The Eskimo of Siberia

Record summary

Waldemar Jochelson’s Jesup North Pacific Expedition publication describes Siberian Yupik communities and includes religious beliefs, tales, ritual practices and observations about subsistence and maritime life. It is a useful lead for comparing Bering Strait catastrophe and origin traditions with those recorded in Alaska and Canada, especially where sea, ice, animals and ancestral migration intersect. The report is a historical ethnography, not independent proof of supernatural claims. Its categories reflect the expedition’s comparative aims, and some narratives may have been translated, abridged or detached from performance settings.