Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits (), are a Yupik people who reside along the coast of the

Chukchi Peninsula The Chukchi Peninsula (also Chukotka Peninsula or Chukotski Peninsula; , ''Chukotskiy poluostrov'', short form , ''Chukotka''), at about 66° N 172° W, is the easternmost peninsula of Asia. Its eastern end is at Cape Dezhnev near the village ...

in the far

northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

of the Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. They speak Central Siberian Yupik (also known as Yuit), a

Yupik language The Yupik languages () are a family of languages spoken by the Yupik peoples of western and south-central Alaska and Chukotka. The Yupik languages differ enough from one another that they are not mutually intelligible, although speakers of one ...

of the

Eskimo–Aleut The Eskaleut ( ), Eskimo–Aleut or Inuit–Yupik–Unangan languages are a language family native to the northern portions of the North American continent, and a small part of northeastern Asia. Languages in the family are indigenous to parts of ...

family of languages. They are also known as Siberian or

Eskimo ''Eskimo'' () is a controversial Endonym and exonym, exonym that refers to two closely related Indigenous peoples: Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and the Greenlandic Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Sibe ...

(). The name Yuit (юит, plural: юиты) was officially assigned to them in 1931, at the brief time of the campaign of support of Indigenous cultures in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Their self-designation is Yupighyt (йупигыт) meaning "true people".

Sirenik Eskimos Sirenik or ''Sireniki'' ( ) are an Eskaleut-speaking ethnic group of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and former speakers of a divergent Eskimo-Aleut language in Siberia, before its extinction in 1997. The total language death of this language means ...

also live in that area, but their

extinct language An extinct language or dead language is a language with no living native speakers. A dormant language is a dead language that still serves as a symbol of ethnic identity to an ethnic group; these languages are often undergoing a process of r ...

, Sireniki Eskimo, shows many peculiarities among Eskimo languages and is mutually unintelligible with the neighboring Siberian Yupik languages.Menovshchikov 1990
70

Material culture

Traditional crafts

The Siberian Yupik on St. Lawrence Island live in the villages of Savoonga and Gambell, and are widely known for their skillful carvings of

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobeni ...

ivory and whale bone, as well as the baleen of

bowhead whale The bowhead whale (''Balaena mysticetus''), sometimes called the Greenland right whale, Arctic whale, and polar whale, is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and is the only living representative of the genus '' Balaena' ...

s. These even include some "moving sculptures" with complicated pulleys animating scenes such as walrus hunting or traditional dances.

Dwelling

The winter building of Chaplino Eskimos (Ungazighmiit) was a round, dome-shaped building. It is called ''yaranga'' in the literature, the same word referring also to the similar building of the Chukchi. In the language of Chaplino Eskimos, its name was .Рубцова 1954: 514 There was a smaller cabin inside it at its back part, the , used for sleeping and living. It was separated from the outer, cooler parts of the yaranga with haired reindeer skins and grass, supported by a cage-like framework. But the household works were done in the room of the yaranga in front of this inner building, and also many household utensils were kept there. In winter storms, and at night also the dogs were there. This room for economical purposes was called .Рубцова 1954: 100–101 Other types of buildings among Chaplino Eskimos include a modernized type, and that was used for summer.

Spiritual culture

Shamanism

Many Indigenous Siberian cultures had persons working as

mediator Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...

(between human and beings of the belief system, among others) — usually termed as "

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

s" in the literature. As Eskimo cultures were far from homogeneous (although had some similarities), thus also shamanism among Eskimo peoples had many variants. Siberian Yupiks had shamans as well.Духовная культура (Spiritual culture)
, subsection o
Support for Siberian Indigenous Peoples Rights (Поддержка прав коренных народов Сибири)
Compared to the variants found among Eskimo groups of America, shamanism among Siberian Yupiks stressed more the importance of maintaining good relationship with sea animals. Ungazighmiit people (the largest of Siberian Yupik variants) had s, who received presents for the shamanizing, healing. This payment had a special name, — in their language, there were many words for the different kinds of presents and payments and this was one of them.Рубцова 1954:173 (The many kinds of presents and the words designating them were related to the culture: fests, marriage etc.; or made such fine distinctions like "thing, given to someone who has none", "thing, given, not begged for", "thing, given to someone as to anybody else", "thing, given for exchange" etc.).

Fighting the spirit of smallpox

The Even people, a tribe that lived on the far eastern side of Russia, believed that the spirit of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

could be seen as a Russian woman with red hair. A local

would be there to greet migrating reindeer herders (who sometimes brought the disease with them). If the shaman saw the spirit of the disease in the caravan, several shaman worked together to fight it off with a seance. Others in the tribe helped with this ritual. Tradition says that the smallpox spirit changed from a woman to a red bull when she was attacked. The spirit of smallpox was supposed to be very powerful, and if the shaman's ritual failed, all the local people would die. The spirit would only spare two people to bury all the rest. But if the ritual worked, the spirit would be forced to leave.

Name giving

Similarly to several other Indigenous cultures, the name-giving of a newborn baby among Siberian Yupik meant that a deceased person was affected, a certain rebirth was believed. Even before the birth of the baby, careful investigations took place: dreams, events were analyzed. After the birth, the baby's physical traits were compared to those of the deceased person. The name was important: if the baby died, it was thought that he/she has not given the "right" name. In case of sickness, it was hoped that giving additional names could result in healing.

Amulets

Amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

s could be manifested in many forms, and could protect the person wearing them or the entire family, and there were also hunting amulets. Some examples: * a head of raven hanging on the entrance of the house, functioning as a familiar amulet;Рубцова 1954:380 * figures carved out of stone in shape of walrus head or dog head, worn as individual amulets; * hunting amulets were attached to something or worn. About the effigy of

orca The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...

on the tools of the marine hunter, see the beliefs concerning this particular marine mammal below.

Concepts regarding the animal world

The

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

,Рубцова 1954:156 (see tale ''The orphan boy with his sister'')Menovščikov 1968:439,441

raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

,Menovščikov 1968:440–441

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

,Menovščikov 1968:439–440Рубцова 1954:218 were revered animals. Also

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

(e.g. tale) examples demonstrate this. For example, a spider saves the life of a girl. The motif of spider as a benevolent personage, saving people from peril with its cobweb, lifting them up to the sky in danger, is present also in many tales of Sireniki Eskimos (as mentioned, their exact classification inside Eskimo peoples is not settled yet). It was thought that the prey of the marine hunt could return to the sea and become a complete animal again. That is why they did not break the bones, only cut them at the joints.

Orca and wolf

In the tales and beliefs of this people,

and

are thought to be identical:

can become a

or vice versa. In winter, they appear in the form of

, in summer, in the form of

. Orca was believed to help people in hunting on the sea — thus the boat represented the image of this animal, and the orca's wooden representation hang also from the hunter's belt. Also small

sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

s could be given to orcas: tobacco was thrown into the sea for them, because they were thought to help the sea hunter in driving walrus.A radio interview with Russian scientists about Eskimos
/ref> It was believed that the orca was a help of the hunters even if it was in the guise of wolf: this wolf was thought to force the reindeer to allow itself to be killed by the hunters.

Whale

It is thought that during the hunt, only those who have been selected by the spirit of the sea could kill the whale. The hunter has to please the killed whale: it must be treated as a guest. Just like a polite host does not leave a recently arrived dear guest alone, thus similarly, the killed whale should not be left alone by the host (i.e. by the hunter who has killed it). Like a guest, it should not get hurt or feel sad. It must be entertained (e.g. by drum music, good foods). On the next whale migration (whales migrate twice a year, in spring to the north and in the autumn back), the previously killed whale is sent off back to the sea in the course of a farewell ritual. If the killed whale was pleased to (during its being a guest for a half year), then it can be hoped that it will return later, thus the future whale hunts will succeed.

Celestial concepts

In a tale, the sky seems to be imagined arching as a vault. Celestial bodies form holes in it: beyond this vault, there is an especially light space.Рубцова 1954:196 Alaska, yup'ik, maschera giimaquq, xix secolo.jpg, mask from Musée du Quai Branly (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) Alaska, yup'ik, maschera cerimoniale aeggimaquq, 1900-20 ca.jpg, mask for ceremonies, Musée du Quai Branly Woman's feathered dance fan - Jacobsen Yup'ik collection, 1883 - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC01040.JPG, Yup'ik mask from the Jacobsen collection, 1883, in the

Ethnological Museum of Berlin The Ethnologisches Museum Berlin () is one of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz Berlin (), the de facto national collection of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its exhibitions are presently located in the Humbol ...

Small land-otter mask with caribou ruff - Jacobsen Yup'ik collection, 1883 - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC01048.JPG, Yup'ik mask from the Jacobsen collection, 1883, in the

Boat mask of a shaman - Jacobsen Yup'ik collection, 1883 - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC01050.JPG, Yup'ik mask from the Jacobsen collection, 1883, in the

References

Citations

Bibliography

English

* * Campbell, Lyle. (1997). ''American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America''. New York:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. . * * * de Reuse, Willem J. (1994). ''Siberian Yupik Eskimo: The language and its contacts with Chukchi''. Studies in indigenous languages of the Americas. Salt Lake City:

University of Utah Press The University of Utah Press is the independent publishing branch of the University of Utah and is a division of the J. Willard Marriott Library. Founded in 1949 by A. Ray Olpin, it is also the oldest university press in Utah. The mission of t ...

. .

Russian

* The transliteration of author's name, and the rendering of title in English: * The transliteration of author's name, and the rendering of title in English: * The transliteration of author's name, and the rendering of title in English:

External links

* Tales rendered in English; the song texts both in English and in original. Large PDF file requiring considerable computation resources. * HTML format, the original language versions of the song texts are omitted. * Collection of 27 texts collected by Rubtsova in 1940–1941. Translated into English and edited by Vakhtin. (The English version is the last file at the bottom of the page.) Downloadable from UAF's site licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. *
Eskimo Language
page o
Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia

Ethnologue report

The Asiatic (Siberian) Eskimos
*
Endangered Languages in Northeast Siberia: Siberian Yupik and other Languages of Chukotka
by Nikolai Vakhtin * Krupnik, Igor and Mikhail Chlenov (2007)

''Études/Inuit/Studies 31'' (1-2) pp 59–81.
Smithsonian Institution, Alaska Native Collections, St. Lawrence Island Yupik
*
Г.А. Меновщиков: Азиатских эскимосов язык
is a summary of the Chaplino dialect. It can be read among other articles, collected under nam
Языки мира — Палеоазиатские языки
(Languages of the world — Paleoasian languages). *
Support for Siberian Indigenous Peoples Rights (Поддержка прав коренных народов Сибири)
��see the section o
Eskimos
*
Духовная культура (Spiritual culture)
subsection o
Support for Siberian Indigenous Peoples Rights (Поддержка прав коренных народов Сибири)
*
A radio interview with Russian scientists about Eskimos
*
ICC Chukotka
the regional office o
Inuit Circumpolar Council
* ;Photographs: * Rendering in English: ''Ungaziq settlement'',

Kunstkamera The Kunstkamera (, derived from German ''Kunstkammer'' lit. "art chamber") formally organized as the Russian Academy of Science's Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (, ''Muzey antropologii i etnografii imeni Petra Velikogo R ...

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

. * Ungaziq is the name-giving settlement for the largest Siberian Yupik group, Ungazighmiit. Enlarged versions of the above series, select with the navigation arrows or the form. * Rendering in English: ''Naukan settlement'',

. * Enlarged versions of the above series, select with the navigation arrows or the form. * “Nita Tokoyu of Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, sews a gut parka with Kakhsogon (left) and Wiyi (right) standing by". * “Yupik men wear gut parkas in this image of a St. Lawrence Island house interior, c1825". {{Authority control Yupik peoples Alaska Native ethnic groups Ethnic groups in Siberia Indigenous peoples of Siberia Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East People from Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Chukchi Sea