Peoples of Russia. Aleuts. Aleuts - the origin of the people, where and how they live, photo On opposite sides of the border
Autoethnonym (self-name).
Unangan/anangin: The self-name unangan/anangin probably comes from antangik “man”, angangik - “living”, “inhabitant”.
Main settlement area.
Within the territory of Russia they live on the Commander Islands, where they were resettled in 1825 by the administration of the Russian-American Company from the eastern islands of the Aleutian chain.
Number.
Number according to censuses: 1897 - 574 (including the mixed Russian-Aleut population), 1926 - 353, 1959 - 421, 1970 - 441, 1979 - 546, 1989 -702.
Ethnic and ethnographic groups.
Due to the island nature of their settlement, the Aleuts are divided into a number of groups that differ anthropologically, linguistically and ethnographically. Along with the three main divisions of the Aleuts - eastern (part of Alaska, Fox Islands), central (Andrew Islands) and western (Near, Rat Islands), smaller, usually island groups, which have their own self-names, are distinguished - sasignan, namigun, akugun, etc. The Aleuts of the Commander Islands are divided into the Bering and Mednov groups and are distinguished by their originality and stability of physical type and enic characteristics in relation to other Aleut groups.
Anthropological characteristics.
Anthropologically, the Aleuts belong to the Arctic local race, but occupy a separate position in it, since they are allocated to the so-called island group of populations. The Commander Aleuts contain a Caucasoid admixture, but, in general, they are similar to the eastern groups, although they form two subpopulations, Bering and Mednov.
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Aleutian language:
The Aleut language belongs to the Eskimo-Aleut language family. The island nature of settlement and isolation since 1867 of the Commander Aleuts from their eastern relatives determines the specifics of their language. It splits into two dialects. On Bering Island, the Akha dialect is represented, without significant changes in grammar and vocabulary in relation to the Aleut language as a whole. On Medny Island, a special language of the Creole type was formed, with a mixed Aleutian-Russian system, which the Russians do not understand at all and with great difficulty the Bering people.
Writing.
The language is unwritten.
Ethnogenesis and ethnic history.
The early ethnocultural history of the Aleuts is closely connected with the Eskimos (see:). The division of the single Esco-Aleut community, according to various estimates, occurred from 2600 to 6000 BC. at the stage of continental culture, since the vocabulary of the Eskimos and Aleuts associated with marine hunting is different. This is due to the process of development by the ancestors of the Eskimos and Aleuts of various territories of Beringia and the American North. At present, the more preferable point of view is that they were formed precisely on the Aleutian Islands. The most ancient archaeological evidence discovered here (Anangula station, about 8000 years ago) indicates a genetic connection local population with Asian cultures. It was on this basis that the Aleuts themselves were subsequently formed. The island nature of the formation of the Aleuts is also confirmed by their anthropological specificity (an island group of populations within the Arctic race), which was formed as a result of island isolation and adaptation to local conditions. The history of the Russian Aleuts inhabiting the Commander Islands (Bering Island and Medny Island) begins no earlier than 1825, when on the island. Bering, 17 Aleut families were resettled. This resettlement was associated with the development of fishing territories by the Russian-American Company. Not only Russians, but primarily Aleuts and partly Eskimos were used as a fishing population. This process continued until the 80s of the nineteenth century. and in the 1900s. the population of Komandor was 532 people. According to reports, it was mixed. Moreover, estimates of the ratio between the Aleuts themselves and the Creoles (descendants of marriages between Russians and Aleuts) vary from 90 to 30%. In any case, the culture of the population of Commander is dominated by Aleut ethnic traditions. A feature of the historical and cultural development of the Aleuts is the dynamics of their ethnic culture, depending on the policy of the Russian-American company, which influenced the relationship between the life-supporting and commodity foundations of their economy. At the initial stage, until 1867, the preservation of a cultural tradition corresponding to the general Aleutian one was noted (harvesting furs, hunting sea animals, procuring marketable food, traditional elements of material culture), or, due to the peculiarities of the geography of Komandor, partially modified (dog sled, borrowed from Kamchatka). The Russians had a significant influence on the Aleuts. The second stage (1871-1920s) of the history of Commander began with the lease of the islands for a period of 20 years by an American fishing company. It is characterized by a partial violation of cultural continuity, which was associated with the intensification of commodity relations, an increase in the share of imported goods, while maintaining the previous types of fishing activities. Since 1891, the Commanders were leased to domestic companies, but the previous trends in the development of their culture, especially in the field of material culture, continued. At the same time, the foundations of traditional social institutions, partly spiritual culture, were preserved.
Traditional clothes.
The male and female Aleut costume was similar in composition, design and materials from which it was made. Shoulder clothing of the closed type - parka - was often made from bird skins, or the skins of sea otters and seals. A kamleika made from whale guts was worn over the parka. Pants and shoes - torso - were made from the skins of sea animals. “Russian” clothing was widespread in everyday use. During the period of the American and Russian concessions (1871-1920s), clothing almost completely became imported.
Traditional settlements and dwellings.
Aleut settlements had a coastal location. With the exception of relatively large administrative settlements (Nikolskoye on Bering Island, Preobrzhenskoye on Medny Island), they were mostly small and consisted of two or three dwellings. The traditional Aleutian half-dugout, spherical or pyramidal in shape, had a frame made of fin or whale bones, which was covered with grass and turf. In the past, the entrance to the home was through the roof, in the 19th century. through the side wall and the canopy attached to it. The dwellings were quite large and accommodated from 10 to 40 families. Small semi-dugouts for 1-2 families were also built. In the 19th century began to build above-ground log residential and outbuildings.
Food.
The traditional food of the Aleuts is quite varied and contains meat (meat of sea animals, birds), fish and plant components. Meat and fish were used for food in boiled and raw (usually fish) form, dried and salted for future use. A significant portion of the diet consisted of foraging products. http://www.chrono.ru/
Social life, power, marriage, family.
By the middle of the 18th century, the population of each island or group of islands represented an independent territorial entity with its own name and dialect. Presumably these were tribes consisting of clan communities - associations of persons related by blood relations and the name of a common ancestor. The clan group was headed by a toyon. He either received power by inheritance or was elected. His responsibilities included trade and political relations, court cases, protection of sea animal rookeries, and control of other lands. As a military head, the leader had economic advantages only after military campaigns and trade transactions; in everyday economic activities he was entitled to an equal share with everyone. In addition to the leader, the clan group was headed by a council of elders. There are references in the literature to the existence of ancestral community houses for meetings and celebrations.
The Aleuts had slaves (kalga) - mostly prisoners of war. The slave participated in ordinary economic activities and in wars. For bravery or Good work he could have been released. Traditional social norms remained, associated with the remnants of group marriage (an ancient form of marriage, when a group of men were considered potential husbands of a group of women) and norms of matrilineality (from the Latin mater - “mother” and linea - “line”: accounts of kinship along the maternal line); cross-cousin marriages (from English cross - “cross” and French cusin - “cousin”: marriages of cousins are a relic of a group marriage concluded between members of two clans); polygamy and polyandry, avunculate (from Latin avunculus - “mother’s brother”) - the custom of patronage of the maternal uncle in relation to nephews; hospitable heterism (a custom according to which a husband provided his wife for the night to a guest). In the 19th century, clan communities disintegrated. With the adoption of Christianity, by the middle of the 19th century, the dowry basically disappeared - the ransom for the wife and the labor that replaced it (the husband lived for one or two years in the family of his wife’s parents and helped run the household), as well as polygamy, polyandry and hospitable heterism. At the same time, matchmaking and wedding rituals spread.
Funeral rite.
The dead were buried in a sitting position. Family burials were placed in small depressions among the rocks. The deceased’s tools, weapons, dishes, ritual masks and personal amulets (items with supernatural, magical properties) were also placed there. Noble people were buried along with slaves in caves; a painted pillar was placed at the entrance or the bodies of the deceased were hung in baskets between two pillars. The dead were embalmed.
Folklore, musical instruments.
Folklore has not been sufficiently studied; fundamental research has not been carried out. There are fairy tales, heroic epic (narration), or heroic tales, stories about ancient customs, everyday stories, songs, sayings and riddles. Most fairy tales are based on mythological stories. The most common myths are about animal spirits - patrons and etiological (explaining the cause of various phenomena) legends about the original immortality of people, the origin of people from a dog that fell from the sky, etc. The heroic epic includes legends about ancestors, about the fight against cannibals, about the resettlement of people from the mainland to the islands, stories about the campaigns of eastern groups of Aleuts to the west, about blood feuds that led to cruel wars, etc. Everyday stories tell about fishing trips, travels; legends about fugitive Aleuts hiding from the Russians in caves on long journeys; satirical stories - about a hunter who died from gluttony inside a whale. Many plots reflect traditional family relationships: the infidelity of a husband or a jealous wife, the hero’s cohabitation with his cousin’s wife, the hostile relationship of a son-in-law with his brother-in-law (wife’s brother), etc.
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Ornament.
Fairy tales.
THE ONE-EYED MAN AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF A WOMAN INTO A FOX.
There lived a one-eyed man with his wife. He spent the nights with his wife, but as soon as it began to get light, he left his wife and left the house. So he spent the whole day somewhere. His wife did not know why her husband did not come home during the day, where he spent his time, and what he was doing there. She decided to find out.
One day, when he left in the morning, she followed him and reached the place where he had gone during the day. But when she came close to him, she saw that he was missing one eye. As soon as she saw this, she decided to leave him. As daylight approached, she set off. As she walked, she suddenly saw a giant coming towards her. The giant reached her, took her on his shoulders and carried her. He walked with her to the mountain and climbed to the top. There was an underground yurt. The giant threw the woman into the passage of the yurt. She woke up in a dugout and began to cry. Having no clothes, she was very cold and regretted that she had left her husband simply because she considered him ugly:
So crying, she suddenly heard someone say:
- Well, stop crying. Here above you are the skins of earthly birds. Take them and put them on.
The woman looked above her and after a long search saw a basket woven from grass. Searching through it, she found a Kukhlyanka made from crow skins. I took the kuhlyanka, but no matter how hard I tried to put it on, I couldn’t. The Kukhlyanka was too small for her. She started crying again.
And again I heard someone’s voice:
- Leave it, stop crying. There's a grass basket hanging above you. In it you will find the skins of earthly animals, take them and put them on. Stop crying.
When she was told this, she looked up and saw a basket. There I found tanned fox skins. I took them and tried to put them on. When I started putting them on, I felt warm. Having put on the skins, she began to look for a way out of the dugout. I found him and left. I hit the road. On the way, the woman became thirsty. She reached the river, and when she bent down to drink, she saw that she had fox ears. The woman moved on. As she walked, she felt that someone was following her. She turned her head back and saw that it turned out that a fox’s tail was dragging behind her. When she saw this, she tried to free herself from him, but could not. So I moved on with the fox's tail. The woman reached the place where her father used to hunt for seals. She went down to the seashore and began to watch her father kill seals on the sea. So the father stopped hunting seals and went to the shore. He saw a fox on the shore and stuck to the place where she was. Noticing that the fox was not afraid of him, he wanted to take her, but she kept bouncing away from him. Then he threw her seals. Having fed her, he went to his village. And when her father went to his village, she also ran there. When the day was already over, the fox woman came to her father's house. She tried many times to enter the house. But as soon as the fox woman bows her head to go down into the house, her head itself jumps to the side.
So she did not go down to her father’s house, but went into the field and, they say, stayed there.
All.
The Aleuts, like the Chukchi, have always been an extremely warlike people. This is one of the few northern ethnic groups in which slavery was widespread. The Aleuts attacked their neighbors, took their inhabitants captive, and were skilled fishermen and hunters. After contacts with the Russian colonialists, their morals softened, they adopted Orthodoxy, and even one of the aborigines was canonized as Saint Peter of the Aleut. More details in the material.
Life by the ocean
To begin with, an interesting fact: the name of this people, as well as the islands that owe their name to them - Aleuts - is Russian in origin, which is how it entered other languages (for example, English). The aborigines themselves usually called themselves Unangan, although individual groups living on different islands had their own designations that differed from this. Scientists have not come to a consensus on why Russian travelers called the local population that way. It is believed that the word was borrowed from one of the dialects of the Chukchi or Koryak languages and most likely means “islander”, “inhabitant of the islands” (according to another version, the Aleuts owe their name to the unusual headdresses that they wore).At first glance, the Aleuts with their culture and way of life differ little from other northern peoples. They went to sea in unstable kayaks or multi-person rowing boats, were skilled in fishing, hunted marine mammals - seals, fur seals, otters and even whales, and caught birds using nets or cunning traps. Clothes were made from skins, fat was used to illuminate homes, even entrails and bones were used - for example, from stomachs sea lions made vessels for storing supplies.
Aleutian women were famous for their ability to weave mats, baskets, bags and other products from grass; Clothes were embroidered with the same grass threads (they say that they were almost as thin as silk threads). It is curious that the craftswomen specially grew long nails, which served as an auxiliary tool for weaving. Over the years, as a result of constant stress, not only the nails, but also the fingers themselves became deformed and sometimes looked quite strange.
The traditional dwellings of the Aleuts were spacious semi-dugouts, called barabora. Several families lived in one such dugout. They were usually built on the coast and always on a hill to ensure good review- this way it was possible to monitor the appearance of possible prey or not to overlook the approach of enemies. The walls of the barabora were strengthened with whale bones and logs (as a rule, these were driftwood thrown up by the sea), the roof was covered with turf, dry grass and skins. They got inside through a hatch in the roof, and the staircase was a log with notched steps.
Sometimes such dwellings had two entrances: a “summer” one through a hole in the roof, and a “winter” one through a semi-underground corridor. For lighting they used lamps filled with animal fat. This is how the Aleuts lived until the 19th century, when, after contacts with Europeans, they began to build more familiar above-ground houses from boards and poles.
The traditional family life of the Aleuts deserves attention. Before the spread of Christianity, these tribes freely coexisted with polygamy and polyandry; women and men had almost equal rights. Kinship was considered maternal, although the power of a leader, for example, was inherited from man to man. There was group marriage. According to the customs of hospitality, the owner had to offer his wife to the guest (and this was taken for granted by all participants in the action). The future husband often had to “work off” his bride, living for a year or two with her parents and helping to run the household.
Another Aleut custom - slavery - caused no less surprise among Europeans. Slaves were the most powerless members of Aleut society; they were severely punished for any offense, and killed for especially serious offenses. Most often, prisoners of war became slaves (oddly enough, the Aleuts showed themselves to be quite a warlike people; internecine clashes were not uncommon) or declassed elements. Some owners had ten or more slaves. A slave even turned into a universal unit of exchange - for example, for one you could get a stone knife, but a traditional kayak boat was more expensive: a married couple was given for it.
Before the adoption of Christianity, the Aleuts were adherents of shamanism and practiced hunting magic. An interesting traditional element of their religious beliefs is funeral masks. They were made of wood and decorated with carvings, depicting either the helping spirits of the shaman, or recreating the faces of real people. The shaman used his funeral mask throughout his life. Some of them are made so that they can be held with the teeth - these were often used during sacred dances.
Guests from overseas: Aleuts and Europeans
The world first became acquainted with these people after the discovery of the Aleutian Islands by the Great Northern Expedition in 1741. The acquaintance was sometimes not very peaceful: at first there were such sad incidents as the burning of ships and the destruction of settlements, accompanied by casualties on both sides. But gradually it was possible to establish peaceful trade relations: the Russians remained to spend the winter on the islands, took Aleut women as wives, Russian industrialists even opened schools in Okhotsk and Kamchatka, where the most capable Aleut children were taught the Russian language. On the other hand, the Aleuts borrowed many labor and household items from the Russians, making them an integral part of their traditional way of life. The Russian-American Company played a significant role in the history of the people, which did a lot for the development of the Aleutian Islands and provided work to many Aleut fishing workers.
With the arrival of settlers and industrialists, Christianity began to spread. Russian missionaries noted that the Aleuts are very receptive, distinguished by perseverance, the ability to imitate, and have a taste for reading. Having changed their faith, they remained staunch adherents of Orthodoxy. It is worth noting that one of them even received canonization: Orthodox Church honors Peter Aleut as a martyr.
On opposite sides of the border
In 1867, the Aleutian Islands, along with Alaska, were sold to America. On the territory of Russia, the Aleuts remained only on the Commander Islands, where they ended up together with Russian settlers. Starting from the first half of the 19th century, the situation of the people began to slowly but steadily deteriorate - both on the territory of the Russian Empire and beyond its borders: the number is declining, the standard of living is falling, the traditional way of life is becoming a thing of the past. The processes of dispersion and assimilation are doing their job. While in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 30s some measures were taken to somehow improve the situation, in America the Aleuts were discriminated against on an equal basis with the Indians for a long time. The situation began to change radically only in the 60s.
Currently, the Aleuts’ lifestyle is practically no different from the visiting population. In Russia the only place The compact settlement of Aleuts is the village of Nikolskoye in the Kamchatka Territory. It is there that the last two dozen speakers of the Aleut language live - all of its dialects are in danger of extinction. There are only 350 people left in the world who speak this language.
By the way, not only northern peoples there was a custom
They will tell you how life goes on at the edge of the Earth.
Region of residence: North America
ALEUTS, Aleut, Unangan (self-name), people in the USA, the indigenous population of the Aleutian Islands, the southwest of the Alaska Peninsula and some adjacent small islands. Number of people: about 6 thousand people. Some Aleuts (about 550 people) have been living since the beginning of the 19th century. on the Commander Islands in Russia (Bering Islands, Medny). Some of the Eskimos of southwestern and southern Alaska consider themselves to be Aleuts. They belong to the Arctic (Eskimo) race of the large Mongoloid race. The Aleut language is of the Eskimo-Aleut family. Dialects: Unalaskinsky (eastern), Atkinsky (central), Attuansky (western). They are bilingual, many switch to English and Russian. The settlement of the main part of their territories by the ancestors of the Aleuts took place during the migration of peoples from Asia to America 10-12 thousand years ago. The name “Aleuts” was given by the Russians after their discovery of the Aleutian Islands and was first found in documents in 1747. Since 1799, the territory of the Aleuts was controlled by the Russian-American Company, which settled the uninhabited Commander and Pribilof Islands with Aleuts. The Aleuts were converted to Orthodoxy and were strongly influenced by Russian culture. In 1867, the Aleutian Islands and Alaska were sold to the United States. Basic traditional activities Aleuts before contacts with Europeans - hunting sea animals (seals, sea lions, sea otters, etc.) and fishing. Gathering was of secondary importance. They made hunting and fishing tools, weapons from stone, bone, wood, leather-covered boats - multi-oar kayaks, single- and double-hatch kayaks. By the middle of the 18th century. there was property and social differentiation, and a military organization. Iroquois type kinship system. Aleut villages usually consisted of 2-4 large (from 10 to 40 families) semi-dugouts. The traditional clothing of the Aleuts (men's and women's) is the parka - long, closed clothing made of fur from seals, sea otters, and bird skins. A kamleika was worn over the top - clothing made from the intestines of sea animals with sleeves, a closed collar and a hood. Shoes - torbasa (boots made from the skins of sea animals). Hunters wore wooden hats - conical or with an open top, with an elongated large visor, decorated with carved bone, sea lion baleen, feathers, etc. The main traditional food was the meat of sea animals and poultry, fish (mostly raw), marine invertebrates, algae, berries, roots. Traditional beliefs are characterized by belief in spirits, and shamanism existed. Modern Aleuts in the United States are employed in the seal fishery on the Pribilof Islands and in hired work at fish canning factories. In the USSR, the Commander Islands were allocated to the Aleutian region of the Kamchatka region (1932). Along with traditional ones, new sectors of the economy are developing: fur farming (mink), animal husbandry, and gardening.
Self-name: Aleut, Unangan.
Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, Most of lives in the USA - southwest of the Alaska Peninsula (up to the Ugashik River in the north) and some small islands adjacent to it (about 2 thousand people) and in Russia (482 people) on the Commander Islands (Bering Islands, Medny), where lives since the beginning of the 19th century, in Kamchatka, etc.
The Aleut language is of the Eskimo-Aleut family. Dialects: Unalaskinsky (eastern), Atkinsky (central), Attuansky (western). Few retained their native language and switched to English and Russian.
The history of the study of the Aleuts begins with the discovery of the Aleutian Islands in 1741 by the Great Northern (Second Kamchatka) expedition (1733-1743). Russian sailors, explorers, and industrialists collected data about the culture of the people.
Ethnogenesis and ethnic history: the settlement of the main part of their territory by the ancestors of the Aleuts occurred during the migration of peoples from Asia to America 10-12 thousand years ago. The name "Aleuts" was given by the Russians after their discovery of the Aleutian Islands and first appears in documents from 1747. Since 1799, the territory of the Aleuts was controlled by the Russian-American Company, which settled the uninhabited Commander and Pribilof Islands with Aleuts. The Aleuts were converted to Orthodoxy and were strongly influenced by Russian culture. In 1867, the Aleutian Islands and Alaska were sold to the United States.
The main traditional occupations of the Aleuts before contact with Europeans were hunting sea animals (seals, sea lions, sea otters, etc.) and fishing. Gathering was of secondary importance. They made hunting and fishing tools, weapons from stone, bone, wood, leather-covered boats - multi-oar kayaks, one-, two-, three-hatch kayaks.
In Russia, the Commander Islands were allocated (1928) to the Aleutian national region (since 1932 in the Kamchatka region), liquidated in the mid-1930s, now restored. Along with traditional ones, new sectors of the economy are developing: fur farming (mink), animal husbandry, and gardening.
By the middle of the 18th century, property and social differentiation and military organization existed.
Aleut villages usually consisted of 2-4 large (from 10 to 40 families) semi-dugouts.
The traditional clothing of the Aleuts (men's and women's) is the parka - long, closed clothing made of fur from seals, sea otters, and bird skins. A kamleika was worn over the top - clothing made from the intestines of sea animals with sleeves, a closed collar and a hood. Shoes - torbasa (boots made from the skins of sea animals). Hunters wore wooden hats - conical or open-topped, with an elongated large visor, decorated with carved bone, sea lion whiskers, feathers, etc.
An important role in the sea hunting of the Aleuts was played by the kayak - a flat-bottomed boat with a wooden frame, covered with sea lion or seal skin, and the kayak - a closed leather boat with a wooden frame and a hatch where the hunter sat (a prototype of a sports kayak). It was controlled with a two-bladed oar. Before the arrival of the Russians, the weapons of the Aleuts were light darts with bone tips, bows, stone or bone knives
The main traditional food is the meat of sea animals and poultry, fish (mostly raw), marine invertebrates, algae, berries, and roots.
Traditional beliefs are characterized by belief in spirits, and shamanism existed.
R.G. Lyapunova
According to the 2010 Census, the number of Aleuts living in Russia is 482 people.
Aleuts are the indigenous population of the Commander Islands, which are administratively part of the Kamchatka region. Aleuts also live in the USA (indigenous population of the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands, the southwestern tip of the Alaska Peninsula). The total number of Aleuts is about 13 thousand people, incl. in the USA there are more than 12 thousand. Self-name - Aleut, Unangan. The Aleuts living on Medny Island called themselves Sasignam. The Eskimos, the closest neighbors of the Aleuts, call them Alakshak. The name "Aleut" is of Russian origin. It was given after the discovery of the Aleutian Islands, and was first found in documents in 1747. The etymology of the name is controversial; a connection with the Aleutian alyaguk - “sea” is possible. They speak the Aleut language, which has three dialects: Unalaskin (eastern), Atkin (central), Attuan (western).
Currently, there are two dialects in Russia - Bering (the language of the Western dialect group) and Mednovsky, which is a creolized language with Aleut vocabulary and a mixed Russian-Aleut grammatical system.
The name of the people, Aleuts, was coined by the Russians during the Great Northern Expedition of 1741. Travelers were unable to accurately determine the roots of this people. According to one version, the Aleuts came from the northeast Asian coast, according to another - from Alaska. This happened approximately 6000 – 4600 years ago. In the middle of the 18th century there were 15 thousand of them, and they lived mainly in the Aleutian Islands. In 1799, Russian companies resettled some of the Aleuts to the Commander Islands. In 1867, the Aleutian Islands, along with Alaska, were sold to the United States. There are currently only 550 Aboriginal people left in Russia. A larger group lives in America. Currently there are 17,000 of them there.
From 1891 to 1917, the Commander Islands were rented by various commercial and industrial companies, which bought furs, meat and fat of marine animals from the local population.
Language
The language allegedly became isolated 3 - 4 thousand years ago and was considered one of the ancient dialects of the Eskimo language. On Bering Island, the Atkin dialect of the Aleutian language was widespread, and on Medny Island, a new dialect based on the Atkin and Russian languages was formed. When communicating, the inhabitants of these islands had difficulty understanding each other. The first grammar of the Aleut language was compiled at the beginning of the 19th century. based on the Cyrillic alphabet.
The ancestors of modern Aleuts appeared on the Commanders in the first decades of the 19th century. A Russian-American company resettled several families from the islands of Atka and Attu here to fish for marine animals. From the very beginning of the constant development of the islands, their population was mixed: Aleuts, Russians and Creoles (people of mixed origin). The interaction of these three main components formed the unique cultural appearance of the Commander Aleuts by the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were two large villages on the Commander Islands - Nikolskoye on Bering Island and Preobrazhenskoye on Medny Island. There were also smaller settlements, mostly seasonal, but often people also lived in them. all year round. The concentration of island production in the 70s led to the liquidation of Preobrazhenskoye as an independent settlement. All residents of Komandor concentrated in the village of Nikolskoye.
Lifestyle and support system
The main traditional occupations of the Aleuts are hunting sea animals (sea otters, fur seals), fishing, island fur farming and gathering. At the beginning of the 20th century, due to a sharp drop in the number of seals on the rookeries of the Commander Islands, the importance of seal fishing in the life of the Aleuts decreased. Fishing, arctic fox hunting, as well as gardening and livestock farming began to play a leading role in the economy.
In those days, the hunters' arsenal included a wide variety of weapons. The fishery began at the end of April with fishing in nets. Mid-July is the season for hunting birds with the help of throwing spears-shatin and a throwing projectile bola. The bola is an ingenious and simple weapon that consists of a bunch of straps with stone or bone weights at the ends. Having untwisted, the bola was thrown into the flock, the bird became entangled in the straps and became an easy prey. Birds were also hunted using large nets and nets.
With the onset of winter, the hunt for sea beaver began, which was caught in the open sea using a harpoon; walruses were hunted in rookeries. To catch the seal, a cunning technique was used: it was lured to the shore with a decoy - an inflated seal skin, while imitating the cry of the female. The Aleuts even hunted the king of the sea - the whale. To do this, they used a spear with a poisoned tip. Under the influence of the poison, the whale died after 2-3 days and its carcass, washed ashore by the waves, was picked up by hunters.
An important role in sea hunting was played by the baidara - a wooden, flat-bottomed frame boat covered with sea lion or seal skin and the kayak - a closed leather boat with a wooden frame and a hatch where the hunter sat. It was controlled with a two-bladed oar (a prototype of a sports kayak). With the advent of firearms, two-key kayaks began to be made (during shooting, the second rower had to maintain balance).
Some elements not typical for the mainland Aleut culture also spread: for example, on the island. Bering appeared sleds (sleighs) with dog sleds, on the island. Mednom - short, wide skis lined with seal skin.
Since 1932, when a specialized animal farm (animal processing plant) was created on the Commanders, all adult Aleut men and a significant part of women were considered its workers. Consumer fishing, hunting and gathering were preserved. In the field of employment, a category of employees began to form, incl. employees of the administrative and managerial apparatus.
In the 50s a massive influx of newcomers to the islands began, along with the rapid growth of economic and social infrastructure. This immediately had a negative impact on the position of the Aleuts. Very soon, the newcomers ousted the indigenous people from the most profitable and prestigious sectors of the economy.
Ethno-cultural situation
The Commander Aleuts, originally formed as a Creole ethnic community, became Soviet time independent “small” people of the North, are currently turning into a Russian-speaking old-timer group. All Commander Aleuts are Russian-speaking. According to linguists, today only two dozen elderly people are still native speakers of their native language. However, the problem of the loss of their native language is typical for almost the majority of indigenous peoples of the North of the Russian Federation. Created in the 30s and restored on a Russian graphic basis in the late 80s. writing in the Aleut language is practically not used. Language at school is taught at the elective level.
The deep isolation of Komandor from the rest of the country and region, limited access to the islands for the visiting population and, therefore, the slowness of assimilation processes create conditions for the stable functioning of the established culture. From this point of view, the ethnocultural situation on the Commanders is unique, and the Aleuts themselves are of exceptional interest as the single most prominent Creole group within the modern territory of the Russian Federation. The current generation of Aleuts strives to preserve and revive their cultural heritage. There is an Aleutian local history museum. An important role in preserving folk traditions is played by the national ensemble "Unangan" and the family ensemble "Chiyan", created in the early 80s. There are attempts to revive the tradition of bone and stone carving as a form of applied art, and the attractiveness of traditional Aleutian parties and other national forms of leisure is growing.
The ethnocultural center being created in the village is called upon to play an important role in preserving the culture of the Aleuts. Nikolsky with funds from the federal budget. It is also necessary to restore permanent cultural ties with the Aleuts living in Alaska.
Traditional home
Until the 19th century, the Aleuts escaped the winter cold in semi-dugouts for 10 to 40 families, covered with dry grass, skins and turf. We climbed inside through a hole in the roof along a log with notches. Bunks were built along the walls, and the place of each family was separated by pillars with curtains. Utensils were stored under the bunks. In the summer they lived in light buildings.
In the 19th century they had other winter dwellings, with walls and roofs made of poles and boards. The top hatch began to be used for lighting, and they entered the room through exits in the walls. The dimly lit dwellings were illuminated with grease lamps.
Traditions and customs
During the long winter, men were engaged in the manufacture of fishing tools, stone and wooden utensils, sitting at hollowed-out stone bowls in which a moss wick was burning, floating in whale oil. Food was fried in the same bowls. If there were hot springs near the settlement, the Aleuts cooked fish and meat in them. They also knew how to cook special dishes from raw fish. For the hungry winter, dried fish and whale oil were prepared, which were kept in bladders from the stomachs of sea animals.
Women were skilled craftswomen, sewing and embroidering clothes, weaving mats and baskets. The plant threads were so thin that they could compete with silk. However, the ornaments were not very diverse.
Despite the small number, by the middle of the 18th century. the population of each island represented an independent community of relatives with their own dialect. The clan group was headed by a toyon leader. This honorary position was inherited and in rare cases it was elective. Toyon established trade relations, handled court cases, and was involved in monitoring the clan's lands - the rookeries of animals.
If we talk about their beliefs, shamanism and hunting magic were widespread among the Aleuts. Usually a shaman, dressed in a special costume resembling a bird, summoned the beast. The shaman also danced in a special way to protect the hunter in the field and provide him with rich prey.
On the winter solstice, the Aleuts gathered for a beautiful performance. It was accompanied by dancing with pantomimes, dramatic performances of hunting scenes and mythological scenes accompanied by singing and drumming. The performers wore special headdresses and wooden masks. From mouth to mouth, the Aleuts passed on legends about the original immortality of people, about the origin of people from a dog that fell from the sky, about the fight against cannibals, about blood feuds that led to cruel wars.
At the end of the 18th century, the Aleuts were converted to Orthodoxy and many of their customs began to fade away, traditions were forgotten, and the people themselves began to die out and become poor. In the 19th century, this reached a critical point and it seemed that soon there would not be a single Aleut left in Russia. Since 1935, a slow population growth began, but national traditions were largely lost.
Traditional clothing
Traditional clothing was a parka - a long, blind (without a slit in the front) clothing made of seal, sea otter, and bird skins. On top of it they put on a kamleika - a solid waterproof garment made from the intestines of sea animals with sleeves, a closed closed collar and a hood (a prototype of a European windbreaker). The edges of the hood and sleeves were tightened with laces. Parkas and kamleikas were decorated with embroidered stripes and fringes. Traditional fishing jackets with hoods made of sea lion intestines and throats, and trousers made of seal skin have been preserved. Men's and women's clothing were completely identical in cut and decoration. Appeared and new type clothes - brodni - trousers made from sea lion throats, onto which were sewn waterproof booties - soft skins made from the skin of sea animals. Shoes - booties - soft boots made from the skin of sea animals. In everyday life they wore Russian clothes.
The hunting headdresses were wooden hats of a conical shape (for Toyon leaders) or without a top with a very elongated front part (for simple hunters), richly decorated with polychrome painting, carved bone, feathers, and sea lion mustaches. They were worn on the hood of the kamleika. Such hats were hollowed out from a single piece of wood, then steamed into the desired shape, and painted in bright colors, creating a fancy ornament. The sides and back were decorated with carved walrus tusk plates, engraved with geometric patterns, into which paint was rubbed. A bone figurine of a bird or animal was attached to the top of the back plate, which also served as the top of the hat. Steller's whiskers up to 50 centimeters long were inserted into the side holes of the plate. Their number depended on the hunting ability of the owner and indicated the number of walruses hunted. These headdresses were worn only by men.
Festive and ritual headdresses included hats of various shapes made of leather and bird skins with decorations, and leather headbands with patterned seams. An integral part of the festive decoration are necklaces, hand and ankle bracelets, inserts and pendants in holes made in and near the lips, as well as in the nose, along the edges of the auricle and in the earlobe. They were made from bone, stone, wooden and slate sticks, feathers, sea lion whiskers, grass and plant roots. The Aleuts tattooed and painted their faces and bodies, but this tradition began to wane as contacts with the Russians began.
Folklore
Folklore has not been studied enough, because basic research didn't lead
There are fairy tales, heroic epic (narration), or heroic tales, stories about ancient customs, everyday stories, songs, sayings and riddles.
Most fairy tales are based on mythological stories. The most widespread were myths about the spirits of patron animals and etiological (concerning the causes of various phenomena) legends about the original immortality of people, about the origin of people from a dog that fell from the sky, etc. The heroic epic includes legends about ancestors, about the fight against cannibals, about the resettlement of people from continent to the islands, stories about the campaigns of eastern groups of Aleuts to the west, about blood feuds that led to brutal wars, etc. Everyday stories tell about fishing trips, travels; legends - about fugitive Aleuts hiding from the Russians in caves, about long journeys; satirical stories - about a hunter who died from gluttony inside a whale. Many stories reflect traditional family relationships: about the infidelity of a husband or a jealous wife, about the hero’s cohabitation with his cousin’s wife, about the hostile relationship of a son-in-law with his brother-in-law (wife’s brother), etc.
Song folklore was extremely developed. At holidays, men, to the sound of a tambourine, sang of the exploits of their ancestors, their prowess in fishing, and their dexterity in operating a canoe. During games, ritual actions and the performance of fairy tales, they sang to the accompaniment of a multi-stringed sword-shaped zither (chayah), which was later replaced by a guitar.