential characteristics of ethnos: endogamy

(Brornley 1969).

Acculturation is a major factor of subsequent changes in ethnic consciousness and self-identification in parts of the aboriginal population. Our research shows that the majority of representatives of the "metis group" and male newcomers choose their mother's nationality when receiving his or her passport (this choice reflects self- identification to formal institutions). Thus, only 6 percent of the generation born between the years 1960-1964 chose a non-indigenous nationality while this figure doubled among the generations born between 1965-1969. The studies carried out in other regions, and in particular in the Northern parts of the Tyumenskaya and Murmanskaya provinces, have established that a considerable number of young people (up to 20-30 percent) may choose a non-indigenous nationality. Many of them declare during the

Social Transition in the North Chukotka Ethnography, Page 89 census operations that they belong to a non-indigenous nationality. All this can have a well-marked negative impact on the dynamics of growth rates of ethnic groups of the

Northern minorities.

This research into acculturation and a number of other essential problems of populations in the Providenski district of the CAO will be included in the ongoing research program within the framework of the international NSF funded research project entitled "Social Transition in the North: Alaska and the Russian Far East." The project is is funded through 1996. The ongoing expeditionary studies will be carried out in eight villages in two Alaskan regions, three districts of the Kamchatskaya province, and in the

Providenski district of the Chukotski autonomous okrug.

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Tornsky, I. E. 1980 Tsennostnaya orientatsiya na razmer semji u zhenschin malyh narodnostej Severa. Tezisy dokladov nauchno-prakticheskoj konferentsii "Kompleksnoye ekonomicheskoye i sotsialnoye razvitie Magadanskoj oblasti v blizhajshej i dolgosro hnoj perspektive". [Value orientation at family size among women of small peoples of the North. Theses of reports at a scientific and practical conference on The Comprehensive economic and social development of the Magadanskaya province in the nearest and long-term perspective.] Magadan. A.I. 1986.

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Volfson, A. ed. 19?? Promysel serogo kita (Escrichtius gibbosus) i ego znachenie v zhizni aborigennogo naseleniya Chukotskogo poluostrova. [Grey whale (Escrichtius gibbosus) hunting and its meaning in the life of aboriginal population of the Chukotski peninsula. Scientific report. Ed. by VOLFSON A.G. (typescript).]

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