Disappearing peoples of Russia. Aleuts

The Aleuts are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands. They are included in the Unified List of Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Federation. For a long time there were two assumptions about the origin of the Aleuts. According to the first, they came from Alaska, the second says that the people came from the northeast Asian coast. The history of the study of the nationality begins in 1741, when the Great Northern Expedition (Expedition of the Bering-Chirikov Detachment) discovered the Aleutian Islands. From 1750 to 1760, armed conflicts took place between the Eastern Aleuts and Russian commercial and industrial courts. The indigenous people attacked the Russians suddenly, developing a plan in advance. They came to the artels with offerings, when the industrialists began to untie the bales in which there were furs, the Aleuts suddenly attacked them with knives.

On Woody Island, the people also resisted the Russians, but gradually they managed to establish contact, a settlement was organized, and trade relations were established. In the middle of the 18th century, ships of merchants came to the Aleutian Islands every year, Russians wintered on the islands and even stayed there for 5-6 years, married Aleut women, studied the skills of the indigenous population.

Where live

The bulk of the people live in the United States on the territory of Alaska, the rest - in Russia, the Kamchatka Territory, the Commander Islands, which make up the Aleutsky District of the Kamchatka Territory. They inhabit the Aleutian Islands, the Shumagin Islands, the western coast of Alaska to the Ugashik River. The Aleuts, after the arrival of the Russians, settled on the Pribylov Islands, the mainland of North America, some offshore islands.

population

In the middle of the 18th century, there were 8,000-10,000 Aleuts in Russia. After epidemics in the territories of the settlement of the people, disturbed ecological balance, by 1820 its number was reduced to 2,000. Today, about 482 people live in Russia, more than 2,000 Aleuts live in the United States on the Aleutian Islands. In the 18th century there were up to 15,000 of them. But the American Aleut censuses are overstated, as they include a portion of the Eyak, Alutiik Eskimos, people who call themselves Aleut, to use the benefits that are due to the native population of Alaska.

Name

The ethnonym "Aleut" is of Russian origin, it was given to the people after the discovery of the Aleutian Islands. The name appears in documents for the first time in 1747. Regarding the origin of the ethnonym, there are disagreements between researchers. According to one version, "Aleut" comes from the Aleut word "allitkhukh", which translates as "community, team." According to another version, the ethnonym has a Chukchi-Koryak origin from the word "Alyav-vyte", which means "those with a rim on their heads." The Aleuts in ancient times wore an unusual wooden headdress in the form of a rim on their heads, which was their distinguishing feature. The third hypothesis provides for the origin of the ethnonym from the Chukchi word "aliat" (island), "aliut" (islanders), it is the most convincing.

The people themselves call themselves "unangan", "unangas". In addition to these names, the Aleuts have names in accordance with local groups, some of them:

• amigun, negblo, niguh, residents of the Andreyanovsky Islands;
• Saskinan, Sasignan, Aleuts from the Near Islands;
• kagan, tayagangin, people from the island of Shumagin;
• Animgin, Aleuts living on the Unimak Islands.

Language

The people speak the Aleutian language "unangam tunuu", which belongs to the group of languages ​​of North America, forms the Aleutian branch. The language has 5 dialects:

1. mednovsky
2. Bering
3. Oriental
4. west
5. Attuan

Mednovsky differs significantly from other dialects, experts today consider it as an independent, mixed Aleutian-Mednovsky language, formed as a result of a very strong influence of two language formations on each other: the Russian language and the Attuan dialect of the Aleutian language, which disappeared in the middle of the 20th century.

Priest Ivan Veniaminov developed a script for Aleutian based on the Cyrillic alphabet in the 1820s. He and his followers were engaged in the translation of religious books into the Aleut language, significantly improved the school education of the people. By 1867, literacy among the indigenous population was at a very high level. After the teaching of Aleutian was discontinued for long term. Since the 1910s, Aleuts have been prohibited from using their native language in American schools. In 1967, a federal law allowed the use of languages ​​other than English in school teaching. Since 1970, language teaching has been restored, but the Latin alphabet was already used. Since 1983 Aleutian has been taught on Bering Island in the lower grades. At the beginning of the 21st century, 15 people of the older generation spoke Aleut here, the rest switched to Russian. The bulk of the Aleuts living in the United States have already switched to English. 80 people spoke the Western dialect, 430 spoke the Eastern dialect. As of 2010, there were 300 Aleut speakers in the United States, and 45 in Russia.

Religion

The traditional religion of the Aleuts is animism. They revered the spirits of their ancestors, portrayed them on bones, wood, stone, bird skins. These amulets were passed down from generation to generation. They made masks from wood that depicted patron spirits, put them on during ritual dances. Shamanism was widespread, according to the mythology of which the Aleuts believed in the existence of different worlds. The shaman's costume, like other peoples of Siberia, symbolized a bird. There was hunting magic, it consisted in performing rituals that called the beast. Those who worshiped magic wore amulets and observed special hunting prohibitions.

The process of Christianization began in the 50s of the 18th century and was carried out in accordance with the general trend of the Russian policy of colonization of new territories. Christianity had a good effect on the rapprochement of the Aleuts with the Russians. The peculiarity was that Christianization was started not by missionaries, but by Russian industrialists, which ensured a non-violent and rapid process of spreading Orthodoxy.

At the end of the 18th century, the Aleuts were finally converted to Orthodoxy. Bilingualism, schooling began to spread, religious books appeared in the Aleut language. It is noteworthy that some of the Aleuts who converted to Orthodoxy became missionaries. Until now, they are convinced Orthodox Christians, they conduct religious rites in Russian and Aleut. In Aleut, God sounds like "Agugum". One of the Aleuts, revered Orthodox Church as a martyr, is Peter Aleut. The religion of the people harmoniously combines Orthodoxy and the traditional worldview, which led to the formation of a kind of "Aleutian church", "Aleutian faith".

Starting from the summer of 1824, priests were constantly present among the Aleuts, after the arrival of Ivan Veniaminov (St. Innocent) on the island of Unalaska, who stayed there for 10 years. He conducted the baptism of the indigenous population, organized training in schools for children, taught the Aleuts icon painting, shoemaking, carpentry, and carpentry, and trained successors to his work. Everyone called him "the good father of the Aleuts."

Food

They ate mainly fried, boiled, raw meat of marine animals, birds, fish, marine invertebrates, wild plants, algae. For the winter, they prepared yukola, dried the meat, froze it or filled it with whale fat. Frozen meat could be stored for about a year. Whale oil was stored and stored in bubbles from the stomachs of sea animals.

Appearance

Cloth

Women's and men's costumes were similar in cut and decorations. The traditional winter clothing of the people is a deaf long parka without a slit in front, made from the fur of a fur seal, bird skins, sea otter. On top of the parka they wore a kamleika - waterproof deaf clothing made from the intestines of sea animals, with sleeves, a closed collar, and a hood. Festive kamleika and parka were richly decorated with fringes, embroidered stripes, and fur straps. The edges of the sleeves and hood were tightened with laces. They wore fishing jackets with a hood made of sea lion guts, pants made of seal skin. To protect themselves from dampness during fishing, they put on raincoats woven from grass, and later they began to use straw woven mats. Later, the people had trousers made of sea lion throats (brodni), waterproof soft boots (torbasa) made of the skin of a sea animal were sewn to them.

In the summer they wore worn winter clothes, but they also sewed special summer clothes from the intestines of a sea animal, bird skins. There was no underwear, only belt clothes sewn from seal skins were used.

During fishing, conical hats made of wood were worn on the head, hats without a top, with a very elongated front part, richly decorated with paintings, carved bone, and feathers. They put them on the hood of a kamlika. Such hats were made from a single piece of wood, steamed to give shape, then painted. Sea lion whiskers 50 cm long were inserted into the holes on the sides. Their number depended on the hunting status of the owner. Only men wore such dresses. For ceremonies, holidays, they wore hats of various shapes with decorations, sewn from the skins and skins of birds, leather bandages with patterned seams. Women complemented the costume with decorations made of bone, stone, slate, wooden sticks, plant roots, grass, sea lion whiskers. They made bracelets for arms, legs, necklaces, pendants, inserts into holes near the lips, in the lips, nose, ears, earlobes. The Aleuts applied tattoos, painted the body, face. But after contact with the Russians, this tradition gradually disappeared. IN Everyday life Aleuts wear European clothes.

Life

The main activity was fishing, hunting, birding, gathering. They went hunting for marine animals in boats, on land they hunted seals and fur seals. In some areas they hunted caribou deer, bear. In the open sea, with a harpoon, they hunted sea otters, on rookeries - walruses, sea lions, and seals. They hunted a whale using a spear smeared with poison. The carcass of the animal was thrown ashore after 2-3 days. Sea fish were caught using long fishing rods made from algae, hooks were attached to them. They went to river fish with nets of whale tendons.

The bird was caught using a large net, nets, a throwing spear, a throwing projectile, which was a bunch of belts with weights made of stone or bone. He was untwisted, thrown into a flock of birds, which were tangled in belts.

Women were engaged in collecting wild plants, berries, herbs, mollusks, sea ​​urchins. The collected herbs were used mainly for the manufacture of various wicker products.

The canoe played a very important role in the Aleutian marine industry. This is a boat with a flat bottom, a wooden frame, covered with the skin of seals, sea lions. Another boat of the Aleuts is a kayak - leather, closed, with a wooden frame, a hole in the form of a hatch, where the hunter sat down. The kayak was steered with a two-blade paddle. They used darts with bone tips, bone, stone knives, bows. The Russians opened firearms for the Aleuts.

Men made axes, knives, spearheads, arrowheads, fat lamps with moss wicks, and cooking vessels from stone. Women sewed clothes, embroidered, made tights for canoes, wove baskets, mats. The Aleuts had a universal tool (pekulka) - a short, wide, slightly curved knife. Sewing needles were made from bird bones. Today, the bulk of the Aleuts work as auxiliary workers in public utilities, some are engaged in traditional crafts.

Before the arrival of the Russians, the Aleuts were divided into three classes:

1. toyons, elders in the family, ancestors, noble personalities;
2. free people;
3. kalgi, slaves descended from prisoners of war.

The people lived in tribes, which consisted of tribal communities. Each community was headed by a toyon, he was elected, or he inherited power. He was engaged in political, trade relations, court cases, controlled the lands, guarded the rookeries of the sea animal. In addition to the toyon, the tribal community was headed by a council of elders. Slaves were engaged in economic affairs, participated in wars. A slave could be set free for courage, good work. When the RAK (Russian-American Company) began to manage the islands, slavery was eradicated, and the Toyons became the clerks of the company.

An ancient form of Aleut marriage was group marriage, where several men were considered potential husbands to a group of women. Marriages between cousins ​​and brothers, polyandry, polygamy, the custom of patronage of the mother's uncle over the nephews "avunkulat", hospitable hetaerism were allowed. These customs disappeared with the adoption of Christianity. In the 19th century, the communities collapsed, the bride price (kalym) was eradicated, replacing it with working off for the wife, during which the husband lived in the family of his wife's parents for 1-2 years, helped with the housework. Wedding rites and matchmaking began to spread.

dwelling

The Aleuts lived in villages that were located on sea ​​coast, at river mouths. Each village consisted of two or four large semi-dugouts (ulagamakh). They chose open high places, for convenient observation of the approach of the enemy, marine animals. The semi-dugout was built from trees nailed to the shore, from above the dwelling was covered with turf, skins, dry grass. The roof had several rectangular openings for entry. Inside, the Aleuts climbed a log with notches. In one such semi-dugout fit from 10 to 40 families. There were bunks along the walls inside the dwelling. Each family had its own part, which was separated by a curtain or poles. Utensils were stored under bunks.

In summer, the Aleuts moved to light separate buildings. In the 19th century, the semi-dugout underwent changes: the walls were made of boards, poles, which were covered with turf. At the top there was a hatch for lighting, on the side there was an exit through a small canopy. Lighting in the dwelling was fat lamps, sometimes stoves were placed. In addition to traditional utensils, the Aleuts began to use imported factory utensils.

culture

The people have their own artistic culture. Hunting bows, throwing darts, masks, headgear are not only weapons for hunting, accessories, they are examples of ornamental original art of the people. The Aleutians adorned the mallets for killing fish, wooden frames of women's knives with original skillful carvings. The headdresses of the hunters were richly decorated with beads, beads, engraved patch plates, feathers, sea lion whiskers. They were painted with mineral bright colors. The use of multi-color wood painting is a distinctive feature of the Aleut art among the peoples of the extreme north-east of Russia, and at the same time is similar to the art of the Indians of the north-west of America. Based on the motives, the Aleutian painting is closer to the Eskimo ornament.

Products made of soft materials are peculiar. A variety of patterns were created from the hair of a deer, a technique unknown to other peoples was used. The original weaving was used for products from the stalks of wild barley, wild peas, mats, rugs, capes, baskets, bags were made.

The people had many songs and historical legends. The main themes in folklore were love lyrics, marine crafts. During the holidays, musicians with tambourines sang the agility of a person in managing a canoe, the exploits of their ancestors.

An important role was given to dances, which were filled with meaning. They were standing and sitting. Sedentary are the most ancient, they were held in the form of dramatizations. Standing consisted of springy movements on half-bent legs, the body was tilted forward, sharp turns were made with different positions of the hands. Shamans danced cult dances, put on masks, made magical gestures, evoked the souls of dead hunters, warriors, good and evil spirits. In ancient times, during totem rites, the Aleuts reincarnated as birds, marine animals, skillfully imitated their body movements.

There are other genres in the folklore of the people:

• fairy tales about heroes;
• stories about ancient customs;
• everyday stories;
• puzzles;
• sayings.

There were widespread myths about spirits, patron animals, etiological legends about the origin, immortality of people. The heroic epic consisted of legends about the fight against cannibals, the ancestors, the resettlement of people from the mainland to the islands.

Traditions

One of the main holidays of the people is the celebration of the winter solstice, which was accompanied by the distribution of gifts, dances, performances of mythological stories, hunting scenes. Before the hunting season, rituals were held, during which they danced, sang to the tambourine, played pantomimes. The performers put on wooden masks and special headdresses.

Noble personalities were buried in caves along with slaves. A painted pole was set up at the entrance, or the bodies of the dead were hung between two poles in baskets. Together with the deceased, they laid their weapons, tools, dishes, personal amulets, ritual masks. The Aleuts have been embalming the dead since ancient times.

Region of residence: North America

ALEUTS, Aleut, Unangan (self-name), people in the USA, indigenous people Aleutian Islands, the southwest of the Alaska Peninsula and some of the small islands adjacent to it. The number is about 6 thousand people. Part of the Aleuts (about 550 people) has been living since the beginning of the 19th century. on the Commander Islands in Russia (Bering and Medny Islands). 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 of the Eskimo-Aleut family. Dialects: Unalashka (Eastern), Atka (Central), Attuan (Western). Bilingual, many switch to English, Russian. The settlement by the ancestors of the Aleuts of the main part of their territories took place in the conditions of the migration of peoples from Asia to America 10-12 thousand years ago. The name "Aleuts" was given by the Russians after they discovered the Aleutian Islands and is 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 Pribylov Islands with the 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 USA. Main traditional activities Aleuts before contacts with Europeans - hunting for marine animals (seals, sea lions, sea otters, etc.) and fishing. Gathering was of secondary importance. They made hunting and fishing tools, weapons made of stone, bone, wood, leather-covered boats - multi-oared kayaks, one- and two-hull kayaks. By the middle of the 18th century. there was property and social differentiation, military organization. Iroquois type kinship system. Aleut villages usually consisted of 2-4 large (from 10 to 40 families) semi-dugouts. The traditional clothes of the Aleuts (men's and women's) - the parka - long deaf clothes made of fur of a seal, sea otter, bird skins. A kamlika was worn over it - clothes made from the intestines of sea animals with sleeves, a blind collar and a hood. Shoes - torbasa (boots made from the skins of marine animals). Hunters wore wooden hats - conical or with an open top, with an elongated large visor, decorated with carved bone, sea lion mustache, feathers, etc. The main traditional food is the meat of marine animals and birds, fish (mainly raw), marine invertebrates, algae, berries, roots. Traditional beliefs are characterized by belief in spirits, there was shamanism. Modern Aleuts in the United States are employed in fur seal fisheries on the Pribylov Islands, and work for hire at fish canning enterprises. In the USSR, the Commander Islands were allocated to the Aleutsky district of the Kamchatka region (1932). Along with the traditional ones, new branches of the economy are developing: fur farming (mink), animal husbandry, and gardening.

   population- 702 people (as of 2001).
   Language- Eskimo-Aleut family of languages.
   resettlement- Kamchatka region.

In Russia, the Aleuts live on the Commander Islands (Medny, Bering Islands), while most of them (2 thousand people) live in the USA (Alaska, Aleutian Islands). Their number in the middle of the XVIII century. reached 12-15 thousand people.

The language supposedly became isolated 3-4 thousand years ago and was one of the ancient dialects of the Eskimo language. On Bering Island, the Atka dialect of the Aleutian language was widespread; on Medny Island, a new dialect was formed based on the Atka dialect and the Russian language. When communicating, the inhabitants of these islands hardly understood each other. The first grammar of the Aleut language was compiled at the beginning of the 19th century. based on Cyrillic. The name "Aleut" was given by the Russians and was first found in documents in 1747, presumably comes from the Chukchi aliat - "island", aliut - "islanders" or from allitkhukh - "detachment, army, community" (there is also an assumption that this is a modified word alut, which was called the inhabitants of the village of Alyutorsky on east coast Kamchatka). The ethnonym (from the Greek ethnos - people, onima - name: self-name of the people) of the Mednov Aleuts - sasignan, saskinan, Bering - unangan, negosis, negogahvs. The name "Aleuts" took root at the beginning of the 20th century.

The history of the study of the Aleuts begins with the discovery in 1741 of the Aleutian Islands by the Great Northern (Second Kamchatka) Expedition (1733–1743). Russian navigators, researchers, industrialists collected data on the culture of the people. For a long time there were two hypotheses of their origin. According to one, the Aleuts came from the northeast Asian coast, according to another, from Alaska. Studies prove that the formation of the anthropological type, language and culture took place 6000-4600 years ago. There is an assumption that the Aleuts were the southern group of the Eskimos, according to other sources - they stood out as an independent ethnic group (from the Greek ethnos - people) for a long time.

Since 1799, the Aleutian Islands and the adjoining part of Alaska were controlled by the Russian-American Company. To develop the uninhabited Commander Islands, the company resettled part of the Aleuts there. Subsequently, the population of the Commander Islands was replenished not only by Aleuts, but also by Creoles (descendants of Europeans and Aleuts) and Russian industrialists from Atki Island and California, who married Aleuts. Bering Island was inhabited mainly by people from Atka, in 1827 there were already 110 of them. In 1900, 279 Aleuts lived on Bering Island, and 253 people from Attu Island lived on Medny Island. Now 550 Aleuts live on the Commanders. The main goal of the Russian-American Company was to preserve their traditional economy as a reliable source of profit. Officials appointed clerks and kayakers to organize fishing on outlying islands. The official status of the Aleuts was approaching the status of foreigners Russian Empire; they paid yasak to the treasury (in Russia in the 15th–20th centuries, the tax in kind from the peoples of Siberia and the North was mainly furs). Since 1821 they have been recognized as Russian subjects. In 1867, the Aleutian Islands, together with Alaska, were sold to the United States. In Russia, the Aleuts remained only on the Commanders. From 1891 to 1917, various commercial and industrial companies rented the islands.

The features of the life of the Commander Aleuts were determined by the isolation of the islands. Until 1867, their population continued to work for the Russian-American Company: they harvested furs, meat and fat from marine animals, preserving the traditional culture. The main place was occupied by hunting for marine animals from a canoe and the extraction of seals on land.

Fishing began at the end of April. They fished from spring to autumn. In mid-July, they hunted birds with the help of throwing spears (shatin) and a throwing projectile (bola) - a bunch of belts with stone or bone weights at the ends. Having untwisted, the bolas were thrown into the flock, and the bird entangled in the belts became the prey of the hunter. Birds were also caught in bird markets with a large net on a long pole (chirucha), as well as nets. In winter, seals hunted from the shore. The sea beaver (sea otter) was hunted in the open sea with the help of a harpoon - a throwing spear on a long rope, sea lions and walruses were hunted on rookeries, seals were lured ashore by a decoy - an inflated seal skin, imitating the cry of a female, whales were hunted with a spear, the tip of which was smeared aconite poison. After 2–3 days, the sea threw the carcass of the animal ashore. Harpoons and spears were thrown with the help of spear throwers - wooden planks 50–70 cm long with a longitudinal groove, finger grooves at one end and a bone stop at the other. Bows, arrows and guns were also known.

Handbags made of herbs (late 19th - early 20th century)

An important role in sea hunting was played by a canoe - a flat-bottomed boat with a wooden frame, covered with sea lion or seal skin, and a kayak - a closed leather boat with a wooden frame and a hatch hole where the hunter sat (the prototype of a sports kayak). It was steered with a two-bladed oar. With the advent of firearms, two-hitch canoes began to be made (during the shooting, the second rower had to maintain balance).

Some devices for movement, uncharacteristic for the culture of the Aleuts, also spread. On Bering Island, for example, sleds (sleighs) with dog teams appeared, on Medny Island - short, wide skis lined with seal skins.

From stone, men made knives, axes, arrowheads and spearheads, vessels for cooking, fat lamps with moss wicks for lighting and heating the home. Women sewed and embroidered clothes, made covers for canoes, wove mats and baskets. The pekulka, a wide short and slightly curved knife, was a female universal tool of labor. The needles were made from bird bones.

The villages were located on the sea coast, often at the mouths of rivers, and consisted of 2–4 large semi-dugouts (ulagams). For them, high, open places were chosen so that it was convenient to observe marine animals and the approach of enemies. Semi-dugouts were built from driftwood, covered with dry grass, skins and turf. Several quadrangular openings were left in the roof for entry, climbed there along a log with notches. The dwelling accommodated from 10 to 40 families. Inside, bunks were built along the walls. Each family lived on its part of the bunks, separated from each other by poles and curtains. Utensils were stored under the bunks. In the summer they moved to separate light buildings. In the 19th century the traditional semi-dugout was modified: the walls and roof, made of poles and boards, were covered with turf. At the top was a hatch for lighting, on the side - an exit through a small canopy. They illuminated the dwellings with fat lamps, sometimes they laid stoves. Along with traditional utensils, they used imported factory-made utensils.

1. Parka made of bird skins
2. Kamleyka from sea lions for fishing

The traditional clothing was a parka - long deaf (without a slit in front) clothing made from the fur of a fur seal, sea otter, bird skins. A kamleika was worn over it - deaf waterproof clothing made from the intestines of marine animals with sleeves, a deaf 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 guts and throats, and sealskin trousers have been preserved. Men's and women's clothing completely coincided in cut and decorations. Later, a new type of clothing appeared - brodni - trousers made of sea lion throats, to which waterproof torbasas were sewn - soft boots made from the skin of marine animals. In everyday life they wore European clothes.

Hats are striking in shape, coloring, drawings, carvings, color engraving on them.

Fishing headdresses were wooden hats of a conical shape (for leaders - toyons) or without a top, with a very elongated front part (for ordinary hunters), richly decorated with polychrome painting, carved bone, feathers, sea lion mustaches. They were put on the hood of a kamlika. Hats were hollowed out from a whole piece of wood, then steamed out and, having given the desired shape, painted in bright colors with intricate ornaments. From the sides and back they were decorated with carved walrus tusk plates, engraved with a geometric ornament, 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. A 50-centimeter sea lion mustache was inserted into the side holes of the plate, the number of which depended on the hunting merit of the owner. These hats were worn only by men.

Seal fur, leather, reindeer hair, sea lion trachea, hatchet beaks were used for ritual headdresses.

Festive and ceremonial headdresses were hats of various shapes made of leather and bird skins with decorations, leather bands with patterned seams. An integral part of the festive decoration is necklaces, bracelets and anklets, inserts and pendants in the holes made in the lips 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 face and body, but with the beginning of contacts with the Russians, this tradition began to weaken.

Meat and fish were eaten raw, fried or boiled. For the future, they stocked up mainly dried fish and whale oil. The latter was kept in bubbles from the stomachs of marine animals.

By the middle of the eighteenth century. the population of each island or group of islands represented an independent territorial association with its own name and dialect. Presumably, these were tribes consisting of tribal communities - associations of persons related by blood relations and the name of a common ancestor. The tribal group was headed by toyon. He either received power by inheritance, or was elected. His duties included trade and political relations, court cases, protection of sea animal rookeries, and control over other lands. As a military head, the leader had economic advantages only after military campaigns and trade deals, in everyday economic activity he was entitled to an equal share with all. In addition to the leader, the tribal group was headed by a council of elders. There are references in the literature to the existence of ancestral communal houses for meetings and celebrations.

Ornaments: 1, 3 - patterns on a wicker bag; 2 - on a snuffbox; 4 - 5 - embroidery with colored threads; 6, 7 - patterns on wicker baskets; 8 - 17 - on ceremonial and ritual headdresses

The Aleuts had slaves (kalga) - mostly prisoners of war. The slave participated in ordinary economic activities, in wars. For courage or for good work, he could be 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 matrilineal norms (from Latin mater - mother and linea - line: maternal kinship accounts); cross-cousin marriages (from English cross - cross and French cusin - cousin: marriages of cousins ​​\u200b\u200band sisters are a relic of a group marriage concluded between members of two clans); polygamy and polyandry, avunculat (from Latin avunculus - mother's brother) - the custom of maternal uncle patronage in relation to nephews; hospitable hetaerism (the custom according to which the husband provided his wife for the night to the guest).

In the nineteenth century tribal communities broke up. With the adoption of Christianity by the middle of the nineteenth century. kalym basically disappeared - a ransom for a wife and working off for a wife replacing it (a husband lived in the family of his wife's parents for 1-2 years and helped run the household), as well as polygamy, polyandry and hospitable hetaerism. At the same time, the ceremonies of matchmaking and weddings spread.

Magical rites were associated with bird feathers, skins and images of birds.

Traditional beliefs are characterized by animism (from Latin anima, animus - soul, spirit) - ideas about the soul as a life force and the existence of good and evil spirits and their influence on human life. The spirits of ancestors were revered, whose images made of stone, bone, wood and bird skins were inherited as personal amulets. Protective spirits were depicted by wooden masks that were worn during ritual dances. Among the Aleuts, shamanism was widespread, in whose mythology there were ideas about different worlds. The shaman costume, like that of some peoples of Siberia, symbolized a bird. In addition to animism and shamanism, there was also hunting magic (from the Greek mageia - witchcraft, sorcery), which consisted in the rituals of summoning the beast, in special hunting prohibitions and wearing amulets that protected the owner.

Grass fiber baskets

The dead were buried in a sitting position. Family burials were placed in small depressions among the rocks. There they also put the tools of the deceased, weapons, dishes, ritual masks and personal amulets (objects with supernatural, magical properties). Noble people were buried together 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.

One of the main holidays - the winter solstice - was accompanied by dances, dramatic performances of hunting scenes and mythological scenes, and distribution of gifts. The rites that preceded the hunting season were famous for pantomime and dancing to the accompaniment of singing and tambourine. The performers wore special headdresses and wooden masks.

At the end of the XVIII century. The Aleuts, having experienced a strong influence of Russian culture, were converted to Orthodoxy. Schooling and bilingualism spread. Religious books appeared, translated into the Aleut language. Characteristically, some natives became missionaries. The Aleuts still remain staunch adherents of Orthodoxy, religious rites are performed in Russian and Aleut languages.

Animal bladder bag

Folklore has not been sufficiently studied, its fundamental research has not been conducted.

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 plots. The most common are myths about the spirits of animal patrons and etiological (explaining the cause of various phenomena) legends about the initial immortality of people, the origin of people from a dog that fell from the sky, etc. The heroic epic includes legends about the ancestors, about the fight against cannibals, about the resettlement of people from the mainland to the islands, stories about the campaigns of the eastern groups of the Aleuts to the west, about blood feuds that led to cruel wars, etc. Everyday stories tell about fishing trips and travels; legends - about runaway Aleuts hiding from Russians in caves, distant travels; satirical stories about a hunter who died of gluttony inside a whale. Many plots reflect traditional family relations: about the infidelity of a husband or a jealous wife, the cohabitation of a hero with his cousin's wife, hostile relations between a son-in-law and a brother-in-law (wife's brother), etc.

Song folklore was extremely developed. At the holidays, men, to the sound of a tambourine, sang the exploits of their ancestors, daring in fishing, dexterity in managing a canoe. During games, ritual actions and performance of fairy tales, they sang to the accompaniment of a multi-stringed plucked sword-shaped zither (chacha), which was later replaced by a guitar.

The predatory exploitation of the fisheries by American and Russian companies led to the impoverishment of the local population, undermining the foundations of traditional culture. At the end of the nineteenth century. population growth slowed down, disease and alcohol led to an increase in mortality. By the 20s. 20th century the impoverishment of the Commander Aleuts reached its limit. After graduation civil war on Far East the restoration of the destroyed economy on the islands began, the development of agriculture, cattle breeding, fish and sea fur trade. The process of the revival of the Aleuts included the creation in 1925 of a fur farm, the allocation in 1928 of the Commander Islands to the Aleutian national region, the participation of the people in management, the training of national intelligentsia, technical specialists. Since 1935, population growth has begun, but many of the Aleuts settle on the mainland. Along with traditional types of economy, new industries are developing - fur farming, animal husbandry and gardening. Schoolchildren from Nikolskoye ( Bering Island) learn their native language. In the late 1960s the Aleutian Folk Museum was opened, in 1994 - a folklore ensemble. The newspapers "Aleutskaya Zvezda" and "Aboriginal of Kamchatka" are published in Russian. The programs of the State Television and Radio Company "Kamchatka" systematically talk about the activities of the Aleut community, about folk holidays, rituals and customs of the natives.

In 1996, the Kamchatka Center national cultures united all national communities and the regional Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North into the Association of Commander Aleuts. Since 1999, it has been called the Aleut Association "Ansarko".

article from the encyclopedia "The Arctic is my home"

   BOOKS ABOUT THE ALEUTS
Aleuts: Peoples of America // Series "Peoples of the World". M., 1959. T. 1.
Bank T. Cradle of the Winds. M., 1960.
Konopatsky A. The legend of the tree of life //SE. 1976. No. 6.
Lyapunova R.G. Aleuts. Essays on ethnic history. L., 1987.
Lyapunova R.G. Essays on the ethnography of the Aleuts. L., 1975.

In Russia, the Aleuts live on the Commander Islands (Medny, Bering Islands), while most of them live in the USA (Alaska, the Aleutian Islands).

Language, dialects.

The language is the Eskimo-Aleut family of languages. The language supposedly separated 3-4 thousand years ago and was one of the ancient dialects of the Eskimo language. On Bering Island, the Atka dialect of the Aleut language was widespread, and on Medny Island a new dialect was formed based on the Atka dialect and the Russian language. When communicating, the inhabitants of these islands hardly understood each other.

Origin, settlement.

The history of the study of the Aleuts begins with the discovery of the Aleutian Islands in 1741 by the Second Kamchatka Expedition (1732–1743). Russian navigators, researchers, industrialists collected data on the culture of the people. For a long time there were two hypotheses of their origin. According to one, the Aleuts came from the northeast Asian coast, according to another, from Alaska. Studies prove that the formation of the anthropological type, language and culture took place 6000-4600 years ago. There is an assumption that the Aleuts were the southern group of the Eskimos, according to other sources - they stood out as an independent ethnic group (from the Greek ethnos - "people") for a long time.

Their number in the middle of the XVIII century reached 12-15 thousand people. Since 1799, the Russian-American Company ruled the Aleutian Islands and the adjacent part of Alaska, and in order to develop the uninhabited Commander Islands, the company resettled part of the Aleuts there. In the future, the population of the Commander Islands was replenished not only by Aleuts, but also by Creoles (descendants of Europeans and Aleuts) and Russian industrialists from Atka Island and from California, who married Aleuts. Bering Island was inhabited mainly by people from Atka, in 1827 there were already 110 of them. In 1900, 279 Aleuts lived on Bering Island, and 253 people from Attu Island lived on Medny Island. Now 550 Aleuts live on the Commanders. The main goal of the Russian-American Company was to preserve their traditional economy as a reliable source of profit. Officials appointed clerks and kayakers to organize fishing on remote islands. The official status of the Aleuts was approaching the status of foreigners of the Russian Empire; they paid yasak to the treasury (in Russia of the 15th-20th centuries, the tax in kind from the peoples of Siberia and the North was mainly furs). Since 1821, the Aleuts have been recognized as Russian subjects.

In 1867, the Aleutian Islands, along with Alaska, were sold to the United States. In Russia, the Aleuts remained only on the Commanders. From 1891 to 1917, various commercial and industrial companies rented the islands.

The name "Aleut" was given by the Russians and is first found in documents of 1747, presumably comes from the Chukchi aliat - "island", aliut - "islanders" or from allitkhukh - "detachment, army, community" (there is also an assumption that this is a modified word alut , which was called the inhabitants of the village of Alyutorsky on the eastern coast of Kamchatka). The ethnonym (from the Greek ethnos - "people", onima - "name": the self-name of the people) of the Mednov Aleuts - sasignan, saskinan, of the Bering - unangan, negosis, negogahvs. The name "Aleuts" took root at the beginning of the 20th century.

Writing.

The first grammar of the Aleutian language was compiled at the beginning of the 19th century on the basis of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Crafts, craft tools, means of transportation.

The features of the life of the Commander Aleuts were determined by the isolation of the islands. Until 1867, their population continued to work for the Russian-American Company: they harvested furs, meat and fat from marine animals, preserving the traditional culture. The main place was occupied by hunting for marine animals from a canoe and the extraction of seals on land.

Fishing began at the end of April. They fished from spring to autumn. In mid-July, they hunted birds with the help of throwing spears (shatin) and a throwing projectile (bola) - a bunch of belts with stone or bone weights at the ends. Having untwisted, the bolas were thrown into the flock, and the bird entangled in the belts became the prey of the hunter. Birds were also caught in bird markets with a large net on a long pole (chirucha), as well as nets. In winter, seals hunted from the shore. The sea beaver (sea otter) was caught on the high seas with the help of a harpoon - a throwing spear on a long rope; sea ​​lions and walruses hunted on rookeries; the seal was lured ashore by a decoy - an inflated seal skin, imitating the cry of a female; whales were hunted with a spear, the tip of which was smeared with aconite poison. After 2–3 days, the sea threw the carcass of the animal ashore.

Harpoons and spears were thrown with the help of spear throwers - wooden planks 50–70 centimeters long with a longitudinal groove, finger grooves at one end and a bone stop at the other. Bows, arrows and guns were also known.

An important role in sea hunting was played by a canoe - a flat-bottomed boat with a wooden frame, covered with sea lion or seal skin, and a kayak - a closed leather boat with a wooden frame and a hatch hole where the hunter sat down (the prototype of a sports kayak). It was steered with a two-bladed oar. With the advent of firearms, two-hitch canoes began to be made (during the shooting, the second rower had to maintain balance).

Some devices for movement, uncharacteristic for the culture of the Aleuts, also spread. On Bering Island, for example, sleds (sledges) with dog sleds appeared, on Medny Island - short, wide skis lined with seal skins.

From stone, men made knives, axes, arrowheads and spearheads, vessels for cooking, fat lamps with moss wicks for lighting and heating the home. Women sewed and embroidered clothes, made covers for canoes, wove mats and baskets. The pekulka, a wide short and slightly curved knife, was a female universal tool of labor. The needles were made from bird bones.

Dwellings.

The villages were located on the sea coast, often at the mouths of rivers and consisted of two to four large semi-dugouts (ulagams). For them, high, open places were chosen so that it was convenient to observe marine animals and the approach of enemies. Semi-dugouts were built from driftwood, covered with dry grass, skins and turf. Several quadrangular openings were left in the roof for entry, climbed there along a log with notches.

The dwelling accommodated from 10 to 40 families. Inside, bunks were built along the walls. Each family lived on its part of the bunks, separated from each other by poles and curtains. Utensils were stored under the bunks. In the summer they moved to separate light buildings.

In the 19th century, the traditional semi-dugout changed: the walls and roof, made of poles and boards, were covered with turf. At the top was a hatch for lighting, on the side - an exit through a small canopy. They illuminated the dwellings with fat lamps, sometimes they laid stoves. Along with traditional utensils, they used imported factory-made utensils.

Cloth.

The traditional clothing was a parka - long deaf (without a slit in front) clothing made from the fur of a fur seal, sea otter, bird skins. A kamleyka was worn over it - deaf waterproof clothing made from the intestines of marine animals with sleeves, a deaf 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 guts and throats, and sealskin trousers have been preserved. Men's and women's clothing completely coincided in cut and decorations. Later, a new type of clothing appeared - brodni - trousers made of sea lion throats, to which waterproof torbasas were sewn - soft boots made from the skin of marine animals. In everyday life they wore European clothes.

Fishing headdresses were wooden hats of a conical shape (for leaders - toyons) or without a top, with a very elongated front part (for ordinary hunters), richly decorated with polychrome painting, carved bone, feathers, sea lion mustaches. They were put on the hood of a kamlika. Hats were hollowed out from a whole piece of wood, then steamed out and, having given the desired shape, painted in bright colors with intricate ornaments. From the sides and back they were decorated with carved walrus tusk plates, engraved with a geometric ornament, 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. A 50-centimeter sea lion mustache was inserted into the side holes of the plate, the number of which depended on the hunting merit of the owner. These hats were worn only by men.

Festive and ceremonial headdresses were hats of various shapes made of leather and bird skins with decorations, leather bands with patterned seams.

Decorations.

An integral part of the festive decoration is necklaces, bracelets and anklets, inserts and pendants in holes made in the lips 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 face and body, but with the beginning of contacts with the Russians, this tradition began to weaken.

Food, its preparation.

Meat and fish were eaten raw, fried or boiled. For the future, they stocked up mainly dried fish and whale oil. The latter was kept in bubbles from the stomachs of marine animals.

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 association with its own name and dialect. Presumably, these were tribes consisting of tribal communities - associations of persons related by blood relations and the name of a common ancestor. The tribal group was headed by toyon. He either received power by inheritance, or was elected. His duties included trade and political relations, court cases, protection of sea animal rookeries, and control of other lands. As a military leader, the leader had economic advantages only after military campaigns and trade deals; in everyday economic activities, he was entitled to an equal share with everyone.

In addition to the leader, the tribal group was headed by a council of elders. There are references in the literature to the existence of ancestral communal houses for meetings and celebrations.

The Aleuts had slaves (kalga) - mostly prisoners of war. The slave participated in ordinary economic activities, in wars. For courage or for good work, he could be 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 matrilineal norms (from Latin mater - "mother" and linea - "line": maternal kinship accounts); cross-cousin marriages (from the English cross - "cross" and the French cusin - "cousin": marriages of cousins ​​\u200b\u200band sisters are a relic of a group marriage concluded between members of two clans); polygamy and polyandry, avunculat (from Latin avunculus - "mother's brother") - the custom of maternal uncle patronage in relation to nephews; hospitable hetaerism (the custom according to which the husband provided his wife for the night to the guest).

In the 19th century, tribal communities disintegrated. With the adoption of Christianity by the middle of the 19th century, kalym basically disappeared - a ransom for a wife and working for a wife replacing it (a husband lived in the family of his wife's parents for one or two years and helped run the household), as well as polygamy, polyandry and hospitable hetaerism. At the same time, the ceremonies of matchmaking and weddings spread.

Religion.

Traditional beliefs are characterized by animism (from Latin anima, animus - "soul", "spirit") - ideas about the soul as a life force and the existence of good and evil spirits and their influence on human life. The spirits of ancestors were revered, whose images made of stone, bone, wood and bird skins were inherited as personal amulets. Protective spirits were depicted by wooden masks that were worn during ritual dances.

Among the Aleuts, shamanism was widespread, in the mythology of which there were ideas about different worlds. The shaman costume, like that of some peoples of Siberia, symbolized a bird.

In addition to animism and shamanism, there was also hunting magic (from the Greek mageia - "witchcraft", "magic"), which consisted in the rituals of summoning the beast, in special hunting prohibitions and wearing amulets that protect the owner.

At the end of the 18th century, the Aleuts, having experienced a strong influence of Russian culture, were converted to Orthodoxy. Schooling and bilingualism spread. Religious books appeared, translated into the Aleut language. Characteristically, some natives became missionaries. The Aleuts still remain staunch adherents of Orthodoxy, religious rites are performed in Russian and Aleut languages.

Burial rite.

The dead were buried in a sitting position. Family burials were placed in small depressions among the rocks. There they also put the tools of the deceased, weapons, dishes, ritual masks and personal amulets (objects with supernatural, magical properties). Noble people were buried together 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.

Holidays.

One of the main holidays - the winter solstice - was accompanied by dances, dramatic performances of hunting scenes and mythological scenes, and distribution of gifts. The rites that preceded the hunting season were famous for pantomime and dancing to the accompaniment of singing and tambourine. The performers wore special headdresses and wooden masks.

Folklore, musical instruments.

Folklore has not been sufficiently studied, its fundamental research has not been conducted. 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 plots. The most common are myths about the spirits of animals - patrons and etiological (explaining the cause of various phenomena) legends about the initial immortality of people, the origin of people from a dog that fell from the sky, etc. The heroic epic includes legends about the ancestors, about the fight against cannibals, about the resettlement of people from the mainland to the islands, stories about the campaigns of the eastern groups of the Aleuts to the west, about blood feuds that led to cruel wars, etc. Everyday stories tell about fishing trips and travels; legends - about runaway Aleuts hiding from Russians in caves, on distant travels; satirical stories - about a hunter who died from gluttony inside a whale. Many plots reflect traditional family relations: infidelity of a husband or a jealous wife, cohabitation of a hero with a cousin's wife, hostile relations between a son-in-law and a brother-in-law (wife's brother), etc.

Song folklore was extremely developed. At the holidays, men, to the sound of a tambourine, sang the exploits of their ancestors, daring in fishing, dexterity in managing a canoe. During games, ritual actions and performance of fairy tales, they sang to the accompaniment of a multi-stringed plucked sword-shaped zither (chacha), which was later replaced by a guitar.

From the history of economic, social, cultural development. The predatory exploitation of the fisheries by American and Russian companies led to the impoverishment of the local population, undermining the foundations of traditional culture. At the end of the 19th century, population growth slowed down, illness and alcohol led to an increase in mortality. By the 1920s, the impoverishment of the Commander Aleuts reached its limit.

After the end of the civil war in the Far East, the restoration of the destroyed economy on the islands began, the development of agriculture, cattle breeding, fish and sea fur trade. The process of the revival of the Aleuts included the creation of a fur farm in 1925, the allocation of the Commander Islands to the Aleutian National Region in 1928, the participation of the people in management, the training of national intelligentsia and technical specialists. Since 1935, population growth began, but many of the Aleuts settled on the mainland. Along with the traditional types of economy, new industries began to develop - fur farming, animal husbandry and gardening.

contemporary cultural life.

Schoolchildren in the village of Nikolskoye (Bering Island) are learning their native language. In the late 1960s, the Aleutian Folk Museum was opened, in 1994 - a folklore ensemble. The newspapers "Aleutskaya Zvezda" and "Aboriginal of Kamchatka" are published in Russian. The broadcasts of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company "Kamchatka" systematically tell about the activities of the Aleut community, about folk holidays, rituals and customs of the natives.

In 1996, the Kamchatka Center for National Cultures united all national communities and the regional Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North into the Association of Commander Aleuts. Since 1999, it has been called the Aleut Association "Ansarko".

Published according to the polar encyclopedia of a schoolchild "The Arctic is my home", the volume "Peoples of the North of the Earth" (M., 1999).

ALEUTS - (self-name - Unangai), the people, the indigenous population of the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula (USA) and the Commander Islands ( Russian Federation, 644 people). The Aleut language of the Eskimo-Aleut family of languages. Believers are mostly Orthodox.

resettlement

They live in the Aleutian Islands, the north of the Alaska Peninsula and neighboring islands (8 thousand people). On the Commander Islands, according to the 2002 census, there are 592 people.

The number of Aleuts in the middle of the XVIII century. - 12-15 thousand people In the 1980s 1815 people lived on the Aleutian Islands, incl. in Unalaska - 178, Sand Point - 360, King Cove - 283, pos. St. George - 163, St. Paul - 450 people. In Alaska, in Anchorage - 1512 people, in Kodiak - 573 people.

History of the people

On an anthropological basis, the Aleuts, together with the Eskimos, stand out in the Arctic type of the Pacific branch of the great Mongoloid race. The language belongs to the Eskimo-Aleut family, presumably separated 3-4 thousand years ago. IN AND. Jochelson considered it one of the archaic dialects of the Eskimo language. The dialects of the Aleut language are Eastern, or Unalashkin (Alaska Peninsula, Unalashka, Umnak, Pribylova Islands), Western, or Attov (Attu, Medny Islands) and the Atka subdialect close to it (Atka and Bering Islands). The first grammar of the Aleut language was compiled by I.E. Veniaminov at the beginning. 19th century based on Cyrillic. Since the 1970s written in Latin (based on eastern and western dialects), in schools teaching is conducted in the native and English languages. The name "Aleut" was given by the Russians and was first found in documents in 1747. There are a number of versions about the origin of the ethnonym "Aleut": according to the similarity of the islanders with the Teleuts, or Eleuts, who lived in the Tomsk province (XVIII century); by the name "alant", which the Russians in Kamchatka gave to any nameless cliff in the sea (K.T. Khlebnikov, 1830-1840); according to I.E. Veniaminov (1840), when they saw the Russians, the islanders asked each other: “alik-uaya” (abbreviated as aliuaya) - “what is this?”. Not being able to find out. the name of the natives, the Russians began to call them Aliuts (later Aleuts); according to G.A. Menovshchikov, the ethnonym arose from the Chukchi allitkhukh (detachment, army, community); according to L.S. Berga (1935) - from the Chukchi alyat - island, alyut - islanders. The Aleut self-name is Unangan (Eastern dialect) or Unangas (Western dialect). There were also local names for the inhabitants of various islands: sasignan, saskinan (Near Islands), kagun (Rat Islands), akugun (Four Hills Islands), kigigun (Krenitsyna and Unalashka), kagan tayagungin (Shumagin, Alaska Peninsula), unimgin (Unimak), kaulyangin, kagulingin (Umnak, Unalashka), nigugin, niyagungin (Atka), namigun, negbo (Andreyanovsky Islands). The history of the study of the Aleuts begins with the discovery in 1741 of the Aleutian Islands by the Great Northern (Second Kamchatka) Expedition (1733–1743). Russian researchers, industrialists, missionaries collected data on the culture of the Aleuts. The studies of G.A. Sarycheva, I.E. Veniaminova, V.I. Jochelson. Last spent in the Aleutian Islands in 1909–1910 archaeological excavations. From con. nineteenth century the study of the Aleuts was increasingly concentrated on the problem of their origin.

For a long time there were 2 hypotheses. According to one (Steller, Veniaminov, Quimby, Collins, de Laguna, Heizer, Kozyreva), the Aleuts came from the northeast of the Asian coast. According to another (Doll, Jochelson, Grdlichka, Spaulding, Bank) - from Alaska. Research by G.F. Debets, M.G. Levin, V. Laflin, N.N. Dikova, R.S. Vasilevsky prove that the formation of the anthropological type, language and culture of the Aleuts took place in their modern territories 6000–4600 BC. According to one of the points of view (Kvimby), the Aleuts constituted the southern group of the Eskimos, according to others (Doll, Jochelson, Tokareva, Grdlichka, Bergsland, Laughlin), the Aleuts stood out as an independent ethnic group for a long time. Judging by the common very rare blood type N among the Eskimos and Indians, there are deep ethnogenetic roots of the ancestors of the Eskimo-Soaleus and American Indians. K ser. XVIII century the population of each island or group of islands was a territorial association with its own name and dialect.

economy

The type of traditional economy of the Aleuts was determined natural conditions islands. The Bering Sea is rich in pinnipeds and whales. The abundance of fish in the seas was complemented by the seasonal movement of red fish for spawning in the island rivers. Numerous rocky islands with bird colonies made it possible to fish for birds and eggs. The intertidal zone served as a gathering place for shellfish, seaweed, and the like. Of secondary importance was the collection of berries, roots and herbs. Meat and fish were eaten raw, dried or boiled. For the future, they stocked up mainly dried fish and whale oil (it was kept in bubbles from the stomachs of marine animals). The hunt began at the end of April. From May to autumn they caught spawning fish. In mid-July, they hunted birds. In winter, seals hunted from the shore. The sea beaver (otter) was hunted on the high seas with a light fixed harpoon (beaver arrow). When hunting for sea lions and seals, a heavy fixed harpoon was used, which was thrown without the help of a throwing board. Swivel harpoons were used when hunting bearded seals and others. Sea lions were killed on rookeries, driving them away from the water with sticks (dredges) and spears. The seal was lured to the shore with a decoy - an inflated seal skin, imitating the cry of a female. Whales were hunted with a spear, the tip of which was smeared with poison. After 2–3 days, the dead animal was washed ashore. Birds were caught with shatin and metat throwing spears. bola projectile - a bundle of belts with stone or bone weights at the ends, which was thrown, giving it a rotational motion, into a flock of birds. At the same time, the bird became entangled in the belts. Harpoons and spears were thrown with the help of spear throwers - wooden planks 50–70 cm long with a longitudinal groove, finger grooves at one end and a bone stop at the other. Bows and arrows were also known. Fish were caught by fishing, during spawning they were beaten with spears or caught with nets, having previously built a dam on the river. An important role in sea hunting was played by a canoe - a frame boat made of sea lions or sealskin. Sitting in a round hole in waterproof clothing, the hunter tightly pulled its edges around the belt. For insurance against an accident, bladders made of inflated seal skins or sea lions' stomachs were tied to the canoe. With the penetration of firearms proliferation. two-hatch canoes; while shooting, the second rower had to keep his balance. Multi-oared open canoes were used to transport children and women, cargo, as well as in military campaigns. Men were engaged in the manufacture of weapons, tools, stone and wooden utensils. Stone was used to make knives, axes attached to wooden handles, arrowheads and spearheads, cooking vessels, fat lamps for lighting and heating the dwelling, burning on whale oil (the wick was made of moss). Women sewed, embroidered clothes, made upholstery for canoes, wove mats and baskets. The Aleuts developed all types of woven weaves from grow. fibers. Aleutian weaving for high craftsmanship. silk, it was different from the Eskimo and Indian. The pekulka, a wide short and slightly curved knife, was a female universal tool of labor. The needles were made from bird bones. The Aleut settlements were located on the sea coast, often at the mouths of rivers. High, open places were chosen so that from there it was convenient to observe the course of marine animals and the approach of enemies. The settlements consisted of 2–4 large semi-dugouts (ulagamakh). They were built from a fin, covered with dry grass, skins and turf on top. Several quadrangular openings were left in the roof for entry, climbed there along a log with notches. Inside, bunks were built along the walls. The house accommodated 10–40 families. The family lived on their part of the bunks, separated from each other by pillars and canopies. Utensils were stored under the bunks. For the summer, each family moved to a building such as a hut or semi-dug out of whale bones and a fin (ulak) - this type of dwelling was more common among the Eastern Aleuts. Ulyaki also served as storage for food and hunting equipment.

Cloth

The traditional clothing of the Aleuts was a parka - a long deaf jacket made of fur of a seal, sea otter, bird skins, women's - from the skins of sea beavers or seals with fur inside. A kamleika was worn over it - waterproof clothing made from the intestines of marine animals with sleeves, a blind collar and a hood. The edges of the hood and sleeves were tightened with laces. Both parkas and kamleikas were decorated with embroidered stripes and fringes. Men's and women's clothing matched in cut, somewhat differing in decorations. The shoes were torbasa - boots made from the skin of marine animals. An older type of torbasov was a wide top with a sewn-on sole. The Aleuts did not make their own shoes, they exchanged torbas with the Eskimos. Men-hunters also wore trophy shoes.

Fishing headdresses were richly decorated with polychrome painting, carved bone, feathers, sea lion mustaches, wooden hats of a conical shape (for “toyon” leaders) or without a top with a very elongated front part (for ordinary hunters). They were put on a hood over a camleyka. According to S.V. Ivanov, Aleutian hats date back to the most ancient zoomorphic headdresses and are associated with hunting magic. G. Collins, T. Matiassen, T. Jenness suggested a connection between their ornament and the ancient Bering Sea culture and through it with the ancestors of the Melanesians, Ainu, and Amur peoples. Such headdresses among the Aleuts were especially common during the period of Russian colonization: they were worn during contacts with Russian leaders - to distinguish them from ordinary fellow tribesmen. They were made by chiselling from a single piece of wood, which was then steamed, giving it the desired shape. (Later - from several pieces of wood, fastened with an overlap.) The finished hat was painted in white, black, red, blue, green and yellow flowers(ornament - stripes, lines of dots, circles, semicircles, strokes, curvilinear patterns of curls, paired and sigma-shaped spirals and rosettes; sometimes plot drawings), from the sides and back they were decorated with carved walrus tusk plates engraved geometrically. an ornament, into which paint was rubbed. A bone figurine of a bird or animal was attached to the top of the back plate. Steller's mustaches were inserted into the side holes of the plate. up to 50 cm. The number of whiskers depended on the hunting qualities of the owner and spoke of the number of walruses he had caught.

Festive and ceremonial headdresses were hats of various shapes made of leather and bird skins with decorations, leather bands with patterned seams. Hats were reserved only for men.

They wore necklaces, bracelets and anklets, inserts and pendants in holes made in the lips and near the lips, in the nose, along the edges of the auricle and in the earlobe, made of bone, stone, wooden and slate sticks, feathers, sea lion mustache, grass and plant roots. There were widespread tattoo and face and body painting. With the beginning of contacts with the Russians and the adoption of baptism, they disappeared from everyday life.

Aleut associations

The territorial associations of the Aleuts consisted of tribal groups that considered their origin from a common ancestor, headed by their leader, who received power either by inheritance or was elected. His duties included trade and political relations, court cases, protection of sea animal rookeries, control over other lands, and military administration. The leader had economic advantages only after military campaigns and trade deals; in everyday life he was entitled to an equal share with everyone. In addition to the leader, the tribal group was headed by a council of elders. There are references to ancestral communal houses, there were elements of secret male unions with typical imitations, disguise, intimidation of women, and secrecy. Young men were accepted on the recommendation of their uncle on the mother's side or (less often) the father's. There were also women's secret unions that arranged dances on the full moon, which were forbidden for men. The account of kinship is patri-, matri- and bilateral. Marriage is patri- and matrilocal. There were avunculate, cousin marriages, polygamy, sororate, levirate, fraternal polyandry. The Aleuts had slaves (kalga) - mostly prisoners of war. A slave participated in ordinary economic activities, in wars, for courage or for good work, he could be set free. It is assumed that slavery among the Aleuts developed later than among the Indians of the northwestern coast of America (Tlingit, Kwakiutl, etc.).

Religion

In the nineteenth century tribal communities broke up. With the adoption of Christianity to Ser. nineteenth century Basically, working off for a wife and bride price, polygamy and hospitable hetaerism disappeared. The traditional beliefs of the Aleuts are characterized by animism, ideas about the existence of good and evil spirits. Evil spirits mainly sent sickness. The spirits of ancestors were revered, whose images made of stone, bone, wood, bird skins were inherited as personal amulets. Protective spirits were also depicted by wooden masks worn during ritual dances. Shamanism was widespread. Shamanic mythology included ideas about different worlds, about the infusion of disease-causing spirits into a person. Like some peoples of Siberia, the shaman costume symbolized a bird. There was also hunting magic - rites of summoning the beast, special hunting prohibitions, wearing amulets; The Aleuts believed that by putting on a skin, a person turns into an appropriate animal that protects the owner.

The calculation of months began in March. Their names were associated with local features of the annual economic cycle and varied among different groups Aleuts.

Family burials were located in small depressions among the rocks. The dead were given a sitting position. Tools of the deceased, weapons, utensils, ritual masks and personal amulets were placed in the burials. Noble Aleuts were embalmed, buried (often with their slaves) in caves, a painted pillar was placed at the entrance, or the bodies of the deceased were hung in baskets between two pillars.

One of the main holidays of the Aleuts - the winter solstice - included dancing, performances of hunting scenes and mythological scenes, distribution of gifts. The rites preceding the hunting season were accompanied by pantomime and dancing to the accompaniment of singing and tambourine. The performers put on ritual headdresses and wooden masks depicting the respective heroes.

From con. XVIII century Aleuts converted to Orthodoxy were strongly influenced by Russian culture. They spread the rites of matchmaking and weddings. Religious books were translated into the Aleutian language, some of the missionaries came from the natives. The Aleuts still remain adherents of Orthodoxy, conduct services in Russian and Aleut. Since 1799, the territory of the Aleutian Islands and the adjacent part of Alaska was controlled by the Russian-American Company (RAC). The former spontaneous contacts of the Aleuts with Russian industrialists were replaced by organized management. The main goal of the RAC in relation to the Aleuts was the desire to preserve their traditional economy as a reliable source of profit. Officials appointed clerks and kayakers to organize fishing on remote islands. The official status of the Aleuts approached the status of other foreigners of the Russian Empire, they paid yasak to the treasury, from 1821 they were recognized as Russian subjects.

In 1867 the Aleutian Islands, together with Alaska, were sold to the United States. Initially, their territory was under military control, and in 1884 received the status of a district. The Aleuts maintained contacts with whalers and fur traders. Since 1887, in connection with the discovery of a gold deposit in Alaska, its industrial development began, and the number of newcomers increased sharply. The fish canning industry developed in the Aleutian Islands.

The activities of the missionaries had a great influence on the culture of the natives. The assimilation of the Aleuts accelerated, especially through schools that taught in English language. All this had a destructive effect on their traditional culture and way of life. In 1912, Alaska (with the Aleutian Islands) received the status of a territory with local self-government. Since 1915, like the entire indigenous population of Alaska, the Aleuts were equated in rights with the US Indians and placed under the care of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1924 they received citizenship rights. In 1959 Alaska became a US state.