Siberian Yupik

2025-10-06T12:12:42Z

129.242.93.44: remove images from alaska

{{Short description|Yupik who live near the Bering Strait}}
{{For|the language|Siberian Yupik language}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Siberian Yupik
| native_name = Юпик, йупигыт
| image = Siberian-eskimo-Nabogatova-.PNG
| image_caption = A Siberian Yupik woman holding walrus tusks, photo by Nabogatova
| pop = ''{{circa}} 2,828''
| poptime =
| popplace = [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|Chukotka]] in the [[Russian Far East]], [[St. Lawrence Island]] in [[Alaska]]
| region1 = Russia:
* Chukotka ([[Chukchi Peninsula]])
| pop1 = 1,728
| ref1 = <ref name="пер.2010">[http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/perepis_itogi1612.htm Официальный сайт Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года. Информационные материалы об окончательных итогах Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года]</ref>
| region2 = United States:
* Alaska
| pop2 = 1,100
| ref2 =
| rels = [[Shamanism]] <br> [[Christianity]] ([[Moravian church]] and [[Russian Orthodox Church]])
| langs = [[Central Siberian Yupik language|Siberian Yupik]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[American English|English]]
| related = [[Alutiiq people|Alutiiq]], [[Central Alaskan Yup'ik people|Central Alaskan Yup'ik]]
}}
{{IPA notice}}

'''Siberian Yupiks''', or '''Yuits''' ({{langx|ru|Юиты}}), are a [[Yupik peoples|Yupik people]] who reside along the coast of the [[Chukchi Peninsula]] in the far [[Russian Far East|northeast]] of the [[Russia| Russian Federation]] and on [[St. Lawrence Island]] in [[Alaska]]. They speak [[Siberian Yupik language|Central Siberian Yupik]] (also known as Yuit), a [[Yupik language]] of the [[Eskimo–Aleut]] family of languages.

They are also known as '''Siberian''' or '''[[Eskimo]]''' ({{langx|ru|эскимосы}}). 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]]. Their self-designation is '''Yupighyt''' (йупигыт) meaning "true people".

[[Sirenik Eskimos]] also live in that area, but their [[extinct language]], [[Sireniki Eskimo language|Sireniki Eskimo]], shows many peculiarities among Eskimo languages and is mutually unintelligible with the neighboring Siberian Yupik languages.<ref name=linfranc>[http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000861/086162e.pdf Menovshchikov 1990]: 70</ref>

== Material culture ==
[[File:Asian Siberian Yupik Eskimo map.svg|thumbnail|350px|Asian/Siberian Yupik settlements (in Russia and the USA)]]
=== Traditional crafts ===
The Siberian Yupik on [[St. Lawrence Island]] live in the villages of [[Savoonga, Alaska|Savoonga]] and [[Gambell, Alaska|Gambell]], and are widely known for their skillful carvings of [[walrus]] ivory and whale bone, as well as the baleen of [[bowhead whale]]s. These even include some "moving sculptures" with complicated pulleys animating scenes such as walrus hunting or traditional dances.

=== Dwelling ===
{{Main|Yaranga}}
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 {{IPA|/məŋtˈtəʁaq/}}.<ref name=outside>Рубцова 1954: 514</ref> There was a smaller cabin inside it at its back part, the {{IPA|/aːɣra/}}, 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 {{IPA|/naˈtək/}}.<ref name=note>Рубцова 1954: 100–101</ref>

Other types of buildings among Chaplino Eskimos {{IPA|/aːwχtaq/}} include a modernized type,<ref>Рубцова 1954: 518–520</ref> and {{IPA|/pəˈɬʲuk/}} that was used for summer.<ref>Рубцова 1954: 521</ref>

== Spiritual culture ==

=== Shamanism ===
Many Indigenous Siberian cultures had persons working as [[Shamanism#Mediator|mediator]] (between human and beings of the belief system, among others) — usually termed as "[[Shamanism in Siberia|shaman]]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.<ref>Menovščikov 1968:442</ref><ref name=ssipr>[http://www.nsu.ru/ip/eskimos.php#3 Духовная культура (Spiritual culture)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830162420/http://www.nsu.ru/ip/eskimos.php |date=2007-08-30 }}, subsection of [http://www.nsu.ru/ip/ Support for Siberian Indigenous Peoples Rights (Поддержка прав коренных народов Сибири)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103005547/http://www.nsu.ru/ip/ |date=2007-11-03 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=submit/> Ungazighmiit people (the largest of Siberian Yupik variants) had {{IPA|/aˈliɣnalʁi/}}s, who received presents for the shamanizing, healing. This payment had a special name, {{IPA|/aˈkiliːɕaq/}} — in their language, there were many words for the different kinds of presents and payments and this was one of them.<ref name=shamfare>Рубцова 1954:173</ref> (The many kinds of presents and the words designating them were related to the culture: fests, marriage etc.;<ref name=shamfare/> 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.<ref>Рубцова 1954:62</ref>).

==== Fighting the spirit of smallpox ====

The [[Evens|Even]] people, a tribe that lived on the far eastern side of Russia, believed that the spirit of [[smallpox]] could be seen as a Russian woman with red hair. A local [[Shamanism|shaman]] 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.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Spirits of the snow : Arctic myth.|last=Tony.|first=Allan|date=1999|publisher=Time-Life Books|others=Phillips, Charles., Kerrigan, Michael, 1959-, Duncan Baird Publishers.|isbn=0705436535|location=Amsterdam|oclc=43438183|url=https://archive.org/details/spiritsofsnowarc00alla}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref>Burch & Forman 1988: 90</ref>

=== Amulets ===
[[Amulet]]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;<ref name="Рубцова 1954:380">Рубцова 1954:380</ref>
* figures carved out of stone in shape of walrus head or dog head, worn as individual amulets;<ref>Рубцова 1954:380,551–552</ref>
* hunting amulets were attached to something or worn.<ref name="Рубцова 1954:380"/> About the effigy of [[orca]] on the tools of the marine hunter,<ref name=ssipr/> see the beliefs concerning this particular marine mammal below.

=== Concepts regarding the animal world ===
The [[orca]], [[wolf]],<ref name=ssipr/><ref name=rubow>Рубцова 1954:156 (see tale ''The orphan boy with his sister'')</ref><ref name=menow>Menovščikov 1968:439,441</ref> [[raven]], [[spider]],<ref name=menrs>Menovščikov 1968:440–441</ref> [[whale]],<ref name=menw>Menovščikov 1968:439–440</ref><ref name=rubw>Рубцова 1954:218</ref> were revered animals. Also [[folklore]] (e.g. tale) examples demonstrate this. For example, a spider saves the life of a girl.<ref name="menrs" /><ref>Рубцова 1954, tale 13, sentences (173)–(235)</ref> The [[Motif (narrative)|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<ref>Меновщиков 1964: 161–162 163 (= 165)</ref> (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.<ref>Рубцова 1954:379</ref>

==== Orca and wolf ====
In the tales and beliefs of this people, [[wolf]] and [[orca]] are thought to be identical: [[orca]] can become a [[wolf]] or vice versa. In winter, they appear in the form of [[wolf]], in summer, in the form of [[orca]].<ref name=ssipr/><ref name=submit>{{cite web |last=Vajda |first=Edward J |title=Siberian Yupik (Eskimo) |work=East Asian Studies |url=http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ea210/aleut.htm}}</ref><ref name=rubow/><ref name=menow/> 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.<ref name=ssipr/> Also small [[sacrifice]]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.<ref name=radio>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.echo.msk.ru/guests/6456/ 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.<ref name=submit/>

==== 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.<ref name=menw/><ref name=rubw/>

=== 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.<ref>Рубцова 1954:196</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Siberia}}
* [[Siberian Yupik language]]
* [[Yupik languages]]
* [[Yupik peoples|Yupik]]
* [[Eskimo]]
* [[Naukan people]] of the [[Chukchi Peninsula]]
* [[Eskimo yo-yo]]
* [[Whistled language]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
==== English ====
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Burch |first=Ernest S. (junior) |author2=Forman, Werner |title=The Eskimos |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |location=Norman, OK|year=1988 |isbn=0-8061-2126-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/eskimos00burc }}
* Campbell, Lyle. (1997). ''American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America''. New York: [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-19-509427-1}}.
* {{cite book |last=Menovščikov |first=G. A. (= Меновщиков, the same author as [[#Russian|at the Russian part]]) |chapter=Popular Conceptions, Religious Beliefs and Rites of the Asiatic Eskimoes |editor=Diószegi, Vilmos |title=Popular beliefs and folklore tradition in Siberia |publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó |location=Budapest |year=1968}}
* {{cite book |last=Menovshchikov |first=Georgy (= Г. А. Меновщиков) |chapter=Contemporary Studies of the Eskimo–Aleut Languages and Dialects: A Progress Report |pages=69–76 |editor=Dirmid R. F. Collis |title=Arctic Languages. An Awakening |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |location=Vendôme |year=1990 |isbn=92-3-102661-5 |chapter-url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000861/086162e.pdf }}
* 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]]. {{ISBN|0-87480-397-7}}.
{{Refend}}

==== Russian ====
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Меновщиков |first=Г. А. |title=Грамматиκа языка азиатских эскимосов. Часть первая |publisher=[[:ru:Российская академия наук|Академия Наук СССР]]. Институт языкознания |location=Москва • Ленинград |year=1962}} The transliteration of author's name, and the rendering of title in English: {{cite book |last=Menovshchikov |first=G. A. |title=Grammar of the language of Eskimos. Vol. I. |publisher=[[Russian Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences of the USSR]] |location=Moscow • Leningrad |year=1962}}
* {{cite book |last=Меновщиков |first=Г. А.сиреникских эскимосов. Фонетика, очерк морфологии, тексты и словарь |publisher=[[:ru:Российская академия наук|Академия Наук СССР]]. Институт языкознания |location=Москва • Ленинград |year=1964}} The transliteration of author's name, and the rendering of title in English: {{cite book |last=Menovshchikov |first=G. A. |title=Language of Sireniki Eskimos. Phonetics, morphology, texts and vocabulary |publisher=[[Russian Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences of the USSR]] |location=Moscow • Leningrad |year=1964}}
* {{cite book |last=Рубцова |first=Е. С. |script-title=ru:Материалы по языку и фольклору эскимосов (чаплинский диалект) |publisher=[[:ru:Российская академия наук|Академия Наук СССР]] |location=Москва • Ленинград |year=1954 |language=ru}} The transliteration of author's name, and the rendering of title in English: {{cite book |last=Rubcova |first=E. S. |title=Materials on the Language and Folklore of the Eskimoes, Vol. I, Chaplino Dialect |publisher=[[Russian Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences of the USSR]] |location=Moscow • Leningrad |year=1954}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* Krupnik, Igor, and Nikolay Vakhtin. 1997. "Indigenous Knowledge in Modern Culture: Siberian Yupik Ecological Legacy in Transition". ''Arctic Anthropology''. 34, no. 1: 236.

==External links==
* {{cite book |last=Bogoraz |first=Waldemar |author-link=Vladimir Bogoraz |title=The Eskimo of Siberia |series=Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History |year=1913 |location=Leiden • New York |publisher=E. J. Brill ltd • G. E. Stechert & co |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/29/1/M12Pt03.pdf }} Tales rendered in English; the song texts both in English and in original. Large PDF file requiring considerable computation resources.
* {{cite book |last=Bogoraz |first=Waldemar |title=The Eskimo of Siberia |series=Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History |year=1913 |location=Leiden • New York |publisher=E. J. Brill ltd • G. E. Stechert & co |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/inu/eos/index.htm}} HTML format, the original language versions of the song texts are omitted.
* {{cite book |last = Rubtsova |first = Ekaterina Semenovna |title = Yupik Eskimo Text from the 1940s. |format = pdf |url = http://www.uaf.edu/anla/collections/search/resultDetail.xml?resource=11678}} 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.
* {{cite web |last=Vajda |first=Edward J |title=Siberian Yupik (Eskimo) |work=East Asian Studies |url=http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ea210/aleut.htm}}
* [https://archive.today/20070812154954/http://lingsib.unesco.ru/en/languages/eskimo.shtml.htm Eskimo Language] page of [https://archive.today/20061031064058/http://lingsib.unesco.ru/en/ Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ess Ethnologue report]
* [http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/asiatic_eskimos.shtml The Asiatic (Siberian) Eskimos]
* {{cite web |author1=Ludmila Ainana |author2=Tatiana Achirgina-Arsiak |author3=Tasian Tein |title=Yupik (Asiatic Eskimo) |url=http://alaska.si.edu/culture_ne_siberian.asp?subculture=Yupik%20(Asiatic%20Eskimo)&continue=1 |work=Alaska Native Collections}}
* [http://www.siberian-studies.org/publications/PDF/bevakhtin.pdf Endangered Languages in Northeast Siberia: Siberian Yupik and other Languages of Chukotka] by Nikolai Vakhtin
* Krupnik, Igor and Mikhail Chlenov (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110818073305/http://id.erudit.org/revue/etudinuit/2007/v31/n1-2/019715ar.html?lang=en The end of “Eskimo land": Yupik relocation in Chukotka, 1958-1959] ''Études/Inuit/Studies 31'' (1-2) pp 59–81.
* [https://alaska.si.edu/culture_sli_yupik.asp Smithsonian Institution, Alaska Native Collections, St. Lawrence Island Yupik]
* {{in lang|ru}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070221140218/http://www.auditorium.ru/books/2357/gl8.pdf Г.А. Меновщиков: Азиатских эскимосов язык] is a summary of the Chaplino dialect. It can be read among other articles, collected under name [https://web.archive.org/web/20061009183209/http://www.auditorium.ru/books/2357/ Языки мира — Палеоазиатские языки] (Languages of the world — Paleoasian languages).
* {{in lang|ru}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20071103005547/http://www.nsu.ru/ip/ Support for Siberian Indigenous Peoples Rights (Поддержка прав коренных народов Сибири)]—see the section on [https://web.archive.org/web/20070830162420/http://www.nsu.ru/ip/eskimos.php Eskimos]
* {{in lang|ru}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070830162420/http://www.nsu.ru/ip/eskimos.php#3 Духовная культура (Spiritual culture)], subsection of [https://web.archive.org/web/20071103005547/http://www.nsu.ru/ip/ Support for Siberian Indigenous Peoples Rights (Поддержка прав коренных народов Сибири)]
* {{in lang|ru}} [http://www.echo.msk.ru/guests/6456/ A radio interview with Russian scientists about Eskimos]
* {{in lang|ru}} [http://www.icc.hotbox.ru/ ICC Chukotka], the regional office of [https://web.archive.org/web/20060622175522/http://www.inuit.org/index.asp?lang=eng&num=2 Inuit Circumpolar Council]
* {{cite journal |last=Krauss |first=E. Michael|title=Eskimo languages in Asia, 1791 on, and the Wrangel Island-Point Hope connection |journal=Études/Inuit/Studies |year=2005 |volume=29 |issue=1–2 |pages=163–185|doi=10.7202/013938ar|doi-access=free }}

;Photographs:
{{Commons category|position=left|Yupik}}
* {{cite web |script-title=ru:Поселок Унгазик (Чаплино) |publisher=Музея антропологии и этнографии им. Петра Великого (Кунсткамера) Российской академии наук |language=ru |url=http://www.kunstkamera.ru/exhibitions/virtualnye_vystavki/forshtejn/poselok_ungazik/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228154451/http://www.kunstkamera.ru/exhibitions/virtualnye_vystavki/forshtejn/poselok_ungazik/ |archive-date=2009-02-28 }} Rendering in English: ''Ungaziq settlement'', [[Kunstkamera]], [[Russian Academy of Sciences]].
* {{cite web |title=Ungazik settlement |publisher=[[Kunstkamera]], [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] |url=http://web1.kunstkamera.ru/exhibition/forsht/eng/chaplino/115-16.shtml}} 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.
* {{cite web |script-title=ru:Поселок Наукан |publisher=Музея антропологии и этнографии им. Петра Великого (Кунсткамера) Российской академии наук |language=ru |url=http://www.kunstkamera.ru/exhibitions/virtualnye_vystavki/forshtejn/poselok_naukan/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228154619/http://www.kunstkamera.ru/exhibitions/virtualnye_vystavki/forshtejn/poselok_naukan/ |archive-date=2009-02-28 }} Rendering in English: ''Naukan settlement'', [[Kunstkamera]], [[Russian Academy of Sciences]].
* {{cite web |title=Naukan settlement |publisher=[[Kunstkamera]], [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] |url=http://web1.kunstkamera.ru/exhibition/forsht/eng/naukan/115-10.shtml}} Enlarged versions of the above series, select with the navigation arrows or the form.
* {{cite web |last=Geist |first=O. W. (photo by) |title=Gut parka |work=Alaska Native Collections |publisher=Anchorage Museum of History and Art |year=1927 |url=http://alaska.si.edu/media.asp?id=42&objectid=218}} “Nita Tokoyu of Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, sews a gut parka with Kakhsogon (left) and Wiyi (right) standing by".
* {{cite web |last=Choris |first=Ludovik (illustration by) |title=House interior |work=Alaska Native Collections |publisher=Anchorage Museum of History and Art |year=c. 1825 |url=http://alaska.si.edu/media.asp?id=39&object_id=218}} “Yupik men wear gut parkas in this image of a St. Lawrence Island house interior, c1825".

{{Yupik}}
{{Indigenous peoples of Alaska}}
{{Indigenous peoples of Russia|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Siberian Yupik| ]]
[[Category:Yupik peoples]]
[[Category:Alaska Native ethnic groups]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Siberia]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of Siberia]]
[[Category:Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East]]
[[Category:People from Chukotka Autonomous Okrug]]
[[Category:Chukchi Sea]]

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Siberian Yupik