Julia Pavlovna Petrova-Averkieva (July 24, 1907 – October 9, 1980) was a Soviet anthropologist and string figure collector.Averkieva, Julia P. and Sherman, Mark A. (1992). "Introduction by Mark A. Sherman",
Kwakiutl String Figures
'', p.xvii. University of British Columbia. . A student of Franz Boas, and influenced by

Lewis Henry Morgan Lewis Henry Morgan (November 21, 1818 – December 17, 1881) was a pioneering American anthropologist and social theorist who worked as a railroad lawyer. He is best known for his work on kinship and social structure, his theories of social evol ...

, she went on to serve as the director of North American Studies at the Institute of Ethnography in Moscow. She compiled the a collection of

Kwakwakaʼwakw The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw (), also known as the Kwakiutl (; "Kwakʼwala-speaking peoples") are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their current population, according to a 2016 census, is 3,665. Most live in their traditi ...

string figures, which is recognized as "the most comprehensive Native American string figure collection ever assembled from a single

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective Identity (social science), identity of a group of people unde ...

]."

Early life

Averkieva was born in 1907 in the small village of Poduzhemye (air base), Poduzhemye, in Karelia, Russia. The oldest of three girls, her mother died in 1918. At that time, her father worked as a lumberjack, and worked six days a week far away from home. In order to support her family, Averkieva shouldered the responsibilities of raising her sisters, while also attending school. She learned to balance these obligations by mastering cross-country skiing, which drastically reduced her travel time between home, school, and Poduzhemyeh.

Career

Averkieva was a bright pupil,Averkieva and Sherman (1992), p.xvii. and her high marks assured her a position in secondary education. In May 1925, Averkieva was accepted into Leningrad State University, to study under W. G. Borgoras, an ethnologist specializing in local history. Although Averkieva proved to be an apt pupil, the university ethnologists advised her to travel across the Atlantic to study the ancient cultures of North America, where anthropology was gaining popularity. Averkieva established herself as an ethnologist under the mentorship of Franz Boas. Averkieva's destiny was sealed when she took a six-month trip to

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

to study the Kwakiutl people. She was soon living among them, meticulously observing every aspect of their life and, in particular, collecting string figures. She earned the respect of the Kwakiutl, and was officially inducted into their tribe with the gift of an eagle

totem A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or '' doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While ''the ...

.Averkieva and Sherman (1992), p.xvii-xviii. Much of Averkieva's book reflects the wisdom she gained in her experience on the Northwestern Coast.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Averkieva, Julia 1907 births 1980 deaths 20th-century anthropologists 20th-century women scientists Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour String figures Russian anthropologists Russian women anthropologists Soviet anthropologists Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie editors