Chukchi Tattoo: Historiography and the Current State of Academic Challenge
The relevance of the paper is that, based on the basic postulates of functionalism, each element of culture fulfills a certain task and has a certain importance for representatives of this culture. Therefore, the lack of enlightenment of any issue gives rise to a certain degree of misunderstanding in the study of the people's ethos. Currently traditional tattooing among the Paleo-Asian peoples is not in common practice. The problem lies in the insufficient knowledge of tattooing among the indigenous peoples of Northeast Asia. The objective of the research is to summarize the available published data about tattooing as an element of the Chukchi people's culture. The following tasks should be fulfilled: generalization and analysis of the data about tattooing among the Chukchi people and also an attempt to interpret the tattooing using the studies of tattooing in other peoples. The article discusses a number of ethnographic sources, with the help of which one can get some idea about the ritual of tattooing among the Chukchi people. The direct sources refer to the period from the end of the XVIII to the beginning of the XX centuries. The later sources mainly interpret or enlarge the data obtained during this period by means of comparing the Chukchi rituals with other peoples, in which the traditional tattoo has survived. Also we have mentioned the rite of coloring among the Chukchi people, because semantically it is close to the practice of tattooing, and also precedes it historically. The article establishes methods of tattoo drawing among the Chukchi people, and reveals the essence of the described ritual. It should be noted that it is impossible to specify the genesis of the Chukchi tattoo. Tattooing was necessary for the integration of society, the identification of individuals. It had religious significance, served as a talisman, as well as a tool for sexual selection, making it more attractive to the opposite sex. The available data are insufficient to conduct a full study of the phenomenon. Prospects of research lie in searching for unpublished archival data, as well as comparing the available information with those relating to such practices among other peoples.