Schoolchildren can easily answer the question "Where do the Chukchi live?". On Far East there is Chukotka or the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. But if we complicate the question a little: "Where do the Chukchi and Eskimos live?", difficulties arise. There is no area of ​​the same name, you need to find a more serious approach and understand the national subtleties.

Are there any differences between the Chukchi, Eskimos and Koryaks

Certainly there is. All these are different nationalities, once tribes that have common roots and inhabit similar territories.

The regions in Russia where the Chukchi or Luoravetlans live are concentrated in the north. This is the Republic of Sakha, Koryak Autonomous Okrug and Since ancient times, their tribes have inhabited the extreme regions Eastern Siberia. At first they wandered, but after taming the deer, they began to adapt a little to them. They speak the Chukchi language, which has several dialects. Luoravetlans or Chukchi (self-name) divided themselves into sea ​​hunters living on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, and deer, tundra.

Some anthropologists classify the Eskimos as a Mongoloid race of Arctic origin. This nationality lives in the state of Alaska (USA), in the northern regions of Canada, on the island of Greenland (Denmark) and quite a bit (1500 people) in Chukotka. In each country, the Eskimos speak their own language: Greenlandic, Alaskan Inuit, Canadian Eskimo. All of them are divided into different dialects.

Who are the Chukchi and Koryaks? The Luoravetlans first pushed back the Eskimo tribes, and then territorially separated from the Koryaks. Today, the Koryaks (a common ethnic group with the Chukchi) make up the indigenous population of the autonomous district of the same name in the Kamchatka region in Russia. In total there are about 7000 people. The Koryak language belongs to the Chukchi-Kamchatka group. The first mentions of the Koryaks are found in the documents of the 16th century. People are described, some of whom were engaged in reindeer herding, and the other - in sea fishing.

Appearance

Where do the Chukchi live and what do they look like? The first part of the question has been answered above. More recently, scientists have proven the genetic relationship of the Chukchi and Indians. Indeed, their appearance has a lot in common. The Chukchi belong to the mixed Mongoloid race. They are similar to the inhabitants of Mongolia, China, Korea, but are somewhat different.

The section of the eyes of Luoravetlan males is more horizontal than oblique. The cheekbones are not as wide as those of the Yakuts, and the skin color is with a bronze tint. Women of this nationality in appearance have more similarities with the Mongoloids: wide cheekbones, swollen noses with large nostrils. The hair color of the representatives of both Men cut their hair short, women braid two braids and decorate them with beads. Married - wear bangs.

The winter clothes of Luoravetlans are two-layer, most often sewn from fawn fur. Summer clothes are capes or jackets made of deer suede.

Character traits

drawing psychological picture of this nationality, note the main feature - excessive nervous excitability. Luoravetlan is easy to bring out of a state of spiritual balance, they are very quick-tempered. Against this background, they have a tendency to murder or suicide. For example, a relative can easily respond to the request of a seriously ill family member and kill him so that he does not suffer in agony. extremely independent, independent. In any dispute or struggle, they show unprecedented perseverance.

At the same time, these people are very hospitable and good-natured, naive. They selflessly come to the aid of their neighbors and anyone in need. Very easy to relate to the concept of marital fidelity. Wives are rarely jealous of their husbands.

living conditions

Where the Chukchi live (pictured below), there is a short polar summer, and the rest of the time is winter. To indicate the weather, residents use only two expressions: "weather is" or "weather is not." This designation is an indicator of the hunt, that is, whether it will be successful or not. From time immemorial, the Chukchi have continued their fishing traditions. They love seal meat very much. A happy hunter gets three in one outing, then his family with children (usually 5-6 of them) will be fed for several days.

Places for yarang families are most often chosen surrounded by hills, so that there is more calmness. It is very cold inside, although the dwelling is lined up and down with skins. Usually in the middle there is a small fire surrounded by rounded boulders. On it is a suspended cauldron with food. The wife is engaged in housekeeping, butchering carcasses, cooking, salting meat. Beside her are the children. Together they gather plants in season. Husband is a provider. This way of life has been preserved for many centuries.

Sometimes such indigenous families do not go to villages for months. Some children don't even have a birth certificate. Parents then have to prove that this is their child.

Why is the Chukchi a hero of jokes?

There is an opinion that humorous stories about them were composed by Russians out of fear and respect, a sense of superiority over themselves. Since the 18th century, when Cossack detachments moved across boundless Siberia and met the Luoravetlan tribes, there was talk of a warlike people, which is very difficult to beat in battle.

From childhood, the Chukchi taught their sons fearlessness and dexterity, raising them in Spartan conditions. In the harsh area where the Chukchi live, the future hunter must be sensitive, be able to endure any discomfort, sleep standing up, and not be afraid of pain. The beloved national wrestling takes place on a spread slippery sealskin, along the perimeter of which sharp claws stick out.

Militant reindeer herders

The Koryak population, which earlier became part of the Chukchi Russian Empire, fled from the battlefield if it saw at least a few dozen luoravetlans. Even in other countries there were stories about militant reindeer herders who are not afraid of arrows, evade them, catch and launch them at the enemy with their hands. Captured women with children killed themselves so as not to fall into slavery.

In battle, the Chukchi were merciless, accurately hit the enemy with arrows, the tips of which were smeared with poison.

The government began to warn the Cossacks not to fight the Chukchi. At the next stage, the population decided to bribe, persuade, then solder (more in Soviet time). And at the end of the XVIII century. a fortress was built near the Angarka River. Fairs were periodically held near it to trade with reindeer herders in exchange. Luoravetlans were not allowed into their territory. Russian Cossacks have always been interested in where the Chukchi live and what they do.

Trade affairs

Reindeer herders paid tribute to the Russian Empire in the amount they could afford. Often they weren't paid at all. With the beginning of peace negotiations and cooperation, the Russians brought syphilis to the Chukchi. They were now afraid of all representatives of the Caucasian race. For example, they did not have trade relations with the French and the British just because they were "white".

Settled with Japan, neighboring country. The Chukchi live where it is impossible to mine metal ores in the bowels of the earth. Therefore, they actively bought protective armor, armor, other military uniforms and equipment, metal products from the Japanese.

With the Americans, the Luoravetlans exchanged furs and other mined goods for tobacco. The skins of blue fox, marten, and whalebone were highly valued.

Chukchi today

Most of the Luoravetlans mixed with other nationalities. There are almost no purebred Chukchi now. The "ineradicable nationality," as they are often called, assimilated. At the same time, they retain their occupation, culture, and way of life.

Many scientists are sure that the small indigenous ethnos is more threatened not with extinction, but with the social abyss in which they find themselves. Many children cannot read and write and do not go to school. The standard of living of the luoravetlans is far from civilization, and they do not aspire to it. Chukchi live in harsh natural conditions and they don't like it when their orders are imposed on them. But when they find frozen Russians in the snow, they bring them to the yaranga. They say that they then put the guest under the skin along with his naked wife so that she warms him.

The camps of the Chukchi reindeer herders numbered from 2 to 10 tents (yaran`s). They were usually located one after the other in a line according to the degree of prosperity of the owners from east to west. The first from the east was the yaranga of the owner of the camp, the last - the poor.

The villages of the coastal Chukchi usually consisted of 2-20 (sometimes more) yarangas scattered at some distance from each other. The size of the village was determined by the fishing opportunities of a particular area.

The Chukchi yaranga was a large tent, cylindrical at the base and conical at the top. The skeleton of the tent consisted of poles placed vertically in a circle, on the upper ends of which horizontal crossbars were placed; other poles were tied obliquely to them, connected at the top and forming a cone-shaped upper part. Three poles were placed in the center in the form of a tripod, on which the upper poles of the skeleton rested. The skeleton was covered with special tires. Reindeer Chukchi sewed a tire from old deer skins with cut wool; seaside covered the yaranga with tarpaulin or walrus skins. So that the winds raging in Chukotka would not destroy or overturn the yaranga, they tied it on the outside with straps with large stones attached to them, and reindeer herders attached cargo sleds to it. The yarangas of the deer Chukchi, due to the need for migrations, were smaller and lighter than those of the seaside. Inside the yaranga, a fur canopy was tied to one of the horizontal bars (usually near its back wall) with the help of additional poles. The canopy was specific feature dwellings of the Chukchi, Koryaks and Asian Eskimos. It was shaped like a box turned upside down. Usually in a yaranga there were 1-3, rarely 4 canopies. Several people could fit in the canopy. They crawled into it, lifting the front wall. It used to be so hot here that they sat undressed to the waist, and sometimes naked. For heating and illuminating the canopy, a zhirnik was used - a stone, clay or wooden cup with a moss wick floating in seal fat. On this fire, the Primorsky Chukchi cooked food, hanging the cauldron on a peg or on a hook. In the presence of wood fuel in the cold part of the yaranga, a small fire was laid out for cooking food.

In the yaranga, they sat on spread skins. They also used low chairs or tree roots. For the same purpose, horns were cut along with the parietal bone.

Until the middle of the XIX century. the coastal Chukchi had an ancient type of dwelling - a semi-dugout. Their ruins have survived to this day. The round frame of a semi-dugout was made from the jaws and ribs of a whale (hence its Chukchi name valkaran - “house of the jaws of a whale”), then it was covered with turf and covered with earth from above. Sometimes a bone frame was arranged in a recess, then a semi-underground dwelling with a roof protruding to the surface was obtained. The semi-dugout had two exits: a long corridor, which was used only in winter, since it was flooded with water in summer, and a round hole on top, closed by a whale's shoulder bone, which served only in summer time. The floor of the semi-dugout, or at least its middle, was covered with large bones; in the center there was a large fat pan, which burned all day and night. On all four sides, semi-dugouts arranged elevations in the form of bunks, and 2-4 (according to the number of families) canopies of the usual type were built on them. As a result of the replacement of the semi-dugout with the yaranga, the living conditions of the coastal Chukchi improved significantly. But the absence of windows, the exceptional crowding in the canopy, the constant soot from the oiler, the presence of dogs in the yarangas, etc., did not allow maintaining the necessary cleanliness. In the canopies of the Chukchi reindeer herders, as a rule, it was cleaner than that of the coastal ones: due to frequent migrations, the canopies were disassembled and knocked out, while the Primorye Chukchi did this only twice a year - in spring and autumn. Knocking out the tires of the yaranga and the canopy is one of the hardest jobs of the Chukchi women. For this, there were special upholstery. The upholstery was made of deer antler or wood; it was a stick slightly curved at one end, 50 to 70 cm long.

In summer, part of the coastal Chukchi during the period of traveling along the seashore and some reindeer herders lived in tents during migrations in the tundra. In the absence of a tent, the coastal Chukchi built a dwelling like a tent from three oars and a sail, or spent the night under an inverted canoe.

The Chukchi reindeer herders “did not have any outbuildings. They kept all unnecessary things and a supply of food inside the yaranga, and in the summer they put unnecessary things on cargo sleds installed not far from the dwelling, and covered them with a rovduga on top to protect them from rain.

The Primorsky Chukchi near the yarangas usually installed 4 whale ribs with crossbars at a height of about 2 m from the ground. In the summer, sleds were put on them, and in winter, canoes, so that the dogs would not eat the belts fastening the sleds, and the leather tires of the canoes. The rest of the property was kept by the Primorsky Chukchi inside the yaranga.

4.2 Traditional housing of the Chukchi

The villages of the coastal Chukchi usually consisted of 2-20 yarangas, scattered at some distance from each other. The size of the village was determined by the fishing opportunities of a particular area. By the time the Russians arrived, the Chukchi lived in semi-dugouts. The round frame of the dwelling was made from the jaws and ribs of a whale. Hence its name Valkharan - "the house of the jaws of a whale" [Levin N.G., 1956: 913]. They covered the frame with turf and covered it with earth on top. The dwelling had two exits: a long corridor, which was used only in winter, since it was flooded with water in summer, and a round hole on top, closed by a whale's shoulder bone, which served only in summer. In the center of the dwelling there was a large fat pan, which burned for a whole day. On all four sides, semi-dugouts arranged elevations in the form of bunks, and canopies of the usual type were built on them according to the number of families [Golovnev A.I., 1999: 23]. The skins of deer and walrus skin served as tires, which were tied with leather straps wrapped around stones so that the winds raging in Chukotka would not destroy and overturn the dwelling.

The main form of reindeer herders' settlements was camps, consisting of several portable dwellings of the tent type - yarang. They were arranged in a row, stretched from east to west. The first in a row from the east was the yaranga of the head of the nomadic community.

The Chukchi yaranga was a large tent, cylindrical at the base and conical at the top (See Appendix, Fig. 4). The skeleton of the tent consisted of poles placed vertically in a circle, on the upper ends of which horizontal crossbars were placed, other poles were tied obliquely to them, connected at the top and forming a cone-shaped upper part. Three poles were placed in the center in the form of a tripod, on which the upper poles of the skeleton rested. From above, the frame was covered with tires sewn from deer skins with wool outward, and fitted with belts. The floor was covered with skins.

Inside the yaranga, a fur canopy was tied to one of the horizontal bars (usually near the back wall) with the help of additional poles. The canopy was a specific feature of the dwellings of the Chukchi, Koryaks and Asian Eskimos. It was shaped like a box turned upside down. Usually there were no more than four canopies in a yaranga. It could accommodate several people (separate married couples). They crawled into the canopy, lifting the front wall. It used to be so hot here that they sat undressed to the waist, and sometimes naked.

For heating and lighting the canopy, a fat pan was used - a stone, clay or wooden cup with a moss wick floating in seal fat [Levin N.G., 1956: 913]. In the presence of wood fuel in the cold part of the yaranga, a small fire was made for cooking food.

In the yaranga, they sat on spread skins. In everyday life there were also low three-legged chairs or tree roots. For the same purpose adapted deer horns cut together with the parietal bone.

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The Chukchi had two types of dwellings: portable and permanent. "Sedentary", or sedentary, had winter and summer dwellings. In winter, they lived in semi-dugouts, the type and design of which were borrowed from the Eskimos.

The most detailed information about the arrangement of semi-dugouts of settled Chukchi is reported by Merck: "Outside, the yurts are covered with turf, rounded and rise several feet above the soil level. On the side there is a quadrangular hole through which you can enter inside. Around the entrance, standing upright around the entire circumference of the dugouts, except for the passageway, whale jaws ... up to 7 ft. From above they are covered with whale ribs, and on top of that with turf.Through the mentioned entrance you first get into a corridor, the length of the entire dugout, about 6 feet high, about a sazhen or more wide and slightly recessed compared to the floor level of the dugout.

The dugout itself is always quadrangular in shape, its width and length is 10-14 feet, and its height is 8 feet or more. Closer to the walls, the height of the room decreases due to the bending of the ceiling. The dugout is sunk into the ground by 5 feet, and in addition, an earthen wall is laid at a height of three feet, on top of whale jaws, installed on all sides. Four separate identical whale jaws rest on the mentioned whale jaws, laid along from the entrance itself at some distance from each other and forming the ceiling of the yurt.

Whale ribs are laid across them all over the ceiling. At a height of three feet from the floor level, one rib is attached to the four corners of the yurt, which rest on supports in the middle of their bend, and on them boards are laid along all four walls. They represent the bunks on which the Chukchi sleep and sit. The floor is also covered with boards, and walrus skins are laid under the bunks instead of flooring. Near the entrance, there is a lattice hole in the ceiling covered with a bladder of whale liver.

Near the window there is another small hole in the ceiling in the form of a vertebra pressed into the roof, it is designed to release smoke from the lamps located at the four corners of the yurt. Some of the whale ribs that form the roof are painted on the sides in White color and figures are depicted on them, such as: whales, canoes, and so on ... The canopy is illuminated by the same window built into the ceiling near the dugout itself" (MAE Archive. Col. 3. Op. 1. P. 2. S. 15- 17).

When comparing this description with materials archaeological sites there is a striking resemblance to the dugouts of the Punuk period (7th-17th centuries AD). The material from which the dugouts were built also coincides. The modern population of Chukotka retained the memory that there used to be two types of semi-dugouts: valkaran ("dwelling from the jaws") and klergan ("male dwelling"). Clergan, despite its name, was just a winter dwelling in which several families of close relatives settled. Valkaran is also a winter dwelling but for one family. According to informants, orphans or outsiders lived in the Valkarans, whom she could settle near her. big family. Summer dwellings of settled Chukchi in the 18th century. differed in that their inhabitants were usually members of the same family. According to K. Merk, there were several summer yarangas for one winter yurt. For example, in Uelene there were 26 summer yurts and 7 winter ones (Ethnographic materials, 1978, p. 155). Approximately this ratio of winter and summer dwellings is typical for all settled settlements of the Chukchi.

Yarangi of the coastal Chukchi appearance And internal device reminiscent of the yarangas of the reindeer Chukchi2. While retaining the constructive basis of the reindeer herders' yaranga, the summer dwelling of the settled Chukchi had some differences. It didn't have a smoke hole. In a treeless area, the Chukchi did not even arrange a hearth. Food was cooked on fat lamps or in specially arranged "kitchens" near the yaranga, where they burned the bones of marine animals, dousing them with fat. In voyages, if necessary, canoes were used for shelter from bad weather for temporary housing. They were pulled ashore, turned upside down and placed under their shelter.

At the end of the XVIII century. winter dugouts began to fall into disuse. Later A.L. Lazarev noted: " We did not see winter yurts among the Chukchi; summer ones are made rather round from top to bottom, from 2 and a half to 4 fathoms in diameter, and convex upwards, which is why they look like a haystack from a distance. We were told that the Chukchi also live in these yurts in winter, which we did not believe at first, but we were assured that they were not cold in winter"(Notes on swimming, 1950. S. 302).

In the 19th century the semi-underground dwellings of the Valkarans and Clegranes finally disappear. Instead of them in winter time yarangas with sleeping canopies made of deer skins are used. F.P. Wrangel, who traveled on dogs from Cape Shelagsky to Kolyuchinskaya Bay, saw only the ruins of old dugouts, but nowhere does he say that the Chukchi live in them. " Settled Chukchi live in small villages he wrote. - Their huts are made on poles and whale ribs, fitted on top with deer skins."(Wrangel, 1948. S. 311-312).

Reindeer Chukchi lived in yarangas both in winter and in summer. Their difference was only in the quality of the skins from which the tire and canopy were made. Descriptions of the dwelling of the Chukchi reindeer herders of the 18th century. testify that with the development of production and the change in social relations, the yaranga also underwent a change, primarily its size.

"In yarangas, they unite in the summer, as well as in winter, with long stays in one place, all connected at least by distant kinship. Such yarangas can accommodate several canopies of reindeer skins and are therefore of considerable size" (MAE Archive. Col. 3. Op 1. P. 2. S. 5-14). Community yarangas of deer Chukchi existed in some places even in the first quarter of the 19th century. By the 40s and 50s of the XIX century. a separate family becomes the main economic unit of the Chukchi society; there was, apparently, its complete isolation in everyday life. In this regard, collective housing has lost its significance.

In the book Z.P. Sokolova"Dwelling of the peoples of Siberia (Experience of typology)" is given detailed description devices Chukchi yaranga: "(yaran.y) - a frame cylindrical-conical non-lattice dwelling. For reindeer herders, it was portable, for marine hunters - stationary. The frame of a yaranga consists of vertical poles set in a circle. In a portable yaranga, these poles stand in the form of tripods connected with belts , in the stationary one they alternate one by one, or are connected in pairs by diagonal crossbars.

The upper parts of the vertical poles or tripods are connected by vertical poles, forming a hoop, to which the poles of a conical covering are attached, crossing each other with their tops and resting (in a stationary dwelling) on ​​a central support pole with a crossbar at the top or on three poles in the form of a tripod (three poles, peaks connected). The poles of the conical covering are sometimes fastened from the inside with a hoop, covered with inclined poles. In some yarangas, the top is slightly shifted from the center to the north ... On top of the frame, the yaranga is covered with tires made of deer or walrus skins, in summer - with a tarpaulin. Outside, the yaranga is tied with straps from the wind, to which stones are attached. The lower part of the skeleton of the stationary yaranga at the base and the entrance are lined with turf or stones in the form of a low wall by the Primorye Chukchi. The inlet is closed with a piece of leather or a wooden door only during snowstorms.

The inner space is divided into separate rooms for married couples or parents and children with three or four fur curtains (in the form of a rectangular box), heated by stone lamps with seal oil (zhirniki). The canopies are tied with poles to a horizontal pole at the rear wall of the dwelling. They crawl into the canopy, lifting its front wall. In the cold front part of the yaranga, a fire is lit (Sokolova 1998, pp. 75, 77).

I.S. Vdovin, E.P. Batyanova
(from the book Peoples of the North-East of Siberia)

The dwelling of the deer Chukchi.

The dwelling of the reindeer Chukchi yaranga a tent, round at the base, with a height in the center from 3.5 to 4.7 m and a diameter of 5.7 to 78 m. through holes in their top, parts. At the bottom, meter-long bipeds and tripods were tied to the poles and poles with straps, forming a wide circle of the base of the yaranga and supporting the transverse crossbars attached to them at the ends. A circle made up of them, smaller in diameter than the base, strengthened the frame of the yaranga in its middle part.

At the top, closer to the smoke hole, is another row of pepper bars. The wooden frame of the yaranga was covered (with the fur outside) with deer skins, usually sewn into 2 panels. The edges of the skins were laid one on top of the other and fastened with straps sewn to them. The free ends of the belts in the lower part were tied to sleds or heavy stones, which ensured the immobility of the covering. For 2 halves of the outer covering, about 40 - 50 large deer skins were required. They entered the yaranga between 2 halves of the cover, folding their edges to the sides. For winter, new coatings were used, for summer - those that were in use last year.

In winter, during periods of frequent migrations, the canopy was made from the thickest skins with fur inside. Shepherds who drove the flock to the new. pasture, lived in yarangas with light coverage and a small sleeping canopy. The hearth was located in the center of the yaranga, under the smoke hole. Opposite the entrance, at the back wall, a sleeping room was installed - a canopy - in the form of a parallelepiped sewn from skins.

Chukchi reindeer herders do not live in tents, but in more complex mobile dwellings called yarangas. Further, we offer to get acquainted with the basics of construction and the arrangement of this traditional dwelling, which the Chukchi reindeer herders continue to build today.

There will be no yaranga without a deer - this axiom is true in direct and figurative sense. Firstly, because we need material for "construction" - reindeer skins. Secondly, without deer, such a house is not needed. Yaranga is a mobile portable dwelling for reindeer herders, necessary for the territory where there is no timber, but there is a need for constant migration behind the reindeer herd. Poles are needed to build a yaranga. Birch is the best. Birches in Chukotka, strange as it may seem to some, are growing. In the continental part along the banks of the rivers. The limited area of ​​their distribution was the reason for the emergence of such a thing as "deficit". The poles were taken care of, they were passed on and are still being inherited. Some yaranga poles in the Chukotka tundra are over a hundred years old.

camp

Yaranga frame prepared for the filming of the film "Territory"

The difference between the yaranga and the plague is the complexity of its design. It's like an airbus and a corncob. Chum is a hut, vertically standing poles, which are covered with waterproof material (birch bark, skins, etc.). The yaranga device is much more complicated.

Stretching a tire (retem) on a yaranga frame

The construction of the yaranga begins with the determination of the cardinal points. This is important because the entrance must always be in the east. First, they put three long poles (as in the construction of the plague). Then, around these poles, small wooden tripods are installed, which are fastened together with horizontal poles. From the tripods to the top of the yaranga there are poles of the second tier. All poles are fastened to each other with ropes or deerskin straps. After installing the frame, a tire (retem) is pulled from the skins. Several ropes are thrown through the upper poles, which are tied to the tire-awning and with the help of elementary laws of physics and the command "iii, once", only in the Chukchi version, the tire is put on the frame. So that the tire is not blown away during a snowstorm, its edges are covered with stones. Stones are also hung on ropes to tripod stands. As an anti-sail, poles and boards are also used, which are tied to the outside of the yaranga.

"Strengthening" the yaranga so that the tire does not blow off

Winter tires are definitely sewn from skins. One ratham takes 40 to 50 deer skins. With summer tires options are possible. Previously, old retems, sewn and re-sewn, with shabby wool, went to the summer tire. The Chukchi summer, although harsh, forgives a lot. Including an imperfect yaranga tire. In winter, the tire must be perfect, otherwise a huge snowdrift will blow into the small hole during a snowstorm inside the chottagin. In Soviet times, the lower part of the tire, the most exposed to moisture, began to be replaced with tarpaulin strips. Then other materials appeared, so today's summer yarangas are more like a colorful grandmother's blanket.

Yaranga in the Amguem tundra

The third brigade of the MUSHP "Chaunskoe"

Yaranga in the Yanrakynnot tundra

Outwardly, the yaranga is ready. Inside, a large 5-8 meters in diameter sub-hip space appeared - chottagin. Chottagin is the economic part of the yaranga. In the chottagin, the cold room of the yaranga, in winter the temperature is the same as outside, except that there is no wind.

Now you need to make a room for housing. On the wall opposite from the entrance, with the help of poles, a rectangular frame is attached, which is covered with skins, wool inside. This canopy is a dwelling in a yaranga. They sleep in the canopy, dry their clothes (through the natural evaporation of moisture), and eat in winter. The canopy is heated with a grease gun or a kerosene stove. Due to the fact that the skins are tucked inward, the canopy becomes almost airtight. This is good in terms of keeping warm, but bad in terms of ventilation. However, frost is the most effective fighter against natures with a refined perception of smells. Since it is impossible to open the canopy at night, the need, in a special container, is celebrated right there, in the canopy. Believe me, this will not bother you either if you find yourself in the tundra without transport for more than two days. Because one of the main human needs is the need for warmth. And it's warm in the tundra, only in the canopy. Currently, there is usually one canopy in a yaranga, earlier there could be two or even three. One family lives in the canopy. If adult children have appeared in the family who already have their own families, for the first time a second canopy is placed in the yaranga. But over time, young people will need to collect their yaranga.

canopy outside

Canopy inside. Illuminated and heated by a grease gun or kerosene stove

The hearth is organized in the center of the chottagin. The smoke from the fire escapes through a hole in the dome. But despite such ventilation, the chottagin is almost always smoky. Therefore, standing in a yaranga is not recommended.

Campfire

Where to get firewood for a fire if trees do not grow in the tundra? There really are no trees (with the exception of floodplain groves) in the tundra, but you can almost always find shrubs. Actually, the yaranga is mainly placed by the river with bushes. The hearth in the yaranga is bred exclusively for cooking. Heating chottagin is pointless and wasteful. Small twigs are used for the fire. If the branches of the shrub are thick and long, they are cut into small poles 10-15 cm long. As much firewood as a taiga man burns in a night will be enough for a reindeer herder for a week, or even more. What can we say about the young pioneers with their fires. Economy and rationality are the main criterion for the life of a reindeer herder. The same criterion is put in the device of the yaranga, which is primitive at first glance, but very effective upon closer examination.

The teapot is hung over the hearth on chains, the vats and pots are set on bricks or stones. Firewood is no longer added to the fire as soon as the container begins to boil.

Firewood

Utensil. Small tables and small stools are used as furniture in the yaranga. Yaranga is the world of minimalism. Of the furniture in yaranga, you can also see cabinets and shelves for storing food and utensils. With the advent of European civilization in Chukotka, especially in Soviet period, in the life of reindeer herders, such concepts as kerogas, kerosene stove, abeshka (generator) appeared, which somewhat simplified some aspects of life. Cooking, especially baking, is no longer done on a fire, but on stoves or kerosene stoves. In some reindeer farms, in winter, stoves are installed in the yarangas, which are heated with coal. Without all this, of course, you can live, but if it is, why not use it?

Afternoon

Evening leisure

In each yaranga, meat or fish is sure to hang on the upper and side poles. Rationalism, as I said above, is a key aspect of human life in a traditional society. Why is the smoke disappearing in vain? Especially if he, smoke, is an excellent preservative.

"Bin" yaranga