Chukchee Shamanism

Chukchee shamanism is the traditional religion of the Chukchi, the reindeer herders of the inland tundra and the sea-mammal hunters of the coast in far north-eastern Siberia. They hold that every object, living or not, has a spirit, and some of their myths describe a dualistic cosmos.

The Chukchi often lacked formal political structures, yet had a formal hierarchy of the cosmos. A shaman once told the ethnographer Bogoraz that lamps walk about, house walls have voices, and even the shadows form tribes with lands of their own.

Shamans were said to be called by spirits, dreams or omens. In ritual they fell into trances, sometimes helped by hallucinogenic mushrooms, and were believed able to fly, drive out evil spirits and heal. Some took on a woman's dress and role and could even marry men.