Chukchi of Northeastern Siberia

Below are resources related to Virginie Vaté's “Chukchi of Northeastern Siberia” chapter of Native Nations: The Survival of Indigenous Peoples, 4th Edition, edited by Sharlotte Neely and Douglas W. Hume.

Agencies & Organizations

Discussion Questions

  • Explain the cultural changes that have occurred among the Chukchi due to external forces on them.
  • Describe the threats to Chukchi cultural survival by outsiders in their recent history.
  • Whaling and hunting are central to Chuckchi identity. Why do you think this is?
  • What are the threats to Chickchi cultural survival by outsiders in their recent history?
  • What cultural changes that have occurred among the Chickchi due to external forces?

Documentary Films

Further Reading

  • Bogoras, Waldemar. 1901. "The Chukchi of Northeastern Asia." American Anthropologist 3 (1): 80-108.
  • Siimets, Ülo. 2006 "The Sun, The Moon And Firmament In Chukchi Mythology And On The Relations Of Celestial Bodies And Sacrifices." Folklore 32: 129-156.
  • Vaté, Virginie. 2005 "Maintaining Cohesion Through Rituals: Chukchi Herders And Hunters, A People Of The Siberian Arctic." Senri Ethnological Studies 69: 45-68.

Contemporary Chukchi People

Walrus Hunters
'The people of Chukotka': Walrus hunters on the Chukchi Peninsula. Victor Zagumyonnov made this story as a member of the expedition of the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He spent one month and a half in Chukotka and Kamchatka. World Press Photo 1982 Photo Contest, Daily Life, Stories, 3rd prize. (Viktor Zagumyonnov [CC BY-SA 4.0])

Chukchi Resettlement Map

Resettlement of the Chukchi in the Far Eastern Federal District
Resettlement of the Chukchi in the Far Eastern Federal District by urban and rural settlements in 2010 census (LandRussia [CC BY-SA 4.0])

Chukchi Ethno-historical Photograph

Chukchi family old
Chukchi family and their husky dog between 1900 and 1910 (Unknown [Public domain])

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