Chukchi Facts Total Population 14,000 Arctic Homelands Russian Siberia Origins Interior and coastal Siberia, 10,000 years ago Languages Chukchi Traditional Activities Fishing, hunting, reindeer herding Religion Animistic & Shamanistic Did you know? The Russian name "Chukchi" actually comes from the word Chauchu meaning "rich in reindeer." The Chukchi call themselves the Lyg Oravetlyan, 'the true people', and are closely related to the Koryak of northeast Siberia. The Chukchi apparently came to Bering Strait later than the Inuit. Traditional Chukchi believe in a shaman, who is a religious or ritual specialist capable of communicating directly with spirit powers, often while in ecstatic states. A shaman is said to be chosen by the spirits, selected from among persons of an excitable temperament who are given to daydreaming and visionary experience.

Chukchi People

The Chukchi are the largest group of indigenous people on the Asian side of the North Pacific. At present, they live in isolated and remote villages across a huge area that reaches from Bering Strait to the Kolyma River valley deep in inland Siberia, and extends along both the Arctic and Pacific coasts of northeast Asia. Their name was given to them by Russians, who also bestowed it on the Chukchi Peninsula, Chukchi Sea, Chukchi Autonomous Area, and the Chukchi District, which faces Alaska across Bering Strait.

Anthropologists trace the origin of the Chukchi people to the ancient residents of interior and coastal Siberia, around the northern Okhotsk Sea, that is, about a thousand miles from Bering Strait. Although they all speak the same Paleoasiatic language, the Chukchi, are divided into two main groups. One group traditionally depends on domesticated reindeer herds which provide transportation, meat, milk, and hides for clothing and shelter. The other group lives in settlements along the coast and has been much influenced by the Siberian Inuit, with whom they often share the same villages. They traditionally subsist on the hunting of marine mammals and by fishing. Many still travel in wooden-framed boats covered with walrus skins.

Socially, the Chukchi are organized into bands of several related families of bilateral descent. Like many other Arctic peoples, their religion is highly animistic, and they believe that the world is populated with many different kinds of spirits. They believe that all objects in nature, be they animate and inanimate, possess a certain life-force which may be beneficial or harmful.

During the 1920's the Chukchi were settled into permanent villages or farms under the collectivization policies of Stalin. Russian became the language of instruction and Chukchi religious ceremonies were prohibited. During the 1950's, massive industrial projects -- mining and oil and gas exploitation -- have threatened traditional Chukchi homeland, placing great strains on traditional hunting and pasture lands. The large influx of settlers and migrant laborers has also had considerable social and economic impact on Chukchi ways of life.

Today the Chukchi follow traditional pursuits, aided by mechanized equipment and scientific knowledge about reindeer breeding and other matters related to their specialized way of life. The reindeer-herding subgroup is no longer nomadic, and both groups live in settlements containing medical facilities and other modern services, such as transportation and communication. The future of the Chukchi is dependent on revitalization of indigenous culture and the achievement of some degree of self-government.