Kirsti Binns
Antler on the Sea
Prologue: Fieldwork in Sireniki
· Sireniki is a small coastal village on the western side of the Bering Sea
· This book is a chronicle of Sireniki life from 1989-91
Chapter 1: The People of Sireniki
The Soviets come to Chukotka
· Korenizatsiia (1923):
Ø was essentially a policy to appease the non-Russian citizenry by promoting language,
culture, and economic
development (modernization & urbanization)
Ø the strengthening of local economies did not bring cultural homogenization but local
pride and identification with one’s
natal culture
· Between 1930-45:
Ø there was an ideological shift towards central control
Ø many safeguards of the national minority were liquidated
Ø there was a push for homogenization
Ø newcomers were sent to Sireniki to educate the indigenous peoples, to help them up the
evolutionary ladder of
socialism
· The Great Transformation took place between 1950-70:
Ø industrialization
Ø there was great pressure on the indigenous peoples to change if they were going to
survive
Sireniki’s People
· population 770: 343 Yup’ik: 221 Chukchi: 200 Newcomers
The Yup’ik
· occupied coastal communities for over 3000 years
· before sovietization they were semi-mobile hunters and gathers, primarily exploiting sea
mammals
· a close economic and spiritual identification with the sea
· patriclan organization
· identified themselves through their sense of place in Sireniki
The Chukchi
· 2 groups:
Ø Reindeer Chukchi who were nomadic reindeer herder
Ø Maritime Chukchi who were sea mammal hunters
· clan-like social structure with a patrilineal descent line
· after Sovietization the reindeer Chukchi had to relinquish their herds and settle in
Sireniki, which made them feel like
outsiders in the village
The Newcomers
· were not a single cultural group but they share some cultural assumptions
· most immigrated to Sireniki to make money or to spread socialism
· were mainly employed in economically and socially advantageous positions
· many failed to recognize that they were structurally advantageous rather than innately
more intelligent that local peoples
Chapter 2: The Social Context: Relatives, Residence, and Space
Relatives and Kin
· kinship terms are lumped by gender and generation
· many social practices have disappeared such as:
Ø patrilineal descent
Ø bride service
Ø close-kin marriage
· after sovietization all 3 groups had a bilateral kinship system
Families and Households
· family: groups of people united by production, reproduction, consumption, and
emotional bonds
· relative: someone who was believed to be consanguinally or affinially related
· families are at the core of social organization for Yup’ik and Chukchi
· because of structural, logistical and legal constraints, friendship is at the core of social
organization for newcomers
· Yup’ik and Chukchi families:
Ø live very close together if not in the same apartment
Ø were primarily matrifocal
Ø grandparents were often the primary caretakers
· families often shared residences seasonally:
Ø substandard construction
Ø herding
· families economically, emotionally, socially and physically supported each other and
they also exerted control
Female, Male, and Marriage
· gender separation and identity was sharply marked among all 3 groups
· marriage was not as important as having children
· No strong concept of illegitimacy for the Yup’ik and Chukchi
marriage was not important or a priority for many couples
· 3 ways of becoming married:
Ø living together
Ø register marriage and ceremony (resembled US civil ceremonies)
Ø bride stealing
· contemporary model for marriage is love
· 73% of marriages were endogamous
· most common exogamous marriage was between Yup’ik women and Newcomer men
Relations of Production
· kinship is vital to Yup’ik and Chukchi economic organization
· friendship (odnoklassniki) is also an important influence in economic organization
· kin relationships were extremely important: kin shared labor, social responsibilities, and
financial obligations
A Gendered Division of Labor
· gender division marked both public and domestic spheres
· at the state farm the roles of men and women were less sharply defined because of the
newcomers cultural ideals
· jobs that existed before sovietization are still very gender specific
· gender division attitudes were congruent between among all 3 groups
· to the Yup’ik and Chukchi, gender boundaries were more relevant that spiritual
boundaries
The Structure of Social Space
· all living spaces in Sireniki were apartments, 1, 2, and 3 bedroom
· related individuals usually occupied apartments together
· the state farm and village council controlled living space
· the housing code:
Ø gave preference to the individuals who had resided in the village the longest
Ø but there were many exemptions that preempted this provision
· Newcomers occupied the most modern and convenient apartments
· limited space restricted social options; native peoples were forced to prioritize core
cultural values in adaptation to the
changes brought on by the soviet system
“Although soviet policies had affected and continued to affect indigenous social
organization through
relocations, immigrations, control of space, and economic reorganization, the Chukchi
and Yup’ik of
Sireniki continued to structure and restructure their lives as well as interpret their
physical and cultural
landscape in their own ways”