Abstracts
Abstract
Nineteenth-century ethnohistoric sources describe rituals and beliefs related to the exploitation of walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) on the islands of the Bering Sea and the coast of Chukotka. These small-scale rites practiced by St. Lawrence Islanders, Siberian Yupiget, and Chukchi were intended to thank walrus and ensure future hunting success. Rituals conducted by walrus boat captains also facilitated integration of walrus hunting crews and their families. Archaeological evidence for the antiquity of walrus-related ritual is provided by concentrations of walrus skulls in structures and deposition of walrus bones in cemeteries. The centrality of walrus to subsistence, material culture, and ritual life of coastal peoples deserves more scholarly attention in both archaeological and historical reconstructions of Yupik and Chukchi multispecies pasts.
Keywords:
- Alaska,
- Chukotka,
- human–animal relations,
- ritual,
- walrus,
- zooarchaeology
Résumé
Les sources ethnohistoriques du XIXe siècle décrivent les rituels et les croyances liés à l’exploitation du morse (Odobenus rosmarus) dans les îles de la mer de Béring et de la côte de la Tchoukotka. Ces rites à petite échelle pratiqués par les habitants du l’île Saint-Laurent, les Yupiget de Sibérie et les Tchouktches avaient pour but de remercier les morses et d’assurer le succès de la chasse à l’avenir. Les rituels menés par les capitaines de bateaux de morses ont également facilité l’intégration des équipes de chasseurs de morses et de leurs familles. Les preuves archéologiques de l’antiquité du rituel du morse sont fournies par des concentrations de crânes de morse dans des structures et par le dépôt d’os de morse dans des cimetières. La centralité du morse pour la subsistance, la culture matérielle et la vie rituelle des peuples côtiers mérite une plus grande attention de la part des érudits dans les reconstructions archéologiques et historiques des « passés multispécifiques » des Yupiget et des Tchouktches.
Mots-clés:
- Alaska,
- Tchoukotka,
- relations homme-animal,
- rituel,
- morse,
- zooarchéologie
Appendices
References
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