Ethnographies

The Chukchi live in the far northeast of Siberia and refer to themselves as Luoravetlanen. Like the Koryaks, they are divided into two groups. One group lives inland, where they have made reindeer herding their main source of income. The other group lives on the coast, where they hunt marine animals. The exchange of essential materials between these two groups has always been of particular importance. 

The life and culture of the Chukchi were first researched and described by ethnologically interested natural scientists from Germany and the Baltic States. A comprehensive and thorough ethnological study of their culture was carried out around 1900 during the Jesup North Pacific Expedition by Waldemar Bogoras. In Anadyr, initiatives to preserve the Chukchi language and special dance and storytelling traditions were documented. The worldview of the Chukchi is still expressed today primarily in seasonal feasts of reconciliation with nature, which are connected with hunting marine animals and important cycles in reindeer herding, such as the Kilvei feast at the time of the birth of young reindeer.