楚克奇人的萨满信仰与社会变迁

The Chukchee in northeastern Si-beria have a longstanding historical tradition of shamanism which was closely integrated into their traditional society and way of life. In accordance with their different modes of subsistence, the Chuckchee are divided into two basic groups, the maritime Chukchee and the reindeer-breeding Chukchee. The maritime Chukchee lived a rela-tively settled life, and hunting sea mammals played an important role in their economy. The sea mam-mal meat was their main food, its skins and the i-vory from walrus were made into different tools, and the bones of whale were the main material used for building houses. A “unit” of maritime Chukchee was composed of people whose lives cen-tered around skin boats, and this group , included both Chukchee and non-Chukchee people. they all lived together, hunted together and organized their hunting according to a special rules. The reindeer-breeding Chukchee mainly lived a nomadic life. They ate reindeer meat, dressed in reindeer fur and lived in tents made of reindeer skins. The reindeer-breeding Chukchee formed social units composed of four to five families. They lived in scattered tents and grazed reindeer together. The unit also included some non-Chukchee people. I. Shamanism among the Chukchee The Chukchee believed that we live in a world with spirits. The world was filled with various spir-its, who could not be seenor touched, were always changing and lived a life similar with that of hu-mans. In other words, the spirits also raised rein-deer, hunted, married and bore children. Wicked spirits harmed humans by preying upon their souls or bodies. Sickness and disaster were caused by this. In order to cope with this kind of sickness and disaster, it was essential to invite a shaman to combat the wicked spirits, and in some cases, the shaman made sacrifices to please such wicked spir-its. In addition to these different kinds of spirits, there were also powerful deities, such as mountain deities, forest deities, and river deities. Such dei-ties were responsible not only for the small spirits who lived in the mountains, forests and rivers, but they also were responsible for the animals and plants that were there. People who lived in or nearby these places had to communicate with the spirits and supernatural beings living in the area before they used the area’s resources. Moreover, they had to communicate with the more powerful elements which controlled the universe. According to Vladimir Bogoraz ( Waldemar Borgorose) , shamanism among the Chukchee man-ifested itself as “Family Shamanism”, and “was still in its primary stage of development”. As such, it provided “the most characteristic, pure and primitive” features of shamanism. It was com-mon in the 1800 s and early 1900 s for males to play a leading role in most Siberian groups. Yet, in spite of male dominance in shamanism, female shamans were always considered to be“leading fig-ures in the shamanic field”. Among Chukchee and Koryak there is another kind of shaman where the male shaman takes the form of a female. This hap-pened when the shaman is possessed by the identi-ty of a female spirit. They received“the call of de-ity” to change their sex through visions. In general, Chukchee shaman experienced the call to become a shaman during their adolescence. The call usually came from shaman’s inner voice, based on which the “candidate shaman” estab-lished their relationship with deities. This sudden calling often confused the initiate, and they were not always so sure about their situation. They felt“shyness” and fear; lost interest in regular life, and were unwilling to work and communicate with others. They had no appetite, and slept a lot. They often stayed in their tentall of the time, or ran away when they went out for hunting or grazing their reindeer. Generally, young people were un-willing to accept the call of the deity. No matter if they were novice shaman or ex-pert shaman, both communicated with the “deity”through drumming and singing. Novice shaman practiced drumming, as well as singing, for long periods of time in order to master the skills–this required great patience on the part of the perform-ers. Ventriloquism was the Chukchee shaman’s specific “sorcery skill” in which they were ex-tremely skillful. Stabbing a knife into their belly was also one of the sorcery skills frequently prac-ticed by Chukchee shaman. II. The changes in Chukchee shamanism dur-ing the Soviet Period During the late 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet Union government established many schools in mi-nority regions. These newly built schools laid a firm foundation for their anti-shamanism campaign. Scholars during the Soviet period no longer regar-ded shamanism as an essential element embedded within a group’s economic life, social organization, religious life and festivals, but sought to destroy it through messages which spoke of “ideology” and“class”. As a result, Chukchee shamanism expe-rienced enormous, passive, cultural change which created a cultural breakdown. At the same time, shamanic culture also exhibited a state of conflict, resistance and avoidance to survival. After World War II, the Soviet Union govern-ment tried to advance the process of collectivization in the Chukchee tundraregion. Up to the early 1950s, almost all the pastoral reindeer were con-sidered state-owned. The Soviet Union government merged reindeer-breeding collective units and coastal hunting collective units, and established mixed “farms” in the Arctic Circle and along the Bering Strait’s coast. The residences of so many coastal Chukchee were demolished, and they were relocated to alternative settlements. In these new and larger settlements, they did not need tradition-al skills, so, they could only do manual labor. Since the 1960s, the ethnic consciousness in the Northeast Siberia region has undergone tremendous changes. Most young Chukchee people do not know whether their parents were from coastal-hun-ting or inland reindeer-breeding groups, which, as we know, were the basic distinctions among the Chukchee people. More young people rejected tra-ditional occupations, and were more willing to par-ticipate in “modern” work, and they increasingly identified themselves with the social-cultural norms of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, their economic life and social organization experienced big changes under the influence of the Soviet Union. The social support of shamanism was destroyed, although it still existed privately and underground. III. Shamanic cultural revival after the col-lapse of the Soviet Union After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a large number of Russians “escaped”;they “killed reindeer, took away all the things that could be taken away”;the young indigenous people also left in order to find jobs outside. In order to rebuild the local economy, the autonomous communities began to try to establish an “obshchina” ( com-mune or society) . In that moment, when the locals were trying to understand the world around them and were looking for ethnic identity, they, once a-gain, needed their traditional worldview and spirit-ual support. In the areas where the shamanic tradi-tion had broken down, one could only rely on reading early European travelers’ records related to shamanism, or talking with old people to get infor-mation about shamanism, and by doing so, revive the once ruptured local beliefs and culture by hold-ing religious and cultural performances regularly. Generally speaking, shamanic culture today has lost its close links with the “special spaces”, as well as its close relationship with the communi-ty. As such, it is difficult for the tradition to repre-sent the strength of the whole society, control or rescue its people and provide prosperity, fertility and guarantee military success for its people. In other words, the essential structure of shamanism, whether it was the internal cultural significance or its integration with society and environment, has been broken and shattered. Fragmented shamanic heritage is the vivid portrait of its fragmented de-velopment stage. IV. Summary Traditional Chukchee economic life, social or-ganization, religious festivals and customswere linked with each other. As a whole, they worked together and created a social order for the Chukchee, and constituted the cultural cohesion of the Chukchee. Shamanism among the Chukchee was integrated into the history of the nation and its social context. Each Chukchee could participate in religious life. Therefore, this “family shamanism”and its “shamanism features” distinguished it from other forms of shamanism among the Siberian tribes. Chukchee people reacted very passively to Christianity when it reached there. Until the early 20th century, almost all Chukchee still adhered to their own shamanistic practices. During the Soviet period, Northeast Siberia experienced the anti-religious movement, collectiv-ization movement, compulsory residence resettle-ment movement, “scientific” reindeer-breeding and other foreign “progress” and “civilization”movements. Such “progress” and “civilization”were not familiar nor were they sympathetic to the indigenous people’s traditional life. The old way of life of the Chukchee was broken, the original so-cial relations were shattered. Therefore, the Chukchee and their entire culture were “re-formed”. Remains and practices of shamanism a-mong the Chukchee went underground, retreated from mainstream social life, and became an inti-mate way of healing. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Russians“ran away”, and the young Chukchee al-so left their traditional homeland. The economic depression, population decline, and social erosion brought big challenges to the movement to “re-build” Chukchee society. As an attempt to bind local Chukchee people, the “obshchina” provided a possibility for reorganizing. Now, shamanism in Chukchee, just like other social organizations, is in a fragmented, theater-like state. The revival of shamanism in Chukchee in the future will not be u-nilateral, but rather rooted in its social and cultural revival system.

Shamanism and Social Change among the Chukchee

The Chukchee in northeastern Si-beria have a longstanding historical tradition of shamanism which was closely integrated into their traditional society and way of life. In accordance with their different modes of subsistence, the Chuckchee are divided into two basic groups, the maritime Chukchee and the reindeer-breeding Chukchee. The maritime Chukchee lived a rela-tively settled life, and hunting sea mammals played an important role in their economy. The sea mam-mal meat was their main food, its skins and the i-vory from walrus were made into different tools, and the bones of whale were the main material used for building houses. A “unit” of maritime Chukchee was composed of people whose lives cen-tered around skin boats, and this group , included both Chukchee and non-Chukchee people. they all lived together, hunted together and organized their hunting according to a special rules. The reindeer-breeding Chukchee mainly lived a nomadic life. They ate reindeer meat, dressed in reindeer fur and lived in tents made of reindeer skins. The reindeer-breeding Chukchee formed social units composed of four to five families. They lived in scattered tents and grazed reindeer together. The unit also included some non-Chukchee people. I. Shamanism among the Chukchee The Chukchee believed that we live in a world with spirits. The world was filled with various spir-its, who could not be seenor touched, were always changing and lived a life similar with that of hu-mans. In other words, the spirits also raised rein-deer, hunted, married and bore children. Wicked spirits harmed humans by preying upon their souls or bodies. Sickness and disaster were caused by this. In order to cope with this kind of sickness and disaster, it was essential to invite a shaman to combat the wicked spirits, and in some cases, the shaman made sacrifices to please such wicked spir-its. In addition to these different kinds of spirits, there were also powerful deities, such as mountain deities, forest deities, and river deities. Such dei-ties were responsible not only for the small spirits who lived in the mountains, forests and rivers, but they also were responsible for the animals and plants that were there. People who lived in or nearby these places had to communicate with the spirits and supernatural beings living in the area before they used the area’s resources. Moreover, they had to communicate with the more powerful elements which controlled the universe. According to Vladimir Bogoraz ( Waldemar Borgorose) , shamanism among the Chukchee man-ifested itself as “Family Shamanism”, and “was still in its primary stage of development”. As such, it provided “the most characteristic, pure and primitive” features of shamanism. It was com-mon in the 1800 s and early 1900 s for males to play a leading role in most Siberian groups. Yet, in spite of male dominance in shamanism, female shamans were always considered to be“leading fig-ures in the shamanic field”. Among Chukchee and Koryak there is another kind of shaman where the male shaman takes the form of a female. This hap-pened when the shaman is possessed by the identi-ty of a female spirit. They received“the call of de-ity” to change their sex through visions. In general, Chukchee shaman experienced the call to become a shaman during their adolescence. The call usually came from shaman’s inner voice, based on which the “candidate shaman” estab-lished their relationship with deities. This sudden calling often confused the initiate, and they were not always so sure about their situation. They felt“shyness” and fear; lost interest in regular life, and were unwilling to work and communicate with others. They had no appetite, and slept a lot. They often stayed in their tentall of the time, or ran away when they went out for hunting or grazing their reindeer. Generally, young people were un-willing to accept the call of the deity. No matter if they were novice shaman or ex-pert shaman, both communicated with the “deity”through drumming and singing. Novice shaman practiced drumming, as well as singing, for long periods of time in order to master the skills–this required great patience on the part of the perform-ers. Ventriloquism was the Chukchee shaman’s specific “sorcery skill” in which they were ex-tremely skillful. Stabbing a knife into their belly was also one of the sorcery skills frequently prac-ticed by Chukchee shaman. II. The changes in Chukchee shamanism dur-ing the Soviet Period During the late 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet Union government established many schools in mi-nority regions. These newly built schools laid a firm foundation for their anti-shamanism campaign. Scholars during the Soviet period no longer regar-ded shamanism as an essential element embedded within a group’s economic life, social organization, religious life and festivals, but sought to destroy it through messages which spoke of “ideology” and“class”. As a result, Chukchee shamanism expe-rienced enormous, passive, cultural change which created a cultural breakdown. At the same time, shamanic culture also exhibited a state of conflict, resistance and avoidance to survival. After World War II, the Soviet Union govern-ment tried to advance the process of collectivization in the Chukchee tundraregion. Up to the early 1950s, almost all the pastoral reindeer were con-sidered state-owned. The Soviet Union government merged reindeer-breeding collective units and coastal hunting collective units, and established mixed “farms” in the Arctic Circle and along the Bering Strait’s coast. The residences of so many coastal Chukchee were demolished, and they were relocated to alternative settlements. In these new and larger settlements, they did not need tradition-al skills, so, they could only do manual labor. Since the 1960s, the ethnic consciousness in the Northeast Siberia region has undergone tremendous changes. Most young Chukchee people do not know whether their parents were from coastal-hun-ting or inland reindeer-breeding groups, which, as we know, were the basic distinctions among the Chukchee people. More young people rejected tra-ditional occupations, and were more willing to par-ticipate in “modern” work, and they increasingly identified themselves with the social-cultural norms of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, their economic life and social organization experienced big changes under the influence of the Soviet Union. The social support of shamanism was destroyed, although it still existed privately and underground. III. Shamanic cultural revival after the col-lapse of the Soviet Union After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a large number of Russians “escaped”;they “killed reindeer, took away all the things that could be taken away”;the young indigenous people also left in order to find jobs outside. In order to rebuild the local economy, the autonomous communities began to try to establish an “obshchina” ( com-mune or society) . In that moment, when the locals were trying to understand the world around them and were looking for ethnic identity, they, once a-gain, needed their traditional worldview and spirit-ual support. In the areas where the shamanic tradi-tion had broken down, one could only rely on reading early European travelers’ records related to shamanism, or talking with old people to get infor-mation about shamanism, and by doing so, revive the once ruptured local beliefs and culture by hold-ing religious and cultural performances regularly. Generally speaking, shamanic culture today has lost its close links with the “special spaces”, as well as its close relationship with the communi-ty. As such, it is difficult for the tradition to repre-sent the strength of the whole society, control or rescue its people and provide prosperity, fertility and guarantee military success for its people. In other words, the essential structure of shamanism, whether it was the internal cultural significance or its integration with society and environment, has been broken and shattered. Fragmented shamanic heritage is the vivid portrait of its fragmented de-velopment stage. IV. Summary Traditional Chukchee economic life, social or-ganization, religious festivals and customswere linked with each other. As a whole, they worked together and created a social order for the Chukchee, and constituted the cultural cohesion of the Chukchee. Shamanism among the Chukchee was integrated into the history of the nation and its social context. Each Chukchee could participate in religious life. Therefore, this “family shamanism”and its “shamanism features” distinguished it from other forms of shamanism among the Siberian tribes. Chukchee people reacted very passively to Christianity when it reached there. Until the early 20th century, almost all Chukchee still adhered to their own shamanistic practices. During the Soviet period, Northeast Siberia experienced the anti-religious movement, collectiv-ization movement, compulsory residence resettle-ment movement, “scientific” reindeer-breeding and other foreign “progress” and “civilization”movements. Such “progress” and “civilization”were not familiar nor were they sympathetic to the indigenous people’s traditional life. The old way of life of the Chukchee was broken, the original so-cial relations were shattered. Therefore, the Chukchee and their entire culture were “re-formed”. Remains and practices of shamanism a-mong the Chukchee went underground, retreated from mainstream social life, and became an inti-mate way of healing. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Russians“ran away”, and the young Chukchee al-so left their traditional homeland. The economic depression, population decline, and social erosion brought big challenges to the movement to “re-build” Chukchee society. As an attempt to bind local Chukchee people, the “obshchina” provided a possibility for reorganizing. Now, shamanism in Chukchee, just like other social organizations, is in a fragmented, theater-like state. The revival of shamanism in Chukchee in the future will not be u-nilateral, but rather rooted in its social and cultural revival system.