Some Savage Tribes of Siberia

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 116, 6 August 1927, Page 24

Some Savage Tribes of Siberia

Primitive Samoyedes and Stone Worship.. The Unconquered Chukchi s. . . Superstitious Buriats

■ N considering Russia, of which so much is heard and read these days, it has to be remembered that a great proportion tion of its population of between two and three hundred millions consists of savage and semi savage races. There are, for instance, the Siberians, a hardy race, as they must needs be to exist in such a severe climate. In their market places everything is frozen in the winter months. Milk is sold in chunks, and fish and meat have to be chopped up with an axe. Of the native Siberian peoples, the Samoyedes are the most primitive. They live within the Arctic Circle in tents of reindeer skin, of which they also make their clothes. They live by hunting and fishing, and at the beginning of winter they move south with their herds ' of reindeer to the forest districts, returning to the north in the spring (says an article in “Lands and People”). They have many strange beliefs and customs. For instance, they worship enormous stones weighing many thousands of tons, which were probably deposited by glaciers in the early Ice Age. The Samoyedes regard these stones with great reverence, for they believe that the Creator himself brought them there. A wife is purchased with so many reindeer, the number varying between one and a hundred according to her beauty and the social position of her family. Her dowry consists of furs and a reindeer for driving, and if the husband finds that she is lazy, he can send her back to

her parents, though he cannot recover the price he paid for her. This often suits the parents, as they can sell her again and so get more money. The Samoyedes are a hospitable race and are kind and generous to travellers, doing everything in their power to make them comfortable. A Savage Unconquered Race In northern Siberia we find another race—the Chukchis, who are remarkable as being of the few tribes on the earth’s surface who have remained unconquered. They have successfully resisted all efforts to annex their country. Some years ago the Russians did send a small force which was more an exploring expedition than an army of invasion, but not a man returned. Their fate still remains a complete mystery. The Chukchis gain a living by spearing seals and walrus irom their skin canoes and by tracking the Polar bear, which is a dangerous task in the spring when the ice breaks up into bergs and floes. Many of the floes are several square miles in area, and on them the hunters are sometimes carried away, never to return. The Chukchi dwelling is a semi-circular tent of walrus and seal hide, seal oil being used to provide light. Both the men and the women dress alike in suits made from seal, walrus and reindeer skins. The Chukchis Rave no real religion, and have a cruel custom of killing the aged, the sick and the infirm. The sentence of death is accepted without question; indeed, those condemned will even give a feast before their execution, and at the end of it readily submit to being speared or to being strangled with a walrus thong. The chief occupation of the people is preparing seal and walrus hides. This is done by the women, who chew the tough skins for hours at a stretch, with the result that within a year or two the teeth are worn down to the gums, like those of the Eskimo women. Strange Belief of the Buriats Further east, in the province of Transbaikalia, which is said to be the moot attractive in Siberia, we meet the Buriats. The province has many mountains and valleys, and in it is Lake Baikal, the deepest and the third laigest lake in the world. The natives there look upon it as a holy lake, and there are many places on its shores which are regarded with superstitious awe and are even objects of worship. The Buriats are a race of Mongolian origin, with square faces, flat foieheads and rather high cheekbones.

The most numerous of all the n®* Siberan races, they are found on V* sides of the immense lake. Tib? P~ a living chiefly by cattle-breecing-rich Buriat will own ten then®** head or even more, and most of th® trading is done by means ot They are Buddhists by religiol T have some queer superstitions, believe that the sky has a through which the gods loth time to time to see how the afT*!** the world are p-ogressing. The province of Yakutsk Is 5 ‘ be the coldest region on the surface. In winter the goes to 90 degrees below zeioYakuts have many quaint eusloP L pecially in connection with n> Two riders, one each from_ 1 and bridegroom'3 household chosen at a wedding to ride a t the loser has to wait upon tn at the marriage feast. v.ltats*' All diseases among the 1 a e(jjcitreated by the Shamans, or men, who “drive away” what in the manner of the e cers of Ceylon—by frightening spitting and blowing or ous noises with drums and 1 struments. i -vet* t In Southern Siberia there other interesting tribe—the who live in the Altai region, finest fore its of Siberia arewear their hair in short pte l *' ’ f*» habitations are tents; and their general moi .^ ing is similar to that of the