Spiritual culture

Mythological ideas about nature and society form the traditional worldview of the Chukchi. The creation of the world, animals, and humans is not presented in Chukchi myths via a united narrative. There are disjointed passages, as it were, that describe the Supreme Deity creating separate types of life on Earth, without any connection or justification.

The natural phenomena and objects were personified by transference of those properties of the human society as were firmly entrenched in the life and consciousness of the Chukchi. However, the degree of humanization of animals and birds differed, depending on the “rationality” of their behavior. Human qualities were granted to the earth ( nutenut ), the sun, the moon, the top of the sky (zenith), the North Star, the dawn, the noon, and the darkness (west), in other words, to everything that reveals the visible movement, changes in qualitative and quantitative states. The personification of the celestial bodies was comprehensive enough to endow them with human needs and desires. The human world and the world of some select animals were not separate from each other. A man could live with wolves, marry a polar she-bear, a woman could marry an eagle or a seal; a wolverine could raise an orphaned human child, etc.

According to the Chukchi, the sun and the moon, the southeast and the northwest, the heat and the cold, the aboveground and the underground worlds, the day and the night, in other words, everything that by its nature existed in natural opposition was considered a confrontation between two principles, the ones benevolent to man and all living things (sun, heat, light) and those hostile to them (moon, coldness, darkness, etc.). They perceived the notion of interconnection between human life and natural phenomena/celestial bodies as a reality of life.

The life of the Chukchi depended on successful hunting and gathering. Therefore, they believed in the existence of creatures that ruled animals, lands, and individual places. Essentially, any location where the Chukchi stopped for the night or a short stay was seen as a place that belonged to an invisible benevolent master, who demanded a gift or an offering from a human for permission to set up camp.

Forests, rivers, lakes, different animals, and trees had their master-spirits etyn , etynvyt . These masters behave the same way as the owners of reindeer and other property. If a person shows them respect, they show generosity in return and freely give a portion of what they have in abundance.

Per the system of religious ideas, there were cult practices: offerings and feedings, accompanied by verbal appeals and requests. All “sacred” objects, actions, and rituals were seen as able to change the course of events in the desired direction and prevent undesirable outcomes.

Each family had home guardians, the tyinykvyt . There were several objects bundled together, mainly the remains of animals and birds. The bundle needed to contain images of ancestors, a fireboard, and the objects traditional in a given family: a raven beak, a fox skin, a bear claw, an arctic fox skin, a skull of a wolf, an arctic fox, polar or brown bear. According to the Chukchi, all these objects had inherent vital properties. They were not deities, but protectors from the kelyet . While in the house, they would protect its dwellers with their brute force (bears, wolves), dexterity and cunning (foxes), wisdom (raven), and life experience (ancestral figures).

During offerings, The Chukchi always brought the home guardians to observe or take part in the rituals; they were considered members of the family, the patriarchal community. They fed them but did not worship them.

The Chukchi did not develop any common formulas (prayers) when making appeals during offerings. The formulas of the request were always individual, very short, extremely specific, and clear in content. There was no special religious organization in Chukchi society; the clan itself performed cult-related functions, mostly by its elder leader.

By the beginning of the 20th century, most of the Chukchi had been converted to Orthodox Christianity, but the nomads still retained remnants of traditional beliefs.

The calendar holidays of the Chukchi were associated with their main economic activities: among the coastal Chukchi it was with sea hunting, among the nomadic, reindeer herding. The main holidays of the tundra Chukchi were Pegytti on December 21–22, the Chukchi New Year (winter solstice); Tirkyk , emet in January, the holiday of the meeting of the sun; Rillet at the end of winter – the beginning of spring, reindeer sled racing; Elgaatkon ( Elgyratkon ) in February-March, preparation of the herd for spring and summer. This celebration is dedicated to reindeer and marks the end of the winter and the beginning of the spring preparatory season. Kilvey (“Festival of the Young Calf”) was celebrated in April-May and dedicated to the increase of the herd; Ulvev in May-June is dedicated to the yaranga and the new summer camp, where the herders move after spring. During this celebration, there was a ritual of vaamkaanmat , dedicated to the river or lake where the new camp was; Vylgykaanmat ( Vylgykoranmat ) in August-October was the final and most important holiday of reindeer herders. At this time, the autumn slaughter of reindeer was carried out accompanied by a thanksgiving ceremony. It was a preparation for winter and the next reindeer herding season.

The most common spring holiday of the coastal Chukchi is the holiday of the baydara (kayak), which takes place during putting out to sea. The main summer event is the holiday of heads celebrating the end of the seal hunt. In the fall it is the holiday of the master of sea animals. All holidays included running competitions, wrestling, shooting, jumping on a walrus skin trampoline, reindeer, and sled dog racing. In addition, the “Polar Bear” Festival takes place in winter-spring; it marks the end of the hunt for this animal. The first kayak launch is celebrated in the spring or early summer when the sea clears of ice: it marks the beginning of the sea hunting season. The Walrus Head Festival is celebrated in late summer–early autumn marking the end of the walrus hunting season. The Whale Festival (Polya), also held in summer-autumn, is a celebration dedicated to the harvested Greenland whale. The event takes place in the largest yaranga or the yaranga of the owner of the leading kayak, which looks like a kayak from the outside using snow blocks and kayak oars. The event lasts a whole month, during which the Chukchi sing, dance, and compete in strength and dexterity.