# The Chukchee

Владимир Германович Тан-Богораз

Vol. 2

Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History.


Volume XI.


Part II. -- The Chuckchee -- Religion by W. Bogoras 1907


1904.


XII. -- RELIGIOUS IDEAS.


The religious ideas of both branches of the Chukchee are so much alike, that they can be described together. {The material presented in this chapter was collected principally from shamans, and aged people versed in "old tidings" (tele'nkin pi'nilte), as the Chukchee call everything relating to their mythology or history. These data were supplemented from their folk-tales, to which, in many cases, no specific references can be given, since the larger part of them are not yet published. The tales, however, were used only so far as they yielded new details regarding the characters and mythical beings known to the Chukchee. Stories like those about the creation of the world and the part that the raven and other birds and animals played in it will be treated separately.

The Chukchee conception of various supernatural beings treated of in this chapter is illustrated by a number of pencil-sketches which I requested several natives in various parts of the country to make for me. It seemed to me that graphic representation of things previously described merely in words would add new details which otherwise would be out of the reach of the investigator. Care was taken, in comparing details given by different men, to eliminate those differing from the general character of the description. Nevertheless, the sketches remain individual, and they are of scientific value only so far as they help to an understanding of the forms which present themselves to the mind of the Chukchee. I shall speak of them again when referring to Chukchee art; but I take up a few of them here to illustrate the religious ideas of the people.} Minor differences will be pointed out in the following discussion.

In studying the religious ideas of the Chukchee I gradually formed a simple theory about the first development of the religious concepts of primitive man in general. I give it here, in the beginning of this chapter, in order to make what follows easier to understand. Its value for me is the help it was to me in arranging the material in a systematic way.

Primitive man, conscious of life, which is the source of his actions, attributes similar life and inherent virtue to all surrounding objects of nature that have attracted his attention by their activity, by some striking feature of their outward appearance, or, indeed, by any other circumstance. This attribution of life similar to his own {I avoid using the term "animism," because it presupposes the conception of the human soul, which, in my opinion, belongs to a later stage. E. B. Tylor says that animism includes two great dogmas, forming parts of one consistent doctrine; first, concerning souls of individual creatures capable of continued existence after the death or destruction of the body; second, concerning other spirits, upward to the rank of powerful deities (Primitive Culture, p. 426). According to my theory, these two dogmas belong to the last stage of development. On the whole, my plan must be considered as an attempt to outline the way in which primitive man (Chukchee) reached the stage of animism.} forms the basis of his religious concepts; and primitive mythology develops from it by gradual ramification and working-up of details.

Stages of Development of Primitive Religious Concepts. -- The primary development of the attribution of life here described presents five stages, more or less distinct, which are as follows: --

The first stage relates only to that qualitative similarity of man and objects which consists in the belief that life is their common property. The form of the objects and the degree of their supposed adaptation to the actions of life are not taken into consideration, and not included as yet in the field of view. A stone, a tree, a hill, or a cloud, also phenomena of nature (wind, rain, thunder), are considered simply as living, no matter what their form may be. {Daniel G. Brinton says, "To the mind of the savage, whatever displayed movement, emitted sound or odor, or by its defined limits and form indicated unity, was to him a manifestation in personality of that impersonal spiritual Power of which he felt himself but one of the expressions. All other expressions shared his powers, and did not in essence differ from him. The brute, the plant, the stone, the wandering orbs of night, the howling wind, the crackling fire, the towering hill, -- all were his fell-creatures, inspired by the same life as himself, drawing it from the same universal font of life" (Religions of Primitive Peoples, p. 136).

This -- if we except the "impersonal spiritual Power" and the "universal font of life," which seem to be rather too abstract for the lowest stage of primitive religious thought -- is nearly what was said above.

Andrew Lang says still more definitely, "The savage draws no hard line between himself and the things in the world he regards himself as literally akin to, -- animals and plants and heavenly bodies. He attributes sex and procreative powers even to stones and rocks, and human feelings to sun and moon and stars and wind, no less than to beasts, birds, and fishes" (Myth, Ritual, and Religion, I, p. 47).} The well-known instance given by Darwin, {Descent of Man, p. 67.} of the dog which barked at an open umbrella occasionally moved by a breeze, represents evidently the same state of mind. An object moves, and is alive. Likewise, primitive man will take for living the tree that rustles, the wind that passes by, the stone that waits silently lying upon the ground, but makes the passing man stumble over itself, the lake, the river, the brook, the hill that towers over the plain and throws its shadow upon it. Man may struggle with the objects, and vanquish or kill them; he may sacrifice to them, and ask them for protection; and he may pick up the smaller ones and use them as his amulets. These, carried about his body, would insure to him safety against all hostile forces. {Compare Chapter. XIII.}

Development begins with the first effort to find points of resemblance between the forms of objects and the parts of the human body, which would make the concept of inner similarity more detailed and more plausible. Even slight resemblances of this kind are seized readily, and a mouth, a head, or arms may be recognized in the accidental forms of objects that are already believed to be endowed with life. In amulets especially, a very vague resemblance is quite sufficient to give them rank as anthropomorphous beings. A small wooden crotch, or a narrow strip of leather cut in two on the base to represent the legs, is regarded as a human-like figure. This is the second stage, which is the first attempt at transforming the primitive concept of similarity, which is amorphous and qualitative only, into a more precise objective and formal shape.

When this vague outward resemblance ceases to give satisfaction to the mind, there arises an idea that material objects have two shapes, -- their ordinary form and a transformed form more or less human-like. Both forms are material, and the objects can at will change one for the other. Thus, stone mauls of the household transform themselves into men, and shortly afterward drop on the ground in their former shape. On the other hand, men may transform themselves at will into animals or inanimate objects. In their transfigured shape, inanimate objects acquire life and are able to perform human-like actions. This view of the subject, however, adapts itself much better to animals; and instances to be given later on contain ample evidence of the idea held by the natives regarding the double nature of the animal world. This is the third stage of development of the primitive conception of nature.

As a natural deduction from the concept of the existence of objects in two forms, follows a surmise that one of the forms is exterior while the other is interior, hidden within its cover. Since it is hidden, it is supposed to be generally invisible, but also capable at will of casting off the outward shell and appearing as a human being. Thus arises the first hypothesis admitting the distinction between the material shape of the object and the life supposed to be contained in it. The latter becomes a spirit, or rather a "genius" of human-like form. He is invisible, and the material object is his usual abode, which, however, he may leave, and assume his own human-like shape. In this shape he may appear to shamans or to other persons of his own choice. This is the fourth stage. It presupposes the co-existence of the material object and its "genius," while in the third stage the two forms of the object could change only from one to the other. The separation of the "genius" from his material object is, however, potential in a degree. In leaving it the "genius" must not move too far away, and after a while he must re-enter his material abode. To him are attributed all the material and spiritual qualities of an ordinary man.

The conception of the "genius" is very well expressed by the American-Eskimo term inua, "its man" (in Asiatic-Eskimo, yu'wa). It clearly implies that a human-like spirit is supposed to live within the object. Animals, in accordance with this idea, are supposed to be men covered with skin garments, and able to lay them aside at will. Men, on the other hand, may transform themselves into animals or inanimate objects by covering themselves with skins or with garments resembling the outward appearance of the objects. Then, by casting aside their mask, they may re-assume their human shape. To this stage belongs the origin of the conception of the human soul, which is distinct from the body, and is able to leave it temporarily in sleep. In the more primitive stages, man, probably, was unable to analyze his dreams, and simply considered them as a peculiar mode of life of his person as it existed in its entirety.

In the fifth stage the "genii" gradually become free from their objects, acquire freedom of motion, and thus become actually spirits. Their human characteristics become more accentuated and acquire new details. Many of them receive individual features and enter into varied relations with one another. Thus grows up the first mythology, which forms a series of stories about spirits endowed with special power, invisible, and able to fly, but, on the whole, quite similar to men, even in their need of food and susceptibility to death. The origin of the belief that the deceased, after their bodies are destroyed, continue to exist, invisible to us, belongs to this last stage. It develops from the conception of the human soul abiding in the body, just as naturally as the conception of free-moving spirits evolves from the idea of the "genii" of the objects.

Thus gradually arises the idea of the deceased living in the "other world," in the "world beyond," having there villages, houses, families, hunting game, etc. The parallelism between the development of the conceptions of spirits and deceased men gives rise to the idea that the deceased live in one world and the spirits in another, or that there are several worlds situated at regular intervals above and below the earth, and inhabited alternately by deceased men and spirits. From another point of view the conception of the deceased is different from that of the human soul. The latter is represented as small, timid, helpless, liable to persecution by hostile spirits, and asking for the protection of those well disposed to men. The deceased one, on the contrary, is represented as an invisible spirit, great and powerful, with more power than man has. He is considered dangerous, capable of doing harm to the living, or, on the other hand, as benevolent, and willing to protect his mortal descendants. Thus the ancestral cult arises, which, however, supposes several stages of development to have supervened, and the ability to form more complicate and specialized ideas to have been acquired. {Even Herbert Spencer, who, on the whole, considers ancestor-worship to be the principal source of religion, admits in his Principles of Sociology (I, p. 305) that it arises only when the notion of ghosts passes from its first vagueness and variability into a definite and avowed faith.

The tendency to follow the example of the forefathers, which has contributed so much to the consolidation of primitive institutions, seems to have originated from ancestor-worship. I mention it here because it plays a very important part in the religious life of the Chukchee, and, other explanations lacking, is always brought forward as an explanation of various rites and performances.}

The characteristics of the five stages of primitive religious thought were necessarily given in a schematic shape. In reality, all five stages, being very elementary, spring up almost simultaneously, and co-exist side by side. Nevertheless, on a more careful study of primitive mythology, one may notice that the earlier stages gradually become extinct, while the later stages develop more fully, down to the last, which, in the present period, prevails among the most primitive tribes.

In arranging, according to the plan proposed, the material collected in connection with the religious ideas of the Chukchee, we find that the whole background is occupied by conceptions belonging to the first stage, where the attribution of life, to nature is simple, and devoid of personal form.

Material Objects considered as Alive. -- Generally speaking, the Chukchee believe that all nature is animated, and that every material object can act, speak, and walk by itself. Of such objects the Chukchee sometimes say that they are geti'nvilenat ("having a master"), but more often they call them gequli'linet ("having a voice"), implying that they are endowed with life, which, however, is not separable from them. Objects "having a voice" will keep some, at least, of their material qualities and features. For instance, a stone endowed with a voice would simply roll down and crush a man against whom it had a grudge, or it would induce another man to pick it up in order to become his amulet.

In the cosmogonical statements of the Chukchee shamans (so-called eñe'ñilina lo'зo, "things seen by a shaman"), we find that the life which they believe to be diffused throughout nature is described in its' relation to the shamanistic spirits in the following manner: --

"On the steep bank of a river there exists life. A voice is there, and speaks aloud. I saw the 'master' of the voice and spoke with him. He subjected himself to me and sacrificed to me. He came yesterday and answered my questions. The small gray bird with the blue breast sings shaman-songs in the hollow of the bough, calls her spirits, and practises shamanism. The woodpecker strikes his drum in the tree with his drumming nose. Under the axe the tree trembles and wails as a drum under the baton. All these come at my call.

"All that exists lives. The lamp walks around. The walls of the house have voices of their own. Even the chamber-vessel has a separate land and house. The skins sleeping in the bags talk at night. The antlers lying on the tombs arise at night and walk in procession around the mounds, while the deceased get up and visit the living." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 385.}

In another statement of a similar kind a small bird is practising in the hollow of the bough on a drum of grass. His sacrifice is small beetles or worms, the best of his food. The thievish raven, alighting on the top of the tree, listens to the bird's songs, and takes possession of them by drawing them in with his breath.

In still another statement of this character, everything has its own voice (ge'mge-kuli'lm) or its own master (ga'mga-êti'nvilin). Skins ready for sale have a "master" of their own. In the night-time they turn into reindeer and walk to and fro. The trees in the forest talk to one another. Even the shadows on the wall constitute definite tribes and have their own country, where they live in huts and subsist by hunting. The rainbow and sun-rays have "masters," who live above on the highest part of the rainbow and at the place where the sun's rays emanate, and descend to earth along these paths of light.

In one Chukchee story the evil spirit (ke'lE) puts his chamber-vessel near the body of a captive boy who pretends to be dead. The evil spirit defecates into the vessel, and bids it keep watch over the body. After a while the boy moves, and the chamber-vessel immediately gives alarm by its cries. The spirit, who was asleep, awakes and comes to inspect the prisoner; but the boy is again quite motionless. The spirit, angered, reproves the vessel, and urinates into it. The next time the vessel gives an alarm, its cries, coming from under the water, are quite faint. The boy gets up quickly and fills the vessel with his own excrement, smothering the remnant of the voice. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 193.} Here we have a very vivid description of a chamber-vessel as being alive without change of its material form.

The application of this simple idea to inanimate objects, however, presents many difficulties, because those objects have not the limbs and organs necessary for the actions of life. In surmounting these difficulties, the religious concept of the Chukchee passes to the second stage, and tries to point out every accidental resemblance between the outer forms of objects and the limbs of the human body.

Thus, for instance, the intoxicating mushrooms of the species fly-agaric {Compare p. 205.} are a "separate tribe" (ya'nřa-va'rat). They are very strong, and when growing up they lift upon their soft heads the heavy trunks of trees, and split them in two. A mushroom of this species grows through the heart of a stone and breaks it into minute fragments. Mushrooms appear to intoxicated men in strange forms somewhat related to their real shapes. One, for example, will be a man with one hand and one foot; another will have a shapeless body. These are not spirits, but the mushrooms themselves. The number of them seen depends on the number of mushrooms consumed. If a man has eaten one mushroom, he will see one mushroom-man; if he has eaten two or three, he will see a corresponding number of mushroom-men. They will grasp him under his arms, and lead him through the entire world, showing him some real things, and deluding him with many unreal apparitions. The paths they follow are very intricate. They delight in visiting the places where the dead live. These ideas are illustrated in a sketch (Fig. 200) drawn by a Chukchee.


The concepts characteristic of the third stage are also numerous. In this stage, as said before, objects are supposed to have two shapes, -- their ordinary form and their anthropomorphous form, in which they are suscepof human-like life. Thus, wooden amulets that lie motionless in leather bags suddenly transform themselves into herdsmen and go out in the night-time to protect the herd from the wolves. Early in the morning they return to their former places and again become pieces of wood. Such transformation does not prevent the objects from keeping some of their essential features and qualities. "People of wood" (u'tti-re'mkin) personify trees. They appear in a multitude at the call of a shaman, and while they are in his presence they continually protest that they are afraid of the fire, lest it might burn some of them. Excrement appears as a boastful old man clad in a garment of sleek brown fur. He is, however, afraid of dogs, because they may eat him. {In some Chukchee tales, even the sun, the sea, and the sky figure as beings who retain accessories of their material nature. In one tale, the Sun, while taking part in a shamanistic match with other competitors, appears with his luminary, and burns those present; the Sea drowns them (in another tale, he crushes them with ice); and the Sky also crushes them by the falling of his upper crust. It is worthy of note that such incidents occur only in shamanistic performances, while at all other times the sun, the sky, and the sea appear as actual men. They also have a double nature, which they may change at will. Compare Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 285.}

The concepts of the second and third stages, however, are much better adapted to animals than to inanimate objects.

Animals as Men. -- All kinds of wild animals are supposed to have a country and to keep households of their own. I have mentioned the fact that the hunters on the Chukchee Peninsula are unwilling to dig out young foxes, because foxes "have a household of their own" (geni'mlinet), and might take vengeance by means of their household charms.

Black and polar bears are also supposed to have households. Black bears live in underground houses, and polar bears have a country of their own on the ice in the open sea. They live by hunting seal and walrus, and engage in quite extended expeditions for this purpose. They also build snow houses, which are lighted by oil-lamps, and have other human-like pursuits.

Eagles have a separate country. One family of eagles has a slave called Riru'ltet, whom they stole from the earth a long time ago. He prepares food for all of them, and his face has become blackened with soot.

The smallest birds also have a country of their own, from which they go out in small toy-like skin boats to hunt worms and mussels. {Krasheninnikoff (I, p. 228) mentions a similar idea among the Kamchadal. They believe that, when no mice are to be seen, they have gone into the open sea for seal-hunting. Their boats are certain shells which resemble in shape human ears. These are therefore called mice-boats.}

Sea-mammals have a large country of their own far away in the open sea. It is located on both sides of the earth, and is separated from the land by a long narrow strip of water, which, they say, constantly "quakes like a bottomless mire." This is impassable for all beings that come from the land.

Animals, when personating human beings, can change their shape and size quite as easily as spirits do. The ermine, for example, appears as a stately warrior clad in white armor, while the legs of mice he has killed turn into reindeer-hams. The owl, also, becomes a warrior. Mice are people living in underground houses, who use the root of Polygonum viviparum or Polygonum polymorphum as their reindeer, and have sledges of grass. By a sudden transformation they become real hunters with regular sledges, and hunt polar bears. When they want to carry the dead bear home, the sledge returns to its former size, and the bear turns into a lemming. Some of these details, it will be observed, are the same in regard to the owner of game (Pičvu'čin). {Compare p. 286.}

A shaman who visits the land of mice finds that their ways of life are quite human. He is requested to help a woman who is suffering from a severe cold and sharp pain in her throat. When looking at her, he notices on her neck a thin noose of grass, such as Chukchee children make to catch mice. He destroys the noose, and the Mouse-Woman recovers. In return for his services, the Mouse-People give him the choicest fawn-skins. On his return to our world, however, these prove to be dry leaves and pieces of bark.

In most cases, animals, while personating human beings, retain some of their former qualities, which identify them as beings of a special class acting in a human way, but different from mankind. For instance, a whale, when carrying away a young woman, continues to be a whale, and even makes her pick out the barnacles from his skin; polar bears have diving-matches, and catch seals with their paws; Fox-Woman keeps her strong smell, and Goose-Woman, her aversion to animal food, which may soil her clean white dress.

Amulets of animal origin -- for instance, a dried skin, a head or a skull, a claw or a feather -- are also considered susceptible of like sudden transformation, in which they acquire the qualities of living animals of a corresponding species, and perform certain tasks. Afterward they return to their former shape. In one tale, a dried skin of an ermine transforms itself into a living ermine, which, in turn, transforms itself into a large polar bear. In this shape the amulet is sent by its "owner" across the sea to harm an enemy. When unable to do this, it comes back, and is blamed by its "owner." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 219.}

The next stage (the fourth), as said before, supposes a complete distinction between the two forms of the object; and the idea of the transfigured form is replaced by the conception of a certain anthropomorphous "genius," who co-exists with the object, and lives within its material shape, but may at will leave it, and appear separately. In studying this stage we must, however, distinguish between the smaller material objects (such as stones, trees, etc.) and the larger unities, as forests, lakes, rivers, mountains, and other localities.

In the development of the religious ideas of the Chukchee, the conception of smaller material objects belonged to the more primitive stages (first or second), and separable "genii" were not attached to them: at least, the development in this direction is not very clear. Thus, as mentioned before, smaller material objects are sometimes called gêti'nvilên ("having a master"); but, as will be shown, the Chukchee conception of a "master" coincides with the Eskimo "its man" (inua), and represents the "genius." In reference to smaller objects, this idea remained undeveloped, and the objects were more frequently called simply gequli'lin ("having a voice"), which corresponds to a more primitive conception.

It seems that the ideas of the American Eskimo are clearer about "masters" living within material objects. Thus among the Central Eskimo, according to Professor Boas, {Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 591.} large bowlders scattered over the country are considered to have spirits of their own. Such a spirit is represented as a woman with a single eye in the middle of her forehead. Others live in stones that roll down the hill in spring. When, however, a stone like that is met by a native, and is asked to become his supernatural assistant, it simply has to accompany him, wobbling along because it has no legs.

The idea of bowlders being the habitation of spirits of human form is foreign to the mind of the Chukchee. {In a story of Alaskan Eskimo (Nelson, p. 465), a whale has a "master" living inside its body, and controlling its motions. The whale is a female, and so is its "master," a point of similarity between the two. The idea of an animal having an "owner" spirit within its body, however, does not occur among the Chukchee.} The bowlders of their own country, numbers of which are to be met with everywhere in the mountains, are considered by the Chukchee as beings which were formerly alive, but were subsequently turned into stone. They were the first attempts of the Creator to form living beings, but they proved so clumsy in shape that he transformed them into stone, and then created actual men and animals. Those bowlders are called pê'rkat (pl. of pêrka'pêr). Some of them represent petrified houses or tents: others are animals or men (pêrka3'la'ul, "bowlder-man"). The latter are supposed to have preserved a mysterious life of their own. For instance, in one tale a shaman wants to try a wrestling-match with a Bowlder-Man, and comes very badly out of his stony embrace. In another tale a group of Bowlder-Men become alive and talk among themselves. The difference between this view and the Eskimo idea of "masters" in bowlders is very apparent.

The second Eskimo detail about stones wobbling down after a man in order to become his supernatural assistants resembles more closely the Chukchee presentation of the subject.

Owners or Masters. -- Larger material unities, such as forests, rivers, lakes, etc., have special "owners" (êti'nvit, pl. of ê'tin), who are also called "masters" (aunra'lit, pi. of aunra'lin, literally, "chief [in the] house").

Various classes of animals and trees also have their "masters," who live in the forest with them. Each species of tree has a separate "master." The birch alone has none, and for that reason, men handle it without precaution, as "their equal." The latter conception is clearly connected with the yearly expeditions of the Reindeer Chukchee into the woods to procure birch, of which they make their sledges, the shafts of spears, etc. Each species of wild animal -- fox, wolf, reindeer -- has a "master" of its own. {This latter conception has developed, perhaps, from the idea of the "master" of the forest, who owns all game living within the limits of his dominions. Thus, according to the Russo-Yukaghir belief, the "master" of the forest has absolute power over his animals. He may give them away as presents, lose them in card-playing, make them gather in herds and depart from the country, etc. Compare p. 287.}

The Chukchee often call all these "masters" simply "spirits" (ke'let). This latter term is specially applied to spirits of a harmful kind, of which I shall treat farther on in this chapter; but the Chukchee apply it also to the "masters," implying that these "spirits" are harmless.


I obtained several sketches of "spirits" of this kind. Fig. 201, я, is the "lake-spirit" (hitha'-kal) of one small lake lying near the seacoast in Anadyr Bay. He has the shape of a seal and the hands of a man. His head is shaggy, and he comes out of the lake bolt upright. Fig. 201, b, is the "spirit" of Holy Cross Bay. He has one hand with only three fingers. Fig. 201, c, is the "spirit" of the estuary of the Anadyr. His hair stands erect, and, like the last, he has only one hand with three fingers. I was told that the "spirit" of the middle course of the Anadyr has one eye and three-fingered hands. In Fig. 201, d, the "spirit" of the middle course of the Anadyr is thus represented. He has a vertical mouth, one eye, and three-fingered hands. Fig. 201, e, a "spirit" living in the sea (a'nqa-kal), has the body of a fish, with a very large shaggy head. On another sketch is represented a large sea-spirit, who has very long hair on both his head and his buttocks.

The "master" of the fish of mountain-brooks is said to have a long thin body and a face covered with hair. The "master" of the forest has a body of wood, without arms or legs. His eyes are on the crown of his head. He moves from place to place, rolling along like a log of wood.

Pičvu'čin is a special "owner" of wild reindeer and of all land-game. He lives in deep ravines, and stays near the forest-border. From there he sends reindeer-herds to the hunters; but when he is angered he withholds the supply. He is especially strict in demanding the performance of all ancient customs and sacrifices connected with the hunt, and resents every slight neglect of them. He is represented as very small, not larger than a man's finger, and his footprints on the snow are like those of a mouse. The Maritime Chukchee say that Pičvu'čin has influence with sea-game also. Sometimes he may be seen passing the entrance of a house in the shape of a small black pup. An inspection of his footprints will reveal his identity. Then the people must immediately offer him a sacrifice, and the next year a large whale will be drifted to that part of the shore. Pičvu'čin's sledge is very small, and made of grass. Instead of a reindeer, he may drive a mouse or a small root of Polygonum viviparum. He himself is sometimes represented as such a root driving a mouse. The lemming is his polar bear. He kills it, and loads it on his sledge. On the other hand, he is very strong, and can wrestle with giants, or load a real polar bear on his small sledge. He takes no solid food, and lives only on odors. All these details are repeated in several Chukchee tales.

"Mouse-Driver" (Pipe'kilha-heke'ñilin) forms one of the favorite figures of cat's-cradles among Chukchee children (Fig. 202). One of the reindeer-drivers of the constellation Lynx is also called by this name. {According to some descriptions, Pičvu'čin rides the largest bucks in his herds: therefore wild reindeer bucks are found with the hair on their shoulders all roughened up. This detail is probably borrowed from the Lamut, who also know about the small forest-spirit herding wild reindeer.}


The conception of "owners" of places is more highly developed among the Russianized Yukaghir of the Kolyma and Anadyr. This is probably because the ancient native elements have been mixed with Russian mythological ideas. According to their belief, the "masters" of the places live like men, but are more powerful. They have houses and villages, travel about the country with sledges, and drive foxes and wolves instead of dogs. Every "master" of a particular forest owns all the game living in that forest; the "master" of a river owns the fish living in it, etc.

"Masters" of the forest are, in the Russo-Yukaghir conception, exceedingly fond of drinking brandy and of playing cards. Even now those hunters who are most successful in trapping are reputed by the Russianized natives to have bought their luck from the "master" of the forest with brandy and packs of cards. The "masters" of forests are constantly playing cards with one another. The stake is some species of game, which may then have to pass from one to another after the play is over. This accounts for the migrations of game. N. Dyachkoff, whose book has already been mentioned, {See p. 18.} not only repeats these stories, but is somewhat inclined to believe them.

The "master" of the river has very white thick skin. His wife has remarkably long hair, which floats around her on the water. Whoever sees her, or hears her loud, piercing cry, goes raving mad. The "master" of the forest hunts the "master" of the river in order to obtain his skin, of which he makes for himself the "magic" boots (in local Russian, четвери, "fourfold"). These are the well-known "four-leagued" boots of the fairy-tales of the civilized world, which enable their wearers to make four miles at every step. The "master" of the river retaliates by catching the feet of the "master" of the forest, or those of members of his family who happen to cross the river upon the ice. Once, when the "master" of the forest and his pregnant wife were running a race on the ice of the Kolyma River, near the cliffs of Khandgiboy, the "master" of the river caught the wife by the feet, and dragged her down into the water. Her husband, with the assistance of his brother, tried to pull her out, but they succeeded only in tearing off her head. They placed this on the top of Khandgiboy, where it may still be seen, turned to stone.

The "master" of the river or the "owner" of the lake does not like iron tools. When an axe or an ice-pick is accidentally dropped into the water, the "master" gets angry, and stops the supply of fish for several years. In the same way, these "masters" are also very jealous concerning ancient customs connected with hunting and fishing. Both the Chukchee and the Russianized natives, when they go to a new place for a protracted stay, offer a little sacrifice to the "master" of the place, especially if they intend to hunt or fish in his dominions. Otherwise he would appear to them in their sleep, and demand the sacrifice. The best material for this sacrifice is tobacco. On the whole, the natives in many cases prefer to sacrifice imported provisions, Russian or American, supposing that the local "masters" and deities need them much more than ordinary food, which is abundant. The Russianized natives, as well as the Chukchee, often call the "master" of the place simply "the old man."

On the other hand, there are in Yukaghir folk-lore several instances in which mountains themselves, instead of having their particular "masters," act like living men, and at the end of the story they are petrified. {See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 643; Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, p. 101. Stories about the mountains, quite similar to those of the Yukaghir, were in vogue among the Aleut. Thus, according to a native story in Veniaminoff (cited from Elie Reclus, Les Primitifs, p. 59), the mountains on Unimak and Unalashka once wrestled, and threw fire and stones at one another. Several smaller volcanoes, who could not fight against the larger ones, split, and were extinguished. Only two large mountains were left, Makushin and Retcheshnoy. Stones, fire, and ashes killed every living thing. Retcheshnoy was vanquished, and, when he saw his defeat, he mustered his remaining force, and swelled himself to the utmost. Then he burst and was extinguished. Makushin went to sleep, and now only a light smoke sometimes issues from him. This tale is quite similar to that told by Jochelson.} In various parts of the territory of the Koryak, mountains, mainly detached cliffs on steep rocky capes, usually called "grandfather" (epe'pil, apa'pêl {Compare p. 19, Footnote 2.}), are pointed out. These are often considered as the ancestors of the tribe, mostly Big-Raven (Kuyqinn-a'qu), turned to stone.

The same belief exists also among the Kamchadal, who point out among the mountains their petrified ancestor Kutq, together with his house, his sledge, his hammer, etc. The Kamchadal in former times brought sacrifices to all these stones, as do the Koryak now.

Among the Chukchee the belief is less apparent. However, one cliff on the middle of the Anadyr River is called Peru'ten, which is one of the names of the sea-god Kere'tkun. It is told that the latter, when ascending the Anadyr River, was so tired that he sat down to rest, and turned to stone. Cliffs with the name Epe'pil are also found in the territory of the Chukchee. One, for instance, is situated in the north of Anadyr, not far from Mariinsky Post. I am not sure, however, that this idea is free from foreign influence. Even the word "epe'pil" is rather Koryak than Chukchee. In Koryak it signifies "little father," "grandfather:" in Chukchee it belongs to the trading-jargon, and signifies the Russian "priest." {The Russo-Chukchee trading-jargon is a kind of broken dialect, with simplified grammar and pronunciation, adapted to the use of both parties. The vocabulary is Chukchee with a slight admixture of Russian words. It uses also a few dozen other alien words, which the Chukchee call, "words of Ta'n.ñit" (Ta'n.ñin-wê'thaw), meaning, by this name, likewise the Russians. Nevertheless, these words have nothing in common with the Russian language, and, on examining them, I found that four-fifths of them belong to the language of the Koryak, who also are called by the Chukchee by the name "Genuine Ta'n.ñit" (see p. 19). Such words are, for instance: --


Meaning in Russo-Chukchee Jargon.


Meaning in Koryak.


Epe'pil, Priest,

Little father, grandfather.

Ka'mak, Death,

Evil spirit.

Kaitaka'lhln, Brother,

Brother.

Rlhna'lhm, Wolf,

Wolf.

Pañkai'pirkin, He marries by Christian rite,

He puts on a hat (nuptial crown).

}

In the last stage (the fifth) the personified vital force become completely separated from the material objects, and independent of them. There is developed a conception of supernatural beings who fill the whole exterior world, and move freely within its limits. These beings are anthropomorphous, but more powerful than men; they are invisible, but may appear at will to various persons, or are seen by shamans even, against their own will.

Stories about such beings form the greater part of the folk-lore and mythology of the Chukchee.' Most prominent among them are the ke'let (pl. of ke'lE). Of these there are several classes, all of which may do harm to mankind. Sometimes, however, all kinds of spirits, harmful or harmless, are referred to as ke'let; but, strictly speaking, this use of the term is incorrect. An accurate speaker will distinguish at least two separate classes of supernatural beings, -- the harmful ke'lE or evil spirit and the benevolent va'irgm.

Many times when witnessing sacrifices made by the common people, who know little of spiritual matters, I asked to whom the sacrifice was being proffered. The answer was, "Who knows! To the va'irgin, to the ke'lE ("Qo! vairge'ti, kalagti'"). Both names were intended for the class of beings friendly to man, because no Chukchee will openly confess to having made sacrifices to evil spirits, except under extraordinary circumstances.

The word "va'irgin'' (pl. va'irgit) signifies simply "being," and therefore ke'let may also be called by this name. In this case some additional identification is usually desired. For example, aqa'm-va'irgit indicates "bad beings;" pagčê'm-va'irgit, "meddling beings;" while va'irgit without any addition signifies "benevolent spirits."

I mentioned also that the "owners" of the rivers, lakes, etc., are also called ke'let. This is analogous to the fact that nymphs, dryads, and other genii of the Greeks and Romans, were also called gods, and were supposed to have various relations with higher deities, even to have sexual intercourse with them. All three classes of supernatural beings are also called by the Chukchee "the clever ones" (gitte'pičit), as people versed in magic are called "the knowing ones."

Comparative Notes. -- Judging from my own information and that collected by Mr. Jochelson, the religious ideas of the Koryak present many close similarities to those of the Chukchee, not only in their general character, but also in their way of development. Thus, Mr. Jochelson says that "household utensils, implements, parts of the house, the chamber-vessel, and even excrement, have an existence of their own. They may warn their 'masters' of danger, and attack their enemies." {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 117.} This, corresponds to what I call the "first stage of development." Mr. Jochelson also mentions that the "anthropomorphic ideas of the Koryak are schematic and incomplete," though, "on the other hand, the vagueness of their notions does not prevent them from being material." {Ibid., p. 115.} He points out this vagueness in regard particularly to their wooden images of a religious kind, whose outlines are very crude. I rank such vague attempts in the second stage and in the first step of development of the anthropomorphic conception. Mr. Jochelson says, also, that "all objects appear in two states. One corresponds to the exterior form of things, serving as a cover, and the other, to the interior, anthropomorphic." {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 115.} Among the numerous instances of this kind contained in his material, however, some imply a simple exchange from one form to another without indicating that the first is, to use the words of Mr. Jochelson, "cast off like a shell." Thus, the stone hammers in Tale No. 48, who act like men, retain their hard stone heads. {Ibid., p. 202.} When I'lla undertakes to bring his stone-hammer wife to his own house, he remarks in the middle of his journey, that one half of her face became human, while the other remained stone. This corresponds to what I call the "third stage." In accordance with this, transformed objects retain some of their former material properties. Thus, in one story, a man whom Big-Raven made from a rag has the peculiarity of constantly moving his bowels. In another story, Eme'mqut comes to the village of the Cloud-People, and notices that the people there, their reindeer, their houses, and the pots that hang over the hearth, expand and contract like clouds. {Ibid., pp. 117, 133.}

Other instances given by Mr. Jochelson refer to the transformation of inanimate objects into human beings by the taking-off of their outward cover. "The bear, the wolf, the ermine, the moose, the raven, and other birds and animals, are described as taking off their skins and becoming men, and vice versa. Kilu', a niece of Big-Raven, put on a bear-skin, and turned into a bear. Eme'mqut and his wives put on wide-brimmed, spotted hats, resemble fly-agaric, and turned into those poisonous fungi." {Ibid., p. 149.} I rank such transformations as the fourth stage of development.

Koryak and Kamchadal stories of such transformations of animals are numerous, and recall the tales of the American Indians, where the animal almost always is simply a man covered with a skin blanket. The Chukchee stories of animals represent them, in most cases, simply as having two shapes, animal and anthropomorphous, interchangeable (my third stage, see p. 278). In this they resemble the stories of the Eskimo. This agrees with other facts which show, that, while the Chukchee folk-lore is closely connected with that of the Eskimo, the tales of the Koryak and the Kamchadal have a closer affinity with those of the North-Pacific Indians of America. {Compare Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 683; Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 357 et seq.} The Koryak admit "owners" or "masters" of localities and of classes of animals, who are quite similar to those of the Chukchee, and, indeed, are called by the same name. Eti'nvala3n corresponds to the Chukchee êti'nvilin, an adjective from ê'tin ("master"). In the same way the Koryak ka'la corresponds to the Chukchee ke'lE.

Ke'let. -- The ke'let proper may be divided into three classes more or less distinct, though often merging into one another. The first class consists of evil spirits who walk about invisibly, bringing disease and death, and preying on human souls and bodies. The second category is made up of blood-thirsty cannibals who lived, or still live, somewhere on the distant shores, and always fight against the Chukchee warriors. The third class includes the "spirits" that come at the call of the shamans, and help them in their magic and medical practices. {Regarding deceased people who come back as "spirits," see Chapter XVII.} The first class of "spirits" are often called "genuine spirits" (li'i-ke'let), or "murderers" (tei'n.ñičit), or "meddling beings" (pagčê'm-va'irgit) because they interfere so much with human affairs. The last name is given chiefly to the "spirits" of mysterious nervous diseases "subject to shunning." {See p. 42.} They usually come from the confines of the territory occupied by the Chukchee tribe. For instance, the "spirits" of contagious diseases (such as small-pox or grippe) usually come from the sunset, out of the "country belonging to the Sun Chief" (Tirk-e'rmin nu'tenut). By this latter name the Chukchee, in common with many other tribes of Siberia, designate the Russian Emperor. Contagious diseases actually come to the Chukchee from the west. I was repeatedly asked by the natives whether all Russia was occupied by ke'let, and why the Sun Chief is unable to get rid of them. {The ideas of the Chukchee about the country of the Sun Chief present many peculiarities. Among others I will mention the belief, current among the Reindeer and the Maritime people, as to the use to which are put the tributes in peltry coming to the Sun Chief from arctic Siberia. In the country of the Sun Chief there is supposed to exist a great hole, from which boiling water continually flows, forming a whirlpool, and threatening to submerge the whole world. The "spirit" of the whirlpool has to be propitiated with sacrifice of peltries thrown into the water. The best combination is white and red foxes in equal numbers. When the latter are deficient, the whirlpool turns angrily, refusing to accept the sacrifice. Therefore, when peltries are scarce, the Sun Chief has to give, for those lacking, an equal number of cossack children. Besides this, every tenth year he must throw in either two black foxes or his eldest son.

This is the only explanation that the mind of the Chukchee was able to work out in accounting for the exceeding greed of the Russians in acquiring the smaller peltries, which, from the Arctic point of view, are much inferior to the common fawn-skins. The legend probably originated in certain Russian folk-stories heard from the cossacks or Russianized natives.}

Ke'let are also supposed to come from under ground, and sometimes even from above, where they have a separate world of their own. They never come from the sea, because, according to a proverb of the Reindeer Chukchee, "nothing evil can come from the sea." This is additional proof of the opinion expressed before, that the maritime element in former times preponderated in Chukchee life.

Within the limits of the Chukchee land, ke'let live in desert places far away from human villages. There they attack and catch the lonesome traveller, or cling to him invisibly, and are carried to human dwellings, where they can find victims in plenty. They hide in little hollows of the ground, in crevices of the rock, or in cracks along the river-banks, where they waylay the unsuspecting traveller who tries to drink from a hole in the ice, or who sleeps on the bare ground. These evil spirits will scare men into fits, or violate every woman whom they find sleeping alone in the open.


On account of these beliefs, the Chukchee are extremely afraid to travel alone, and, when passing the night in the open, protect themselves against the ke'let with various devices to be described later.

The ke'let who live in deserts are called by a common name, "ground-spirits" (nota's.qa-ka'lat) or "ground-beings" (nota's.qa-va'irgit). The fiercest and most dreaded of them is Iu'metun, who causes a nervous disease bearing the same name. {See p. 42.} He lurks in the place of his abode, ready to spring on every man who passes by without necessary magic precautions. He is represented as having a black face and a large mouth full of big strong teeth. This latter feature is common to every form of ke'lE. On some Chukchee pencil-sketches, Iu'metun (Fig. 203, a) and other "spirits" of a similar character are represented merely as faces without bodies. This is explained by the statement that their faces only pop out of their places of concealment.

Another of the "ground-spirits" is Ite'yun (Fig. 203, b), the "spirit" of epilepsy, who is represented by a face with distorted features. Ite'yun, when the shamans see him, will suddenly change his appearance and put on another face (Fig. 203, c). Among the other "ground-spirits" are "Hanging-Eyes" (Lili'lhlk), Fig. 204, a, with eyes hanging down on thin threads; and "One-Eyed" (Qon-lê'lo), Fig. 204, b, who has one eye only.

Most of the "ground-spirits" have no special names; but the Chukchee agree that they are numerous, and have faces which are "of different sort" (a'lvam-va'ht), not resembling anything else on earth. In dreams and visions they often appear as a crowd of black beings, and act collectively, even when Concluding a Special Compact with a shaman. Other "spirits, on the contrary, when appearing in dreams and contracting a league with shamans, act individually and mistrust one another. "Some of the "ground-spirits" are described as very small, not larger than a human finger, naked, and of the color of raw meat. They penetrate the human body, and break out in abscesses and ulcers. An old man who in a single week had lost all his family by small-pox, {In 1884, on the western Kolyma tundra. Compare p. 41.} and who was dangerously ill himself, told me that when he began to recover he saw the "spirit" of the disease escaping from his right side. Then another small "spirit" bright as fire entered his body. With a little silver knife he cut out the bad places of the intestines. His hand, when thrust out of the body of the patient, became so long that it reached the ground, and could wipe off the blood and pus on the grass. Other "spirits" of this class are gaunt, and black of face. They are clad in black garments of foreign material, such as cotton or broadcloth. According to a more common belief, they wear the worn-out clothes of the deceased, which the Chukchee usually cut to pieces and leave in a heap near the naked corpse. The "spirits" pick them up, and mend them with the sinew of the corpse. In the sketches drawn by natives, which were mentioned above, these "spirits" are represented by a number of strange faces and figures. Some of them have only half-bodies (Fig. 205, a), a detail which is also met with among artificial objects designed to work a spell; {See Chapter XVI.} others have the ears and tail of a dog (Fig. 205, b), or many feet, like an insect (Fig. 205, c); still others have the body of a fish, seal, dog, bird, or fox (Fig. 205, d-g), always with long hands armed with claws, and with a large mouth full of teeth.


The majority of the kelet do not stay in their own retreats. They prefer to visit human villages, and wander about seeking human prey. They live very much like human beings, and are considered a tribe by themselves. They have villages or camps, and move about the country with reindeer or dogs. They marry, and have children. Their young people go hunting and fishing, and the old men sit at home and try to read the future by the aid of divining-stones. The object of their hunts is exclusively man, whom they usually call "a little seal." Their divining-stone is a human skull, while men often use for this purpose the skull of some animal. It is said in a tale, --


"The ke'let will come in the night-time to a dwelling, put their nets across the entrance, and then poke with long poles under the sides of the tent in order to drive the little souls of the sleepers away from under the protecting cover of the inner room."

After catching a soul, they chop it to pieces, cook it in a kettle, and feed their children with it. {Taken from a Tale. It is intended to publish these Tales in Vol. VIII.} A shaman said to me, --

"We are surrounded by enemies. 'Spirits' always walk about invisibly with gaping mouths. We are always cringing, and distributing gifts on all sides, asking protection of one, giving ransom to another, and unable to obtain anything whatsoever gratuitously."

Ainanwa't, {See p. 46.} in his curious description of the "bad years of small-pox" on the western tundra of the Kolyma, says as follows: --

"Then I had a dream. A cloud came from above, like darkness. It approached slowly, like a thick fog. I saw it approaching, and all grew dark around me. It was a black crowd, a gathering of men clad in black. In the bright mid-day they darkened the sun completely. I asked those nearest, 'What are you coming for?' They answered, 'We came to devour you!' -- 'Oh,' I said, 'let me help you at first.' I picked up from the ground a piece of wood, and suddenly I saw myself soaring upwards. Then I began moving to and fro, and struck with the stick upon the top of all tents of my camp. I struck down all the tents, but these were in reality the souls of my wife and children whom I struck down. Thus I killed all of mine with my own hand. And from the time of that dream the disease could seize all of my family." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 37.}

"Spirits" like the inner organs of the human body, -- the heart, the kidneys, and especially the liver. "Ke'lE is fond of liver" (Ke'lE ponta'irinkên), says a proverb. The following tale is given as the reason for their peculiar longing for human liver: --

"Once upon a time an old woman ke'lE lived with her little son near a village of men. She had nothing to eat, and every time the villagers happened to kill a seal or a walrus, she asked for its liver, and she and her child lived on that. At last the villagers got weary of the tribute. They enticed her son to accompany them for a drive across the ice, and killed him. Then, bringing back his liver, they gave it to the ke'lE-woman. She did not recognize it, and, taking it home, roasted a portion over her lamp. The remaining portion she laid down near by. Suddenly it turned into live lice, which crawled away in all directions. After that, the ke'let, in revenge, began to seek for human liver."

The same taste for liver is ascribed by the Koryak to their ka'la. {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 295.} The ke'let are not exempt from the attacks of shamans, who can deal with them in the same way as they deal with men. The ke'let, on their part, call shamans ke'let. If a "spirit" drives with a reindeer-team and a shaman steps on the rear part of the runners of his sledge, the team will immediately stop, because the reindeer are aware of the presence of the shaman. The "spirits," unable to understand what has happened, will seek for some natural cause. The same thing happens to men whose sledges may be stopped by "spirits." I collected numerous stories about "spirits" attacking human villages, and about shamans retaliating in exactly the same way.

The ke'let are subject to sudden changes of size. Several shamans have said to me, --

"It is puzzling to understand the size of the ke'let. You look at a ke'lE, and he is smaller than a mosquito; again you look, and he is of the size of an ordinary man, and then, behold! he is sitting on a cliff, and his feet touch the sandy beach below. Look at him closely, and he is not larger than a finger: look at him at some distance through the fog, and he will loom up like a mountain."


On the Pacific side, these "spirits" are usually called re'kkeñit (sing. re'kkeñ), while in the Kolyma country a re'kken is a monster with a bear s body and very large ears. I obtained several curious details about the supposed ways of the re'kkeñ tribe. They cannot fly. Even when pursued by a shaman, they only dive underground, making the earth near them soften and give way like water. They have red canoes, in which they ascend even the shallowest waters, also large skin boats with crews of eight oarsmen and a boat-master (a3tw-e'rmečin), after the manner of men. When hunting from these boats, they lay their nets for men, who are their only game. Their houses are underground dwellings. Their kettles are made of grass. Their fire is snow-white in the day-time and blood-red in the evening, when it may be seen in the west after sunset.

The outward appearance of the re'kkeñit and of their reindeer and dogs is unlike that of man and his animals. It is "of different form" (a'lvam-va'hn). Some of them have only one eye, in their foreheads, and long braided hair. They wear loose garments with very long sleeves trailing on the ground, while their hands are thrust out through openings in the middle. These latter details are repeated in the description of other supernatural beings.

The breath of re'kkeñit, and also that of their reindeer, is thick smoke containing sparks of fire. The women are very stout, and have long loose hair reaching to the ground. The tips of the hair glow in the dark. Their breasts are under their arms.

The Chukchee sacrifice to the re'kkeñit, and to any other ke'let, any animal that is "of different form -," for example, reindeer with antlers of unusual form, or white reindeer with black ear-points, or those having a white spot on one side resembling in its outline a Chukchee drum, or newborn fawns with misshapen mouths, or black pups with white spots over the eyes, etc.


Ke'let, in their turn, when caught flagrante delicto by a shaman, often give in ransom one of their dogs. These are very small and quite black. When a ke'lE comes to a human house on a hunting-expedition, his dog (Fig. 206) slips in at his side, invisible, like a shadow, and snatches up the souls, bringing them to his master. This dog is subject to the same puzzling changes of size as is his master. If met singly in the open, he may appear as large as a bear, with a great mouth full of large teeth, ready to devour his victim. A dog to be given over to a man in ranson for his ke'lE "master" is only one born of an ordinary bitch; but when he grows up he will be distinguished by his large size, black hair,- and sullen temper. Often he has white spots over his eyes, which are considered an additional pair of eyes, capable of seeing the ke'let in the dark. He is thus "double-eyed." Such a dog will keep watch against ke'let, and drive them away from the dwelling; or, if he is afraid of their strength, he will awaken his master, and suggest by his barking either flight or other means of protection, according to circumstances. {From a tale.}


In one of the sketches a re'kkeñ is represented with a long thin tongue protruding from his mouth (Fig. 207). He is pursuing a human soul. Another sketch shows a large hairy ke'lE {In describing the sketches, I use the names re'kkeñ or ke'lE according as they were used by the native sketchers and describers.} who stole an infant from its father and mother, and is about to swallow it (Fig. 208). Another ke'lE is striving to get a share, while in the original the parents are represented above in earnest discussion.

The ke'let of several diseases have special names, and are described in detail. The "cough-spirit" (Te'ggi) is an old man driving a single white reindeer, and all the time coughing violently. In one of the sketches he is represented with a piece of cord on which are strung the souls of several mortals, who offer him a reindeer "of different form" in ransom. The "rheum-spirit" (Pi'ti) is another old man of small size, with red inflamed eyes, and nose filled with mucus. "Syphilis-spirits" (E'tel) are small red people moving about with small reindeer, and pitching their tents on human bodies. Sometimes they hide in the red juice of the cloud-berry, and are swallowed with it. According to other information, these "spirits" have no skin, and their raw, red flesh is left bare. They wear black capes with ear-flaps hanging down to the ground. On one of the sketches, "syphilis-spirits" are represented by two red foxes walking on their hind-legs (Fig. 209, a, b). One of the foxes has lost a foot, having been caught in a steel trap, and on his escape he sought revenge by becoming a "syphilis-spirit." The "colic-spirit" (Ehre'er or E'hrip) is represented with a large beak tied to his face (Fig. 209, c). He is also described as a large wooden ball having a face one side.


An ivory carving (Fig. 210) obtained from the Maritime Koryak at Baron Korff's Bay represents the "spirit" of contagious diseases, much like that shown in the drawings of the Chukchee. The "spirit" has a very large mouth full of teeth; and his hands are armed with claws, one of wich is broken.

As a defence against a "spirit," the spoon is very efficient, because this utensil has eaten so much of the blood-soup used for sacrifice. The snow-beater is another favorite weapon, because it rattles all the time. It is especially efficacious when it has a guardian image on its handle. The "spirits" fear the chamber-vessel most of all. Human urine poured over a "spirit's" head will immediately drive him back. Urine freezes on a "spirit's" clothes, and turns to hoar-frost: therefore a "spirit" is sometimes said to have ice-covered clothes. The oil dripping from a lamp is also senting the "Spirit" of said to be highly efficacious against "spirits: therefore it is used by shamans when performing incantations, in drawing magic circles around the house.

The Chukchee have little conception of death by natural means. When a man dies, he is supposed to be killed either by "spirits," or by an evil shaman through the influence of charms. In one tale the Creator, angered by the bloodthirstiness of the "spirits," gives them a severe lesson on their own children. They repent, and for a while stop killing. Then death ceases in the whole world, until the "spirits," incited by hunger, return to their former pursuit.

One of the chief features of the funeral ceremonial with the Chukchee consists in ripping open the abdomen of the corpse, and carefully searching the internal organs, especially the liver, to discover, if possible, which "spirit" or shaman may have killed the deceased.

The second division of the ke'let, the cannibal giants who make war against the Chukchee warriors, are heard of chiefly in the folk-tales. They are described as having fabulous features, but in all cases they are earthly and mortal beings. Man can deal with them, using ordinary weapons, while against the "genuine spirits" it is necessary to use incantations, magic spells, and shamanistic power. These giants are always very poor. They have no reindeer and use dogs only to a limited extent. In several tales the "spirit" has only a single dog, used for hunting-purposes, and carries his fuel and quarry on his own shoulders, or hauls them on a sled. In the Yukaghir folk-lore these beings are simply called "legendary old men," {Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, Introductory, p. iv.} which characterizes them perfectly.

The transition from the first to the second class of ke'let is quite gradual and almost imperceptible. One shaman of the Reindeer people in the Telqä'p tundra told me that a few years before, when he was visiting at the secluded house of a Ke'rek family, {See p. 19.} a ke'lE came at dusk to the dwelling, and called from the outside for his wife to come out. He had evidently lost his way and had mistaken this for his own house. He went on to tell his supposed wife that he had caught all the fish in the nearest two rivers, and he flung down his load with such force that the ground trembled. Then he thrust a pair of boots made of stone into the sleeping-room, and asked for dry shoes. When he tried to creep into the sleeping-room, the inmates poured the contents of the chamber-vessel on his head, and he immediately fled, gibbering away at a furious rate. The fish remained behind, and afforded sufficient food for all the people of the near-by villages for half a year. It will be seen that this ke'lE is described as an unfriendly spirit and at the same time as an earthly being living by catching real fish.

Another story relates that a ke'lE tribe lived somewhere on the Arctic shore. The Chukchee led a war of extermination against them, and at last the "spirits," unable to continue the strife, made themselves invisible.

I have already spoken of the tradition according to which several human tribes are supposed to have emigrated in ancient times from the Chukchee country. {See p. 22.} These tribes correspond to the Eskimo tornit (pl. of tuneq). {See Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 634.} Cannibal giants similar to those of the Chukchee appear also in Eskimo tales. The tribes which emigrated are supposed to have been of ordinary stature.

The Chukchee also believe in the existence of a race of giants, who, unlike the ke'let, do not harm men. They are called lo'lgiht. The tales about them are somewhat similar to those found among the Eskimo. The giants are said to live on the other shore of the sea, inside of large tent-like mountains. When they make a fire, the smoke escapes through the opening on the top of the mountains.


One of the sketches mentioned (Fig. 211) represents a giant called "One-with-a-Walrus-Blubber-Skin" (Kopa'lha-hê'lhêlin). This giant came from across the sea to the land of the Ke'rek. He was so heavy that he left the footprints of his steps everywhere, and even the impression of his private parts. One night he went to sleep in an open place. Three men saw him, and succeeded in tying him with ropes to stakes driven into the ground. After that they killed him with their spears. His bleached bones may be seen even now on the Pe'qul-ñei' Mountains.

The third category of ke'let consists of the "spirits" that come at the call of the shamans. They are often called "separate spirits" (ya'nřa-ka'lat) or "separate vioces" (ya'nřa-ko'lêt), because their voices seem to come from different directions. The shamans produce these voices by ventriloquism. Another name for these "spirits" is eñe'ñît, from which the shaman is called eñe'ñilin ("having e'ñeñ"). The word "e'ñeñ" is applied also to all kinds of medicines, including the pills and powders of the civilized world. The Christian God is called E'ñeñ, and so also are the crucifix, images of saints, etc.

The shamanistic "spirits" are for the most part material objects of various kinds, -- animals, such as wolves, reindeer, walrus, whales; birds; plants; icebergs; household utensils, such as pots, hammers, needles, and needle-cases. The chamber-vessel and urine are also shamans' "spirits." I was told of an old man who met a fox defecating in the open (see Fig. 212, d). The fox ran away, and the old man took its excrement for his own "spirit." Another old man, when practising shamanism, called his own penis as a "spirit." Sometimes household objects, etc., are described as calling, without invitation, on the shaman during a manifestation. They put on mysterious airs, and assume fine-sounding names. The needle, for instance, appears as a man, and calls itself "the long one" (iwču'wgi). The work-bag is called by other "spirits" "[home] sitting bag" (wakѳ'tva-ta'-iočgin). The antler ladle appears as a ribald old man, and boasts that all women love him. The excrement boasts that he is clad in a nice black garment, but other "spirits" reveal his identity. The shamanistic "spirits" are described as very small, and timid in the presence of unfamiliar objects and surroundings. They belong to the houseless world, say the Chukchee, just as do wild animals. It is no easy matter to allure them to human houses and to tame them, even partially. They approach warily, and are ready to run away at any moment. They come only in the darkness. By listening, one can sometimes hear the tapping of their tiny feet as they trot across a drum. When moving in the dark, they produce a sound similar to the droning of a beetle or the buzzing of a mosquito. {The same, also, in tales.} Their voices are, however, strong. They are supposed to be subject to sudden changes of size, and able, in case of need, to grow to giant proportions. An ermine invoked as a shamanistic "spirit," or as a guardian spirit of an ordinary man, will, if need be, assume the shape of a polar bear. A pebble will appear as a mountain. A small wooden figure representing a supernatural dog will increase in size until it is larger than a bear. {The same, also, in tales.} Nevertheless, the shamanistic "spirits" are smaller than the "genuine spirits." In some of the native sketches where a "genuine spirit" is represented side by side with "separate spirits" invoked by a shaman to give protection against the first "spirit's," attacks, the shamanistic "spirits" are drawn considerably smaller than the "genuine spirits."


The sketches shown in Fig. 212 are copied from a native drawing representing various shamanistic "spirits," a is a man who carried his own excrement, laid on a paddle, out of the house, and it became a "spirit," b represents a man who called to himself a "spirit" in the shape of a centipede; с represents a man to whom a "benevolent being (invible on the sketch) offered the choice between two shamanistic coats, red and black (good and bad shamanism), he chose the red; d represents a man who met in the open a fox defecating, over which he brandished his spear, whereupon the fox fled, and the excrement became a "spirit."

The shamanistic "spirits" are very ill tempered, especially toward the shaman with whom they are connected. If he does not carry out implicitly all the suggestions they make about his dress, mode of living, and the details of ceremonials, they become angry and chastise him, or punish him otherwise. If he continues to disobey, they kill him. If the "spirits" are displeased with any of the listeners at a ceremony, they usually take vengeance on the shaman. For this reason, outsiders must be very quiet, and careful not to pry into the work of the "spirits."

On the other hand, when the shaman has kept faithfully his compact with the "spirits," they must come at his call, and must assist him in all troubles and difficulties. "These are my people, my own little 'spirits,'" said one shaman when I expressed a doubt as to whether his "spirits" would come or not. "They will not leave me, but will seek me all the time, as a fawn seeks its mother."

Stories of Chukchee folk-lore are full of episodes in which shamanistic "spirits" come at the call of the shaman when he is in difficulty, and deliver him from imminent peril. One old shaman, A'ñika by name, who lived in the village of Nu'nligren, told me that when he was still newly inspired, he happened to travel by sea in a skin boat with seven other men, all of whom were shamans, and each one older than himself. Suddenly the boat sprung a leak. The owner, who was steering, exclaimed, "Stop that leak, some of you!" but no one was able to do anything. Then he himself called a "seaweed-spirit" who happened to be among his supernatural assistants, and told him to stick to the leak. Thus the boat came to shore. When they were near to the landing, A'ñika exclaimed, "I have done enough in taking care of you (by stopping the leak)! Now, if you are really shamans, save yourselves from destruction!" The "seaweed-spirit" dropped off, and the boat began to sink. A'ñika and the owner of the boat were able to reach the shore by swimming, but all the others were drowned.

This story is analogous in many respects to a folk-lore story that I collected in the village of Če'čin. In that story also, a young shaman with the aid of a "seaweed-spirit" saves a boat. Then he bids defiance to those in the boat, and, suddenly turning into a hawk, seizes the boat-owner and carries him to land, while all the others perish.

Shamanistic "spirits," as a rule, do not like one another. When they meet near a shaman, they are said to quarrel and to abuse one another in a most violent manner. The shaman, however, brings about a reconciliation, and prevails upon them to act harmoniously. Thus, in the story of the "Two Rival Shamans," the house of one of them is covered on all sides with a number of "spirits," and a "spirit" of another shaman, who comes for assault, cannot find an opening through which to enter. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 217.}

Benevolent Beings. -- Supernatural beings which are benevolent in nature are called "beings" (va'irgit), as I have stated before. This word in the verb-form is t-it-va'rkm ("I exist," "I am"). The noun va'irgin signifies "existence," "being," "way of living," "acting force," "substance."

Directions. -- While there are numerous varieties of "benevolent spirits," the most prominent are the "benevolent spirits sacrificed to" (taaro'nyo va'irgit), those to whom people bring sacrifices. They live in all "directions" of the compass, or are even themselves the "directions" of the compass in their connection with a special stage of sunlight and of day-time which corresponds to each separate "direction." The Chukchee distinguish twenty-two "directions" of the compass, as represented in Fig. 213. Of these "directions," only mid-day and midnight are unchanging. All others change their positions according to change of season. The zenith and the nadir are also considered to belong to this group.

Sacrifices may be made to every one of these "directions," if it is so directed in a dream. As objects for receiving sacrifices, the "directions" of the compass are called "[directions] sacrificed to" (taaro'ngirgit). Usually only the principal "directions" are taken into consideration. That pointing to the zenith is considered to be the most important of all. It is called "being a crown" (kano'irgin), or "middle cro.wn" (gino'n-kano'n), or "middle being" (gmo'n-va'irgm). Mid-day, the sun, and particularly the polar star, around which the Chukchee well know all other stars move, are often considered identical with the "middle crown." Of all others, Morning-Dawn (Tna'irgin) is the most important. Mid-day and dawn are sometimes spoken of as identical. Together they receive nearly all the sacrifices offered to "spirits of directions."

The shamans speak about several divisions of the Morning-Dawn, -- the "Top of the Dawn" (TneVqAn), "Right-hand Dawn" (Mratna'irgin). "Genuine Dawn" (Li'ê-tña'irgin), and "Left-hand Dawn" (Ña'chi-tña'irgm). The last-named is considered to be the brother of Darkness (Wu's.quus.). The name of Dawn's wife is given as Dawn-walking-Woman (Tñe-čei'vuñe). Besides all these, two mountains are mentioned as standing at either side of the Dawn; also a little old woman, Dawn-Top-Woman (Tñe's.qA-ñe), who lives in a dwelling apart by herself, after the manner of such old women in Chukchee tales. The Chukchee -say the Dawn and the Twilight are "wife companions" (Tña'irgin е'rri gi'thilm geñewtu'mgä); that is, have a wife in common. Some of the tales describe their common life with this woman in crude detail.


In one tale a shaman ascends to their dwelling in order to rob them of their wife. He creates a girl out of snow and grass, which he pretends is his sister. The snow girl is given in exchange for the wife of the hosts, but in the morning they find that she is dissolved. Then a shamanistic contest begins. Among other feats, the contestants have to run along a thin pole over a boiling-hot river. The shaman does not wait for his turn, but starts from the opposite end at the same time as the other competitors. When he meets them, he jumps over their heads and runs on. Next they have to leap over a chasm bristling with projecting knives. The shaman, performs this feat backwards. Then a huge kettle filled with boiling water is placed by the side of a larch-tree. A thin pole with a sharp end protrudes from the water. The competitors have to catch the end of a rope which hangs from the larch-tree. Then they must jump into the kettle, alighting on the end of the pole, and finally land safely on the ground. Other trials follow. The shaman overpowers his supernatural competitors, robs them of' the woman, and finally kills them. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 227.}

The "directions" of the evening are classed together as "Darkness" (Wu's.quus.). They are not given separate sacrifices, except in special cases. After the usual sacrifice to the Dawn, the Chukchee man will often sprinkle a few drops of blood in the four principal "directions." The darkness and the midnight "directions" are frequently confused with the nadir (nota's.qa-va'irgm). Nota's.qa-va'irgin signifies literally "earth-being," and the sacrifice in that "direction" is sometimes meant as a sacrifice to the earth. {For the ke'let who are called nota's.qa-va'irgit, compare p. 293.}

Sun and Moon. -- The Sun is generally described as a separate va'iRgiN. He is represented as a man in bright garments wandering around the sky, drawn by dogs or reindeer. His reindeer are sometimes described as having antlers of copper. He descended to earth along one of his own rays, and married a girl, whom he carried with him to heaven by the same road. {From tales.} He also brought to men a herd of white reindeer. The brown and the gray reindeer come from under the ground, somewhere beyond the limits of the peltry-bearing country (ävi'n-nu'tenut), at the place where the sky touches the earth. There a large hole is bored through the ground, and through that hole herds of reindeer pass continually, followed by wolves. In this way the number of reindeer on earth increases.

The Sun goes down every evening to his wife, whose name is Walking-around-Woman (Kavra'-ñña). According to another somewhat disconnected version, Sun's wife is called Rejoicing-Woman (Ko'rgi-ñа). This name was given to her because she bore a son to her husband, and then said to him, "Rejoice, I have a son!" The son was soon stolen by Stuck-Staff-Woman (U'npIñe), who may sometimes be heard weeping in the open on very dark nights at the end of summer. The Sun-People sought for the lost boy, but the thief destroyed all traces of herself by sticking her magic staff across her trail. This is how she received the name of Stuck-Staff-Woman. This episode seems to be a fragment of some old tale.

The Moon is also considered a man, and to. a certain extent holds a position in contrast to that of the Sun. He is called the Sun of the ke'lE. The suns of lower worlds are often quite similar to our moon. Shamans apply to the Moon for evil spells and incantations. A person who looks too hard at the Moon may be bereft of his wits, or be carried away altogether. The Moon has a lasso with which he catches such people, and hauls them upward. He thus captured a boy or a girl, or both, according to different versions of the story. They may now be seen on the moon, by the side of the Moon-Man. Other informants said that the Moon carried away the boy because he was ill-treated by his step-mother. Because the Moon has a lasso, he accepts offerings of small pieces of thong. The Moon is also said to have attempted to ravish a girl, and to have been prevented by her pinioning his arms to his sides until he had to plead to be released.

In one tale a shaman named Atti'gitki went with his cousin to the sea. On the open sea they saw a small old man sitting on the water with legs crossed, and covering the entrance to the world under water. By promising to give him, on their return home, an old blind she-dog, gray with age, they were permitted to enter. Descending to the world under water, they walked along and found still another world supported in the air on the end of a long needle. They turned into mosquitoes, flew upward, and slipped through the needle's eye into that world. Then they became men again.

The owner of that world is the Earth (Nu'tenut). He sits in a large iron house surrounded by Sun, Moon, Sky, Sea, Dawn, Darkness, and World, who are suitors for his beautiful daughter. Their hands are covered with scars, because at each meal, when the tray with the meat is brought in, the master strikes with a long knife at every hand that reaches out for the food. The guests, however, being powerful shamans, immediately heal their wounds by breathing on them. Atti'gitki sits down by himself, puts his cap on his lap, and draws in his breath. Plenty of meat jumps over into the cap, and Nu'tenut has no occasion to interfere.

After the meal the suitors are sent to fetch fuel. A large tree-trunk stands up in the middle of the sea. As soon as a suitor climbs it and begins to cut its branches with an axe, the "spirit" that lives in the tree-trunk shakes it, and the wood-cutter falls down and is drowned. The suitors, being shamans, rise again, and come back to the shore. Atti'gitki and his cousin bring a quantity of food and drop it on the tree-trunk. While the "spirit" is busy eating the food, they succeed in cutting off a piece of wood as large as a house. After a while a shamanistic contest begins in the sleeping-room. The lights are extinguished. Sun brings his luminary, and scorches the people. Sea. brings the flood, and drowns everything. Moon brings the "shutting rocks," and crushes the competitors. Dawn brings two polar bears, which eat everybody. Darkness brings two black bears, which do the same. Sky makes its upper hard crust fall down and crush the people. Worlds brings a blizzard, and freezes them. After each performance, all the rival shamans come to life again. The two men remain unhurt, because they turn, now into red worms, then into ermines or into wagtails, and in this shape escape from danger. Finally Atti'gitki, in his turn, begins to perform. He lifts his staff, and touches the competitors one by one. Half of the body of each is burned, shrunken, or weakened. They fly away terrified, and Atti'gitki carries off the bride. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 235.}

Stars and Constellations. -- Stars and constellations also belong to the va'irgit. The most important is the Polar Star, which is called in the Chukchee language Ilu'kälin e'ñer or Ilu'k-e'ñer ("motionless star"), or Ä3lqe'p-e'ñer ("nail star"), or Unp-e'ñer ("the pole-stuck star"). This latter name occurs throughout Asia. It suggests the existence of a simile in which all other stars move around the Polar Star as horses or reindeer move around a pole to which they are tethered. The house of the Polar Star stands in the zenith. Directly under it is a hole through which it is possible to pass from one world to another. Through a series of these holes the Polar Star can be seen in all the lower and higher worlds, while the other constellations change with the different worlds. Carrying this idea further, the house of the Polar Star is supposed to be higher than that of any other star. It is made of a material similar to ice, {Tin-wu'rrm ("similar to ice"). The Chukchee use the same word (ti'ntin) for "ice" and "glass." The term "similar to ice" is also applied to rock-crystal.} and on the top of it is set the beacon-lamp of the star.

Next in importance to the Polar Star are Arcturus and Vega, which are called "Heads" (Le'utti). Arcturus is called "Front Head" (YanoLa'ut), and Vega is called "Rear Head" (YaaLa'ut). They are said to be brothers or cousins. In the night-time, when travelling through the open tundra, the Chukchee find their direction by comparing the position of both "Heads" to each other and to the Polar Star. The "Front Head," Arcturus, is often called the "chief" or the "guide" of the stars.

The stars Altair and Tarared of the constellation Eagle are combined by the Chukchee into a separate constellation, and are called Pehi'ttin. This constellation is believed to usher in the light of the new year, because it begins to appear above the horizon at the time of the winter solstice. The Reindeer Chukchee and most of the families of the Maritime Chukchee sacrifice to Pehi'ttin at the time of his first appearance. I was told, both on the Kolyma and the Anadyr, that Pehi'ttin was a forefather of the tribe, who, after death, ascended to heaven; but I could not procure any further details.

Other stars and constellations known to the Chukchee are not considered special va'irgit. The principal ones are described below.

Orion, which is called Rulte'nnin, is said to be an archer with a crooked back. His name is derived from the same root as the adjective niru'ltA-qin ("crooked"). Star X of the constellation forms his head; a and y, his shoulders; χ and β, his feet. Orion's belt is the crooked back of Rulte'nnin. Two large stars extending downward from the belt form his membrum virile.

Leo is called Vê'tča-ñe'ut ("standing-woman"). This name is usually given to women taking part in certain ceremonial dances. {See Chapter XIV.} The woman is considered to be Orion's wife, and she sleeps on the bare ground. In a quarrel she struck Orion on the back with her tailoring-board, causing his back to become crooked. After that he drove his wife out, and she lay down to sleep in the middle of the sky. Leo is formed of seven stars. The star ε of Leo represents the head of the woman; η, her neck; Regulus, her knee. A small star between ε and η, represents the sleeve on which rests the head of the sleeping woman. Other stars outline her body.

The Pleiades are called Ñaus.qajo'mkin ("group of women"). They are six young women waiting for husbands. Orion, after his quarrel with his wife, offered to marry one of them; but they rejected his offer, considering his membrum virile to be too big for them. The incensed suitor caught up his bow and began to shoot at the women, who turned and fled.

Aldebaran is considered to be the copper-tipped arrow of Orion, and is called Čê'lo-ma'3qim ("copper arrow"). The rear end of its wooden shaft is represented by the double star not far from Aldebaran. The arrow fell short of the fleeing women, and stuck in a mossy bog. The bow of Orion is represented by a number of stars in front of the constellation, which form a figure somewhat resembling a bow. The Kolyma Chukchee say that the "group of women" stand quiet, and protect themselves with nets, which are represented by a number of small stars. The "copper arrow" sticks in the net.

The three constellations described by the Chukchee are shown in Fig. 214. Orion is standing with shoulders squared and legs wide apart, and is bending his bow for another shot.

The star α (Capella) of the Wagoner is a reindeer-buck which is tied behind the sledge of a man (ε) who is driving two reindeer. All four stars are called čŭmña-nlete'tilin ("buck-carriers"). β of the same constellation is supposed to be a scarf lost by another reindeer-driver, who now comes back for it. This driver has behind his sledge another extra buck (star θ), which is walking sidewise. A fox is approaching the scarf from the other side. The whole constellation is represented in Fig. 215.

Ursa Major does not play a conspicuous part among the other constellations. Six of its stars are supposed to be men shooting with slings, and are called accordingly "sling-throwers" (wiyotkiña'ulit). The seventh star, which is double, is supposed to be a gray fox gnawing at a pair of antlers. Castor and Pollux are two elks running away from two hunters who are driving two reindeer-teams represented by the stars γ, κ, and λ, μ of the constellation Lynx. One of the hunters has a dog tied behind his sledge. {Both drivers are called "elk-hunters" (gu'pkA-velerkile'llt). The driver without a dog, however, is often called also the "mouse-driver" (compare p. 287).} The relative positions of these constellations are represented in Fig. 216. Corona Borealis is supposed to be the paw of a polar bear.


The constellation Dolphin is considered a seal, with the star £ representing its head, and four other stars its flippers.

The Milky Way is supposed to be a river, called Pebbly River (Cigei'-ve'em), which is believed to flow toward the west and to contain numerous islands.

The five large stars in the constellation Cassiopeia are five reindeer-bucks standing in the middle of the river.

In general, the names of constellations given by Lieutenant Nordquist {Vega Expeditionens Vetenskapliga jakttagelser, I, p. 397.} differ from mine only in the method of transcription; but he calls Cassiopeia "melotamkin," which, with a proper change of vowels in the root, {Compare p. 19, Footnote 2.} must be read milute'mkin ("group of hares"). I have never heard Cassiopeia spoken of as hares instead of reindeer.

Two small stars near Pehi'ttin are called "reindeer-dam" (veñke'nřu), the second star being a reindeer-calf. They are approaching Pehi'ttin to be sacrificed.


The Chukchee sketch (Fig. 217) represents the starry sky. Pebbly River flows across it. The Polar Star (a) is below it, exactly in the middle. Below the Polar Star, on the right, are (b) the Elks (Twins); and on the left (c), the Elk-Hunter (Lynx). Above Pebbly River, on the left, is Ursa Major (d) with its eight vertical row, three stars (e) which represent Pehi'ttin (Eagle). {The man who drew the sketch could give no reasons why he put in Pehi'ttin three stars instead of two (see p. 307). Perhaps it was only an accidental mistake.} The group on the right hand represents Orion (f) and the Pleiades (g); three stars a little above that group represent Corona Borealis (h). The stars i and j represent the "Heads." The Moon is in the first quarter.

In another sketch representing the sky (Fig. 218) the Polar Star is placed in the middle. Four lines extend from it in the main directions of the compass. The Dawn, the Evening, and the Darkness have worlds of their own, represented as large mountains. The Dawn (in the left-hand corner, below) has rays around his head. He holds in his left hand a tray, which was offered to him with a sacrifice, and in his right hand a fox, which he is going to give in exchange. From his left, another fox is approaching; and on his right a dog which had been sacrificed by men sits looking up at him. These two animals are also to be exchanged. Two other sacrificial trays lie on the ground. The Evening and his family (in the opposite corner, above) are celebrating the feast of the sea-god. They wear ceremonial headbands. A large wand stands in their midst. The Darkness is shown in the lower right-hand corner, in the form of a human being coming out of the trees with many branches. The Sun and the new Moon stand opposite each other. Among the stars can be discerned the outlines of Orion and of the Pleiades, the Milky Way, "Heads," etc. The large star in the upper left-hand corner is Venus.


On another sketch (Fig. 219) three worlds are represented by three concentric circles. Our world is the innermost. The Polar Star again stands in the centre. On the left hand are the Sun and the Moon. The latter is represented as a man holding a lasso, with two human captives standing beside him. Between the Sun and the Moon are the stars of Pehi'ttin. {See p. 307.} Beneath the Moon is located the black mountain of Darkness. At the bottom stands a house made of earth belonging to the ke'let. Two ke'let walk on all-fours. A large worm {See p. 13.} wriggles above the house, its tail armed with a long sting. The Left-hand Dawn has a low wooden house with two "murderers," {See p. 292.} one tied on each side. The Genuine Dawn has a house raised on a platform, which is supported by a single pole. Four dogs are tied on the sides of the house. In the region of the Right-hand Dawn, at the left side of the sketch, lives Dawn-Top-Woman (Tñe's'qA.ñe) {See p. 303.} in a small house, which is also supported on a single pole. Under her feet is Venus.

The next sketch (Fig. 220 a) shows the Moon with the lasso in his hand. The captive girl stands by his side. He is displeased with two shamans because of the many evil charms they have created, with his aid, to destroy other people. He paralyzes them by binding their heads and hands with invisible strings, and pulling them upward (Fig. 220, b, c). The Moon's wife is represented with her face half blackened with soot (Fig. 220, d).

In Koryak, ke'let of all kinds are called ka'la, ka'la, ka'lak, ka'mak, also ñi'nvit, ñênvê'-tičñin. The word ka'mak is used also in Chukchee for the "spirit of disease," and in the Russo-Chukchee jargon for "death" or "dying." With the Yukaghir, as noted before, a being similar to the second class of ke'let is called a "legendary old man." {See p. 299.}


The Asiatic Eskimo call the ke'lE tomirak (pl. tomirat), which is apparently derived from the same root as tornak of the American Eskimo. The second class of ke'let are called by the Asiatic Eskimo mira'xpak, evidently an augmentative. The mira'xpahit live somewhere on the seashore, although it is hard to find their places of habitation. Their footprints, however, are often visible on the snow, and are enormously large; but the mira'xpahit step no farther than an ordinary man.

The name re'kkeñ is borrowed by the Eskimo from the Chukchee, and becomes ra'kka in the second form of the stem. {See p. 19, Footnote 2.} With proper phonetical change, va'irgm of the Chukchee becomes vahi'yñm in the northwestern dialect of the Koryak. In Eskimo it is called kiya'rnarak, signifying also "being," and derived from the verb kiyar-na-ku'ña ("I exist", "I am"). Tña'irgm ("Morning-Dawn") of the Chukchee becomes Tñahi'tñin in Koryak. Pičvu'čin is known to the Koryak under the same name, and to the Kamchadal under the name of Pila'xčuč. Steller and Krasheninnikoff call him Bilukai. {See Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 105.}

In Koryak several of the stars have names similar to those in Chukchee. The Polar Star is called "nailed star" (a3lka'p-aña'i; according to Mr. Jochelson, {See Vol. VI, The Koryak, p. 123. The difference in the transcription of Koryak names by Mr. Jochelson and myself corresponds to the difference between the dialects of the localities where the notes were taken respectively. My notes come mainly from the village of Kamenskoye and the country lying southeast of it; that is, from the Pacific coast and northern Kamchatka. The notes of Mr. Jochelson belong, likewise, to the village of Kamenskoye and to the country west of it; that is, to the villages of Paren, Itkana, etc., and to the Reindeer Koryak of the peninsula of Taigonos. Now, the dialects of the eastern Koryak substitute r for у wolva'ki-r-imli'lm). The dialect of Paren substitutes t for r (Ke'tmet). The dialect of Kamenskoye substitutes a for e (Čehai'-va'yam), etc.} a3čka'p-aña'i). Rulte'nnin is called in various dialects Rulte'yet, Rulte'yelm, Yulta'yat, or Wolva'ki-r-imti'lm ("Crosswise-bow-carrier"), which suggests the same tale. For this last, Mr. Jochelson has Ulveiyinitila3n, with the same meaning. Aldebaran is called Cici'lo-xmä ("Copper-arrow-head"). This name, with slight changes, is repeated in several dialects.

Pehi'ttin is called Pa'hittm. According to Mr. Jochelson, Pe'geten, meaning "suspended breath," is the name of the morning-star. I was unable to find out the derivation of this word. Orion's Belt is called Kĭlu'-êna'nvenañ ("scraper of Kĭlu'"), Kĭlu' being the name of a mythical personage, niece of Big-Raven. {See Vol. VI, p. 116.} Corona Borealis is called Kĭlu'-pla'kilhin ("boot of Kĭlu'"). The name Ñawisqa'timkm ("group of women") is applied in different localities to the Pleiades or to Cassiopeia. The Milky Way is also called Pebbly River (Čehai'-va'yam), or Muddy River (Aru-ve'yem), or Clay River (Ya3-ve'yem). The Ursa Major, however, is ilva'-kyi ("wild reindeer-buck;" according to Mr. Jochelson, elwe'kyeñ). In most localities the Pleiades are called Kä'tmäč, Ke'rmis ("little sieve"); according to Mr. Jochelson, Ke'tmet. In some places they are considered as a group of reindeer at which the celestial archer Rulte'yet takes aim. The names of constellations and stars among the Ai'wan Eskimo are almost all literal translations from the Chukchee. For instance, Le'utti ("Heads") are called Na's-kut, which means the same; the Pleiades are called Arnaraye'it, which, again, signifies "group of women," etc.

Comets are called "smoking-stars" by the Chukchee. The word "smoke" indicates that they suppose much cooking is being done there. Planets are called "crooked-way stars," because of their irregular path. Among these, Venus has a separate name, Hito'-Lap. The first part of this name means "large," "extensive." The Chukchee could not explain the second root of this name; but probably it agrees with the Koryak word Lêla'pičan ("star"), which, in its turn, is derived from the verb lêla'pekin ("to look on"), and means literally "one looking on." The Chukchee name of Venus, therefore, means "large star." Venus, when the morning-star, is also called Kêrg-aña'LIñIn ("bright star"). The Chukchee say that Venus is mŭk-ävi'rInle3n ("with many clothes"), because she shines with changing colors. Shooting-stars are said to be stars that go coasting down hill on sleds. The Koryak suppose that they take alms to the needy in heaven. Those that shoot away from land toward the sea carry reindeer-meat, while those that move in an opposite direction carry whale-blubber. The Asiatic Eskimo say of shooting-stars, that they have diarrhoea. {Nelson (p. 449) says that the shooting-stars are termed "star-dung" by the Alaskan Eskimo.} When there is an eclipse of the moon, the Chukchee say that a ke'lE wants to swallow the moon.

Other "Beings." -- The "Beings" (va'irgit) of indefinite character -- such as T-ênan-tѳmgiñ {T-ênan-tѳmgiñ, literally, "one who induces the things to be created," from the verb tѳmga'-arkm ("to arise," "to spring to life"). T-ênan are two prefixes. In the same way, for instance, t-ênan-a3qalê'ññIñ means "one who causes [others] to become frightened," "a bugbear," from the verb ä3qäliñe'erkm ("to be frightened").} ("Creator"), Girgo'l-va'irgin ("Upper Being"), Ña'rginên ("World," literally, "the outer one"), Yai'vač-va'irgin ("Merciful Being"), Yagta'č-va'irgin ("Life-giving Being"), Kinta'-va'irgin ("Luck-giving Being") -- are but little more than names. These names may replace one another. The first name is used chiefly in cosmogonical tales; the second, and more particularly the third, in prayers and incantations.

All of these "Beings" are powerful, and just and benevolent toward man. They represent a very loose and indefinite personification of the creative principle of the world, and are similar to Great Manitou or to Wakanda of the Indians, which are quite as indefinite in meaning. The Zenith, the Midday, the Dawn, are also often considered identical with the Creator of the world. With those who have been baptized, the Christian God, under the name of E'ñeñ, {See p. 300.} has taken a place side by side with these vague superior beings. The Chukchee, however, point out that the Creator does not belong to those sacrificed to. They say there is no need to sacrifice to the Creator. Upper Being, Merciful Being, Life-giving Being, Luck-giving Being, may receive sacrifices, though these sacrifices are not included in the yearly cycle of ceremonials. More often sacrifices to Dawn, Zenith, and Mid-day are at the same time offered to the benevolent "Beings" mentioned before.

On a curious sketch (Fig. 221) which forms part of a large drawing in my collection, Luck-giving Being is represented as a raven. He looks at a man shooting at a seal, and claims beforehand a part of its meat.

The Reindeer people mention also the "Reindeer Being" (Qo'rên va'irgin), who looks after the welfare of the herds. On one hand, this name can be replaced by "Creator" or "Merciful Being," and on the other hand it is connected with special amulets and images, each of which protects a separate herd. {See Chapter XIII.}


Some of these names exist also among the Koryak. With them, Tenanto'mñi is also the Creator, though he is often identified with the Big-Raven (Kuyqimv.a'qu {The pronunciation of this name varies greatly in different localities (cf. Bogoras, American Anthropologist, p. 637). The transcription adopted here corresponds to the pronunciation in the village of Kamenskoye. Even there it is also pronounced Quyqlnn.a'qu. In Chukchee, this name is Ku'rkil on the Kolyma, and Ku'urkil on the Pacific side. Compare also p. 312, Footnote 4.}), who represents the chief Deity. In Chukchee tales, on the contrary, the Raven (Ku'urkil, corresponding to Kuyqmn-a'qu), even in his name, plays a less important part, and is almost always distinguished from the Creator. {See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 640.} In the tales collected among the camps of the Telqa'p tundra and Big-River, Ku'urkil, however, plays a more important part, owing evidently to the influence of Koryak neighbors. His sons and daughters, little known to the other Chukchee, appear on the scene with names analogous to those of the Koryak. Eme'mqut, for instance, is reputed to be the ancestor of the reindeer-breeding people. He created reindeer by kicking a heap of boughs, and taught the people the art of herding the animals. According to other tales, he married among the Reindeer Chukchee, who, on this ground, are called Va'irgi-mata'k-ra'mkin ("to the deities-allied-by-wife-people"). The "Upper One" (Gieho'lken) or the "Upper Master" (Gičhol-eti'nvilan) corresponds to the "Upper Being" of the Chukchee.

The "Beings of the Sea" (A'ñqa-va'irgit) have little connection with the others. They are known only to the Maritime Chukchee, who make regular sacrifices to them. Of the Reindeer division of the tribe, only those families sacrifice to the "Beings of the Sea" whose ancestors were of Maritime extraction.

The Chukchee know the powerful old woman, so familiar to the Eskimo, who owns all sea-game and lives at the bottom of the sea. She is called by the Chukchee the "Mother of Walrus," and is supposed to have two walrus-tusks. In recent times one of her tusks was broken. This so incensed the old woman that she has limited the supply of game. When the other tusk breaks, all sea-game will disappear from the surface. In one of the native sketches, drawn with seal-blood on a small wooden plank, the woman is represented in the shape of a large walrus with one of its tusks broken. A similar idea is expressed in another sketch, in which the "Reindeer Being" is represented with one eye closed, as a sign that he has lessened the supply of reindeer to mankind. When he closes his other eye, all reindeer will vanish.

One of the shamanistic statements of which I spoke before {See p. 281.} mentions a mighty woman who sits on an island in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by large piles of costly pelts. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 380.} Whether the Mother of Walrus is connected with Sedna of the Eskimo, I am not certain. Some Chukchee tales tell of a young girl who was thrown overboard by her father. When she tried to catch the bow of the boat, she had her fingers chopped off with an adze. After that the girl turned into a walrus, and upset the boat. This walrus girl, however, has never been identified with the Mother of Walrus, as far as I could find out.


A "sea-spirit" with walrus-tusks is also mentioned. He comes out of the sea in the night-time and crawls to human houses, intending to do harm. Fig. 222 represents this "spirit" when he wants to enter a large house on the shore, but is frightened away by dogs. Neither of these walrus "Beings" receives regular sacrifices from the Chukchee. Walruses, moreover, are very often called in as assisting ke'let by shamans of both the Reindeer and the Maritime Chukchee.

The chief "Beings of the Sea" are Kere'tkun and his wife, who is sometimes called Cinei'-new. They live on the sea-bottom or in the open sea, where they have a large floating house. They are larger than men, have black faces, and head-bands of peculiar form, and are clad in long white garments made of walrus-guts, adorned with many small tassels. In connection with this garment, Kere'tkun is sometimes called Peru'ten {Compare p. 289.} ("one clad in walrus-gut"). Kere'tkun owns all sea-game, especially walrus. When these come to the shore, a call may come suddenly from the open, making them all turn back. It is Kere'tkun's voice. He is very fierce, and feeds on the bodies of drowned men. He often takes boats and canoes from men to use them in his own dominions. In spite of this, he is counted among the "Beings," and even gives very efficient help against the ke'let. In one incantation, his house is called a "shield against ke'let." Its door is a mouth. Every ke'lE who dares to enter is eaten up, and later thrown out as excrement. He then becomes an "excrement-spirit." When Kere'tkun's wife shakes her house, ke'let fall down, like so many mosquitoes. She catches them, and drowns them in the sea.


The autumn ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee and of the Asiatic Eskimo are, for the most part, consecrated to Kere'tkun. To simulate the god, the people put on loose white garments, and narrow head-bands of a peculiar form. In one of the native sketches (Fig. 223) a ceremonial is represented taking place in a tent. A net of special form, adorned, according to the custom, with painted images of paddles, hangs above. Near it are fastened a lamp and a pair of reindeer-antlers. Three vessels filled with offerings, and two more lamps, stand on the ground. Kere'tkun and his wife are represented in the right-hand upper corner. Their faces are black, and they wear white garments and special head-bands. Kere'tkun holds a wand and a painted paddle used in the ceremony. His wife holds a vessel for sacrifices. The people in the tent have the same kind of garments and head-bands. One of them beats the drum while the woman dances to it. Another man dances bent over the lamps. Flying shamanistic "spirits" are seen on the left side of the picture. They are a "bird-spirit," a "fox-spirit," and a peculiar being composed of the two "limb-souls;" namely, souls of hands lost by a man. The significance of these will be discussed later.

On another sketch (Fig. 2 24) a female belonging representing a "Being of the to the class of "Beings of the Sea" is represented. The man who drew the sketch claimed that he met her once on the sea-ice. He represented what he believed he had seen. He said that she came running toward him, her long, fringed mantle trailing behind her on the ice. In one hand she held a staff, in the other an empty vessel. All the time she cried loudly for some tallow.

Some of the Asiatic Eskimo also bring sacrifices to Kere'tkun and to his wife. By them, Kere'tkun is called Ka'cak. Allowing for the necessary phonetical changes, it is probably the same name.

It is hard to tell with which tribe this idea of the sea Deity originated. The Eskimo at Indian Point assert that the Chukchee sacrifices to Kere'tkun are more complicated, though I am not sure that such is really the case. Furthermore, most of the religious ideas of the Maritime Chukchee are related to those of the Reindeer branch, while Kere'tkun and his ritual stand quite apart. The Reindeer people do not consider Kere'tkun a Chukchee Deity proper, and assert that he is a sea-god, and that he belongs to the Maritime people, particularly to the Eskimo. The Eskimo of Indian Point sacrifice also to the old woman living at the bottom of the sea. She is called Nuli'rahak ("big woman"). She has also another name, which it is considered sinful to pronounce outside of the ceremonials, and which I could not ascertain by any means I could devise.

"House-beings" (ya'ra-va'irgit) are the "spirits" of tents or of houses, and exist more or less independent of the family living in the house. They outlive generations of inmates of the house; but, if the house itself is destroyed, they perish with it. If the tent is forsaken by the inhabitants, and left in the open, as sometimes happens with the Reindeer Chukchee, the "house-spirits" turn into very dangerous "earth-spirits." According to the Chukchee, this is because everything that has been connected with man, and has broken away from this relation, becomes spoiled and wicked.

"House-spirits" have names that are derived from stems which mean "absence of motion." They usually live in pairs, as husband and wife, and have children, who are liable to disease and are mortal. For instance, a shaman of the country of Anadyr told me that the "spirit" of his house had the name Olva'irgm ("motionless"), and his wife was called Ve'tca-ne'ut ("standing-woman"). {See p. 308.} Both of these were young. Three years ago they had a son, whom the shaman himself unintentionally killed in the following manner. One night, hearing the sound of walking in the outer tent, and believing it to come from "ke'let," he threw out of the sleeping-room some urine from the chamber-vessel as an effective means of driving them off. Then he heard the low groan of a child, and knew that something was wrong with his own "house-spirits.". In the morning his little child, who had been slightly ailing for a few days, suddenly died. Both he and his "house-spirit" thus became childless. The "house-spirit," in order to replace his loss, had recourse to the method usual among the Chukchee, -- that of concluding a bond of friendship with another, and allowing him to have acquaintance with his wife. The wives of "house-spirits" are also supposed to have clandestine lovers among the "re'kkeñ-spirits" that roam about.

Another man, of the Kolyma country, called his "house-spirit" Wolva'3-la'ul ("motionless man"), and his wife Wu'lve-ñe'ut ("motionless woman").

"House-spirits" live in the dark storage-place in the rear of the tent (ya'ñan). At night they come out around the corners of the sleeping-room.

They receive a small share of every larger sacrifice, which is placed on the ground, near the corners of the sleeping-room.

Some of the "Beings" have so-called "assistants" (vi'yolit). For instance, the Creator, or the Spirit of the Zenith, has an "assistant," who was described to me as having a raven's head. This feature is evidently connected with the Raven myth. {See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 636.} The "assistant" receives a part of the sacrifices that are directed upward. On account of his beak he is called "Raven's-Beak" (Valviya'k). In one sketch (Fig. 225, a) he is represented as having a raven's beak painted on his face. On another sketch made on a board with a sharp instrument (Fig. 225, b) he is represented as having a raven's head and feet, one wing, and one human hand.


The Raven mentioned in different incantations is also supposed to be Valviya'k, "assistant" to the Creator or to the Zenith. According to the shamans, he usually assumes the shape of a raven, and lives in the region of the sky, near the Polar Star. This region abounds with worms of a peculiar kind (not the one mentioned on p. 311), which form a part of his food. When called by shamans to cure their patients, he devours the disease as a bird devours worms. One of the shamans, however, distinguished between this Raven and the Raven who restored to the earth the sources of light. The latter was called by him a very mighty "Being," who had dealings with mankind only at the time of the creation, but, after that, transformed himself into thunder, and became invisible.

Kere'tkun has an "assistant," who has a wife of his own. I could not ascertain his name, perhaps he has none. He is always mentioned as Kere't-kun's "assistant." He supervises the construction of Kere'tkun's boats. Special sacrifices and ceremonials are made for him. These will be described later.

Even ke'let and other spirits occasionally have "assistants." In one of the sketches, such an "assistant" is represented crawling on his knees toward a victim that he wants to kill for his master.

The name vi'yohn is also applied in incantations to various "spirits" who are called to give help. For instance, the man repeating an incantation says, "I want to employ you as an 'assistant.' To be sure, whom else can I employ? You are the best for me." From this point of view, every protecting or helping "spirit," or even its image or a protecting amulet, would be called vi'yolin. {Compare Chapter XIII.} Fig. 226, for example, is an image of a helping "spirit" belonging to Tiwhlku't, a Chukchee of the Anadyr. It has a human face, and is arranged to be used like a divining-stone; that is, it can be suspended and used for foretelling the future by the way it swings. The owner called the image his "assistant" for hunting walrus. He said that the "assistant" lived in the region of the sky, and that his name was Te'gret ("the descending one").


System of Winds. -- The winds also are classed with the "Beings," and some of them are mentioned in incantations. The Maritime Chukchee, moreover, instead of saying, "to sacrifice to all directions," say, "to sacrifice to all the winds."

The chief wind is qêra'lhin. In the Kolyma country it is the west wind; in the Chukchee Peninsula, the southwest wind. In both cases it is the most violent wind of the country. The names of the winds in the Kolyma country are given in Fig. 227.

The names of the winds on the Chukchee Peninsula are given in Fig. 228. The sketch (Fig. 229) represents the system of winds at the mouth of the Anadyr River, and is copied from a drawing made by a native. It is identical with the system of winds on the Chukchee Peninsula, though the man who drew it could, of course, represent only the approximate direction of each wind. The directions of the winds on the Chukchee Peninsula are much more accurately observed, because many of the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo are well acquainted with the use of the compass, and carry, on their travelling-expeditions in winter and in summer, compasses bought from whalers.


The apparent difference which exists between the wind systems of the peninsula and of the Kolyma country can be explained, to a considerable degree, by the different position of land and sea in the two countries. Thus, the sea-winds (añqai'hit) which on the Arctic Sea come from the north, on the Pacific come from the east. Near the mouth of Kolyma River the wind qêra'lhin comes from the large open tundra of the west: on the Pacific, near Indian Point, it is of the same nature, but comes from the southwest. The wind qaačhê'hin, which, near the mouth of Kolyma River, comes along the seashore from the northeast, on the Pacific, near Indian Point, also comes along the seashore, but from west-southwest.

The Koryak names of winds as diagrammed for me in the village of Va'ikenan, on Penshina Bay, are for the most part identical with those of the Pacific-coast Chukchee. Thus, qeya'lhin, corresponding to the Chukchee qera'lhm, signifies "southwest;" eñe'neñe signifies "southeast;" but empei'kin, probably corresponding to yamwa'ihin of the Kolyma, which refers to the same wind, signifies "northeast."

Other winds among the Koryak of that village are hisho'lan ("up-[stream wind]") for the east wind, 'e'wtelan ("down-[stream wind]") for the south-southwest wind, onm-e'wtelan ("inner down [stream wind]") for the south wind. Names like these last are used also by Russians in both Europe and Asia, and by Russianized natives everywhere in northeastern Siberia.

The Chukchee assert that, in the Arctic system of winds, qêra'lhin and eñe'neñe are husband and wife. Although they constantly desire to meet, they are prevented, and obliged to pass each other in the air. Others say, on the contrary, that, passing each other, they exchange mutual abuse.


The cold winds are said to be produced by giants who live on the border of our earth, and spend their time shovelling snow with huge shovels made of the shoulder-blades of whales. Sometimes the winds are said to have an old mistress, who causes snow-storms. by shaking the snow from her dwelling. Thunder is said to be produced by the passing of the thunder-bird. Others attribute it to the rattling noise made by girls playing on a spread sealskin. Rain is the urine of one of the girls. In one tale the lightning is described as a one-sided man who drags his one-sided sister along by her foot. She is intoxicated with fly-agaric. The noise caused by her back as it strikes the floor of heaven is thunder, her urine is rain. Obsidian is said to be the stone of the thunder, which falls from the sky in round balls, or even in roughly chipped arrow-heads and lances. Perhaps the idea of stone arrow-heads falling from the sky, so common in the Old World, is borrowed from the Tungus or from the Russianized natives.


Intoxicating mushrooms are neither ke'let nor va'irgit. They form a "separate tribe" (ya'nřa-va'rat). {Compare p. 282.} We have already noted that they are very strong, and that, when coming out of the earth, they can lift a large tree-trunk on their head, or shatter a rock into pieces. They appear to intoxicated men in strange shapes.

On one sketch (Fig. 230) there are represented the tracks of a man who is led around by mushrooms. He thinks that he is a reindeer, then he is "submerged," and after a while he comes out laboring under the same idea. The path of his tracks connects all men and all beasts seen during the trance. {The word an.ña'arkm ("to be submerged") is applied to those trances which are connected with the supernatural world; that is, trances of shamans, etc.}

Monsters. -- Besides kelet and va'irgit, we hear of several kinds of monsters. Among these are the killerwhales, which are said to be sea-werwolves. They are called ei3ñipči'kit (literally, "long-nosed birds"). No reason is given for applying this name. In summer these monsters assume the shape of killer-whales, and in winter they come to the shore, transform themselves into wolves, and hunt the Chukchee reindeer herds. In accordance with this belief, wolves are thought to be endowed with supernatural powers. {See p. 81.}


While in the sea, the killer-whales form themselves into parties of eight, who act as the crew of a boat. They hunt all kinds of large sea-game, especially walrus. On one of the sketches (Fig. 231) a hunt of this kind is represented. Killer-whales have surrounded some walruses. The large figure "master" of killer-whales, who is looking on the struggle. At the top of the sketch a killer-whale is asking for some tobacco from the human crew of a skin boat passing by on the surface.

The killer-whale plays an important part in the mythology of some other tribes of northeastern Asia. I heard in Vladivostok a Gilyak tale in which killer-whales are said to be the "assistants" of the sea-god. When they attack a whale, and tear pieces of flesh from its body, they carry them to the sea-god. They also bring to him for inspection the shoals of sea-fish that want to ascend the rivers. The Asiatic Eskimo consider the killer-whale to be protected by a taboo. Everybody who kills one may be sure of dying a violent death within a very short time. {The death of the late Missionary Campbell of St. Lawrence Island, who with his family perished in a shipwreck while returning from a trip to San Francisco, was attributed to the fact that the captain of the ship had killed a killer-whale the previous year.} Teeth of the killer-whale are considered an effective protection against headache, and especially against toothache. Krasheninnikoff says {Krasheninnikoff, I, p. 302.} that the Kamchadal sealers were afraid of killer-whales, and, on meeting one, offered it sacrifices, lest it should do them harm. Nothing is known of this at present.

The re'kken of the Kolyma country is quite different from the re'kken. of the Pacific. It is a bear-like monster with very large ears that catch even the slight sound made by the wings of a mosquito flying by.

In a tale of the Kolyma Chukchee, two such re'kkefiit are tied as doorkeepers to the entrance of the house of a ke'te. An incantation obtained in the same part of the country mentions the advantage of using the large ears of the re'kkenit for a tent, to protect the conjurer from evil spirits.


Koča'tko is a giant polar bear with a body of solid ivory (Fig. 232). Sometimes he is said to have eight paws. He is much stronger and fiercer than the ordinary polar bear. Mirg-u'mki (literally, "bald polar bear") is a fierce man-eating bear. During tempestuous nights he lies on his' back on an ice-floe, and swings his paws, beckoning to travellers to come to him. At the same time he calls with a wailing voice, in imitation of a distressed traveller who has lost his way. Any one who hears these calls, and approaches the monster, will be immediately caught and devoured. Black bears are generally considered akin to man, or, more directly, as men clad in bear-skin. A skinned bear is said to closely resemble a man.

Bears are believed to be shamans, able to divine the intentions of men, even at a considerable distance: therefore it is not safe to talk ill of a bear. He may catch the words and retaliate for the detraction. Likewise, it is not safe to set traps for bears or to plot for their harm.

These ideas about the black bear, however, do not seem to have originated with the Chukchee, but were probably borrowed from the Lamut and Yukaghir, with whom the black bear is an object of superstitious veneration. Thus, the northern Lamut say that the bear is the elder brother of Torga'nfa, the ancestor of the Lamut tribe. They consider him to be a shaman and a sorcerer, and in hunting him, they perform many ceremonies for the purpose of appeasing his anger.

The Russianized Yukaghir of the Kolyma, when speaking of the bear, use the words "grandfather," "old man," or, still shorter, "he." Fear of the bear, even among the cossacks and Russian Creoles, is excessive. Even the tales circulated among the Chukchee, in which the black bear figures, seem for the most part borrowed from the same source.

The conception of a supernatural animal, derived from the obscure idea of the black bear, like the agdlak of the American Eskimo, does not exist among the Chukchee, since they live too near the forest border, while even in the southern part of the tundra the bear is met with occasionally. {Compare p. 142.} Among the American Eskimo, on the contrary, several branches live so far to the north, that they have no chance to meet a black bear.

The Chukchee, on their part, notwithstanding the frequent hunts for the bear by the Arctic villagers, are inclined to a mythical conception of the animal. Thus, the Chukchee idea of the great polar bear Koca'tko is more or less parallel to the Eskimo conception of the agdlak. I will mention also, among other beliefs of the Chukchee, the curious one, that a tribe of polar bears with human faces and gentle customs lives somewhere on the American shore. This tribe is described as corresponding somewhat to the bear-clad Central Eskimo of America. This difference between the Chukchee and Eskimo ideas is quite significant, the more so as it is corroborated by other parallel facts, all of which tend to show that the Chukchee are not a tribe of such strongly developed arctic character as are the Eskimo.

The mammoth is believed to be the ke'let's reindeer. He lives underground, and moves about through narrow passages. His big tusks, which are considered horns, stand off from his shoulders, or protrude from his nose. When a man sees a mammoth-tusk protruding from the ground, he must dig it up immediately, or at least cut a notch on its end: otherwise, the tusk will sink back into the earth. A story is told of a man who saw two mammoth-tusks protuding from the ground on the shore of a lake. While he was looking at them, they began suddenly to move. He became so frightened, that he ran away as fast as he could. Soon after, he lost his wits, and died.

According to another story, some Chukchee men found two mammoth-tusks protruding from the earth. They began to beat the drum, and performed several incantations. Then the whole carcass of the mammoth came to sight. The people ate the meat. It was very nutritious, and they lived on it all winter. When the bones were stripped of all the meat, they put them together again, and in the morning they were again covered with meat. Perhaps this story has for its foundation the finding of a mammoth-carcass good for eating, as happened on the Obi in the eighteenth century, and also more recently in the Kolyma country.

Because of these beliefs, the search for ivory of the mammoth was tabooed in former times. Even now, a man who finds a mammoth-tusk has to pay for it to the "spirit" of the place by various sacrifices. The search for such tusks is considered a poor pursuit for a man, notwithstanding the high price which the ivory brings.

Several neighboring tribes consider the mammoth to be an animal used by evil spirits. In 1897 I found the dress of a shaman and several drums in an old, long-forgotten storehouse near the village of Pyatistennoye, on the Large-Anui River. The district has a scanty population, a mixture of Yukaghir and Yakut, by this time thoroughly Russianized. With the drums was a birch plank covered with drawings scratched in with the sharp point of a knife. The plank was an elongated rectangle divided into two equal parts. One part was painted with red ochre, and represented day; and the other, painted with graphite, represented night. With the drawing in proper position, the red part would be at the right hand of a person looking down on the plank, and the black at his left hand. On the border, two indentations were scraped out for the insertion of pieces of silver, according to the statement made by some old men of the village. On the red part were scratched animals, birds, and plants, and in front of them a human figure riding a reindeer. On the black part were images of a dog and a horse, and on the front of them a mammoth with a strange figure standing on its back. The figure had two birds in its hands. The plank was presented by me to the Museum of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. As may be seen from the sketch (Fig. 233), which is made from a photograph, the outlines of the figure holding the birds are zigzag. According to the explanation given by the villagers mentioned, this figure represents the being with the iron teeth which is spoken

of in several tales of the Yukaghir of the Kolyma. I was told that the board was used by shamans for calling the spirits. The red part represented white shamanism, and was used for cures; and the dark one represented black shamanism, and was used for evil charms.


It is curious that all the animals, birds, and plants with a reindeer rider in front, should represent good shamanism, while two domesticated animals of the north, the dog and the horse, together with the mammoth, should represent darkness and evil-doing. Perhaps it is significant of a desire to accentuate the contrast between the reindeer-breeders and the dog-driving fishermen. The figure of the mammoth, as represented in the sketch, has a short mane, indicated by a number of small straight lines. It also has a long tail, thick at the end. Long, extremely curved tusks, which are commonly believed by the natives to be horns, protrude from the mouth. The trunk is missing.

I mentioned the celestial worm, which is described with the features of a boa-constrictor. {See pp. 13 and 311.} On the sketch (see Fig. 219) the worm is represented as having a sting in its tail. Another "giant worm" lives in the sea. It is so strong that it can kill a whale by squeezing it between its coils. A third great worm also figures in the tales. It is owned by a ke'lE, and sent by him to drive back the captive maidens who fled from his house. Its tail is fastened in the sleeping-room of the ke'lE; but its body is so long that its head can overtake the fugitives and turn them back. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 194.} The agile monster Keli'lhu has already been mentioned. {See p. 14.}

Somewhere inside of the rocks overhanging the shores of the Arctic Ocean lives a monstrous beast with the shape of an ermine, but so large, that, when he walks into the sea, his legs reach the bottom, even in the deepest places. He sometimes emerges suddenly from the rocks, near a human village, and fiercely attacks the inhabitants. Perhaps the idea that the ermine, known as a guardian spirit, can transform itself, if need be, into a polar bear, has something to do with this belief.

A "giant thunder-bird" is sometimes regarded as the same as the supernatural Raven; but more frequently it is a kind of "giant eagle" of supernatural strength. In one tale a female "giant eagle" appears as mistress of good and bad weather. When visited in her own world by two mortals, she undertakes, at their request, to clear the sky, and begins to scrape it with a large brass scraper. Noticing that one of the visitors looks at her naked legs, she grows angry, and hurls them both back into our world. Even now the eagle is protected by a taboo, and the killing of one is supposed to bring on bad weather and famine.


The Asiatic Eskimo also say that the thunder-bird is a "giant eagle." After the death of such an eagle, Upper Being takes his heart, which is immortal, and suspends it on a thread from the sky. The suspended heart beats on, producing thunder. After a while the eagle revives. According to Koryak beliefs, the souls of deceased persons are suspended on cords, in the house of the Upper Being, till their return to earth for a new life. {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 26.}


Another "giant bird" is "middle [sea] bird" (Gino'n-ga'LE). He lives only in the open sea. He is so large, that, when floating on the billows, he can stretch his long neck so as to swallow easily a whale-boat, which will glide safely through his alimentary canal and come out again without much damage. Some features of this bird, perhaps, connect him with the albatross. At least I was told, that, on a recent occasion, seal-hunters Garried away by a storm, together with their canoe, saw this bird soaring high in the heavens, with wings so broad that they covered the sun. The ke'te-bird will be mentioned later in describing the Chukchee beliefs concerning the fate of the souls of the deceased.

On the Pacific shore, Tui'ketui signifies a pike; but in the Kolyma country it means a "giant fish" {Pike, in the Kolyma country, is called "biting fish" (Yu'utku-nnē'n).} which lives in some inland lakes. It is a man-eater, and occasionally takes people while bathing and devours them. Once it caught a young man who came to the shore to catch fish. His father, seeking revenge, loaded four sledges with deer-meat, tied them together, securing them with a very strong double-twisted hide cable, and sank them to the bottom of the lake. The fish bit into the bait; but its teeth became wedged among the broken ribs of the sledges, and it might have been hauled in by the united force of several men.

Other tribes of northeastern Asia have the same belief, -- that "giant pikes" live in some unknown lakes on the tundra. The Russianized Yukaghir, for instance, tell of a man who went out in a wooden canoe to inspect his nets, and suddenly spied in the water on either side of the canoe two large eyes. The distance between the eyes was equal to the length of the double paddle. It was a "giant pike" standing motionless in the water.

Chukchee incantations mention another "giant fish," called Kaña'olhin. The name is used to designate sculpin; but the giant Kaña'yolhin has existed as a separate fish from "the first limit of creation." It lies motionless in the middle of the sea. Its body has become an island, and moss grows on its back. The latter details have a marked resemblance to the description of a fabulous whale in the nursery tales of the Old World.


Va'amên is a kind of triton which exists apparently somewhere in the waters of northeastern Siberia, on the Arctic or on the Pacific shore, though I have never seen a specimen, but have heard a description of it from members of various tribes. An image of it, made of antler (Fig. 234), which comes from the country near the mouth of the Anadyr, gives it a human head. Many superstitious beliefs are connected with this animal. The Chukchee say that it appears only to a man who will die in a short time. If caught, it must be cut to pieces. If the cuts bleed, the luckless man is in no immediate danger; but, if they are bloodless, death awaits him. The Russianized Yukaghir have the same belief. Steller mentions {Steller, p. 282.} that the Kamchadal believed that a lizard must be killed whenever met, and as promptly as possible: otherwise death would ensue the same year.

The "mountain echo" (E'nmi-ta'añ) lives in the open, among the mountains. Its body is of stone, and its mouth and eyes are located on its breast. The "mountain echo" is also described as a young, pretty woman wandering about among the rocks. In one tale, she marries a man, but, on account of jealousy, is killed by his former wife. {From a tale.} The "echo of the wood" (ѳ'tti-ta'añ) lives in the poplar-forest. It has a wooden body, without hands or feet, and resembles the old trunk of a tree.

The "black bear" is a wife who was forsaken by her husband for another woman. She revenged herself by killing him and her rival. {From a tale.} The "mountain sheep" is also a woman forsaken by her husband. She threw herself from a steep rock, and was dashed against the stones, thus becoming a sheep. Her braided hair was turned into horns.

The "black beetle," called in Chukchee Tä'qi-ñe'ut (the name means literally "shining black woman"), affords a third story of an unfortunate wife. When her husband forsook her, she killed him by pouring into his ear water taken from a piece of old sea-ice. According to one tale, the "black beetle" overpowered the young wife of the Sun, flayed her alive, and put on her skin, but was recognized by her husband, and burnt on a pyre. After that, she was sent back to this world in the shape of a beetle to announce to mankind the coming of death. She also created and spread abroad contagious diseases.

The Spider-Woman (Ku'rgu-ñe'ut) descended from heaven on a long thin thread. She plays an important role in tales and incantations.

Butterflies were created from autumn leaves scattered by the wind; mosquitoes, out of dirt that the Creator, after finishing his work, rubbed between his palms.

Cosmogonical Beliefs. -- According to the cosmogonical beliefs of the Chukchee, there are several worlds situated one above another, in such a manner that the ground of one forms the sky of the one below. The number of these worlds is stated as five, seven, or nine. These worlds are arranged symmetrically above and below the earth, each of the lower worlds having a corresponding one above it.

According to a statement in the tale of "The Scabby Shaman," {Bogoras, American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p. 597.} which gives many curious details of the subject, there are four large worlds besides the earth. Those nearest to the earth are occupied by ke'let; the next, by men. In the upper and lower worlds there are the same number of animals on the land, birds in the air, and fish in the sea, so that the amount of life is the same above and below the earth.

According to other statements, the lowest world is occupied by those who have died twice, and therefore cannot return to earth. Some of these worlds have several suns, the number of which varies from two to eight. When it is winter in our world, it is summer in the next, and vice versa.

According to the belief of the Koryak, the spirits in the world under us have day when it is night here. {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 27.} Likewise, the Oltcha of the Amur country believe that the "land of the deceased" has winter when we have summer, and night when we have day. The inhabitants of the "land of the deceased" have, moreover, plenty of game when it is scarce on the earth, and vice versâ. {L. Schrenck, Die Volker des Amur Landes, Zweite Halfte, p. 762.}

These worlds are not very far apart. In the tale of "The Shaman with Warts," {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 220.} a shaman, while struggling with his rival, is hurled through two worlds, piercing the heaven of one head foremost, and that of the next feet foremost; then he lands in the third world on the moving ground of the clouds. In another tale, a young man bereft of his senses by an old witch rushes out of the sleeping-room, then out of the tent, each of these representing a world.

There is a tale, however, of a shaman, who, desiring to reach the sky, travelled upward for many years, until he met a gray-haired shaman who told him that he started on the same enterprise when he was a young man, and that he was now returning without having attained his purpose. These different views of the distances between worlds may be accounted for by the fact that the tale was obtained from the Reindeer Chukchee on Omolon River, who live side by side with the Lamut, from whom they may have borrowed it.

All these worlds, as said before, {See p. 307.} are joined by holes situated under the Polar Star. Shamans and spirits while going from one world to another slip through these holes. The heroes of several tales fly through them while riding on an eagle or a thunder-bird. Another way to reach the upper world is to go in the direction of the dawn, and ascend a long, steep path that leads to the sky. The hero of one tale uses a needle and thread in ascending to the upper world. He throws the needle upward, like a dart, and it sticks in the sky; then he ascends, using the thread as a rope-ladder. One may also ascend to the upper world along the path of the rainbow, or along the sun's rays. The dead ascend to 'it with the smoke of the funeral pyre. {See Chapter XVI.}

The clouds are also considered a kind of aerial ground upon which one may repose while ascending to the sky. In several tales, travellers who make a journey upward stop for a night's rest on the aerial ground of clouds, pitching there their tents, and in the morning they continue their journey. Some tales even say that the ground of the clouds is inhabited by Upper People, thus confounding the upper world of the sky with the ground of the clouds.

The inhabitants of the upper world are called "Upper People" (Girgo'r-ra'mkin) or "Dawn-People" (Tña'irgi-ra'mkin). They live exactly like men. By the inhabitants of the upper world, men are called "Lower People" (Iu'tir-re'mkin). In some tales, instead of the Upper People there is mentioned one mighty Being, {See p. 314.} called "Upper Being" or "Dawn," also "Creator," "Polar Star," "Zenith," "Noon." This Being gives protection and assistance to men, who, oppressed by their foes in their earthly life, come to him. He keeps them in his world for a while, and then sends them back with large presents and provisions. He has near his house several holes, closed with stoppers, through which he can observe all earthly doings and pursuits. In one tale, a woman who had come to the upper world is allowed to look through such a hole. She feels a yearning for her earthly home, and drops a tear through the opening. The women below, who are busy scraping skins, think it is raining, and hasten to their houses.

Besides these, there exist other worlds, for instance, one in each direction of the compass, which represent receiving-places for sacrifices, mentioned before; {See p. 303.} a separate world under water; and a small dark world, belonging to the female ke'lE-bird, situated somewhere above, and apart from all others. In one tale, the hero and his companions descend to another world through a whirlpool. In the story of Atti'gitki, {See p. 306.} two brothers wandering in the open sea descend to a special world under water.

Some of the constellations are described as distinct worlds with a separate people, or with a Supreme Being who has large herds of reindeer, etc. For instance, each of the "Heads" has a mankind of its own. Pehi'ttin has an innumerable herd in the region of the star Hito'-Lap. His reindeer have no antlers. He can inflict misfortune on man by sending down to him one of his herdsmen with a part of the herd. The reindeer cannot be shot, and, by taking the place of the earthly game in the man's neighborhood, they deprive him of any chance of killing a reindeer. Moreover, they may induce an earthly herd to join them, and lead it away. Such an incident is related of both "Heads," the Dawn and the Evening, also of the "master" of land-game, Pičvu'čin.

In our world the sky is supposed to touch the earth on all sides of the horizon. Each border of the horizon is called "Attainable Border of the Sky" (Yê3-pkêt-ta'gin). On the four corners of it, the rocks of the sky come down to the rocks of the earth, like moving gates, shutting and opening alternately. According to the Chukchee belief, the birds, when flying to their own world every fall, have to pass between these rocks: therefore the gates are called "Attainable Border of the Birds" (Ga'lha-pkêt-ta'gin). The rocks shut so quickly that birds lagging behind are caught, and crushed between them. Their incessant movement, similar to the movement of bellows, produces winds, which blow from all sides of the horizon. The ground around the rocks is covered a fathom deep with bloody mud of pounded bird-flesh; and feathers fly about like snow. These moving gates have existed from the time of the first creation. In some tales, men are said to have originated from the fragments produced by the friction of the "Attainable Border of the Sky" against the rocks of the earth. The peltry-bearing country, from which come all animals with rarefur, and also wild reindeer, lies on this side of the border of the sky.

Soul. -- The soul is called uvi'rit, or more rarely uvê'kkirgin. Both words are probably from the same root, uvi'k ("body"). Uvê'-kkirgin may mean "belonging to the body." Tetke'yuñ means the "vital force of a living being." Its seat is the heart or the liver. Animals and even plants possess it. Very little, however, is said about it, and its name even is mentioned in only a few incantations.

According to Chukchee beliefs, man has several souls besides the one pertainig to the whole body. There are special "limb-souls" for the hands and feet. Occasionally these latter may be lost, then the corresponding limb begins to ache, and gradually withers. {The Eskimo of eastern Greenland have similar beliefs. According to them, man has several souls. The largest dwell in the larynx and in the left side, and are tiny men, about the size of a sparrow. The other souls dwell in other parts of the body, and are of the size of a finger-joint. If one of them is taken away, the member to which it belongs sickens (Holm, Meddelelser om Grønland, Part X, p. 112, cited from Fritjof Nansen, Eskimo Life, p. 227).} The Chukchee call a man whose nose is easily frost-bitten "short of souls" (uviri'tkilin), meaning that some part of his vital force must have left his body unawares. The "limb-souls" stay on the spot where they were lost. A shaman, however, can call them to himself, and they become his "assistant spirits" (ya'nřa-ka'lat). The "souls" are very small. When passing by, they produce a sound like the humming of a bee or the droning of a beetle.

One or all of the "souls" of the whole person may be stolen by the ke'let, then the man becomes sick, and finally dies. The shaman can find and restore a missing "soul." The "soul," when found by a shaman, often assumes the shape of a black beetle. When put on the body of the patient, it will crawl all over his head, trying to find a hole into which to slip. Then the shaman will open the skull, and put the beetle in its proper place. The beetle may enter through the mouth, the armpit, the intestines, the toes and fingers, etc.

If the shaman fails to find the "soul," he can blow into the person a part of his own spirit to become a "soul;" or he may give him one of his "assistant ke'let" to replace the missing "soul." {The Eskimo of Greenland have similar beliefs. Compare Fritjof Nansen, Eskimo Life, p. 298.}

Ke'let, when getting possession of a "soul," often take it to their world and pinion its hands, or bind all its limbs separately with strong bands. Then they put it behind the lamp, in the place where many small things are usually kept. In the tale of "The Scabby Shaman," the female ke'lE-bird, after having brought home the "soul" of Ri'ntew, secures it with iron bands, puts it behind the lamp, and feeds it with choicest meat and tallow in order to fatten it and make it fit to be eaten.

In another tale, a ke'lE forces a stolen "soul" to watch his lamp and trim it; in still another, he uses it as a trimming-stick.

"Souls" are liable to injury even from material weapons. I know of a case where a man struck his wife with a firebrand. The woman died in two days. The relatives, after ripping up and investigating the dead body, said that none of her vital organs were injured, but that probably the man wounded her "souls" with the blow. Ke'let, also, have "souls" of their own, which may be lost, or spirited away by shamans.

Regions of the Deceased. -- There are several places where the deceased abide. They lead a life similar to that on earth. They are often confounded with the Upper People, or with the Lower People of the underground world. They say to an earthly visitor, "We are people that have lived on earth." Children that die here are born there, and vice versa. In one tale it is related how a wanderer comes to the upper world, where he is kindly received, and treated to the best of everything. After a while his host offers to get him a bride. The youth assents. His host opens a hole in the ground by pulling out the stopper, and the lower world is in full view. Five girls are playing ball near a lake. The host angles for one of them with a sharp fish-hook. He succeeds in catching her by the navel, and drags her up; but he has caught only her "soul," the body is left down below. Her companions wail because of her sudden death. The girl marries the youth, and they live for a while with their heavenly host. In the end he gives them permission to leave, and he himself lets them down to earth.

Another way for the dead to ascend to heaven is to follow the smoke of their funeral pyre. This is given as a reason for burning dead bodies. In one tale a shaman, every time he wishes to visit the upper world, is killed and burned on his pyre, and then ascends with the smoke. He comes down again in a whirlwind. The reindeer of his sleigh must be caught by the occupants of his house as he rushes by: otherwise he will pass by, and never return.

The Aurora Borealis is chiefly the place of abode for those who die a sudden or violent death. The whitish spots are the people who died from contagious diseases; the red spots are those stabbed "with a knife; the dark spots are those strangled by the "spirits" of nervous diseases; the changeable rays are deceased people running about and playing ball with a walrus-head which is alive. It roars when in motion, after it has been tossed. It wants to strike with its tusks anybody who tries to catch it. {See also Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 146.} Men who have been strangled with a slip-noose at their own request, have honorary places among the spectators; or they themselves may play, but do so in a very awkward manner, because of the rope dangling behind them on the ground. According to the belief of the Gilyak of the Amur country, the souls of those who die a violent death, including suicides, ascend directly to heaven; while those who die a natural death remain on earth, or descend underground. {L. Schrenck, Reisen und Forschungen im Amur-Lande, Vol. III, Part II, p. 650.}

One of the sketches (Fig. 235) represents the Aurora Borealis. Two cross-lines divide the sky into four equal portions. The centre is the zenith. It is surrounded by a circle, which represents its house. The region of Dawn is in the left-hand corner, below. In the lower part of the picture lies the land of Darkness. The sky is studded with stars. The Aurora Borealis is represented by several parallel bands. In the region of the uppermost band abide the "genuine dead" (li'i-vi'3lit); that is, those who died an ordinary death. The second band is heavier. There abide "[through] ke'lE dead" (ke'le-vi'lit). The third band is thin. There live the "strangled ones" (ilhi'pilit). In the region of Darkness, near the Moon, abide those killed with cudgels; for instance, black shamans caught while working spells. In the region of Dawn abide the "bloody ones" (moLi'yfiit); that is, all killed with sharp weapons, especially those who were killed at their own request.


Deceased women who have no husbands go to a world of their own. They live there, catching reindeer with nooses and nets as they come to cross Pebbly River. Their world is situated in the lower portion of the sky, and it is much less important than the first upper world.

While some of the dead are in these upper worlds, the usual place of abode for the deceased is underground. Their country is very extensive, and full of intricate paths which puzzle new-comers. The sketch Fig. 236 represents the paths in the world of the dead as they are claimed to have been seen, in a deep swoon, by the man who drew it. The circular marks represent holes through which new-comers enter. The smallest of them are intended for those who died by strangulation.

A new-comer to the world of the dead has to pass at first through a region inhabited by dogs, who live in small earth huts of their own. Men who during their lives were unkind to dogs, and habitually beat them, will be attacked by the dogs underground, and bitten severely. {The same is believed among the Koryak. See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 103.} The forefathers and relatives of a new-comer meet him, and lead him to their place: otherwise he would be unable to find his way. Other dead people will also come out to watch him, and investigate everything that he has brought. For this reason, no dead man is provided with reindeer taken from another's herd, with clothes made at a strange hearth, or with anything stolen or obtained unlawfully. In the underground world all such things would be seized by the family of their lawful proprietors. A poor man with no reindeer of his own fares best if he walks to the underground country, supporting himself with a staff and wearing clothes cut and made by his own women.

The houses of the deceased are said to be large round tents without any seams, and shining like bubbles of saliva. Their reindeer-herds are numerous, and consist of animals brought for sacrifice or slaughtered for meat, and of wild reindeer killed in the hunt. Some of the inhabitants, however, live by sea-pursuits on the shores of an ocean which abounds with walrus. The men and the walrus play a kind of game in which the walrus pop up out of the water, then dive again, while the men try to shoot them. When an animal is shot, it is hauled ashore and eaten: then the bones are thrown back into the water, and it comes to life again.

Some of the beliefs concerning the condition of the deceased in the world beyond the grave seem to be contradictory., For instance, the assertion that people, when they die, are killed by ke'let or shamans, and their souls are eaten by ke'let, is hard to harmonize with the detailed description of the life which different groups of the deceased lead in the other world. I believe, however, that these apparently contradictory ideas represent the feeling of the Chukchee, from different points of view, toward death and the world beyond the grave. Immediately after the death of a relative, under the weight of the great sorrow, the Chukchee inclines to consider it a murder, and tries to find out the one who caused the death, that he may place the responsibility for it on men or spirits. When time has weakened the first impression, he forgets the part the ke'hs is supposed to have taken in the death, and endeavors to picture to himself various features of the life the deceased lead in their own dominions.

Another important seeming contradiction refers to the influence which the deceased may have on the good or bad fortune of living human beings. One line of native thought is inclined to consider the deceased as benevolent protectors of their descendants. Some details in the arrangement of the household charm-string {See Chapter XIII.} show elements of a real cult of ancestors.

A complete stranger, even, when passing by chance a graveyard where a corpse is exposed, may assure himself of the protection of the deceased, provided he is deferential, and gives proper offerings in crumbs of meat and tobacco.

According to another belief, spread much more widely among the Chuk-chee, the deceased become, after death, a kind of ke'let hostile to man, and inclined to do harm. The ke'let in question are of course those of the first class, called "genuine ke'let."

A corpse lying in the open will stand up and give pursuit when a lone traveller passes by. The deceased is also inclined to come back to his own house, and to harm the people thereof. I shall speak of this in more detail later on.


XIII. -- CHARMS AND SACRED OBJECTS.


While the religious rites of both branches of the Chukchee tribe are comparatively homologous, their material accompaniment presents many striking differences, conformable to the material life of the maritime and inland branches of the tribe.

Thus we find that, while the individual charms of both branches of the Chukchee tribe and of the Asiatic Eskimo are quite similar to each other, the family charms are arranged according to their connection with the pursuits of their material life. The families of reindeer-breeders use charms and amulets to protect their herds; while those of the maritime people use them to secure success in hunting.

The same may be said regarding the ceremonials. The individual ceremonials -- those connected with death, burial, and marriage -- are much the same among the two branches of the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo.

The family ceremonials are arranged in a regular cycle, are celebrated from season to season throughout the year, and are directly connected with the pursuits of material life: therefore those of the reindeer-breeders differ from those of the maritime people. In this respect the difference between the Reindeer Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo is still greater. Some of the ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee bear a resemblance to those of the Reindeer people, and show only such changes as result from their diversity in material culture. Many of their ceremonials are similar to the religious rites of the Asiatic Eskimo. In this respect, as in many others, the customs of the Maritime, Chukchee occupy a middle ground between those of the Asiatic Eskimo and those of the Reindeer Chukchee. Each family, moreover, has its peculiar groups of images and ceremonials, characterized by special details, and differing from those used by neighboring families. These differences develop continually under orders received from shamans, or directly from spirits through dreams. In this way, even the chief ceremonials of the year come to be observed somewhat differently by neighboring camps and by different families in the same villages.

Amulets. -- The charms of both the Reindeer and the Maritime Chukchee are used as amulets; that is, as objects having peculiar power, which they may use for the benefit of a person who has possession of them.

It is probable that primitive man began to use amulets very early, in the first stage of religious development. Regarding all surrounding objects, animate and inanimate, as living and powerful enemies, he, from the very first, thought it necessary to propitiate the good-will of the most important of them, and to rely upon their protection against all others.

Thus originated sacrifice to the mountains, rivers, etc., and to the chief phenomena of nature, such as thunder or wind. These, however, could not be used as amulets by man, because of their size; and their protection, therefore, could not be considered as quite secure. Man from the beginning, probably, would pick up some of the smaller objects which struck his fancy by the singularity of their outward appearance or by the circumstances under which they were found in the wilderness. From this singularity he assumed, first, that they had peculiar force, and, second, that they wished him to take them for his protectors.

Thus Urey Lisiansky says of the inhabitants of Kadiak, that as soon as spring comes their whale-hunters wander over the mountains in search of eagle-feathers, bear's hair, stones of unusual shape, roots, bird-skulls, and such like, for use as amulets. {Urey Lisiansky, Voyage around the World (in Russian), St. Petersburg, 1812, II, p. 93.} The same thing is told by Veniaminoff, regarding the Aleuts, in his "Notes on the Islands of the Unalashka District."

To illustrate the primitive conception of amulets, a story from Krashe-ninnikoff may be given. It refers to a native, a member of a Maritime Koryak tribe, who lived in the village Uka, on the eastern shore of northern Kamchatka. The native in question had suffered for several years from an obnoxious disease, probably syphilis.

One day, while walking along the bank of the little river A'dka, he found a stone. When he picked it up, the stone blew on him as if with human breath. He threw it away, and his illness increased to such an extent that he kept to his bed through the summer and winter. The next year he went to look for the stone, and after a long search found it several miles distant, lying on a flat stone slab. Close to it lay another stone of smaller size. He picked up both, took them home, and made clothes for them. Shortly after that, he recovered entirely from his illness. Ever after, he kept the larger stone as his wife, and the smaller one as his son, and took the latter with him on all his hunting-trips.

I have heard stories of the same character from the Chukchee, and have met persons who had picked up amulet wives or husbands in the same way. The amulets had nothing peculiar in their outward shape; but they desired special people to pick them up, and made this clear to them by some sign or action. One man stumbled against a stone and nearly sprained his ankle, and thus learned that the stone wanted to become his amulet. Another, while sleeping on the tundra, found the amulet under his pillow, etc.

Primitive man, in selecting his amulets as well as in offering sacrifices to surrounding objects, must have adopted very early some simple rites, which were suggested at first by various accidents, but which were soon looked upon as quite indispensable. The more vague and unsettled the primitive conception of the mysterious force of surrounding objects, the greater was the tendency of man to have some stable element of his religious conceptions in the manner, at least, of carrying out the rites. Thus we find that, while the average Reindeer Chukchee is quite unable to explain who the beings are to whom he sacrifices, he is very positive about the details of the sacrifice and about various acts connected with it. There is a marked tendency to maintain the observance of these performances, which have obtained a firmer hold than the ideas they represent, and which the people continue to observe even when their original purport is greatly changed, or even wholly lost and forgotten.

Primitive magic performances include certain acts, and utterances of verbal formulas which tend to acquire an established text that is learned by heart. A verbal formula with its prescribed act forms an incantation, and one is rarely used without the other. An incantation is thought to increase the mysterious force of an amulet and make it more permanent. The Koryak give expression to this idea by calling their amulets "fixed by an incantation" (ewya'nwičō). {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 44.} They even say that the force of the amulets and of the incantations is weakened by age, and that they must be renewed from time to time. With the Chukchee, however, incantations have not such prominence, and the chief potency of amulets lies in the inherent power the natives ascribe to them. {See Chapter XV, section on incantations.}

In selecting amulets, primitive man is not satisfied with objects as they present themselves to him naturally. Actuated by a general desire to accentuate the anthropomorphous qualities of the objects of his veneration, he very early undertakes to improve them with his own hand and to give them a human-like form. In this, however, he does not go beyond the first steps, because the power of a belief once established hinders further innovation. Thus, among the Chukchee as among the Koryak, the anthropomorphous amulets are shaped very crudely, while children's toys are often made in a truly artistic manner.

We find among the Chukchee both classes of amulets, -- those of natural shape, and those worked up by man. To the first class belong stones, pieces of bone, and other objects, which are picked up under various circumstances, as was said before. For purposes of divination, stones are generally used, as will be explained in Chapter XV. Amulets of animal provenience belong to the same class. These may consist of dried skins, or be represented by a small part of a skin, by a skull, by the tip of the nose, by a single claw, or by a tuft of hair. A bird is represented by a feather.

"Wooden Spirits" -- The amulets wrought into human shape appear as small human images roughly shaped out of various material. Some are made of wood, and usually consist of a small branch- of wood forked at one end so as to represent the legs (Fig. 237, a). Sometimes two other branches represent the arms (Fig.' 238). Others are made of leather, or are painted in color on leather or wood, or are even pricked into the skin of the face or hands with a needle. All are very imperfectly shaped, and consist usually of a straight line with a mere suggestion of a head and four extremities.


Those made of wood are called ok-ka'-mak (pl. ok-ka'makit), which means literally "wooden spirit." It is interesting to note that the word "ka'mak" is Koryak, and is rarely used by the Chukchee. {See p. 289, Footnote 3. Ka'mak means in Koryak "evil spirit," and is identical with ka'ia (Chukchee, ke'lE). It is used in Russo-Chukchee jargon with the meaning "to die," "death," "devil." In genuine Chukchee also, kama'gritm ("ka'mak's tooth") means "mammoth's tusk," "mammoth ivory." Ok-ka'mak with the Koryak is the name of a large wooden pole representing the "guardian of the village."} On the whole, human images of this. shape have no special names. Some amulets are carved by the Chukchee out of wood or ivory, and with more care than these rough images. They are called "faces" (lu'3lqälti), because they consist chiefly of a head or a face. The term "face" is also applied by the Koryak to small carved amulets. They call such amulets "spirit faces" (ka'mak-lu'3u). Some of the faces also represent animals or birds.

Guardians. -- The common Chukchee name for all these Charms is "watch-keeper" (ginnre'tilin) or "guardian" (inend.u'lin). Their function is to protect objects and persons to whom they are attached. They are also called "assistant" (vi'yolin), "helper" (vinre'tilin), or "assisting companion" (vinre't-tu'mgin). {Compare p. 319.} Most of them are carried by their owners on the body, and their protection is considered especially desirable when travelling in unknown parts. They are therefore called "that used in travel" (lei'gukin), or "travelling companion" (lei'gu-tu'mgin). The form of these is practically identical with the form of those of the Koryak. {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 32 et seq.}

Each man has one or several "guardians." They are worn on the necklace, or are fastened to the belt. Among the amulets of animal provenience, preference is given to the ermine, because it is so nimble and active. Other small skins, skulls, claws, and feathers of birds, are also used. {Skins of small birds and animals are also in use as amulets among the American Eskimo. Compare Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 137.} These charms are supposed, in case of need, to turn into living animals, and to give required help. In many tales the owner puts on the skin or the feather, and turns temporarily into the animal or the bird from which they were taken. In actual life this may be done symbolically by means of an incantation.


Rude human images made of wood ("wooden spirits"), which represent the "guardians," are worn on the necklace, hidden generally in a small leather pouch. They are fastened to the collar or to the back of the dress of a new-born infant (Fig. 239). Rude figures cut out of curried leather, and similar in shape to the wooden crotches, are fastened to the clothing in various places, to the scabbard of the knife, to the walls or ceiling of the sleeping-room, to the clothes-bag, etc. They are called ki'pur or kepro'lhin. When adorned with beads, they form a conspicuous ornament (Fig. 240). Sometimes an image like this is painted or sewed on the walls of the sleeping-room, painted on the boats on both sides, near the bow, or pricked with a fine needle into a person's cheeks, forehead, or arms.

In an underground house in Nu'nligren I saw two human faces roughly scratched on top of one of the whalebone uprights near the entrance. The owner of the house called them also "guardians," and, while showing me the house, offered a sacrifice of tallow and tobacco to them. Faces of similar character were also found scratched on the top of the ladder-tree in a Koryak winter house. On the face or hands of a sick person a figure like Fig. 241 is tattooed to provide the sick one with a new "assistant." This is done especially in nervous diseases. In other maladies the aching limbs are tattooed. Tattooing is also resorted to by murderers, who will mark signs of this kind on their shoulders, hoping by this means to appropriate the soul of the murdered man, and turn it from a possible foe into an "assistant," or even cause it to become a part of himself.


I think it probable that the marks seen by Mr. Nelson {Nelson, p. 324.} on arrow and spear heads at East Cape, and supposed to represent the raven's foot, and symbolize the raven totem, were in reality simply sketches of "guardians." It is still more probable that two supposed raven-marks seen by him on a boy's forehead at Plover Bay {Ibid., p. 325, Fig. 115.} were nothing but these marks of a "guardian." Their position is quite similar to those represented in Fig. 241, though I have never seen a "guardian" mark with a round head at the top of it. It is clear, however, that they are intended for human figures.

The small circular marks tattooed on the cheeks of many male Maritime Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo are, according to the explanation by the natives, a kind of prevention against attacks by the ke'let, though originally they may have been only substitutes for labrets. {Compare p. 254.} The same custom prevails among the Aleuts. Sarytcheff mentions {Sarytcheff, I, p. 126.} that the women of the Andreyanoff Islands had on their cheeks small double circles tattooed with black. Hooper {Hooper, p. 150.} speaks of tattoo-marks which he has seen among the Asiatic Eskimo in Plover Bay. He gives a facsimile of two marks which were on the breast of a native, and which represent two fighting men. The general character of these marks is similar to those described above. The figures, however, have in their hands objects which resemble shields. No tribe of that country has ever known the use of the shield.

Some of the human images are considered as supernatural husbands or wives of their owners. At the time of ceremonials they are called "ceremonial husband" (mñi'kin uwč'quč) or "ceremonial wife" (mñi'qin ñe'wän). During the performance they are placed on the floor in an upright position. The owner steps forward and performs the usual dance opposite to his ceremonial mate, who is supposed to share in the action.

The figures of these mates are considered highly effective in cases where help is needed and for divination, especially when used by persons having skill in magic, who consider themselves shamans. A female shaman in the Kolyma country showed me a stone of a strange form, with two projections at one end, similar to the two branches of a "wooden spirit." It had a string tied around it, and could be used as a divining-stone. The woman called it her husband, and said she loved it much more than she did her living mate. She assured me that most of her children were conceived from this stone. {Compare p. 339.}


Some personal "guardians" made of wood are carved with more care than the usual crude wooden crotches. Some of these are represented in Fig. 242. The second figure has a dog attached to it for hunting. We shall find numerous figures of a similar character on the family charm-strings of the Chukchee. Among carved animal faces we find the walrus, the polar bear, the black bear, the wolf, and the raven. The dog is also a favorite, because, as I have said before, {Compare p. 13.} the dog or its image is supposed to give protection against evil spirits.

When necessary, the figures can not only acquire life, but grow to very large proportions. A woman who had two small figures of black bears told me that ordinarily she kept them in her work-bag; but whenever she thought she was in danger from spirits (for instance, if a contagious disease broke out in the vicinity), she took the bears from the bag and put them on the ground on either side of the entrance to the house. They were supposed to keep watch in the way described in the folk-tales, and represented in pencil-sketches.


A necklace to which is attached a walrus-head carved in ivory is represented in the chapter on clothing. {See p. 256, Fig. 187, b.} Another amulet of this kind is shown in Fig. 243, a. It consists of a double-headed dog carved in ivory and made like a small toggle. The image and a single bead are tied to the back of the leather belt. {Compare Fig. 259.} This is considered an especially suitable place for wearing amulets. The ermine-skin amulet which is sometimes attached to the necklace is often fastened to the back of the belt instead. {See also the belt amulet, p. 244, Fig. 176.} Fig. 243, b, is a similar amulet worn on the belt of a Chukchee. It is made of wood, and represents a canoe with paddle. The shape is quite similar to a wooden button of the Baffin-Land Eskimo described by Boas. {Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 52, Fig. 76.}

Human or animal "faces" are frequently carved on the handles of snow-beaters for the purpose of giving protection to their owners. The snow-beaters are then called "having a face" (gelu'3lqALin), Fig. 243, с. {Compare also p. 176, Fig. 98.} А snow-beater with a carved face is especially important for a man who has to live alone in the wilderness, like a herdsman or a hunter.

Fig. 244 is a "guardian" in the shape of a dog, but with a human face on the front of the muzzle. It is covered with a coat made of skin. Combinations of animal figures with additional human faces are often met with on the carvings of the American Eskimo. {Compare Nelson, p. 448, Figs. 162-164.}

Beads. -- Beads are usually substituted for small images and faces of every kind, and they are transformed into charms by means of incantations. The virtue of the bead is twofold, since it may at the same time be considered a charm and an offering to the spirits. A thin strip of leather or sinew with a bead strung on one end of it is a typical single charm.


In the chapter on clothing {See p. 258.} I spoke of the way in which beads are arranged for ornaments, while at the same time many of them serve as charms. A narrow strip of leather with a single bead fastened to it is tied as a bracelet around one of the wrists of an infant shortly after its birth, and is worn throughout life. It is called "hand-wrapper" (ming-a'ččaw). In many cases it is put on the left wrist, because the left hand is a hand of bad luck and the spirits are supposed to approach man from the left side. When the charm is put on an infant's wrist, the infant is said to be "swallowed" by it. This implies a wish to proclaim that there is nothing left for the "spirits" to swallow. Similar ideas are expressed in incantations, as will be explained later.

Many people, especially women, wear bands of similar shape tied around their arms. These are called "arm-wrappers" (ronm-a'ččaw).

Pendants made of a bead strung on a strip of leather are sewed to various parts of the clothing, especially that of women and children. Thus they are made to serve as charms and ornaments at the same time. A head-band with a few beads fastened on it, "head-wrapper" (če'wčeččew), likewise has protective power. In the Kolyma country the beads on such headbands are sometimes replaced by tiny bits of wood. This was probably the older form of this charm. They are called "manikins" (qla'ulqaitê). Whenever disease comes, it is sure to strike one of them. In several tales the hero, when fighting with a supernatural being, is saved from death by his head-band, because every blow aimed at him can only strike one of the manikins.

After the death of a near relative, if it is feared that the "spirit of disease," or that the deceased, will come for new victims, the Chukchee fasten a bead on the head, stringing it on a lock of hair without any thread or leather.

A bead which has become a charm may be put in a tiny bag, and worn in place of a necklace. Sacrifices of beads strung on leather or thread are frequently presented to "spirits" as expiatory offerings to ward off disease. On a big whale's rib stuck into the ground, which represents the local deity in the village of Če'čin, {See Fig. 285.} I found many such offerings (Fig. 245). Single beads strung on a thread are exchanged in concluding a bond of friendship between strangers. When I came to Indian Point, we concluded a bond of this character with the trader Kuwar, and exchanged a coil of thong with a bead fastened at one end.


In taking anthropological measurements, we met with cases in which the people measured declared on the next morning that they felt ill. This was, of course, ascribed to our malevolent instruments. The affected party, to prevent more serious consequences, would usually ask for a bead strung on a piece of sinew, in order to make an expiatory sacrifice of it to the "spirits." They could not tell, however, what particular kind of "spirits" it -was necessary to appease, nor did they think it of any importance, if only he required sacrifice were performed.

Some amulets consist of pieces of skin tied in various knots, without any likeness to living figures, as may be seen on the necklace of Fig. 190 (p. 258), and on the back of the belt, Fig. 176 (see p. 244). These knots are usually tied by a shaman, who imparts to them some of his magic power. They may, however, be fashioned by a man himself according to a shaman's directions, or after orders received in a dream.

There are, however, persons who do not wear amulets at all. Some are forbidden by the "spirits" to avail themselves of this kind of protection. Others abstain from following the usage on the ground of philosophical reasoning. "I do not wear anything upon my body," said such a person to me, "because I am convinced that protection by such small objects must be a mere delusion." A shaman by the name of Scratching-Woman even went further, and declared that all sacred things made by man are good for nothing. He said that the fire-tool boards, strings of images, and dolls are of no real use. "Nothing created by man has any power. On the contrary, all power is in the deity, who created man himself and the objects of his hunt."

Amulets are also attached to the various implements used in fishing and hunting. Thus, wooden images of seals are fastened to a seal-net among its floats, for the purpose of drawing to it other seals and capturing them. Sometimes all the floats of a seal-net are in the form of such images. {Compare Nelson, p. 188.} At other times a gay-colored bead forms the amulet. The large bag-net represented on p. 149, Fig. 63, has an amulet like this strung on one of its meshes. Small pieces of red cloth or curried leather, roughly fashioned like human figures, are often attached to nets, fishing-tackle, rifles, and self-acting bows. They represent "assistants," which were spoken of before.

Family Charms of the Reindeer Chukchee. -- The family charms are more complicated than the individual ones, but we shall see that they consist chiefly of amulets of the various kinds described. These amulets are joined together and form a sacred object, protecting the material welfare of the family, and guarding it against attacks by evil spirits.

I have mentioned that the family charms of the Reindeer Chukchee differ from those of the Maritime people. The family charms and sacred things in use among the Reindeer Chukchee protect their material welfare, particularly in regard to whatever affects the herd.

Hearth. -- The chief place among the sacred things of the household belongs to the hearth itself, to the fire of which a spark is added from each of the hereditary fire-tools at every ceremonial. Each family has a fire of its own, and interchange of fire is strictly prohibited. Families whose fires are derived from different lines of ancestors, even though living for years in the same camp, will carefully guard against any contact of their fires. To borrow a neighbor's fire is held to be one of the greatest sins. If a camp is pitched on the spot formerly occupied by another family, the Chukchee woman, in order to start a new fire,- will not avail herself of the coal or wood that was left. Even when camped on the treeless tundra, she will break up the sledges for fire-wood rather than take a single splinter bearing marks of an alien fire. Interchange of household utensils connected with the hearth -- like kettles, dishes, lamps, receptacles for meat, etc. -- is also strictly forbidden. It is even considered sinful to warm at one hearth a piece of cold meat which has been boiled at another. All these restrictions, however, refer only to the "genuine fire," obtained for a native hearth by means of a wooden drill and the sacred fire-board.

On the other hand, the strike-a-light, sulphur-dish, and matches may be freely borrowed and interchanged, because they have nothing to do with the sacred family fire. A Chukchee woman will also take from a neighbor of her tribe a match, or flint and steel, because these have nothing to do with the sacred family fire; but she will not take willow tinder, because it is mixed with coal, and the coal was taken from the alien hearth. She will show the same aversion to the fire of the Reindeer Koryak, who also have sacred fire-tools; but she will not hesitate to borrow a firebrand or burning coals from a Russian or from a Lamut. {I met, however, among the Anui camps, especially In the more remote parts of the country, people who would not allow even a match struck in their sleeping-room, fearing contamination of their household penates. No alien man would be allowed to busy himself around their fire, not even to put in place a brand or a kettle with food to be cooked.}

During my travels I had much trouble with women on account of the fire. Many of them had no teakettles of their own, and yet refused to boil water in mine because it had stood by an alien hearth. Sometimes their scruples would give way at the prospect of drinking hot tea. In other cases we had to make a separate fire, and drink our tea outside of the tent.

Brothers, cousins, and relatives of male descent, while living in the same camp, or at least in the same neighborhood, may freely interchange fire. If one of them has moved to a distant country, his fire gradually becomes estranged from the primary hearth, because it consumes strange fuel, and inhales alien and unseemly odors. In this way, even brothers who have been separated for a long term of years may lose the right to interchange their fires.

When there are two or more fires of different family descent in the same camp, a community fire may result, if the children playing together should happen to mix one fire with another. The respective families will then bring a common sacrifice, and for the future will keep up a common fire. The community of related people who use fire from a common source are called "those having the same fire" (Enna'n-yi'nlit). This term is equivalent to another one which designates kinship in the male line, -- "old buck-fellow community" (kirñe'-tu'mgi-ret).

Most of the camps have a common fire because their inhabitants belong to related families. Difficulties regarding the fire arise in the camps of rich reindeer-breeders, who hire poor assistants (coming often from a quite distant country), and also among very poor families, who not infrequently are heedless of the ties of relationship when they join their herds together to watch them more effectually. Sometimes near relatives, even brothers, will sever their fire from the family fire. When a house has been visited by misfortune and the anger of "spirits," -- for instance, when many grown people or male children belonging to it have died, -- it may suddenly be cast out from the community of fire. In this case the man who pronounces the protecting incantation {Compare, Chapter XVII.} may cut off the fire of the stricken family during the funeral ceremony, so that others may not share in its bad fortune. {For a description of the defiling of the family hearth by syphilis, see p. 41.}

The hearth is closely connected with the herd. The chief ceremonial of the year, held early in the fall, represents the meeting of hearth and herd after the summer's separation. A large sacred fire is built, and the animals are driven to it from the leeward side, so that the breath of the fire may drive away the evil "spirits" that might come with the herd from the wilderness. For the same purpose, burning fire-brands are thrown against the reindeer.

Wooden Fire-Tool. -- The most important sacred objects of the household connected with the hearth and the herd are wooden fire-tools, strings of family charms (tai'ñikut), and family drums.


The wooden fire-tool has already been described. The board in which the drill revolves is roughly shaped into a human form. Usually it represents only a head and shoulders, though legs are sometimes added (Fig. 246). Eyes, nose, and mouth are indicated by cuts of appropriate form and position. At every sacrifice its mouth is greased with tallow or with the marrow of bones. This image is called "reindeer fire-tool" (in Chukchee, gi'rgir, pl., gi'rgitti;. in Koryak, gi'čgič; and also qa'a-mê'lhimêl), indicating its direct connection with the herd. The holes made by drilling are considered the eyes of the fire-board; and the squeaking noise produced by the drilling, its voice. In those camps where the wooden fire-tool is still daily employed for lighting fires, the sacred fire-boards are often reserved for ceremonials, and for regular use a substitute is made (Fig. 247). Sometimes this is merely a board; in other cases it is given the shape of a human figure, and after several years' use it is laid aside with other fire-boards. Its sacredness is derived from its daily connection with the fire of the hearth.

Many families have several fire-boards. Some of them are comparatively new; others, inherited from preceding generations, are often quite ancient. Each is associated with the ownership of a certain portion of the herd, marked with its own brand. These brands pass with the sacred fire-board from generation to generation. Each boy born to the family is given, when he is four or five years old, a fire-board and a reindeer brand from the family heirlooms. If the number of ancient fire-boards is insufficient, a new one is made and a new brand established, to be given to the son. If the forefathers were poor and the herd is beginning to increase, the owner, unwilling to unite the poor luck of his ancestors with his own prosperity, will make for his sons new fire-boards, and establish new brands for the reindeer. On the other hand, people who remain poor in reindeer do not keep all of their fire-boards, because it would be inconsistent with the lack of increase of the herd. Even those boards that are kept are assigned new functions.

One of the fire-boards, usually the most ancient, is considered the protector of the herd; another protects the hunting-pursuits; a third guards the sacrifices. Some families do not make new fire-boards for their children, even though the family has inherited but a few. Only when the family separates and the herd is divided between the heirs, when each portion must have at least one fire-board, do they make new ones.

In every case the oldest fire-board, and with it the oldest brand of the reindeer, and the house and its belongings, are assigned to one of the possible heirs, usually either to the oldest or to the youngest son. He is the principal heir, and is called "one with the principal fire-tool" (e'un mi'lhilin), or "one with the fire-tool" (mi'lhilin). He takes a prominent part in slaughtering reindeer and offering sacrifices. His place in the sleeping-room is on the left-hand side. {Compare p. 173.} The parents often move to the right-hand side, leaving the left-hand side to him, so that he may sleep there alone.


The Chukchee consider that the best time to destroy an antiquated or superfluous fire-board is in the spring, at the ceremonial of the antlers. Then the fire-board is burned in the ceremonial fire. Its head may be cut off and joined to the string of family charms; but oftener the fire-board is completely burned, and replaced in the string by a small wooden image (Fig. 248).

Fire-boards are supposed to actually keep guard over the herd. One tale relates that two wooden men without feet, who looked like fire-boards, came to a reindeer-breeder whose animals were very restive. The herdsman fed them with tallow. Before going to sleep, they said to the host, "If the herd becomes suddenly frightened and tries to run away, it would be better for you to waken us at once." When they had spoken, the master asked, "How shall I waken you?" -- "Take the bow," they replied, "and turn the drill in one of our eyes. When the drill begins to sing, the herd will stand still, and then return to the house." {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 106.}

During the calving-season the fire-boards are taken from the bag in which they are kept and placed behind the frame in the outer tent, so that they may protect the calving dams. Pieces of sinew (see Fig. 246) are put around the necks of the fire-boards to represent lassos. Sometimes these are provided with small bone rings resembling those through which the rope of a regular lasso slips in forming the noose. If the herd is divided into two parts for fawning, a separate lasso is tied around the neck of every fire-board for each part of the herd. During the ceremonial in the fall, these lassos are changed for new ones; but later in the winter they are taken off and burned in the fire. If a part of the herd goes astray, the owner will take out his fire-boards and request them to find the lost animals. Household property (extra tents, sledges, etc.) piled up out of doors may have a fire-board fastened to it in some' conspicuous place, which will act as a "guardian." Such a fire-board may be seen on Plate xxxii, Fig. 1.


When a new fire-board is made, a short ceremony is performed over it, which shows clearly that it is looked upon as a supernatural herdsman. The board is brought home and put behind the tent in the usual place of sacrifices. The master declares aloud, "I have brought a fire-tool man" (melha'3-la'ul). Then a reindeer is killed and the fire-board is smeared with blood, though usually fire-boards are smeared only with tallow or bone-marrow.

While smearing it with blood, the master says to it, "Enough! Take up your abode here!" Then other fire-boards are brought to the same place and set side by side on the ground. The master says, "Ho! These are your companions. See that I always find easily every kind of game!" Then slaughters another reindeer and says, "Hi! Since you are one of my assistants (literally, 'one of my young men'), go and drive the herd hither." After a little while he asks him, "Have you brought it?" and he himself answers, "I have." -- "Then catch some reindeer! It seems that you will keep a good watch over the herd. There, from the actual chief of the fire-boards, you may learn wisdom." This short dialogue is a good example of the dramatized incantations of the Chukchee.


Charm-Strings. -- The family charms (Fig. 249, see also Fig. 237) tied on strings are called tai'ñikut (sing., tai'ñikulhin, which, however, is rarely used). This word means literally "misfortune-protectors." The common string includes articles of a heterogeneous nature. In my opinion the charms are tied together simply to guard against possible loss during the multitudinous travels of the family.

The greater part of the string of charms is taken up with simple wooden images which are used singly as amulets, and which were described above as "wooden spirits." When tied on a family string, these wooden images are meant to be the protectors of the reindeer-herd, and in this sense they are called "masters of reindeer" (qaa'kên êti'nvit).


The tale alluded to before {Compare p. 352.} goes on to tell that the fire-tool men created several herdsmen, and sent them to watch the herd. The next morning the herdsmen vanished, and in their stead a string of charms was left. The number of wooden images corresponded to the number of herdsmen.

Another episode often occurring in the tales is that of a young man, who, desiring to create herdsmen for his reindeer, kicked a number of dry boughs lying on the ground among the bushes. Some of these branches then turned to herdsmen. This probably refers to the same idea.

The number of wooden images in a set varies from a few to a score or two. New images are cut every spring from willow-branches used in the ceremonial of the antlers. Sometimes five, or even ten, are made at once, especially when the family is about to divide the herd and the household amulets. Each party returning from a hunting or trading expedition brings with it at least one bough from the forest of the country it visited. Figures cut from these are added to the other images. If there are too many charm-strings, some of the old ones are burned during the ceremonial of the antlers.


There are also special images on the charm-strings. One of these is the "wooden woman" (u'tti-ñew), also called "mistress" (ñew-e'rmečin). This is a wooden figure having some indication of her sex, or often simply a forked bough wrapped in a piece of skin which represents the skin dress (Fig. 250). Fig. 250, c, is a wooden woman with a human face and the body of a seal. She has a skin wrapping and a ladle for receiving sacrifices. Small sacrificing-vessels are attached to several other images. This female figure was also considered the chief "mistress" of the house and the protectress of the herd.

Another special image is the "wooden man" (otta'3-a'ul or ott-ora'wêLan). This is a human figure made of wood, and regarded as the husband of the "wooden woman." It is always without clothes. The shape of the figure varies according to the fancy of its maker. Sometimes it is only a head, and is called "wooden head" (u'tti-le'ut). In other cases a forked branch is furnished with a rough face, and is then supposed to be the chief of the herd and the husband of the "mistress" (Fig. 251). Sometimes the "wooden man" and the "woman" are called kama-ta'hin and kama-ña'ut, {Concerning the stem kama (kamak), compare p. 341. See also p. 289, Footnote 3.} in imitation of the most common of the Chukchee names. These mean "spirit-border" and "spirit-woman." Other figures on the charm-strings are considered children and relatives of the chief figures. Those wrapped, in skin are female; those not wrapped are male. The latter are the more numerous. All these figures taken together are called "men of the charm-strings" (tai'ñikut ora'wêLat). Among the Reindeer people of the Kolyma I saw several times small wooden images of canoes fastened to the charm-strings. This is the more remarkable, as those people do not build canoes, and rarely buy them from the Russians, as they have but little opportunity to use them. The canoe-image of the charm-strings thus adds new proof to the conjecture that the maritime mode of life predominated in ancient times with the whole Chukchee tribe.


Ena'attê (pl. of Ena'al) are parts of the funeral clothes, which are taken from every grown member of the family shortly before the final ceremony, and added to the family string of charms. From the men's clothing are taken their belts (see Fig. 237, с) from the women's, narrow strips of the fur trimming of the collars (see Fig. 237, d). These pieces are wrapped or sewed together in a small parcel, and tied to the string. They also represent the chief masters of the herd, and are often more or less confounded with the wooden images. In connection with this, the charms are considered to represent more or less directly the ancestors of the family. As such they are called in common conversation "the ancient ones," or even "the deceased ones."

A raven's head (ve'lvi-le'ut) is used in its natural form (see Fig. 249) or as a wooden image (Fig. 252, a). А wolfs head (ei3h-le'ut) is used only as a wooden image. The real skulls of the fox (see Figs. 237 b, 249 b), hare, and wolverene, are used, or they are represented by images. The image of the head of the polar bear is also employed (Fig. 252, b). Wooden dogs are found in the shape common among various other charms of the Chukchee (see Fig. 249, c).

Among the skulls, those of the white fox are the most numerous. Rarely are all of these skulls and images joined on the same set, and each string usually includes an assortment of the various forms. Details in the form of these private charms, as in the rites, depend with the Chukchee upon chance influences, such as dreams, the meeting of wild animals, or other prophetic signs, or the command of an old man or a shaman. These variations are in accord with the vague religious views of the Chukchee, which have not taken fixed forms, and indicate in general a primitive state of religious culture.

From sacrificed reindeer, especially from those which have a strange or misshapen feature, there is taken for this string of charms a piece of the skin from the head, with part of the velvet, or one of the dew-claws. Pieces of skin covering the nose are cut from fur animals or sea-mammals, and tied to the charm-string. Stones of strange form -- for instance, those with a natural hole through them -- are also tied to the string. Occasionally a curiously shaped piece of petrified wood or bone is added.

Taken in connection with the human-like images on the string, the raven's head represents the "assistant" in the upper regions; the wolfs head, the "assistant" on earth; the head of the fox, hare, wolverene, and polar bear, and the noses of their peltries, are charms for hunting these animals. Stones (see Fig. 249, d) represent the ground upon which the men of the charm-strings walk (te'ntin, "walking-ground"). Since the skulls of animals and stones are used for divining the future, those on the string are thought to be used for that purpose by the "men of the charm-string."

A wooden image of a dog is supposed to represent the dog belonging to the chief master of the string of charms, and is used for hunting-purposes.

The part the charm-string plays in relation to the herd and the house is similar to that of the fire-boards. Both figure in all sacrifices and ceremonies. When the family want to separate, the charm-strings are cut into as many pieces as there are heirs, and a piece is given to each.

Occasionally, in times of disease, the fire-boards and the charm-strings are presented to the spirits as expiatory sacrifices. For this purpose all members of the family, one by one, shake their imaginary diseases down on their sacred objects, which are spread on the ground to receive them. Then the objects are taken away and left in the wilderness. By this act the family are considered to have given to the "spirits of disease" all the luck and protection they possessed, and they must collect new charms, which is to easily done.

Drum. -- The drum used by the Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee is of the same shape and size as that employed by the Asiatic Eskimo. Its form is markedly different from the more southern type adopted in northeastern Asia by the Yakut, Tungus, Koryak, Kamchadal, and Yukaghir.

The southern drum {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 55 et seq.} is large, somewhat oval in shape, and has a grip formed by four loose bands. These are fastened to the hoop of the drum on the inner side. The other ends meet in the middle, where they are tied to a small wheel or a cross, which is without other support. When the grip is grasped by the hand, the drum hangs loosely, and it may be shaken and its position changed at will. The drum-stick is made of wood, and covered with skin or with curried leather.

The Chukchee drum (Fig. 253) is similar to that of the American Eskimo. {Compare, Boas, Central Eskimo, Fig. 538, p. 602.} It has a wooden handle, which is fastened with sinew lashings to the wooden hoop. The diameter of the hoop is from forty to fifty centimetres; breadth of the rim, four centimetres. It is nearly circular in shape. The head is made of very thin skin, usually the dried skin of a walrus-stomach. The curried skin of a young fawn is often used by the Reindeer Chukchee of the interior, but it is not considered as good. To fasten the skin, it is moistened with water or urine, and the edge is then tied with sinew cord in a circular groove at the outer surface of the hoop. The ends of this cord are fastened to the handle. The drum is very light, some specimens weighing not more than half a pound, and others weighing from a pound to a pound and a half.

The drum-stick varies with the use to which the instrument is put. It is either a narrow, light strip of whalebone {See Vol VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, Fig. 24, p. 58.} from thirty to forty centimetres long, or a piece of wood (Fig. 253, d) from sixty to seventy centimetres long, which is sometimes adorned with fur tassels. The former is used in magical performances, when the drum is beaten inside of the sleeping-room; the latter, chiefly in ceremonials, when the drum is beaten in the outer tent.

When the whalebone stick is used, the drum is held in the left hand, and the drummer so strikes with the stick that the middle of it hits the rim of the drum or the knuckles of the hand holding the drum. The end of the stick thus vibrates lightly against the drum-head. In using a wooden drum-stick, the drum is held horizontally, with the cover upwards. The stick is grasped in the middle; and the hoop is struck from beneath, first on one side, then on the other.


The Reindeer Chukchee keep the cover on the drum only when they stay in the winter house. The drum is then usually placed behind the frame of the sleeping-room; at other times, on its ceiling, ready for use whenever wanted. When the family is moving about, the cover is removed, folded, and tied to the hoop, near the handle. When thus taken apart, the drum is put away in the family bag. It is but little work to soak the drum-head and fasten it on, so that this is not done until just before the drum is wanted. During the season of ceremonials the drum is hung on the frame of the outer tent, ready for use. It is placed near the fire-board, because it plays an important role in the performance.

With the Kolyma Chukchee the drum is considered of less importance than the fire-board and charm-string. On the Pacific side the reverse is true. There the drum is called the "voice of the hearth," and it is more difficult to obtain a drum which has been in use than to get a fire-board.

In the Kolyma and Anadyr countries, drums belonging to strange families may be brought at least into the outer tent, and there played upon. At the season of great ceremonials, as many as ten drums are sometimes beaten at once in the same tent.

House. -- The covering of the house and the sleeping-room, the poles of the frame, the bedding and the pillow-bags, and the sledges on which these things are carried, -- all are considered to belong to the hearth. They pass on to the heirs with the fire-boards and charm-strings, and with the latter are divided among the relatives.

When building a new tent, one man goes out into the woods and cuts the three principal poles. After fastening them together and bringing them home, he kills a reindeer and smears the poles with the blood of the sacrifice. Every year the poles receive a further sacrifice in midsummer, as will be described later.

The house with its belongings, the hearth with the fire-tools, and other sacred objects, are thus all regarded as a unit. It is not very sinful to part with some of these things (the Chukchee will sell, for example, a part of the tent-covering to the Russians, or even give away charm-strings to the spirits); but it is unpardonable to take any part of the home unit belonging to a stranger, and use it in one's own house. For this reason, though I was able to procure (but not without some difficulty) a few fire-tools and charm-strings, on bringing them into the tent which was my shelter for the night, I invariably had trouble with the Chukchee tent-owners, who were unwilling to have alien sacred things enter their dwelling. This peculiarity sometimes led to disagreeable consequences, as, for instance, in the episode described on p. 38. Sledges, however, may be used, provided they are not taken into the tent. If a tent-pole which some one has lost on the road is found, it may be used for fuel. No other part of the home unit can be used in any way. If a house is left without a male heir, nobody will touch it, and it is left to rot on the spot where it stands.

Care of Sacred Objects. -- All sacred objects of the household, as well as the house itself, are in the care of the women. The Reindeer Chukchee call the woman of the house the "hearth-keeper." The women prepare the sacred objects for the ceremonial, feed them with tallow, etc.: consequently the women are more expert than the men in the details of ceremonials. Even the incantations and spells which are connected with household charms are better known by the women. The same is true, also, among the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo. An old man, one of the Eskimo at Indian Point, said to me, "It is a mistake to think that women are weaker than men in hunting-pursuits. The home incantations are stronger than those pronounced in the wilderness. In vain man walks around, searching; but those that sit by the lamp are really strong, for they know how to call the game to the shore."

Among the Reindeer Chukchee, even the smallest house cannot be kept without a woman to attend to it. When a family is left without any woman, it folds up its house, and packs away the household things and the sacred objects until a female keeper of the hearth is secured by marriage.

When a woman marries into another family, she renounces her former hearth and house, and takes allegiance with those of her husband: therefore a daughter who marries into a strange family has no share in the property of her former household. Even when a house is left without any male heir, a married daughter has no right to the heritage, unless her husband and she renounce his house and acknowledge that of his father-in-law.

When a family has no male children, one of the daughters may be chosen to become the principal heir, the future possessor of the principal brand and fire-board, the permanent keeper of the family house. Then she also is called "the one with the principal fire-tool" (e'un-mi'lhihn). {See p. 351.} The mother turns over to her care all the sacred objects of the household, and in the ceremonies she plays the part of the principal heir and the female keeper of the hearth. Of course such a female heir will not be led in marriage out of her house. Her husband renounces his own hearth and house, and is adopted into her family. When a man has several wives, the oldest, who has the care of the household sacred things, is also called "one with fire-tool."

If a male child is born to the family after a daughter has been elected principal heir, they may change places, and the boy become the heir. Even then the girl will be married in her own house, and her husband will be adopted.

Poor young men often apply for the position of herdsmen to rich reindeer-breeders who have many daughters. From this position they may marry into the family and be adopted. Their own house is often brought along, and kept by a mother or aunt. When the elder brother leaves, the house is then given over to a younger brother, who becomes the principal heir.


It may happen that two families -- the one having a son, the other a daughter -- agree to have their children marry when older. If no children are born afterwards, there is some dispute as to whose house shall be renounced. Sometimes one of the houses is actually forsaken, with everything belonging to it. Much more frequently the family that gives way finds some poor relative, male or female, secures a spouse for that person, and adopts the young couple as its future housekeepers.

Painting with Blood. -- Special painted marks go with each set of sacred family objects. These are painted on the faces of all members of the family each year, during the fall ceremonial. A reindeer-fawn is slaughtered, and its blood is used for this purpose. The marks are quite simple, only a few lines or thick dots on the forehead and cheeks (Fig. 254). They are meant to make the face similar to that of the spirit protecting rein-deer-breeding (qo'rên va'irgm). {Compare p. 315.} Dots over the eyes represent its eyes. Two dots or lines on the cheeks represent ears. Lines across the cheeks are meant to enlarge the mouth, because the spirit is large-mouthed. A native sketch (Fig. 254, e) also represents the face of a Reindeer Chukchee woman with blood-marks on it. The woman is tattooed. The marks on the sketch were made with real blood.

Every family has marks of its own, which, with the sacred objects of the household, pass to the children. When the family is divided, the identity of these marks is preserved for a couple of generations, but in course of time they gradually change.

No person may paint himself. The mistress of the house usually does the painting for the whole family, beginning with her husband. Then he in turn paints her. If several adult women belong to the same hearth, they usually paint one another. Argentoff says that the wife paints her husband and children on the forehead, breast, and soles of the feet, and afterwards is painted by her husband in the same way; {Argentoff, I, p. 58.} but I have never heard of painting any part of the body except the face. Mr. Jochelson, however, was told that the Reindeer Chukchee and the Reindeer Koryak of the Palpal Mountains paint forehead and abdomen during the ceremony.

The daughter who has been made the principal heir performs the ceremony instead of her mother. When the principal heir, -- son or daughter, even though not at the age of maturity -- is married and lives in the same tent with the parents, the latter often take no part in the ceremony. Then the painting is performed by the young mistress, though she may be no more than ten years old.

Painting with the blood of the sacrifice is symbolical of the membership of all members of the family in the same hearth. For this reason it is an essential part of the marriage ceremony. A fawn is killed as usual; and the bridal pair, with at least one female member of the family, perform the ceremony of painting. The woman paints the bride and groom, and then she is painted by the groom. The same ceremony is gone through in the case of adoption.

When two men enter into a bond of brotherhood and companionship in marriage, as is often done among the Chukchee, the act is sometimes accompanied by a double painting ceremony. This is performed in the house of each party in turn. It signifies that from that time forth their hearths are united. Carrying this idea still further, the ceremony is accompanied by a free interchange of fire.

Songs. -- In connection with sets of charms and painted marks, each family has special songs, or rather tunes, which are used during the ceremonials. Part of these are hereditary, and therefore have been preserved for some time; but after a generation or two they change, or are crowded out by the tunes that each man composes for himself.

Charms of the Maritime Chukchee. -- On the whole, the charms of the Maritime Chukchee are quite similar to those of the Reindeer people. The differences discoverable are largely due to differences in their mode of life.

Family Charms. -- In olden times, both the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo used the wooden fire-drill; but at present it is never used, even for ceremonial purposes. Nevertheless, the Maritime Chukchee guard against an interchange of fire, although the observance of this interdiction is more lax with them than it is among the Reindeer people, and in recent years it is neglected to. a considerable degree. The bringing into the house of utensils or sacred images belonging to an "alien" house is likewise forbidden, as I had occasion to notice while making the collections for the Museum. Even while travelling in a skin boat it is reprehensible to take fire from an "alien" hearth, or to borrow kettles, because of the soot that covers them. So great is the value of skins and timber (the materials for house-building) among the Maritime people, in consequence of their scarcity, that a house the owner of which has died, leaving no direct heirs, is not left untouched, as is the case with the Reindeer people. Some distant relatives will surely come, tear down the house, and divide the spoils; but they will be careful not to set foot within the house while it is being demolished.


Many of the Maritime Chukchee also have the charm-strings (Fig. 255), but they do not attach the importance to them that the reindeer-breeders do. The images of their charm-strings, on the whole, are similar to those of the reindeer-breeders; but they are intended to help their owners in hunting-pursuits, not to protect their herds. These images are usually human figures roughly cut out of wood or curried leather, and similar to those previously described. Many of the charm-strings also have figures of dogs attached to them, which serve likewise for hunting-charms.

The human figures are called "guardians" or "assistants." {Compare pp. 341 et seq.} Sometimes they represent the image of the Upper Being; at other times, the image of the Sea Being, though they are not identified with Kere'tkun.

Among the symbols of game killed, there are to be found, besides the animals already mentioned, parts of the nose of the walrus, the skulls of various sea-birds (for example, of murres and eider-ducks), as well as their wooden images. Seals and other sea-animals are represented by images of wood.

The charm represented in Fig. 255 has two "guardians" (a, b), one of which is armed with a knife, a small dog (c), a small image of the fire-drill board (d), and two pieces of wood without any definite signification.


The charm shown in Fig. 256 contains a part of the upper lip of a walrus (a), a rough leathern image of a "guardian" (b), a wooden image of a sea-spirit with human head and the tail of a fish (c), a wooden bird (d), a round piece of wood representing a divining-tool (e), an image of the head of a fire-drill board charred in the fire to make the likeness more apparent (f), a piece of bone forming a divining-tool (g), a leathern image of a "guardian" (k), and three claws of a seal (i, j, k).

In Fig. 257, a and b represent an image of a sea-spirit and its dog, both parts of charm-strings; с shows a double-headed image which belonged to a charm-string of an inhabitant of Mariinsky Post, a sort of Chukchee blacksmith with very little skill. He told me that one of the heads represented himself, and the other his "assistant" in the blacksmith's craft. This "assistant," among other things, attended very carefully to securing prompt payment for the blacksmith's work. In the case of slow payments, he punished both the workman and the customer. He was apparently jealous because his activity as "assistant" was slightingly treated: therefore he was angry with both parties. In one case, when the blacksmith failed to collect the fee for mending a kettle, the "assistant" became so angry, that while the blacksmith was at work he jumped into his left eye in the form of a red spark. As a result, the eye was seriously hurt, and the dilatory customer was soon afterward stricken with palsy. I bought the charm-string, with the image tied to it, from the blacksmith; but, after accepting the price, he said he would sleep over the absence of his charm, and see in his dreams during the first : night whether the "assistant" was angry with him over the transaction. The next morning, however, the blacksmith was taken suddenly ill with influenza, which at that time prevailed in the country, and within twenty-four hours he was dead. His neighbors firmly believed that his death was caused by the revengeful "assistant." The above story is a good illustration of the way in which the Chukchee invent their own particular "assistants," and of their ideas regarding them.


In some cases the "guardian" is represented simply by a head cut out of wood or leather (Fig. 258). A simple line even, roughly stitched or cut through a piece of leather, and representing the mouth, is sufficient for an image of a "guardian." The mouth is considered the chief feature of the image, because it is needed for swallowing the sacrifice. Not infrequently the dog is represented by a small piece of wood or ivory with a head on each end (Fig. 259). The two heads are supposed to protect at the same time both the front and the rear. Sometimes the image of the "guardian" is also given two heads or two sets of hands for the same purpose.

Charms of the Boat. -- Many of the families among the Maritime Chukchee have no charm-strings. Another form of charm, however, tied on a string, is found among the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo. Such charms are connected with the hunting of sea-mammals, and belong to the family boat. They consist of old worn-out harpoon-heads, a few worn-out tools used in the construction of the boat, a couple of heads of the large gull Larus argentatus, a divining-stone, and small pieces taken from various parts of a whale's body and sewed in a small skin bag which has been used in a whale ceremonial. This string of charms is called yorê'lhin. Its use is evidently founded on the same ideas as those on which the use of the family charms of the reindeer-breeders is based, with the important difference that objects referring to deceased ancestors do not form part of it.


Painting-Ceremony. -- Among the Maritime Chukchee also, the painting-ceremony forms the chief part of the marriage-rite; but instead of blood they use red ochre. Those families who own a few reindeer in some friend's camp perform the same painting with ochre during the time of the fall ceremonial of the Reindeer Chukchee. Sometimes, if many reindeer are owned by a family of Maritime people, a friend from the reindeer-breeders, after performing the ceremonial in his own camp, will come over with his herd as near to the Maritime village as he can without encountering danger from dogs in the vicinity. There he will kill the fawn required for the sacrifice, and then repeat the ceremony in company with his Maritime friends. This is done in order to secure for them a share of the good luck in reindeer-breeding which the owner of the larger herd has received. Even those of the Ai'wan Eskimo who have reindeer perform the same ceremony carefully.

Both the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo paint with red ochre as a safeguard against contagious diseases. This painting is not done regularly, but only when danger is feared. It is generally connected with the tossing on blankets, which is a sort of ceremonial with both tribes that will be described later. After the performance, the master of the house or a special shaman paints all those present. Various marks are used, but on the whole they are quite similar to those of the Reindeer Chukchee.

As a precaution against contagious diseases, we find also that the Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee, the Asiatic Eskimo, and even the inhabitants of the Diomede Islands and of certain parts of the American shore, paint their faces with graphite. They do this also when coming to a new country, to keep off the "ground-spirits," or, if a visitor arrives at night, to ward off those "spirits" that might have come with him.

Some of the Chukchee say that ochre comes from the va'irgit, and graphite from the ke'let. Thus, in one tale, a boy and a girl, coming home from a long journey, are painted, -- the boy with ochre, and the girl with graphite. The former lives, but the latter dies.

The marks used by the Maritime Chukchee on these occasions are a simple combination of dots and lines, and are quite similar to those described as found among the Reindeer Chukchee.

A sample of the marks made with graphite, and in use among the Asiatic Eskimo and the inhabitants of the Diomede Islands, is given in Fig. 260.


I must mention here (Fig. 261), which I found in the Chukchee village of Chikayloa, on the Middle Anadyr. This image was used in various ceremonies, for throwing sacrifice into the fire. In several localities I was told of a similar custom among both the Maritime and the Reindeer people, but I had no other opportunity of seeing the image. So I think it must be nearly obsolete. The fact of its having been in existence is, however, important for comparison with the images of human hands, painted on cloth or on the skin of the human body, which are used by the Indian shamans of North America to indicate their alliance with the "spirits." Recently Captain Comer brought to the Museum, from Iglulik, a village of the Central Eskimo on Fury and Hecla Strait, a shamanistic coat of somewhat peculiar appearance, which has, among other things, images of human hands in white reindeer-skin sewed on the skirts of the garment. {See F. Boas, The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay, Part II (Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. XV).}

Masks. -- I am not aware of any use of masks in the ceremonials of either the Chukchee or the Asiatic Eskimo. I found, indeed, among the Maritime Chukchee, a couple of masks made of reindeer-skin (Fig. 262), which were called "hairy face" (rinilu'3), after the manner of the Koryak, who call their wooden masks, used in performances of a somewhat ceremonial character, "wooden face." The "hairy faces" of the Chukchee, however, have no connection with their ceremonials, at least not at the present time. According to an explanation of their owners, such masks are simply used by mothers to frighten refractory children into obedience. {The same is true among the Reindeer Koryak (see Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 86).} For this purpose the mother puts on the mask, and pretends to be a ke'lE who has come to carry away the naughty child. I witnessed a scene in which a Chukchee woman tried to silence her rebellious and crying boy by a similar method. She pretended to be a kelE, and howled like one possessed, and made frightful grimaces; but this was done without the use of a "hairy face." (For a presentation of shamanistic performances during the thanksgiving ceremonial performed on killed game, see the next chapter.)


Dolls. -- Some of the dolls with which the girls play are used also as charms to procure future fertility for their owners. Such dolls pass from mother to daughter, and are kept carefully patched and mended, so as to last for an indefinite time. The bride brings this doll to her new house, and keeps it in her bag. In due time she gives it to her oldest daughter to play with and to keep. When other daughters are born, a little stuffing is taken out of the hereditary doll and put into a new one, which is then supposed to possess all the qualities of the first doll. Dolls of this kind are usually shaped like new-born babies. Incantations are recited over them by each generation, so that their force is supposed to increase continually. {Compare p. 276.}

The peculiar feature of this kind of charm is, that it passes in the female line, and therefore continually changes from one family to another. The Chukchee women value such dolls highly. In the Kolyma country, when stopping for a night in a Chukchee tent, I bought an hereditary doll from the mistress. On the second day, after we had gone a long distance, the woman suddenly changed her mind and started to overtake us, so that she might return the price and recover her heirloom. She found us in a camp fifty miles from her home, and no persuasion could prevent her from annulling the bargain.


XIV. -- CEREMONIALS.


The ceremonials of the Chukchee, as said before, have for their chief purpose the protection of the material welfare of the family. Most of them form a yearly cycle, recurring from season to season with befitting changes. The reindeer-breeders and the maritime people have their separate cycles somewhat different from each other.

Ceremonials of the Reindeer Chukchee. -- The Reindeer Chukchee, in their ceremonials, differentiate those that are connected with the reindeer-herd from all others, and call them "sacrifices" (taaro'ngirgit) or "genuine sacrifices" (li'ê-taaro'ngirgit). Their essential feature is the slaughtering of reindeer for sacrifice. These are the only ceremonials that are considered to belong to the regular cycle. {Mr. Jochelson, in his work on Koryak religion (p. 90), points out the important difference between bloody and bloodless sacrifices. The point of view of the Reindeer Chukchee corroborates his opinion.} The other ceremonials refer to various subjects, such as giving thanks for success in hunting, the fulfilment of orders received in dreams, engaging in ceremonial sports, etc.

I shall observe the above distinction in describing the ceremonials, though I consider some of the second class fully as important as those of the first. For instance, the ceremonial of giving thanks for success in hunting is conspicuous among the ceremonials celebrated by the Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo. It is likewise very important in the life of the Reindeer Chukchee, and is accompanied by sacrifices, but they are of only secondary importance.

The ceremonials connected with birth and death, which are similar among the reindeer-breeders and the maritime people, will be described in a separate chapter.

Strictly speaking, every slaughtering of reindeer is a sacrifice, and is performed according to certain rules. After the animal is stabbed, the Chukchee watch carefully to see on which side it falls. To fall on the wounded side is a less favorable omen than to fall on the other; and to fall backwards is still worse, and forebodes misfortune. The man who holds the halter often tries by a dexterous jerk to make the animal fall in a favorable position. The carcass is pointed with its head in the direction which is to receive the sacrifice, and a small branch of stunted willow is put under the hind-quarters to serve as bedding. Then blood is taken from the wound* and sprinkled, first in the direction toward which the offering is made, then in other directions. The antlers are cut away, together with the top of the skull, and the carcass is then ready to be skinned and cut up.

The antlers are placed in an upright position on the ground in front of the camp, in a line pointing in the "direction" of the dawn. When a new residence is to be made, all the antlers except the largest are left behind. Those are taken away to be used for monuments to the dead. A set of large antlers is sometimes attached to the end of a long pole made fast in the ground. This is intended as a special offering to the Upper Being or to the zenith. The antlers of wild reindeer-bucks killed on the hunt, which are larger than those of domesticated animals, are preferred for marking burial-places. All the antlers of domesticated animals slaughtered on ceremonial days must be left behind when the residence is moved.


Besides slaughtered reindeer and dogs, the Chukchee offer several other kinds of sacrifice to the "spirits." First among these should be mentioned the "substitute" offerings, which are small figures shaped like reindeer, and made of tallow, pounded meat, crushed willow-leaves, edible plants and roots (Fig. 263, a), or even snow (Fig. 263, b). The foetuses extracted from the slaughtered reindeer-dams are used for the same purpose, and a few are sometimes stored away for the greater ceremonials. {Substitution of the foetus, or of small figures of reindeer, for real animals, obtains also among the Koryak (see Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 96).} Kidneys, and sausages made by stuffing the third stomach of a reindeer, are also used. Sometimes a small wooden image of a sausage (Fig. 264) is considered sufficient for the sacrifice. This makes the of a real reindeer: therefore a sausage or a kidney is often stabbed with a knife to represent the slaughtering.

Blood-soup, which is the favorite sacrificial dish, is believed to be much relished by "spirits." Small quantities of it are poured into the fire, flung in all the "directions" sacrificed to, and smeared over the objects which happen to receive the sacrifice, as will be described further on. Small circles are cut out of curried leather, and pieces of blood-soup or tallow are placed upon them. This leather plate with its offering is laid on the snow in the "direction" receiving the sacrifice. Tallow, fat, bone-marrow, boiled meat, pounded leaves, and roots are flung in all the "directions" receiving sacrifice, or are put into the ground or the fire. The faces of fire-boards are smeared with tallow or bone-marrow. The sledges are sometimes painted with blood from the sacrifice.

All other materials which constitute a part of the food of the Chukchee are also used for the sacrifice. Most of them are, of course, of animal provenience. The "alien food" procured by trade, which is highly appreciated by the Chukchee, is also sacrificed to the "spirits." The Reindeer Chukchee value for this purpose whale-meat and walrus-blubber bought from the Maritime hunters; and the Maritime people place a corresponding value on reindeer meat and tallow bought from the Reindeer camps. Both Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee are zealous in offering to the "spirits" the products of civilization, such as tobacco, sugar, flour, or bread, and even alcohol; but of the last-named they will offer only a few drops.

Most of the sacrifices are offered to the good "beings," {Compare, p. 314.} while those to the ke'let are looked upon as reprehensible, and requiring secrecy. Evening, midnight, darkness, the ground-beings of the nadir, receive, among the other "directions" to which sacrifices are made, their share of sprinkling with blood, and scattering of meat and tallow; but the slaughtering of a reindeer to one of these "directions" is rather exceptional, and the people are very averse to speaking about it.

When a reindeer has to be slaughtered to one of the "directions" of evening or night, it is led away to a certain distance from the camp. When it is felled to the ground, the head of the animal is pointed towards the "direction" sacrificed to. Right-minded persons hurry through such sacrifices with apprehension. Evil-minded persons, evil shamans "bent on mischief," {Compare Chapter XV, Shamanism.} on the contrary, seek the protection of ke'let, especially when desiring to do harm to an adversary. They sacrifice to the ke'let black animals, reindeer or dogs which are slaughtered at night, and whose carcasses are pointed westward. From time to time, however, any well-to-do reindeer-breeder -- while slaughtering reindeer for ceremonial, trading, or household purposes -- will designate one of the animals as a sacrifice to the ke'let, and will point its carcass in a westerly direction. The Maritime hunter will do the same with a black pup.

The partial eradication of all dark and evil spirits from the usual system of sacrifices seems to be at variance with the assertion by a Chukchee shaman quoted in a previous chapter. {See p. 295.} The shaman insisted that "we are surrounded by hostile spirits who walk about us invisibly with gaping mouths, and that we distribute gifts to such spirits on all sides." Similar contradictory ideas may be found, however, among many primitive tribes. Some of them sacrifice chiefly to the evil spirits, arguing that it is of the greatest importance to disarm their ill-will. Thus, Urey Lisiansky says of the inhabitants of Kadiak, that they believe in the existence of two supernatural beings, one of which is good, the other evil. They sacrifice to the latter because they are afraid of his ill-will, and say that the former, even without sacrifice, does no harm to any one. {Urey Lisiansky, Voyage around the World, II, p. 75.} Other tribes, on the contrary, intend their sacrifices particularly as a means of securing the protection of "spirits" wishing well to the offerer. {Brinton, Religions of Primitive People, p. 186.} This is mainly the case with the Chukchee. Perhaps the regularity of the sacrifice, from season to season and from year to year, leads primitive man to suppose that naturally the recipients of all these offerings will be well disposed to the giver, and will provide special protection for the material pursuits of his life, since they always receive a share of its fruit.


For dealing with evil spirits and giving protection against them, shamanism is practised. These practices, when developed, were beyond the pale of the regular cycle of ceremonials and sacrifices, but each time they were wanted, recurrence was had to them.

As a special material used for sacrifice to the ke'let, soot may be mentioned, small pinches of which are thrown westward. The ke'let are supposed to use it in the construction of their hearths. Sacrifice of a toy-like bow and arrow (Fig. 265) placed on a small roughly hewn image of a sacrificial vessel is also offered to the ke'let, particularly at times of contagious diseases. The Vessel contains particles of meat. According to the explanation given by the natives, this sacrifice signifies that the person making it, in offering to the ke'te a bow, invites him to hunt elsewhere. The sacrifice is offered in the night-time, and it is carried westward some distance from the house, where it is left on the snow.

Sacrifices are often carried to their assigned places in ordinary vessels. A great number of sacrificial vessels are, however, in use among the Chukchee. Most of them are simple wooden bowls of usual size (Fig. 266, a). They may be recognized by their old, often dilapidated appearance. Other vessels of toy-like dimensions are also used. Sacrificial vessels of special form are used less frequently. The cut Fig. 266, b, represents a vessel intended for sacrifice to all "directions." The four receptacles of the vessel were for the sacrifice to the four principal "directions" that receive sacrifices, -- dawn, mid-day, zenith, nadir, -- proceeding from left to right. Other vessels of this kind have only two receptacles, -- one for the dawn, the other for the evening.

It is remarkable that while the women usually bring charms, and sacrifices to the hearth, and attend to all the smearing with blood, tallow, or blood-soup, the scattering-about of the sacrifice is the men's duty: perhaps this is because of the closer connection of this rite with hunting-pursuits and the herd. The woman's part in the sacrifices is described as "belonging to the sleeping-room;" while the man's part -- that is, slaughtering and throwing the food -- is called "the outward sacrifice."


The place for the sacrifice is either in front of the entrance to the tent, which usually faces toward the dawn, or close behind the tent, where a small spot for the ceremonial fire has been carefully cleared of snow. The charms are here leaned against a sledge for carrying poles, {See Fig, 17, e, p. 90.} which is easy to handle because of its small size. This place is called poya'ačên.

Fall Slaughtering. -- The cycle of "genuine sacrifices" is opened in the fall with two "reindeer slaughterings" (qaanma'tirgin). The first is called "thin fawn-skin slaughtering" (wŭ'lha-qaanma'tirgin); and the second, "making skins for wearing [in the winter]" (têêtawñi'irgin). As may be gathered from the names, the practical purpose of both slaughterings is to obtain the annual supply of skins for clothing. From the first slaughtering the thinner skins are obtained. These serve for the finer dresses used by young people, and they are also sold to the Russian traders. From the second slaughtering, thicker skins are secured for use in all kinds of winter clothing.

The ceremonials which accompany both slaughterings are intended to celebrate the re-union of the herd with the house after the summer separation, and the beginning of their journeys together. They form the chief herd ceremonial of the year. The essential features are, for the most part, the same in both ceremonials; but some of the rites are enacted only once. Most of the people perform these at the first slaughtering, although some delay them until the second; and others hold them alternately during the first and second ceremonials in succeeding years.

The first slaughtering is performed about the beginning or the middle of August, according as the fall is late or early. The family is still living at its summer camping-place, and the herdsmen bring in the herd, which has been absent during the summer. The women of each tent make a fire in front of the door. The fire may be lighted from a strike-a-light; but after that a spark drilled out with each fire-drill of the family must be added to the fire. Then the younger people, men and women, form in line before the fire of the principal tent, while the old men go around the herd and assist in bringing it nearer the house. The younger people meet the herd with loud cries, calling, "Ho hok hok hok!" which is quite like the usual call of herdsmen. Some of them, principally the children, shoot toward the herd, from their bows, sticks which have had one end burned in the fire; others fire off their guns; still others brandish their spears as if about to throw them against the reindeer. All these actions are intended to frighten away the evil spirits that may have become attached to the herd while it was on strange ground, away from the protection of the family charms.

As mentioned before, the reindeer-herd is not thought to have power in itself to repel bad spirits. Elderly men take part in the shooting and shouting, only when there are no younger members of the family to act in their stead. After this part of the ceremony is over, the first sacrifice is made with small pieces of sausage and various kinds of pudding made of pounded leaves and plant-stalks. These are thrown in all the "directions" sacrificed to, {See p. 303.} beginning with the dawn. They are also tossed toward the herd.

Next, some men walk in amidst the herd, picking out animals for slaughter. The fawns are stabbed with a knife, in the usual way. For stabbing the larger bucks a spear is used; and for each of them an extra female fawn is killed, which is laid at its side and called its wife. Most of the other fawns killed are males.

Well-to-do people slaughter a grown buck for each fire-board which belongs to a living male. The poor people kill only a couple of bucks; and the poorest, no bucks at all, and sometimes only one fawn, for the blood-painting. A dog or two is very frequently killed with the reindeer, and some families use dog's blood for painting. Each slaughtered animal has its head pointed in a special "direction," and its blood is sprinkled around in the usual way.

After the slaughtering is finished, women bring both covered sledges of the family and the pole-sledge, and put them in line before the tent at a distance from the door. A little farther away are placed two or three sledges that serve for carrying the tent-covering. The two groups of sledges are arranged with their fronts towards each other. In the space between, or upon one of the sledges, fire-drills and the family charms are placed.

A small fire is lighted near by, and the women of each house bring to their line of sledges all the slaughtered animals belonging to them. Then they begin butchering and skinning them, leaving the heads with the skins (Plate xxxii, Fig. 2). A couple of such skins are thrown upon the sledge, near the family charms. Sometimes a freshly taken skin is spread on the ground, with the head pointed toward the dawn; and an old man or an old woman, or both, pronounce an incantation (Plate xxxii, Fig. 3). Various parts of the meat are brought to the fire, but principally those that are eaten raw, -- the eyes, brains, kidneys, liver, lungs, gristle of the nose. Joints of legs are broken and the marrow is extracted. Small pieces from each part of the animal are thrown into the fire as sacrifices, and flung in all the "directions" sacrificed to. Family charms are smeared over with tallow and marrow.

Next comes the painting with blood. First the people are painted, then the sledges standing in line. Each family has its own hereditary style of painting them. Among those that I saw, one had a line on the front part of the runners, and a dot on each of the rear stanchions; another had a straight line on the middle stanchion of the right side, a cross-line on both front stanchions, and a dot on each of the runner-heads.

After the painting is done, all the meat, bones, and skins are carried into the tent and hung over the poles, so that the sleeping-room is completely screened off as by a curtain. The cross-stretchers of the tent are put in place, and the outer covering is tightened to the utmost. A leg-joint is bound with willow to the stretcher standing over the sleeping-room. To this is tied some "food of the soil;" for instance, a root of Polygonum polymorphum or Polygonum viviparum. The women cook large kettles of meat, boil reindeer-heads, and prepare the blood-soup.

After the meal, the drums belonging, to the family, all of which are hung on the tent-poles behind the curtain of raw skins, are beaten, and a shamanistic performance begins. The drums are beaten continually the rest of the day. Each member of the family is bound to have his turn. When the grown people have finished, the children take their places and keep up the beating. Many grown people, while beating the drum, call the "spirits" and try to induce them to enter their bodies. They imitate shamans, utter the cries of various animals, and make the peculiar noise supposed to be characteristic of "spirits," which is produced by a vibrating motion of the lips while the head is shaken violently. The sound is something like prrr!

The "thin [skin] slaughtering," besides being a family ceremonial, affords one of the most important social holidays. In wealthy districts, neighboring camps hold it on different days, so as to enable everybody to gather at one camp after another. The poorer camps of the Pacific coast have not the means to provide for large receptions, and perform the ceremonial in all the camps of the neighborhood on the same day. Rich reindeer-breeders at their slaughtering have guests gathered from far and near, including even members of foreign tribes, such as Lamut, Eskimo, or Russianized Yukaghir.

The invitations are sent out beforehand; and if the guests live far away, the host sends some one to bring them, so that there may be no excuse for their missing the feast. It is customary for the host, if possible, to "wrap" all the guests; that is, to make them presents of fawn-skins, killing a fawn for each. If any distinction is made, a female guest takes precedence over a male, and a stranger over a relative. Usually one fawn-skin is given to each guest, while the first-comer gets two or three skins. Any other guest who is bold enough to ask may also get more. To refuse such a demand is dangerous, because the guest might take offence, and bewitch the host. It is considered improper to make a present of meat, and keep the skin for one's own use. One who receives such a gift resents it, and may declare aloud that the fawn does not walk without the skin. On the contrary, it is quite proper to keep the larger part of the meat, and to give only the skin.

The number of fawns slaughtered at this ceremonial by a well-to-do reindeer-breeder ranges from about a hundred to a hundred and twenty. At least one third of these are distributed among the guests, while the remaining two thirds are evenly divided; one half being destined for household uses, the other for trade. Guests are not supposed to give return-presents. The poor fellow-tribesmen, in truth, give none; but the neighbors afterwards present the host with similar gifts. The visitors from foreign tribes usually return the compliment later by giving some of their products. The Maritime Chukchee and the Eskimo, for example, bring their former host a little oil or a coil of thong; the Lamut give flint, and tinder made of fungus; the Russianized Yukaghir, dried fish or a quarter of a cake of compressed tea. The host has no right to grumble, should they bring little or nothing at all.

The ceremonial is accompanied by a foot-race, in which, in most cases, only the young people or children take part. The prize is furnished by the host. Wrestling-matches occasionally take place, but in these also only young people participate. Shamans gather from the neighborhood and assist in beating the drum. The occasion becomes quite a shamanistic contest when the slaughtering is combined, as is usual, with the thanksgiving ceremony. The latter is very important among the Chukchee, and will be described later in this chapter.

The guests go home the same evening, after the ceremony is ended. The next day the dams whose fawns were slaughtered are milked by sucking, thus adding to the daily fare of the family for several meals. {Compare p. 84.} On the third day, all the broken bones of the leg-joints are heaped on the hearth between the sledges, and burned to ashes. The fire used for this purpose is lighted by means of a fire-drill. Any remaining particles of the leg-joint are covered with small pieces of sod; and a willow-twig, taken from those that were used in tying the leg-joint to the cross-pole in the tent, is put on top of it. The small mound of sod thus arranged is called "fireplace" (melhin). A few days later the first change of the camp-site takes place, but it is not accompanied by any particular ceremony. Some of the people merely build two fires in front of the two ends of the corral, and cause the train of sledges to pass between.

In the second slaughtering, all the details concerning the killing of the animals, arranging the sledges, painting with blood, etc., are repeated, but are done more hurriedly. The meeting of the herd with shooting and shouting is omitted. The guests gather and receive gifts in the same manner as was described before, but the shamans do not practise their arts. The thanksgiving ceremony is performed only the first time; neither are the races and wrestling-matches repeated. Immediately after the second slaughtering, the actual moving-about on the moss pastures and the winter life begin.

Winter Slaughtering. -- Other slaughtering-sacrifices during the year are less complicated and less important. The next one in point of time is connected with the establishment of the permanent winter house. Two or three reindeer are slaughtered; two usually being sacrificed to the dawn, and one to the ground (nota's-qa-va'irgin). {Compare pp. 305, 331.} The last-named sacrifice is laid by the left side of the others, with its head pointed towards sunset.

About the time of the winter solstice the "feeding" of the star Pehi'ttin is celebrated. Those who are living in winter-quarters begin by repeating the last-mentioned sacrifice, and a few days later sacrifice to Pehi'ttin. Fat bucks are selected for this purpose. Small "substitute" figures are made, corresponding to the number of fire-drill boards; and round cakes of pounded leaves are prepared. Tiny leather plates with tallow and blood-soup are offered to the east, because about this time the star begins to rise in the east. Some of the people also make a ceremonial fire for the star Pehi'ttin, and "feed" it, as already described.

Those who move about all winter celebrate the Pehi'ttin ceremonial in a simpler way. They often postpone it until the middle of the first month in the new year.

In the interval between the first and the second lunar months of the Chukchee year, a sacrifice to the sun is performed, but with no new details.

The next sacrifice is made between the "first summer" (ki'tkitik) and the "second summer" (a'nok), {See p. 52.} when the herd is being driven to summer pastures. The ceremonial opens with the last moving of the tent in the season. The women take off the covering, and, breaking down the frame, drag the three central poles off to a new camp-site, situated if possible on a hill where the ground is comparatively dry. There they lay the poles on the ground so that their tips form a centre from which the poles radiate. A reindeer is slaughtered over the poles, and the herdsmen take care that it falls exactly on them. The mistress soaks a small piece of skin in the fresh blood, and with it draws a circle on the ground, taking as the centre the place where the tips of the poles meet, and marking the poles one after another along the line.

Numerous reindeer are slaughtered to serve as provisions for the family for the greater part of the summer. For this reason there is no need of "substitute" sacrifices. A small fire, lighted by means of the fire-drill, is built in front of the door, and an offering of marrow is burned in it.

Sacrifices of reindeer may take place on any unusual occasion; for example, before beginning a journey (both going and coming), to ask the protection of "spirits," and at market-places to secure the good-will of the local "spirits."

When coming home after a long journey, the sledges are placed behind the tent, a reindeer is slaughtered in sacrifice, and a fire is built, and "fed" with fat, marrow, and blood-soup. A corral is built, and the reindeer used on the journey are penned in it. The wife of the owner enters the corral and paints each reindeer on its forehead and shoulders with soot mixed with water, or with a decoction of alder-bark. This ceremony signifies the desire to re-unite the reindeer and the family hearth.

Ceremonial of Antlers. -- The ceremonial of antlers, which in Chukchee is called ki'lvei, is celebrated without slaughtering reindeer. It is even doubtful whether it was originally connected with reindeer-breeding, since the Maritime people also perform a ceremonial under the same name and with some similar details, but of course without antlers.

In modern times this ceremonial, among the Reindeer Chukchee, is connected with laying out the shed antlers on the ground. The breeding-males lose their antlers immediately after the rut; the geldings, in the middle of winter; the older ones, later; the young bucks, early in the spring; and the does, after fawning, which happens as late as May with some of them.

All the antlers shed are picked up and kept for the ceremony, being taken along when the people move from one pasture to another. When the load becomes too heavy, a ceremonial is performed and the antlers are left on the ground. The wealthy people consequently celebrate this ceremonial three and even four times during the year; the poorer ones, only once or twice. The spring is regarded as the proper time for the performance, since most of the animals shed their antlers then.

A small fire is lighted on the customary place behind the tent. The antlers are laid on the ground in a large heap, and covered over with dry boughs. Fire-drill boards are leaned against them, and the charms hung on branches of the boughs or on antlers. Then the charms are smeared with tallow. Meat and tallow are also set on a piece of hide placed on the ground in front of the heap of antlers.

The head of the family and his sons throw the sacrifice to all the "directions" receiving sacrifice, and bury a part of it in the ground. Then they walk away a few hundred feet in the direction of the herd, and repeat the ceremony. I have already mentioned that some of the boughs used are taken from the heap and attached to the family charm-string (tai'ñikut).

Sacrifice to the Young Moon. -- Many people offer sacrifices every month to the young moon. The offering consists of blood-soup, meat, and tallow, also of small figures of reindeer made of snow or of leaf-pudding, and is made in the evening. Slaughtering is rare, and happens only in midwinter. These sacrifices are evidently directed to the evil spirits: therefore they are not regarded as belonging to the general cycle of ceremonials. The people, when talking about such ceremonials, persist in thinking that they are not quite lawful, and should be kept secret.

Sacrifice to the Fire. -- Sacrificing to the fire (enankaa'w-kurgin, literally, "inducing the fire to crack;" it is also called the "feeding of the fire") occurs as an independent ceremony during the journey from the winter pastures to the summer locations (ta'gn-tila'ma, literally, "on the descending road;" that is, descending from the mountains to the tundra and the seashore). At this time the mistress every evening, after pitching the tent for the night, lights a small fire before the entrance, and sacrifices to it with fat, tallow, marrow, etc. The sacrifice to the fire accompanies several other celebrations, such as the ceremonial of antlers, ceremonial reindeer-races, etc.

Sacrifice for Luck in Hunting. -- A man, when going alone into a strange country to hunt, or to a lake or river to fish, will offer to the place a small sacrifice from his scanty provisions. On the land he will throw the offering about; on the river or lake he will throw it into the water.

After a successful hunt of one of the larger animals, -- such as the wolf or wolverene, black and polar bear, wild reindeer, walrus, and thong-seal, -- various ceremonials are performed when the game is brought home. Their common feature is the "giving of a drink and a bed" to the animals. This is symbolized by bringing out of the house a small quantity of water, and pouring it over the head of the animal as it lies on the snow before the entrance, {A similar custom obtains among some of the American Eskimo (compare Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 147; and Captain С. F. Hall, Life with the Esquimaux, II, p. 392).} and by placing a small willow-twig under the hind-quarters of the carcass for a bed.

The Maritime Chukchee also "give a drink" to all larger animals killed on the hunt, especially to the walrus; but the "bed" -- that is, the willow-twig put under the hind-quarters of the animal --- is often omitted. The Asiatic Eskimo, however, "give a drink" only to the first-killed walrus of the season.

Ceremonial connected with the Killing of Wild Reindeer-Bucks. -- Of all animals killed on the hunt, the Reindeer Chukchee set the highest value on wild reindeer-bucks killed in the herd during the rutting-season, because their coming is thought to affect favorably the fortune of the herd. {See p. 74.} With the killing of such bucks a complicated ceremonial -- performed late in the fall, after the rutting-season is over -- is connected. The Chukchee contend that these animals are not hunted down by the personal skill of the hunter, but that they are lured within his easy reach by the influence of the herd, therefore it is only fitting that a return should be made in the form of a ceremonial and sacrifice; while, on the other hand, animals killed far from home and herd require no such ceremony.

Since the ceremonial connected with the hunt of walrus and larger kinds of seal is performed about the same season and with somewhat similar details by both the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo, it is my opinion that the purpose of this ceremonial is to celebrate success on the hunt. I believe it is connected with the bucks killed in the herd simply because they represent among the Reindeer Chukchee the most important game hunted. With the Reindeer Chukchee the ceremonial has a special name, ênatči'irgin. The Maritime Chukchee call the ceremonial connected with walrus-hunting by this name; and the Maritime Koryak apply it, with the proper phonetic change, to the ceremonial of the whale.

The details of the ceremonial with the Reindeer Chukchee are as follows. The first wild buck that comes to the herd is frequently met with incantations, the purpose of which is to make him assume for a while the ways of domesticated reindeer, so that he may serve as a successful breeder. The details of the incantations will be described later in a special chapter. After a week or ten days, when the incantations have lost their power, the owner of the herd catches the buck with his lasso and throws him down on a piece of the tent-covering. Then a young female, which is to represent his wife, is caught and thrown down by his side. The mistress puts on her overcoat, and, holding the buck's head in her lap, covers it with her overcoat. The master now stabs the buck with an antler knife made for this purpose; then he stabs the female with an ordinary iron knife. After that a little urine in a chamber-vessel is offered to the buck while he is still in the agonies of death. With the handle of the antler knife, fashioned like a spatula, the owner of the herd touches all parts of the carcass of the animal, thus taking back his incantation, and restoring the buck to his freedom. As long as the buck is under the influence of the spell, the master must abstain from untying knots, otherwise he may "untie" the incantation.

The third stomach of the animal is filled with blood, and suspended from the tip of the antlers in order to serve for divining the luck in hunting the next buck. This divination is repeated with every animal killed.

The principal hunting-ceremonial is celebrated at the conclusion of the hunt. During the ceremony the carcasses are kept behind the tent on the snow. The carcass must be butchered on the spot where it lies. The hams and shoulders may be taken for consumption. The head, back, and pelvis must be left with the skin on and uncut; and the heart and the aorta must also be left intact. The heads must be covered for the night, and uncovered in the morning. The fire-boards are kept with the carcass during the night, leaning against their covered heads.

On the morning of the ceremonial two reindeer are slaughtered, -- one as a sacrifice to the reindeer-bucks killed, and the other to the dawn. Sometimes a third reindeer is sacrificed to the nadir. The antlers of the wild bucks are adorned with festoons of sausages and dried guts. Blood-soup, meat-soup, and meat are cooked in abundance. The meal and the feeding of the charms proceed as usual. Then a female fawn is slaughtered, and the antlers painted with her blood. Those present rush up and grab for the sausages and remnants of the feast, scrambling for the best pieces. The master distributes among the guests the greater part of the meat from the reindeer-bucks. The heads are kept for the family, and taken into the tent, where they are suspended under the vent-hole over the fire of the hearth to thaw out.


The family stand around the fire. The elders beat the drums, and the others sing the oldest family tune. The master sings, "Ha, me'nin? Ha, leu'ton!" ("Ha, who [is there]? Ha, a head [is there]!") The heads as they thaw are skinned, one after another, and the antlers cut off with the top of the skull. All the heads are boiled; and the women work the entire night, preparing balls of pudding made of pounded meat mixed with tallow and edible roots. In the morning a foot-race is arranged. All the balls are suspended on the poles of the tent-frame, and the guests grab for them as they did on the preceding day for the remnants of the feast.

Fig. 267 is copied from a native drawing representing the hunting-ceremonial. Four carcasses of wild reindeer are lying on the ground. The fifth one is that of a domesticated reindeer slaughtered in sacrifice. A small fire is burning between the carcasses' and the house. Two men, one on each side of the house, throw sacrifice to the "directions." Two women adorn the antlers of the animals with sausage. A party of guests stand ready to rush on for sausage. The herd is lying on the ground not far off.

The manes of the deef are cut off, together with a narrow strip of skin. These are divided into small tufts of hair. Each of the guests pins two pieces on his back, one at each shoulder, and wears them until they drop off, as it were. A strip of the mane is also often tied to the string of family charms.

The sacrifice to the fire is performed several times, and the ceremonial ends with the "feeding" of the fire of the lamp in the sleeping-room. This last ceremony occurs but seldom in the ceremonials of the Reindeer people. After the ceremonial, the antlers are taken to the burial-places of the nearest relatives, as I shall describe later.

A wild reindeer-buck killed in the herd at any other season sometimes receives a slaughtering-sacrifice: at least, a sacred fire will be lighted near the carcass, and a small sacrifice thrown in.

The black bear, the elk, the wolverene, and the wolf are thought worthy of a brief ceremonial of the same kind. All the essential details are repeated, including the slaughtering-sacrifice, the sacrifice to the fire, the cooking of ceremonial dishes, and bringing the head into the tent, where the people greet it with songs and drum-beating. In most cases a- special thanksgiving ceremony (mñê'irgin) ends the day.

I was told that with wolves, and sometimes with black bears, the master of the house, when performing the ceremonial, takes the fresh skin and puts it on in such a way, that his head is covered with the skin of the animal's head, and the body of the skin dangles behind. The carcass of the wolf is carried into the tent. The master of the house, dressed in the wolf-skin, performs also the thanksgiving ceremonial, singing and dancing, and beating the drum, as will be described later. From time to time he also utters a howl, pretending that the spirit of the wolf has entered his body. In the wolf festival of the Koryak, likewise, one of the men puts on the wolfs skin, and walks around the hearth, while another beats the drum. {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 89.}

These ceremonials, however, are performed chiefly in the fall. If the animals named are killed in the spring, they are brought home with simply the ceremony of "giving a drink," {See p. 378.} in which a drink is offered to the carcass. Some of the Reindeer Chukchee treat in a similar manner stray seals which happen to be taken by them at this season. Others store the heads of seals, and afterwards perform the thanksgiving ceremonial over them. The Maritime Chukchee store the heads of thong-seals and walrus for summer ceremonials of a similar kind.

Thanksgiving Ceremonial. -- The thanksgiving ceremonial has no definite term or season, but each family must perform it at least once or twice a year. The unexpected killing of a high-priced animal (for example, a blue fox or a good wolverene), success in any other enterprise, whether in the hunt or in trade, or even the cutting of birch for sledges and spear-shafts, may cause the owner of the house to arrange the ceremonial. Or, again, quite as likely, its celebration may be brought about by a dream, for the Chukchee pay great attention to dreams, and, believing them to be the main source of religious inspiration, they follow them in regard to the details of rituals. As a matter of fact, several classes of ceremonials, such as the thanksgiving and all kinds of sport, are called "dream-answers," because the time and the details of their arrangement are so very often indicated in dreams. If any member of a family, even a young child, has a dream about sports, such sports must be arranged, particularly those of thanksgiving. The family is obliged to make the dream real, under penance of severe losses and misfortunes. On account of this belief, the ceremony takes on a protective character. It expresses thankfulness for the successful result of an enterprise; but, which to them is still more important, it wards off any impending assault by "spirits," and prevents future mischances in hunting or otherwise.

The thanksgiving ceremonial must have a central object. On most occasions it is a reindeer, wolverene, thong-seal, or other animal killed in hunting. Native or foreign objects of trade -- a dried seal-skin, a cake of tea, or a bundle of tobacco -- may, however, serve the purpose. The Reindeer Chukchee often slaughter a reindeer of their own herd, and perform the ceremonial over its carcass.

The ceremonial is performed indoors. Not even a fire is built outside of the tent. The object of the ceremonial is placed on a skin by the side of the fire on the hearth. A large quantity of fat meat is boiled, and the sacrificial blood-soup is prepared with fat and roots. The people gathered for the ceremonial partake of the food, while the children of the family carry plates containing meat around the outside of the tent, in the direction of the course of the sun. The principal heir, boy or girl, {Compare p. 351.} walks ahead; and all the participants shout at the top of the voice, "Yoho, yoho!" which is intended to drive away the evil spirits. After that, the young people scatter the sacrifice to all "directions" in the usual way, and bury some pieces of it in the earth. Meanwhile the women climb to the top of the tent, and carefully cover the vent-hole with skins. The fire on the hearth is kept low, nevertheless the tent is full of smoke during the whole performance. The entrance is left open. Then the mistress of the house takes a drum and goes about inside beating it, for the purpose of frightening away the "spirits." When all the "spirits" are supposed to have flown away through the entrance, and the young people who went out with the sacrifice have returned, the door is closed.

The chief features of the ceremonial which follows are singing, beating of drums, and the ceremonial dance. It affords the chief opportunity of the year to display shamanistic skill; so that shamans from the whole neighborhood gather for a performance, if possible for a contest of ability and inspiration.

The principal heir {Compare p. 351-} makes a circle around the hearth, hopping in a curious way, and keeping his heels close together. The master of the house, who sits on a skin near the sleeping-room, begins to shout, repeating many times the same loud double cry, "Yoho, yoho!" One by one the people join him; others start singing, and the tent fairly vibrates with the deafening noise. There are no rules about the singing. Each sings his own particular tune, and stops for a rest when he feels tired. Those who have drums beat them for a while and pass them to the others. The drums for the ceremony are gathered from the whole camp, and sometimes as many as ten may be used in the performance. After a while the dance begins. One name for it is "the shaking-off thin" (têwla'irgin), and it purports to shake off diseases and evil spirits from the body of the performer.

The dancers are formed into two sets, placed on opposite sides of the hearth. One set stand on the outer side of the hearth, with their backs toward the entrance: they are chiefly elderly men. The other set stand on the inner side of the hearth. They have their backs turned toward the sleeping-room, and face their partners at the entrance. These are women, who put on their overcoats, adorned with fringe and pendants. The first set are considered the more important; they are called "ceremonial movers" (mñiniču'lit). The second set are termed "the standing ones" (vêLa'lit), or "the standing women" (vê'La-ñe'us'qatti), meaning that they are standing on their feet while the onlookers remain seated.

The dance is usually opened by the master and the mistress of the house, while the others sit in their places. On this occasion the master of the house is called "road-maker," because he opens the road for the others. A skin is spread on the ground under his feet. He beats his family drum, using, instead of the whalebone, the wooden drum-stick, with which he strikes the wooden rim of the drum from underneath. He and the woman sing different tunes, each choosing what he or she likes. He usually starts with the hereditary tunes of his family, then he passes to those that he himself has composed at various times. Each tune is repeated again and again for several minutes. The woman sings those which she has learned from her mother, or has composed by herself for her own amusement. Husband and wife each perform a dance, in which their motions are more or less alike. They keep the same place, swaying their bodies and swinging their hands, now to the right, then to the left. From time to time they squat down and immediately jump up again. At length the first performers give up their places to others, who at first appear singly, taking turns one by one. After a while, several performers appear on each side. One pair of dancers, however, -- a man and a woman, -- will be more conspicuous than the rest, and their dances will harmonize with each other; while the others perform quite individually, without any attention to their fellows.

A man often summons a woman to dance with him, in which case he spreads a skin on the ground for her to dance upon. After the performance, this skin is taken by the woman. Other presents are also offered and accepted, especially when the man and the woman are cousins, or relatives of other degree.

When the performance is in full swing, the shamans begin to take part in it, generally one by one, although at the end there may be two or three acting at the same time. Their acting, of course, consists of magical arts. They beat the drum with violence and persistence, and their songs are strangely complicated, because the tunes of shamans generally admit of considerable variations. Their motions, too, are violent and irregular, befitting those who feel the approach of "spirits."

At last the "spirits" come and enter the bodies of their servants. From that time on, the shamans are supposed to assume the appearance of the supernatural beings that have entered them. They act accordingly, shake their heads violently, and produce the gibbering noise mentioned before, which is supposed to be the voice of the "spirits." {Compare p. 374.} In case some particular "spirit" of theirs is a bear, a raven, or a wolf, they try to imitate also its motions and cries. I have heard several times that powerful shamans even wrap the body in a bear-skin taken off whole for this purpose, or put a raven's beak on the face. Then they turn temporarily into bears or ravens, and act like such. This may be considered in connection with what was said about the ceremonial concerning the wolf or bear killed and brought home. Nevertheless, I had no opportunity to witness such performances: therefore I am not able to say how far the information collected corresponds to the rites actually performed.

I am not aware that any disguise in the form of special garments or masks is used. Those shamans, indeed, who have a special dress, use it on such occasions; and sometimes an ordinary person may have a special garment, made by the advice of a shaman, as a protection against disease or misfortune. This will be supplied with tassels and pendants in the nature of charms. I heard of shamans performing the ceremonial in their own family quite naked; but this is undoubtedly connected with some details of Chukchee shamanism of "which I shall speak later.

At the conclusion, those women who claim shamanistic power pass over to the men's side, and begin to practise with the drum and to call their "spirits." Even young girls imitate the actions of those possessed, stamping their feet, waving their hands, and uttering a series of shrill, grunting, or squeaky cries. The ceremonial lasts for several hours, but usually not later than evening. When it is ended, those present partake of the meat and blood-soup. Then the object which was the primary centre of the thanksgiving is sprinkled or smeared with the blood-soup.

In the evening, if it is the wish of the master of the house, most of the people enter the sleeping-room; and the regular shamanistic performance takes place, in which the contesting shamans may again show their skill. This happens frequently also after other ceremonials.

All kinds of extra sacrifices are offered to the good "beings" and to the ke'let, according to intimations received in dreams, in order to strengthen an incantation, or to ask from supernatural beings some temporary assistance. Such sacrifices may be bloody or bloodless. In bloody sacrifices, dogs and reindeer are slaughtered without distinction. An animal is often promised for such sacrifice beforehand. In token of this, a small bit of red cloth is attached to one of its ears, and the animal is called "that pinned to" (ine'tifhn). The same custom is observed among the Koryak. {Compare Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 92.} A promise, once made, cannot be taken back without incurring the risk of heavy retaliation on the part of the offended "spirits."

Races. -- Reindeer-races partake of the nature of ceremonial performances, and are considered dream-answers. The usual time for them, as I have noted, is the latter part of the snowy season, -- from January until May. A man who feels under obligation to arrange a race sends an invitation to his neighbors. When they are gathered, he provides the stake. The women of his camp meanwhile build small fires in the wilderness, and throw in the sacrifice of meat and tallow. Then the race is performed as has already been described. {Compare p. 264.}

Foot-races also form an integral part of certain ceremonials. {Compare p. 375.} There is a particular form of foot-race, much in use also among the Maritime people, which is frequently arranged in connection with the ceremonials. In this the participants run in a circle over a comparatively small area, until one by one the runners drop out from exhaustion. The most enduring remains, the winner of the contest. Sometimes there are two concentric circles, the direction of the course in one being opposite to that in the other, though both courses belong to the one contest. These circular runs are said to have been used much more in former times. Then many Maritime villages had special places for them, with a circular track worn deeply into the ground by continual exercise.

Ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee. -- The cycle of the ceremonials with the Maritime Chukchee opens with two short ceremonials in the beginning of the fall, which are often joined together. One of them is a commemorative sacrifice to the dead, which will be spoken of hereafter. The other is a sacrifice to the sea, in order to insure good-fortune in subsequent sealing on the sea-ice in winter.

Late in the fall, or rather in the beginning of the winter, the chief ceremonial of the year is performed. It is consecrated to Kere'tkun, or is made a thanksgiving ceremonial to the spirits of sea-mammals killed since the fall. Early in spring there follows the ceremonial of boats, which are made ready for the approaching season. In the middle of summer the ceremonial of "heads" is performed. This is for thanksgiving to the spirits of sea-mammals killed since early in the spring.

These four ceremonials are performed with varying similarity by both the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo. To these must be added some slight ceremonial effected while moving from the winter lodging to the summer tent.

Most of the Maritime Chukchee offer sacrifice also in midwinter to the star Pehi'ttin, {Compare p. 376.} and perform in the middle of spring a ceremonial analogous to the ceremonial of antlers of the reindeer-breeders, which is called by the same name, Ki'lvei. The sacrifice to the whale is performed, in addition, each time after a whale has been killed or has drifted ashore.

Bloody and bloodless sacrifices are offered during these ceremonials. The Maritime Chukchee of course can slaughter only dogs for their bloody sacrifices. In comparison with the Koryak, however, they are merciful to their dogs, and kill them in no very great numbers. In this, as in other respects, they occupy a middle ground between the American Eskimo, who do not sacrifice dogs, and the Koryak, who often kill almost all the animals of their single team.

Ceremonial House. -- According to information given by the natives, and also by inference from the example of Nu'nligren, most of the villages have each a special house intended for the performance of the chief ceremonial of the winter. This house, however, differs in many respects from the ka'shim of the American Eskimo. Its size is that of the houses ordinarily in use; and often it is really a house left by its owner, for some particular reasons, for another dwelling. In many instances it was the private property of a certain family, which is called, even at the present time, "one with the front house" (a3tto'oralin). This term is in full use among the reindeer-breeders, by whom it is applied to the chief family of the camp, in distinction from the poorer "neighbors" (nim-tu'mgit) who help the first family to tend their herd. The chief family really has its tent "in the front" of the others; that is, first on the right side of the line which is, as said before, turned to the morning dawn "direction." {Compare p. 172.}

In the Maritime villages it is more difficult to determine who represents the "front-house family." The natives explained to me that it is the family who have lived in a given place the longest, "from times unknown to the present generation." Other families, who came afterward, are considered as "neighbors," and they must apply for protection to the first, at least in their relations with the local "spirits."

This explanation seems plausible in regard to the smaller villages, where the population is unstable, and subject to considerable change in the course of a few consecutive years. In each of such villages there is usually one family who remains, even when all others leave on account of temporary scarcity of game, or for other reasons. Thus, at Mariinsky Post, the "front-house family" is that of Oopla'nto ("Arisen-from-the-Garbage-Place," so called from an old heap of garbage on the former site of the village). The line of this family may be traced backwards for at least four generations, and it is really the first family of the place as to success in the hunt and in general knowledge of the resources of the surrounding country.

But it is more difficult to explain the origin of the "front-house family" in the larger villages, Chukchee or Eskimo, such as Nu'nligren or Wute'en, where, in all probability, several families have lived together for all time. Perhaps the position of the "front-house family" was more definite in former times. Thus in Nu'nligren, until recent years, all the "neighbors," who performed their winter ceremonials in the underground house belonging to the "front-house family," had to leave on the spot some present for the use of the house. The present was looked upon in the light of a sacrifice to the spirits of the house and locality; but it belonged to the share of the master of the house.

The same arrangement was made in several other villages, and even in Cibu'kak, on St. Lawrence Island. Each of those villages had a separate house for ceremonials, and it was considered the property of the "front-house family." In some of those villages, -- such as Wute'en, Ye'rgin, Nu'nligren, -- the first walrus killed by the hunters of the village falls by right, even at present, to the head of the "front-house family." According to the ordinary custom of dividing the game, this person takes the head and the skin, while all the meat is divided among the participants of the hunt, and parts of it among all the inhabitants of the village. In the village of Kihi'ni the head of the first walrus killed in the fall is left on the ledge of a certain sea-cliff, and then the people perform the thanksgiving ceremonial over it. Here evidently the "spirit" of the place receives the results of the hunt; while in other places the head of the "front-house family" has the same rights, probably inferred from his familiar relations with local "spirits."

There are, however, villages, like Uni'sak and Ce'cin, which have no "front-house family." As to the village of Urii'sak, however, W. H. Hooper describes it as having a kind of large tent, which serves for public purposes. "Possibly a council-room, as well as a theatre," says he, "for in place of the usual inner arrangements, only a species of bench of raised earth ran around it, where were seated numerous spectators." {Hooper, p. 137.} No remembrance of such public tents, however, is retained at Uni'sak. Perhaps it was simply a private house in the course of partial reconstruction, as often happens with native houses. It may have been used temporarily by the people for a re-union on the occasion of the arrival of the author.

The ceremonials of different families, though performed at the same place, were rarely observed in common. On the contrary, families enacted their ceremonials one after another, even though each particular performance lasted for several days. Even at present, though the ceremonials are performed by each family in their own house, the consecutive order is still followed, and thus the winter ceremonial in the largest villages often extends over a month or even more. As a partial corrective, three or four families perform on the same day; but in this case they usually belong to opposite ends of the village, with separate circles of acquaintances and relatives.

The hunting of sea-mammals is not forbidden during this whole period. The members of the house actually performing the ceremonial must, of course, stay at home; but as soon as it is over, the family has a right to send some of their people to the sea, even though others go to take part in a ceremonial feast of some of their "neighbors."

Sacrifice to the Sea. -- The sacrifice to the sea, which, together with the sacrifice to the dead, begins the cycle of the Maritime ceremonials, is performed by the best hunter of the family. He comes to the shore accompanied by one woman. He carries his harpoon and other weapons; while she brings a vessel filled with blood-soup and sausage of reindeer-stomach. This sausage plays as important a part in the sacrifices of the Maritime people as it does among the reindeer-breeders. The Maritime people are more inclined to select "alien food" for their sacrifices than are the reindeer-breeders. The products of civilization, such as sugar or flour (thanks to the trading activity of whalers), do not appeal to them as rare dainties: therefore they give the first place, in sacrificing, to the products of the reindeer-breeders, which are their conception of what is most luscious.

While the woman brings the sacrifice, the man shows his weapons to the sea, and asks for good luck in hunting and for safety in his future wandering over the unstable ice-floes. A dog is often slaughtered in sacrifice to the sea. The time of this sacrifice differs in different families. Some perform it at the end of summer; others, on the contrary, delay it till the middle of October, when it coincides with the moving from the summer tents to the winter habitations. Connected with the sacrifice to the sea there is often another, designed for the zenith. This is offered before the entrance of the house, with some crumbs of food flung upwards.

Fall Ceremonial. -- The time of the fall ceremonial varies, in different villages and families, from the end of October to the first days of January. The fittest time, however, is thought to be at the birth of the moon after the shortest days of the winter, and it is considered the beginning of the first month. {Compare p. 51.} Moreover, in villages like Uni'sak or Uwe'len, the ceremonial lasts more than a month, and thus the celebrations of the last families come into the second half of January. Where there is a "front-house family," it begins the course. In other villages -- such, for instance, as Ce'cin, A'con, or Uni'sak -- without a "front-house family," there is no particular order for the ceremonials, and it changes from year to year by mere accident.

The Chukchee have two different methods of celebrating this ceremonial. The simpler one is called "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial" (li'ê-mñê'irgin). Even the name shows that this ceremonial is identified with the ordinary thanksgiving ceremonial which was described previously. The other method is, properly speaking, a repetition of the ceremony of Kere'tkun, Kara'tko-va'irgin. The choice of either method varies in different villages, and even among individual families. Nevertheless, as far as can be observed, the "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial" is more in use among those families which by their lineage or tastes fraternize with the reindeer-breeders; while the ceremonial of Kere'tkun predominates among the Maritime people in the proper sense of the word. There are, however, reindeer-breeding families who descended from a Maritime stock, and who have brought far inland with them the ceremonial of Kere'tkun.

The "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial" is performed with the details already described. It takes place inside of the outer tent, the entrance and the vent-hole being carefully closed for the purpose. Heads of the walrus, seal, and other animals, serve as necessary objects for the ceremony. It is not obligatory to preserve the heads of all animals killed in the hunt and even a few suffice. The sacrifice is performed outside of the tent by the younger members of the family, who throw blood-soup, meat, and all kinds of "alien food," towards all "directions" sacrificed to, {See p. 303.} or "towards all winds," as the Maritime Chukchee say.

The people inside of the tent beat the drum; and the women, clad in their ample overcoats, perform the ceremonial dance. All of them sing their particular tunes, which have no words, as is the case among the Reindeer Chukchee. Then the heads are cooked and the feast follows. The evening and a part of the night are occupied by shamanistic performances inside of the inner room.

The ceremonial usually lasts' only one day; but sometimes it is repeated the next morning, when the people say that it has lasted over night.

The arrangement of the ceremonial admits of several variations. Several combinations of heads are used in it, such as one of walrus, one of thong-seal, and one of ringed seal; or one of walrus, one of wild reindeer, and one of hare; or two of walrus and two of wild reindeer; or one of walrus, one of ringed seal, and one of white fox; etc. The heads are either placed on the ground in the centre of the house, or are hung by a string under the vent-hole. Several lighted lamps are put by their side, often a lamp for each head, etc.

In a variety called "spear ceremonial" (poi'hi-mñê'irgin), a long sharp-pointed pole is firmly fastened in the centre of the house, so that its end protrudes through the vent-hole, Various objects of thanksgiving are fastened to the pole, such as a set of antlers, a skin of peltry, several coils of new thongs, etc. During the ceremonial the male members of the family shoot towards the vent-hole with a bow, at the same time shouting loudly, "Yoho, yoho!" to frighten away the "spirits."

The same ceremonial may be arranged outdoors. Then it is called "spear-house ceremonial" (porbi-ra-mñê'irgin). Then a real spear, or a spearlike pole, is stuck into the ground, and made fast in its place by several lines supporting it from all sides, and tied to large stones lying on the ground. This is called the "spear house" (poi'hi-ran). The ceremonial is performed inside with the usual details.


The outdoor ceremonial (na'rgin-mñê'irgin) is performed also outdoors within a circle formed by a long line spread on the ground near the house. The sketch Fig. 268, copied from a native drawing, represents the outdoor ceremonial. A family is performing it on ay spot encircled by a long leather line. Three round vessels and a long tray are on the ground. A fire-board is standing between two reindeer-heads. A man is beating the drum. Two women are dancing. Four children are looking on. A man is looking on from outside. Two other men stay near the house. One, who has a stick, is sitting on

Some families arrange this sort of a ceremonial at a distance from the village, choosing for it an even spot on a ledge of rock. I know cases where the ceremonial was performed within the space between the four poles of whalebone which were left from a half-destroyed boat-support (see Plate xxxiv, Fig 3). In other cases the ceremonial was performed near the so-called "bone [pole] stuck in" (a3mi'npin), {This name is given also to the boat-supports, because in most cases they consist of "bones stuck in."} which in some villages represents a kind of votive place of which I shall speak later. Thus, for instance, in the village of .Ce'cin, two or even three families join in performing the so-called "neighbors' ceremonial" near the bone pole of the village.

For this they pitch light temporary tents on three sides of the bone pole. The place for the sacrifice is arranged in the middle, at the foot of the pole. Here each family deposits the heads of their game, while a couple of heads are suspended from the pole. I had no opportunity to witness a ceremonial of this kind; but the native drawing (Fig. 269) will give a fair idea of the whole arrangement.

It represents two tents pitched at the foot of the bone pole for the ceremonial. As the population of the village of Ce'cin is evidently descended from the reindeer-breeding camps, heads of reindeer play a considerable part in the arrangement. Thus, from the top of the pole are suspended two heads, one of reindeer, the other of walrus. Most of the heads lying on the ground are of reindeer; the others are of walrus and of seal. One person is standing on the top of his tent, pronouncing incantations; two others are standing on the ground near the pole. Each of them holds a sacrificial vessel, and in addition one holds a drum with a stick; the other, a drum-stick ornamented with red tassels.


The last-described ceremonials -- such as that of the spear and of the spear house, the outdoor and the neighbors' ceremonials -- are observed also by the reindeer-breeders, at least in the camps on the Chukchee Peninsula and along the Pacific coast more to the south. But with the reindeer-breeders they are connected with no particular season, and may be arranged at any time, as well as all other thanksgiving ceremonials.

I was told that in ancient times the "spear ceremonial" was performed before starting on a war expedition; but I am not quite sure if this is not a modern interpretation. The "peltry ceremonial" is in vogue among both branches of Chukchee and also among the Asiatic Eskimo. The details are as usual. The peltries destined for sale, which accordingly are hung around on tightly drawn ropes, appear as the object of the ceremony. A ceremonial of this kind is usually performed before starting on a trading-expedition.


Some Maritime families bring sacrifices also to the new moon, as was described for the Reindeer people. The drawing Fig. 270 represents such a sacrifice. People are slaughtering a dog. Numerous vessels with food are standing on the ground. I was told, however, that the people who brought the sacrifice were the "people of spell." {Compare Chapter XVI.} The other dog in the drawing is also a "dog of spell," made of human excrement.

Ceremonial of Kere'tkun. -- The ceremonial of Kere'tkun is more complicated, and lasts two, three, and even five days (or as many nights, the natives are wont to say) for each family. In some villages, for instances in Nu'nligren, the ceremonial of Kere'tkun alternates with that of his "assistant" every five years. The term of five years or days is mentioned also in connection with other ceremonials and rites. {Compare Chapters XVI and XVII.} The ceremonial of the "assistant" is much more simple, and lasts only over night. The details of it are similar to those of the "genuine thanksgiving."

As a general rule, the performance of the ceremonial of Kere'tkun varies greatly, according to the degree of wealth of the performers. The poorer families observe it in a very hurried way, and the performance rarely continues longer than one night; while with the richer families it lasts several days, and is an important event for the whole neighborhood. The reason for this difference is pre-eminently the fact that large quantities of food are necessary for its celebration.

This rule is applicable to all important ceremonials of the Maritime people. Only the richer people -- the boat-owners, those who have had good success in the hunt -- arrange great feasts that last several days, and attract numerous guests. The feasts of the richer families must not occur simultaneously, but so that the nearest neighbors at least can visit them all, each in turn. The time for the ceremonials of the poorer people is of no consideration. They may take place on any day, by threes or fours, and no one will notice it. On St. Lawrence Island the poorer people do not perform the ceremonials at all, but leave this duty wholly to the rich boat-owners.

The essentials of the ceremonial are as follows. All the members of the family, down to the smallest children, must put on light overcoats made of dried seal-guts. {See Fig. 180, p. 247.} The reason given for this is that Kere'tkun and his wife are dressed in such overcoats. On the Pacific coast, overcoats of this kind are prepared only by the Eskimo, the best and the prettiest of which come from St. Lawrence Island: therefore the Chukchee have to buy such overcoats from an "alien" tribe, which may imply that the whole ceremonial is of Eskimo provenience. It must not be forgotten, however, that in the "thanksgiving ceremonials" of the Chukchee, the overcoats are considered as quite necessary, at least for the women. The master and the mistress put on special head-gear (Fig. 271), which also is said to be imitated from Kere'tkun and his wife. Another essential appurtenance of the ceremonial is the so-called "Kere'tkun's net," which is made of sinew, and suspended from the vent-hole of the house. A special pole is often used for its support. This is set in the centre of the house, and the upper end projects through the vent-hole, similarly to that used in the "spear ceremonial." Sometimes there are three poles with their ends crossing in the vent-hole, resembling the three principal poles of the Chukchee tent.


The net Fig. 272, a, is spread out horizontally, and each corner of it is fastened With Strings to the house. All around the net are suspended images of birds and small toy paddles, painted ornamentally with seal-blood. The number of the paddles is about a dozen; the number of birds is considerably less. The birds (Fig. 272, b) are made of wood, clumsily enough, and are adorned with stripes of seal-blood painting. Their wings are represented either by two cross-lines or by two feathers stuck into cracks in the wood in the proper places (see Fig. 280). The birds represent probably seagulls: at least, the heads of sea-gulls figure in the boat-charms of the Maritime Chukchee. A similar net figures in the fall ceremonial of the Eskimo of St. Lawrence Island. It is spread on a wooden frame made of small paddles, with the bodies of four sea-gulls carefully preserved for the purpose. {Wooden images of birds (grebes) appear in the ceremonials of the Yakut. They are, for instance, placed on the burial-place of a shaman.} A few heads of walrus or seal are put on the ground as in the "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial."


Fig. 273, copied from a native drawing, represents the ceremonial of Kere'tkun in the house of a Maritime Chukchee. A pole protruding through the vent-hole supports a wooden image of a gull. The net with paddles and gulls is suspended in the middle. Two walrus-heads are lying on the ground. A lamp is fastened to the pole, and another lamp stands on the ground. Two sacrificial vessels stand on the right side. A man standing on the top of the sleeping-room pronounces an incantation. Two other men, before the entrance, are also pronouncing incantations. In this they point upwards wood hands. A number of men are walking on the roof of the house, in order, as I was told, to cover the vent-hole. Other men inside are walking or sitting. The dance has not yet begun. On the lower part of the drawing a whale-hunt is represented.

A paddle of large size is used in the ceremonial of Kere'tkun, and is intended to carry a painted prayer. Therefore it is called "incantation paddle." A real paddle may be used for that purpose, or even a narrow plank shaped like the blade of a paddle.

The collections of the Museum contain several paddles with painted prayers destined for the ceremonial of Kere'tkun. All of them represent various game and hunting-scenes of ordinary character. On each end of the paddle is often placed a spread net, or drawn bow pointed at the game, thus indicating the desire of the artist to capture all those animals. The painting is not infrequently done with considerable skill, and the style is similar to that of the etchings on ivory executed by the American Eskimo. Etchings are scarce in Asia, and those that I had an opportunity to observe are comparatively poor specimens of art. In some other paintings, however, the work is more clumsily done, and the style less pronounced, in accordance with the inferior skill of the maker.


Fig. 274, a, represents a painted paddle from Mariinsky Post. It has on each end a drawn bow. In the middle, three large shoals of fish, flocks of various sea-fowl, seal, and walrus are arranged somewhat symmetrically. A plank of the same provenience (Fig. 274, 6) has a large seal-net spread on one end. A big shoal of fish and all kinds of game are ^represented moving towards the net. Killer-whales are charging a group of walruses. According to the explanation by the natives, they want to drive them into the net. Three boats are pursuing a whale. A man is dragging a seal, and another one is paddling on a kayak. The part played by killer-whales is illustrated in a native sketch given before, {See Fig. 231, p. 324.} where killer-whales make a similar attack on a shoal of walrusses, while another killer-whale asks the paddlers of a boat for a little tobacco. The native artist evidently wished to represent the killer-whales as friendly to men, and as helping them in their hunt in exchange for a small sacrifice. The supernatural role ascribed to the killer-whale has been discussed previously. Fig. 275 is from the village of Nu'nligren.


It is painted on both sides. The painting represents hunting-scenes. In one a man is shooting a seal with a rifle. The seal is surrounded by rough ice represented in four big heaps made by several concentric circular lines.

The plank represented in Fig. 276 is from the village of Chika'yeva, on the Middle Anadyr. It was used by a family which trace their origin to one of the maritime villages, and therefore perform Kere'tkun ceremonials; while most of the other families in small villages on the Middle Anadyr follow the rites of the reindeer-breeders. The painting is clumsily executed, and represents a group of houses on the seashore. A man standing on the shore is hauling in a seal captured with a harpoon. Several sea-mammals and a polar bear are swimming away. A little below stands the figure of Kere'tkun, with very long arms. The sun and the moon are in the right-hand corner of the plank. The houses represented on the plank are of the genuine house type, evidently houses of the Maritime people; while the people on the Middle Anadyr live in log-huts. All the details of the picture are also maritime, and have nothing in common with reindeer-hunting, which is the chief source of subsistence for Anadyr villagers.

The painting copied on Fig. 277, a, which comes from the Eskimo of Indian Point, represents, on the contrary, land-game, reindeer, wolves, and foxes. One boat and two kayaks are pursuing them, probably in water. The family which used this plank was considered, however, as a true Maritime family. Another paddle from Indian Point (Fig. 278) represents sea-game and various hunting-scenes. At the top of the picture (Fig. 278, a) a group of men are practising shamanism. Two of them are beating the drum, and two others are performing a ceremonial dance. This evidently signifies magic influence on the sea-game, to draw it to the shore. Both ends of the picture are supplied with several semicircular lines, which probably represent conventionalized bows, though the natives were not able to tell anything about the matter. The other side of the paddle-blade (Fig. 278, b) is ornamented with a pattern of straight lines and small semicircles, in the style of the Eskimo.


The whole performance of the Kere'tkun ceremonial in the village of Nu'nligren lasts three days, and with most families is carried out with the following details. On the first day, in the morning, the outer tent is carefully swept, and a net with appurtenances is suspended above. On both sides of the hearth are spread reindeer-skins, which represent two inner rooms. The place for Kere'tkun is either on one of these skins, or inside of the real sleeping-room. A big lamp filled with the choicest oil is lighted, and placed accordingly in either of the indicated places. Kere'tkun is supposed to enter, and, taking his place on the lamp, to wait for the sacrifice. He is represented by a small wooden image (Fig. 279), which is put on the lamp, and remains there Kere'tkun. till the end of the ceremonial. Opposite the lamp, on a small patch of bare ground scraped clean for the purpose, a small fire, which has a special name ("pi'ntE"), is built. This fire is supposed to be the place where Kere'tkun desires to accept the sacrifice: therefore it is kept up all the time, from early in the morning until late in the evening. Small chips of wood, bones, and blubber, serve for fuel. The Asiatic Eskimo substitute for the fire another big lamp; or they sacrifice to Kere'tkun on the lamp where he has taken his place. This difference is significant, as the lamp in the place of the hearth, is better adapted to the woodless tundra and to arctic maritime life than the hearth of the Chukchee ceremonial.

Quantities of pudding made of edible roots and stalks mixed with oil and liver are considered necessary for the ceremonial. We find the same feature in the ceremonies of the Reindeer Chukchee, the Koryak, and, formerly, in those of the Kamchadal, who declared that Kutq was exceedingly fond of pudding.

Families of friends and relatives take part in preparing the necessary pudding, and their women come every morning to the house where the celebration is going on, bringing a new supply. The guests gather a little later, and each woman brings a vessel in which she receives part to take home. Besides the pudding, all kinds of food are distributed in profusion to those assembled, and considerable time is used in eating and in drinking tea.

The first day of the ceremonial is considered as belonging to the inmates of the house, who beat the drum, sing their tunes, and prepare ceremonial dances in a way similar to that of the Reindeer Chukchee. The drummers are men, who stand in the usual place, -- on the outer side of the hearth, facing the sleeping-room. The dancers, who are women, stand on the inner side of the hearth, facing the entrance. All the participants are singing, each his own tune. Some of the people have small whistles of wood or goose-quill, by means of which, from time to time, they send forth a short, shrill sound (see Fig. 281). This is done mainly by the children of the family, who have to skip around the hearth.

The second day belongs to the guests, and particularly to the shamans, who have to show, in turn, their skill in drumming and singing.

The third day belongs to the women, who act both as drummers and dancers. The drummers stand in the usual place of the men, -- on the outer side of the hearth, facing the sleeping-room; and the dancers, in the usual place of the women, -- on the inner side of the hearth, facing the entrance. All this is similar, even in the minor details, to the customs of the Reindeer people in the fall ceremonial and the "thanksgiving." A new detail is that of a night-watch, which must be kept for the sake of Kere'tkun, who is supposed to stay in the house all the time. This watch is kept by an old man or woman. A shaman is often invited especially for this purpose, and at the end of the watch he receives a coil of new thong in pay for his services. During his watch he sits on a whale's vertebra which is used as a stool, with his back toward the entrance, and with his face toward the hearth. All this time he sings, and beats the drum, but in a subdued key in order not to awaken the supernatural guest slumbering on the lamp. The last night a woman occupies the stool, and keeps the watch.

On the last evening, meat of a whole reindeer is cooked in a big kettle suspended over several lamps, one of which is the lamp on which Kere'tkun is placed. The cooked meat is distributed among the guests, who carry their shares home. Even comparatively poor families take care to reserve for the ceremonial a reindeer-carcass, either from their hunt or from the provisions bought from reindeer-breeders.

The image of Kere'tkun is burned over his lamp. Then the whole house is carefully swept. The rubbish, stray hair, etc., are gathered together, as well as the crumbs of sacrifice from Kere'tkun's lamp and from the small fire, and then they are thrown into the sea. This is considered as returning to the sea all the game killed up to the time of the ceremonial. The same act is performed also in the other method of celebrating the fall ceremonial, the "genuine thanksgiving," and, indeed, in almost all ceremonials of the Maritime Chuk-chee, especially in the "ceremonial of heads" of midsummer and in the "ceremonial of the whale."

Exchanging of Presents. -- In many villages, on the second day, the so-called "exchanging of presents" (čukŭ'irgin) takes place. It is performed with different details in various places. In the most common method, the female guests gather at the entrance of the sleeping-room, bringing all kinds of household things, which they thrust under the fold of the skin wall, and loudly demand the thing they want. The mistress must immediately take the offered object, and replace it with that required by the guest. Sometimes the objects offered and demanded are of no value whatever; for instance, an old woman will bring a piece of old skin, and ask in exchange for a lamp-support. This is done because the exchange is considered a part of the ceremonial and a special sign of friendliness on the part of the guests. On the other hand, if a guest asks for something of great value, it must be delivered promptly and without demur. If the mistress has not the desired object, she must borrow it from her neighbors in order to satisfy the guest. After the present has been delivered, the people standing by have the right, each in turn, to ask for it. To refuse it is unbecoming; and a desirable object may change owners two or three times before it is carried away from the house.

In some places young children are sent instead of grown persons. They come in, shout to the mistress, and say, "Do not refuse! So-and-so asks for such-and-such a thing." The mistress gives the required object, exclaiming, "Та ha! ta ha!" After that she has the right to send her own child immediately to ask for an equivalent. In most cases, however, she will wait till the observance of the ceremonial by the other party, when she will seize this opportunity to obtain an equivalent of her gift.

This method resembles that of the Pacific Koryak, where the young people cover their faces with wooden masks and go from house to house, asking in pantomime for various things. The givers have the right either to send their children immediately for an equivalent, or to wait till the next ceremonial, when their young people may, in their turn, ask for presents.

On St. Lawrence Island, young boys and girls arrange themselves in small processions, which go from house to house, dancing, and asking for gifts, mostly of food. This is done some time in winter and has no connection with the regular ceremonials, and the practice strongly resembles the customs of the Pacific Koryak as described above.

I must also mention that a similar performance has been in favor among the Russians from very remote times. In the first days of Christmastide, at dusk, young persons of both sexes go from house to house, singing, dancing, and asking for presents. They bedeck themselves in fantastic attire, and wear masks. The songs are called "koliada," and the whole performance is thought by ethnographists to be a remnant of a winter ceremonial of Russian Slavs in honor of the deity Koliada. This name is associated with the Roman calends. Be this as it may, the same practice is found also in northeastern Siberia, among the cossacks and Russian Creoles; for instance, in the Russian villages of the Kolyma, Anadyr, and Kamchatka, and even among the Russianized natives in the same localities. It must be assumed, however, that the performances of the Koryak and St. Lawrence Eskimo are quite independent, notwithstanding their resemblance to those of the Russians.

In arctic Chukchee villages the exchange is often arranged in the following manner. On the first day of the ceremonial, at the height of the drumming and singing, every guest who desires something belonging to the master must strike his left palm with his right fist, and exclaim, "I see such-and-such a thing!" The master must immediately give it away; and after the ceremonial is finished, he may ask for an equivalent. Should the thing asked for be something of exceeding great value, the master may refuse the demand, lifting his right thumb to his throat, and exclaiming, "I would (rather) cut my throat!" This, however, is considered a great offence, and may even lead to bloody vengeance.

Many families arrange the exchange between relatives only, and especially between those joined by the bond of compound marriage, literally "wife-companions" (new-tu'mgit). A man sends his wife to another man with whom he is connected by such a bond to ask for certain wares, and after a while the other man sends his wife to ask for an equivalent.

The Trading-Dance. -- This brings us to another variety of the ceremonial exchange, which may be called "trading-dance." It is performed during the second day of the ceremonial by couples, a man and a woman each, who are connected by the bond of compound marriage. Frequently the man looks on only, while the woman dances before him. He must provide a reindeer skin, however, to spread on the ground under her feet while she is dancing. While the dance is being performed, the other dancers remain quiet, and look on together with the spectators. After the dance, the man must give some present to the woman; and the following night they sleep together, leaving their respective mates to arrange matters between themselves. On the next day, the husband of the woman, and the wife of the man, perform a similar dance, in which the man gives an equivalent of the present of the day before; and each newly-mated couple sleeps together for another night. Such dances are arranged chiefly among cousins or other relatives, who, among the Chukchee, frequently assume the bond of compound marriage. Conversely, a new bond of compound marriage may be concluded through a trading-dance. This is closely analogous to the customs of the Alaskan Eskimo as described by Nelson; {Nelson, p. 360; compare also p. 384.} but with the Chukchee an exchange of wives leads, as a rule, to the lasting bond of compound marriage, or to what is so called. So often is this the case, that even the women who mix with the sailors from whaling-ships consider them their husbands by compound marriage. Among the Chukchee, clandestine intercourse with another man's wife is called by the same name. When the affair first comes to the knowledge of the husband, a quarrel may ensue; but an amicable adjustment is soon brought about by a bond of compound marriage.

Ceremonials of Asiatic Eskimo. Ceremonial of Ka'cak. -- Among the Asiatic Eskimo the ceremonial of the winter is connected in most villages, not with Kere'tkun, but with the Big-Woman. Some families in the villages Wute'en and I'wtun, however, connect the ceremonial with Kere'tkun, who is called by them Ka'cak. The name of Ka'cak as identical with Kere'tkun is known also in Uni'sak and on St. Lawrence Island. In Ufii'sak, some families are said to perform a simple "genuine thanksgiving" ceremonial analogous, to that of the Maritime Chukchee. The ceremonial of Ka'cak or of Big-Woman is performed with the same details as that of Kere'tkun among the Chukchee. Even the net, the wooden birds, and the painted paddles {Compare Fig. 277, p. 397.} are of exactly the same character. The differences have already been referred. The most important of them is the complete replacement of the ceremonial fire by the lamp.


Eider-Duck Ceremonial. -- There is also the so-called "eider-duck ceremonial," in which, besides the usual net with wooden sea-gulls, is a net (Fig. 280) supported by a long pole painted over with patterns of straight lines. Wooden images of eider-ducks (Fig. 280, a), which, however, do not differ markedly from the sea-gulls mentioned before, may move on a special loop along separate lines of leather. Each line is held by one person, who, by a simple jerk of the hand, may make the bird soar aloft or descend the line. Very simple whistles (Fig. 281) made of goose-quill or of wood, with

a thin tongue of whalebone, are used to produce from time to time a shrill sound, which is called the "eider-duck's voice." As said before, these whistles are used by the Eskimo and the Chukchee also in the usual form of the ceremonial; but my informants asserted that they were specially connected with the eider-duck ceremonial. I found whistles quite similar in shape to Fig. 281 among the collections at Washington, D.C. One of them (Cat. No. 7457) is marked "Fort Anderson, R. MacFarlane," and belongs to the Central Eskimo. Two other whistles, probably from the same region, are without any mark. Nelson, however, does not mention the use of such whistles among the natives of Alaska.

Ceremonial of Going-Around. -- Another ceremonial encountered among the Asiatic Eskimo is the so-called "ceremonial of going-around," which is considered as a kind of thanksgiving ceremonial. A native drawing (Fig. 282) represents the celebration of it in an Eskimo house. A long pole is fixed in the middle of the house, the upper end of which protrudes from the vent-hole. On it are two double tassels and a seal-skin float, to the flippers of which are fastened the pelt of a fox and an iron kettle. A square frame made of paddles surmounted by several wooden images of manned boats and whales is suspended halfway up the pole. A wooden wheel is fastened to the base of the pole, by means of which people may turn the pole with the frame. Several walrus-heads represent the object of the thanksgiving. The wheel is turned around as quickly as possible, and in the direction of the sun's course, by people of both sexes; while several other persons beat the drum. All sing various tunes of their own choice. At last those turning the wheel stop; and the men, still running in the same direction, begin to seize women from all over the house. Every man has the right to sleep that night with the woman he has caught. The similarity of all this to the customs of the Alaskan Eskimo is very striking. {Compare Nelson, p. 360.}

Other varieties of this ceremonial extant among the Asiatic Eskimo, in which wheels, images of whales and of manned boats, also figure, will be described in a separate publication.


Dance of Exchange. -- The dance of exchange occurs also among the Asiatic Eskimo and the inhabitants of St. Lawrence Island. Besides being connected with the usual ceremonials, it may be arranged independently. Among the Asiatic Eskimo, the woman performs the dance, wearing only her loin-breeches; but the man is clad as usual. On St. Lawrence Island, the man puts on a head-band resembling that worn by the Chukchee in the ceremonial of Kere'tkun; while the woman wears very short breeches of old-fashioned cut. These were in former times a part of the usual female dress of all Asiatic-Eskimo. Further details will be given in a special publication treating of the Asiatic Eskimo.

Ceremonial of Boats. -- The ceremonial of boats takes place early in spring, in the third or fourth month of the Chukchee year. {Compare, p. 51.} It is performed only by the families of boat-owners. The members of the crew and the older members of their families take part in the ceremonial, while the younger people stay at home. The ceremonial is performed by each company separately, with considerable variation, especially from village to village, as to the day of the observance, according to the time when the sea becomes navigable along different parts of the coast-line.

In the morning of the chosen day, men and women gather before the house of the boat-owner and go to the winter boat-support to get the boat. The winter boat-support is constructed of heavy pieces of bone of whale planted firmly high up on the shore; and there the boat rests the whole winter through, firmly fastened to the. cross-poles, and protected from snowstorms and the attacks of hungry foxes.

The whole company sacrifice sausage of reindeer-meat to the sea; then they bring the boat close to the house and put it on the ground, on its west side, and again offer sacrifice of sausage in the "direction" of the sea. Then the whole party go around the house, following the course of the sun. At the head walks the oldest woman of the family, then follow the owner of the boat, the steersman, the paddlers, and after them come the other participants. It is considered important that the woman who walks in front shall really be the oldest of all, and know the necessary details of the ceremony: therefore families who have no such woman among their housemates often send to their relatives, or even to another village, for one. Old men, on the contrary, are not considered necessary for the ceremonial.

After the procession is arranged, it enters the house, and the people take their places around and begin singing their tunes. The singing, accompanied with dancing and beating the drum, lasts several hours, and ends with a shamanistic performance in the evening. On the next morning the boat is taken back to the sea and put on the summer support, which stands close to the water. This latter is of slight build, and made of wood; and it may be carried from place to place, according to the needs of the landing. The floats of the boat are taken along and placed within. On the next morning the participants in the ceremony bring to the shore a great amout of food. This is distributed among the guests, who, with their housemates and women, come by boat-loads. A sacrifice is offered to the sea, and then the boat is launched to try the first course of the year, which is necessarily short, and conducted with caution.

On the morning of the night when the boat is still lying at the side of the house, there is performed a divination with lumps of tallow which were left for the night in the boat. By the cracks found in them the people try to divine whether the boat will have good luck in the pursuits of the next season, especially in regard to the whale and the polar bear. Cracks resembling marks left by scratching with nails foretell good fortune and prosperity. Cracks resembling marks left by touching with the finger-tips augur bad luck and even death. Divination with tallow is used by the Maritime Chukchee on other occasions also. In the fall, when the boat is taken to the winter supports, the Chukchee do not perform any particular ceremonial, arguing that the great ceremonial of the fall answers for all such purposes.

Ceremonial of Heads. -- Early in summer, as soon as the catch of the seals on the drifting ice is finished, the ceremonial of heads takes place. This, likewise, is performed by the boat-owners with the participation of the crew, and the details have many points of resemblance to the ceremonial of wild reindeer-heads among the Reindeer Chukchee. {Compare p. 379.} It is even called by the same name, ênatči'irgin.

The heads of the walrus and of the thong-seal are the only ones stored for this ceremonial, while of the smaller seals only a couple or so are taken for the exhibition. When walrus-heads are scarce, the ceremonial is considered very poor, and even of no importance. In the morning of the day, all the heads are brought from the blubber-hole, and exposed on the skins in the middle of the house. A large lamp, placed on a flat stone, stands with them; and a little at one side a small pi'ntE fire {Compare p. 397.} is arranged, which is wanting in the ceremonial of the Asiatic Eskimo. All kinds of "alien" food -- sausage, reindeer-tallow, tobacco, flour -- are produced for the sacrifice and put near the heads. Then the old woman presiding over the ceremonial sits down before the heads and begins to sing, one by one, the tunes of the family; while the male members of the family go around the heads, exclaiming, "Yoho, yoho!" in the usual manner. The old woman feeds the lamp, and keeps up the fire; while the men, with plates filled with provisions, go out to offer sacrifice to all the directions, beginning, as usual, with the morning dawn, then passing to the zenith, to the nadir, and after that to the other "directions."

The other members of the crew stay in the house and are the onlookers. When those who performed the sacrifice are returning, the largest walrus-head is tied up with a long rope, which all the men grasp, pretending to haul in the captured walrus. This symbolizes a successful catch for the future. The old woman gives of the provisions which served for the sacrifice to the women present, who, as said before, are the oldest representatives of the families of the crew.

The ceremonial dance is performed in the usual way. A man with the drum stands on the outer side of the group of heads, having his back turned to the entrance; while the women dancers stand opposite to him, on the inner side of the heads. The movements of the dancers are of the usual character; that is, they make a short courtesy, then stand erect and turn their bodies to the right and to the left, all the while never stepping aside from their place. Among the Asiatic Eskimo, however, this dance alternates from time to time with a more active form, in which the dancer performs a series of jumps, swinging violently both his arms over his head. This latter variety of dance is, however, considered an imitation of the dance of the natives of St. Lawrence Island and Alaska. A dance like this is often performed on the spur of the moment by young men or boys for the amusement of spectators, and without reference to the ceremonials; then it is called the dance of the "opposite-shore people," or the dance of the "large mouthed." {Compare p. 21.}

In the ceremonial described (Plate xxxii, Fig. 4) all those present, down to the very small children, have to perform some exercise on the drum; while the women and the younger boys appear in turn as dancers. Then a feast follows, in which the men eat freely of the raw meat of walrus-heads, slicing it off with their knives. The ivory of the walrus and the remainder of the meat are divided among all the members of the crew, in accordance with the usual rules, which will be spoken of in the third part of this work.

At the end of the ceremonial, all of the participants, particularly the women and children, shake off, over the big lamp, all diseases to which they may be liable, and, in general, their bad luck. The lamp, however, is covered with a wooden plank to protect the fire from contamination. The particles of rubbish, and especially the hair which has fallen from the fur clothes down on the plank, are picked up and burned, together with the plank, in a separate fire. The ashes of the fire are afterward carefully collected, and carried out of the house to be left in the wilderness. The bones and crumbs of the feast are gathered up and thrown into the sea to semi back the animals, as was described before.

Sacrifice to the Fire. -- The pitching of the summer tent, which takes place shortly after the ceremonial of the heads, is accompanied by a simple sacrifice thrown into a small fire built up before the entrance of the tent. This sacrifice is still more simple than the corresponding one of the Reindeer Chukchee.

Sacrifice to Pehi'ttin. -- I mentiofled that the sacrifice to the star Pehi'ttin and the ceremonial of antlers are performed also by the Maritime Chukchee. The sacrifice to Pehi'ttin has no features peculiar to the Maritime Chukchee.

Ceremonial of Antlers. -- The ceremony of antlers (kilvei) is performed with boughs, which are gathered in a heap on the place of sacrifice, behind the house. Then a fire is arranged and sacrificed to with tallow or meat. Those who have a few reindeer, with some reindeer-breeding friend, take care to have a few antlers on the top of their heap of boughs. Only those Asiatic Eskimo who have succeeded in acquiring reindeer-herds {Compare p. 73.} celebrate this ceremonial. These, as remarked before, consider themselves obliged to perform all the ceremonials connected with reindeer-breeding life: at least, to the same extent as do their neighbors of Maritime Chukchee origin.

Whale Ceremonial. -- The ceremonial of the whale is performed any time that a whale is killed by any of the villagers. On the Pacific shore, where polar bears are scarce, a ceremonial similar to that of the whale is performed over killed bears, both of which, of course, belong to the thanksgiving festivals. The essential features are as follows.

The boats that took part in the hunt pass around the carcass while it is still in the water, following the direction of the sun's course. The owners of the boats exclaim, "Yoho, yoho!" the usual cry at the Chukchee ceremonials. When the carcass is landed on the shore, another procession is formed, which likewise passes around the animal. The owner of the boat from which the whale received the fatal stroke heads this procession, and after him comes the man who gave the death-blow to the whale. All the men who chance to be on shore during the landing take part in the parade, and each one exclaims, "Yoho, yoho!" Then the women appear and join in the procession, which passes again around the carcass. The women repeat incantations having for their aim the conciliation of the whale and the acquisition of his influence in inciting his mates to come to the shore in future.

After that the general carving of the meat follows, in which the inhabitants of all neighboring villages and camps may take part, if they arrive in season to do so. Meanwhile, however, the women comprising the household of the owner of the boat from which the whale was killed cut bits from the ends of his flippers, his nose, and both lips. They take also his eyes and some of the shortest whalebone, not good for sale, and they chop besides a few pieces from the longer bone. All these are placed on a skin, and are supposed to represent the whole of the whale.

The skin with the scraps on it is brought up to the house, where "the whale" is "given a drink" before the entrance; that is, it receives a libation of warm water, as is usual with larger game. Sacrifice is also offered to it with sausage and reindeer-meat. Then the skin and the particles are carried inside the house and put on the roof of the sleeping-room, near its front.

In the case of a bear the carcass is skinned; but the head, the neck, and the shoulders are left with the skin. This receives a "drink" before the entrance, and a sacrifice of sausage, and then is brought into the house and into the sleeping-room, where it is put on the master's side and in the place of honor.

A big lamp burns all the time near the symbolized game; also a pi'ntE fire, which figures in all the ceremonials of the Chukchee. The "whale" and the "bear" remain in their respective places five days and nights, and all this time the most careful attention is lavished on them. Men and women make them presents of their bead necklaces, which are hung over the "bear's" neck, or laid at the side of the "whale." They receive frequent libations of water, and sacrifices of various meats; and neither of them is left alone for a moment in the house. The natives say, "The guest will feel lonely." Every kind of loud noise is forbidden, lest "the guest should be awakened from his repose." All the drums are hung in the outer tent, near the entrance; and if, perchance, a loud sound is occasionally given forth by one of them, it is immediately beaten lightly with the drum-stick, as if in punishment. The children, likewise, must not cry or be boisterous; and, should any of them be noisy, a drum is immediately beaten lightly in expiation of the "uncivil behavior toward the guest." {Compare Nelson, p. 383. Steller says likewise that among the Kamchadal it is forbidden to sing aloud when a fresh sable-skin is brought into the house.}

After the five days, the head of the polar bear is cooked in a big kettle, and then a feast is arranged, to which all the neighbors are invited. The meat'of the head must be entirely eaten.

An analogous custom in regard to the brown bear is found among the Lamut. The meat of this likewise must be boiled all at once and eaten by the neighbors of the hunter gathered for the feast, without reserving any for the future.

A feast, accompanied with a ceremonial dance and shamanistic performances both by day and by night, is also arranged for a whale. After the feast, all the crumbs, stray hair, etc., are gathered and thrown into the sea, which act restores the killed whale to life and to the sea.


The eyes of the bear and the whale are pierced; and the viscous fluid from them, mixed with soot, is used for painting the paddles of the boat in a special manner (Fig. 283). This painting lasts some time, until it wears off by use. The pupils of the eyes are wrapped in leather and then joined and added to the string of amulets belonging to the boat. Hunters who are fortunate in the pursuit of the whale often have a whole string of pairs of pupils so wrapped up. The man who gave the last stroke, if this happens to be his first whale or bear, has the skin near all his joints pierced with the tattooing-needle, leaving a simple but indelible mark. With the Eskimo of the Diomede Islands, the killer of the whale has on his face, near the upper lip, a simple dot marked with the tattooing-needle for each animal killed. Some of the luckiest hunters have two lines of dots extending across both cheeks, -- a visible enumeration of the number of animals actually killed by them.

In some of the villages, the family of the chief hunter, after a successful hunt of the whale, arrange for a thanksgiving ceremonial at the time of the new moon in every month. This lasts during the whole season, for four or five consecutive months. On St. Lawrence Island, the successful hunter of the whale offers during the ceremonial a sacrifice of the hair of his head, which is thrown into the fire of the hearth, and is said to be directed to the giver of whales.

The Koryak ceremonial of the whale has many points of similarity to that of the Chukchee. {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 65 et seq.} Even for the less important game, the Koryak arrange ceremonials with details closely resembling some of those described. Thus, in the Pacific Koryak, and Kerek villages, the carcass of a killed fox is brought into the house and deposited near the fire. The master says, "Let the guest warm himself. When he feels warm, we will free him from his overcoat." In the mean time the placing of the carcass near the fire has a very real purpose. As foxes are killed almost exclusively in winter, the carcass is always frozen, and it must be thawed out before it can be skinned. In due time the fox is skinned. Two broad strips of long, soft grass, which grows on the seashore, are wrapped around the bare carcass. One strip serves as a belt; the other, as a boa. The mouth of the carcass is filled with fish-eggs. The mistress gashes the flesh in several places, and puts into the cuts more fish-eggs or dried meat, pretending that the cuts are pockets of the fox, which she wants to fill with provisions. Then the carcass is carried out of the house, and the people say, "Go and tell your friends that it is good to visit yonder house. Instead of my old coat, they gave me a new one still warmer and with longer hair. I have eaten my fill, and had my pockets well stored. You, too, go and visit them." It is believed by the natives that any neglect of this ceremonial will destroy all chance of further luck in hunting foxes.

Jochelson {See also Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 90.} gives details of a ceremony among the Koryak of the Okhotsk shore very similar to those relating to the fox-carcass. Steller {Steller, p. 331.} mentions almost identical practices among the Kamchadal. In the ceremonial arranged after a successful hunt of the bear, when the bear-meat is cooked and eaten, the master brings in the head of the bear, adorns it with grass, hangs around it bits of various meats, and then asks the bear not to be angry with the hunters, because the last stroke was given by the Russians. He also asks him to inform his relatives of this, that they may come to the same place without any misgivings, etc.

Krasheninnikoff also mentions {Krasheninnikoff, I, p. 261.} similar details in the Kamchadal ceremonial of seal-heads. The heads, he says, are fed with pudding. A large stone is deposited on the floor of the hut, which symbolizes the sea, and it is surrounded with smaller ones, which represent the pebbles on the shore. The seals are dragged upon these stones to give them an idea that it is very agreeable to visit the Kamchadal huts, where even the sea is surrounded with pebbles. In doing this, the people cry, "Come oftener! we feel dull without you." Krasheninnikoff also mentions {Ibid., I, p. 300.} that the natives of Alutora, in their whale ceremonial, carry a wooden image of a whale to the seashore, exclaiming, "The whale is gone to the sea!"

I must mention also a special performance of the walrus-hunt, which is performed without preparation, and generally on the last day of the great winter ceremonial. In this the men and the women sit down opposite each other, in two rows, and beat their palms, exclaiming, "Ha, ha, ha!" The men, from time to time, swing their arms, as if brandishing an imaginary spear.

I had no opportunity to witness a performance of this kind, which is considered by the people as having the character of a play or a dance. Among the Kamchadal, not more than forty years ago, there were observed various performances of a similar character, in which the hunting of the whale, the wolf, and the bear, was represented. Krasheninnikoff mentions such performances in even. earlier times. He had the good-fortune to witness them in several villages. In modern times these performances have been thoroughly Russianized, and blended with popular dramatic performances of the cossacks, brought by them from Russia. I had an opportunity of witnessing a performance of such a kind in the village of Tighil. It represented a trip of cos-sack pirates in a boat, and was almost devoid of local features.

Tossing on Walrus-Hide. -- The "tossing on walrus-hide" forms among the Maritime Chukchee, and especially among the Asiatic Eskimo, an extra ceremonial (Plate хххш, Fig. 3), which is arranged in early or middle summer in order to ward off danger from contagious diseases or to assuage too long and violent tempests. The "tossing on the walrus-hide" is considered akin to the races, and the family who arrange the ceremonial are called simply "racers" or "masters of the race" (ire'lit).

Oh the day chosen for the ceremonial, numerous guests gather at the house of the "racers." The women of the family bring sacrifices to "all the directions." Then a feast follows, at the end of which the house-master, or still better a shaman from among his nearest relatives, if there be any such, paints with red ochre the faces of all those who have recently been taken ill; also those who look sickly, and concerning whom there might be apprehension of an attack by ke'let. Small children, with hardly an exception, are painted. The marks of the painting are varied, and closely resemble those of the painting with reindeer-blood in the "slaughtering-ceremonials" of the Reindeer Chukchee. After that, the tossing begins. Men and women seize a big walrus-hide (split in two to make it thinner), grasping it firmly by loops cut around its outer edge, and lift it from the ground. Then the young men and girls, one by one, or in pairs consisting of a man and a woman, try their skill. For this, the performer plants himself firmly in the middle of the hide, and with a sudden jerk those who hold it send him upward, often to the height of five metres. After that involuntary jump, he falls back on the skin, and is safe from harm. The greatest skill is in coming down on the feet without losing one's equilibrium. Women are more clever than men at this, and there are those who can keep upright for three successive jumps.

The "tossing on walrus-hide" often assumes the character of a contest, in which a prize is offered to the winner. Every one who has taken three jumps successfully may stop, and wait his turn to compete with a performer who has achieved a similar success. I was told by the people that the "tossing on walrus-hide" is said to be copied from the ke'let, after a certain shaman had seen them perform this exercise. This was put forth in explanation of the efficacy of such an exercise to ward off attacks by the ke'let, or protect the people against disease.

Like the reindeer-races of the Reindeer Chukchee, the "tossing on walrus-hide" of the Maritime people takes on the character of a sport, and is frequently arranged merely for amusement, without connection with any religious or superstitious purpose. From the Maritime people the "tossing on walrus-hide" spread to the Reindeer Chukchee, among whom it is, however, much less in use, and serves only for a merry social exercise.

Races. -- Racing with dogs by the Maritime Chukchee is much less frequent than reindeer-racing by the Reindeer Chukchee. The dog-races occur chiefly in spring, and have no connection with the ordinary ceremonials. The race is accompanied with a small sacrifice thrown into a small fire and towards the principal "directions." It is followed by a foot-race of men and women and by a wrestling-contest. The Asiatic Eskimo arrange the dog-races similarly, but they still attach the dogs in the old way, -- several abreast, with a leader in the front on a long trace. {See Plate vii, Fig. I.}


Fig. 284, copied from a native sketch, represents a foot-race of Maritime Chukchee, which was performed in connection with the "genuine thanksgiving ceremonial." Six young men are taking part in the race. Two "masters of the race" are looking on. A coil of thong and a bunch of leaf-tobacco are suspended on two short sticks as prizes for the race. Three heads and two sacrificial vessels are set on the ground. The heads are those of the walrus, a white fox, and a hare.


Stuck-in Poles. -- I have already mentioned the "stuck-in poles" (a3m-i'npin) of bone of whale, {Compare p. 391.} which represent in some villages a kind of votive place.; The village of Če'čin has one of these poles (Fig. 285). It is very old, and the bone nearly crumbles between the fingers. It is hung all over with votive offerings made by sick persons, as it is supposed to have special virtue for curing rheumatism in the arms or legs, which ailment is very common among the Maritime people. The offering consists of a small bead strung on a piece of sinew. Some of them, as I was told, were previously bracelets, and were given by their owners as a substitute for the ailing limb. Among the Maritime Koryak, the "guardians of the village" resemble these Chukchee poles, but are made of wood instead of bone of whale. They are called "wooden spirit" (ot-ka'mak or ok-ka'mak), the name applied in Chukchee to small wooden amulets. Mr. Jochelson says {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 37.} they are a kind of protector of the villages. They receive sacrifices of a more important kind than those hung on the Chukchee bone poles. According to Krasheninnikoff and Steller, poles of a similar character were in use also among the Kamchadal. They had grass tied around them, and received frequent sacrifices. {Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 103.}


XV. -- SHAMANISM.


Family Shamanism. -- Shamanism among the Chukchee, as has been said before, {Compare p. 374.} is in large measure affiliated with the family ceremonials. Each family has one or more drums of its own, on which its members are bound at specific periods to perform; that is. to accompany the beating of the drum with the singing of various melodies. Almost always, on these occasions, one member at least of the family tries to communicate with "spirits", after the manner of shamans. Such a one will usually, with violent shouting and continuous exercise on the drum, work himself up to the highest pitch possible, and in this condition pretend that the "spirits" have entered his body. In proof of this, he acts in exactly the same way as do the shamans, -- jumping about, twisting his body in the most violent contortions, and uttering gibbering sounds and unintelligible words supposed to be the voice and the language of the "spirits." Oftentimes he essays soothsaying and foretelling the future, though such attempts do not usually receive much attention. All this is done in the outer tent, where all the ceremonials are performed, and mostly in the day-time.

The acts of real shamanism, on the contrary, are for the most part performed in the sleeping-room, at night-time and in perfect darkness. They are performed without preparation, on varied occasions, though usually the days of the ceremonials are terminated by a performance of this kind carried out during the night in the sleeping-room. The shamanistic acts, however, are by no means restricted to the ceremonials, but accompany the activity of the shaman proper in his own special calling. Nevertheless almost every third or fourth person arrogates to himself the right and the skill to act as a shaman.

Besides this, every adult Chukchee will occasionally take his drum, especially in the winter, and beat it for a while under the warm shelter of the sleeping-room, with the light or without it, singing his melodies to the rhythm of the beats. This- he does merely for his own pleasure. The transition from such songs to shamanistic performances is quite imperceptible, and in this way it is fair to say that every Chukchee may play the shaman in all branches of the craft as far as his skill and inclination permit him to do so.

Family shamanism, being quite simple and primitive, probably antedated the shamanism of individuals having special skill and vocation, and the latter seems to have grown up based on the former. Family shamanism exists among the Koryak and the Asiatic Eskimo, and probably existed also among the Kamchadal and the Yukaghir. Each Koryak family has a drum of its own, {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 54.} and performance on it to the accompaniment of songs is obligatory on days of certain ceremonials. I was told that the same custom existed among the ancient Kamchadal. {Krasheninnikoff (II, p. 80) says that every woman, especially an old one, and every "transformed man," is considered a shaman and interpreter of dreams. See also Steller, p. 277.} Among the Yukaghir, also, each family has its own drums.

While travelling in the country of Omolon and on both Anui rivers, I found drums half worn-out on every dwelling-site of the former inhabitants, who were starved out in the first decades of the nineteenth century, because the wild reindeer almost ceased their yearly wanderings in that country. My fellow-travellers, who were Russianized natives from the Kolyma country, felt very uneasy on account of this abundance of drums, and repeatedly insisted that the people must have been great sorcerers, and that it was no wonder that God took them away from this world. These drums, however, were only the old family belongings, which probably were used in a way similar to that peculiar to the Chukchee.

Besides this general resemblance, it is difficult to say whether the shamanism of the neighboring tribes had any direct influence on that of the Chukchee. The latter, indeed, treat "alien" shamans with as much veneration as they do their own. In the western part of the territory of the reindeer-breeders, many people apply to the Tungus shamans for advice, and some of the Chukchee go so far as to procure for their own use large drums of the more southern type employed by the Tungus. {Compare p. 356.}

The old women of the Ke'rek tribe have the reputation of being very skilful in working spells, and this skill is mentioned even in tales. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 210.} The shamans of the American Eskimo of the nearest shore of Alaska also enjoy the respect of their Asiatic neighbors, both Maritime Chukchee and Asiatic Eskimo. In one tale a contest between two shamans -- one an American, one an Asiatic -- ends with a full victory for the American, although the shaman from the Asiatic shore resorts even to treachery, and is severely punished for it. {Ibid., p. 221.}

The direct influence of "alien" shamanism on the shamanism of the Chukchee may be traced only in the shamanistic garment, of which I shall speak in the latter part of this chapter.

Individual Shamanistic Inspiration. -- In modern times the importance of family shamanism is losing ground among all the tribes named, with the exception of the Chukchee, and there is a tendency of its being replaced on all occasions by individual shamanism. Individual shamans among the Chukchee are called "those with spirits" (eñe'ñilit, from e'ñeñ, {Compare p. 300.} "shamanistic spirit"). Shamanism is not restricted to either sex. The gift of inspiration is thought to be bestowed more frequently upon women, but it is reputed to be of a rather inferior kind, and the higher grades belong rather to men. The reason given for this is, that the bearing of children is generally adverse to shamanistic inspiration, so that a young woman with considerable shamanistic power may lose the greater part of it after the birth of her first child. She will recover it only after several years, -- with the ending of the period of her maternity. It is also considered that all material objects in any way connected with the birth either of animals or of mankind may be detrimental to the shamanistic force, not only in women, but even in men who happen to come in contact with them. Thus, the grass which served for bedding to a woman in labor may be used to destroy the shamanistic power of any young man slowly "gathering inspiration" (eñe'ñitvilin). It need only be rubbed against the forehead of the young shaman during his sleep, and he will "come back" (to the usual life). A female shaman, by name Te'lpiñä, complained to me, in her description of "things seen by her," {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 379.} that her mother-in-law, seeing that she would be a great female shaman, gave her to drink of the amniotic fluid of a bitch. This injured her vitals, and the soul of the dog entered her own soul.

Since female shamanism is thought to be of an inferior order, it is considered to require a shorter period for "gathering inspiration," and to be attended with less pain, than male shamanism. Female shamans, however, may acquire a high degree of skill in almost any branch of shamanistic action, with the single exception of the ventriloquistic art, which is considered entirely beyond their reach.

Preparatory Period. -- The shamanistic call begins to manifest itself at an early age, in many cases during the critical period of transition from childhood to youth. It is also the period of rapid and intense growth; and it is well known that many persons of both sexes manifest during this time increased sensitiveness, and that the mind often becomes unbalanced. It is easy to understand that this critical period of human life, which is always full of unexpected changes and developments, is peculiarly adapted to the first implanting of shamanistic inspiration.

Nervous and highly excitable temperaments are most susceptible to the shamanistic call. The shamans among the Chukchee with whom I conversed were as a rule extremely excitable, almost hysterical, and not a few of them were half crazy. Their cunning in the use of deceit in their art closely resembled the cunning of a lunatic.

The Chukchee say that young persons destined 'to receive shamanistic inspiration may be recognized at a very early age, even in their teens, by the gaze, which, during a conversation, is not turned to the listener, but is fixed on something beyond him. In connection with this, they say that the eyes of a shaman have a look different from that of other people, and they explain it by the assertion that the eyes of the shaman are very bright (nikê'raqên), which, by the way, gives them the ability to see "spirits" even in the dark. It is certainly a fact that the expression of a shaman is peculiar, -- a combination of cunning and shyness; and by this it is often possible to pick him out from among many others.

The Chukchee are well aware of the extreme nervousness of their shamans, and express it by the word niñi'rkilqin ("he is bashful"). By this word they mean to convey the idea that the shaman is highly sensitive even to the slightest change of the psychic atmosphere surrounding him during his exercises. For instance, the Chukchee shaman is diffident in acting before strangers, especially shortly after his initiation. A shaman of great power will refuse to show his skill when among strangers, and will yield only after much solicitation: even then, as a rule, he will not show all of his power. He is shy of strange people, of a house to which he is unaccustomed, of "alien" drums and charms which are hidden in their bags, and of "spirits" that hover around. The least doubt or sneer makes him break off the performance and retire.

The shamanistic "spirits" are likewise described as "fleeting" (nin'nAqên), meaning that they want, to flee before every unusual face or voice. When too many strange visitors come to the shaman, the "spirits" are shy of appearing, and, even when they do come, they are all the time anxious to slip away. Once when I induced a shaman to practise at my house, his "spirits" (of a ventriloquistic kind) for a long time refused to come. When at last they did come, they were heard walking around the house outside and knocking on its walls, as if still undecided whether to enter. When they entered, they kept near to the corners, carefully avoiding too close proximity to those present.

"Ke'let belong to the wilderness," say the shamans, "just as much as any wild animal. This is the reason that they are so fleeting." Ke'let of the animal kind have this shyness to an extreme degree. When coming at the call of the shaman, they sniff and snort, and finally, after some short exercise on the drum, flee back to the freedom of the wilderness. All this, of course, is brought about by ventriloquism, as will be described later. Even the ke'let of diseases, especially those who cannot harm man much, -- as, for instance, rheum or cold, -- are described as very "fleeting." Thus, in one tale, the rheum, before mustering sufficient courage to enter a human habitation, makes several attempts, and each time goes back overcome by its shyness. When caught on the spot, it manifests the utmost fear, and in abject terms begs for freedom.

The Chukchee generally are highly susceptible to any physical or psychical impressions of a kind to which they are unused; as, for instance, to unfamiliar odors. {Compare p. 38.} This is especially the case in regard to diseases; and the saying, "The Chukchee people are 'soft to die' (nuthiwi'qin), is frequently heard among them. Thus, though they are able to endure excessive hardships, they succumb quickly to any contagious disease brought from civilized countries. This sensitiveness is shared by other native tribes of northeastern Siberia, and even by the Russian Creoles, who are just as susceptible to psychic influences of an unusual character; for instance, to warning received in dreams or from strange people, to threats on the part of shamans or high officials, etc. During the last epidemic of measles, a creole in Gishiga lived but one night after having been told by an official, who meant no harm, that in a dream he had seen him die. There have been several instances of suicide among the cossacks and Russianized natives as the result of reproof on the part of officials. In other cases, native guides of Lamut or Yukaghir origin, travelling with parties of Russian officials on exploring expeditions, have, on losing their way in the uninhabited country, run away from fear and despair, and every trace of them thereafter has been lost. Suicides are also frequent among the Chukchee.

It seems to me that Mr. Jochelson has in mind the same high degree of susceptibility when he calls attention to the fact that the young men of the Yukaghir were said in ancient times to be exceedingly bashful, so much so that they would die when a sudden affront was given them, even by their own relatives. {See Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, Introduction, pp. VI, XIII.} The shamans possess this nervous sensitiveness in a still higher degree than other people. This finds expression in the proverb that shamans are even more "soft to die" than ordinary people.

While speaking of this subject, let me add, that the slightest lack of harmony between the acts of the shamans and the mysterious call of their "spirits" brings their life to an end. This is expressed by the Chukchee when they say that "spirits" are very bad-tempered, and punish with immediate death the slightest disobedience of the shaman, and that this is particularly so when the shaman is slow to carry out those orders which are intended to single him out from other people.

On the other hand, apart from the displeasure of his ke'let, a shaman is said to be "resistant to death" and especially "difficult to kill," even when vanquished by enemies. Thus, in a description of a murder which took place in the Anui country in the nineties of the last century, the native, whose words were written down verbatim, says, --


"With an incantation of theirs they made him sleep. While he was sleeping, they attacked him from both sides. One cut his throat; the other stabbed him in the direction of the heart, the source of life and death. Nevertheless he jumped up. But he had no arms. They were also 'knowing people;' and thus they induced him, likewise by incantations, to leave the camp unarmed. If he had had only a small knife, perhaps he would have been able to overpower them. Now, though he (being a shaman) stood up, with what could he fight them, except with his teeth and nails? Thus they stabbed him; but his wounds immediately healed and he was as before. For a very long time they could not kill him. At last they fell upon him from both sides, and, throwing him down, scooped out his eyes, pierced the eyeballs with a knife and flung them far away. Then they cut his body here and there; also the heart they tore away and cut to pieces. All these pieces they buried in the ground in separate places, because they were afraid to bury them together, lest he should revive." {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 19.}


Another account of similar kind says, --


"She [the murderer] came to her neighbor, a woman, who was busy with her fireboard, trying to make a fire. She stabbed her from behind. But the girl continued to work on the fire, because she was a shaman-girl, a woman able to stab herself (in shamanistic performance). Therefore she could not kill her, but only severed the tendons of her arms and legs." {Ibid., p. 32.}


A third account, referring to the small-pox epidemic of 1884 in the country of the western Kolyma, says, --


"Then A'mčê began to think about his son-in-law, because his daughter left him ill in the vacant camp. A'mčê said, 'Let us go and visit him.' He said, 'He is one able to resist death, he is a shaman.'" {Ibid., p. 40.}


The shamanistic call manifests itself in various ways. Sometimes it is an inner voice, which bids the person enter into intercourse with the "spirits." If the person is dilatory in obeying, the calling "spirit" soon appears in some outward, visible shape, and communicates the call in a more explicit way. For instance, Aiñanwa't, whom I have mentioned before, says that at one time, after a severe illness, when his soul was ripe for inspiration, he saw several Spirits," but did not give much heed to the fulfilment of their orders. Then a "spirit" came to him. He was gaunt, and black of color, and said that he was the "spirit" of reindeer-scab. {Compare p. 81.} Ainanwa't felt himself very much drawn toward that "spirit," and wanted him to stay and become his constant companion. The "spirit" hesitated at first, and then refused to stay. He said, however, "I may consent, if your desire for my company is strong enough, -- if you wish me enough to take the drum, to handle it for three days and three nights, and to become a shaman." Ainanwa't, in his turn, refused, and the "spirit" immediately vanished. {Ibid., p. 385.}

The shamanistic call is also manifested by various omens, such as meeting a certain animal, finding a stone or a shell of peculiar form, etc. Each of these omens has in itself nothing extraordinary, but derives its significance from its mystical recognizance in the mind of the person to whose notice it is brought. This process resembles the finding of amulets; and, indeed, the stone found, or the animal met, becomes the protector and the assistant "spirit" of the person in question.

Young people, as a rule, are exceedly reluctant to obey the call, especially if it involves the adoption of some characteristic device in clothing or in the mode of life. They refuse to take the drum and to call the "spirits," leave the amulets in the field, from very fear, {Compare also the story in Krasheninnikoff, mentioned before (p. 339), in which it is told that a Koryak found an important amulet on the bank of the river, but left it there from sheer fright. He became very ill, and his illness was ascribed to the anger of the amulet. After a considerable lapse of time he came back to look for the amulet, and at last carried it away with him.} etc.

The parents of young persons "doomed to inspiration" (eñe'ñitvu li'nyo) act differently, according to temperament and family conditions. Sometimes they protest against the call coming to their child, and try to induce it to reject the "spirits" and to keep to the ordinary life. This happens mostly in the case of only children, because of the danger pertaining to the shamanistic call, especially in the beginning. The protest of the parents is, however, of no avail, because the rejection of the "spirits" is much more dangerous even than the acceptance of their call. A young man thwarted in his call to inspiration will either sicken and shortly die, or else the "spirits" will induce him to renounce his home and go far away, where he may follow his vocation without hindrance.

On the other hand, it is entirely permissible to abandon shamanistic performances at a more mature age, after several years of practice; and the anger of the "spirits" is not incurred by it. I met several persons who asserted that formerly they had been great shamans, but that now they had given up most of their exercises. As reason for this, they gave illness, age, or simply a decrease of their shamanistic power, which in the course of time manifested itself. One said that because of illness he felt as if his arms and legs were frozen, and that thereafter they did not thaw, so that he was unable to "shake himself" well upon the drum. Another said that he and his "spirits" became tired of each other. Most of the cases, probably, were simply the result of recovery from the nervous condition which had made the persons in question fit subjects for the inspiration. While the shaman is in possession of the inspiration, he must practise, and cannot hide his power. Otherwise it will manifest itself in the form of bloody sweat or in a fit of violent madness similar to epilepsy (ite'yun). {Compare p. 42.}

There are parents who wish their child to answer the call. This happens especially in families rich in children, with large herds, and with several tents of their own. Such a family is not inclined to feel anxious about a possible loss of one of its members. On the contrary, they are desirous of having a shaman of their own, -- made to order, so to speak, -- a special solicitor before the "spirits," and a caretaker in all extraordinary casualties of life.

A shaman by the name of Tei'ñet, in the country near the Wolverene River, told me that, when the call came to him and he did not want to obey, his father gave him the drum and induced him to begin the exercise. After that, he continued to feel "bashful" for several years. On days of ceremonials he even fled from the camp and hid himself, lest his relatives should find him out and bring him back to camp, to show to the assembled people his newly acquired and growing skill.

For men, the preparatory stage of shamanistic inspiration is in most cases very painful, and extends over a long time. The call comes in an abrupt and obscure manner, leaving the young novice in much uncertainty regarding it. He feels "bashful" and frightened; he doubts his own disposition and strength, as has been the case with all seers, from Moses down. Half unconsciously and half against his own will, his whole soul undergoes a strange and painful transformation. This period may last months, and sometimes even years. The young novice, the "newly inspired" (tur-eñe'ñitvillin), loses all interest in the ordinary affairs of life. He ceases to work, eats but little and without relishing the food, ceases to talk to people, and does not even answer their questions. The greater part of his time he spends in sleep. Some keep to the inner room and go out but rarely. Others wander about in the wilderness, under the pretext of hunting or of keeping watch over the herd, but often without taking along any arms or the lasso of the herdsman. A wanderer like this, however, must be closely watched, otherwise he might lie down on the open tundra and sleep for three or four days, incurring the danger, in winter, of being buried in drifting snow. When coming to himself after such a long sleep, he imagines that he has been out for only a few hours, and generally is not conscious of having slept in the wilderness at all. The accounts of such prolonged sleep are, of course, greatly exaggerated.

The Chukchee, however, sometimes, in case of sickness, fall into a heavy and protracted slumber, which may last many days, with only the necessary interruptions for physical needs, and which may, perhaps, end in death, though this is by no means assured. For instance, two years before my coming to the Anadyr, one Rike'whi, a Chukchee living at Mariinsky Post, and his wife, both had an attack of grippe, which, as I have said before, ravages the country at short intervals. The woman died. The man slept it out for more than two months. During this time he took but little food, mostly dried fish, and very rarely could he have a hot meal prepared for him by sympathetic women among his neighbors. All this was corroborated by the Russian cossacks living at Mariinsky Post, in close proximity to the natives.

The before-mentioned Ainanwa't also told me that in 1884 he lost his whole family by small-pox, but slept it out himself for two weeks, during which time he conversed with "spirits." It is also believed that the "spirits" communicate with novices during their slumbers, and gradually assert their power over their minds and their whole persons.

The process of gathering inspiration is so painful to young shamans, because of their mental struggle against the call, that they are sometimes said to sweat blood on the forehead and the temples. Afterwards every preparation of a shaman for a performance is considered a sort of repetition of the initiative process: hence it is said that the Chukchee shamans during that time are easily susceptible to hemorrhage and even to bloody sweat. I myself witnessed two cases of bleeding from the nose among Chukchee shamans before their performances. As regards the bloody sweat, I knew of only one case, and even in that I was suspicious that the shaman in question, having an attack of nose-bleed, had happily thought to smear his temples with blood in order to increase our respect for his shamanistic powers. At least, he kept repeating that he was not like the modern shamans, but that he was the equal of the ancient "genuine" shamans, who sweated blood from the strain of their inspiration. He was, however, a typical specimen of a Chukchee shaman, -- a very unsteady, excitable nature; and after all, I am not quite sure that he tricked us with his bloody sweat.

The preparatory period is compared by the Chukchee to a long, severe illness; and the acquirement of inspiration, to a recovery. There are cases of young persons who, having suffered for years from lingering illness (usually of a nervous character), at last feel a call to take to shamanistic practice, and by this means overcome the disease. Of course it is difficult to draw the line of demarcation, and all these cases finally come under one and the same class. The preparatory period of inspiration is designated by the Chukchee by a special term, meaning "he gathers shamanistic power" (the verb tewiti'ñirkin and its derivatives). With weaker shamans and with women, the preparatory period is less painful, and the call to inspiration comes mainly in dreams.

To people of more mature age the shamanistic call may come during some great misfortune, dangerous and protracted illness, sudden loss of family or property, etc. Then the person, having no other resource, turns to the "spirits," and claims their assistance. It is generally considered that in such cases a favorable issue is possible only with the aid of the "spirits:" therefore a man who has withstood some extraordinary trial of his life is considered as having within himself the possibilities of a shaman, and he often feels bound to enter into closer relations with the "spirits," lest he incur their displeasure at his negligence and lack of gratitude.

This is evidenced in the case of Aintanwa't, mentioned above. He was not careful enough to obey the instructions of the "spirits," who came to him with benevolent intentions, and even performed upon him with a supernatural silver knife of their own an operation which freed him from all diseased matter. Hence, though he recovered from his illness, he had no further good-fortune in life. He was unable to increase his diminished herd, and after a few years of useless struggle found himself forced to bequeathe it, with the hereditary charms, to his elder son. He even left his house, and lived the last years of his life as a wandering hunter of wild reindeer. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 385.}

On the contrary, another Reindeer Chukchee, Niro'n, {Compare p. 45.} had a shamanistic call during his search for the herd which had run away in a thick fog. The search lasted for several months, during which time Niro'n suffered severe hardships. He was without food for days, had no shelter in which to sleep, was drenched with rain, and was even without any fire to dry his clothes. In this plight he met several animals who acted like men, and played various tricks on him. At last he met a Wolf who was eating from a carcass of a newly killed reindeer. The Wolf took compassion on him, saying that he knew well what hunger was. He bade him cut off the legs of the carcass, and feed on the sinew and the marrow, which the Chukchee, as said before, eat raw. The carcass, on its part, begged Niro'n not to touch it, promising to bring his herd as ransom. The Wolf sneered at the proposition, saying that the Reindeer was too slow, since it had allowed itself to be caught. Then Niro'n ate from the carcass. The Wolf then promised to find the herd. After two weeks he again met Niro'n, and told him where to find the reindeer.

Immediately after the recovery of the herd, Niro'n slaughtered a fat doe and sacrificed it to the Wolf. From that time on, Niro'n considered himseli as "one with spirits" (eñe'ñilin). His claim, however, was generally ridiculed by his neighbors on account of his character. He was a spendthrift, much given to card-playing, and cared little for his herd and home, and the Chukchee refused to believe that such a good-for-nothing could amount to much in the eyes of the "spirits." Niro'n himself, however, often beat his drum, sang his tunes, and called to the "spirits," not so much for any real purpose, but simply to keep up the useful relation with them and to avoid their displeasure.

Still another acquaintance of mine, by the name of Ka'tek, from the village of Uñi'sak at Indian Point, entered into relations with the "spirits" when he was of mature age, during a terrible adventure he had while hunting seal. While walking on the ice-floe, along a wide crack, he happened to harpoon a seal, which came out of the water at some distance from the edge of the ice. With the ice-pick on the butt of his harpoon, he broke off a piece of ice large enough to support his body, and ventured on it out toward the seal, using the shaft of his harpoon as a paddle. Maritime hunters, lacking a canoe, often do the same. Meanwhile a strong gale came from the land and carried away the outer part of the ice-floe. Ka'tek, who had already reached his seal, was carried away on his piece of ice. Seeing his danger, he wound the line around his waist, and fastened its ends to the points of his ice-block, in front and behind. Then he drove the harpoon firmly into the ice, and clutched it with both hands, trying to stand his ground against the sea. The sea was rough, the waves rolled over his head, and he was thoroughly drenched. After several hours of such suffering, Ka'tek rebelled against his fate, and he was about to end the ordeal by stabbing himself with his belt-knife, when a large walrus-head suddenly popped out of the water quite close to him, and sang, "O Ka'tek, do not kill yourself! You shall again see the mountains of Uni'sak and the little Kuwa'kak, your elder son." Then, quite unexpectedly, Ka'tek saw a large iceberg, which drew the block on which he stood towards itself. Most icebergs are quite steep and inaccessible, but on this one he found a gentle slope where he could easily land. He took his harpoon along, and, hauling in the line, found the harpoon-point still fast to the seal-carcass. After that he climbed the iceberg, and, finding a suitable place, constructed a temporary shelter of the blocks of rough ice lying about. Then he skinned the seal, and, creeping under the shelter, spread the skin for a floor-covering, and, crouching down, took off his clothes piece by piece, carefully wringing out the water, and scraping it off with his knife. He ate of the seal-blubber, and swallowed a few pieces of ice, which tasted like fresh water. Then the wind changed and the iceberg drifted to land. At last, after more than twenty-four hours spent on the water, he came to land near the village of Ce'cin. When he reached his own village, he found his family were already bringing sacrifice of seal-oil to his manes. He bade them direct the sacrifice to the walrus-head, and from that time on he was a shaman. He had some renown among his neighbors, and his art was in requisition in the village of Uni'sak.

There is a limit, however, as to the age at which a person may become a shaman, even with due call and occasion. In the case of Ainanwa't, he was more than forty, and felt his soul unfit for a change.

In a Koryak tale, when Quikmn'a'qu unexpectedly makes for himself a drum out of a small louse, and becomes a shaman, his neighbors say sceptically, "Has the old Quikinn'a'qu really become a shaman? From his youth up he had no spirits within his call." {See Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 291.}

Though this instance is taken from the Koryak, and that of Ka'tek from the Aiwan Eskimo, both answer the purpose equally well, since the shamanism of the Chukchee and of these two tribes has similar features.

It is also considered perfectly natural that a young boy visited by some great misfortune should try to call to the "spirits." If they deign to come to his assistance, their fellowship with the boy is likely to become very intimate, and he has the chance of being a really great shaman.

Thus a shaman, by name Scratching-Woman, told me that his father was a small, sickly fellow, who had but a few reindeer, which he finally lost in a thick fog, not far from the Russian village of Markova. He and his wife, dragging behind them a sledge with their boy, and with a few belongings, went there afoot. The Russians, however, gave them so little food that after a few days the father died. The boy and his mother lived on, but were nearly starved, when their relatives came to fetch them to their camp. After that they suffered severely for several successive years. The boy hauled fuel on a sledge for the richer people, and was paid with a few small bits of meat or with putrid blood. The food was so scanty that he could not grow, and remained sickly and weak. Then he began to beat the drum and to call for the "spirits," and one by one he saw all the supernatural beings (va'irgit), and he made himself a shaman. The va'irgin of the Motionless Star came to him in a dream and said to him, "Cease to be such a weakling! Be a shaman and strong, and you will have plenty of food."

Soon he acquired some reindeer which took to breeding. At last he reached manhood, and then he married into a family which had a good-sized herd. When his father-in-law died, he became the head of the family, his wife being the eldest of the children of the deceased one. He was no longer an orphan, and the herd at his disposal grew to be "awkward to count." I saw the herd in question, and it did not number more than twenty scores (qlik-qli'kkin); but, as has been said before, this number is about the limit of the Chukchee knowledge of counting. {Compare p. 50.}

Another man, Ye'tilm by name, who belonged by birth to an Arctic Maritime village, but afterward married into a reindeer-breeding family on the Dry And River, and joined its camp, told me that in his early childhood his family perished from a contagious disease (probably influenza), and he was left alone with his small sister. Then he called to the "spirits." They came and brought food, and said to him, "Ye'tilin, take to beating the drum! we will assist you in that also."

When I saw Ye'tilin, he was a man of fifty, but the recalling of those early memories so worked upon his excitable nature, that he jumped up and chanted his recital to one of his favorite tunes. As a shaman he had much renown in the vicinity, and was generally called by the name the Russians gave him to designate his special art and calling. This name was Shamanchik (Шаманчикъ, "Little Shaman").

In the same way a number of Chukchee tales tell of young orphans, despised and oppressed by all their neighbors, who call to the "spirits," and with their assistance become strong men and powerful shamans.

The single means used by the Chukchee shamans, novice or experienced, for communication with "spirits," is the beating of the drum and singing. As said before, the usual family drum is employed with a drum-stick of whalebone, while a wooden drum-stick is used chiefly in ceremonials. Some drums have two whalebone drum-sticks, of which the extra one is supposed to be intended for the use of "spirits," when they approach and want to "shake themselves;" that is, to beat the drum.

The beating of the drum, notwithstanding its seeming simplicity, requires some skill, and the novice must spend considerable time before he can acquire the desired degree of perfection. This has reference especially to the power of endurance of the performer. The same may be said of the singing. The manifestations continue for several hours, during all which time the shaman exercises the most violent activity without scarcely a pause. After the performance he must not show any signs of fatigue, because he is supposed to be sustained by the "spirits;" and, moreover, the greater part of the exercise is asserted to be the work of the "spirits" themselves, either while entering his body, or while outside his body. The degree of endurance required for all this, and the ability to pass quickly from the highest excitement to a state of normal quietude, can, of course, be acquired only by long practice. Indeed, all the shamans I conversed with said that they had to spend a year, or even two years, before sufficient strength of hand, and freedom of voice, were given to them by the "spirits." Some asserted that during all this preparatory time they kept closely to the inner room, taking up the drum several times a day, and beating it as long as their strength would allow.

The only other means of training for inspiration, of which I am aware, is abstention from all fat and rich foods, as well as great moderation in eating. The same strictness is observed ever afterwards in the preparation for each individual performance, in which the shaman tries to abstain wholly from food.

Various tricks performed by the Chukchee shamans, including ventriloquism, have to be learned in the preparatory stage. However, I could obtain no detailed information on this point, since the shamans, of course, asserted that the tricks were done by "spirits," and denied having any hand whatever in proceedings of such a character.

In some cases, evidently, the old men have taught the younger generation, who are said to have received their power from them. The transfer is final, and cannot be revoked. The man who gives a part of his power to another man loses correspondingly, and can hardly recover the loss afterwards. To transfer his power, the older shaman must blow on the eyes or into the mouth of the recipient, or he may stab himself with a knife, with the blade of which, still reeking with his "source of life" (tetke'yuñ), he will immediately pierce the body of the recipient. These methods are also supposed to be used by shamans in the treatment of their patients.

Most of the shamans I knew claimed to have had no teachers, but to have acquired their art by their own individual efforts. I am not aware of a single instance of the transfer of shamanistic power in the whole domain of Chukchee folk-lore. Among the Eskimo, I met women who had learned their shamanistic performances from their husbands, and children who had been taught by their parents. In one family on St. Lawrence Island, the shamanistic power has been retained for a succession of generations, evidently having been transferred from father to son. This is connected with the more complicated performances which pertain to Eskimo shamanism, and of which I shall speak at another place.

Psychology of the Shamans. -- I have already said that most of the Chukchee shamans are very nervous, highly excitable persons, often almost on the verge of insanity. To make this statement clearer, I will try to give instances of this in more detail.

A shaman from the Telka'p tundra, by name Kele'wgi ("Ke'lE-man"), with whom I made acquaintance in the Mariinsky Post, had, even among the Russians, the reputation of an odd customer, of one who seeks a quarrel on the slightest provocation. Once he came to a Russian cossack, bringing a couple of half hairless reindeer-skins, and peremptorily demanded to be paid for them a price quite out of proportion to the real value of even the best skins ot that kind. On the refusal of the cossack, he instantly drew his knife, intending to strike, but happily the cossack turned aside the blow with a stick. Immediately afterwards the too exacting trader was turned out of the barracks where this incident had taken place.

Shortly after my arrival, Kele'wgi came to me and declared his intention of giving me valuable material in relation to the abode of "spirits" and their ways with men. His accounts, however, were too incoherent and contradictory to be of any great value. Among other things, he gave me his biography. He was a grandson of a great shaman, Tilu'u, long since deceased. When he was still quite a young lad, a voice said to him, "Go into the wilderness: there you will find a tiny drum. Try it and prove its qualities." He found the drum and began to exercise on it. Then he saw all the world, -- both shores of the Anadyr River and the whole tundra. After that, he ascended to the sky and pitched his tent on the ground of the clouds. From that time on, he took to the practice of shamanism. Soon he equalled his grandfather in power, and then surpassed him.

All this was evidently borrowed from various tales and incantations. For instance, a tiny drum made of the skin of a beetle, or even of a small louse, figures in several stories, Chukchee and Koryak. When found in the wilderness, and shown to be of a supernatural kind, it gives to its possessor immense shamanistic power. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 211.} The same may also be said about the ground of the clouds. {Compare p. 331.}

Kele'wgi professed to be so sure of the great value of his information and of the corresponding high pay he should receive for it, that he brought to the fair nothing but this treasure of his mind. For all the provisions and wares he wished to take to his home, he relied wholly on my generosity and my common sense. After that I had trouble with Kele'wgi for several months, because no pay seemed to him adequate for the sacrifice of his knowledge.

The shaman Scratching-Woman manifested symptoms of a nature even more excitable. He could not sit long in one place, but every little while he would jump up with violent gestures. At one time he came to me with complaints of a pain he felt "somewhere inside his back," and I tried to help him with a cataplasm. He proved, however, quite unable to endure the burning, and began to shout that the fire of Russian shamanism was consuming his whole body: so I had to remove the poultice. Two other Chuk-chee who came at the same time with rheumatic complaints, and were treated in a similar way, declared only that they felt warm, as in a Russian sweat-bath, and requested the application of an extra cataplasm.

Notwithstanding his youth, Scratching-Woman had already quarreled with many neighbors of his own age, and had generally been worsted, because he had no peculiar strength or skill at wrestling. His temper was exceedingly bad when under the influence of liquor, however slightly. Once, when we were sitting in my house and he was on the point of beginning a narrative about his "spirits," another acquaintance of mine and a distant relative of his, by name Giyewte'hin, entered unexpectedly. We saw that he had been drinking, having procured the liquor, probably, from a Russian schooner then at anchor in the bay near Mariinsky Post. Giyewte'hin declared that he felt, lonely, and he also would listen to the words of the shaman.

Now, Scratching-Woman was exceedly "bashful," the more so as the subject of our talk was concerning his ideas about the "spirits." Up to this time, when acting in the presence of spectators, he had given no explanation of his actions or of their significance: therefore he was averse to having another listener, particularly from his own people. An altercation ensued, and Giyewte'hm threatened to "count the ribs" of Scratching-Woman, should he ever again come to his camp. The shaman scowled, and answered with a broad allusion to the "spirits" at his command. At last Giyewte'hin declared that he was ready to go if I would treat him to some alcohol. This, of course, had been his sole purpose from the beginning. Seeing that the shaman was trembling from excitement, and was on the point of pitching into his adversary, I hastened to quiet Giyewte'hm and to send him from the house. There could be no question whether to use violence or persuasion, since he unhesitatingly declared that, rather than go away without his allowance of liquor, he would permit himself to be killed, and I gave him full credit for the sincerity of his words. {The passion of this man for strong liquor was something extraordinary, even among the Chukchee. He even attempted to steal our bottles in which mice and small birds were preserved, though I made him believe that the alcohol in them was poisoned. He would say with great earnestness, "Mice be...! Better take me, and immerse me in alcohol in a similar manner. Let me be drowned in strong liquor."} When at last he was off with his large green bottle, which now contained two ounces of undiluted alcohol, Scratching-Woman picked a quarrel with me.

"See now," said he, "how foolish I am! Other people receive the precious liquor in my very presence, but you give none to me." There was nothing else to be done but to offer him also a drink of alcohol. To my great surprise he was silent for a while, and then suddenly refused the treat. This was to my knowledge the first instance of a Chukchee refusing a drink of liquor.

"See now," said Scratching-Worn an by way of explanation, "I will be frank with you. Drink really makes my temper too bad for anything. Usually my wife watches over me, and puts all knives out of my reach. But when we are apart, I am afraid." With this he showed me a long scar on his shoulder, which he said was the result of a drunken brawl when his wife could not watch over his actions. Only those who know the strength ot the passion the Chukchee have for alcohol will appreciate the force of will shown by the shaman in this case, or will realize the danger.

This is only one incident characteristic of Scratching-Woman. By the way, the threats interchanged between Qiyewte'hm and himself did not amount to much, and were forgotten the next morning.

The shaman Ye'tilin, before mentioned, had an incessant nervous twitching in his face, and the Chukchee said laughingly that he was probably "with an owl ke'lE" (tile'3kele'lin), comparing his affliction to the jerking motion of the owl's head when it devours its prey. Another shaman, by name Ki'miqäi, whom I met on the Large Anui, and who belonged to a family of suicides, suffered from the same cause. {Compare p. 47.}

I have before spoken of the female shaman Te'lpifia, who, according to her own words, had been violently insane for three years, during which time her household had taken such precautions, that she could do no harm to the people or to herself.

In contrast to all this was the shaman Kora'whe, whom I met in the Anui country. He was a good-looking, well-proportioned man of rather quiet manners, though an ill-advised word might throw him into intense excitement. He excelled in shamanistic devices which apparently required great physical strength and dexterity. At the same time, however, he declared that he did not consider himself a shaman of a high order, and that his relations with the "spirits" must not be taken very seriously. To explain this he said that when he was young he suffered severely from syphilis. To heal himself, he had recourse to spirits, and after two years, when he had become skilful in shamanistic practices, he was completely restored by their help. After that he maintained intercourse with the ke'let for several years, and was on the point of becoming a really great shaman. Then suddenly his luck was gone.

One of his dogs bore two black pups; and when*he saw them both sitting side by side on their haunches, looking into his face, he took it as a sign that the time had come for him to withdraw from shamanistic practices. He suffered a relapse of his illness, and his herd was visited by hoof-disease. Fearing that worse things might happen, he dropped all serious pursuits of shamanism, and practised only the tricks, which were completely harmless. As far as I could learn, he had been a magician employing especially the powers of evil, or practising the black art; and after the return of his disease, he abandoned those practices, considering them detrimental to his health and well-being.

There can be no doubt, of course, that shamans, during their performances, employ deceit in various forms, and that they themselves are fully cognizant of the fact. "There are many liars in our calling," Scratching-Woman said to me. "One will lift up the skins of the sleeping-room with his right toe, and then assure you that it was done by 'spirits'; another will talk into the bosom of his shirt or through his sleeve, making the voice issue from a quite unusual place."

Of course, he was ready to swear that he never made use of any of these wrong practices. "Look at my face," he continued; "he who tells lies, his tongue stutters. He whose speech, however, flows offhand from his lips, certainly must speak the truth." This was a rather doubtful argument, but I refrained from making any such suggestion.

Some of the people even are aware of the deceit of the shamans. Several men, when talking of shamanistic feats, said that, though the tricks performed were very wonderful, they were by no means real, but were produced only through illusion on the part of the observers. Others went even further. Thus, the trader Kuva'r at Indian Point, of whom I have spoken several times, assured me that even the most renowned shamans are only clever deceivers. "When I witness their best trick," he asserted, "even then, with proper attention, I can discover the fraud. He [the shaman] will pretend to cut with a knife the abdomen of the patient; but I can follow the direction of the knife, and see that it glances off without hurting the skin, and that the blood comes from the mouth of the operator."

This scepticism, perhaps, is the result of intercourse with civilized people. With some of the shamans, fraud is not restricted to jugglery. We caught Scratching-Woman in the very act of stealing our washing from the line. The woman who, during our stay at Indian Point, was caught thieving, {Compare p. 48.} was also a shaman.

However, in giving directions and answers to persons seeking advice, Chukchee shamans often display much wisdom and circumspection, especially when they have to deal with matters out of the reach of their knowledge and understanding. This is the case when the inquirer is of a different stage of culture; for instance, with Russian officials or merchants, who sometimes do not despise the help of the native "spirits." Thus the assistant of the chief official of Anadyr asked Scratching-Woman, during a shamanistic seance, whether his Second Interior Loan bond, with prizes, would draw a lucky number in the yearly lottery. It was no little trouble to explain to the shaman what was meant by "an Interior Loan bond;" but, when he understood it, he immediately answered that he saw that the foundations of the wealth of the questioner, which were in his own country, were going to increase. To a cossack who wanted to know whether the yearly mail steamer would bring him a furlough, the shaman answered, "The big boat brings change and joy to all people in this country." I could cite other answers not less worthy of the oracle of Delphi. To my own questions of this kind, the shamans usually answered that my country was too far away, and the feet of their ke'let too small, to go there. Furthermore, the ke'let are too shy of the manners of the unknown dwellers in those distant localities. I saw similar circumspection displayed also in regard to the native questions. A shaman of the interior refused to give advice about the maritime pursuits of the people of the coast, explaining that his "spirits" were good only for walking upon the land, and that they were afraid of the sea.

Classes of Shamanism: -- The Chukchee divide all acts of shamanism into three categories, more or less distinct, though merging into each other. Under the first category comes "communication with the spirits" (kalatko'urgm). This includes all kinds of intercourse'with the "spirits" which becomes apparent to the listeners; that is, the voices of "spirits" talking through the medium of the shaman, ventriloquistic performances, {Ventriloquism plays an important part in the shamanistic performances of other tribes of the same region. David Crantz tells of it among the shamans of the Greenland Eskimo (D. Crantz, History of Greenland, English translation, 1820, I. p. 195).} and other tricks, -- generally speaking, the whole spectacular part of shamanism, which forms the main content of the shamanistic seances. As said previously, all this is often considered only as a kind of jugglery. For performances of this sort, young people are said to be better adapted than older ones. With increasing years, some of the shamans discontinue most of these tricks.

Constituting the second category is what is known as "looking into" (hêtola'tirgin). This branch of Chukchee shamanism is held in the highest veneration, because the shaman possessing it has the faculty of seeing the danger lying in wait for the people, or the good in store for them, and accordingly he is able to advise them how to avoid the first and to secure the second. Most of the instructions given are of a ritualistic kind, and refer to certain details of such and such a ceremonial, which must be arranged in a certain manner in order to secure the desired result. The directions are usually given by the "spirits" in the second part of the shamanistic performance, which may be called "magical."

There are, however, as I said before, many shamans, though they have many ke'let at their disposal, whose predictions are wrong, and their advice worse than useless, and there are those even to whom the aid of conjury and divination is wholly denied. On the other hand, there are shamans who claim very little outward communication with the "spirits," but give magical advice as a kind of internal, subjective inspiration, after self-communion for a few moments. These, notwithstanding the simplicity of their proceedings, usually enjoy the highest consideration of their neighbors.

For instance, one shaman, by name Galmu'urgin, whom I met in the Anui country, declined to talk openly with "spirits," and nothing was known about his connection with them. The Chukchee said that he was "[with] only his [own] body" (em-uvi'kilin); that is, that no other beings were seen to assist him in his actions. When giving a seance, he began by beating the drum and singing; but in a few minutes he would leave off the exercise, and drawing a few long, almost hysterical breaths, would immediately proceed to foretell the future. He talked to many people present, one by one. When he was through with one case, he would stop for a while, as if recollecting himself, and then, after several deep-drawn sighs, would pass on to the next applicant.

The third category embraces the "producing of incantations" (êwganva'-tirgin), which includes the more complicated practices of shamanism. The incantations, together with the spells, form the greater part of Chukchee magic, to which I shall devote a special chapter.

There are incantations both of a benevolent and malevolent character. The Chukchee have some idea of the difference between "well-minded" (teñ-či'mñulm) shamans, who ply their art in order to help the sufferers, and "mischievous" (kurg-eñe'ñilit or ku'ñičh-eñe'ñilit, literally "mocking shamans") shamans, who are bent on doing harm to people.

For instance, in a statement by a female shaman, Te'lpiñä, she says, speaking of herself in the third person, "On her way the old women with many spells come to her, invisible to the others, and offer her their spells one by one. She sees in her dreams the quality of the gifts. Some of them she rejects, saying, 'These are too evil-minded.' The others, which are benevolent, she deigns to accept." {See Bogoias, Chukchee Materials, p. 381.}

On a sketch previously given, {See Fig. 212, p. 301.} good and bad shamanism are represented as two shamanistic coats, red and black, the choice of which is offered to a shaman by a deity. I have also referred to a shamanistic plank of Yukaghir provenience, {See Fig. 233, p. 327.} one half of which was dyed red and the other half black, to designate good and bad shamanism.

The shamans, however, combine in varying degrees all. these categories of Chukchee shamanism; that is, they converse with spirits, and make them play various tricks before the spectators; then they make the spirits answer the questions and give the necessary directions. If need be, they pronounce incantations, and perform other magical acts. They also perform the magical art in the treatment of various diseases.

Pay for Services of Shamans. -- It goes without saying that Chukchee shamans are paid for their services, and, besides, try. to get for them as much as possible. It is a common saying among them, that shamanistic advice or treatment, when given gratuitously, amounts to nothing. The "spirits" are too jealous of their power to spend it without pay, and they even become angry for such doings, both with the shaman and with his patients. {Compare p. 363.} Even when, prompted by friendship or compassion, the shaman does not ask for recompense, some symbolical remuneration must nevertheless be given to him to make his treatment more effective. This, for the most part, consists of a piece of sinew with a bead fastened to one end of it.

Usually the shamans and the "spirits" do not hesitate to express their full opinion about this matter. Once, at a shamanistic seance given by Scratching-Woman in my presence, a woman from a neighboring camp asked whether she might hope to have a child in the near future. The voice of a ke'lE who had already spoken a little before answered roughly, "I will not speak without fresh meat." The woman meekly promised to kill a reindeer. "Then we shall see," said the ke'lE.

The substance and the amount of the payment vary, of course, in different cases. Meat, thong, skins, garments, living reindeer, "alien food" of civilized origin, -- all are indiscriminately given by way of recompense for a shaman. In the tale of the Scabby Shaman, Mee'mhin pays for the services of the shaman with a large reindeer-herd of his possession, {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 207.} but I much doubt whether cases like that happen in actual life. A reindeer-breeder of the Omolon told me, however, that he paid a Lamut shaman who cured him of a severe illness three large bucks and some skins besides. Sometimes a man cured by a shaman has to give him in payment something that from personal motives he prizes exeedingly high; for instance, his own reindeer-team. This may be compared with a similar sacrifice to the "spirits." {Compare p. 46.} I have never met shamans, however, who could be said to live solely on the profits of their art: it had only been to them a source of additional income.

Preparation for Performance. -- As said before, preparation for each shamanistic performance is similar to the preparatory period of inspiration which is so painful to the novice shaman as to be considered almost a peculiar kind of sickness. In conformity to this, most of the shamans show marked nervousness before the commencement of the performance. If a shaman tries to decline an invitation to act, alleging his weak power and small skill in communicating with "spirits," when once his consent is given, he becomes impatient, and hurries his assistants and listeners. He wishes to begin and to be through as soon as possible.

I was told that the application of cold water to the head of a shaman in the very heat of his performance would suddenly bring his inspiration to an end. Therefore sometimes, during the ceremonials, if some performer is practising too long, or seems to be excited to a somewhat dangerous pitch, his neighbors may sprinkle him with water in order to bring him back to himself.

The performance itself is considered as a recovery from illness. The same shaman who was nervous before the performance regains after it his self-possession, and looks really as if he were braced up by some strong tonic. Even the physical fatigue is in most cases quite unnoticeable. "Why should I feel fatigued?" asked a Chukchee shaman in regard to this subject. "I do nothing. The 'spirits' make all the exertion." Accordingly, the former, constraint gives place to an exaggerated self-conceit, and even the most "bashful" of the young shamans are wont, after a performance, to magnify their own 'faculties and shamanistic powers. Every one of them is ready to offer a repetition of the seance, and, if taken at his word, will really again go through all the violence and madness. In some cases, especially in the matches between rival shamans, the performance will last for more than twenty-four hours, and finally the listeners will withdraw, perhaps, earlier than the actors.

Shamanistic Performance in the Inner Room. -- The typical shamanistic performance is carried out in the following manner. After the evening meal is finished and the kettles and trays are removed to the outer tent, all the people who wish to be present at the seance enter the inner room, which is carefully closed for the night. Among the Reindeer Chukchee, the inner room is especially small, and its narrow space causes much inconvenience to the audience, which is packed together in a tight and most uncomfortable manner. The Maritime Chukchee have more room, and may listen to the voices of the spirits with more ease and freedom. The shaman sits on the "master's place," near the back wall; and even in the most limited sleeping-room, some free space must be left around him. The drum is carefully looked over, its head tightened, and, if it is much shrunken, it is moistened with urine and hung up for a short time over the lamp to dry. The shaman sometimes occupies more than an hour in this process, before he is satisfied with the drum. To have more freedom in his movements, the shaman usually takes off his fur shirt, and remains quite naked down to the waist. He often removes also his shoes and stockings, which of course gives free play to his feet and toes.

In olden times, shamans used no stimulants; but at present they often smoke a pipeful of strong tobacco without admixture of wood, which certainly works like a strong narcotic. This habit is copied from the Tungus shamans, who make great use of unmixed tobacco as a powerful stimulant.

At last the light is put out and the shaman begins to operate. He beats the drum and sings his introductory tunes, at first in a low voice; then gradually his voice increases in volume, and soon it fills the small closed-up room with its violent clamor. The narrow walls resound in all directions.

Moreover, the shaman uses his drum for modifying his voice, now placing it directly before his mouth, now turning it at an oblique angle, and all the time beating it violently. After a few minutes, all this noise begins to work strangely on the listeners, who are crouching down, squeezed together in a most uncomfortable position. They begin to lose the power to locate the source of the sounds; and, almost without any effort of imagination, the song and the drum - seem to shift from corner to corner, or even to move about without having any definite place at all.

The shaman's songs have no words. Their music is mostly simple, and consists of one short phrase repeated again and again. After repeating it many times, the shaman breaks off, and utters a series of long-drawn, hysterical sighs, which sound something like "Ah, ya, ka, ya, ka, ya, ka!" After that, he comes back to his songs. For this he draws his breath as deep as possible in order to have more air in his lungs, and to make the first note the longest.

Some of the tunes, however, are more varied, and are not devoid of a certain grace. Not a few are improvised by the shaman on the spot; others are repeated from seance to seance. Each shaman has several songs of his own, which are well known to the people; so that if anybody uses one of them, for instance at a ceremonial, the listeners recognize it immediately, and say that such and such a man is using the particular song of such and such a shaman.

There is no definite order for the succession of the songs, and the shaman changes them at will, sometimes even returning to the first one after a considerable interval has elapsed. This introductory singing lasts from a quarter of an hour to half an hour or more, after which the ke'let make their first appearance.

The shaman sings all alone, and the auditors take no part in the performance. From time to time, however, some one of the listeners will cry out, "Hik, hik!" or "Hie, hie!" (interjection of wonder) or "Qai'vo" ("of course") or " Emno'lik" С certainly"), -- all of which are meant to express the full approbation by those present of the doings of the shaman. The Chukchee have a special word for these exclamations, -- o'čitkѳk ("to give answering calls"). Without an očitkѳ'lin (participle), a Chukchee shaman considers himself unable to perform his calling in a proper way; therefore novices, while trying to learn the shamanistic practices, unsually induce a brother or a sister to respond, thus encouraging the zeal of the performer. Some shamans also require those people who claim their advice or treatment to give them answering calls during the particular part of the performance which refers to their affairs. The story-tellers of the Chukchee also usually claim the assistance of their listeners, who must call out the same exclamations.

Among the Asiatic Eskimo, the wife and other members of the family form a kind of chorus, which from time to time catches up the tune and sings with the shaman. Among the Russianized Yukaghir of the lower Kolyma the wife is also the- assistant of her shaman husband, and during the performance she gives him encouraging answers, and he addresses her as his "supporting staff."

In most cases the ke'let begin by entering the body of the shaman. This is marked with some change in his manner of beating the drum, which becomes faster and more violent; but the chief mark is a series of new sounds, supposed to be peculiar to the ke'let. The shaman shakes his head violently, producing with his lips a peculiar chattering noise, not unlike a man who is shivering with cold. {Compare p. 374.} He shouts hysterically, and in a changed voice utters strange, prolonged shrieks, such as "O to, to, to, to," or "I pi, pi, pi, pi," -- all of which are supposed to characterize the voice of the ke'let. He often imitates the cries of various animals and birds which are supposed to be his particular assistants. If the shaman is only a "single-bodied" one, -- that is, has no ventriloquistic power, -- the ke'let will proceed to sing and beat the drum by means of his body. The only difference will be in the timbre of the voice, which will sound harsh and unnatural, as becomes supernatural beings.

Ventriloquism and Other Tricks. -- With other shamans the ke'let appear all at once as the "separate voices." They manifest themselves with sounds and shrieks of the same harsh and unnatural character, and these are located outside the body of the shaman. After that a varied exhibition begins, in which the performance of the shaman far transcends anything attainable by a person of ordinary powers.

The Chukchee ventriloquists display great skill, and could with credit to themselves carry on a contest with the best artists of the kind of civilized countries. The "separate voices" of their calling come from all sides of the room, changing their place to the complete illusion of their listeners. Some voices are at first faint, as if coming from afar; as they gradually approach, they increase in volume, and at last they rush into the room, pass through it and out, decreasing, and dying away in the remote distance. Other voices come from above, pass through the room and seem to go underground, where they are heard as if from the depths of the earth. Tricks of this kind are played also with the voices of animals and birds, and even with the howling of the tempest, producing a most weird effect.

I heard a voice which professed to be an echo. It repeated faithfully all sounds and cries which we chose to produce in its presence, including phrases in English or Russian. The foreign words were, of course, slightly mispronounced, still the reproduction proved the "spirit" to be possessed of a fine ear, catching quickly the sounds of an unknown language. The only way in which the "spirit" could imitate the clapping of our hands (another test to which we put him) was by clacking his tongue, which caused much mirth even among the native listeners. I heard also the "spirits" of a grasshopper, horsefly, and mosquito, who imitated exceedingly well the sounds produced by the real insects.

In proof of his accuracy as to the location of the sounds, the shaman Qora'wge, previously spoken of, made one of his "spirits" shout, talk, and whisper directly into my ear, and the illusion was so perfect that involuntarily I put my hand to my ear to catch the "spirit." After that he made the "spirit" enter the ground under me and talk right in between my legs, etc. All the time that he is conversing with the "separate voices," the shaman beats his drum without interruption in order to prove that his force and attention are otherwise occupied.

I tried to make a phonographic record of the "separate voices" of the "spirits." For this purpose I induced the shaman Scratching-Woman to give a seance in my own house, overcoming his reluctance with a few extra presents. The performance, of course, had to be carried out in utter darkness: and I arranged my machine so as to be able to work it without any light. Scratching-Worn an sat in the farthest corner of the spacious room, at a distance of twenty feet from me. When the light was put out, the "spirits," after some "bashful" hesitation, entered, in compliance with the demand of the shaman, and even began to talk into the funnel of the graphophone. The records show a very marked difference between the voice of the shaman himself, which sounds from afar, and the voices of the "spirits," who seemed to be talking directly into the funnel.

All the while, Scratching-Woman was beating the drum incessantly to show that he was in his usual place, and occupied with his usual function, that of beating the drum without interruption. He brought some of the entering "spirits" to my special notice. One was a fawn of a wild reindeer, found by him in the wilderness beside the carcass of its mother, which had been killed by a wolf. The fawn, when he found it, was trying to suck the carcass. The strange sight had evidently struck Scratching-Woman, and he took the fawn for one of his assisting ke'let. The "spirit" manifested his presence by characteristic short snorts, peculiar to the fawn when calling for its mother. Another "spirit" entered with a dismal howl. This was the wolf who killed the reindeer-dam.

Scratching-Woman explained that when he desired to wreak his vengeance on some one of his foes, he transformed himself into this wolf, taking care beforehand to turn the other party into a reindeer. Then, of course, he was quite certain of victory. The idea that shamans, in case of need, not only may send their "spirits" to a destined place, but also may turn themselves into any of their "spirits," and carry out their intentions, appears in many tales.

For instance, in the tale of the Shaman with Warts (Kuku'lpin), this shaman, during a shamanistic contest, asks his adversary, "Which ke'lE are you going to employ?" The other answers, "The small hawk." -- "And you?" -- "The great diver." Then they turn into these birds, and the contest begins. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 223.}

Those episodes of the tales in which men in distress have recourse to their animal amulets -- either reviving them and bidding them fight their enemies, or transforming themselves into their living likenesses -- are evidently quite analogous.

Still another of the ke'let introduced by Scratching-Woman was a raven, who cawed lustily. The shaman used him when working with magic medicine, because the raven could devour all germs of sickness and disease. Still another was a little mouse, who could travel very fast underground, and was employed on errands requiring haste.

There followed the leather bucket, which forms a part of a "bone-breaking set," and is used as a receptacle for pounded bones. {Compare p. 188. Fig. 105.} Once when Scratching-Woman was hunting wild reindeer, he succeeded in wounding a strong buck in the right fore-leg, but still he could not overtake it. Then he called for the Skin Bucket, bade it overtake the buck and entrap its head. After that the reindeer was easily caught.

After having entered the room and produced a few sounds, by way of making his presence known, the "spirit" usually offers to "try his breath;" that is, he beats the drum for a while, singing a tune in the special harsh voice peculiar to the "spirits." This, however, lasts only a short time, after which the "spirit" declares that his breath is ebbing away. Then he either begins to talk, or straightway takes his departure with characteristic quivering sounds somewhat similar to the buzzing of a fly. These sounds are called by the Chukchee "gibbering" (moomga'tirgm), and are always associated with the "spirits." The same name is applied to the chattering alluded to before. {See pp. 374, 435.}

Often the shaman declares to the "spirit" first entering, that the sound of his drum is bad, or even that the cover of it is broken, and this is corroborated by a few dull strokes. The "spirit" must then mend the drum by breathing upon it, which he does accordingly. This treatment is resorted to especially in cases of magic medicine. After the drum is mended, the shaman explains to the patient that it is a good sign. He says also, that, if the "spirit" were not able to mend the drum, it would forebode a bad turn in the disease.

I must again repeat that the animal "spirits" produce their own characteristic sounds. The walrus and the bear roar, the reindeer snorts, the wolt howls, the fox bays, the raven caws. The last three, however, are able to talk, but use a particular timbre of voice, and intersperse among their words, from time to time, their peculiar cries.

In most cases the ventriloquistic performance soon takes on a dramatic character. A number of "spirits" appear in succession. They talk to the shaman and to one another, pick quarrels, abuse and denounce one another. It is superfluous to add that only one voice may talk at a time, so that even the most lively dialogue consists of a series of interpolations following each other in succession. The talk of the "spirits" is often carried on in strange, quite unintelligible words, such as "papire kuri muri," etc. To make it understood, the shaman has to call for an interpreter, who from that time on takes part in all conversations, and also explains to the auditors the words of the other "spirits." Thus the shaman is supposed to be unable to understand the language of the "separate spirits."

The same idea obtains among other neighboring tribes. The most curious case of all is that of the shamans of the Russians and the Russianized natives of the Kolyma and the Anadyr, who know no other language than the Russian. The "spirits," however, even when speaking through the mouth of the shaman, employ only the usual unintelligible gibberish mixed with some distorted and mispronounced phrases in the Koryak, Yakut, and Yukaghir languages. After a while the shaman calls for an interpreter, and at last, after some controversy, the "spirits"' send for one who can speak Russian and who translates the orders of the "spirits."

The Chukchee shamans have no special language of their own, with the exception of a few words and expressions. Thus the drum is called a'3twet ("canoe"), which is an additional proof of the preponderance of maritime pursuits in the former life of the people. The idea of shamanistic ecstasy is expressed by the word an.ña'arkin ("he sinks"), which refers to the belief that the shaman, during the period of ecstasy, is able to visit other worlds, and especially that underground.

Among the northwestern branch of the Koryak, the "spirits" are said to use a special mode of pronunciation, similar to that used by the southeastern Koryak and the Chukchee. A few words are also said to be peculiar to them. Among the Asiatic Eskimo the "spirits" are said to have a special language. Many words of it were given to me by the shamans, and most of them are analogous to the "spirit" language known to various Eskimo tribes of America, both in Alaska and on the Atlantic side.

Tricks of various kinds break up the monotony of the performance, which may last for several hours. The "spirits" wi}l scratch from the outside at the walls of the sleeping-room, running around it in all directions, so that the clattering of their feet is quite audible. In contrast to this, the motion of the ke'let inside of the room produces but slight noise. The rustling of their flight is similar to the buzzing of a mosquito, and the rattling of their tiny feet as they run over the surface of the drum is hardly perceptible.

Often, however, a mischievous "spirit" suddenly tugs at the skin spread in the centre of the room with such force that things lying on it fly about in all directions. Therefore the housemates of the shaman usually take the precaution to remove kettles and dishes from the room. Sometimes an invisible hand seizes the whole sleeping-room by its top, and shakes it with wonderful strength, or even lifts it up high, letting in for a moment the twilight from the outer tent. This, of course, is possible only with the movable tent of the Reindeer people, where the sleeping-room is fastened none too firmly. Other invisible hands toss about lumps of snow, spill cold water and urine, and even throw blocks of wood, or stones, at the imminent risk of hurting some of the listeners.

All these things happened several times in my presence. The "spirits" would ask me, through the shamans, whether I really felt afraid; and, when I did not give a satisfactory answer, the "spirits" would try to increase my respect for them by such material manifestations. I must mention that the audience is strictly forbidden to make any attempts whatever to touch the "spirits." These latter highly resent any intrusion of this kind, and retaliate either on the shaman, whom they may kill on the spot, or on the trespassing listener, who runs the risk of having his head broken, or even a knife thrust through his ribs in the dark. I received warnings of this kind at almost every shamanistic performance. In some cases the shaman would lay a bare knife within his own reach as an additional warning against any infringement.

The size of the sleeping-room is so small that it is really wonderful how a shaman can keep up the illusion, even under cover of the dark and with the protection of his resentful "spirits." Many times I sat so near the performer that I could almost touch him with my outstretched hand, and the warning against too great inquisitiveness on my part was of course quite necessary.

All these tricks strangely resemble the doings of modern spiritualists, and without doubt they cannot be carried out without the help of human assistants.

Magical Advice. -- The second part of the shamanistic performance is of a magical character. To give a clearer idea of it, I will describe a few instances.

The shaman Tilu'wgi, of whom I shall speak again, after some preliminary intercourse with the "spirits," called a peculiar ke'lE of his, who said she was an old maid, living alone in her house, and she expressed apprehension lest we should laugh at her talk with the peculiar feminine pronunciation. After that, however, she proceeded to' give the magic instructions and explanations.

She told one of those present, Enmu'wgi by name, who had recently been vanquished in a wrestling-match, that his defeat was caused by the use of malignant incantations by his adversary, and she advised him to take the matter into his own hands.

This female "spirit" reproached one of my fellow-travellers, a great hunter, with ill treating those "walking afoot," which is the usual periphrasis for the bears. When he tried to defend himself, the female "spirit" reminded him of a hunting expedition, in which he took part about two months before, which was directed against a bear sleeping in its den. From the old Chukchee point of view, this certainly was a rather dangerous pursuit. {Compare p. 283.} In the end the "spirit" said that the man in question, because of his offences against those "walking afoot," was in danger of losing his powers of endurance in walking. To his question as to the means of warding off the danger, the female "spirit" answered that he must procure for himself the skin of the nose of a newly killed bear, and perform a thanksgiving ceremonial over it. That, probably, would appease those "walking afoot."

Afterward she told another listener that she saw that in the last autumn he had killed a wild reindeer-buck. Though this happened far away from his herd, he should have made a sacrifice to the buck, which he omitted to do: {In this he followed the usual custom, which does not require sacrifices to a wild reindeer killed far from the herd "by the exertions of the hunter" (compare p. 379). The shaman's advice represented a special prescription, which, if used in time, would ward off the oncoming bad luck.} therefore the following winter he was visited by bad luck, in that the wolves attacked his herd, and killed nine fat bucks. To check the recurrence of such a misfortune, it is necessary to take a small crotch of willow {Compare p. 342.} cut on the place of the attack by wolves, and perform over it the required ceremonial.

Galmu'urgin, the soothsaying shaman already spoken of, who gave a prescription at the very beginning of the seance, predicted in my presence to the master of the tent that the next fall many wild reindeer would come to his house. "One buck will stop on the right side of the entrance, and pluck at the grass, attracted by a certain doe of dark-gray hair. This attraction must be strengthened with a special incantation. The reindeer-buck, while standing there, must be killed with a bow, and the arrow to be used must have a flat rhomboid point. This will secure the successful killing of all the other wild reindeer."

After that the shaman recollected himself for a while, and addressed the brother of the master, who, with one companion, lived in a separate camp. This companion was married to one of his relatives. The shaman said that, before the fall, they would part company, nor would they look at each other with clear eyes; and, by the way, his prediction was fulfilled much earlier than the time designated.

To still another of the listeners he said that he feared lest the "bad beings" might conceive a desire to approach his house. By this he meant the "spirits of disease." In order to thwart their intentions, the man was told to go through some special preventive ceremonies during the celebration of the ceremonial of the antlers, which was then at hand. The ceremonies consisted in drawing several lines across the snow near the tent, and putting some small stones before the entrance. These were supposed to transform themselves into a large river, and high, inaccessible cliffs, on the route of the "bad beings."

In this way the usual shamanistic performance is carried on in the inner room, and with the light put out.

Trances. -- In other cases the shaman actually "sinks;" that is, after some most violent singing, and beating of the drum, he falls into a kind of trance, during which his body lies on the ground unconscious, while his soul visits "spirits" in their own world, and asks them for advice. Chukchee folk-lore is full of episodes referring to such shamanistic trances; but in real life they happen very rarely, especially in modern times, when shamans are so much less skilful than of old. Even the word an.ña'arkin ("to sink"), from the explanation of modern shamans, has reference simply to the immersion of the perfornier into the depths of shamanistic ecstasy without its literal fulfilment.

In folk-stories the shamans sink into the other worlds, chiefly for the purpose of finding one of the missing souls of a patient who claims their power for his treatment. In important cases, even at the present day, the shamans, when treating a well-to-do patient, will at least pretend to have sunk into the required unconsciousness. On one or two occasions I had an opportunity of witnessing such a state, but the whole performance was of a rather poor kind.

It began, as usual, in the dark; but when the shaman suddenly broke off beating the drum, the lamp was again lighted and the face of the shaman immediately covered with a piece of cloth. The mistress of the house, who was the wife of the shaman, took up the drum and began to beat it with light, slow strokes. This lasted the entire time that the shaman lay under the cloth, or about a quarter of an hour. Then he suddenly awoke, and, removing the cloth from his face, sat up in his place, took the drum from his wife, beat it for a while, and sang a few tunes as in the beginning. After that he began to give the patient magical advice regarding his illnessr which, however, was nothing else than an elaborate incantation in dramatized form, like those of which I shall speak in the next chapter.

Shamanistic Performance in the Outer Room. -- As we have seen, the performances in the outer tent take place only at the time of ceremonials. The acts of the shamans do not differ essentially from those of the other people, except that their drumming is more violent and the tunes of their songs more complex and varied.

The Chukchee shamans do not practise the ventriloquistic art in the outer tent in daylight. I did indeed hear one or two shamans boast of their ability to call "separate voices" in the outer tent, and that some of these voices talked to them out of the fire of the hearth; but they were never able to make good these pretensions. One shaman, since dead, was said to have performed such a feat-; but the "separate voices" of his calling were heard all the time very near to his knees, and he had even to stoop down to talk with them. The hearth, however, is considered to be a fit entrance for ke'let. In Koryak tales the ka'mak (evil spirit) comes into the house out of the fire of the hearth: {See Vol. VI, Jochels'dn, The Koryak, p. 140} therefore the hearth is surrounded with a circle of stones, which are supposed also by the Chukchee to keep off the ke'let. When a ke'lE wants to enter, the stones turn into inaccessible mountains, and enclose the fire as a small world apart.

The "spirits" called by the shamans during the ceremonials in the outer tent can manifest themselves only through the body of the shaman, who in due time begins to utter the same gibbering noises and hysterical cries that have already been described. The shamans also imitate the voices of animals and birds, stamp the ground with their feet, and jump about violently, foaming at the mouth, and even breaking such things as may come within reach of their hands. A shaman whose body is entered by a ke'lE loses the faculty of human speech, and may express his wishes either by gestures or by gibbering unintelligible noises. When the ke'lE is an animal, the shaman tries to act accordingly. He crawls on all-fours, grunting, and gnashing his teeth. I was told several times that some of the shamans even put on a bear or a wolf skin, taken off with the claws and the skull. {Compare p. 384.}

Sometimes a ke'lE who entered the body of a shaman on the day of the ceremonial is bent on mischief, and, among other things, seeks to destroy the life which is under his temporary power.

Among the Reindeer Chukchee on the Wolverene River 1 knew a man by the name of Aki'mUke ("Marrowless"), who gave himself out as a shaman, though the people usually did not pay much attention to his claim. At the times of ceremonials, Aki'mlAke would pretend that a ke'lE had entered his body and was bent on destroying his life. He would usually spend a part of his time crawling about in search of a knife. The women of his house, however, well aware of this holy-day custom of his^ usually took care to conceal all knives and other sharp weapons. Once, at a thanksgiving ceremonial at which I was present, he began his usual search, and came to me, among others, explaining with signs his desire for a knife, in order to be able to destroy himself. The "spirit" who possessed his body could not speak' the human language. I really had a knife on my belt; and a Russian cossack who sat; next me proposed laughingly that I give it to Aki'mlAkê. Hearing this, the women of the; house raised a frightened cry. Aki'mlAkê, however, who doubtless was stung by the taunt implied in the words of the cossack, suddenly picked up from the ground a long, sharp-pointed chip of wood, and, baring his abdomen, put one end of the stick on his body, and the other against my breast. Then he made a thrust forward with the whole weight of his heavy body. The chip, of course, was snapped in two. One end flew up and hit me on the brow very near to the left eye, leaving an ugly gash. The other end cut a deep scratch entirely across the abdomen of Aki'mlAkê. I wonder that it had not been driven in. All this was done so quick that nobody had time to interfere.

Aki'mlAkê with much coolness picked up a handful of snow, and, wiping off the blood from his abdomen, quietly went to another tent. In half an hour, when he was no longer thirsting for blood, I asked him about his actions; but he disclaimed all knowledge, and expressed the utmost wonder when showed the bloody scratch ononis own abdomen.

This incident is quite characteristic of the shamans of all primitive people, because it represents a blending of ecstatic excitement with daring and Cool deceit, which is able to lead them to quite unexpected actions.

We have already mentioned {Compare p. 385.} that in the thanksgiving ceremonial, as in many others, the day performance in the outer tent, with its special incidents, ends during the night-time in the inner room, with the usual shamanistic seance, which lasts frequently until broad daylight. Whenever several shamans are present, a contest takes place in both the outer and the inner tent. The shamans' present must show their ability one by one, and in the end they receive presents from the host, according to their apparent skill and presumed power.

Chukchee folk-lore is full of detailed descriptions of such contests, and even of extemporaneous matches to which two men of power invite each other, and which are said to last often for several months.

Incidents of a similar kind are numerous also in the folk-lore of the Russianized natives. The details of all these stories, however, are mostly of a fabulous character. Those shamanistic contests which I had an opportunity of witnessing did not differ from the usual seance, with the single exception that there were several participants in the contest, who took their turn one after the other.

Tricks performed in the Light. -- Besides those tricks described above as being carried out in the dark, various others are performed by shamans in the light, either in the sleeping-room or in the outer tent, and even in the daytime. Some are done clumsily enough; others, on the contrary, display wonderful skill, which would do credit to a prestidigitateur of the first rank in civilized countries. I must mention, moreover, that I had no chance of meeting a shaman of the first rank, -- a man of such ability that, in the words of the Chukchee, "his renown would fully equal that of the ancient people," because shamans like that are not to be met with every day in modern times.

One Eskimo shaman of Uni'sak at Indian Point enjoyed a great reputation in the surrounding country; and his neighbors, desirous of explaining to me his great strength, said that he was like a ke'lE, and that they were afraid of him, as we Russians are afraid of the Sun Chief (Czar). {Compare p. 292.} To my regret he died a year before I reached Indian Point. Mr. Gondatti certainly had an opportunity of meeting him, though he does not mention him in his papers. I met only his wife, U'pune, who acknowledged that she had acquired only a small part of his great art. Some of the feats effected by her were, however, quite wonderful. For instance, while we were sitting in the inner room of her house, with the lamps burning, she took the drum, and, after practising on it for a little while, passed over to the characteristic cries and violent motions ascribed to the ke'let, thus conveying to us that one of them had entered her body.

After that she took a large round pebble of the size of a man's fist, set it upon the drum, and, blowing upon it from all sides, began to mumble and snort in the same ke'lE-like manner. She called our attention with signs, -- being in the possession of the ke'lE, she had lost the faculty of human speech, and then began to wring the pebble with both hands. Then a continuous row of very small pebbles began to fall from her hands. This lasted for fully five minutes, till quite a heap of small pebbles was gathered below, on the skin. The larger pebble, however, remained smooth and intact, as was quite natural that it should be.

I sat quite close to the juggler, and followed attentively all her movements, and I could not discover where all these pebbles came from. She wore the usual combination-suit of women of that country, but the broad waist was thrown open together with the sleeves; and all the upper part of her body, including arms and hands, was quite naked, and accessible to inspection. After a few moments I suddenly requested U'pune to repeat the trick, meaning to try if I could not catch her unawares; but she immediately took up her stone, and without more ado wrung out of it a stream of small pebbles still larger than the first.

Another of her tricks referred to the special methods used by shamans in their magic medicine. They pretend to be able to rip up with the knife the abdomen of a patient, in order to find and remove the cause of suffering. To show her skill in this respect, U'pune told her son, a boy of fourteen, to strip completely and lie down on the ground with his abdomen upward. Then, after some performance with the drum, she took a knife, and, placing the point between the first two fingers of her left hand, she put it on the top of the boy's stomach, and pretended to rip up the abdomen, holding the knife by the handle with her right hand, and guiding the point all the time with the fingers of her left. It certainly looked as if the flesh was really cut open. On both sides, from under the fingers of U'pune, flowed little streams of red blood, quickly increasing, and trickling down to the ground. The boy lay motionless; but once or twice he moaned feebly, and complained that the knife had touched his entrails.

At last the performer removed her hands, and we saw on the abdomen of the patient a fresh wound filled with blood. U'pune, however, gave us very little time to look at the wound. She pretended to insert both her thumbs far into it, which made it look still more natural. All the time she mumbled frantically, shaking her head, which she held quite close to the patient's body. At last she pressed her face close to the wound, and began to lick it swiftly, grunting something which was intended to represent incantations in the ke'lE's manner of speaking. After some moments she lifted her head, and we saw the boy's body quite sound and whole, just as it was before the operation. To the best of my comprehension, this trick was carried out in the following manner: --

During the operation, U'pune several times gave us to understand that she felt hot, and then her daughter would bring her a lump of snow from the big kettle, where quantities of snow and ice -were melting for the daily supply of water. It is quite usual for all the inhabitants of those countries to swallow snow and ice when feeling hot. Some of the lumps, however, must have contained fresh-frozen seal-blood coated with snow. A supply of seal-blood was at that time in every native house, because the seal-catch was going on. Of course, the snow and the blood melted in the mouth of the performer, who could have let out the latter on the abdomen of the patient, quite unperceived by the lookers-on. The boy was emaciated, and I noticed that his skin lay in folds over all the joints of his body. He had probably been trained, by the proper exercise of his muscles, to form the skin of his abdomen into a vertical fold, which, when filled with the seal-blood from U'pune's mouth, looked exactly like a fresh wound. The children of U'pune acted as her assistants, and must have had special training for helping her in the performance of these tricks.

Two or three times I saw Chukchee shamans perform similar tricks on their own bodies, but of a more simple kind. For instance, a shaman would pretend to thrust a knife through his own breast. This, however, he did with his fur shirt on, and of course the knife had abundant room to slide under his arm between the ample folds of the fur garment.

Scratching-Woman, however, offered to stab himself on the bare body. For this purpose he obliged me to give him a new knife, which, after the feast, was to become his property and to be used in magic medicine. The knife must be keen-edged and sharp-pointed. Then Scratching-Woman started beating the drum, in order, according to his explanation, to "heat" the knife and to warm his body to a degree at which stabbing becomes harmless. He explained naively that the performance with the shirt on might be executed without "heating" the knife. The women of his household, however, protested violently all the time against the performance. They even reproached me with wanting to shorten the shaman's life, because, according to their words, feats like this, even when ending without immediate harm, are nevertheless highly destructive to the vital forces of the shaman.

At last, when Scratching-Woman was almost ready to proceed with his experiment, and beat the drum for the last time, there suddenly appeared on the scene a "separate voice," which claimed to belong to a female "spirit" among the acquaintances of Scratching-Woman. This new party declared that Scratching-Woman, conformably to a promise given a year ago, owed her a sacrifice of a reindeer, and she requested her due, forbidding the performance of any shamanistic feats till after the liquidation of the debt.

Since it was summer-time, and the herds were away from the houses and would join them only in the fall, the interdiction by the female "spirit" put the whole matter of stabbing out of the question. Scratching-Woman, however, did not wish me to think he was merely boasting of his exploits, and, to prove his veracity, he showed me two deep scars on his abdomen, one of which, he asserted, was produced by the knife, and the other by a bullet from a rifle in a tour de force like those described.

In tales and other relations of a similar kind, the exploit of stabbing one's self with a knife is one of the most common achievements of the shamanistic art, and it is so generally practised that the spectators are said to ascribe little importance to it. A wooden imitation of a knife is said to be often used, which evidently makes the simulation still more apparent. Thus the account of a family feud {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 32; compare also p. 418.} makes mention of a young shaman-girl, a "woman able to stab herself" with impunity. This ability, however, did not prevent her being murdered.

A tale collected among the Chukchee of the Anui mentions two rival wives of one man. One of them, who had been driven from her home, succeeded in going back with many rich peltries obtained by supernatural aid and by the protection of a great black bear. The other was skilful in stabbing herself with a wooden knife. But, on seeing the peltries, nobody would even look at the tricks of the shaman-woman, and she, in her turn, was expelled. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 257.}

Similar practices existed among the Yukaghir. Thus, for instance, in the village Pyatistennoye I found, together with the wooden painted plank before mentioned, {Compare pp 326, 327.} drums, shamanistic dress, and other appurtenances of the shamanistic practice. Among other things was an old wooden knife covered with dark spots, which were said by the natives to be the shaman's blood, which flowed down when he stabbed himself through the abdomen.

Krasheninnikoff describes a Kamchadal shaman, who likewise stabbed himself with a knife while having the fur shirt on, and then drew from under its cover handfuls of blood, which he swallowed. {Krasheninnikoff, II. p. 158.}

Sarytcheff tells the same of a Yakut shaman, who not only stabbed himself through the abdomen, but even ordered his assistant to drive in the knife with a log up to the handle. After that the shaman came to the hearth, took three burning coals, and swallowed them with much composure and without any visible pain. {Sarytcheff, Voyage, I, p. 30.}

To describe any considerable number of tricks carried out by the shamans, both Chukchee and Eskimo, would require too much space. U'pune, for instance, pretended to draw a cord through her body, passing it from one spot to another. Then suddenly she drew it out, and immediately afterward pretended to cut in two with it the bodies of several of her children, who sat in front of her. These and other tricks resemble to a surprising degree the feats of jugglers all over the world. Before each performance, U'pune would even open her hands, in the graceful manner of a professor of magic, to show us that she had nothing in them.

It was said that her deceased husband had been able to wander underground with his drum and all, that is, to "sink" in a quite literal manner. During a seance in the dark, .he would require two of his neighbors to put their hands upon his head, then he would gradually sink into the earth until they lost the last touch of his hair. After a while, some one would be-heard rapping at the outer entrance of the house, some twenty feet from the inner room. When the entrance was opened, the shaman would appear, quite naked, with the drum in his' hand.

At first, on hearing this account, I was disposed to ascribe it to the imagination of my Eskimo friends; .but, after having seen the legerdemain practised by U'pune and her children, I came to the conclusion that the words of my Eskimo informants might have been nearer to the truth than I supposed. Indeed, the house of the shaman could have had an underground passage similar to the cellars which are # sometimes dug under the houses and tents, and the shaman might have passed through it to the outside.

In a manuscript diary tor the year 1898, by Mr. W. F. Dody, missionary on St. Lawrence Island, I found a rather curious description of a similar kind of legerdemain, in which Mr. Dody took an active part, so far as to keep his hands on the head of the performer. Mr. Dody says that the head of the shaman really began to move downward; but he ascribes this to a change in the position of the shaman, which he adroitly executed in the dark.

While I was on St. Lawrence Island, I witnessed a performance by the same shaman. His name was Assu'narak, and he belonged to a family renowned for shamanistic skill through several generations. Among other tricks, he made me throw a skin coverlet over his bare shoulders while he kept his arms tightly crossed over his breast. This was done by the full light of the lamp. The coverlet immediately stuck fast to his back, while I held it by the free ends. The shaman was able, notwithstanding my resistance, to haul me into the outer room of the house. He said, however, that he was no longer able to sink into the ground, because, according to his words, "this is not a time for great shamanistic acts."

The trick of undoing the hands tied up with a cord is said to be common among shamans, but all the performances I witnessed were rather clumsy, and the leather line used for the purpose seemed to be capable of extension. Such tricks were performed in the inner room, in total darkness, as an extra feat after the regular seance.

The pretence of suicide is carried out with a rifle, or even with a rope, which is wound around the shaman's neck, and the ends of which are drawn tight by two of the spectators present. The shaman, of course, remains safe all the while. Of these last-mentioned tricks I can speak only by hearsay, as I never witnessed any of them.

I have gone at length into the preceding details in order to show that the shamanism of the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo, though still in a primitive stage of development, comprises, nevertheless, a number of complicated tricks performed with the help of assistants. All of these have developed more or less independently of foreign influence, although they present such striking resemblance to the feats performed by the sorcerers and magicians of so many other peoples.

Sexual Perversion and Transformed Shamans. -- A separate branch of Chukchee shamanism, dealing with the perversion of sexual sense, has acquired a somewhat peculiar form. The sexual organs play a part in various branches of Chukchee shamanism. Especially do the malignant spells acquire additional force through the performing of certain prescriptions regarding the organs of sex, male and female. Thus, a "mischievous shaman," when he desires to make an especially powerful incantation, must strip himself naked and go out of his house at night, while the moon is shining. Then he must call to the moon and make an incantation, saying, "O moon! I show you my private parts. Take compassion on my angry thoughts. I have no secrets from you. Help me on such and such a man!" Saying this, the shaman tries to weep in order to win the compassion of the moon. He also makes peculiar movements with his mouth, as if catching something, and drawing it inward. This symbolizes his desire to catch and eat up the victim.

Incantations of this kind are often mentioned by the Chukchee. Scratching-Woman confessed having used them once against a foe of his, who shortly afterward became dangerously ill.


Fig. 286, made by a native of Mariinsky Post, represents a shaman who crawls on all-fours to invoke the moon. He is supposed to be naked, his head only being covered with a large shamanistic cap. Scratching-Woman affirmed that he performed his incantations of this kind without any clothing, but with a shaman's cap on his head. A similar incantation, with the mention of genital parts, is used by the Chukchee hunters of wild reindeer on the Middle Anadyr. {Compare Chapter XVI.}

I was also told that some shamans arrange, every year or every other year, a special thanksgiving performance, to take place on the day of some yearly ceremonial of their family. In this performance they appear naked, and pronounce an incantation with the mention of the genital parts, which is addressed to their assistant "spirits."

The branch of shamanism, however, of which I am about to speak, is of a more special character, and refers to that shamanistic transformation of men and women in which they undergo a change of sex in part, or even completely. This is called "soft man being" (yirka'3-la'ul-va'irgm); "soft man" (yirka'3-la'ul) meaning a man transformed into a being of a softer sex. A man who has changed his sex is also called "similar to a woman" (ñe'učhičä), and a woman in similar condition, "similar to a man" (qa'čikičhêča). Transformation of the first kind is much the more frequent; indeed, I had no opportunity of seeing personally an instance of the second kind, and my information is gathered only from hearsay.

Transformation takes place by the command of the ke'let, usually at that critical age of early youth when shamanistic inspiration first manifests itself. It is, however, much dreaded by the youthful adepts; and in most of those cases in which I spoke of the young shamans preferring death to obedience to the call of the "spirits," there was connected with the call a reference to change of sex. There are, however, various degrees of transformation of this kind.

In the first stage, the person subjected to it personates the woman only in the manner of braiding and arranging the hair of the head. This usage is widespread among the Chukchee, and is adopted not only by shamans at the command of the "spirits," but also by sick persons at the bidding of shamans. In the latter case the aim is to change the appearance of the patient so as to make him unrecognizable by the "spirits."

The second stage is marked by the adoption of female dress, which is also practised either for shamanistic or for medico-magical purposes. It does not imply complete change of sex. For instance, Ki'miqäi, {Compare p. 428.} who claimed for himself shamanistic powers, wore woman's clothes, which he assumed in his early youth. He was afflicted with a strange illness, which caused him to sleep in his inner room day after day, almost without interruption. At length a ke'lE appeared to him in his sleep and ordered him to put on woman's dress, which he did accordingly. Notwithstanding this, Ki'miqäi had a wife and four children, one of which was still nursing when I saw him. The cheeks of Ki'miqäi were also covered with a stubby black beard, and there could be no misunderstanding about the sex to which he really belonged.

A young man, by name Čaivu'urgm, a native of Indian Point, whose picture is given on Plate хххш, Fig. 2, was told by a shaman to put on a woman's dress in order to relieve him from a chronic disease to which he had been subjected from childhood.

The instances of such practices, however, are by no means frequent, since the adoption of the dress, although the most conspicuous feature of the transformation, does not confer the extraordinary power which is considered to be the rightful appurtenance of the change.

The third stage of transformation is more complete. A young man who is undergoing it leaves off all pursuits and manners of his sex, and takes up those of a woman. He throws away the rifle and the lance, the lasso of the reindeer herdsman, and the harpoon of the seal-hunter, and takes to the needle and the skin-scraper. He learns the use of these quickly, because the "spirits" are helping him all the time. Even his pronunciation changes from the male to the female mode. At the same time his body alters, if not in its outward appearance, at least in its faculties and forces. He loses masculine strength, fleetness of foot in the race, endurance in wrestling, and acquires instead the helplessness of a woman. Even his psychical character changes. The transformed person loses his brute courage and fighting spirit, and becomes shy of strangers, even fond of small-talk and of nursing small children. Generally speaking, he becomes a woman with the appearance of a man.

Of course it is difficult to find out how far auto-suggestion is responsible for the change in a person transformed in such a manner, and which of these changes are merely assumed by. him in order to make an impression on the public mind.

The most important of the transformations is, however, the change of sex. The "soft man" begins to feel like a woman. He seeks to win the good graces of men, and succeeds easily with the. aid of "spirits." Thus he has all the young men he could wish for striving to obtain his favor. From these he chooses his lover, and after a time takes a husband. The marriage is performed with the usual rites, and I must say that it forms a quite solid union, which often lasts till the death of one of the parties. The couple live much in the same way as do other people. The man tends his herd and goes hunting and fishing, while the "wife" takes care of the house, performing all domestic pursuits and work. They cohabit in a perverse way, modo Socratis, in which the transformed wife always plays the passive role. In this, again, some of the "soft men" are said to lose altogether the man's desire and in the end to even acquire the organs of a woman; while others are said to have mistresses of their own in secret and to produce children by them.

The transformed men, however, keep their former masculine names. All of the "soft men" I met, or of whom I knew, had men's names. One only was called "Woman's-Dress-Amo'3len" (Ker-Amo'3len), the latter part being a male name. In contrast to this, some of the ordinary people even are given women's names by shamans, {Compare Chapter XVII.} either at the time of their birth, or later on.

The state of a transformed man is so peculiar that it attracts much gossip and jests on the part of the neighbors. Such jests are of course interchanged only in whispers, because the people are extremely afraid of the transformed, much more so than of ordinary shamans.

In a tale widely circulated among the Chukchee, a "soft man," clad in a woman's dress, takes part, with other members of the family, in corralling the reindeer-herd. The wife of his brother taunts him, saying, "This one with the woman's breeches does not seem to give much help." The "soft man" takes offence, and leaves the family camp. He goes away to the border-land of the Koryak, who assault him in his travelling-tent. He, however, snatches his fire-board implement, and with its small bow of antler, shoots the wooden drill at his adversaries. Immediately it turns into a fiery shaft and destroys all of them one by one. He then takes their herds, and, coming back to his home, shows his newly acquired wealth to his relatives, saying, "See now what that of woman's breeches was able to procure for you."

Moreover, each "soft man" is supposed to have a special protector among the "spirits," who, for the most part, is said to play the part of a supernatural husband, ke'lE-husband (ke'le-uwä'3quč), of the transformed one. This husband is supposed to be the real head of the family and to communicate his orders by means of his transformed wife. The human husband, of course, has to execute these orders faithfully under fear of prompt punishment. Thus in a household like that, the voice of the wife is decidedly preponderant. The husband often takes the name of his wife as an addition to his own name; for instance, Têlu'wgê-Ya'tirgin ("Ya'tirgm, husband of Tilu'wgi)". Otherwise the same is done by the children with the name of their father; as, Koko'lê-Ya'tirgin ("Ya'tirgin, son of Koko'lê").

The ke'lE-husband is very sensitive to even the slightest mockery of his transformed wife, because he knows that the "soft man" feels exceedingly "bashful," and also because he is doubtless conscious that the position of the latter is ridiculed on account of his obedience to his own orders.

Speaking further of the marriage-relation with supernatural beings, some shamans of untransformed sex are said also to have ke'lE-wives, who take part in the every-day life of their house. Thus, in the tale of a contest of two shamans, {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 216.} one of them is said to have a ke'lE-wife. Her face looks on him from the wall of his sleeping-room. Whenever he wants to take a meal, his human wife brings him meat and begins to cut it into small pieces. He eats them one by one, and during the meal the face of the ke'lE-wife keeps watch on him from the wall. Notwithstanding this watch, another shaman succeeds in spiriting him away. This one also has a ke'lE-wife of his own, but he takes also that of his vanquished rival; and now the faces of his two ke'lE-wives watch over him from both walls while his human wife cuts meat for his meal. He also sleeps very comfortably with his three wives.


In the tale of Kuku'lpin, the Shaman with Warts, {Ibid. 3. p. 222.} the latter bids his ke'lE-wife pitch the sleeping-room. He enters it, and from thence is heard merry talk, laughing, jingling of bracelets and of necklaces. Another shaman, who is visiting Kuku'lpin's house, feels a desire to pass the night with this merry female, but she is invisible to him. After several attempts on his part, the other wife of Kuku'lpin, the human one, asks him reproachfully, "Are you sure that you can sleep with an 'alien' ke'lE-wife?"

"Soft men," of course, are supposed to excel in all branches of shamanism, including the ventriloquistic art, notwithstanding the fact that they are supposed to be women. Because of their supernatural protectors, they are dreaded even by untransformed shamans, who avoid having any contests with them, especially with the younger ones, because they are exceedingly "bashful," and readily stand back before the pretensions of other people; but afterward the supernatural husband retaliates for the slight.

Of all transformed shamans whom I have chanced to know, the most remarkable was Tilu'wgi (Plate xxxiii, Fig. i), of whom I spoke in an earlier part of this chapter. I met him at a small trade-gathering among the camps of Reindeer people on the Wolverene River. He, together with a party of traders, came from the Chukchee Peninsula. He was of Maritime origin; but his family had some reindeer, and spent most of their time tending the herd. Tilu'wgi was young, and looked about thirty-five years of age. He was tall and well developed. His large rough hands especially exhibited no trace of womanhood.

I staid for two days in his tent, and slept in his small inner room, which was hardly large enough to accommodate four sleepers. Thus I had a chance to observe quite closely the details of his physique, which, of course, were all masculine. He refused obstinately, however, to permit himself to be fully inspected. His husband, Ya'tirgin, tempted by the offered price, tried to persuade him, but, after some useless attempts, was at last silenced by one scowling look from his peculiar "wife." He felt sorry, however, that I had been baffled in gratifying my curiosity, and therefore offered me, to use his own words, his eyes in place of my own.

He described the physique of Tilu'wgi as wholly masculine, and well developed besides. He confessed that he was sorry for it, but he hoped that in time, with the aid of his ke'let, Tilu'wgi would be able to equal the real "soft men" of old, and to change the organs of his sex altogether, which would be much more convenient than the present state. Notwithstanding all this, and even the brownish down which covered his upper lip, Tilu'wgi's face, encircled with braids of thick hair arranged after the manner of Chukchee women, looked very different from masculine faces. It was something like a female tragic mask fitted to a body of a giantess of a race different from our own. All the ways of this strange creature were decidedly feminine. He was so "bashful," that whenever I asked a question of somewhat indiscreet character, you could see, under the layer of its usual dirt, a blush spread over his face, and he would cover his eyes with his sleeve, like a young beauty of sixteen. I heard him gossip with the female neighbors in a most feminine way, and even saw him hug small children with evident envy for the joys of motherhood; but this even the ke'lE-husband could not place within the limits of transformation.

The human husband of Tilu'wgi was an undersized fellow, shorter than his "wife" by at least half a head. He was nevertheless healthy and strong, a good wrestler and runner, and altogether a normal, well-balanced person. He was a cousin of Tilu'wgi, as generally the transformed shamans prefer to choose a husband from among their nearest relatives.

The division of labor between the two followed, of course, the usual rules. In the evening, Ya'tirgin would sit idly within the inner room, while Tilu'wgi busied himself outside with the hearth and the supper. Ya'tirgin received the best pieces of meat, and the transformed "wife," according to custom, had to be content with scraps and bones. In the more serious affairs of life, the voice of the "wife" was, however, dominant.

I heard also from their neighbors a curious story, that one time, when Ya'tirgin was angry at something and wanted to chastise his giant wife, the latter suddenly gave him so powerful a kick that it sent him head foremost from their common sleeping-room. This proves that the femininity of Tilu'wgi was more apparent than real.

The transformation in Tilu'wgi began in his very early youth, after a protracted illness from which he freed himself by the song and the drum. He gave a shamanistic seance in my presence, which had no peculiar features, except that the ke'lE-husband often appeared and talked to the public, extolling the shaman. In the very beginning, Tilu'wgi called him and asked him to mend the drum, which, as he pretended, had not the proper ring. {Compare p. 437.} We heard the ke'lE-husband blow with great force over the cover of the drum, after which its sound at once improved.

Another shaman of transformed sex was E'chuk, whom I met at the Anui fair. He was a person of about forty, tall and strong, of rather indecent behavior and strongly peppered talk. He boasted even that he had been able to bear two sons from his own body, through the assistance of his ke'lE-protector.

Kee'3ulin, of the village of A'čon, was an old man of sixty, a widower, whose wife had borne him several children. At the same time the people asserted that he had a male lover with whom he had lived for more than twenty years. Now his male lover was also dead, so he was doubly widowed. He wore female dress, but his face was covered with stubs of gray beard, and his head was too bald to leave enough hair to be arranged in braids. He was quite poor, and even the shamanistic power had gone from him to a considerable degree. He was said, however, to have a new lover, -- another old man who lived in the same house with him.

Two other cases that I met personally were very young men living with their parents. One was a nimble young fellow and a very able herdsman; but the people accused him of perverting all his young companions, who beset him with their courtship, to the great detriment and offence of the lawful beauties of the camp. The other one was a sickly fellow, who, however, was told to look seriously for a husband. Both were so "bashful" that they carefully avoided giving me time or opportunity for any annoying questions.

I heard, also, of another "soft man," who was woman-like in face, talked in a thin, piping voice, and had very long hair. He changed his sex completely from the very beginning of his "shamanistic" call.

The perversion of the sexual functions, resulting from psychical or physical causes, may happen, of course, among primitive peoples as well as among civilized ones. I met among the Russian Creoles of the Lower Kolyma, who do not differ practically from the Russianized Yukaghir of the same locality, an old man who had a bearded face and the outer genital organs of a male. Notwithstanding this, he acted like a woman throughout his whole life. He wore woman's dress, performed woman's work, and even in his conversation applied to himself the feminine gender, for which the Russian language presents numerous occasions. The neighbors called him Supan, (Жупанъ Супанъ), which is a local Russian term for a man of transformed sex, and is likewise applied to native cases. {The term "supan" is derived, probably, from the Kamchadal word "shopo'nach," which signified the entrance-door of the Kamchadal winter hut. This entrance was tabooed to men, and only women and transformed men were allowed to pass through it, while the men always used the roof-entrance (see Steller, p. 35, footnote).}

The case of qa'čikičhÊča, that is, of a woman transformed into a man, is still more remarkable than that of the "soft man." I obtained detailed information of only two or three instances. One was of a widow of middle age, who had three half-grown children of her own. She received at first an "inspiration" of a more usual kind, but later the "spirits" wanted to change her to a man. Then she cut her hair, donned the dress of a male, adopted the pronunciation of men, and even learned in a very short time to handle the spear and to shoot with a rifle. At last she wanted to marry, and easily found a quite young girl who consented to become her wife.

The transformed one provided herself with a gastrocnemius from the leg of a reindeer, fastened to a broad leather belt, and used it in the way of masculine private parts. I have said before that the gastrocnemius of a reindeer is used by Chukchee women for the well-known unnatural vice. After some time the transformed husband, desiring to have children by her young wife, entered into a bond of mutual marriage with a young neighbor, and in three years two sons were really born in her family. According to the Chukchee interpretation of mutual marriage, they were considered her own lawful children. Thus this person could have had in her youth children of her own body, and in later life other children from a wedded wife of hers. Another case was that of a young girl who likewise assumed man's clothing, carried a spear, and even wanted to take part in a wrestling-contest between young men. While tending the herd, she tried to persuade one of the young herdswomen to take her for a husband. On closer acquaintance, she tried to introduce the same implement, made of a reindeer gastrocnemius tied to a belt, but then was rejected by the would-be bride. This happened only a few years ago; the transformed woman is said to have found another bride, with whom she lives now in her country on the head-waters of the Chaun River.

Of other tribes of northeastern Siberia, persons of a changed sex were found among the Koryak, the Kamchadal, and the Asiatic Eskimo. Thus Krasheninnikoff says {See Krasheninnikoff, II, p. 158.} that the Kamchadal men lived with so-called koyekchuch, who wore female dress, performed the work of women, and avoided mixing among men. The Kamchadal kept them as their concubines, side by side with their real wives.

Steller calls such men koiach or kojachtschitsch. He says that in former times almost every Kamchadal had, besides his wife, such a koiach in his house. {See Steller, p. 289, footnote; and p. 350, footnote.} The Koryak had also similar concubines, which in their language were called keiew or kewew. This, with proper phonetic change, is the same word as the Kamchadal koiach. The memory of persons of the transformed sex, as well as both terms mentioned, still lingers in the minds of the Kamchadal and the Koryak, but the custom as described has long since disappeared.

Sarytcheff mentions the same habit among the Kadyak-islanders. He says that among those who visited the Russian ship, was one man of forty, repulsive of face, but clad in female dress. His cheeks were tattooed like those of a woman, and he had a nose-ring of beads. He was reputed to live as a wife with one of the islanders. {See Sarytcheff, II, p. 33.}

Schelechow, one of the founders of the Russo-American Trading Company, speaks of the same thing among the inhabitants of other neighboring islands. {Compare A. Erman, Ethnographische Wahrnehmungen an den Kiisten des Berings Meeres, in Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie, зег Band, 1871, p. 165.} Mamia Rinso, the well-known Japanese traveller of the beginning of the nineteenth century, tells {P. T. v. Siebold, Nippon, VII, p. 169.} of seeing on the Island of Saghalin, among the people of Smerenkur (Gilyak), several men living in the same house with one woman. He describes their relations as those of polyandry. Von Siebold compares them with the koyekchuch of Kamchatka, and ventures the suggestion that the information by Steller and Krasheninnikoff is incorrect, and that the peculiar marriage-form of the Kamchadal and Koryak may also have been polyandry. What was said before will be sufficient to corroborate Steller and Krasheninnikoff. Schrenck, on his part, denies the existence of polyandry among the Gilyak, and supposes that the several men living with one woman, of whom Mamia Rinso speaks, were in reality the slaves of the family. {See Schrenck, Volker des Amur Landes, Zweite Halfte, p. 650.} Among the Chukchee a form of marriage much like polyandry exists at the present time.

Among the Asiatic Eskimo, transformed persons are found even now, as may be seen from what was told {Compare p. 450.} about Čaivu'urgm of Indian Point. Mr. Gondatti asserts in his paper on the Population of the Anadyr District {Compare p. 20.} (and also in a verbal communication), that at Indian Point the transformed shamans have a great and baleful influence, which he, on his arrival, tried to counteract, and succeeded in partly overcoming. Mr. Gondatti was the chief official of the Anadyr country, and the curtailment of the unhealthy influence of the shamans lay evidently within the province of his duties (of course, from a Russian official point of view). When, however, I visited Indian Point, the only transformed person I found there was the sickly Čaivu'urgm. Another "soft man," of greater age, whom Mr. Gondatti had probably met, died from measles in 1900. Other inhabitants did not undertake to follow his practices, remembering, perhaps, the reproofs of Mr. Gondatti.

Shamanistic Garments. -- The shamanism of the Chukchee has not reached a stage of development high enough to have drums or clothing of peculiar form, or, indeed, any special belongings characteristic of itself. The Chukchee shaman uses the ordinary drum of his family, or perhaps he may make an extra drum for his own use; but this drum will have exactly the same form, and, moreover, it will probably be employed in all the family ceremonials, where additional drums are used for making as much noise as possible.

As to the shamanistic garb, the Chukchee have nothing similar to the well-known type of coat covered with fringes and images, which is in general use among the Yakut and Tungus, and which probably was borrowed from the latter by the Yukaghir, and perhaps also by the Kamchadal, if we may judge by the representations in Steller's book. {See Steller, p. 284. The shamanistic costume is represented there in three different positions, but Steller gives no explanations of details, fn modern times there are no shamanistic dresses among the Kamchadal, which fact, however, may be explained by the severe prohibition by the Russian clergy of all practices of such a kind. Nevertheless, among various drawings done for me by natives in Kamchatka there are two representing shamans, male and female, in special dress, which much resembles the figures given by Steller. They were said to be drawn from the memory of what existed in olden times.} To understand the reasons for the absence of a peculiar shaman's dress among the Chukchee, we must remember that their shamans perform most of their practices in the inner room of the house, in total darkness, where the outer appearance of the shaman is of no consequence. The atmosphere, too, is so close, that the shamans, instead of putting on a special garment, are accustomed, on the contrary, to take off their coats, or, in the case of women, to throw back the upper part of their ample fur waist. Thus, in both cases, they practise with the upper part of the body quite naked. The same is true of the Asiatic Eskimo.

Shamanistic spirits often show a tendency to attach some external marks to their followers in order to make them distinguishable from ordinary people. This, however, is applied only to the men. As far as I know, also among the other neighboring tribes, female shamans have no external marks, nor do they use the special shamanistic garb, which is assigned only to the male shamans. In contrast to this is the custom, which I have spoken of among Chukchee shamans, of adopting the clothes and the ways of a woman.

Another means employed for the purpose of shamanistic distinction is a man's coat of usual cut with a white fringe. This fringe is placed around the sleeves a little above the openings, or around the neck a little removed from the collar (see Fig. 287). It is usually so narrow as to be quite inconspicuous. But this is adopted only in extraordinary cases by the shamans and also by their patients.


Sometimes the Chukchee shamans adopt some old coat brought from the American shores, arguing evidently that its appearance is sufficiently unusual to distinguish them from other people. In a few other cases the shamans prepare a coat of their own. That represented in Fig. 287, collections of the Museum, was acquired from the shaman Scratching-Woman, and is a characteristic specimen. It is a reindeer-skin coat of the usual Chukchee pattern, with the hair turned inward. It looks rather poor and threadbare. This, however, in the eyes of its owner, only increased its value. The neck and sleeves are adorned with white fringe, and there are, moreover, slits cut along the sleeves and in the front of the skirt below. These slits are ornamented with fringe made of curried leather. The cuts and the fringe are considered the characteristic features of the coat, and all shamanistic coats of which I heard were described as garments ripped up all around and adorned with fringe. The shamanistic garment represented in my "Chukchee Material Life" {Plate II, Fig. 3.} belongs to the same type. These slits and fringes are usually said to represent the curves and zigzags of the Milky Way. It is quite possible, however, that both the slits and the fringes are simply the best imitation possible to them of the Tungus specimens.


Except when used by shamans, the Chukchee always ridicule garments of "alien" shape; and the clothes of the Tungus, which they say are all ripped up, are the special butt of their derision. "Alien" shamans, however, as mentioned before, are acknowledged by the Chukchee to have considerable power, and they are often consulted by their Chukchee neighbors. On the southwestern border of the Chukchee territory, some of the people, pretending to have shamanistic powers, have adopted the Tungus drum, which is larger than their own and of different shape. It is also in exclusive use among the Koryak, at least in modern times. This goes to prove that imitation of the Tungus in regard to the shamanistic coat is also quite probable.

The garment represented in Fig. 287 has in the front an image of tetke'yuñ (that is, of vital force), residing in the heart, and therefore having its form. It is made like a leather ball, and filled with reindeer-hair. The other figure, likewise of leather, represents a re'kkeñ, who was an "assisting" spirit of the shaman. The shamanistic cap which belonged to the garment (Fig. 288) is also supplied with fringes, with a tassel on the top and a long double tassel on the left side. The tassels are of the type adopted for magic purposes; {Compare Fig. 150, p. 222.} that is, they are formed of alternating including tassel, 89 см. pieces of white and black fur. Another cap, with the opening on top, and likewise fringed and tasselled, was used by the shaman as a remedy against headache. For this purpose he put it on the heads of his patients, strengthening its action with proper incantations. This latter detail brings us to the question of magic medicine as practised by the Chukchee shamans.

Magic Medicine. -- The Chukchee, as said before, ascribe all maladies to the influence of "genuine" ke'let, the murderers. {Compare p. 292.} Of these, the ke'let of contagious diseases -- such as small-pox, influenza, and measles -- are so terrible that the shamans are almost powerless to check them. "Against those it is no use to begin," said Scratching-Woman to me naively, "lest they grow angry and retaliate upon ourselves."

Another Chukchee explained that even sacrifices are of little avail with those ke'let. The people on the western tundra on the Kolyma explained to me that in the "bad year" (1884), the year of the small-pox epidemic, some of the people tried to propitiate the ke'lE with sacrifices. Because he was killing people in the inner room, women sacrificed to him with oil from the lamp and with warm blood-soup from the cooking-kettle. These they would put on small round pieces of curried leather, and then set them on the snow pointed to the west, whence the ke'lE used to come. But he wanted more than that, and did not relent in the least, even after receiving these offerings.

The sacrifice of something that is very personal, and highly valued by the owner, -- as the Chukchee say, "taken to the heart" (li'ñliñkin), -- is considered an effective means of warding off an assault by ke'let. The best reindeer-team, the gun, or the clothes from the body, may serve for the purpose. If a man once loudly proclaims his readiness to give to the ke'let any such object, it is very dangerous for him to go back on his promise. The ke'let would be sure to avenge heavily their disappointment at the loss of the sacrifice. {Compare p. 46.}

In a similar manner, when a man has once proclaimed a desire to die, be it from spite or rashness, he must fulfil it, otherwise his whole family will be exterminated by revengeful ke'let. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 52.} Against the ke'lE of contagious disease, however, all sacrifices of even the most valuable things are of no avail. The only means of escape from the ke'lE of contagious disease is by immediate flight, in order to leave between the ke'lE and the human people large tracts of uninhabited country. Then he may not care to follow, being afraid of hunger on the solitary way, and therefore may choose another direction.

A flight like this is possible chiefly to the Reindeer people, among whom it is often carried out by the entire population of a district on the first news of the coming disease. Thus, in 1897 the Reindeer camps of the Chaun district, in order to avoid influenza, coming as usual from the west, retreated for several days' journey from the nearest camp of the western people on the head waters of the Anui.

While a contagious disease is raging, the "shunning" of everybody suspected of being followed by the "spirit" is carried to the greatest extent. Even a visit to a camp tainted by disease is considered as a kind of trespass, a desire to tempt the ke'lE, who otherwise might have passed by and hurt nobody.

According to an account by Ainanwa't, during the small-pox epidemic of 1884, some sick people, while still alive, were left by their house-mates, who tried to flee from the anger of the ke'lE. At the same time, some of the camps which stood quite apart escaped unharmed. One A'mčê, a rich reindeer-breeder, lived with many daughters, all of whom were married. One of his sons-in-law, also a well-to-do breeder, lived by himself. His camp was visited by the ke'lE; and all the family, except the daughter of A'mčê and one young boy, died. These two had fled to a neighboring camp, leaving the husband dangerously ill. After a while the woman was visited by her father, who took her to his own camp.

The disease passed over, and the people began to live without fear. Then A'mčê thought about his son-in-law. They both were shamans, and A'mčê argued that the other might have escaped, after all. At last he resolved to visit the stricken camp. They started, a party of five, two other sons-in-law of A'mčê being of the number. When they reached the camp, A'mčê, brandishing his spear, went toward the tent of his daughter, and ripped the wall, taking care not to touch it with his bare hands. This is one of the usual precautions against contact with the "spirits." After that, A'mčê ripped also a wall of the inner room, and saw the corpse of his son-in-law. "Oh!" said he, "then you are really dead. What can I do for you? It is of no use to carry you into the wilderness. You have here the whole tent at your command. Well, I have seen you, at least. Good-by! I am going."

When they reached home, however, the two sons-in-law of A'mčê who had been of the party suddenly grew ill and died. Two others fled from the camp and thus saved their lives. But none of A'mčê's own offspring were attacked by the disease.

The narrator told all this, attaching the greatest blame to A'mčê for his conduct, who acted as though he desired to find a ke'lE and draw him to his own place. The explanation offered by the teller of the story as being the possible one was, that A'mčê, being a shaman, foresaw some bad luck for his family, and wanted to sacrifice to the ke'let the people of "alien blood," though they were his sons-in-law. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, pp. 36--41.}

In contrast to the conduct of A'mčê, in the same year several fugitives from stricken camps, especially those who had no near relatives among the neighbors, were forbidden by the people of other camps, rifle in hand, to approach their dwellings, under danger of immediate death. One Pe'plu told me that, when he was only fifteen, his camp was visited by disease, and that all the people died. Then he fled and went to his uncle's, but the latter met him, rifle in hand, and bade him immediately return. "Go and strangle or stab yourself!" cried the old man from a safe distance. "You belong to the ke'lE. Go away!"

Exactly the same thing happened among the Yakut, and in some measure likewise among the Russianized natives of the Kolyma.

I have alluded before to the precautions taken against syphilis. In reference to this I was told by my Chukchee informants that in ancient times trespass against those prescriptions was accounted a greater sin than murder, because the murderer kills only one man, and that one of an "alien" origin, while the trespasser against the "shunning" endangers the lives of his closest relatives and acquaintances.

Shamans also in their medical practice do not like to enter into direct communication with the "genuine" ke'let of other diseases, but prefer to inquire about the causes of such and such illness from their own assistant ke'let. Therefore the "genuine" ke'let are not called by the shaman in his performances. They come, however, of their own accord, and usually remain silent in a corner till the ke'let of the shaman denounce them. Then the assistant ke'let take to abusing them in every possible manner. This makes the "genuine" ke'lE leave off, although he has to keep watch over his human prey which is undergoing the magic cure of the shaman.


In the native sketches of the performance of magic medicine, the "genuine" ke'lE is represented as a being of a larger size than the "assistant" ke'let of the shaman, perhaps to set off his dreadful power. Thus, in Fig. 289, copied from a native sketch, a shaman in a sitting position is practising, in the inner room of a tent, over a sick boy. Two assistant ke'let are coming to his, while a ke'lE of disease is standing in the corner. All ke'let are represented with wings, and resemble insects somewhat. Two men are listening, one in a sitting position and the other reclining on his elbow. A small boy, frightened, has jumped up and is about to flee.

I must mention here that the shaman is considered able to treat the sickness of other people, but not his own. On the other hand, persons feeling unwell take to shamanistic exercises without any particular aim other than to give vent to their frenzy, or with a half-unconscious purpose of drowning the feeling of sickness in the noise and nervous excitement of the practice. "I am no shaman," I heard from such an occasional practitioner; "but with our people the power of singing comes voluntarily with every danger or illness. Then it passes away, but I cannot tell where its house is. It is the same with the power of drumming. It comes in time of need, then it passes and returns to its own house." Once in my presence a boy of seven, who had been ill for several days, kept repeating to his father, "Please beat the drum, sing songs! I want noise!" as if it were a special kind of remedy for his illness.

During the long winter nights some people resort to drumming and singing simply to while away the time, or perhaps to counteract the depression of the long period of cold and darkness. Of course, in all these cases the improvising singers try, half unconsciously, to imitate the songs and gestures of real shamans.

Among the Russianized natives and Russian Creoles, women feeling unwell take to singing in a shamanistic manner, which is said to greatly relieve their suffering. Sometimes this singing is accompanied with unintelligible words, which are believed, however, to belong to the Yukaghir or Yakut language, and which are unknown to the sufferer in her normal state. Sometimes she even receives the gift of foretelling the future in this state. All this is considered a special suffering, called laconically "a fit," and liable to attack any woman of the settlement.

There are several methods of administering magic medicine used by the Chukchee shamans. One of the most common deals with the soul (uvi'rit) of the patient, a part of which is supposed to be stolen by the ke'let. {Compare p. 333.} Some shamans even say similar things in regard to themselves. "I cannot practise here," shaman Kele'wgi {Compare p. 426.} said to me at Mariinsky Post. "I feel that the greater part of my soul is at home staying with my separate ke'let. My mind is somewhat wandering, and I am using but a small section of it, the remaining part being carried away by 'separate spirits.'"

The shaman's search for the stolen soul of his patient was formerly effected in a shamanistic trance, which nowadays is replaced by the usual sleep over night, since dreams are considered by the Chukchee one of the best means of communicating with spirits. When the search is successful, the shaman returns, bringing the soul, and tries to put it back into the body of the patient. This is done in various ways. The shaman will set about a great performance with the drum and song. Then he will pretend that he is blowing the soul into the body of the patient through the breast, or through the ear, or through the crown of the head. He may also present it like a small insect, which will be heard buzzing around. Then he will suddenly proclaim that it has entered the head of the patient.

The souls, as well as the ke'let, are said to produce a buzzing sound when flying. In one of the magic performances at which I was present, the shaman asked the patient, "Do you hear that buzzing sound? It is your soul that is passing by." After a moment he asked again, "Do you hear that rapping noise? It is your soul that is running over the drum-cover with its tiny feet." A shaman of sufficient power, who cannot find the lost soul of the patient, may blow into his body a part of his own soul. The patient is then said to become a son of the shaman.

I saw a shaman trying to recall to her senses a sick woman who had fallen into a heavy swoon. To do this he began to beat the drum with the utmost force. Then he pretended to catch something from the drum and to swallow it hurriedly. Immediately afterward he appeared to spit it out into the hollow of his hand, and then in the quickest possible way pretended to empty his palm over the head of the patient. After that, he began to mumble and gibber over the crown of the patient's head. In order to prevent the soul from leaving, he breathed into the hollow of his hand, and then applied his palm to the breast of the patient. At intervals he pretended to suck out the source of the suffering from the crown of her head. For this he made sucking motions with his mouth at some distance from her head. From time to time he made grimaces, and pretended to be choking, evidently for the purpose of showing that something bad had entered his mouth. At last he spat violently, and then began again the whole process.

From my own observation I know that a real insect is sometimes used in treatments of such a kind. This is brought near to the breast or to the head of the patient, and then vanishes, deftly abstracted by the shaman, who pretends that it has entered the body. The supposed process of shamanistic search for the soul of the patient, and then of putting it back into the body, is described very vividly in the story of the Scabby Shaman. {See Bogoras, American Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. IV, p. 599.} I will cite only the part relating to the latter process.


He [the shaman] called his ke'let and gave them the boy's soul to hold, and then looked hard at the decayed heap [of the half-decomposed corpse], and gulped it down, spattering the putrid fluid about. Then he shouted, "Bring a new white skin!" He vomited, and spat out the boy's body. All the bones were in their right places, and the flesh stuck to the bones again. Then he swallowed the body a second time and spat it out again. It was covered with new skin, all sores were smoothed down. He swallowed it a third time and spat it out again: blood mounted to the cheeks, and the lips almost wanted to speak. Scabby-One shouted, "Give me the soul!" He swallowed it and spat it out on the body. The soul passed through the body and stuck in the wall of the house. "The body is too cold," said Scabby-One; "it will not hold together." He swallowed the body a fourth time, warmed it in his stomach, and spat it out again on the skin. Then he flung the soul at it. "Oh, oh, oh!" sigbed the boy, and then sat up on the skin.


Instances of the swallowing of souls and bodies of men by shamans frequently occur in Chukchee tales. Thus Kuku'lpin, in one of the tales, when visiting the interior of America, swallows his companion and a young girl, and, turning into a bird, carries them to his home. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 293.} In the tale of the Contest of Two Shamans, a small bird, Perru'per (Uria Brunnichi), acting as an assistant ke'lE of one of the shamans, comes to the house of the other one, which is watched by a host of his ke'let. The bird dives under ground and succeeds in pushing the point of its beak through the middle of the floor, then with one drawn-in breath, one whoop, it pulls him down and swallows him under the very eyes of his house-mates. {See Ibid., p. 217.}

During the process of bringing back the lost soul of the patient, the soul is spoken of as a "little fellow" (tu'mgAqäi), and the shaman is called the "restorer of a little fellow" (tumge-neli'lin).

Sometimes, however, the shaman refuses to put the soul back personally, and, instead of that, orders the mother or the sister of the patient, or, in their absence, the father or the brother, more rarely the wife, to go out at dawn the next morning, and to pick up a blade of grass somewhere near by, repeating, "Here, here, here, I found the 'little fellow,' be you under my power!" This grass represents the "little fellow," and it must be tied to the collar-strings of the patient.

Another method of shamanistic treatment of diseases may be called "magic surgery." In this the shaman pretends to operate on the diseased part of the body and to set it right, removing the pus and the bad blood, and sometimes even recasting the whole limb. The shaman acts in a way sbmewhat similar to that described in regard to the recovering of a lost soul; that is, he puts his face close down to the body of the patient, blows on it, or sucks for some time a fold of the skin. It is supposed that the ke'lE who assists him is able to extract and to eat up the source of the illness. Some of the rubbing and sucking has the character of massage, especially in the treatment of swellings and bruises. The shaman often produces a beetle, a thorn, or even a small stone, which he pretends to have extracted from the body. The same cure may be carried out also by means of various incantations, which will be described in the next chapter.

Besides this, the shaman pretends to possess the power to open the abdomen of the patient in order to inspect the internal organs, to remove the stricken parts, and then to make the wound whole again. This can be done only with a special knife strengthened by various incantations. Moreover, the knife has to be "heated" by long and violent shamanistic exercise. A knife not "hot" enough might kill the patient on the spot. I have already described tricks of this kind performed by the female shaman U'pune, and have also quoted the story of Ainanwa't about a ke'lE having entered his body, and cleaned his interior with a small silver knife.


The shaman Scratching-Woman also pretended to treat his patients all the time in this way. For this purpose he used a special knife, represented in Fig. 290. This is an ordinary iron knife set into an uncouth block of wood with two circular notches and a double tassel of curried leather. A bead of blue glass almost as large as a hen's egg is also tied to the handle. The bead looks quite old, and Scratching-Woman asserted that it was received by his grandfather directly from the ke'let. The handle of the knife has some rusty spots, which were said by the shaman to be produced by the blood of patients operated upon with the knife. Together with the knife a small flat piece of ivory (Fig. 291) was used, which was said to be employed, as a rule, in cutting open the body. The shaman said it was a present from the Milky may. {Compare p. 459.} Three leather images were fastened to the ivory. One was said to represent a ke'lE from the "direction" of the darkness, with the arms longer than the legs. The middle image -- with only one arm and one leg, and the eyes standing one over the other -- represented the ke'lE Iu'metun. {See p. 42.} The third image represented a crawling "spell," which one of the enemies of the shaman sent to attack him; but he intercepted it on the way and thoroughly subdued it, so that it began to do his bidding. With the aid of these instruments, Scratching-Woman pretended to have cut open and put to rights internal organs, backs, shoulder-blades, and several other parts of the bodies of many patients, although, according to his neighbors, he was too young to claim so many successful cases of treatment.

The supplementary method of magic medicine, after the treatment of shamans, consists in changing the appearance of the patient in order that the "spirits" may not recognize him again. I have already spoken of the assumption of women's dress by men. The same purpose is accomplished by a change in the cut of the hair; for instance, by arranging a double fringe around the crown, closely cropped according to the Chukchee mode, or with the addition of an extra tuft on the crown or on the nape of the neck.

A change of a similar nature is adopted by others also; for instance, by a murderer when he wishes to escape the vengeance of his victim, who might easily come back in the shape of a ke'lE. If not kept back, this ke'lE will possess himself of the murderer and induce him to do further violence in order to have him punished by his neighbors for his crimes. The mind of the Chukchee can conceive of no other retribution for a crime unavenged by the relatives of the victim. The Greek conception of the Furies pursuing the unpunished criminal, and driving him to madness and despair, was probably also developed from a similar idea of the revengeful "spirit" of the victim pursuing its murderer. Besides this, I was told that the murderer must not cut his hair at all, but pull it out hair by hair. This process will act as a preventive against the return of the "desire to kill," which otherwise is sure to come back and incite him to other murders. The "desire to kill," in this case, is probably derived from the same idea of the revengeful "spirit" of the victim possessing itself of the mind of the murderer.

Another measure of like nature is a change of name, which is effected by the Chukchee very readily on several occasions of their life. The way in which the new-born infant receives its name will be described in a later chapter. Then, after a few years, the parents -- if they are afraid that the name does not suit the little one, making him suffer, "making his bones heavy" -- proceed to the first change of the name, after which, during later life, several other changes may follow. The names thus assumed are of the most varied character. Sometimes they are taken from among the usual Chukchee names, but more often they are chosen with the view of giving protection to the person concerned.

Some of these are names of animals, such as A'3tEn ("dog"), A'3tEqäi ("small dog"), Kei'ñin ("bear"), Ê'3hilhin ("wolf"), etc. Others refer to the "alien" tribes, such as Ai'wan, E'tel, Ta'n.ñitan, {Compare p. 18.} Ro'čhilê3n (that on the other shore). Proper names taken from the "aliens" are also used for the purpose. Some names are even those of spirits, -- Kele'wgi (ke'lE-man), Ke'le-ñe'ut ("keiE-woman"), Kama-ta'hin ("spirit's limit"); among the Koryak, Ka'mak ("spirit"), etc. Female names are given to men, and vice versa. Shamans themselves often assume a name from one of their favorite spirits. Thus one of the shamans was called Ñaw-n'rkA ("she-walrus"); another, Valv-inpina'čhin ("raven old man"), etc.


The most effective supplementary means against diseases is, however, the use of amulets, which are prepared and given by the shamans. These consist of various pendants and tassels made of skin and beads, and fastened to various parts of the body or dress, often also made into rings, bracelets, and necklaces to be worn for personal adornment. {Compare Figs. 198, 189, pp. 257, 258.} In addition to these, I will mention the round patches of skin, often with a tassel in the centre (Fig. 292). which are considered as highly effective amulets among the Chukchee, {Compare Fig. 149. р. 221} the Pacific Koryak, and the Astatic Eskimo. They are sewed to the coat, on the breast or on the shoulders, and. if possible, against that part of the body where the pain is felt, or at least is supposed to be; for example, against the top of the stomach in all internal sufferings, against the shoulderblade in rheumatic affections of the back. etc. A rough image of the "guardian" is fastened in the centre. Often, however, the figure takes an ornamental character, and the "guardian" is replaced by a woman's figure, by a man dancing, or by a warrior clad in Chukchee armor, all of which, of course, may not be considered as images of "spirits," The whole object serves both magic and ornamental purposes, as is the case with many other pendanst and tassels.

Incantations. -- Belief in the significance of magic formulas, often accompanied by certain actions prescribed for the occasion, has a firm hold among the Chukchee. According to a verbal communication of Mr. Jochelson, incantations among the Koryak form almost the main substance of their practical religion, rites are incantations put into practice, and amulets derive their force from the formulas which were pronounced over them, and they are called simply "things enchanted."

In his work on the Koryak religion and mythology, Mr. Jochelson says, however, "It seems to me. that there are two elements which participate in this transformation into a guardian, of a piece of wood shaped into a crude likeness of a human figure. First, there is the conception of a concealed vital principle in objects apparently inanimate. Second, there is the mysterious influence of an incantation upon the vital principle; i.e., the power of the words of man to increase the force of the vital principle, and to direct it to a certain activity." {Vol VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 32. [469]} This statement makes the predominance of incantations in the Koryak conceptions of "guardians" less absolute.

In consonance with this latter assertion, perhaps, incantations are held in hardly less esteem among the Chukchee. Magic formulas must be pronounced during their ceremonials, and with them certain prescriptions must be carried out. Ignorance of these requirements, or neglect in the performance of them, menaces the power of the ceremonial, and may cause a withdrawal of the protecting forces and an attack by hostile "spirits." Most of the younger people, of course, on being asked about such formulas, declared that they had no knowledge of them, and that they performed only the outward part of the ceremonials, according to the example of their forefathers. They ascribe this ignorance to their own foolishness and to the tendency of modern times to a disbelief in the mysterious, or even to the ridicule of it as mere superstition. In this, however, they are not quite sincere, because, on the whole, it is considered advisable to conceal everything about the incantations. Usually one of the older members of the family will know at least a few of them, which he will use to make his ceremonials more effective. It is true that some of the more careless people do actually perform their ceremonials without incantations, but this state of things continues only till some misfortune befalls them. The latter would at once be imputed to such unprotected state, and the family would have to apply to a shaman or some other competent person to acquire an incantation for future use.

I have already spoken of the way in which amulets are selected. They certainly acquire a great part of their power from incantations pronounced over them. The natives explained to me that the ancient charms and amulets are very powerful, because of the number of incantations which were pronounced over them in a succession of years. Among the Koryak, according to Mr. Jochelson, amulets lose power with the lapse of time, and the incantations must be repeated over them at stated intervals. {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, pp. 44, 118.}

Success in the most important pursuits of life is also considered to be acquired from incantations, which are pronounced at various times. Thus, for instance, success in reindeer-breeding is always ascribed exclusively to powerful incantations which belong to the owner, and insure the prosperity of his herd. A man well to do must make it his constant care to buy from divers people additional incantations good for reindeer-breeding. A poor man, on the contrary, is said to be foolish and to have no incantations insuring luck in reindeer-breeding. A man whose herd is on the decrease believes that his incantations have lost their power, and, if he finally becomes poor, he usually throws aside some of his incantations, and loses the remaining ones, forgetting the order of the words and actions necessary for their effect. The incantation is said to force the owner to lose it.


In the same way, incantations, among the Maritime people, insure a lucky issue in the hunting of sea-mammals. In these the women are considered more skilful than the men. Sitting at home, and practising incantations near the hearth, they draw the animals toward the shore. {Compare p. 359.} For instance, on a sketch (Fig. 293) which forms a part of a large drawing, with all kinds of sea-pursuits represented upon it, a person making incantations on the shore, at the point of the cape, causes a herd of walrus to come from the open sea and approach the shore with all speed.

Besides this, a number of incantations of every possible kind exist among the Chukchee. There is no moment of life and no action too trifling to have its special incantation. A man driving reindeer will make use of an incantation to shorten the distance ahead. In like manner, a hungry person eating with others, from the same dish, will try by an incantation to make the motions of his rivals slower than his own. Women apply incantations to their sinew-thread in order to make it stronger. A man who has forgotten a magic formula will resort to another incantation which is helpful in recalling to one's mind things which are forgotten.

A number of incantations relate to matters of love. Those referring to birth, death, and funeral-rites, will be treated in a separate chapter. A large proportion of incantations refer to the cure of diseases. As may be seen from this enumeration, incantations are usually benevolent in their purport toward man. In this they are at variance with another series of magic acts, which always portend harm to some one.

These latter are called in Chukchee ui'wel. Most of them are supposed to have a capricious material shape created for them by the person performing the incantation. They may be animals, monsters, or even inanimate objects. In this shape they are sent to the person "doomed to anger," to lure him in some way to danger and destruction. After that they come back, and are themselves destroyed, or simply disintegrate on the spot. I call them "spells," in the absence of any more adequate word.

Conformably with this difference between incantations and "spells," the "Old Women of the Time of the First Creation," mentioned in several formulas, are there called also "Women of Incantation," signifying that their performance is beneficent to the applicant. The small old woman of Ke'rek stock, mentioned in the tale of the Scabby Shaman, {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 210.} who did much harm to the hero of the tale, is called, on the contrary, an "Old Woman of Spells." There are, however, several branches of incantations which are also harmful in their purpose. These are called "Spell Incantation" (oiwa'čirg-ê'wgan) or "Anger Incantation" (a'nñêna-ê'wgan). Of these I shall speak later on.

Some of the incantations have a very short formula, consisting often of but a few words. Others are more elaborate, and are directed to various stars and "Beings," with an application to every one for some spirit assistance. Many of them are contrived in the form of a dialogue between the performer and the powers to whom application is made.

Incantations may be inherited from parents, who, dying or growing old, transfer to their heirs their spiritual as well as their material property. Or they may be received in dreams from various va'irgit or ke'let, or may even be bought from competent persons. These are, of course, mostly shamans; but, besides the shamans, there are also those who know a great many incantations, and, moreover, know how to apply them, and who, therefore, are able to give advice and assistance in various cases of trouble. Such persons are called the "knowing ones" (hiule't-re'mkin, "knowing people"). The same expression is used in the languages of the neighboring tribes and even in local Russian.

To transfer an incantation is, however, no easy matter. Incantations are given by supernatural protectors to a special person only, because the protector had compassion for that person's particular trouble. Therefore the incantations are intended for the personal use of the one to whom given, and the supernatural powers will be angry on the application of them to the use of another person. Hence, even though a person is perfectly willing to transfer an incantation, it may take several days of urging and persuasion before this person will agree to proceed to the transmission. Through this method the supernatural powers may see how serious is the need of the applicant, and take compassion upon him also, which, of course, would assure the special effectiveness of the incantation. Thus, in the case of incantations protecting the life of small children, even the nearest relative, when he lives at a distance, will repeatedly refuse to come to the house in need, and will consent only after several attempts on the part of the parents of the child.

A shaman, however, is less scrupulous about giving his help. He asks his "spirits" for a new incantation on behalf of the person applying, which, in most cases, consists, not in words, but only in special prescribed actions. On the contrary, he will try to keep for himself the "genuine incantations," the fruit of his knowledge, and will not transfer any of them without a special demand, and payment.

The transference of incantations must not be made without pay of real or at least of symbolical character, or the supernatural powers will be angry with both parties, and the incantation will lose its force. Moreover, the receiving party will be unable to keep in mind the words of the formula. The transfer must be made without witnesses; otherwise, the incantation will lose its power, or the third person, although unwillingly, will become possessed of it.

The shaman, or any other person who wishes to practise the incantation for his own use or in behalf of others, pronounces the formula in an inaudible whisper; for, should even a stone hear the mysterious words, it would deprive the owner of their possession, and gain them for itself. After finishing the incantation, the person practising must spit at his left side-, which is supposed to fasten the incantation to the object in view. The same thing is done when transferring the incantation to another person. The spitting indicates that the possessor renounces the incantation, and gives it over to the other party. According to a similar idea in a Koryak tale, Big-Raven sells his daughter to a seal for a song, which the last-named spits into the mouth of Big-Raven. {Vol. VI, Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 152.} The incantations in dialogues, however, are pronounced aloud, and it is supposed that the supernatural party, who answers the questions of the performers through their own mouths, will take care to protect their possession of the formula.

From all this it may easily be concluded that it is no light matter to collect the formulas of incantations from the Chukchee. I succeeded on various occasions and in different localities in collecting about forty incantations, which are given at the end of this chapter. Some of them are simply formulas to be pronounced: others, evidently, are a kind of description as to how the formula must be pronounced and acted upon.

The language of the incantations, on the whole, is the usual Chukchee: but there are some obsolete words used in them, and there is even one the meaning of which is already lost by the people. This proves that the words of the formula have an equal importance with the action, and that, from ancient times, there was a tendency toward consolidation and the exclusion of any possible change. The general character, and even the details, of the incantations, are the same throughout the whole Chukchee territory. Of the reindeer-breeding incantations, those of the Kolyma country closely resemble those of the Anadyr. The same may be said of the incantations relating to the cure of diseases, to the protection against the coming-back of the dead, etc.

The supernatural powers mentioned in the incantations are the Upper Being, the Sun, the Moon, various stars, among others the Pebbly River (the Milky Way). The last was mentioned also in connection with shamanism, though I could not collect any tales having a bearing on the personal character ascribed to it, such as exist, for instance, regarding Orion or the Pleiades.

Some of the short formulas are of a general character, and could have been called simply prayers. For instance, a Chukchee, while sacrificing to any of the spirits or "Beings," will say, "Oh, let me look on (the world) for a while!" or, "Let me walk around for a while!" or, "Receive my offering and give me luck!" or "Let me take you for an assistant in my pursuits!" or, "Be good!" or, "Let us live well!" or, still more simply, "There, come and eat!"

The Chukchee, however, consider these formulas also as incantations, because the conception of the latter is with them more general, and the power of such a prayer is considered to lie, not in the meaning of the words, but in a certain prescribed order in which they are pronounced and acted upon. On account of the reasons given before, the short formulas are, in most cases, pronounced in a low whisper.

In the collection of incantations given at the end of the chapter, the first two (No. i, a, 6) deal with wild reindeer coming to the herd, which, as said before, is considered a manifest sign of the "reindeer-luck" {Compare p. 74.} of the owner. On p. 379 the details of the manner in which an incantation like this is put into practice were given. The incantations request the supernatural forces to send down various objects of their possession, through the influence of which the person pronouncing the incantation may transform the wild reindeer into a tame one.

Incantation No. 2 is used by the Chukchee inhabitants of the Middle Anadyr in hunting wild reindeer crossing the river. {Compare p. 133.} I have already said that this hunt is of great importance to the people, who live solely by its produce. Therefore a number of incantations and methods of divination are used to secure a plentiful arrival of the game, and to make the hunters invisible to it. Some of the formulas include the employment of the sexual parts in a manner similar to that described in connection with shamanism. For instance, in order to foretell the chances of the incoming hunt, the hunter descends to the river-bank, and, taking off his clothing, sits down on some flat, even spot covered with thick compact sand. Then he stands up and looks at the impression left by his body upon the sand. If the private parts are clearly imprinted there, it is considered a good omen: if not, the spirits are unpropitious to the hunt. Then the house-charms are taken to the shore and a sacrifice is made to them in order to secure anew their protection in the incoming pursuit.


Of not less importance are the incantations for hunting sea-mammals. Of these, however, I could secure only one. In hunting from a boat (Fig. 294) the incantation of this kind is pronounced by the steersman, who at the same time is the owner of the boat. For this purpose he stands, and raises the steering-paddle aloft in a horizontal position. The same gesture, according to Mr. Hoffman, is used by the Alaskan Eskimo as a signal of the lug. 294. chukchee sketch representing discovery of game. {W. T. Hoffman, Graphic Art of the Eskimos (Report of the United States National Museum for 1895, p. 903), Washington, Government Printing Office, 1897.} In Fig. 273 (p. 395), men, pronouncing an incantation, point upward wooden drum-sticks which they carry in their hands. This gesture is repeated in several other drawings. It seems to be used on land, while the lifting horizontally of the paddle is used on sea in sealing-pursuits. Nevertheless, in Fig. 295, which represents the whale ceremonial, the steersman of the last boat, who is performing an incantation, likewise points upward the paddle he holds in his hands. Another man, who meets the whale, has in his hands a sacrificing-vessel and a long drum-stick adorned with tassels.


Incantations for improving bad weather apply for the help of supernatural forces against wind and tempest. The first one of this kind (No. 4, a) was given to me by a native fellow-traveller of mine during the great snow-storms in the fall of 1899, which had considerably hampered our progress on the Middle Anui. The owner of the incantation was so sure of its effectiveness that he proclaimed himself ready to bet on it a sound whipping against a drink of alcohol. After the incantation was duly pronounced, the weather began to improve, and he was about to proclaim his triumph when the storm came back with redoubled violence. When I asked him afterward about the matter, he answered artlessly, "It is the great big world around. How can I cover it all with this small incantation of mine?"

Incantation No. 4, b, was used several times in my presence by the people of Mariinsky Post, who have great faith in its effectiveness. Still another incantation requires that a young boy. quite naked, shall be sent out of the house during the storm. He must run three times around the house, following the direction of the sun's course, repeating all the while, "O storm! leave off. I have no place to dry my clothes."

Steller mentions a very similar requirement among the Kamchadal. {Steller, p. 270.} He also says that they were forbidden to go out of their house in the winter-time with bare feet, because it would cause snow-storms. A somewhat similar custom exists among the Chukchee in regard to a woman newly delivered from her labor. {See Chap. XVII.}

The Russianized natives of the Kolyma and Anadyr, in order to repress the wind, "catch" it in a big overcoat spread windward, and then speedily tie up the garment. The wind "tied up" may be quiet for twenty-four hours, but after that time it must be let loose. If it should be kept captive longer than that, it would, when finally freed, become a severe and prolonged storm. This method of subduing the wind is known also to the Chukchee.

A number of incantations are used for defence against the coming of the ke'let (Nos. 5, a-e). In these the person pronouncing the incantation, instead of asking assistance of the supernatural forces, tries to frighten away the harmful "spirits" by various means and devices. He pretends to have fierce bears or other monsters tied up to his door, which make the entrance of ke'let impossible (No. 5, a); {The old woman who gave me incantation No. 5, a, actually had two small figures of heats made of wood. In the time of a contagious disease, she took them out of the bag each night and set them to watch on each side of her sleeping-room (compare p. 344).} or he declares to the ke'let that his house is transformed into iron, and that the entrance is protected by a sharp knife that will cut up any intruder (No. 5, b). If there is no house to secure, the man pronouncing the incantation will proclaim that he is hidden in various places not accessible to the ke'let (No. 5, c-e). Besides those incantations the texts of which are given, I will mention a few more.

Thus, a lone man driving reindeer, who stops for a night in the wilderness, proclaims that he is hidden in the left ear of his left reindeer, or even in its anus, or, again, under the lining of his large outer cap. A man sleeping in a strange house will pronounce similar formulas in order to defend himself from the "house-spirits," who, as a rule, are hostile to all "alien" people. Even a prospective bridegroom, who, in order to win his bride, serves his term of work with her family, takes similar precautions, because he supposes the "house-spirits" are averse to his purpose.

There are a number of other methods to prevent the admission of the ke'lE to the person or to the house under protection. The person casting the spell will draw a line on the snow, and thus create a chasm or a deep river; he will put a small stone or a piece of ice before the entrance, and proclaim it transformed into a high mountain or an iceberg, etc. These methods are used especially in funeral ceremonials, of which I shall speak later on.

In connection with this group of incantations must be mentioned also those which are used by reindeer herdsmen to protect the herd against the spirits of disease (No. 6), or against wolves (No. 7). The latter, as has been said, range with the "spirits."

A number of incantations are used for purposes of magic medicine. Some of them, as related before, are of a dramatic Character (No. 8, a-c). In them application for help is made to some supernatural "Being," whose descent and whose assistance to the patient are then acted. The supernatural "Being" is represented by a blade of grass growing upon a hummock, by a splinter of wood, etc.; while the person performing the incantation talks both for himself and for the "Being" called to help, often even changing his voice to make the performance more vivid.

Among the supernatural beings applied to in these incantations must be mentioned an Old-Woman-of-the-Time-of-the-First-Creation, a Woman-of-Light, and a Hummock-Woman who lives on the top of the hummock with a female neighbor who also has a hummock-house. Their names are given as Ra'učha-ña'ut and Ku'ča-ña'ut. The first one, who is called the "Chief Woman," is probably the same as the old Dawn-Торса Woman {Compare p. 303.} who lives in a separate house in the direction of the morning.

It must be mentioned also that the person performing the incantation is called the "Father" of the patient. This person refers to the patient as to his child, evidently in order to induce the supernatural powers to have compassion on his sorrow (No. 8, c). {Compare also p. 464.}

In other incantations (Nos. 8, d--m) used in magic medicine, the person performing calls to his aid some beast or monster; or, more often, he pretends to transform himself into that monster or beast. In this shape he treats the diseased part of the body so roughly that the source of the disease concealed within it is destroyed or frightened away. Often the limb affected, or the source of the disease, is declared to be transformed into such material shape as to make more convenient the cleansing or the destroying operation described in the formula. For instance, an ailing stomach is made into a bay of the sea, and the big sea is called to send a strong current to the shore and to clean away all the rubbish. Or the illness is transformed into a flock of ptarmigan, which are destroyed by a supernatural bird with iron quills and claws. Or a swollen limb is supposed to be a mound of snow, and a sturgeon is made to flop about in it and cut it up with his sharp fins, etc.

In one of the incantations (No. 8, i), help is demanded from a little flying spider, which, under the name of Spider-Woman, figures also in several stories. {Compare p. 330.} The incantation requests it to come down and to sew up the freshly cut wound, which is bleeding profusely. Other incantations mention the Raven Ku'rkil (No. 8, g), the Magic Woman, and the Spermophius-WToman (No. 8, m), -- all of which figure in the folk-lore of the Chukchee.

Special incantations (Nos. 9, a--c) are intended to intercept dying persons on their way to the other world. So great is the Chukchee belief in their efficacy, that they suppose they can even bring back to life persons really dead. Most of these incantations (No. 1, a, b) are similar in character. The person pronouncing the incantation asks the supernatural force to send down its dog, or pretends to transform himself into that dog. In this shape he intercepts the patient on his way, and makes him return, barking, and snapping at his face.

Besides the two incantations of this kind which were collected on the Pacific shore, another somewhat similar one is mentioned in a story from the Kolyma country. The story deals with a case of actual suicide which happened on the western tundra of the Kolyma in the nineties of the last century. Relative to bringing back the dead, it says, "A man going away along the trail of the dead may be turned back by a dog. To do this the performer must whisper an incantation into the dog's left ear, and send it in pursuit. The performer says, 'Go and bring back the man. We will feed you with the choicest morsels!' The dog intercepts the patient on his way, and makes him turn by jumping at his face. After the patient has been restored to life, the dog is immediately killed." The story adds naively that the less difficult cases vield to the incantation, but the more dangerous ones are hard to deal with. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 53.} In another story collected in the same country, and also dealing with an incident of real life, a man was killed by a neighbor. The body was cut in pieces, and these were buried one by one in separate places. The family of the victim thought he was lost somewhere in the country around. In order to find him, they performed an incantation upon a dog, which was then sent on the search. The dog found all the pieces one by one, and brought them to the camp. They were put together by the relatives and burned on the funeral pyre. After that the dog was killed in sacrifice to the World (Ña'rgmên). {Ibid , p. 20.} Then the family found the murderer and killed him. I have mentioned also the important role of the dog in frightening away the "spirits of disease." {Compare p. 13.}

Incantation No. 9, c, which also was given to me as having a special power to bring back the dead, is one of the usual incantations of magic medicine. It calls down the Pebbly River, and then proclaims that the patient is transformed into the rapid of its stream, and thus cleansed of all rubbish, that is, of disease.

The love-incantations are of the usual symbolical type. In one (No. 11, a) the performer watches the woman in question as she passes water, and then pretends that the heart and intestines of the woman fall down together with the water. After that he demands ice-creepers from the Morning-Dawn, and tramples with them on the intestines of his victim.

In another incantation (No. 11, b) the performer proclaims that he is about to extract the internal organs of the woman, whom he pretends to entangle in a seal-net. Then he pretends to turn the husband of the woman into a seal's carcass, and the woman into a doe, which flees from the offensive odor of the carrion.

In still another incantation (No. 12) a jealous woman pretends to turn her rival into carrion. She transforms the man in question into a big bear, which eats of the carrion, but soon vomits it up.

It may be seen that, though the incantations were collected in different and often quite distant localities, the methods used in them are similar even fn details.

The so-called "Raven Incantation" (No. 13) stands apart from the other specimens of the kind. It was said to be used by shamans in order to acquire power to harm other people. It is, however, only a dramatized form of a tale well known to the Chukchee and to the Eskimo, both on the Asiatic shore and in Alaska. {Compare Bogoras, American Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. IV, p. 656.} It may be compared also with the actions of mischievous shamans when they come out in the night-time and ask the supernatural forces to give them power to harm their enemies.

Among the malign incantations, some are of the same symbolical character. In one, the text of which is not given, the performing person proclaims his victim to be transformed into a seal-skin, and then requests the shrimps to come from the sea and to eat it. In another incantation of this kind, given to me by Scratching-Woman, the person performing asserts that he has taken the victim, and put it into a cooking-pot, there to be wrung through a piece of old net, like half-digested moss from the reindeer-stomach. {Compare p. 197.} Then the performer pretends to take the stuff out of the pot and to put it into a hole dug for that purpose in the ground. The hole is covered with a bird's wing. Then the stuff within is transformed into a dog, who, attracted by the scent from the camps, as dogs are wont to be, goes from camp to camp. The same incantation is also used for the creation of an artificial dog to be employed for a "spell."

Two groups of harmful incantations have special names. One is called ei'3ut, and has for its purpose the reduction of the speed of a rival in a race on foot or with reindeer, the loss of his strength in wrestling, etc. In one of the formulas (No. 14, a) the performing person ties his adversary with the line of the Spider-Woman. In another formula of this kind (No. 14, b), the performer hampers the swiftness of his rivals by pretending to put a many-branched tree-trunk across their trail. The incantations for bringing back the dying are also called ei'3ut, because they have for their purpose the curbing of the speed of the dead on their last trail.

The other group of harmful incantations in question are called nine'wget. It includes various manipulations carried out with the flesh of corpses. The flesh is taken from the corpses, which have been recently left on a burial-place. For this the person acting comes in the night-time to the corpse. He stops at a distance, takes off all his clothes, and then creeps to the corpse on all-fours, quite naked, and pretending to be a fox. To increase the resemblance, he even drags one of his legs, in imitation of a fox-tail, and cries, "Ka, ka, ka!" imitating the barking of that animal. He carries a knife in his teeth, and, approaching the corpse, cuts off a small piece of the flesh of the left shoulder, and, if possible, takes also some of the brain. Then he goes back to his clothes in the same animal-like manner. The piece of flesh is dried in the open air, far from the house. To make it effective, a small particle must be mixed with food, and given to the person "doomed to anger." It is believed to work like poison. After the victim has swallowed it, his mouth will be completely covered with burns, his stomach will burst, and he will speedily die.

Some persons, in procuring the flesh, even dispense with the knife, and use their teeth for tearing away the desired pieces. This greatly increases the effectiveness of the charm. Another way of doing the same is for the person acting to pretend to be a raven. He hops to the corpse, holding the knife between his teeth, and pretending that it is his beak, and he also caws like a raven. When he is close to the corpse, he bends down and pretends to peck at it with his knife-beak, after which he may cut off the desired piece. This method calls to mind the Raven Incantation mentioned before, and also some details of the funeral ritual, in which, also, participants pretend to be ravens.

In another method of doing the same thing, the person acting pretends that the corpse is a seal on the ice, and stalks it in the well-known characteristic manner. When he is close enough, he thrusts his knife at the corpse, pretending that he is throwing the harpoon. After that, the performer is free to take his piece of flesh.

The chief purpose of all these methods is evidently, not so much to intensify the power of the "spell," as to defend one's self against the revenge of the dead person whose corpse is being despoiled.

It is supposed also that a human skull may be used as a vessel in which to cook certain magic preparations, though no details regarding this custom are known. Several tales, however, mention old "women of spell," who mix their decoctions in a human skull: therefore our attempts to collect skulls of the natives were discouraged, and even caused us to be suspected of the worst practices.

Similar methods of sorcery were used by other neighboring peoples. Thus Sarytcheff mentions {Sarytcheff, II, p. 142.} that, while he was on the Andreyanoff Islands, a native (Aleut) shaman said to one of his female patients, that her malady was caused by her father, who, when in pursuit of sea-mammals, used to take the brains out of dead men's skulls in order to smear his harpoon-points with them.

Spells. -- In the preparation of "spells" some typical methods, well known among many tribes, are used also by the Chukchee. Thus, to prepare a "spell," one must procure some particle belonging to the victim's body, -- a lock of hair, a scraping of the nails, or one must pick up a piece of snow freshly impregnated with its urine. If any one of these are dried, wrung, or put near the fire, the victim will undergo an analogous process. Figurines representing the victim are made of wood, of grass, or of pounded leaves. These may be stabbed, or dried, or beaten, and the process will likewise be transmitted to the person "doomed to anger."

The person performing a "spell" may also injure his victim by throwing its image, made of grass, between his own legs, which he has spread apart for the purpose. The person doing this must bend for the action so as to touch the ground with his head, and then throw the image with the greatest possible force. The image must be left on the spot, exposed to the open air. In the same measure that it is damaged by the progress of time, the victim also sickens, and finally dies.

A blade of grass, a splinter of wood, or even a lump of earth taken out of the fresh footprint of the person "doomed to anger," may also be used to perform upon it magic operations of the kind described.

According to another method, the performing person pretends to become a wolf, and smears his mouth with fresh blood, proclaiming it to be the blood of the victim. This may be compared with Incantation No. 8, d. In still another case the performing person slaughters a reindeer in sacrifice to the Moon, and then cuts off the head and puts it on a stake, asking the Moon to make the victim similar to this reindeer. Then the victim is struck with palsy.

In a "spell" of the Maritime Chukchee, the performer places before the entrance of the victim's house a few long leaves of a species of seaweed. The leaves are pierced with numerous holes, and therefore may serve as a net, in the meshes of which the soul of the victim is captured. This may be compared with an analogous action by the ke'let. {Compare p. 294.}

But the most characteristic of all the "spells" used by the Chukchee are the artificial creations, which are materialized, and then sent to destroy the enemy. The same peculiar conception is to be met with among the American Eskimo. {Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, pp. 153, 363.}

The idea of such "spells" is so familiar to the Chukchee, that they try to represent even the malevolent incantation as something likewise materialized. For instance, in the tale of "The Scabby Shaman," Ri'ntew catches the malign incantations of all his enemies, one by one, and ties them up separately in a number of mittens. In the morning he distributes the mittens among the baffled would-be wizards, and tells them in turn, "These are your words, -- and these are yours, -- and these, yours." {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 207.}

A "spell," once materialized, must be sent immediately in search of the victim. It may, however, be intercepted and made ineffectual by some magic power greater than that of its particular owner. Then it may be appropriated by the victor, and, indeed, it will insist on being appropriated by him and sent against its former owner. If rejected by the new wizard, it will, notwithstanding, of its own accord, go back to its former owner and retaliate on him for its failure.

Thus I mentioned in the preceding chapter the image of such a "spell" which was intercepted by the shaman Scratching-Woman, and then appropriated by him for his own use. Similar ideas are to be found in the folk-lore of civilized peoples. Thus the demons mastered by a wizard are said to clamor constantly for more work, and that of a character harmful to others. If they remain unoccupied, they may fall on their master and tear him to pieces: therefore, when no victim is assigned to destruction, the wizard makes his demons twist ropes of sand, drain the sea with a bailer, etc.

The artificial "spell" may appear in various shapes, and also may change its appearance at the will of its creator. Often it is an animal, or even a group of animals, or, on the contrary, only some part of the carcass, -- for instance, the upper half of a ground-seal, a fox-head without body or legs, -- also a man or a woman, or even any inanimate object, such as a stone or a tree. In some cases the first sight of the materialized "spell" makes the victim lose his reason, and die raving mad. In other cases, on the contrary, the victim believes that he has before himself a real animal, a fit object for hunt; and the ultimate catastrophe happens quite naturally as an accident of the hunt. Thus I obtained a very characteristic story about two Chukchee families between whom an old feud existed. At last one family left the country, and settled at a distance of several hundred miles. After a number of years, a wild reindeer-buck came to the camp of one of the members of this family, and began to graze in sight of the houses. Of course, it was only a materialized "spell," because a real reindeer would not dare to come so near a human habitation. It was sent by the "knowing people" of the other family, who had not forgotten that the last bloodshed was effected by their adversaries.

The time was well chosen, because, of all the men of the camp, only the master was present. On seeing the reindeer, he shot at it with his bow. The reindeer took to flight, but ran rather slowly, being evidently wounded by the arrow. The man, who was fleet of foot, followed in pursuit. This was the last time he was seen alive by any person. After two days, his wife, alarmed by his prolonged absence, went to a neighboring camp several miles distant, and asked the people to help her in her hunt for the missing man. After a few hours' search, they found him on a large lake in the vicinity. It was early in the fall, and the ice of the lake was not yet covered with snow. The fleeing reindeer had lured him upon the ice, and there in a swift chase the man fell down and broke his neck. Of course, no trace of the reindeer was to be seen. It had fulfilled its mission, and without doubt had returned to the "knowing people" who had sent it on its errand. I had this story from the brother of the man who perished, and his death was scored up as a new case for revenge against the other party. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 24.}


In a Chukchee tale, several versions of which were collected, a man or a woman desiring to have revenge on a female foe creates a dog of snow, of brindle-wolf color, and transforms it into a young man. The "spell" is immediately sent to the camp of the victim, where it acts like a real young man, and succeeds in making love to the woman "doomed to anger." The owner of the "spell," however, is able to guide its actions from afar, and at the required moment he calls lightly, "Wute'l, Wute'l!" this being the name usually given to dogs of this color. {Compare p. 101.} Under the action of the call, the man again becomes a dog, and drags away the woman as dogs usually do. The body of the woman is torn to pieces, and only a small part of the pelvis is brought to the house of the master of the "spell." The dog, after coming home, vanishes. The details about the dog-man cohabiting with a woman, after the manner of dogs, occurs also in the tales of the American Eskimo, {Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 166.} but the dog is not represented as a materialized "spell."

In the collection of Chukchee sketches, the materialized "spell" is represented by several drawings. Now it is a half-bodied seal sent by a mischievous shaman to frighten a seal-hunter; again it has the form of two bears who have caught a woman "doomed to anger," and are torturing her, tossing her body to and fro between themselves like a ball (Fig. 296). The malicious incantations are believed to work sometimes in the same way as do the materialized "spells;" that is, by inducing the person "doomed to anger" to meet the harm in a quasi-natural way. For instance, while travelling on the Wolverene River, I met a man by the name of Pe'tki, who formerly was one of the fleetest runners in the whole neighborhood. His rivals, desirous that his speed should be impaired, sent an incantation to him by which he was induced, while in his own sleeping-room, to sit down on a bare knife, and in such a manner that half of the blade entered his thigh. When I saw him, he was still suffering from the wound, and it was impossible to say whether that leg would not be permanently lame as the result of the accident.

The people are excessively afraid of all kinds of "spells" and harmful incantations; but, on the other hand, they often wish to retaliate on the suspected wrong-doer. Even a great shaman of the mischievous kind is not safe from the revenge of his neighbors, who by common consent may cause his death." {Mr. Gondatti also says, referring to the same matter, that among the Pacific Chukchee, when shamans are believed to cause too much harm, they are killed by their neighbors, and that even special methods are used in the execution of such murders. I cannot tell, however, what he intends us to understand these special methods are. (The Population of the Anadyr District, Memoirs of the Amur Section of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. Ill, Part I. I mentioned this paper on p. 20, but at that time I was unable to get it. Since that time I have been able to consult it in the library of the Geographical Society in Paris).} Thus, in the tale of "The Scabby Shaman," the people wronged by young Ri'ntew make complaint to his father, and then the whole village plans the destruction of the young shaman.

Even in modern times, when harm of an unexpected character is ascribed to the pernicious influence of an unfriendly neighbor, the latter runs the risk of paying for the suspected witchcraft with his life. Thus, in the year 1896, during the spring fair on the Wolverene River, I was present at a series of reindeer-races in the camps of the richest inhabitants. Two persons were all the time striving against each other for the victory. Their names were To'liño and Ya'tirgin. The reindeer of To'liño, however, were better than those of his rival, and he was victor several times. Then, at one race, the right reindeer of his team suddenly stumbled and fell, not fifty feet distant from the goal, which gave to Ya'tirgin the chance to snatch the prize first. Of course, the accident was ascribed to a harmful incantation of the kind known as ei3ut. {Compare p. 479.} In my presence the uncle of To'liño, frightened by the accident, tried to persuade him to stop racing and prepare for the return journey to his camp, which was two hundred miles distant. To'liño was obstinate, and determined to continue. Two days later, to the horror of all, To'liño died suddenly. The death, of course, was ascribed to the witchery of his rival; the more so, as the latter with his family left the country hastily on the next day, and went eastward in the direction of the Chaun River. In his haste, he even left behind a part of his large herd of reindeer, which were taken by the family of the deceased. The brother of the latter promised to visit, the next fall, the country of Chaun in order to settle the blood-score.

In another case, which happened the same year at the Anui fair, one Chukchee accused his neighbor of killing his son by witchcraft a few months before that time. The two families were not very friendly, and it seems that the supposed wizard, when under the influence of brandy, was wont to boast of his magic skill. Be that as it may, the father, thirsting for revenge, watched for the wizard as he was passing on a trail among the camps, and shot him down with a rifle. The brothers of the murdered man wanted to have blood for blood; but even they felt that the wronged father was within his right, and after some controversy the affair was settled without even weregild.

Divination. -- Of the methods of divination, the most common is that with a suspended object. The Chukchee and the Eskimo alike use for this the so-called "divining-stone" (yitko'mk-u'kwun, literally, "swinging-stone"). Any pebble with a string tied around it may serve the purpose, although stones somewhat bizarre in form are preferred. Often the skull of an animal (Fig. 297, a) is used for the purpose, a "wooden spirit" {Compare p. 341.} (Fig. 297, b), a rough image of a "guardian," or even a piece of wood cut off under peculiar circumstances. On the other hand, the divination may be performed without a special implement by using the boot or cap of the person interested, or even the body of the person himself.

The method employed with any divinatory object is to suspend it by a string from the hand, or, better still, from the end of a stick; for instance, a walking-staff or the long handle of a scraper. The soothsayer asks his questions aloud or mentally, and then raises the object in the air. If the answers are favorable, the object will begin to swing; if unfavorable, it will remain motionless, and, even when pushed, will persistently return to its original position and remain quiet (Plate xxxiii, Fig. 4).


When the body of a living man is used in divination, his head is bound around with a string, the other end of which is tied to a stick. Then questions are asked and the stick is lifted. If the answers are favorable, the head will feel so light that it will apparently be lifted of itself. In the contrary case, the soothsayer will be unable to lift it from the ground. In this latter method the person whose head is being lifted may ask his questions mentally, so that nobody can hear them. This method of divination is identical with that used by the American Eskimo. {Compare Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, p. 363.} The same method is resorted to with bodies of the dead to obtain information as to the various details of the funeral, or the future of the remaining members of the family.

Another method is that of tying the dead body, dressed for the funeral, to the rails of a sledge. The sledge is then placed across two long smooth poles lying side by side on the ground, so that the runners can easily slide on them. Then the soothsayer asks his questions, and tries to pull the sledge along. If the answers are favorable, the sledge will run ahead smoothly: if unfavorable, some hitch will prevent it from moving. The principle is evidently the same as that of head-lifting.

At variance with this, the answers given before as favorable -- spontaneous swinging of the object suspended, easy and smooth motion of human bodies suspended or of sledges resting on rollers -- are sometimes taken only as affirmative, no matter whether favorable or not to the questioner; and those given as unfavorable are, on the other hand, taken only as negative. To avoid misunderstandings, however, the questions are, for the most part, put in such a way that the affirmative would coincide with the favorable, and vice versa.

As an instance of the contrary, an extract from a description of a Chukchee funeral, taken down from the mouth of a native, may be cited.


"Then they lay down rollers under the sledge and try to draw it. (They ask the deceased) 'Of all those present here, say straightly whether anything ill shall befall them. Tell that about all, one by one, not hiding anything.' If, on asking about some particular person, the sledge runs smoothly and without hitch, he will surely die." {Bogoras, Chuckchee Materials, p. 83.}


The method of divination by suspension is widely spread among both the Reindeer and the Maritime Chukchee, and is employed in almost all cases of life. Once, while in a camp on the Wolverene River the night before a great race, I was weighing some medicine on a small brass balance. A man who sat close by wanted to have a look at the balance, and when he took it from my hand, of course it began swinging. The Chukchee took this as a sign that the balance wanted to be used for soothsaying. He took advantage of this to ask it about the arrangement of the race for the morrow.

"Shall we arrange it together, or separately?" asked he. "Give a good sign! Give a favorable omen!" There were two men desiring to arrange the race, and it was a question whether they should join their stakes, or not. The balance gave an answer in the required sense. The man asked several other questions, which were all answered favorably, because the unstable thing swayed to and fro with the slightest motion of the hand of the performer. Suddenly, when he put forward a question about the foot-race, the balance stood still. One of the cords supporting the plates became hooked to the end of the lever, and its free motion was disturbed. "Desist, desist!" cried the other people, frightened; but it was too late. Now, when the balance did give an unfavorable answer, it was necessary to coax it to change it, and to answer more acceptably in its new, entangled position. The experiment took over half an hour, and still the balance would not answer satisfactorily.

Divination with suspended objects is well known also among the Asiatic Eskimo and among the Koryak. Those on the Pacific side use their amulets, known by the name of "grandmother" (a'n.ai), for this purpose. In a Koryak tale, a spirit-woman makes her husband use for this purpose his own penis. By its motion they are able to determine the movements of human people, who flee before their approach. Many Chukchee tales also mention the custom of ke'let trying to foretell the success of their man-hunting by swinging a human skull. This serves them as a divining-stone equally as well as the skull of an animal serves man for the same purpose.

Among the Kamchadal, according to Steller, {Steller, p. 277.} a woman shaman used to sit in a corner, and, winding a red thread around one of her legs, try to lift it from the ground. If the leg seemed heavy to lift, a negative answer to the question was implied: if it seemed light, the answer was in the affirmative. Nelson {Nelson, p. 433.} tells of a similar method of divination among the Eskimo southward from the mouth of the Yukon. For divination by head-lifting among other Eskimo of America, I will refer to Dr. Boas. {Boas, Baffin-Land Eskimo, pp. 135, 363.}

Another method of divination, nearly as much in use as the one just spoken of, is that with a shoulder-blade, the centre of which is kept over a small fire till it is partly carbonized, and cracks in all directions. The details of the cracks determine the meaning of the answer. This method, however, cannot be applied to every circumstance of life, because the indications of the cracks are necessarily limited. Among the Reindeer Chukchee its chief use is for determining the direction of the next moving of the camp. It is also employed to foretell the success of a hunt or of a journey, the approach of the wind, the imminent danger of a contagious disease, or of an attack on the herd by wolves.

The Reindeer Chukchee use for divination only the shoulder-blade of the domesticated reindeer. The animal, in most cases, is killed for this particular purpose, though the bones of every reindeer brought for sacrifice, or slaughtered for meat, are also fit to be used. The bone is taken raw, and the meat carefully cleaned from it. Then a small piece of burning coal is kept close to its centre. It is fanned, by means of blowing or light swinging, till the bone is carbonized, and gives the first crack. After the performance, the burned place is immediately broken through and reduced to crumbs, but the bone itself is added to the common kitchen-stock used for trying tallow. During the fall, the shoulder-blade of the left side is used for divination in personal or family affairs, while that of the right side is called "alien," and used for divination in the affairs of other people. During this period, divination is employed, first, when changing camp after the first fall of snow, then again about two months afterwards, when moving into winter-quarters.

In the winter time, divination is seldom used, but it is resumed in the spring, when moving from the winter-pastures to the summer abode. This moving is considered as "returning," the tundra being the principal country for the Chukchee people. It is called "descending road" (ta'hn-têla'n), meaning the descent from the wooded hills to the open tundra and to the sea. {Compare pp. 25--27, 378.} Even the families who ascend the mountains in the direction of the glaciers of the watershed call it by the same name. During this time, divination is used for every new move; but now the bone of the right side is used for the affairs of the family, while that of the left side is considered "alien." However, for all journeys made without reference to the moving of the herd, -- for instance, for trading-trips or for hunting-expeditions, -- the left shoulder-blade is used throughout the year.

In explaining the lines of the cracks, the shoulder-blade must be kept with the broad part upwards (Fig. 298). The ridge in the middle is called "mountain" (ičvui'gin), and is considered to represent the mountains and the inland generally. All the lower part of the shoulder-blade beneath the burned spot is called "bottom of bone" (a'3mhê), and is considered to represent the underground countries. The outer edge of the shoulder-blade, all around the broad part and down to the very bottom, is called "sea" (a'ñqA), and is considered to represent the sea-coast.


Usually one vertical crack is formed, with various ramifications above and below. The following principles are applied for their explanation. Everything that comes from the sea is good, even though it be from under the supposed level of the ground: "Nothing evil comes from the sea." Indications from the underground, or "bottom of the bone," on the contrary, are of evil character. From the mountain above the level, there may appear indications of either in kind, good or evil.

If there jg produced only one vertical line, it is a favorable indication; but if this line is short, or, on the contrary, if it reaches the very edge of the bone, the indications are unfavorable. Should the bone burn too quickly, it is likewise unfavorable. The small cross-lines not reaching up to the principal crack, when in the upper region, foretell only news of something; while the longer lines, crossing the principal crack, foretell the arrival of the thing. A large cross zigzag line foretells greatness of the thing which will come. For instance, a detached cross-line from the "mountain" may signify news about wild reindeer; a longer line, the coming of wild reindeer; and a zigzag line, the abundance of the wild reindeer; etc. A cross-line from the "bottom of the bone" foretells an attack by wolves, or the arrival of the "spirit of disease," or even death. A line formed on the top of the principal crack signifies a snow-storm; a semicircular line on the same place signifies unexpected death. A detached line in the region of the "sea" signifies some unexpected news. Thus, for instance, cracks on the shoulder-blade represented in Fig. 298 indicate (1) abundance of some game coming from the mountain, evidently reindeer, because it was the season for the reindeer-hunt; (2) the coming of wolves to the herd of the camp.

In performing divination regarding the direction of moving, the person must first select a direction, and then inquire about it. If the indications are unfavorable, -- that is, if some evil is indicated as likely to happen on the journey, -- the proposed direction is abandoned. In this case the shoulder-blade itself is immersed in a mass of stuff emptied from the reindeer-paunch, which is generally considered as highly effective for ceremonial cleansing of this kind. While immersing the bone, the person says, "This is not my shoulder-blade: this is an 'alien' shoulder-blade." Then the bone is left sticking in the stuff. On the next day another reindeer is killed and the divination resumed for a changed direction of the route. This is watched with the keenest attention, lest, through some carelessness, the true meaning should be misunderstood.

An unfavorable indication of a shoulder-blade may be tested by divination with the sinew of a reindeer-leg. A piece of sinew is wound tightly around a splinter of wood several times. If it unwinds quite smoothly, this is considered a favorable sign, and the indication of the shoulder-blade may be rejected. If, on the contrary, it becomes entangled, this corroborates the indication of the shoulder-blade, and some reverses are likely to happen. Then another shoulder-blade may be tried for some other direction of moving.


The Maritime people use the shoulder-blades of the seal for purposes of divination, but this is done less frequently, chiefly because there are no questions to decide regarding the choice of direction of moving. The attention of the people is naturally directed, not so much to the possible result of hunting-expeditions, as to procuring help and protection from the supernatural forces, so as to obtain a favorable issue for the hunt. The Chuvantzy and even the Lamut of the Anadyr country have also adopted this way of foretelling the future, and the latter probably imitated it from their Chukchee neighbors. The explanation of the lines, adopted by the Lamut, is, however, simpler than that of the Chukchee. The Lamut, for instance, do not distinguish between the sea and the mountain side of the shoulder-blade. They do not even pay attention to the position in which the blade is held, but are occupied exclusively with the lines. Among the collections of the Museum there are several shoulder-blades of Lamut provenience, which were burnt over the fire for divination. One of the most characteristic is represented in Fig. 299. The vertical line on it signifies the route of the Lamut; one branch of the bifurcated line coming from the left side signifies the coming of the reindeer; and the body of the line signifies the joint way of the Lamut and the reindeer after having come together. Evidently the hunt will be successful, because the line signifying the way in common is exceedingly long. The detached line on the other side of the principal line signifies the reindeer which will succeed in passing by the hunters and reaching the mountains. {The distribution of "Scapulimantia" has been discussed by Professor Richard Andree in Boas Anniversary Volume (New-York, Stechert, 1906), pp. 143-165.}

There are several other methods of divination; for instance, the person puts an amulet or a splinter of wood into his left mitten, and shakes it violently till the small object flies out of the mitten. It is a good sign if it falls to the right: the contrary is a bad sign. Divination with blades of grass is very common. The person takes eight blades of grass, and, forming a slender sheaf, ties it in the middle; then he ties consecutively the ends of the grass-blades which touch one another, after which the sheaf is undone. If the blades were so tied as to form an uninterrupted circle, the indication is favorable: if not, it is unfavorable. Such a method seems almost sure to prognosticate bad luck. Many persons, however, succeeded in my presence in forming a circle of blades tied together. I cannot tell whether this was the result of good luck or of cleverness, though they assured me that the thing was done quite honestly without any trick. In a former chapter {See p. 404.} I alluded to the use, among the Maritime Chukchee, of lumps of tallow for purposes of divination.

Dreams. -- I have already spoken of the influence of dreams in the arrangement of the various details of Chukchee ceremonials. {Compare p. 382. } In arranging the thanksgiving ceremonial and the races, dreams are especially important. These two are even called "dream-echoes" (rê'ti-taa'ññirgin), showing how often they are arranged solely on indications of a dream. Indeed, even if a small boy should see in a dream that his family performed a thanksgiving ceremonial, it would be considered necessary to fulfil the dream under danger of most serious misfortunes. The ke'let and va'irgit also appear to people in dreams to give them warning, or even to ask them for sacrifices. I mentioned in the preceding chapter the "spirits of disease" who came to Aiñanwa't in a dream, before the breaking-out of real danger. {Compare pp. 418, 421.}

Once when I was travelling with a party of Chukchee in the country of the Dry Anui, we stopped over night on the shores of a certain lake. In the morning one of the natives told us that the owner of the lake came to him in a dream and asked him for a sacrifice. "You are a new-comer to this country," said the owner of the lake. "You must give me a present." The man was actually a new-comer to that part of the country. Accordingly he sacrificed to the lake a piece of tobacco-leaf and a small lump of sugar. But the "spirit" had in mind some other thing. The native had with him a little brandy in a glass bottle, which he was carrying as a present to his old father. At first there were two full bottles of the brandy, but a small portion was all that was now left, and the dutiful son wished to keep that little till he came to the house. The "spirit," however, appeared to him again the next night, "almost in his waking moments," and unceremoniously tugged at his sleeve. "Friend," said he, "I want that liquor. I have not tasted any for a very long time."

In the morning the Chukchee was very angry at that demand of the "spirit." "I am no resident of these places," repeated he. "I am simply a passer-by. He has never given me anything." And he kept the brandy in spite of the thirsty "spirit" of the lake. Two days afterward, when we had gone fifty miles from the lake, he suddenly caught cold and fell ill. The cold proved to be influenza, and he was obliged to stop at the next camp, which, fortunately for him, was already arranged for the winter. The camp also had been stricken by influenza; but it was on the decrease, and the people were now out of danger. I heard afterward that the man with the brandy likewise recovered, and, after a week or so, proceeded on his way, but I very much doubt his ability to keep the brandy for his old father.

Another time, in a Maritime village, the mistress of the house where I stopped suddenly became indisposed. In the morning, her husband said that some one came to him in a dream and asked him for his spotted dog. He offered another dog, because the spotted one was the best of the whole team; but the visitor insisted, repeating that "spirits," like men, fancy spotted things. Accordingly, in the morning the spotted dog was stabbed with the spear, and offered to the "direction" of the evening.

Omens. -- In the course of the preceding pages I have mentioned several times the Chukchee belief in omens; for instance, should a slaughtered reindeer fall upon the wound, this is considered as less favorable than to fall on the opposite side, especially if the reindeer had been slaughtered for a definite sacrifice. For the animal to fall backward forebodes misfortune. Therefore, in the very process of slaughtering, the people try by dexterous jerking of the halter to make the reindeer fall with the wound upward. It is not good, however, to exaggerate this tendency, otherwise the sacrifice will not count in the eyes of the divinities.

To dream of the loss of a tooth may presage illness or death, the tooth symbolizing the soul, which is in danger of being lost. The yawning of reindeer during a journey bodes the coming of evil spirits. The crackling of the fire on the hearth foretells the coming of guests. The last sign, as is well known, is widespread among various peoples.

Taboos. -- I did not find many taboos among the Chukchee, Reindeer or Maritime, nor among the Asiatic Eskimo. In this, these tribes differ greatly from the American Eskimo, whose whole life and whose pursuits are closely interwoven with numerous taboos.

Regarding the taboo in reference to a woman's menses, the Reindeer Chukchee consider that during that time the husband and wife must sleep apart, or the woman will grow sickly, and soon become sterile. A like result is represented as following the infraction of other taboos connected with sexual life. {Compare p. 37.} I was told, however, that several "who are foolish" transgress this interdiction, and have intercourse with their wives during the time of the menses. Among the Maritime people, both the Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo, the taboo concerning the menses is much stronger. A woman at the time of her courses must carefully avoid even to approach her husband. Even her breath is considered as impure: should it touch her husband or any other man; it would contaminate him, and destroy his chance in sea-hunting pursuits. He would even run the risk of being drowned at sea. In these latter details we see a resemblance to the ideas of the American Eskimo.

The chief taboo among the Maritime people, both Chukchee and Eskimo, is a strict prohibition against the use of wood for fuel during the winter. The time during which this taboo is in force is marked by the going-away and the coming-back of sea-fowl, since all other indications are not sure. The cold continues almost throughout the year, and the ice-floes change their position with a change of winds, and may be drifted off from shore even in the middle of winter. The reason given for the taboo is, that the smell of the smoke will "frighten away" the seals and the walruses. A coal-fire is admissible: nevertheless, the Maritime people feel much disturbed by the attempts of civilized people to settle for the winter in their vicinity. They assert that, on the American shore, the sea-mammals have greatly decreased because of the infraction of the taboo by numerous white settlers who have come to the native villages.

Another very important taboo refers to the precaution relative to scraping skins, and especially to rubbing them with alder, when the carcass of a killed whale is hauled to the shore. Any use of alder is forbidden till the whole amount of meat and blubber is stored away by the villagers. A woman who has her hands stained with alder-juice makes the "noble guest" suffer. If she washes her hands in sea-water, she causes all the whales to leave the shore.

The same proscription existed among the Yukaghir of the Lower Kolyma in regard to the reindeer-hunt.

Women must take no part whatever in the preparations for the hunt of wild reindeer; for instance, it is forbidden to send a woman to fetch a forgotten object. While on the watch for wild reindeer, it is forbidden to call it by its name, or to point toward it with a finger. It is forbidden to cook seal-meat, fish, and reindeer-meat in the same pot while the hunt is going on and all these are fresh from the slaughter. When taken from the storehouse, the various kinds of meat may be cooked indiscriminately in the same pot.

A restriction like this exists among the Yukaghir and Yakut, and also among the Kamchadal. {Steller, p. 274.} The rules of the American Eskimo regarding the same matter are much more strict and complex. {Boas, Central Eskimo, p. 595.}

The owners of the lakes, rivers, and sea-bays, have an aversion to iron^ If, in fishing or sealing, any iron tool is dropped into the water, the catch will be immediately cut off. The same belief exists among the Russianized Yukaghir. It is forbidden to kill a living fish fresh from the water with an iron weapon. It is forbidden to kill the eagle and a sea-bird of the species of Synthliborhamphus antiquus Gm. The killing of an eagle brings storm; and the killing of the other species, fog. The birds of this latter species,, however, may be killed singly from time to time. When a mother-bird with her little ones is met by a hunter, he may kill the latter, but he must immediately take to flight, lest the mother-bird revenge on him the death of her young. If she gives pursuit, he must show her a talisman in the shape of a dried carcass of a bird of the same species, which is often carried for this purpose on the boat. Then she will be frightened, and will desist from pursuit. The bodies of young birds killed under such conditions may serve as amulets, insuring luck in sea-hunting. With the appearance of shot-guns bought from the Americans, the taboo against this bird became less strict, because the bird-hunters simply shoot down anything that flies by. Notwithstanding this, when, during our stay in the village of Uni'sak, we wanted to-kill a few birds for our zoological collection, the inhabitants constantly asked us not to kill top many, lest fog and bad weather should come to the shore, and cause starvation and suffering.

When stopping over night on a journey, the stick stuck obliquely into the ground for supporting the kettle over the fire must point in the direction of the journey. Some taboos and proscriptions about food will be found in the chapter on food. {See pp. 193 et seq.} The proscription about the necessity of stripping and bringing sacrifice, when hewing off a piece of sandstone for manufacturing a lamp, has also been mentioned. {See p. 187.}

Among both the Reindeer and the Maritime people it is forbidden to throw away crumbs and remnants of food. The Reindeer people connect it with success in reindeer-breeding; for instance, they say that, if a reindeer-bone is not entirely gnawed up, the reindeer will be stricken with some disease. If the same thing happens with a bone of a leg, the herd will be visited by hoof-disease, etc. Therefore housewives gather carefully all remnants of food, especially bones, and burn them in the fire. The Maritime people believe that the "Being" of the sea will be angry for any neglect of scraps of the meat which he gives to the people; but they are not so careful about the scraps, especially in time of plenty. It is forbidden to sing or whistle while eating, also to laugh while an animal is being skinned.

I have previously mentioned the taboo about interchange of fire. Another taboo of a similar kind is directed against trading off to another person anything of long and intimate possession, -- things "clinging to the heart" (li'ñliñqin), be they of much or of trifling value. Thus, a man may trade off a driving-sledge when it is newly made, but not after it has been in his possession for a long time. Likewise a man must not sell the driving-reindeer belonging to the team that he is chiefly using; but he can freely trade off the other reindeer and the pack-sledge reindeer. This explains somewhat the seeming contradiction between the words of Kennan, who says that he was unable to buy live reindeer from the Chukchee, {Kennan, Tent-Life in Siberia (Russian edition, 1896), p. 194.} and the fact that the trade in live reindeer exists everywhere in the Chukchee territory. Kennan without doubt wanted to buy good driving-reindeer for his personal use, which, of course, was no easy matter. When selling a live reindeer, it is well to pull a tuft of hair from its mane or head. If this hair is thrown into the fire of the family's hearth, it will prevent any part of the reindeer-luck from departing with the reindeer.

A taboo existing among the Asiatic Eskimo forbids staying away from one's native land longer than five consecutive years. Here, again, the number five has peculiar importance. {Concerning the number of five years, compare p. 392.} By "native land" is understood the natal village and the surrounding territory. But the territories of more remote Eskimo villages are considered as "alien" land. I was told by the natives, that families who have lived for five years away from their native country must either return, or consider themselves expatriated. In that case they must try to establish close relations with the "spirits" of their new dwelling-place. Indeed, though many families of Asiatic Eskimo often move from place to place, in accordance with the vicissitudes of seal-hunting, {Compare p. 28.} they rarely go very far, and even then they try as soon as possible to return to their native village. Thus, most of the inhabitants of I'3en, in Providence Bay, go almost every spring to the village of Eu'nmun, lying not far off on the shore, where the seal-catch is more abundant, but after that they return to their own territory. As to more distant villages, I know cases where families from Uni'sak, who had staid for four years in the village of I'mtun, returned to their native country in the summer of the fifth year, and vice versa.

I do not know whether similar customs prevail among the American Eskimo. Among the Maritime Chukchee a taboo like this could hardly obtain, because the whole tribe is more unstable, almost half nomad, and the reindeer-breeding section, moreover, has too much attraction for the Maritime villages to allow them to hamper their movements by similar customs.

Another taboo of the Asiatic Eskimo forbids long migratory journeys with household and family, to be performed on dog-sledges. Such journeys must be performed exclusively in summer-time and with the large skin boat of the family.

Still another taboo existing among the Asiatic Eskimo refers to the boats going to the open sea for hunting sea-mammals. They are forbidden to take with them provisions and fresh water, and especially fuel for cooking. Indeed, to make a fire in a boat in the open sea is considered as a grave trespass against the hunting-chance of the party. The hunters, therefore, can assuage their thirst only by sucking sea-ice, when pieces of a proper quality can be found, or by swallowing the viscous fluid from the intestines of walrus or thong-seal before mentioned.

For provisions, the hunters usually take only raw or dried meat. To take along cold cooked meat is permitted only after the coming of puffins, which for this reason are often called simply the "cooked." To cook a meal in the boat is, however, strictly forbidden. To cut off and eat a piece of raw meat from one of the animals freshly killed by their exertions is considered most fitting for the hunters. As the Maritime people consume the gristle, the intestines, and the blubber, -- raw as well as cooked, -- this proscription does not seem to be very inconvenient for them.

I cannot say what may be the cause of this strange taboo. The natives themselves are conscious that it seriously hampers their hunting-expeditions, since it makes it impossible for them to go far out to sea. They say, however, that the Sea-Being instituted this taboo through his care for the people, lest too many of them perish in the open sea. The Sea-Being gave to the Maritime people an explicit command not to venture out in the open sea beyond the limit where the line of the shore-hills could be seen, and for further security he instituted this taboo.

The arctic Chukchee, however, have no such taboo. They take with them cooked meat, water, fuel for fire, skins, and covering for their beds. While in the open sea, they make a fire in the boat on a large piece of sod or on a flat box filled with sand, and cook their meat on that improvised hearth. Therefore they are able to go out into the open sea far beyond the limit of sight of the shore-hills. There they eat and sleep, and often stay for two or three days, which, of course, gives them more chance for hunting. For their return they rely on the north wind, which blows there frequently, and brings their boats in toward the shore.

The Maritime Chukchee of the Pacific shore are not, however, so daring on the sea, and their sea-expeditions are by no means the equal of those of the Eskimo. {For other taboos see Chapter XVII.}


TRANSLATIONS OF INCANTATIONS.1


1 Compare p. 332.


I. Incantations for taming Wild Reindeer-Bucks who have joined the Herd of Domesticated Animals.

(a) It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I tugged at your heart's life (tetke'yuñ), {Compare p. 303.} together with the aorta. I drew it out of your anus, and appropriated it to myself. (The person practising the incantation picks up from the footprint of the animal two splinters or blades of grass, and puts them into his left mitten. On coming home, these must be wrapped in a piece of leather, and suspended in the inner room, over the lamp.) It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I drew out your psalterium, I took it out of your anus and put it over your nose, like a bag. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I make you into a tame doe. How is it? Go and look for a husband among the people of the Morning-Dawn! It is a wonder, it is a wonder. You have brought the son of the heaven's crack. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. You have brought the son of the Morning-Dawn's top. {Compare p. 307.} It is a wonder, it is a wonder. You have brought the son of the "separate clouds." It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I have put you on a broad rock. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I have put you on a large rock. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I have put you in a large ravine. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. With the stones falling down from both sides, I made your eyes unseeing. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. With the stones falling down from both sides, I made your ears unhearing. How is it? I fastened stones to the points of your hair. How is it? О Zenith! give me your striking-stone. (The person practising the incantation appears as if about to take something with his left hand.) I will put it on this one's crown, among the antlers. How is it? I have put you on a large lake. It is a wonder, it is a wonder. I put you with unseeing eyes on a glacier which is splitting with great noise. How is it? О Zenith! give me your forked wood; I will put it on this one's neck. It is to be trampled upon by the herd from both sides.

I ask an incantation from the World (Ña'rginên). I beg from the Front Head (the star Arcturus)8 the right-side reindeer of his team and that most thoroughly broken reindeer that leads the train of his sledges. I tie the aorta of the wild reindeer-buck to these two. From the top of the Zenith I haul down the heart's life (tetke'yuñ), and with this I strike you on the head. After that I cry out, "Ka, ka, ka!" but he cannot fly, being tied up. The Pebbly River (the Milky Way) I make for my road. I call the East and the West Wind to bring me smoke from every camp around. Then I build a big fire before the entrance of my tent, and I say, "You are my chief guest! Come in! Let us feast at my house; let us eat. What is the best? You are my chief son-in-law. Take a wife from my people." After that, the wild reindeer becomes quite tame, and even comes to the train of the sledges. After a while, however, it must be killed, and all the elements of the incantation returned to their owners. The right-side reindeer is returned to the Front Head. Meat puddings also are prepared with which to feed the Winds. They are scattered (in crumbs) in all directions. The end. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 143.}


Told by Aiñanwa't, a Reindeer Chukchee man of the Kolyma Country.


(b) When a wild reindeer-buck that has just shed his hair joins a domesticated herd, the owner says, "Let us try it and make of him a tame reindeer! Let him create offspring for us!" He goes to the herd and pronounces an incantation. He talks to the Being of the Zenith. "Listen to me, you there above! I am in great need. This one wants to go away, and he is the first of his kind that I have seen here. Give me your wooden stake! I will stick it into his foot and fasten him to the ground; I will thrust it in between his antlers; I will pierce his lower jaw, and bring it down to the level of the ground. With what else will I pin to the ground this fleet-footed reindeer-buck? I will gather bowlders from all sides, and pile them up between his antlers. How will he move his head? I will wrap his ears with sod. I will gather withered sedge-grass and cover his nose with it. Let all bad odors from every part of the earth enter into his nose! I make him into a fawn newly born. О Va'irgm! do not despise my demand. Let me get possession of him! I will give you in exchange something equally worthy of desire." Then he spits, to fasten the incantation. After that he says, "Bring the herd to the house!" The wild buck is very tame. They drive the herd windward, so that he will smell the odor of the house, and hear the noise of the people. But he is heavy, and less shy than before. The end.


Told by Ke3ute'hin (man) on the O'nmilin Tundra, 1901.


2. Incantation used on the Middle Anadyr in hunting Wild Reindeer.


I call every game, every living thing, from the very first limit of creation. A young pintail duck I use for my leader, it is so clever in hiding from everybody. I call an old pintail duck to be my leader. The lone reindeer-buck I make to wade into the water. Oh! let us try to adopt it for the leader! Let him give his call before the reindeer! Now I sing, "Just so, just so! Oh! who are you?" I use the distance (to the game) of yesterday, I use the distance of to-day. I make them appear before me! I cover my face with the soot; to every kind of game I become unknown; to every species of animal I become unrecognizable. Only the soot of my face appears before their eyes. Taking off my breeches, I stand on the ground without any precautions. My buttocks have three eyes, and they keep watch for me. They see every hidden ke'lE, and they make the ke'lE's eyes to close. The foremost reindeer I make very slow, using the two legs of the small pintail duck, forked in two from its buttocks. Everything difficult to smell of I am using all the time. I enter the confines of every place without any precaution. I may sleep without care. All game have a liking for me; every kind of game has a great love for me. Thus I have almost acquired a good careless sleep. The thing lying under my pillow I have for my protector. Blowing over it, I make it rebound backwards. I make it scatter downwards. The end.


Told by Nikon Tahra'tirgin (man) in the village Chika'yeva, on the Middle Anadyr, 1900.


3. Incantation for hunting Sea-Mammals.


When the hunters, having gone out in a boat, have found a herd of walrus sleeping on the ice, and the boat makes a noise striking against the small ice around, the man who practises the incantation says, "O walrus! I put your ears on a broad iron pan, lest you should be able to hear the rapping noise." Then the hunters are able to approach, and kill all of the herd.


Told by Wiyê'nto (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


4. Incantations for improving Bad Weather.


(a) I am crying to the Zenith, straight windward. "Old woman, scrape the sky all over with your little copper butchering-knife! A huk! You have great breasts. I beat my hands three times, then I fall backward. I put my left mitten on my right hand." The end.


Told by Rite'hrew (man) in the village Chika'yeva, on the Middle Anadyr, 1900.


(b) "Western Wind, look here! Look down on my buttocks. We are going to give you some fat. Cease blowing!" (The man pronouncing the incantation lets his breeches fall down, and bucks leeward, exposing his bare buttocks to the wind. At every word he claps his hands.)


Told by A'niqai (man) in Mariinsky Post, 1900.


5. Incantations against the coming of Ke'let.


(a) When evening comes, I tie up two big bears, one on either side of my entrance, and I speak thus: "You are so big and strong! At your side, nothing ill can befall me." If the ke'let try to enter, the bears would catch them, because they are quite fierce. It is difficult to pass them by, or to make an assault while they are there. Then there is a small old woman, quite blind, and armed with an iron whip. She swings her whip all night long, here and there before my entrance. It frightens away the ke'let, and prevents them from making an attack. After that, two big polar owls are put on the watch around this house. They have iron beaks and iron wings. Their beaks are very sharp. When the ke'lE, the murderer, who is wont to make assaults, comes to the house and wants to enter it, they strike at him with their beaks, wound him severely, and peck out his eyes. His blood flows away far into the wilderness. Then he feels afraid, and leaves off.


Told by Ve'lvuñe (woman) in the village of Če'čin.


(b) I make the house of human people into a closed iron ball. It has no entrance and no windows, and there is only a small vent-hole on top. I put around this hole a sharp knife-blade. No ke'lE can enter through it; no source of death knows anything about it. In the evening, in the time for sleep, something bad will try to attack the house. One will say, "Let us enter this house!" -- "Yes, let us do it!" They go around the house, looking for the entrance. There is no entrance, and they cannot find it. "Oh! what side shall we try? It is wonderful. We cannot find the entrance. Let us do it from below. We will enter it through the ground of the outer tent!" They dive into the ground, but have to re-appear on the other side. It is impossible to enter, because the house is all iron. They come again to the front. "Where shall we try it, oh! I hear the people's voices inside. There now! Let me try and climb to the roof." One of them climbs to the roof and sees the vent-hole. "Oh! I have found it! Here is a place to make an attempt. Come, now! lower me down this hole, upon a rope." They lower him down; but the hole is narrow, and armed with a sharp blade. It cuts him all over. The blood spurts out, even the intestines come out, and he cannot endure the pain. "Oh! oh! Haul me up! I shall die! I have bruised and lacerated my whole body." They haul in the rope. His bowels and intestines are all out, and he is covered with blood. "Oh! let us go away! It is too bad. My body is all cut to pieces. I have nearly met my death here. We do not want it." They leave the game and go away.


Told by Ke'3ulin (man) in the village of Mi's.qAn, 1900.


(c) If I am afraid to sleep alone, I say that I have cut off the left half of a female dog's body, and I gather the dog's blood in the hollow of my hand. In this blood I go to sleep. Who can see where I am? That's all.


Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


(d) When I am afraid of ke'let, while sleeping alone, I say, "I make myself into a small stone. I enter the stone. It is lying on the seashore. Every wind is blowing upon it; every wave is washing over it. I am safe." It is good also to swallow a small stone. Then, when the ke'lE comes, he cannot find the man among the pebbles on the shore.


Told by Aiñanwa't, a Reindeer Chukchee man, in the Kolyma Country, 1895.


(e) If I am afraid of ke'let, when travelling alone in the night-time, I take the throat of a re'kken {Compare p. 296, 324.} for my road. He has a long neck. Travelling inside of it, the other ke'let would not be able to find me.


Told by Qo'têrgin (man) in the village of Mi's.qAn, 1900.


6. Incantation used to protect the Herd from the Hoof-Disease.


I ask from the Master of the Pebbly River a big iron box. I put into it my herd, and then turn the key. How can he (that is, the ke'lE) enter there?


7. Incantation against Attack Ьу Wolves, to be used by a Herdsman.


To protect my herd from wolves, I surround it with a long line suspended in the air. Upon this line I hang a number of clothes, which swing in all directions, and frighten the wolves. Thus they cannot approach the herd.


Nos. 6 & 7 told by Scratching-Woman at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


8. Incantations of Magic Medicine.


(a) I went out into the open air. At some distance from the house there are hummocks, -- two hummocks covered with grass. One of them is the nearer, although it is no great distance away. I suppose that I have travelled as far as the region beyond the skies. Coming quite close to the nearer hummock, I cry out, "Halloo!" I say it to myself, but it is as if the hummock called to me. Then I answer, "No, it is I !" -- "How wonderful! Where from?" -- "No, I come from the people below!" -- "How wonderful! For what have you come? You have come from a very long distance." It is a little old woman who talks to me, -- a Woman of the First Creation, Ku'čä-ñe'ut by name, who is sitting in the inner room of her house. The other hummock is her neighbor, the chief inhabitant of the place. She is a woman of many incantations: her name is Ra'učha-ña'ut. {Ñe'ut (ña'ut) means "woman." It is an obsolete word, used only in composition with the names. The meaning of the first half of each name was unknown to the speaker.} "Well, let us hear what the other woman will say, -- Ra'učha-ña'ut, the possessor of the incantations. Go to her!" I start as if about to go farther on to the chief house. Again a conversation, as the first time. "Halloo!" -- "Who is there?" -- "No, it is I!" -- "How wonderful! Where from?" -- "I belong to the people below." -- "How wonderful! What for?" -- "Now listen! A man of my people is sick. He suffers greatly. Therefore I come to you for help." -- "Ho! It is wonderful! And what says the other woman?" -- "She says, 'Go and see what the chief inhabitant will say!'" -- "Indeed! Wait a moment till I come out. It cannot be that you have travelled such a long distance without any result." Then I gather a weed from the top of that hummock, as if it were the old woman whom I am taking with me. We come back to the first house. "Halloo!" Now there are two of us. My companion cries out, "O mother! let us go! It must not be that this man has come hither without any good result." -- "Ay, ay! Wait for me! I am coming!" Now I gather another blade of grass, and I carry both of them to the house, as if I had returned from a land very far off, from beyond the sky. All the people of the house are waiting for me. I put the two old women beside the suffering man, close to his pillow. In the morning we prepare two tiny bags with little pieces of skin. Small bits of fat are put into them, and shreds of sinew into each bag separately. This represents the payment to the old women in meat and thongs. Then I take them back to their former place, and I leave each of them at their respective hummock house. After that I come back, pretending again to return from beyond the sky. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 132.}

(b) When I am sick, I demand assistance from the Right Side of the Morning-Dawn. "Oh, help my need; look down upon me with the Godly Substance (aña'ñ-va'irgin)!" The Right Side of the Morning-Dawn answers, "I refuse!" -- "O you, the Top of the Dawn, help my need; look down upon me with the Godly Substance!" The Top of the Dawn answers, "I refuse!" From the Left Side of the Morning-Dawn I ask for assistance. "Help my need; look down upon me with the Godly Substance!" The Left Side of the Morning-Dawn answers, "I refuse!" I ask the Front Head (the star Arcturus), "Help my need; look down upon" me with the Godly Substance!" The Front Head answers, "Ask the Rear Head (the star Vega). Near the right corner of thy house there abides a Woman of Light, a Hummock-Woman, an Old Woman from the Time of the First Creation: ask her for an incantation!" I visit her. "What have you come for?" -- "I am suffering! Look down upon me with the Godly Substance!" -- "Well, I will try!" She gives me a blade of grass, an iron blade, which is an iron hawk. I rub my body with that grass, and draw out the disease, which I turn into a flock of ptarmigan. These are to be caught and eaten by the iron hawk. {Ibid., p. 138.}


(a) and (b) told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.


(c) When a man is suffering, they call the Man from the Upper Region, and they speak thus: "Come down! I want to use you for my 'assistant.'

Indeed, what shall I do? Where shall I find any other help? I do not know. With your permission I will take you for my 'assistant.' Search for me. Here I am without any help at all!"

Then the man pronouncing the incantation picks up any small thing, for instance, a splinter of wood, and pretends that it is the Man from the Upper Region. Then he demands from the Front Head (the star Arcturus) its reindeer-team, and says, "O Front Head! give me your best reindeer-bucks. This man will use them for his team." He demands also from Rulte'nnin (the constellation Orion) his whip. Then the Man from the Upper Region starts on his searching journey. First of all he visits the "Ground Beings." He arrives there, and they say, "You have come?" (but in reality the man does not leave the place) -- "Yes, I have come!" -- "Who are you?" -- "Oh! I am employed only for an 'assistant.' I come to ask where that man is. He is here, probably!" -- "But we do not know anything. It is wholly unknown. We cannot tell!" Then he goes away (of course, the man is standing motionless), and begins to talk again, and he says, "Oh! where shall I go? Where is he?" He goes to the Upper Being (Girgo'l-va'irgm). "Oh! you have come." -- "Yes!" -- "What do you want?" -- "I am only on a search. I am an 'assistant' for those people." -- "Indeed! But we do not know. That man did not come to us. It is quite unknown!" -- "You say so! But where may he be?"

He comes home and finds the patient, who is now dead. He says, "Oh, I could not find him! The people yonder do not know about him. Oh, it is hard! Where shall I find him? I will go and look among the people of Darkness." He comes to the Darkness. "You have come?" -- "Yes! Oh, oh! There he is!" Here at last he is found by the seeker. "Then you are here?" -- "Yes! I have come here. Here I am abiding!" -- "Oh, let us go home! I am assisting those people. Indeed, for that they have called me! Let us return! I will take you with me." And he really takes him along. (For this the man picks up another small splinter, holding it with his left hand. This means that the Man from the Upper Region brings back the soul, and makes it retrace its way.) At the same time the person pronouncing the incantation blows into the right ear and scratches the head of the patient. The splinter of wood is put under the pillow of the patient. At last the dead one recovers his breath, then his voice comes back to him, and then he is able to take a sitting posture. Then the man practising the incantation demands from the Morning-Dawn some clothes for the patient. He says, "See here! This one is without clothes, this child of mine here! {The person pronouncing the incantation usually calls himself the father of the patient.} Give me some clothes, and I will put them on his body." (He stretches his hand upward, as if taking clothes from above.) Then he puts on the clothes, and says, "I have put upon you clothes which are unassailable (by the ke'let)." After that they carry the patient back into the house, because, for the last performance, they took him out of the sleeping-room. Now they restore him to his place. Before entering the house, his whole body must be smeared over with ochre. After that, he recovers completely.


Told by Qo'têrgin (man) in the village of Mi's-qAn, 1900.


(d) If a man is suffering, there is an old bear, a Big Bear of the Time of the First Creation. I make myself into that bear. All his hair is completely white, though he is no polar bear. I lick over my own fingers, and catch with them the suffering man. At every spot where he feels pain I clutch him tightly. Then I blow with force over his whole body, quite naked. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 135.}


Told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.


(e) If I want to cure some one from disease, I transform him into earth, and transform myself into a huge bear. I am strong; I am clawing the earth, and scattering it around. Then I put the disease into the hole, and cover it with the earth again. Thus I make everything tight.


Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


(f) "The bird Karpai'ñin! there comes Karpai'ñin with iron quills, which are very sharp. {This bird is mentioned also in one tale as having iron feathers; but nothing else is known about it.} He enters the mouth of the patient, and makes his dwelling-place inside of him. Inspect the liver, scratch it all over with your iron paws, stab it all over with your sharp iron quills! Let the disease go out from the neck, from the breast, from the stomach, from the whole body." After that, the patient paints his body all over with soot, which represents the feathers of the iron bird. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 137.}


Told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.


(g) For Pains in the Stomach. I call Ku'urkil (the name of the Raven). This- abdomen of mine I make into a bay of the sea. The bay is frozen, altogether bound with ice. Plenty of rubbish is frozen there in the ice of the bay; the rubbish is the disease of my stomach. "Oh! you, my stomach, you are full of pain. I make you into a frozen bay, into a bad ice-floe, into a very old ice-floe. Ho!" I call to Ku'urkil. "You, Ku'urkil, you travel around from very remote times. I want your assistance. What are you going to do with this bay? It is frozen. Mischievous people made it freeze. You have a strong beak. What are you going to do?" Then the Raven breaks the ice through, but in reality it is the disease which is broken. Everything that has stuck under the water I cause to be carried away; it is floating on the surface. Then he comes {The man who told me this incantation spoke alternately in the first and in the third person.} to the man who asked for assistance, and says to him, "I have finished!" -- "All right!" -- "Now I call to the great Sea, 'O Sea, you are great! Turn back the great river that flows to the seashore!' There comes the wind from the sea, great storm, high billows. I call to all of you!" He catches the patient by the skin of the abdomen. The man who pronounces the incantation keeps his hands on the stomach of the patient, pretending that his palms are the billows. With these he kneads the abdomen, and massages it. While doing this he says, "Here I am cleaning away all rubbish; I make it to be drifted away by the water." Then he falls backward, as if the breath of the great wind from the sea had dragged him away. Then the sea begins to ebb; the tide is at the lowest. The pebbles, which have been here since very long ago (these are in reality his intestines) are bare of water. There is no water near them. "I make you into a very dry place; I make you into a dry sandy shore. A hairy maggot is rolling on the sand, it rolls into its hair all the rubbish from the ground." Then the man who pronounces the incantation blows with all his strength. He smears over with saliva his right palm. He brings snow from outside, and makes it melt in his mouth. Then he brings a blade of grass, and fastens it to the necklace of the patient. Then he wipes the saliva from his palm. Then the people bring the payment. They make a diminutive skin bag, and put into it crumbs of sausage, dry leaves instead of skins, a little piece of meat, and a tiny strip of thong. The shaman takes all these, and carries them home. He carries them to the sacrificing place behind his own tent. There he takes out everything. He stabs the pieces of sausage with his knife: {Compare p. 369.} these are his reindeer for slaughter. He scatters the sacrifice to the Being of Incantation (êwga'nvu-va'irgin), -- the thong, the beads, and the tobacco; then he comes back. The evening comes, and they enter the inner room. The next morning they visit the patient again. "Halloo! how are you?" -- "Indeed, I am a little better!" Then the other one fetches a small river, {That is, some water, which by the incantation is considered to be transformed into a small river.} and puts it into the chamber-vessel to be also used afterwards for washing and sweeping the illness. From that time on, he begins to improve, and gradually recovers altogether. That is all.


Told by Ke'3ulin (man) in the village of Mi's'qAn, 1900.


(h) For Pain in the Abdomen. When my belly is ailing, I call the bear from the Rear Head (the star Vega), and tie him on my belly as a belly-protector. Then I say, "O bear! you are strong. Lick my belly; lick it and bite it! With your biting allay my pain." That is all.


Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


(i) То cure Cuts and Wounds. If I have cut myself, or if another person has hurt his foot with an axe, or has severed a vein, so that blood spurts out like a jet of urine, it is a cause of great fright. If the flow of blood is not stopped right away, it will cause death. I have an incantation for such an occasion. One must demand help from the Zenith. The person says, "Come down, you flying spider, who are the Spider of the Time of the First Creation." Then he appears to be taking the spider in his left hand. "There, now! sew this together." He appears to sew the wound, and then bandages it with scraps of skin. When, after some time, the bandages are undone, the cut is closed and looks quite like an old scar. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 137.}

(j) For curing a Swelling. To reduce a swelling which is slow in bursting, I have a special incantation. I say, "There is a Little Seal of the Time of the First Creation. I have transformed myself into that seal, and I have pierced the thick ice above!" Then I breathe three times over the swelling, which bursts after a while, or perhaps on the next day. {Ibid., p. 136.}


(i) and (j) told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.


(k) Another Cure for a Swelling. Inside of the swelling there lies a boneless fish, -- a Sturgeon. He moves his sharp fins, and cuts up the swelled place. On the top of the swelling there lies a Hare. He makes the snow under him melt with warmth. Between the two, the swelling bursts.


Told by Hiyewte'hin (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


(l) For curing an Ailing Limb. Taking a piece of cloth, I go out of the house early in the morning, and, turning to the Dawn, say, "O Dawn! this is my sea. Give upon my sea a wing of the butterfly." With this wing I rub the patient. This is not an ailing limb; this is the ground. I rub it with the wing from the upper earth of the Dawn, then it will stop ailing.


Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


(m) For curing Pain in the Legs. This is not a leg: it is a place chosen by the Raven for its night's repose. The Mouse-Woman and the Spermophilus-Woman scrape off the snow. The Raven asks of his wives, "Why is that stranger suffering so from pain in his leg?" -- "We do not know." The Raven goes to the Pebbly River. "I will bring some of its water, and I will rub it over the ailing place: let it cease to feel pain." Then he goes away to the Northeast Wind. "Halloo!" -- "Halloo!" -- "Why is this stranger suffering so from his leg? I could not do anything. My single incantation was spoiled by my own wife!" -- "Well, go home!" After a while there comes the Northeast Wind, which carries away the fallen leaves and the rubbish, and thoroughly cleans the ailing spot.


Told by Hiyewte'hin (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


9. Incantations to bring back the Dying.


(а) When a man has just died, and the body is lying in the inner room, another person leaves the house, goes into the wilderness, and talks to the Upper Being, to the Morning-Dawn. He says, "My mind is uncertain. Enough (stop doubting). Whom else may I ask for help? You are the fittest. Oh! give me your dog. I will also use it as a dog for myself. I am sorrowful for my child: it is gone away to a far-off place. Therefore let me use that dog for my assistant." He makes a motion with his left hand, as if receiving the dog from somewhere. Then he comes back and blows into the ear of the dead person, and howls like a dog, "Uu, uu, uu!" Then this dog starts on, pursuing the dead man. It follows him, barking and howling, "Haw, haw, haw!" Soon it passes ahead of him, and meets him on the road with fierce barking. It snaps at him, and intercepts his way in every direction. At last it makes him come back from his long journey. Then he must enter the body and put it on again. After that he begins to breathe, and gradually improves, and finally he, though dead, revives again.


Told by Rike'wgi (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


(b) If I want to retard one going away, I will transform, of my five fingers, the little one into the dying man, and hold it tightly in my palm. When he walks onward, Г will intercept his way. I will bark like a dog, and make him come back. I will make his soul into a drifted tree; I will blow as a high wind, and I will call it to the shore; I will draw it with my breath toward the land: "Kamo, kamo, kamo, kamo!" I will catch the tree by its roots, and draw it to the shore.


Told by Kamenva't, a Reindeer Chukchee, man, in the Kolyma Country, 1897.


(c) When a man suffering from disease becomes quite weak, and is about to die, he is carried out of the house, and his body is rubbed over with something, for instance, with snow. Then another man talks to the Upper Regions. He calls to the Pebbly River, and speaks thus: "O Pebbly River, come down! I will use you for my assistant!" At the same time he calls also the East Wind. Then comes a great fall of rain. The river is greatly swollen. The patient becomes the rapids of the stream; everything is carried away. He becomes quite clean, and the water takes with it all rubbish. Then the sufferer becomes better, and is carried back into the house.


Told by Rike'wgi (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


10. Harmful Incantation (Oiwa'čirg-Ê'wgan).


To whatsoever person has incurred my anger, I say, "You are not a man! you are an old seal-skin!" I call the shrimps from the sea. "O Shrimps! scratch at the skin, and make it full of holes. Be your anger as great as is mine! Destroy him speedily, before the coming of the fall!" Indeed, in a few days he is dead. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 142.}


Told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.


11. Love-Incantations.


(а) If I want to have any woman, I follow her all the time. When she urinates, I see her urine falling down, and then I say, "This is not urine that falls down; this is your heart and liver and kidneys, that fall down together." I go to the Morning-Dawn, and I ask him to give me boots with iron ice-creepers. With these boots I trample on that woman's heart and intestines, and hurt them with the iron ice-creepers. Then she will have a liking for me, and her heart will be hurt with it.


Told by Hiyewte'hm at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


(b) If I want to have this woman, I take out her heart and liver, then I go towards the Evening "direction," and hang her organs on both sides of the Evening. Then I say, "Here is the heart and the liver of that woman. Make them entangled in a seal-net! Let her be without her intestines! let her pine away with desire for me! -- This man is not your husband. This is a seal's carcass drifted to the seashore, rotting upon the pebbles. Every wind blows upon it, and its bones are bared. And you are not a woman; you are a young reindeer-doe. The smell of the carrion comes to you, and you flee away, and come into my possession."


Told by Ke'3ulin (man) in the village of Če'čin, 1900.


12. Incantation used by a Jealous Woman against her Rival.


"Then you are this woman! You have so much of my husband's love that he begins to lose all liking for me. But you are not a human being! I make you into carrion lying on the pebbly shore, -- old carrion inflated with rottenness. I make my husband into a big bear. The bear comes from a distant land. He is very hungry; he has been starving for a long time. He sees the carrion; seeing it, he eats of it. After a while he vomits it out. I make you into the stuff vomited. My husband sees you, and says, 4 do not want it!' My husband takes to despising you."

At the same time I make this body of mine into a young beaver that has just shed his hair. I make smooth every hair of mine. My husband will leave his former liking, and turn again to me, because she is repugnant to look upon. (She spits, and with the saliva smears her whole body from head to foot. Indeed, the husband begins to be drawn towards her.)

"I, who was till now neglected, I turn myself back towards him; I make myself into a deadly pain for him. Let him be attracted by the smell from here, and have a desire for me. If I reject him, let him be still more insistent!" And really the husband leaves off his former passion.


Told by Äqä'ñña (woman) in the village of Če'čin, 1901.


13. Raven Incantation.


The Raven sees carrion lying in the wilderness. "Let me go and call the neighbors. I have found game that is lying quite motionless." A crowd of ravens come to the carrion and alight on it. "Stop there! Let the chief come here!" The chief comes, -- the Raven chief. "I will begin from the spot around the eyes." (He alights, and, turning up his sleeves, takes out his knife. The others do the same. Their knives glisten in the sun. Nevertheless, they are only raven-beaks.) I spread an enchanted noose. One knife is entangled in it. Nevertheless, it is a raven-beak. The Raven wants it back. "Give me back my knife!" says he. "How can I live without my knife?" But the fact is, that it is only his own beak. "Give me back my knife, my only one." -- "I will not." -- "What shall I give to buy it off?" -- "Give me the power on such and such a man!" Then the Raven, in order to regain the knife, will give one of his incantations to be used for my own purposes. {Compare Bogoras, American Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. IV, p. 656.}


Told by Hryewte'hin (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


14. Incantations against the Rivals in a Foot-Race.


(a) I get the line of the Spider-Woman, and make of it my Jasso. This I throw on the person "doomed to anger." His whole body becomes wound around and around with it, and then he soon tires, loses his strength, and wants to sit down. If he does not, he becomes heated quickly, is covered with sweat, and blood spurts from his nose. He spits out blood, and cannot keep up with his rival. {See Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 142.}


Told by a Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma Country.


(b) If I desire to rob somebody of swiftness in running, I bring the trunk of a tree from across the sea. I keep the trunk in my teeth. The trunk has many branches. These I put down across the road of my adversary. He will stumble over them, and his speed will be hampered.


Told by Scratching-Woman (man) at Mariinsky Post, 1900.


Birth.


The regulations bearing upon birth begin, of course, when the woman is first aware that she is with child. From that time on, both the husband and the wife must every morning, on awaking from sleep, put on their clothes as quickly as possible, go out of the tent, and take a look in the direction of the morning dawn. Some make a hasty tour around the tent, following the direction of the sun's course. Not until after that may the woman re-enter the inner room to light the lamp. It is desirable that both parties should leave their bed together. The woman, however, may go out alone; but, if the man wishes to appear first, he must take with him one of the boots belonging to his wife. Neglect of any of these particulars will make the offspring come slowly, and will cause its flesh to be flabby. Moreover, the married couple must not transgress the customary rule that places the pillow of the Chukchee bed on the entrance-side of the sleeping-room, and which is often ignored by the people.

The garments for the new-comer are prepared in secret, lest some one of the "alien" people should see them. When the clothing for the prospective infant is spoken of, it is called "belly-protector," in order not to use the real word.

The mother works up to the very last hour. The more active she herself is, the stronger and healthier will be her child.

The husband and the wife sleep together till well nigh the labor-time, and there is no restriction against their conjugal life during this period. After birth, it is considered more fitting for the husband to have no intercourse with the woman for ten days, because, before the expiration of that time, the traces of the birth must still remain in the body of the mother. On the other hand, if the married couple are desirous of having another child as soon as possible (in the event of the first one having died shortly after the deliverance), they will have intercourse before the end of this term, and this is believed to be conducive to another conception.

When the time of labor is at hand, no stranger is allowed to enter the inner room of the family; and even near relatives of the male sex must keep far away, especially if they roam about in the day-time. It is feared that some invisible but evil influence will cling to them, and try to approach the lying-in woman. When the time of labor begins, all males, not even excepting the small children, must leave the sleeping-room, and they must not return until after all traces of the birth are removed. {Among some of the American Eskimo, the husband is not allowed to be present at the delivering of his wife, who is attended only by one or more of her own sex (Captain Ch. F. Hall, Life with the Eskimo, II, p. 313).} They may remain in the outer tent, but' they must keep very quiet. The female members of the family may stay inside, though it is thought more judicious that there should be as few people as possible present. An old woman -- a mother or an aunt -- usually stays with the woman in order to give her a hand in arranging matters.

I have spoken before of the tendency of the Chukchee women to reduce all assistance at this time to the strictest minimum. Nevertheless, when help is necessary, it is given to the woman. I know cases where, in the absence of female relatives, the husband has ministered to his wife in her first labors.

When the child has come into the world, the mother ties up the navel with a string of sinew into which a few of her own hairs have been plaited. This string, of course, has been prepared beforehand, and kept ready at hand. She cuts the navel with a sharp stone, which will serve her for that purpose during her whole life. The stone is simply taken from one of the skin-scrapers, and ever after that is kept in the clothes-bag of the woman. The navel is left unwrapped, but is kept rubbed all the time with dry powdered coal, till at last it falls off. The child is rubbed over with urine from the mother, which has been kept for the purpose; and the bunch of grass that was used in the rubbing is immediately burnt on the hearth.

With the Reindeer people a young doe is slaughtered, and, in the largest kettle of the household, a plentiful supply of strong broth is prepared from its brisket. The water or snow for the broth is brought by the husband. While filling the kettle, he puts the wooden drum-stick across the upper rim of the kettle, and repeats three times a short formula like the following: "O Sun! give us warm water." The woman in child-birth puts a large robe on over her bare body, and places under its folds the kettle full of warm broth. Over the steam of the broth she warms her breasts, believing that this process will make them soften. Then she eats some meat, and drinks of the broth as much as she is able to take. She alone must empty the full kettle, and the sooner this is done, the better. During the first two weeks she feeds on the choicest meat, always carefully boiled, and drinks large quantities of strong broth. The broth is considered well adapted to produce a flow of milk into her breasts.

Immediately after the delivery, the body of the woman is tightly bound around the hips with a cord in order to bring the bones of her body into their former position. The Chukchee believe that, without this, the woman will become sickly, and that her life will be shortened. The binding must not be undone for three days, during which time the woman keeps mostly in the inner room, though she may for a short while creep out into the outer tent. On the fourth day the cord is untied, and the woman may then stay in the outer tent, busying herself about her household duties.

Blood-Painting. -- On the fifth day, the ceremony of blood-painting is performed. For this the woman with the child is put into the family sledge, with one reindeer attached, and is carried around the outer tent, following the direction of the sun's course. The sledge is brought to a stop at the sacrificing-place behind the tent, {Compare p. 377.} where all the charms and images are arranged, ready for the sacrifice. The reindeer that drew the sledge is slaughtered; and the mother with the child, and at least two other members of the family, paint on their faces the usual blood-marks. The charms, and also the three central poles of the tent-frame, are also painted with blood. The woman takes the sinews out of the legs of the reindeer, and stores them away to be used as her boot-strings. Neglect to do this brings on pains in the legs, and rheumatism.

The ceremony of blood-painting is in many cases performed sooner, even on the second day after delivery. This haste is attributable to the idea that, before the ceremony, the new-born child is highly susceptible to evil influence; while after that, it is under the protection of family charms and sacred things.

Before the ceremony is performed, no person coming from outside is allowed to enter the house, especially in the evening. Even the father of the child, should he come from a visit to the herd, must first enter a neighbor's house, or at least rub against his body a small pup, which, as said before, {See p. 13.} will overcome the evil influence. After the ceremony, these precautions are not in force, and are renewed only when contagious diseases are prevalent, or when the child is suffering. In this latter case it is also forbidden to sell, or give away to strangers, anything belonging to the house, as the child's health might be given away with the object.

It so happened that several times, on my arrival at a Chukchee camp, I was refused admission to the houses, in order to protect the children from evil influences; and some of these experiences were not extremely happy.

The woman must not leave the outer tent before the blood-painting ceremony is performed. Should she do so, her walking on the snow would bring on violent snow-storms. {Compare p. 475.}

The after-birth is placed on the ground in the corner of the tent. Three small sticks are tied together, in imitation of the three principal poles of the tent-frame, and are set over the after-birth. They represent a tent. After the camp is left, a piece of leather is wrapped around them to represent the tent-covers.

The Maritime Chukchee and the Koryak place the after-birth, together with its small tent, outside of the house, in the open country. {See Vol. VI, p. 97, Plate XII, Fig. 2.}

After the ceremony, the mother proceeds to find a name for the child. This is done by divination with a suspended object, which may be the divinatory stone, or some part of the mother's or child's dress, such as a boot or a cap. The mother, while holding the suspended object in her hands, enumerates, one by one, the names of all deceased relatives, saying with each name, "This and this has come?" When the object loses its balance and begins to swing, the name is selected. Then the people say aloud, "Such and such a one has returned to us."

This is more than a mere verbal formula. For instance, I met on the Wolverene River a Reindeer Chukchee family who, two years before, had lost their chief, who was much beloved by his sons and nephews. Immediately afterward the wife of the oldest son of the deceased man gave birth to a son, to whom was given the name of his grandfather. He was considered, in a way, as a reincarnation of the deceased one, and therefore was always spoken of as the house-master. At one time, when the youngest and favorite daughter of the deceased one -- but who, nevertheless, had a violent temper -- began to abuse her oldest sister, the mother said, "Tell the house-master [meaning the small boy]. Let him try and make her silent. She is his favorite child."

In other cases the name is selected in quite different ways, frequently from indications received in dreams. Thus, the mother accepts for the child the name of the first object that comes to her sight after her delivery, or the name of the first animal that crosses her path after leaving the tent. The intention of this method is probably to mislead the "spirits," who will not be able to recognize the child under the incidental name of the first thing seen, selected by chance. Nevertheless, even in this case, the name selected is often the name of a deceased relative, which, in days gone by, was chosen in the same manner. Similar methods of naming children are used also by the Asiatic Eskimo.

Often the name fixed upon does not agree with the child, who then grows slowly, and is sickly, or, as the Chukchee say, "It has heavy bones." Then a shaman, or a "knowing person," is invited, who proceeds to change the name. This process is sometimes repeated five or six times during the first few years of the child's life.

Protecting-Incantation. -- If the parents are afraid that the child will die, a special kind of incantation is used, which is called "Child-protecting Incantation" (keimi'tkin ê'wgan). It is performed by means of one or several pieces of red hematite, which must be picked up on the seashore, close to the water. The Chukchee call it "liver-stone." In cases of necessity -- for instance, in winter-time, and especially among the Reindeer people of the inland country -- any other red stone may be used; but it must be taken from the side of the hill lying in the direction of the sea.

When the first child has died young, it is considered to have traced the way for the following ones. In order to stop this fatal succession, the incantation must be performed as soon as possible. The care of the matter falls on the father of the child, and it is most propitious if he himself is able to perform the ceremony. If he is not able, he invites some of his experienced relatives, who can name several "knowing people" possessed of the incantation in question. These latter are more frequently male than female. The choice of the performer is indicated by divination with a suspended object, in the usual way. Then the husband goes to seek the designated person, who may be more than fifty miles away. As said before, the "knowing man" must at first refuse, and he may persist in this refusal for even three or four days, to avoid the displeasure of the Deity. The negotiations are carried on in whispers, in the strictest secrecy, and only inside of the sleeping-room.

The best time of all for performing the ceremony is during the first three days of the young moon, but, nevertheless, in the day-time. For this a small fire is built up before the entrance, and a number of plates laden with various meats, cooked or dried, are placed on both sides of it. The performer gives each of the parents a small piece of red stone wrapped in leather formed into a necklace. Then he pronounces an incantation, of which the following may serve as a fair specimen: --

"You are not on this earth; you are within this stone. No wind may reach you; no iceberg may crush you, but it will break into pieces against the edges of the stone. You are not on this earth. In the open ocean there lies a big sea-animal born at the same time with the earth and the world. This animal is a sea-lion. Its back is like an island, it is covered with earth and stones. You are on its back." {Compare Incantation 5 (d), р. 499.}

A similar necklace is put, with the same incantation, on the child's neck. The performer takes the child in his arms, and makes three rounds among the plates of meat, stepping over them forward and backward, and retracing his steps, in order to make his trail more intricate. Then the fire and the principal "directions" are fed from the plates. What remains of the meat is eaten by those present. The lobes of the child's ears are pierced, and ear-ornaments, each made of three small colored beads, are inserted. Several additional figures of "guardians," made of leather, are sewed to the child's garment. Its name is also changed.

Exposure of Infants. -- Sarytcheff says that in his time the Chukchee exposed their misshaped infants. {Sarytcheff, II, p. 109. Steller mentions that the Kamchadal women of his time had many ways of producing abortion, but that, not satisfied with this, they often also smothered their babes, and then gave the corpses to the dogs, or exposed them alive in the middle of the wood (p. 349).} I have said before, that I know of no such practice in modern times. {See p. 48.} But in the case of a lying-in woman dying in her labors, the babe is often smothered and exposed, together with the mother, in a common funeral. {D. Crantz says, in his History of Greenland, that, "with the Greenland Eskimo, a suckling babe which has lost its mother and has no one else to nurse it is soon after buried alive by the desperate father" (I, p. 218). The Eskimo of America, moreover, exposed their new-born babies whenever they pleased.} The people, however, more frequently try to raise the child, either on the milk of another suckling woman, if there is any at hand, or by feeding it with broth, and, in the Maritime villages, with thin pap prepared from American flour bought from whalers, which is mixed with a little oil.

I also gathered among the Asiatic Eskimo, in various villages, some curious information about the method which is applied to feed and raise babies born prematurely. A baby of this kind is put into the soft skin of a big sea-bird. This skin, taken off whole and turned, has the feathers inside. Then it is tied up very securely, and hung over a big lamp in which a small flame is kept constantly burning. Of course, in doing this, they take care that the child's head shall be in a proper position. In this position the babe is kept for from a week to four weeks, during which time it is fed with small quantities of oil, as well as with mother's milk drawn from her breasts. Little by little the portion of milk is increased, and at last the babe is allowed to suckle. I had no opportunity of witnessing an operation of this kind, but I was told that two young men-whom I saw in Uni'sak were raised by their mothers in this way.

Names. -- I will give here a few details as to the significance of Chukchee names, male and female, which is in a great measure influenced by the ideas and ceremonies described in the preceding pages. A great part of the names have reference to the idea of the return of the deceased from another world. Such are, for men, --

Ye'tilin,

The One Coming.

Ro'čhilin,

The One from Another Shore.

Notalqo't,

The One Standing up from the Ground.

Penelqu't,

The One Standing up after having Rested.

Pe'lqAnti,

The One Coming Back.

Vaa'lirgin,

The One who has Rested.

Girgo'l,

The Upper One.

Atči'irgin,

The Hidden One.

Re'mkilin,

Guest.

Ra'htilin,

The One Coming Home.

Omnlqo't,

The One Standing up Strong.

Kitilqu't,

The One Standing up Suddenly.

Nuva't,

The One Brought Back.

Pañа'nto,

The One Restored from Fatigue.

Hi'uqai,

The Unknown One.

Names of the same class for women: --

Yetye'ut,

The One Coming.

Ro'čhiña,

The Woman from the Other Shore.

Hi'uñe,

The Unknown Woman.

Qutye'ut,

The One Standing up.

Ra'htiña,

The Woman Coming Home.

In another group, more embellished but also relating to the coming from the other world, are male names like these: --

Tñe'ntegrew,

The One Descending from Dawn.

Tñečei'vun,

The One Coming Afoot from Dawn.

Qê'rgmto,

The One Coming out from the Light.

Tñe'nmtm,

The One Thrown from Dawn.

Tñeru'ltin,

The One Going Aside from Dawn.

Qêrgukwa't,

The One Sticking in the Light.

Names of the same class for women: --

Tñeñe'ut,

The Woman from Dawn.

Qêrgu'kwa-ña'ut,

The Woman Sticking in Light.

Qê'rgiña,

The Woman from Light.

The combinations with "Dawn" and "Light" are numerous, and remind one somewhat of the ancient names of Aryan peoples, among whom similar combinations are often met with. Some names refer to the pronounced characteristic of the person. Such are, --

Omri'irgm,

The Strong One.

Rana'wkurgin,

The Straight One.

Rana'wñaw,

The Straight Woman.

Aiña'irgin,

The (Loud) Crying One.

Q'mriña,

The Strong Woman.

The class of protecting names given by the shamans was mentioned in the chapter on shamanism. {See p. 467.} Among them are the names of "alien" tribes, Ai'wan, T'an.ñitan, E'tel; the names of animals, A'3ttEn ("dog"), Kei'ñin ("bear"), Yile'il ("marmot"), E'3hilhin ("wolf"); and the corresponding names for women, A'ttiñe ("dog woman"), Yi'leñe ("marmot woman"); also Kele'wgi (a man's name) and Ke'leññä (a woman's name) from ke'lE; Ä3qä'wgi, Ä3qä'ñña, from ä'3qä ("evil").

For the same purpose, protection from evil spirits, female names are given to men; for instance Ve'hitki-ñew (Scratching-Woman), the male shaman who has been mentioned several times before. Steller speaks {Steller, p. 353.} of the same practice obtaining among the Kamchadal. The names taken from material objects are less numerous. Such are, --

Wu'kwun,

Stone.

U'ttäqäi,

Splinter.

Poi'hin,

Spear.

Titi'ñA (fem.),

Needle.

Wu'kwuqäi,

Little Stone.

U'ltAñA,

Wooden Woman.

Va'lE,

Knife.

From most of the names mentioned above, derivatives are formed by means of suffixes. In names of males we find -tegin -ta'gin (in other compounds signifying "limit"), -n.qew -n.qaw (probably from ni-nqe'w-qin, "[he is] strong"), -wgi -wgê (origin unknown); in female names, -ñe'ut -ña'ut, -ññe -ñña, -ñe -ña (all signifying "woman"), -tva'al (verbal stem signifying "repose"). For instance, Oora'wgê, from qora'ñi ("reindeer"), Nuten.qe'w ("strong on the ground"), Nutete'hin ("ground-limit"), etc. Other instances have been previously given. The derivative names are more numerous than the primary ones. It is customary to have all the names of the family, or the greater part of them, derived from the same stem; for instance, Notalqo't, Nuten.qe'w, Nute'wgi, Nutete'hin, Nu'te.ñe'ut, Nota'tvaal.

Several names are selected without reference to these rules. Such are, Qla'ul ("man"), Ča'kihêt ("sister"), E'ndiw ("uncle"), etc.

A large class of names have no significance in the Chukchee language, such as Če'quin, Qa'pleq, Qa'tik, Peri'. Such names are more numerous among the Maritime Chukchee, and some of them at least were probably taken from the Eskimo; for instance, Če'ple (Chukchee), Ča'plak (Eskimo). The identical form of this name appears, however, also among the Koryak. On the other hand, many of the Chukchee names are assumed by the Asiatic Eskimo. I have also said that shamans sometimes assume a name from the principal of their protecting spirits; for instance, Ñaw-ri'rkA ("she-walrus"), Valv-inpina'čhin ("raven old man"), etc.

Pet names and nicknames are used freely among the Chukchee, some of them being quite obscene; such as, Lolo'qai ("little penis"), Rih-ño'iñin ("hairy anus"). Others refer to some notorious act of the person designated. I have already mentioned the names of Knee-Walker and Necklaced Latu'wgê. {Compare p. 49.} One man had the very suggestive name of Complete-Liar; another, of Separate-Soup-Eater, etc. A man of my acquaintance was nicknamed Frozen-Carcass; because, several years before, he had stolen the frozen carcass of a reindeer; another, who stole a steel trap, was called Trap. Sometimes, at first, the nicknamed persons take offence at being thus named; but such an epithet takes root gradually, and finally supersedes the original name. Thus the majority of the persons mentioned had discarded their name received at birth, and gave the derisive appellation as their only name.

Pet names given in infancy cling with especial tenacity to their possessors. Some of them -- such as Lo'lo ("penis"), Lolo'qai ("little penis") -- become real names, which are given after the divinatory process.

The name of the father is sometimes added to the name of the son, thus forming the beginning of the family name. Instances of this are found in Koko'lê-Ya'tirgin, that is, Ya'tirgîn, son of Kuku'li; Tatk-omru'wgê, that is, Omru'wgê, son of Ta'tko; etc. Less frequently the wife assumes the name of her husband; for example, Notai'mê-ñaw, the wife of Notai'men. Regarding Tilu'wgê-Ya'tirgin (Ya'tirgin, husband of Tilu'wgê), the transformed shaman, see chapter on shamanism. {See p. 452.}


Death.


Deceased as Protectors. -- As has been said before, deceased persons are regarded by the Chukchee as working in a twofold capacity, -- that of benevolent protectors and assistants, and that of dangerous beings, very near to the ke'let, who, even when they mean well, may cause only harm to the living. {Compare pp. 292, 366.}

The elements of the cult of ancestors, which exists in the Chukchee ceremonials, comport with the first point of view. Such is the usage of adding to the string of household charms small bits of fur taken from the clothing of the deceased. {Compare p. 355.} I would mention here that I was told that in olden times it was customary to eat the flesh of the one deceased, which, for that purpose, was distributed among the nearest relatives. This flesh was eaten mixed with tallow. Among the Yukaghir of the Kolyma, the flesh and the bones of the deceased were also distributed among the relatives;, but, instead of being eaten, they were made into family amulets. Judging by the accounts of the oldest inhabitants, leather bags filled with human bones and dried flesh formed, up to comparatively recent times, the principal sacred things of the family, even among the Russianized Yukaghir.

A bag of bones was called simply "grandfather," and this "grandfather" was supposed to afford to his descendants the most effective assistance. His descendants appealed to him in the various affairs of their life, especially when asking for success in hunting or for protection against an attack, by evil spirits. Similarly among the Chukchee, people in disastrous circumstances sometimes seek relief from one of their dead. For instance, a Reindeer family, a large part of whose herd has gone astray, will apply to the most respected of all their dead ancestors, and the one who consequently receives most of the sacrifices. They will request him to bring back the reindeer, and they will promise him a fat buck or two in payment for his good services. "The dead are always with us. They look upon us, and they may give us protection," said a Chukchee to me.

Deceased as Enemies. -- Every variety of precaution and all the protective incantations performed at the time of the funeral have had their inception from the second point of view. These contradictory ideas about the deceased are nevertheless very natural, and exist among many primitive peoples. The natives, however, are conscious of the discrepancy between the two points of view, and tried to explain it to me in their own way.

They said to me, "The deceased one, while he lies in the tent, is not dangerous. He becomes bad, only when he is taken out into the wilderness, whence he may come back a spirit." And again: "The material objects connected with the deceased are not harmful. Only when he himself comes back will he do harm. On the other hand, the deceased people come back to us over and over again, countless times, through the womb of the woman."

Others said, "Not all deceased persons will do harm. Only a part of them bear ill-will toward living people: those will come back for harm. The most dangerous are the double dead, the completely dead. They are beyond being re-born into this world, and hence they become evil spirits in the other world. They live on the very border of the country of the deceased people, and walk along the water's edge together with ke'let. During the funeral ceremony, some such dead are overturned with the sledge, and fall face downward. This is the surest sign by which to recognize their particular properties. The other deceased persons are good."

The idea of persons doubly dead exists also among other primitive tribes. {See E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture, II, p. 22.} "The Greenlanders pitied- the poor souls who must pass in storm the dreadful mountains where the dead descend to the other world; for then a soul is like to come to harm, and die the other death, where there is nothing left." {D. Crantz, Greenland, p. 259.}

The distinction between the good and bad classes of deceased persons drawn by my Chukchee informers does not correspond, however, to other conceptions, and only accentuates the contradictory state of ideas that exists about this matter. The idea of deceased people being harmful is much more common than the belief in the protecting powers of deceased ancestors. {Compare p. 336, where, according to information from the natives, even the spirit of the nearest relative, though coming back with the best intentions, can only scare and harm the living.}

Fear of the dead and the idea of the necessity of taking precautionary measures against their return are so deeply implanted in the Chukchee mind that they appear even in the children's plays. In the Maritime villages I saw young boys amusing themselves among the ruins of underground houses with a peculiar play of this kind. One boy would pretend to be dead. Then his companions would bind him up with thong, and carry him away to the place of pretended funeral. After a while he would turn to а ke'lE, and come back to the house with frightful cries and grimaces. One of the boys would act as a shaman, and beat the imaginary drum. Then the ke'lE would act like a shamanistic spirit, and answer to the songs and calls of the improvised shaman with various "separate voices."

Especially harmful is the dead body, even the merest fragments of it, which, as said before, are used in preparing the much-dreaded "spells." A man who, walking alone in the country, suddenly meets a corpse lying in the open, incurs great danger. If he turns back and tries to retrace his steps, the corpse will follow, and soon will pass ahead of him, barring his way. From that time he will have hardly a chance of escape, and finally the dead one will act on him as a ke'lE of Iu'metun, throwing him into the much-dreaded fits and convulsions. {Compare p. 42.} This belief evidently arises from the fact that Iu'metun is also supposed to live in the open country, where he watches the victims occasionally passing by, and then pursues them, following leisurely but very obstinately behind. Nevertheless, even in the matter of corpses, I obtained information of quite a contrary kind.

The deceased one is called in Chukchee "the ancient one" (pene'elin {In Koryak, with the necessary phonetic change, peni'nelin. This also coincides with the female Chukchee pronunciation. The Chukchee language has two different methods of pronunciation, -- one used by the men, and one by the women. The latter, in many cases, approaches the Koryak.}) or "principal inhabitant" (e'un-re'mkin). The place where his body lies is considered his permanent dwelling. To pitch a camp close to this dwelling leads to no harm. A lonely traveller who stops for a night near the funeral place, far from being harmed by the "principal inhabitant," may, on the contrary, be protected by him from attacks by ke'let. In several tales the "principal inhabitant" wards off from the people of a camp an imminent attack of this kind, and teaches the occupants the necessary precautions against the danger. Presumably it is an ancestor or near relative of the campers, who helps his own people.

In one tale a young man goes to the dead body of his father for protection. But the corpse says, "I cannot keep you near me. I am disintegrated, and my house is very cold." After that the "spirit" instructs the young man how to win the young daughter of a rich reindeer-breeder. In still another very characteristic and widely known tale, a young girl finds in the country a bare skull, and takes it home. She conceals it in her clothes-bag, and from time to time takes it out and laughs at it. And the bare skull returns the laugh. At last her mother takes notice of something unusual in her behavior, and finally discovers the skull. The whole family are panic-stricken. They flee, leaving the girl alone and without any means of subsistence. The girl begins to lament before the skull, and, in a paroxysm of despair, she even kicks it with her toes. The skull departs in search of its body, and soon comes back in the shape of a fine young man, bringing along a large herd and a long train of sledges. After that they lived happily. This tale represents the corpse as being at the same time something much dreaded and also as having the capacity of giving protection to a chosen person.

Funeral, Reindeer Chukchee. -- Immediately after death, the body is stripped of all its clothing, including necklace and amulets, and laid in the sleeping-room between two skins with the leather side turned inward, so that one serves as bedding and the other as covering. It is considered more or less sinful to "show to the daylight" the dead body, especially its face and genitalia. The inmates of the house must leave the room; but one man at least must stay all the time with the body, because, should it be left alone, it might revive, and do harm. This, by the way, refutes the previous assertion by the natives, that the deceased while in the house is "good."

The funeral ceremony is performed on the day after death; and during the night there must be two watchers, for fear that, in the darkness, one man might be roughly handled by the corpse. As soon as a man is dead, and so long as his body is in the house, one of the inmates must act as a special enchanter against the evil influence of the deceased. This person is called the "fortifier" (tano'mñAlin), meaning that he fortifies the people, and especially the house, against the deceased one. Either a man or a woman may act; often a special "knowing one" is invited for the principal part of the ceremony.

On the first day the "fortifier" only supplies each of the inmates with a new amulet, which is usually made of a scrap of sinew, and must be wrapped either around the little finger of the right hand, or around the right wrist. The ceremony begins with the dressing of the body in the funeral clothes, which, for the most part, are prepared beforehand, especially by the older people. Or at least the skins for that use have been stored in the clothing-bags. Then all the women of the family take to cutting and preparing the clothes with the utmost possible speed. New, unused clothes from the common stores of the family may be employed for the funeral dress; but to leave the body in its former every-day clothes is considered a slight to the deceased, and is done only in the case of very poor people, or under extraordinary circumstances; for instance, when death happens while on a journey in a strange country, among "alien" people.

For male dress, no overcoat is used. For the dress of women, the old overcoat of every-day wear may be used, but all tassels and fringes must be taken off. No woven stuff bought from civilized people may form any part of the funeral dress. In selecting skins for the funeral dress, preference is given to the white ones, both for men and for women. The soles of the boots must be of ground-seal skin, but not from the rough skin of the reindeer's foot, {See p. 239.} because the latter is not fit to wander in the regions of the deceased. The cap forms no part of the funeral dress. In the dress of the women, the head is covered with the hood of the overcoat; in the dress of the men, an extra hood is sewed on to the fur shirt, contrary to the ordinary cut of this garment among the Chukchee, but resembling the style of the Koryak. The Chukchee, on the other hand, fashion this hood after the style of an infant's garment, which is also supplied with a large hood, {Compare p. 251.} and they sometimes call a deceased man "one with a hood." This, name is also applied to infants. The garments, for the most part, are double, but not necessarily so. The stockings and the under trousers are often omitted.

The skins for the funeral dress must not be dyed with alder, which calls to mind the proscription against the use of alder at the time of the hunt of various animals. {Compare p. 492.} The garments must be sewed with unblackened sinew-thread, whereas the thread for the garments of the living must be blackened with soot. No knots must be tied in the thread, as every knot tied forebodes danger to the life of some member of the family. The funeral garments are spread on the skin covering the body. To them are added, for a man, a knife in a new sheath, a spear, a bow with arrows, a small whetstone in a skin sheath, a pipe and a tobacco-pouch with a few bits of tobacco in it, a cup or a drinking-tube, and also three toy bags for provisions. For a woman, the spear and the bow are omitted, but there are added scraper and work-bag with needle-case and thimble.

Among other taboos connected with the funeral must be mentioned the interdiction against beating the drum for three nights during the time of the ceremony. The day on which the remains are carried away to the funeral place is especially dangerous. The beating of the drum might call the deceased back to the house. In corroboration of this idea I was told several stories, in which a shamanistic performance brought a deceased person back to the house, and the corpse dropped through the roof to its former place. Then the ceremonial, with all the incantations, had to be repeated, again. Another prescription forbids any kind of woman's work with needle and scraper, during the same period of time as in the first case, and especially in the evening. Both rules refer to all houses of the camp or the village, and even to all other settlements in the vicinity.

Dressing of the Dead Body. -- Among the reindeer-breeders, two reindeer are slaughtered in the morning, and a small fire is made before the entrance of the tent, which receives the usual sacrifice. Then two, three, or four couples of nearest relatives of the deceased, men and woman in equal number, enter the inner room and proceed to dress the body for the funeral. They are called "followers." Ameal is spread upon the skin covering the body. The part of the skin close to the mouth of the departed one is ripped, and crumbs of meat and tallow are thrust in under, in order that he may have his part of the food. Then the "followers" take off their shoes and stockings, and turn up their pantaloons as high as possible. They sit down on both sides of the body, and thrust their bare legs under the corpse, so that it is entirely lifted from the lower skin, and rests on the legs of the "followers." After that, they proceed to bid the last farewell to the deceased. This is begun by the husband or wife, the father or mother, and is then repeated by every one of the "followers."

For this, the acting party takes one of the hands of the deceased, and chafes with it his bare waist and buttocks. After that, the party touches in the same manner the buttocks of the deceased, repeating words of improvised farewell. For instance, a husband said in my hearing, to his deceased wife, "Well, well! What can I do? We have lived together for so many years, and now you are going away! Do not keep an evil mind against me! My head was never very strong. If I acted unfairly towards you, have no bad feeling against me!".

After the farewell, the "followers" wash the body! This is done symbolically, from a tiny wooden cup made for the purpose, and with a small bunch of grass like that used by the Chukchee for wiping their fingers after meals. Every one of the "followers" dips the bunch into the cup, and then passes it over the body, and hands it on to the next person. Then they proceed to put the clothes on the body, which -- considering that the body is covered with a heavy skin, and that no part of it must be laid bare to the gaze of those present -- is a work of no little difficulty. At every hitch in this task, the "followers" admonish the dead one, saying, "Leave off! make haste! You have to go away. Do not be so obstinate!" The face of the dead person is carefully covered over with the bib {Compare p. 242.} of the fur shirt, and the hood is drawn over and tied around the head. The belt of the man's dress, and a small piece of the collar-fringe of the woman's combination-suit, are taken off to be added to the household charms under the name of ena'al. {Compare p. 355.} Some families, however, take simply a small piece of reindeer-skin and sew to it a narrow strip of dog-skin. This represents a fur shirt trimmed with dog-skin, and, by further association, the dead man himself. During the preparations for the funeral this is added to the clothes of the dead spread in the sleeping-room, as described before, and afterward taken off for the household charms. It, also, is called ena'al.

Divination. -- After being dressed, the body is moved over to the centre of the sleeping-room or to the outer tent, having its head, all the time, directed to the exit; and the "fortifier," or, less frequently, the nearest relative of the deceased, proceeds to divining by the method of suspension. This, for men, is done with a walking-staff, and for women, with the long handle of a skin-scraper. The position of the body is the same as in the similar process with living persons. The divinatory performance takes about two hours, being repeated two or three times, at first in the inner room, then in the outer room, and then again out of doors, before the entrance of the tent. One of the first questions refers to the manner in which the body shall be disposed of.

For this the Chukchee generally have two methods, -- either by burning the body on a funeral pyre, or by carrying it away and leaving it on the ground in the wilderness. Most of the Maritime people and of the reindeer-breeders of the Chukchee Peninsula use, of course, the second method; while the villages lying close to large accumulations of driftwood -- as, for instance, those on Cape Erri and also those of the reindeer-breeders of the Anui and Anadyr -- both burn and expose their corpses. Each family, however, uses one and the same method from generation to generation. Thus a family in the habit of burning its dead will, when solemnizing a funeral on the open tundra, send two or three sledges to bring fuel from a distance of even thirty or forty miles. Several pack-sledges will be taken apart and broken, and tent-poles split up, to increase the size of the pyre. Nevertheless, the deceased one must be "asked" which method he personally chooses for himself, and his funeral may be arranged differently from that ordinarily used by the family. For instance, the remains of a person belonging to a family wont to burn their dead may be exposed in the open country if the body gives plain indications to that effect through the divinatory process. Cases of replacing exposure of the body by cremation are less frequent, because of the scarcity of fuel. The bodies of those who have died from syphilis must not be burned, lest the fire may be contaminated. Of course, this refers only to "genuine syphilis;" that is, to those cases of syphilis which are acknowledged as unclean, and "subject to shunning." {See p. 42.} During the spread of contagious diseases, all the dead bodies are generally left unburnt, because of the desire to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Exposure is, on the whole, prevalent among the Chukchee, and must be considered as their fundamental method of funeral. The Koryak living more to the south, where there is an abundance of fuel, have, on the contrary, adopted exclusively cremation of bodies. The Ke'rek, in whose country, again, there is a dearth of fuel, throw their dead into the sea from some steep rock on the shore.

After the method of disposing of the body has been decided, the deceased person is asked about the place he chooses for the funeral. Hill-slopes, and, in general, all higher places well dried in summer by the sun, are considered fittest for the purpose. Several of these are mentioned aloud before the dead body, till the sudden feeling of lessened weight makes the performer move the staff upward, which, as explained before, {Compare p. 484.} renders the answer affirmative. Then the method of the last journey is chosen. Every man who has reindeer will, of course, "desire" to use them for his funeral journey, because it is necessarily very long and tiresome. But a very poor man, who has no reindeer of his own, has to perform this journey on foot. The reindeer of another man -- newly bought, or borrowed for the purpose -- are of no use in these circumstances.

The approaches to the country of the dead are very intricate; and while the new-comer wanders about, seeking the abode of his own family, the former owners of the reindeer will recognise them, even from afar, by their smell, and will immediately intercept the wanderer in order to take from him their belongings. The same apprehension is felt respecting newly borrowed clothing or skins. Therefore a man who dies suddenly in a strange country -- for instance, on a trading-expedition -- must be taken to the funeral place in his ordinary clothing, even though there are people around who would lend him a new suit. In a former work {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 59.} I have given a description, taken down from a native, of such a funeral in a strange country. The deceased had no relatives in the place, nor had he any team of his own with which to perform his last journey: therefore he had, perforce, to renounce the use of reindeer on this occasion. The description continues, --

"Then they asked the corpse, 'How do you wish to go away? Do you want to take a team?' But the dead man answered, 'No!' They asked him, 'Maybe you want to walk?' He said, 'I will walk, but you must give me a walking-staff."' Of course, the last answer was procured by means of divination.

In another relation of a similar kind, the narrator ventured to express his severe disapproval of the stinginess of those among the dead who would grudge a poor man a few clothes borrowed from their successors. {Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p 53.}

A person who has several teams is asked about them one by one, and the choice between them is determined in the way described above. The corpse is often asked also about the man who will direct his reindeer on the last journey, and thus be the leader of the funeral cortege, and also about -an extra "fortifier" to be invited. Then the questioner proceeds to inquire the cause of the death and of means warding off further attacks by the ke'let. The future fate of every person present is also made the subject of inquiry, as is described in another account of this kind: --

"They ask the corpse, 'Will the disease come again afterward?' and then they draw the stick. The corpse answers, 'The disease will not come back, the evil state of things.' -- 'Tell us plainly about all those standing around, whether to any of them there will happen some evil or misfortune. Tell it of them one by one.' If, while they ask about some one of the bystanders, the weight is light in drawing, that one will surely die soon." {Ibid., p. 83; compare also p. 485 of this volume.}


Then follow questions concerning the coming fortune of the herd, about the hunting-pursuits, etc. For instance, in a case I mentioned before, the husband proceeded personally to question his deceased wife. He lifted the stick which supported by a strap the head of the dead body, and began with the divination. His first question was, "What place do you want to choose for your funeral?" But the body was as heavy and motionless as ever. "Oh!" said the old man, "my mind is not very strong: perhaps I offended you with something. You must not hold ill-will to me. You know that you have to go away." But the body obstinately refused to answer. "Perhaps you are angry," said the old man, "that I brought you here from Chaun; but this is your own country, the mountains and the rivers all are your own. It is quite becoming that you should lie here." {The death happened on the shores of the Wolverene River, where the couple had gone on a trading-expedition. The deceased woman was born there, but had married a man of the Chaun tundra.} But the body was motionless, as before. "Alas!" complained the old man, "I am sure you are angry. Now I see that you have sent us this snow-storm because your mind is not at rest." [The snow was falling thick outside of the tent.] His hand suddenly felt the changing of the weight, and the head of the dead body moved upwards. "Woe is me!" exclaimed the old man. "It was not my fault that our son grew ill because of the reindeer incantation. Had you not to pay his debt yourself?" The stick moved upwards again.

There had been an incantation about wild reindeer, in the application of which the son of the old couple made some grave mistake. Because of this he was immediately taken ill. Now it seemed that the ke'let took the mother in the place of the son. The old woman was evidently displeased, and therefore continued to refuse to answer about the funeral place. The old man tried to admonish her, repeating, "Be reasonable! Let this have an end! You hamper the ceremony." When at last the corpse gave a satisfactory answer, the people were afraid to ask the angered old woman about the future, but immediately took the body out of the tent.

In most cases the body is carried out of the tent, not through the entrance, but through the roof, which is untied for the purpose, or from under the folds of the tent-cover, somewhere on the back side of the tent. Every trace of this improvised exit is immediately obliterated; and thus the deceased one, if he should come back, would not be able to recognize the way. A small pup is often sacrificed near the place where the body was carried out, and is left lying there for three days, until the funeral performance is ended.

When the dead body is out of the tent, it is carried to the real entrance, and put on a sledge which has been placed at the left side. With a new thong it is carefully tied to the sledge. The head of the sledge is pointed toward the entrance of the house; and the rear of the sledge, in the direction of the way to be taken.

If possible, an entirely new sledge is used; but, that failing, the best one obtainable is selected for the purpose. All broken and mended parts are, as far as possible, replaced by new ones, which are considered more suitable for the long journey of the dead person. Two long round poles are put crosswise under the runners, so that the sledge, with the body tied on it, may easily be drawn forward and backward, the poles acting as rollers. Then the divinatory questioning is often performed again from the very beginning. A hitch in the motion of the sledge is considered as disclosing a negative answer; and a smooth, easy motion shows that the answer is in the affirmative.

The things destined for the private use of the deceased are also fastened on the sledge, and the reindeer are attached to it. The chief of the train sits down on the sledge, astride of the body, and then the procession starts. The funeral cortege of a man well to do will consist of from fifteen to twenty sledges, while a poor man will be followed by only one or two of his nearest relatives. A corpse which has to "walk afoot" will be drawn on the sledge by the chief of the cortege. The other people, of course, must likewise follow on foot.

Exposing of the Body. -- On arriving at the place indicated by divination, the people choose some level spot for the funeral, and, laying off on it a portion about the size of the body, they encircle it with stones in the form of an elongated oval. (Plate xxxiv, Figs i, 2). One end of the oval is pointed toward midnight, and the opposite end is left partly open. This enclosure of stones is called "enclosure of the dead one" (pala'wkun). Sometimes three stones are considered sufficient to form the enclosure. One is placed near the head of the corpse, and the other two, one near each shoulder. In this case the stones selected must be larger than usual. When stones are scarce, as in the interior and far from the river-banks, the enclosure may be formed of three short logs, laid out in the same order as the three big stones of the "enclosure of the dead one."

The sledge with the corpse is pointed with its head toward midnight. Then the reindeer are unhitched, and with four knives they are stabbed simultaneously from the right and from the left side. As soon as they have fallen, the harness is put on again; but the collars are now placed over the right shoulder, the reverse of the usual way. The chief of the cortege, sitting in his place astride of the corpse, jerks the reins violently, and urges the reindeer with the whip, pretending that he is going fast to the country of the dead. The other people encourage him, exclaiming, "Hurry up! go faster!" When the slaughtered reindeer kick about in the last agonies, the people exclaim, "Oh, they are going fast!" The chief of the cortege says, "I have reached the confines of the country of the dead." When the reindeer cease kicking, the chief of the cortege says, "We have arrived." If the reindeer micturate before their death, it is considered a very good sign for the living people.

The harness is taken off the dead reindeer, the corpse is lifted from the sledge, and put, still all wound up with thong, upon the ground within the "enclosure of the dead one." Its head is pointed toward midnight. The place has been previously strewn with bits of tallow and sausage brought for that purpose. The reindeer are skinned, and their meat is cut off in large, thin slices. The bones of the legs are broken with an adze, and the antlers chopped off together with the top of the crown. Two tent-poles are placed on the ground near the feet of the corpse, pointed in the direction of its legs. These poles are its wooden legs, to be employed in the country of the dead. Usually they are the same poles that were laid under the runners of the sledge, near the entrance, at the time of divination. In case of necessity, the tent-poles may be replaced by long sticks cut off in the woods. Then several of the "followers" approach the corpse and proceed to prepare it for the next step in the ceremony. Previous to that, all of them caw like ravens, or bark like foxes, three times. This is done to conceal their identity and to make it appear that they are ravens or foxes.

Then they begin to break the thong and to cut the clothes of the corpse, replacing each piece with a slice of meat, until the whole body is incased in this new covering. The face is covered with the duodenum. A long piece of the thong is untied. This the "fortifier" winds around his waist, and takes home to perform an incantation over it. Last of all, the pieces of clothing are pulled from beneath the corpse. All the pieces cut off are laid together at the right side of the body. The things brought along for the personal use of the dead -- such as the pipe, the knife, etc. -- are also left on the ground near the body. It is interesting to note that, among other things, a small wooden image of a canoe is often left there. The Chukchee say that it serves the deceased for. that part of his journey which must be made by water. The Reindeer Chukchee in actual life, however, have very little occasion to use the canoe, at least in the interior of the country.

The sledge, the harness, and the traces are also cut and broken, and the pieces are added to the heap. I was told that the sledges might be left whole, but that they were broken lest the Russians or the Tungus should take them away from the funeral place. Indeed, I know of cases where whole sledges and other objects which were left near the corpse were really appropriated by the people of "alien" tribes. One cossack on the Lower Kolyma told me that, in one of his travels over the tundra, he took from the funeral place of a Chukchee woman a cup and saucer of cheap china and an iron scraper. The next night the woman appeared to him in a dream and begged for her property. He was so affected by that dream, that he returned to the funeral place, from which he had already travelled thirty miles, and restored the stolen goods. The Russianized natives of the Kolyma who accompanied me always showed an inclination to rob the Chukchee funeral places of everything useful, but without any such scruples as those described above, and it was difficult for me to prevent them from so doing. On the other hand, in the camps on the Chukchee Peninsula and in the Maritime villages, where there is no danger of theft from the funeral places, the things left with the deceased are nevertheless very frequently broken or spoiled, as, indeed, is done by many other tribes at funerals.

The carcasses of the reindeer are left on the spot, and the two sets of antlers are placed at some distance from the body, one on either side of the head. Then the "fortifier," or the nearest relative of the deceased, proceeds to rip up the body. He does it with a long knife, carefully avoiding to touch the body with his hands, though they are protected with mittens or with gloves of special form; that is, those with three fingers only. With two strokes of the knife, which cross each other, the "fortifier" opens the breast, and lays bare the internal organs. Of these, the liver and the heart are also split with the knife; and the "fortifier," on inspecting them closely, will proclaim to the by-standers the probable reason of the death. For instance, once in my presence it was said, "The liver is quite diseased, the heart is full of pus. With organs in such a state, it was evidently impossible to live any longer." Another time it was said, "The liver looks dry; the heart is shrunken to a small lump. It shows that the deceased one died from fear, from despair at the attack of the ke'let."

I was told that sometimes indications are found of the harmful influence of evil "spells," created by some human enemy of the deceased; but I had no opportunity of witnessing a case like that.

At last the "fortifier" cuts the throat of the corpse, and leaves the body. This last stroke is to prevent the spirit of the deceased from following the people of the cortege, and it is considered quite indispensable. A murderer, even, after despatching his victim and before leaving the body, cuts the throat, in order to prevent the spirit of the victim from pursuing him. A desire to free the soul of the dead, which will escape through the cut and fly away with such impetus as to make it difficult for it to come back again, is given as the reason for these actions.

Protecting-Incantations. -- After the ceremony is ended, the participants arrange themselves again, but the order of the cortege is reversed. It passes now around the body from left to right, and proceeds on its return to the camp. The changing of the order is, of course, a defensive measure to ward off pursuit by the dead. On the return journey, the "fortifier" and the chief of the cortege, who now close the rear, perform several incantations, all of which, so to speak, belong to the cycle of the "magic-flight" tales.

Thus the chief of the cortege, having with him a snow-beater, now traces with its point at several localities, after the procession has passed by, a line across the road. This line is to be transformed into a chasm or into a deep river. The "fortifying" person will leave behind one or several small stones, which will be turned into steep mountains. He will bring along a small cup and the bunch of grass which served for washing the corpse, and will hide these objects separately in the snow on his return journey. The cup will transform itself into a sea, and the grass into a dense forest. Similar incantations are repeated at home, before the entrance of the tent.

The skins of the slaughtered reindeer are taken to the house and spread in the sleeping-room, where they must remain for five days. The "fortifying" person enchants a piece of sheet-iron having many holes pierced in it. This iron is placed under one of the skins of the bedding in the sleeping-room. If the deceased should try to enter the sleeping-room from under ground, he would be caught in the holes in the sheet-iron, which would act like an iron net.

The oldest two women of the tent must meet the cortege on its arrival. They present to the returning people a bunch of newly twisted sinew-thread which has been strengthened with incantations. Each member of the cortege carries a small twig of willow, around which he winds a piece of thread received from one of the old women. Then he removes the thread, and winds it around his right wrist, but neither ties nor fastens it. The twig is put on the hearth as a purifying sacrifice, destroying any unclean influence caused by contact with the dead body. The thread wound around the wrist is worn there till it drops off, which will happen after a day or two.


All the members of the procession, holding one another by the hand, form a large ring, which is encircled by that part of the thong that was taken home from the funeral. Each of the members takes hold of it, and each one cuts off the part nearest to himself. This severs all connection between them; and the spirit of the deceased, if it should ever come back, would have to find them out one by one. The pieces of the thong are generally wound around the waist for a belt, though any other use is also admissible.

Fig. 300 is copied from a native drawing representing death and burial. In the house on the left a man dies. The shaman gives his drum to another man in token of his impotence. A ke'lE goes away, carrying in both hands the souls of the man, in much the same way as men carry small game. Above, on the left, three men return from a burial-place where the corpse was left exposed. A small stone is left by them on the road as part of an incantation. The chief of the cortege traces a line on the ground, making another incantation. On the right a corpse is being burned. A woman standing by weeps.

In Fig. 301, which is of similar provenience, the house of the "Upper Being" is represented near the upper right-hand corner. He stands before the entrance with his wife. From below, two sacrificed animals ascend to him. One is a dog, the carcass of which is lying below, with the guts drawn out according to custom. The other is a sacrificial substitute for a reindeer, made of pieces of sausage. Dawn-Woman is standing on the right-hand side, in the middle, near a dry tree with roots bared from the soil. Sacrifices ascend toward her also. They are an image of a reindeer made of leaf-pudding, and three beads strung on a thread of sinew. In the right-hand corner, below, a house of deceased people is represented. A shaman tries to lead away one man. He has in his hands a coil of thong and a pelt, which represent the payment given in advance. Two spirits are assisting him, -- one in the shape of a bird, the other human. Farther to the left a ke'lE and another shaman draw in opposite directions the soul of a dead man. The shaman carries a staff with a long tassel. The trail of the dead man runs in a zigzag course, and he must pass on his way a forest and two round lakes.


Visit to the Funeral Place. -- On the second day after the funeral, the relatives and friends of the dead one visit the corpse. This visit is called "fetching of iron," because most of the iron objects left with the deceased are taken away, and replaced by wooden reproductions. Perhaps this name has been devised in modern times, because, in conjunction with it, the ceremony is also called "visiting the dead." Besides fetching the iron, one of its objects is to see whether beasts of prey have disturbed the body. If this happens very soon, the relatives of the deceased feel secure. On the contrary, any prolonged delay in the destruction of the body by beasts signifies that the dead one is waiting for a companion. Another object of the "visit" is to offer sacrifices, and to leave antlers with the dead.

The people who take part in "visiting the dead" are much more numerous than the "followers" of the funeral procession. The inhabitants of the camp, even the small children, go in a body; and guests come from a circuit of fifty miles, especially if the deceased was a wealthy reindeer-breeder. The herd, or a part of it, is brought along. Each of the visitors must bring to the dead some little present, -- a piece of sausage, some marrow from a bone, a lump of sugar, a leaf of tobacco. The women of the camp prepare and bring along quantities of sausage and meat-pudding, also all the marrow from the reindeer slaughtered on the day of the funeral.

On reaching the corpse, the "fortifier" pretends to catch it with a lasso brought for the purpose. Then the noose of the lasso is arranged on the ground so as to encircle the head of the corpse and all the objects deposited for the use of the deceased one on the day of the funeral. Then the corpse receives an offering from each member of the party. The remainder of the food is spread on the stones near the dead body, and the guests partake of it. This is considered as a meal offered by the deceased. Then the slaughtering begins. If the family is rich, each of the guests will receive a slaughtered reindeer. The poor or the avaricious kill only a few animals, and distribute the meat among their friends; but then there will not be such a multitude of guests. The legs of the reindeer are broken and the marrow is extracted. The heads are cooked in large kettles, and the feast begins, during which the corpse receives its share of all the courses.

The antlers are hewn off, as usual, with the tops of the crown, and are burned for a few seconds in the fire to make them secure against harm by wild beasts, which the odor of the smoke will frighten away. After that, the antlers are arranged in a line extending from the head of the corpse toward the direction of midnight. The antlers of each set are pointed upward, and their bases are pressed firmly into the ground, and made fast with stones or logs. The heap of antlers is called "antlers' store" (ti'nmai). All the contents of the paunches of the slaughtered animals are emptied on the ground, and the iron objects left with the corpse are purified by immersing them in this mass. Then they are taken out and carried home. In their places are left, partly wooden substitutes, partly equivalents of inferior quality; for instance, a splinter of bone instead of iron needles, evidently as material of which to make bone needles, a stone scraper in the place of an iron scraper, etc. Other objects -- as cups, pipes, pouches -- are not exchanged. The bow also, as well as the iron arrows, are left in their places. Other iron objects also are sometimes left with the corpse. I saw, for instance, iron knives and adzes on funeral places, though, as a rule, they were old and much used, and evidently had been given to the deceased in place of implements of a better quality. I saw even old rifles, but they were always broken.

After the purification of the iron, the "fortifier" proceeds to the divining, using either a special stone or any object suitable for suspension from a stick. The details and the questions are similar to those on the day of the funeral. The magic precautions against pursuit by the spirit are also repeated with many variations. I saw, for instance, at one funeral at which I was present, an old man urinate close to the head of the corpse, which astonished even the other participants in the ceremony. His purpose was to create a river between the corpse and himself.

On coming home, another feast follows, during which the piece of skin taken from the clothes of the dead is put in the place of honor in the inner room, and receives its share of the food. This is repeated at every meal for five days, after which the piece of skin is added to the household charms. The number of days which must elapse between the first and the last performance is the same as in the birth ceremonial. After five days, the people visit the corpse again to see if wild beasts have at last mutilated the body. On the return from this visit, the whole camp arranges the feast of antlers, even though it may be quite out of season. If antlers are scarce, they gather together all the loose ones that can be found, though the use of such antlers for the antler ceremonial is generally forbidden.

On coming back from the second visit, the family move their tent to another place, though it be only five or six feet distant. Especially is this the case if the dead one was carried out, as sometimes happens, through the usual entrance of the tent.

Still later the chief of the funeral procession must perform additional incantations in order to protect himself from being pursued by the deceased. To give an illustration of this, he will some time during the following summer wade through the water in a pool, proclaiming aloud, "I am not a man: I am a white gull, I am an eider-duck." If he should fail to do this, a dangerous illness would be sure to attack him.

Such is a typical performance of the funeral ceremony of a Reindeer Chukchee, with exposure of the corpse in the open country, and with much slaughtering for sacrifice. For the poorer people, of course, all the details are much simplified. The bodies of the deceased who "go away afoot" will not be covered with meat. After the cutting of the clothes, two pieces will be left on the body, -- one covering the face, and the other covering the genitalia. The bodies of small children are sometimes cut to pieces and scattered in all directions. The purpose of this is to show to the World (Ña'rginên {Compare, p. 314.}) the extreme grief of the parents, and to reproach him for his severity towards the child.

Burning. -- The details of the ceremony of burning the dead are more or less similar to those previously described. The reindeer slaughtered on the day of the funeral are left unskinned on the spot, with the legs broken and the antlers chopped off. Neither the clothes nor the thongs are taken from the body, which is laid on the pyre upon its back, and covered with logs. The entrails, for the most part, are not inspected, and only the throat is cut. The parts not consumed by the fire are left among the embers of the pyre.

The fire for the pyre is kindled with matches or with a strike-a-light. The fire-drill of the family must not be used for this purpose, as so doing would contaminate the hearth. In the absence of matches or of a strike-alight, a special fire drill and board are prepared, which must be left on the funeral place after the ceremonial. On the other hand, a dead woman often receives, among the objects given to her for her last journey, a model of a fire drill and board, with accessories.

Sacrifice to the Dead. -- The next year the family, when passing with their herd near the place of the funeral, visit the deceased and leave with him more antlers. The same thing is done afterward year by year, as often as time and occasion permit. The "antlers' store" is considered to represent the dwelling of the deceased; and the Chukchee say that, if it is not in good order, the dead one feels cold: therefore they take care to add to it as many antlers as they can. As soon as the "antlers' store" has enlarged considerably, the people put all the antlers into one heap, which gradually increases to vast proportions.

Year after year the family store away a part of the antlers from the slaughter of their reindeer, to be added to the mounds of their dead (see Plate xxxiv, Fig. 4). For this, only the best antlers, taken from an animal actually killed, are used. Antlers that fall off are considered unfit for the purpose. The antlers of wild reindeer, and also the many branched or palmated antlers of large domesticated bucks, are considered the most desirable for the purpose.

Of course, only the most respected among the dead receive such proofs of consideration. If there are several of these in the family, each is supplied with antlers in turn, or as the family passes near the various funeral places. On the other hand, antlers destined for a particular mound are often carried along for two or three months before they reach their destination.

Besides this, nearly every year, during one of the great ceremonials of the fall, separate commemorative sacrifices are performed in honor of the dead. In a sacrifice of this kind, a reindeer is slaughtered and laid on the ground at the left side of the entrance, with the head pointed toward the direction of the funeral place. Then some small mound of earth near the sacrifice is considered to represent the funeral mound in question. It is sprinkled with blood, and small pieces of marrow and brain are scattered over it. Those who perform the sacrifice exclaim, "Yo ho! come here and eat!" in the same way as is done in the usual sacrifice. In other cases the sacrifice is buried in the ground, close to the entrance of the tent. All of the flesh of the slaughtered animal is cooked and eaten, while the dead one receives his share on his symbolical mound. Afterward the antlers are either taken to the actual place of the funeral, or are left on the ground near the mound of sacrifice. Whoever has several dead of equal importance must bring a sacrifice to each of them, or, if he wants to apportion his offerings, he must designate the sacrifice of each year for one of the dead. On the funeral places of the respected dead belonging to wealthy families, or on those of renowned shamans, large heaps of antlers gradually accumulate. For instance, the "antlers' store" of Amra'kwurgin, {Compare p. 73.} the chief of the Reindeer Chukchee, is higher than the stature of a man.

On the large island of A'čon, near Chaun Bay, is an ancient mound of antlers which is connected with the name of Qe'eqi, a female shaman whose funeral had been held at that place. The mound is said to be very old, and is partly sunk into the ground. The part exposed is still more than a fathom high and five fathoms in diameter. I saw also in the Anui country heaps which, perhaps, had been more than half a century in accumulating, and which already contained several hundred sets of antlers.

In contrast with the commemorative sacrifice, which is almost always personal, the "antlers' store," as soon as it reaches the proportions of a heap, partly loses its personal character, and may commemorate all members of the family. Thus, in the funeral places of the Maritime people, where all the dead of the village are exposed, the antlers are gathered into several large heaps, in commemoration of all the dead whose bodies were disposed of near it. New sets of antlers are brought in by individual families for their dead, but after a while they are added to one of the common heaps.

I know of cases among the Reindeer people where whole families were swept off by famine or disease, and the relatives, unwilling to leave them without funeral, would bring a collective sacrifice for the whole family, and then build up an "antlers' store," without even caring to find the place where the bodies of the dead were lying.

In some cases a person dying in a strange country, as while on a trading-expedition, will express a desire to be laid in his native land. This desire may be made known either before the end, or, as happens more frequently, afterward, by divination. However, the body of the dead is very rarely taken to his home, but is disposed of on the spot. Then, when his people return to their own country, they arrange another ceremony, which is performed with the same details as if they had the body. Even an "enclosure of the dead one" is made of stones or logs, and an "antlers' store" is arranged close to it. From that time this place is considered as the actual funeral place of the deceased person, and it receives from year to year its share of antlers.

Funeral, Maritime Chukchee. -- The Maritime people are unable to offer sacrifices to the dead in such abundance, and therefore with them the whole ceremony is less complicated. The chief features, however, are the same. They expose the bodies on the ground, cutting and pulling away the clothes, and covering the face and the genitalia with a few strips of skin. Sometimes thin flat stones are used for the purpose. The body is surrounded with an enclosure, which may be replaced by three stones. {} Near the feet of the body are laid one or two long sticks to serve as legs in the land of the dead. {See p. 526.} Sometimes the sticks are placed apart, or even near the head of the corpse. These sticks are not necessarily taken from the house-frame. Since wood is scarce, the people take it wherever they find suitable material. The antlers are begged or bought from the nearest reindeer-breeders, and those of wild reindeer killed on the hunt are also used.

All corpses are exposed on the same place by the whole village, so that a kind of cemetery is formed. Broad and even mountain-slopes are selected for this in some villages; while in others, on the contrary, the funeral place is chosen on the very shore, near the water. To give an illustration, the dead of the village of Uñi'sak are exposed on the point of the spit, about half a mile from the village. The spit is in the form of a low ridge sloping on both sides. The continuation of the ridge forms the chief street of the village, separating the houses into two groups. This street is considered to be the way by which the dead and the spirits go to the village, and nobody dares to select a house site on it, so that it remains unoccupied all the time.

In winter the corpses are taken to the funeral place on a sledge drawn by dogs or by the house-mates of the dead. In summer they are carried suspended from the pole which is to be left with the body, being firmly "tied to it, the face directed towards the pole. The carriers of the corpse often change places, or are replaced by others, evidently for the purpose of circumventing the deceased in the case of pursuit. On reaching the spot, the pole is untied, and deposited in its usual place, near the feet of the corpse. In other cases the body is tied all around with thong, three pairs of loops being left on each end, by which the "followers" carry it. A dog is killed on the funeral place, and the guts are drawn out and laid on the ground, forming a loop.

All kinds of sacrifices are given to the dead. I found scattered everywhere on the funeral places, besides dry bones and skulls, heaps of antlers, broken rifles, empty brandy-bottles, playing-cards, etc. Kuva'r, a trader of Uñi'sak, whose name has been mentioned several times, left on the funeral place of one of his sons even a graphophone and an old whaling-boat. All these objects were also broken. Here evidently there was no fear of theft. The breaking of the things, as explained by the natives, has for its purpose the separation of their soul (uvi'rit), which may then be taken along by the deceased one.

The commemorative sacrifice is performed early in the fall, a little later than the first fall ceremonial of the reindeer-breeders. Indeed, the Maritime people, who as a rule visit the camps about that time, have to carry back to their villages the reindeer-meat and antlers necessary for the sacrifice. They carry the latter to their dead, and arrange a feast, in which the dead also receive their part.

Each family has a special place for the sacrifice to the dead, which is in the cemetery, and is called "hearth enclosure" (pênu'kwun). If, during the ceremony, there are close by corpses of those who have died recently, various precautions are taken. Some of those who are sacrificing bring harpoons and lances, and use them as if stalking the dead, and striking them with their weapons. Others bring thongs, and spread slings before the corpses. After finishing the ceremony, the people repeat their hostile demonstrations and then run away in a most hurried manner.

Among the Maritime people it often happens that persons die at sea whose bodies are never recovered. Those who have perished in this manner receive a special sacrifice offered at the very edge of the water. In the feast, the share of the dead is thrown into the water. One and the same place on the shore serves for all commemorative sacrifices of this kind, and each family has two "hearth enclosures" in which to offer them, -- one in the village cemetery for those who died on land; and another on the shore, close to the water, for those who perished at sea.

A man who is supposed to have perished at sea, but who in the end escapes and lands on shore, must undergo a purifying ceremony. For this he is girded with a piece of thong. Then a dog is sacrificed to the sea, on the shore. After that the man is taken to the refuse-heap used by his family, where he must lie down on the ground and wallow in the rubbish. This resembles the purification, among the Reindeer people, of the objects connected with the funeral, through immersing them in the refuse from the paunches of slaughtered reindeer.