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Going to sea on an Eskimo baydara built in the Sireniki community.
© Photo by N.Perov.
Inspectors of the Beringia park, A. Apalyu (of the Yanrakynnot village)
and A. Borovik (from Novoye Chaplino) have photographed with digital
cameras the entire cycle of hunting for grey and Greenland whales and of onshore
game processing.
The preservation of traditional whale and pinniped hunting as well as of food
culture traditions is a key challenge facing the Chukchi Peninsula’s indigenous
population. Specialists in medical anthropology have proved that the increased
incidence in iron-deficiency anemia and myopia, the high mortality rate
among cancer patients, and the appearance of various kinds of “urban” disease,
hitherto unknown locally, are all a direct consequence of the shift of the local
population’s diets toward industrial foods. Only traditional staples, including
the flesh and fat of winnipeds and whales, can ensure good health and longevity
for the modern and future generations of the Eskimo and coastal Chukchi,
researchers say.
Characteristics have been identified for 17 local winds and their seasonal roles
in sea hunting off the Chukchi Peninsula’s Uelen coast have been described
(see V. Golbtseva, V. Vetrovoi: The Wind System of Uelen: Natural Schedule
and Traditional Knowledge//Chukchi Peninsula: Sustainable Use of Natural
Resources and Environmental Security, Magadan, 2008, Issue 12, pages 145-