Reindeer herding of Chukotka ethnicities in the end of the 20th — first quarter of 21st century

Abstract

In Chukotka, reindeer herding is the most important element of traditional subsistence for the Chukchi, Koryak, Even and Yukaghir peoples. Despite substantial changes in reindeer herding, associated with modernization and commercialization of the industry, the herders of Chukotka were able to preserve their traditions, rituals and ethnic celebrations, associated with nomadic culture. The purpose of this work is to characterize contemporary reindeer herding as the most important component of ethnic culture in Chukotka. The article is based on the authors’ field materials collected in 1999–2023 among the reindeer herders of Anadyr, Bilibinsky, Iultinsky, Chaunsky and Chukotsky districts of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, interviews with agricultural specialists, statistical and analytical documents, scientific literature on the history and ethnography of reindeer herding. Chukchi reindeer herding developed on traditional basis until the first third of the 20th century. Then, under the influence of political and economic changes, a sharp transformation and breakdown of traditional management occurred among the indigenous peoples of the Northeast. Such intervention into the centuries-old system of nature management resulted in significant changes in the lifestyle of the Chukchi reindeer herders, system of their values, and brought significant social consequences. Nowadays, rein-deer herding in Chukotka is vital and the most important agricultural sector that provides food security for the region; it is also the element of traditional subsistence management, which preserves and develops the ethnic culture of the indigenous minority peoples of the North. Together with all the positive changes in reindeer herding during the Soviet era, it is worth emphasizing that during the crises periods of the 1990s and early 2000s, the herding enterprises with strong cultural traditions, such as social organization of camps, preservation of a nomadic family, development of riding reindeer husbandry, preference for the “old” nomadic way of life and its attributes – dwelling, fur clothing, vehicles – proved to be the most stable.