Tshuktshid I

Abstract

While I was living in Chukchi I kept a diary where I recorded the more important myths and legends. The current article contains two chapters of my adventures. The first chapter provides an account of life in Leningrad in 1969 and describes the interior of restaurant «Inturist», its customers and the meeting with the Chukchi girls. The second chapter describes my life in a reindeer herd. Already in Vaeg I became to be called Jelo, which is a Chukchi name, as the Chukchi language is written in Cyrillic and the alphabet has no «Ü» letter.It also includes an account by a Chukchi herder, providing an overview of the ritual Chukchi spear, the strange symbols engraved on its blade, the rituals connected to the bequeathing of the spear, the choice of bequeather and several customs.The article presents a brief summary about the evil spirit of the Chukchi called ketja and its different shapes of appearance, who is very similar to kurat, or the Devil, a character in the Estonian mythology.