Eskimos are the people who have long inhabited the territory of Chukotka in Russian Federation, Alaska in the United States of America, Nunavut in Canada and Greenland. The total number of Eskimos is about 170 thousand people. The largest number of them live in the Russian Federation - about 65 thousand people. In Greenland there are about 45 thousand people, in the United States of America - 35 thousand people. and in Canada - 26 thousand people.

Origin of the people

Literally, “Eskimo” means a person who eats meat. But in different countries they are called differently. In Russia these are Yugyts, that is, real people, in Canada - Inuits, and in Greenland - Tladlits.

When wondering where the Eskimo lives, you must first understand who these people are. interesting people. The origin of the Eskimos is still considered controversial issue. There is an opinion that they belong to the oldest population in the Bering region. Their ancestral home may have been the northeast of Asia, and from there the settlers settled to the northwest of America through

Asian Eskimos today

The Eskimos of North America live in the harsh Arctic zone. They occupy mainly the coastal part of the north of the mainland. And in Alaska, Eskimo settlements occupy not only the coastline, but also some islands. The people living on the Copper River are almost completely assimilated with the local Indians. Just like in Russia, in the United States of America there are very few settlements in which only Eskimos live. Their predominant numbers are located on the territory of Cape Barrow, on the banks of the Kobuka, Nsataka and Colville rivers, as well as along

The life and culture of the Greenlandic Eskimos and their relatives from Canada and the United States of America are similar. However, today their dugouts and utensils have mostly become a thing of the past. Since the mid-twentieth century, the construction of houses, including multi-storey ones, began to develop intensively in Greenland. Therefore, the home of the Eskimos has changed significantly. More than fifty percent of the population began to use electricity and gas burners. Almost all Greenlandic Eskimos now prefer European clothing.

Lifestyle

The life of this people is divided into summer and winter modes of existence. For a long time, the main occupation of the Eskimos was hunting. In winter, the main prey of hunters is seals, walruses, various cetaceans, and sometimes bears. This fact explains why the territory where the Eskimo lives is almost always located on the sea coast. The skins of seals and the fat of killed animals have always served these people faithfully and helped them survive in the harsh Arctic conditions. In summer and autumn, men hunt birds, small game and even fish.

It should be noted that the Eskimos are not nomadic tribes. Despite the fact that during the warm season they are constantly on the move, they spend the winter in one place for several years.

Unusual housing

To imagine what the Eskimos live in, you need to understand their way of life and rhythm. Due to the peculiar seasonality, Eskimos also have two types of housing - tents for summer living and These dwellings are unique in their own way.

When creating summer tents, their volume to accommodate at least ten people is taken into account. A structure is created from fourteen poles and covered with skins in two layers.

During the cold season, the Eskimos came up with something different. Igloos are snow huts that are their winter home option. They reach about four meters in diameter and two meters in height. People are provided with lighting and heating thanks to seal oil, which is found in bowls. Thus, the room temperature rises to twenty degrees above zero. These homemade lamps are used to cook food and melt snow to produce water.

As a rule, two families live in one hut. Each of them occupies its own half. Naturally, housing gets dirty very quickly. Therefore, it is destroyed and a new one is built in another place.

Preservation of the Eskimo ethnic group

A person who has visited the lands where the Eskimo lives will not forget the hospitality and goodwill of this people. There is a special feeling of hospitality and kindness here.

Despite the beliefs of some skeptics about the disappearance of the Eskimos from the face of the earth in the nineteenth or twentieth centuries, these people persistently prove the opposite. They managed to survive in the difficult conditions of the Arctic climate, create their own unique culture and prove their enormous resilience.

The unity of the people and their leaders plays a big role in this. Such examples are the Greenlandic and Canadian Eskimos. Photos, video reports, relationships with other species of the population prove that they were able not only to survive in a harsh environment, but also to achieve greater political rights, as well as gain respect in the world movement among the aborigines.

Unfortunately, on the territory of the Russian Federation, the socio-economic situation of the indigenous population looks a little worse and requires support from the state.

Anthropologists believe that Eskimos are Mongoloids of the Arctic type (Arctic race). Their main self-name is “ Inuit" The word "Eskimo" ( Eskimantzig- “raw food eater”, “one who eats raw fish”) belongs to the language of the Abenaki and Athabaskan Indian tribes. From the name of the American Eskimos, this word turned into the self-name of both American and Asian Eskimos.

Story

The everyday culture of the Eskimos is unusually adapted to the Arctic. They invented a rotating harpoon to hunt sea animals, a kayak, an igloo snow house, a yaranga skin house, and special closed clothing made of fur and skins. The ancient culture of the Eskimos is unique. In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Characterized by a combination of hunting sea animals and caribou, living in territorial communities.

In the 19th century, the Eskimos did not have (except, perhaps, the Bering Sea) clan and developed tribal organization. As a result of contacts with the newcomer population, great changes occurred in the life of foreign Eskimos. A significant part of them switched from marine fishing to hunting arctic foxes, and in Greenland to commercial fishing. Many Eskimos, especially in Greenland, became wage laborers. The local petty bourgeoisie also appeared here. The Eskimos of Western Greenland - the Kalaalites - formed into a separate people - Greenlanders who do not consider themselves Eskimos. The Eskimos of eastern Greenland are Angmassalik. In Labrador, the Eskimos mixed to a large extent with the older population of European origin. Everywhere, remnants of traditional Eskimo culture are rapidly disappearing.

Eskimos in Russia

In Russia, Eskimos are a small ethnic group (according to the 1970 census - 1356 people, according to the 2002 census - 1750 people), living mixed or in close proximity to the Chukchi in a number of settlements on the eastern coast of Chukotka and on Wrangel Island. Their traditional occupations are sea hunting, reindeer herding, and hunting. The Eskimos of Chukotka call themselves “Yuk” (“man”), “Yuit”, “Yugyt”, “Yupik” (“ real man»). Number of Eskimos in Russia:

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Number of Eskimos in populated areas in 2002:

Ethnic and ethnographic groups

The Asian Eskimos in the 18th century were divided into a number of tribes - Uelenians, Naukans, Chaplinians, Sireniki Eskimos, which differed linguistically and in some cultural features. In a later period, in connection with the processes of integration of the cultures of the Eskimos and the coastal Chukchi, the Eskimos retained the group characteristics of the language in the form of the Naukan, Sirenikov and Chaplin dialects.

Culture

Beliefs

The Eskimos of Canada use their own writing system based on the Canadian syllabary.

There is a popular urban legend that the Eskimo language has many words for snow, but in reality the number is by no means extreme.

Gallery

Eskimo group - NARA - 523819.tif

Eskimos (1894)

North Pole eskimos.jpg

Four Eskimos who accompanied Robert Peary and Matthew Henson on their journey to the Pole

Noatak-Alaska01.jpg

Eskimos on kayaks. Alaska 1929

Alaskan Inuit winter home 1900.jpg

Eskimos next to traditional housing

Siberian-eskimo-Nabogatova-.PNG

Eskimo woman holding walrus tusk

Yupik mask Branly 70-1999-1-2.jpg

Ritual mask

Dance mask, probably of tunghat, Southwest Alaska Eskimo, collected in Kushunak, probably in 1905 - Native American collection - Peabody Museum, Harvard University - DSC05634.JPG

Eskimo Family NGM-v31-p564.jpg

Nunivak maskette.jpg

see also

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Notes

1. . In total they include the following groups: Eskimos proper (Eskimo Tribes: 9820 people, 2000), Greenland Eskimos (Greenland Eskimo: 7 people), Inuit (Inuit: 1015 people), Inupiat Eskimo: 19365 people), Siberian Eskimos (Siberian Eskimo: 1430 people), Chupik (Cupiks Eskimo: 68 people), Yupik (Yup'ik: 24237 people, 2000):
2. . In total they include the following groups: Eskimos proper (Eskimo Tribes: 6572 people, 2000), Greenland Eskimos (Greenland Eskimo: 2 people), Inuit (Inuit: 78 people), Inupiat Eskimo: 17016 people), Siberian Eskimos (Siberian Eskimo: 1390 people), Chupik (Cupiks Eskimo: 55 people), Yupik (Yup'ik: 22671 people, 2000):
3. . In total, they include the following groups: Eskimo Tribes, Greenland Eskimo, Inuit, Inupiat Eskimo, Siberian Eskimo, Cupiks Eskimo, Yup’ik:
4. . In total, they include the following groups: Eskimo Tribes, Greenland Eskimo, Inuit, Inupiat Eskimo, Siberian Eskimo, Cupiks Eskimo, Yup’ik:
11. :
12. . Retrieved December 24, 2009. .
13. Arctic race // BRE. T.2. M., 2005.
15. Eskimo language / Tsvetkovsky I. // Bookplate - Yaya. - M. : Soviet Encyclopedia, 1978. - (Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / chief ed. A. M. Prokhorov; 1969-1978, vol. 30).

Literature

• Eskimos // Siberia. Atlas of Asian Russia. - M.: Top book, Feoria, Design. Information. Cartography, 2007. - 664 p. - ISBN 5-287-00413-3.
• Eskimos // Peoples of Russia. Atlas of Cultures and Religions. - M.: Design. Information. Cartography, 2010. - 320 p. - ISBN 978-5-287-00718-8.
• Amundsen R. Navigation through the Northwest Passage on the ship Gjoa. - Ed. 2nd. - M.: TERRA-Book Club, 2004. - 352 p. - (Through the white silence).
• Arutyunov S. A., Sergeev D. A. Ancient cultures of Asian Eskimos (Uelensky burial ground). - M.: Nauka, 1969. - 208 p.
• Kent Rockwell. Salamis. - M.: Mysl, 1965. - 390 p. - (Travel. Adventure. Science Fiction).
• Cooper P.F. Island of the Lost. - L.: Gidrometeoizdat, 1970. - 167 p.
• Malory Jean. Mysterious Thule. - M.: Mysl, 1973. - 304 p. - (Stories about nature).
• Mowat Farley. Desperate people. - M.: Foreign literature, 1963. - 256 p.
• Rasmussen K. The Great Sleigh Road. - M.: Geographgiz, 1958. - 184 p. - (Travel. Adventure. Science Fiction).
• Freuchen P. Melville Bay St. John's worts. - M.: Geographgiz, 1961. - 230 p. - (Travel. Adventure. Science Fiction).
• Tsentkevich A., Tsentkevich Ch. Besieged by the eternal cold. - L.: Gidrometeoizdat, 1975. - 208 p.
• Sternberg L. Ya.,.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

Links

• Eskimos- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
• N.V. Kocheshkov, L.A. Feinberg.. Internet magazine “Peoples of Russia. Unity in diversity." Retrieved August 11, 2011. .

Excerpt characterizing the Eskimos

Absolute continuity of movement is incomprehensible to the human mind. The laws of any movement become clear to a person only when he examines arbitrarily taken units of this movement. But at the same time, from this arbitrary division of continuous movement into discontinuous units stems most of human error.
The so-called sophism of the ancients is known, which consists in the fact that Achilles will never catch up with the tortoise in front, despite the fact that Achilles walks ten times faster than the tortoise: as soon as Achilles passes the space separating him from the tortoise, the tortoise will walk ahead of him one tenth of this space; Achilles will walk this tenth, the tortoise will walk one hundredth, etc. ad infinitum. This task seemed insoluble to the ancients. The meaninglessness of the decision (that Achilles would never catch up with the tortoise) stemmed from the fact that discontinuous units of movement were arbitrarily allowed, while the movement of both Achilles and the tortoise was continuous.
By taking smaller and smaller units of movement, we only get closer to the solution of the problem, but never achieve it. Only by admitting an infinitesimal value and an ascending progression from it to one tenth and taking the sum of this geometric progression do we achieve a solution to the question. A new branch of mathematics, having achieved the art of dealing with infinitesimal quantities, and in other more complex issues movement now provides answers to questions that seemed insoluble.
This new, unknown to the ancients, branch of mathematics, when considering questions of motion, admits infinitesimal quantities, that is, those at which the main condition of motion is restored (absolute continuity), thereby correcting that inevitable mistake that the human mind cannot help but make when considering instead of continuous movement, individual units of movement.
In the search for the laws of historical movement, exactly the same thing happens.
The movement of humanity, resulting from countless human tyranny, occurs continuously.
Comprehension of the laws of this movement is the goal of history. But in order to comprehend the laws of continuous movement of the sum of all the arbitrariness of people, the human mind allows for arbitrary, discontinuous units. The first method of history is to take an arbitrary series of continuous events and consider it separately from the others, whereas there is not and cannot be the beginning of any event, and one event always follows continuously from another. The second technique is to consider the action of one person, a king, a commander, as the sum of the arbitrariness of people, while the sum of human arbitrariness is never expressed in the activity of one historical person.
Historical science, in its movement, constantly accepts smaller and smaller units for consideration and in this way strives to get closer to the truth. But no matter how small the units that history accepts, we feel that the assumption of a unit separated from another, the assumption of the beginning of some phenomenon and the assumption that the arbitrariness of all people is expressed in the actions of one historical person are false in themselves.
Every conclusion of history, without the slightest effort on the part of criticism, disintegrates like dust, leaving nothing behind, only due to the fact that criticism selects a larger or smaller discontinuous unit as the object of observation; to which it always has the right, since the historical unit taken is always arbitrary.
Only by allowing an infinitely small unit for observation - the differential of history, that is, the homogeneous drives of people, and having achieved the art of integrating (taking the sums of these infinitesimals), can we hope to comprehend the laws of history.
The first fifteen years of the 19th century in Europe represented an extraordinary movement of millions of people. People leave their usual occupations, rush from one side of Europe to the other, rob, kill one another, triumph and despair, and the whole course of life changes for several years and represents an intensified movement, which at first increases, then weakens. What was the reason for this movement or according to what laws did it occur? - asks the human mind.
Historians, answering this question, describe to us the actions and speeches of several dozen people in one of the buildings in the city of Paris, calling these actions and speeches the word revolution; then they give a detailed biography of Napoleon and some people sympathetic and hostile to him, talk about the influence of some of these people on others and say: this is why this movement occurred, and these are its laws.
But the human mind not only refuses to believe in this explanation, but directly says that the method of explanation is not correct, because with this explanation the weakest phenomenon is taken as the cause of the strongest. The sum of human arbitrariness made both the revolution and Napoleon, and only the sum of these arbitrarinesses tolerated them and destroyed them.
“But whenever there have been conquests, there have been conquerors; every time there were revolutions in the state, there were great people,” says history. Indeed, whenever conquerors appeared, there were wars, the human mind answers, but this does not prove that conquerors were the causes of wars and that it was possible to find the laws of war in the personal activity of one person. Every time, when I look at my watch, I see that the hand has approached ten, I hear that the gospel begins in the neighboring church, but from the fact that every time the hand comes to ten o’clock when the gospel begins, I I have no right to conclude that the position of the arrow is the reason for the movement of the bells.
Every time I see a steam locomotive moving, I hear the sound of a whistle, I see the opening of a valve and the movement of the wheels; but from this I have no right to conclude that the whistle and movement of the wheels are the causes of the movement of the locomotive.
The peasants say that a cold wind blows in late spring because the oak bud is unfurling, and indeed, every spring a cold wind blows when the oak tree is unfurling. But although the reason for the cold wind blowing when the oak tree unfurls is unknown to me, I cannot agree with the peasants that the cause of the cold wind is the unfurling of the oak bud, only because the force of the wind is beyond the influence of the bud. I see only the coincidence of those conditions that exist in every life phenomenon, and I see that, no matter how much and in what detail I observe the hand of a clock, the valve and wheels of a locomotive and the bud of an oak tree, I do not recognize the reason for the bell, the movement of the locomotive and the spring wind . To do this, I must completely change my point of observation and study the laws of the movement of steam, bells and wind. History should do the same. And attempts to do this have already been made.
To study the laws of history, we must completely change the subject of observation, leave kings, ministers and generals alone, and study the homogeneous, infinitesimal elements that lead the masses. No one can say how much it is possible for a person to achieve an understanding of the laws of history through this way; but it is obvious that on this path only lies the possibility of grasping historical laws and that on this path the human mind has not yet put one millionth of the effort that historians have put into describing the acts of various kings, generals and ministers and in presenting their considerations on the occasion of these acts .

The forces of twelve languages ​​of Europe rushed into Russia. The Russian army and population retreat, avoiding a collision, to Smolensk and from Smolensk to Borodino. The French army, with ever-increasing speed, rushes towards Moscow, towards the goal of its movement. The strength of its swiftness, approaching the target, increases, just as the speed of a falling body increases as it approaches the ground. A thousand miles away is a hungry, hostile country; There are dozens of miles ahead, separating us from the goal. Every soldier of the Napoleonic army feels this, and the invasion is approaching by itself, by sheer force of swiftness.
In the Russian army, as they retreat, the spirit of bitterness against the enemy flares up more and more: retreating back, it concentrates and grows. There is a clash near Borodino. Neither one nor the other army disintegrates, but the Russian army immediately after the collision retreats just as necessarily as a ball necessarily rolls back when it collides with another ball rushing towards it with greater speed; and just as inevitably (although having lost all its strength in the collision) the rapidly scattering ball of invasion rolls over some more space.
The Russians retreat one hundred and twenty versts - beyond Moscow, the French reach Moscow and stop there. For five weeks after this there is not a single battle. The French don't move. Like a mortally wounded animal, which, bleeding, licks its wounds, they remain in Moscow for five weeks, doing nothing, and suddenly, without any new reason, they run back: they rush to the Kaluga road (and after the victory, since again the battlefield remained behind them near Maloyaroslavets), without engaging in a single serious battle, they ran even faster back to Smolensk, beyond Smolensk, beyond Vilna, beyond the Berezina and beyond.
On the evening of August 26, both Kutuzov and the entire Russian army were confident that the Battle of Borodino had been won. Kutuzov wrote to the sovereign in this way. Kutuzov ordered preparations for a new battle in order to finish off the enemy, not because he wanted to deceive anyone, but because he knew that the enemy was defeated, just as each of the participants in the battle knew it.
But that same evening and the next day, news began to arrive, one after another, about unheard-of losses, about the loss of half the army, and a new battle turned out to be physically impossible.
It was impossible to give battle when information had not yet been collected, the wounded had not been removed, shells had not been replenished, the dead had not been counted, new commanders had not been appointed to replace the dead, people had not eaten or slept.
And at the same time, immediately after the battle, the next morning, the French army (due to that rapid force of movement, now increased as if in the inverse ratio of the squares of the distances) was already advancing by itself on the Russian army. Kutuzov wanted to attack the next day, and the whole army wanted this. But in order to attack, the desire to do so is not enough; there needs to be an opportunity to do this, but this opportunity was not there. It was impossible not to retreat to one transition, then in the same way it was impossible not to retreat to another and a third transition, and finally on September 1, when the army approached Moscow, despite all the strength of the rising feeling in the ranks of the troops, the force of things demanded so that these troops march for Moscow. And the troops retreated one more, to the last crossing and gave Moscow to the enemy.
For those people who are accustomed to thinking that plans for wars and battles are drawn up by commanders in the same way as each of us, sitting in his office over a map, makes considerations about how and how he would manage such and such a battle, questions arise as to why Kutuzov didn’t do this and that when retreating, why he didn’t take up a position before Fili, why he didn’t immediately retreat to the Kaluga road, left Moscow, etc. People who are used to thinking like this forget or don’t know those inevitable conditions in which the activities of every commander in chief always take place. The activity of a commander does not have the slightest resemblance to the activity that we imagine, sitting freely in an office, analyzing some campaign on the map with a known number of troops, on both sides, and in a certain area, and starting our considerations with what some famous moment. The commander-in-chief is never in those conditions of the beginning of some event in which we always consider the event. The commander-in-chief is always in the middle of a moving series of events, and so that never, at any moment, is he able to think through the full significance of the event taking place. An event is imperceptibly, moment by moment, cut into its meaning, and at every moment of this sequential, continuous cutting of the event, the commander-in-chief is in the center of a complex game, intrigue, worries, dependence, power, projects, advice, threats, deceptions, is constantly in the need to respond to the countless number of questions proposed to him, always contradicting one another.
Military scientists tell us very seriously that Kutuzov, much earlier than Filey, should have moved troops to the Kaluga road, that someone even proposed such a project. But the commander-in-chief, especially in difficult times, faces not one project, but always dozens at the same time. And each of these projects, based on strategy and tactics, contradicts one another. The commander-in-chief's job, it would seem, is only to choose one of these projects. But he cannot do this either. Events and time do not wait. He is offered, let’s say, on the 28th to go to the Kaluga road, but at this time Miloradovich’s adjutant jumps up and asks whether to start business with the French now or retreat. He needs to give orders now, this very minute. And the order to retreat takes us off the turn onto the Kaluga road. And following the adjutant, the quartermaster asks where to take the provisions, and the head of the hospitals asks where to take the wounded; and a courier from St. Petersburg brings a letter from the sovereign, not allowing the possibility of leaving Moscow, and the rival of the commander-in-chief, the one who undermines him (there are always such, and not one, but several), offers new project, diametrically opposed to the plan for access to the Kaluga road; and the forces of the commander-in-chief himself require sleep and reinforcement; and the venerable general, bypassed by a reward, comes to complain, and the inhabitants beg for protection; the officer sent to inspect the area arrives and reports the exact opposite of what the officer sent before him said; and the spy, the prisoner and the general doing reconnaissance - all describe the position of the enemy army differently. People who are accustomed to not understanding or forgetting these necessary conditions for the activity of any commander-in-chief present to us, for example, the situation of the troops in Fili and at the same time assume that the commander-in-chief could, on September 1st, completely freely resolve the issue of abandoning or defending Moscow, whereas in the situation of the Russian army five miles from Moscow this question could not have arisen. When was this issue resolved? And near Drissa, and near Smolensk, and most noticeably on the 24th near Shevardin, and on the 26th near Borodin, and on every day, hour, and minute of the retreat from Borodino to Fili.

Russian troops, having retreated from Borodino, stood at Fili. Ermolov, who had gone to inspect the position, drove up to the field marshal.
“There is no way to fight in this position,” he said. Kutuzov looked at him in surprise and forced him to repeat the words he had said. When he spoke, Kutuzov extended his hand to him.
“Give me your hand,” he said, and, turning it so as to feel his pulse, he said: “You’re not well, my dear.” Think about what you are saying.
Kutuzov on Poklonnaya Hill, six miles from the Dorogomilovskaya outpost, got out of the carriage and sat down on a bench on the edge of the road. A huge crowd of generals gathered around him. Count Rastopchin, having arrived from Moscow, joined them. This whole brilliant society, divided into several circles, talked among themselves about the advantages and disadvantages of the position, about the position of the troops, about the proposed plans, about the state of Moscow, and about military issues in general. Everyone felt that although they had not been called to this, although it was not called that, it was a council of war. The conversations were all kept in the area of ​​general issues. If anyone reported or learned personal news, it was said in a whisper, and they immediately went back to general issues: no jokes, no laughter, no smiles were even noticeable between all these people. Everyone, obviously with effort, tried to stay at the height of the situation. And all the groups, talking among themselves, tried to stay close to the commander-in-chief (whose shop was the center in these circles) and spoke so that he could hear them. The commander-in-chief listened and sometimes asked questions about what was being said around him, but he himself did not enter into the conversation and did not express any opinion. For the most part, after listening to the conversation of some circle, he turned away with a look of disappointment - as if they were not talking about what he wanted to know. Some spoke about the chosen position, criticizing not so much the position itself as the mental abilities of those who chose it; others argued that a mistake had been made earlier, that the battle should have been fought on the third day; still others talked about the Battle of Salamanca, which the Frenchman Crosard, who had just arrived in a Spanish uniform, told about. (This Frenchman, together with one of the German princes who served in the Russian army, dealt with the siege of Saragossa, foreseeing the opportunity to also defend Moscow.) In the fourth circle, Count Rastopchin said that he and the Moscow squad were ready to die under the walls of the capital, but that everything yet he cannot help but regret the uncertainty in which he was left, and that if he had known this before, things would have been different... The fifth, showing the depth of their strategic considerations, talked about the direction that the troops would have to take. The sixth spoke complete nonsense. Kutuzov's face became more and more concerned and sadder. From all the conversations of these Kutuzovs he saw one thing: there was no physical possibility to defend Moscow in full meaning these words, that is, it was not possible to such an extent that if some crazy commander-in-chief had given the order to start a battle, then confusion would have occurred and the battle would not have happened after all; it would not have been because all the top leaders not only recognized this position as impossible, but in their conversations they discussed only what would happen after the undoubted abandonment of this position. How could commanders lead their troops on a battlefield they considered impossible? The lower commanders, even the soldiers (who also reason), also recognized the position as impossible and therefore could not go to fight with the certainty of defeat. If Bennigsen insisted on defending this position and others were still discussing it, then this question no longer mattered in itself, but mattered only as a pretext for dispute and intrigue. Kutuzov understood this.

Eskimos (a group of indigenous peoples that make up the indigenous population of the territory from Greenland and Canada to Alaska (USA) and the eastern edge of Chukotka (Russia). Number - about 170 thousand people. The languages ​​belong to the Eskimo branch of the Eskimo-Aleut family. Anthropologists believe that the Eskimos - Mongoloids of the Arctic type. Their main self-name is “Inuit”. The word “Eskimo” (Eskimantzig - “raw eater”, “one who eats raw fish”) belongs to the language of the Abenaki and Athabaskan Indian tribes. From the name of the American Eskimos, this word turned into a self-name both American and Asian Eskimos.

Story

The everyday culture of the Eskimos is unusually adapted to the Arctic. They invented a rotating harpoon to hunt sea animals, a kayak, an igloo snow house, a yarangu skin house, and special closed clothing made of fur and skins. The ancient culture of the Eskimos is unique. In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Characterized by a combination of hunting sea animals and caribou, living in territorial communities.
In the 19th century, the Eskimos did not have (except, perhaps, the Bering Sea) clan and developed tribal organization. As a result of contacts with the newcomer population, great changes occurred in the life of foreign Eskimos. A significant part of them switched from sea fishing to hunting arctic foxes, and in Greenland to commercial fishing. Many Eskimos, especially in Greenland, became wage laborers. The local petty bourgeoisie also appeared here. The Eskimos of Western Greenland formed into a separate people - Greenlanders who do not consider themselves Eskimos. The Eskimos of eastern Greenland are Angmassalik. In Labrador, the Eskimos mixed to a large extent with the older population of European origin. Everywhere, remnants of traditional Eskimo culture are rapidly disappearing.

Language and culture

Language: Eskimo, Eskimo-Aleut family of languages. The Eskimo languages ​​are divided into two large groups - Yupik (western) and Inupik (eastern). On the Chukotka Peninsula, Yupik is divided into Sireniki, Central Siberian, or Chaplin and Naukan dialects. The Eskimos of Chukotka, along with their native languages, speak Russian and Chukotka.
The origins of the Eskimos are controversial. The Eskimos are the direct heirs ancient culture, common from the end of the first millennium BC. along the shores of the Bering Sea. The earliest Eskimo culture is the Old Bering Sea (before the 8th century AD). It is characterized by prey marine mammals, the use of multi-seat leather kayaks, complex harpoons. From the 7th century AD until the XIII-XV centuries. whaling was developing, and in the more northern regions of Alaska and Chukotka - hunting for small pinnipeds.
Traditionally, Eskimos are animists. Eskimos believe in spirits that live in various phenomena nature, see the connection between man and the world of objects and living beings around him. Many believe in a single creator, Silya, who controls everything that happens in the world, all phenomena and laws. The goddess who bestows the Eskimos with the riches of the deep sea is called Sedna. There are also ideas about evil spirits, which appeared to the Eskimos in the form of incredible and terrible creatures. The shaman who lives in every Eskimo village is an intermediary who establishes contact between the world of spirits and the world of people. The tambourine is a sacred object for the Eskimos. The traditional greeting, called the "Eskimo kiss", has become a world famous gesture.

Eskimos in Russia

In Russia, Eskimos are a small ethnic group (according to the 1970 census - 1356 people, according to the 2002 census - 1750 people), living mixed or in close proximity with the Chukchi in a number of settlements on the eastern coast of Chukotka and on Wrangel Island. Their traditional occupations are sea hunting, reindeer herding, and hunting. The Eskimos of Chukotka call themselves “yuk” (“man”), “yuit”, “yugyt”, “yupik” (“real person”). Number of Eskimos in Russia:

Number of Eskimos in populated areas in 2002:

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug:

village Novoye Chaplino 279

Sireniki village 265

Lavrentiya village 214

Provideniya village 174

Anadyr city 153

Uelkal village 131

Ethnic and ethnographic groups

In the 18th century, Asian Eskimos were divided into a number of tribes - Uelenians, Naukans, Chaplinians, Sireniki Eskimos, which differed linguistically and in some cultural features. In a later period, in connection with the processes of integration of the cultures of the Eskimos and the coastal Chukchi, the Eskimos retained the group characteristics of the language in the form of the Naukan, Sirenikov and Chaplin dialects.

Along with the Koryaks and Itelmens, they form the so-called “continental” group of populations of the Arctic race, which by origin is related to the Pacific Mongoloids. The main features of the Arctic race are presented in the northeast of Siberia in the paleoanthropological material of the turn new era.

Writing

In 1848, the Russian missionary N. Tyzhnov published a primer of the Eskimo language. Modern writing based on Latin script was created in 1932, when the first Eskimo (Yuit) primer was published. In 1937 it was translated into Russian graphics. There is modern Eskimo prose and poetry (Aivangu and others). The most famous Eskimo poet is Yu. M. Anko.

Modern Eskimo alphabet based on the Cyrillic alphabet: A a, B b, V c, G g, D d, E e, Ё ё, Жж, Зз, И и, й й, К к, Лл, Лълъ, М m, N n, N' n', O o, P p, R r, S s, T t, U y, Ў ў, F f, X x, C c, Ch h, Sh w, Shch, ъ, S s, ь, E uh, Yu yu, I I.

There is a variant of the Eskimo alphabet based on the Canadian syllabary for the indigenous languages ​​of Canada.

Eskimos in Canada

The Eskimo people of Canada, known in this country as the Inuit, achieved their autonomy with the creation of the territory of Nunavut on April 1, 1999, carved out of the Northwest Territories.

The Eskimos of the Labrador Peninsula now also have their own autonomy: in the Quebec part of the peninsula, the Eskimo district of Nunavik is gradually increasing its level of autonomy, and in 2005, in the part of the peninsula included in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, an Eskimo district was also formed autonomous region Nunatsiavut. Inuit receive official payments from the government for living in harsh climatic conditions.

Eskimos in Greenland

Greenlanders (Eskimos of Greenland) are the Eskimo people, the indigenous population of Greenland. In Greenland, between 44 and 50 thousand people consider themselves “kalaallit”, which is 80-88% of the island’s population. In addition, about 7.1 thousand Greenlanders live in Denmark (2006 estimate). The Greenlandic language is spoken, and Danish is also widely spoken. The believers are mostly Lutherans.

They live mainly along the southwestern coast of Greenland. There are three main groups:

Western Greenlanders (Kalaallit proper) – southwest coast;

eastern Greenlanders (angmassalik, tunumiit) - on the east coast, where the climate is mildest; 3.8 thousand people;

northern (polar) Greenlanders – 850 people. on the northwest coast; The world's northernmost indigenous group.

Historically, the self-designation "Kalaallit" applied only to West Greenlanders. The East and North Greenlanders called themselves only by their self-names, and the dialect of the North Greenlanders is closer to the dialects of the Inuit of Canada than to the West and East Greenlandic dialects.

Eskimo cuisine

The Eskimo cuisine consists of products obtained by hunting and gathering; the basis of the diet is meat, walrus, seal, beluga whale, deer, polar bears, musk oxen, poultry, as well as their eggs.

Since farming is impossible in the Arctic climate, Eskimos collect tubers, roots, stems, algae, berries and either eat them or store them for future use. Eskimos believe that a diet consisting mainly of meat is healthy, makes the body healthy and strong and helps to keep warm.

The Eskimos believe that their cuisine is much healthier than the “white man’s” cuisine.

One example is the consumption of seal blood. After eating seal blood and meat, the veins increase in size and darken. The Eskimos believe that the blood of seals strengthens the blood of the eater by replacing depleted nutrients and renewing the blood flow; blood is an essential element of the Eskimo diet.

In addition, the Eskimos believe that meat diet It insulates if you constantly eat Eskimo style. One Eskimo, Oleetoa, who ate a mixture of Eskimo and Western food, said that when he compared his strength, heat and energy with that of his cousin, who ate only Eskimo food, he found that his brother was stronger and more resilient. Eskimos in general tend to blame their illnesses on a lack of Eskimo food.

Eskimos choose food products by analyzing three connections: between animals and people, between body, soul and health, between the blood of animals and people; and also in accordance with the chosen diet. Eskimos are very superstitious about food and its preparation and eating. They believe that a healthy human body is obtained by mixing human blood with the blood of prey.

For example, the Eskimos believe that they have entered into an agreement with the seals: the hunter kills the seal only to feed his family, and the seal sacrifices itself in order to become part of the hunter’s body, and if people stop following the ancient agreements and covenants of their ancestors, the animals will be insulted and will stop reproducing.

The usual way to preserve meat after a hunt is to freeze it. Hunters eat part of the prey right on the spot. A special tradition is associated with fish: fish cannot be cooked within a day's travel from the place of fishing.

The Eskimos are known for the fact that each hunter shares all the catch with everyone in the settlement. This practice was first documented in 1910.

Eating meat, fat or other parts of the animal is preceded by laying out large pieces on a piece of metal, plastic or cardboard on the floor, from where anyone in the family can take a portion. Since Eskimos eat only when they are hungry, family members should not go “to the table,” although it happens that everyone in the settlement is invited to eat: a woman goes out into the street and shouts: “The meat is ready!”

Food after a hunt differs from a regular meal: when a seal is brought into the house, the hunters gather around it and are the first to receive portions as they are the hungriest and coolest after the hunt. The seal is butchered in a special way, the belly is cut open so that hunters can cut off a piece of the liver or pour blood into a mug. In addition, the fat and brain are mixed and eaten with the meat.

Children and women eat after the hunters. First of all, the intestines and remains of the liver are selected for consumption, and then the ribs, spine and remaining meat are distributed throughout the settlement.

Sharing food was necessary for the survival of the entire settlement; young couples give part of the catch and meat to the elderly, most often their parents. It is believed that by eating together, people become bound by bonds of cooperation.

Traditional Eskimo dwelling

An igloo is a typical Eskimo residence. This type of building is a building that has a dome shape. The diameter of the dwelling is 3-4 meters, and its height is approximately 2 meters. Igloos are usually built from ice blocks or wind-compacted snow blocks. Also, the needle is cut from snowdrifts, which are suitable in density and also in size.

If the snow is deep enough, then an entrance is made in the floor, and a corridor to the entrance is also dug. If the snow is still not deep, the front door is cut into the wall, and a separate corridor built of snow bricks is attached to the front door. It is very important that Entrance door in such a dwelling was located below floor level, since this ensures good and proper ventilation of the room, and also retains heat inside the igloo.

Lighting comes into the home thanks to snow walls, but sometimes windows are also made. As a rule, they are also constructed from ice or seal intestines. In some Eskimo tribes, entire villages of igloos are common, which are connected to each other by passages.

The inside of the igloo is covered with skins, and sometimes the walls of the igloo are also covered with them. To provide more more lighting, as well as greater heat, special devices are used. Due to heating, part of the walls inside the igloo may melt, but the walls themselves do not melt, due to the fact that the snow helps remove excess heat outside. Thanks to this, the home is maintained at a temperature that is comfortable for people to live in. As for moisture, the walls also absorb it, and because of this, the inside of the igloo is dry.
The first non-Eskimo to build an igloo was Villamur Stefanson. This happened in 1914, and he talks about this event in many articles and his own book. The unique strength of this type of housing lies in the use of uniquely shaped slabs. They allow you to fold the hut in the form of a kind of snail, which gradually narrows towards the top. It is also very important to consider the method of installing these improvised bricks, which involves supporting the next slab on the previous brick at three points simultaneously. To make the structure more stable, the finished hut is also watered from the outside.

Eskimos. There are many names for this brave people of the North, living in the harshest conditions, known to man. What do we really know about them? Apart from the fact that they hunt seals and walruses with harpoons and wear fur coats with hoods, most people know very little about these hunter-gatherers and reindeer herders.

10. Clothing and armor

The Inuit people, by necessity, are quite skilled at making warm, durable clothing. In terms of heat protection, Eskimo clothing has no equal, because in traditional Eskimo clothing you can easily stay in the cold of -50 degrees for many hours.

However, when they went out hunting to survive, they also knew how to make very strong armor for clothing. After all, they went out to hunt massive animals and also needed protection. Inuit armor had a lamellar structure, consisting of bony plates (often made from walrus teeth, known as walrus tusks). The plates were connected together with straps made of raw leather. It is curious that the design of such armor is reminiscent of the ancient armor of Japanese warriors. The fact that the Inuit were able to come up with such extremely functional armor speaks volumes about their talent and ingenuity.

Often used in neutral contexts, the term “Eskimo” is generally considered a bit racist, in the same way that the term “Indian” is offensive to Native Americans. However, it is technically considered acceptable, and the scientific term usually has a fairly solid etymology. Although the word “popsicle” is believed to be Danish and French (from “eskimeaux”), the name is probably based on the older term “askimo.” Researchers can't seem to agree on whether this means "meat eaters" or "raw food eaters."

However, many Eskimos find this term offensive, so out of respect for this proud people, we will avoid using this term. The generally accepted, politically correct name (many of them also use this term for themselves) would be the word Inuit.

8.Eskimo kiss

The Eskimo kiss, as a sign of love, is when two people rub their noses. The Inuit have developed this gesture over thousands of years, because with an ordinary kiss in the cold, due to drool, you can freeze to each other in an awkward position.

The Eskimo kiss is called “kunik”. This is a type of intimate greeting often practiced between spouses or children and their parents. Dating may look like they're rubbing noses together, but they're actually smelling each other's hair and cheeks. Thus, two people who have not seen each other can quickly remind the other person of themselves with their individual scent.

Although the kunik does not really fit into the concept of a kiss, it is considered an intimate gesture.

Vegetarianism is not very common among traditional Inuit tribes. Because they live in a barren, cold environment, their diet mainly relies on different kinds meat and only occasionally, for some types of berries and seaweed. Even in modern times, fruits and vegetables are scarce and expensive to import into the cold northern regions, so they still rely on their traditional diet.

The Inuit have always been excellent hunters. They consume narwhals, walruses, seals and various birds and fish. Even polar bears sometimes appear on their menu. There are many traditional ways to prepare food: drying, boiling or freezing. Some foods are not cooked at all. Some people think that frozen meat is a real delicacy, like ice cream.

Although one might think that a diet that relies heavily on meat would lead to serious problems health-wise, Inuit who follow this diet are actually some of the most healthy people in the world. This “Inuit Paradox” has long been the subject of serious scientific interest.

The igloo is the quintessential Inuit home: an ingenious domed structure built from blocks of ice and snow.

Although most people have seen pictures of igloos as small snow domes, they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, as well as materials. For the Inuit, “igloo” is simply a word for a building in which people live.

5. Kallupilluk

Every culture has its own mythical monsters. The Inuit spent their days avoiding dangerous ice fields, hunting huge and strong walruses and aggressive bears. It would seem where you can come up with a fantastic monster. However, the Inuit also had one creature that was used to scare naughty children. This is Kallupilluk, literally meaning “Monster”. According to legend, he lived under the ice and waited for people who had fallen into the water. Then the monster pounced on them and dragged unwary people into the icy depths of the sea. This was a natural and healthy fear in the Arctic, where falling into the water often meant death.

4. Blonde Eskimos

In 1912, an explorer named Stefansson found a strange tribe of Inuit, which consisted entirely of blond, tall, Scandinavian-like people. This sparked a heated debate about the nature of this tribe. Most people eventually agreed that these blond Inuit in the Canadian Arctic were descendants of the Vikings who sailed here at the dawn of time. However, DNA research in 2003 debunked this hypothesis. The fact is that in marriages and inbreeding, blondes are often born.

3. Words to describe snow.

Most languages ​​in the world have one or more words for snow. However, the Inuit language has a huge number of words to describe snow. Inuit can describe snow 50-400 in different words, eloquently crafted to describe the very specific appearance of this frozen sediment.

For example, the word Aquilokok means: “snow is falling quietly,” and piegnartok means “Snowy weather, good for hunting,” and so on.

2. Weapons.

Although contact with European culture gave them access to firearms and other modern weapons, traditional Inuit weapons were made from stone or the bones of killed animals. They did not have the ability to forge metal, so bone was one of the main features of their weapons. Bows were made from leather, bones and sinew.

Since most Inuit weapons were used for hunting and butchering, they were specifically made to cause maximum damage. The edges were sharp and often jagged, designed for tearing and tearing rather than neat cutting and piercing.

1. Poverty

Progress modern life and the development of production does not imply the widespread development of the North and its inhabitants, so the Inuit suffered the same fate as other semi-nomadic tribes, such as the Australian Aborigines. There are high rates of poverty and unemployment among Eskimos. This has led to many social problems such as the rise of alcoholism. One can only wonder how these proud and unpretentious peoples continue to live their traditional way of life.

Russian Eskimos make up a small part of a fairly large polar people living both in Russia - at the very tip of Chukotka, and beyond - on the coast of Alaska, in the circumpolar regions of Canada and Greenland. The total number of Eskimos is 97 thousand people, and only 1,700 of them live in Russia.
The Eskimos are the direct descendants of an ancient culture widespread from the end of the first millennium BC. along the shores of the Bering Sea. From their distant ancestors, the Eskimos inherited Mongoloid appearance features.

The ethnonym “Eskimos” was first introduced to Europeans by the French pastor Biard: in his report on his trip to America in 1611, the word “Eskimantsik” was used, which in the language of the Wobinak Indians meant “eaters raw meat" - this is what they called the Eskimos who feasted on raw whale skin and similar dishes.

The self-name of the Eskimos is Yugipyt, or Yugyt, which means “real people.”

Indeed, the Eskimos treated the aliens, most often helpless in the face of the Arctic, as inferior beings. The Greenlandic Eskimos call such people “son of a dog” with a hint of irony and condescension.

The highest praise on the lips of an Eskimo are the words that an English admiral heard from an old Eskimo hunter after many years of wintering and traveling together: "You're almost like us."

Until the mid-19th century, Eskimos had little contact with Russians. The rapprochement occurred when Russian fishermen joined the main occupation of the Eskimos - hunting sea animals, mainly whales, walruses and seals. However, the transfer of hunting to industrial activity threatened the traditional way of life of the aborigines.

Today, no more than 20% of Russian Eskimos are fluent in their native language, and these people are mainly of the older generation. The rest can only understand Eskimo.

Currently, there are no purely Eskimo settlements left in Chukotka. Everywhere they live with Russians, Chukchis and other peoples. They are the predominant part of the population only in 2 villages - New Chaplino and Sireniki.

The Eskimos moved to the Arctic at the dawn of human history. And now they are better adapted to life in cold climates than any other people. Their nostrils are narrower than those of people of other races, which reduces the loss of moisture and heat during breathing. They even developed protective pads of fat on their cheekbones and eyelids, always exposed to the wind and frost.

However, the Eskimos would not have been able to survive in the Arctic if not for their clothing. They make mittens and boots from sealskin, trousers from bear skins, and for shirts they use caribou skins and full-feathered bird skins. The seams are sewn so skillfully that they do not allow water to pass through. One person puts on two shirts and two pairs of pants at the same time - the lower ones with the fur facing the skin, the upper ones with the fur outward.

Roaming around permafrost, the Eskimos built houses from snow, cutting it into blocks. The bars were stacked on top of each other in a spiral converging upward. These igloos, as the Eskimos called their buildings, were sometimes equipped with a semblance of windows: a piece of snow was inserted between the snow bars. clear ice. But even in this case, the light was provided by bowls of fat. The heat of the burning fat, together with the warmth of human bodies, raised the temperature in this artificial snow cave to 15 degrees, so that its inhabitants threw off heavy clothes and sat comfortably half naked on fur blankets.
The life of the Eskimos consisted of a series of unimaginable hardships. And yet, “the Eskimos make an impression happiest people“, the researchers unanimously confirm. The Eskimo sees the world in bright colors. Are there not enough reasons to rejoice? Did not die during the hunt, returned safely to home, provided food for the family...
And what an intoxicating feeling it is - during a sudden snowstorm on the road, you hastily build yourself an igloo and isolate yourself from the whistling of the snowstorm. Placing the last block of snow behind him and closing the entrance, the Eskimo laughs. This is the laughter of a winner. He didn't give up evil spirits, outwitted them, he is smart, brave, a real person, he will always cope with difficulties. How can you not be happy about this?

"Laughter is in the air"- says an old Eskimo proverb.

Sergei Tsvetkov, historian