Two edited films by Andres Slapins of the Riga Film Studio, USSR, CHUKOTKA: COAST OF MEMORIES (1986), documenting Chukchi and the Siberian Eskimo peoples of the Chukotka Peninsula, and TIME OF DREAMS: SIBERIAN SHAMANISM (1982) documenting the work of several traditional shamans.
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Received from Andris Slapins in 1989.
Andris Slapins films, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Time of Dreams: Siberian Shamanism, 1982
Edited film documents the traditions and ritual practices of several Chukchi shamans. The film includes scenes at winter camps where shamans perform curing ceremonies that involve trance and reindeer sacrifice, shamanic drumming and dancing inside a skin dwelling, and the diagnosis of patients followed by "cupping" on the shoulders and back. Film includes historical footage of a Siberian shamanic performance in the Amur River area shot by Russian anthropologist A. Arsenev.
HSFA 1989.7.1
Chukotka: Coast of Memories, 1986, 1989.07.002, clip 1
Chukotka: Coast of Memories, 1986, 1989.07.002, clip 2
Edited film depicts the native peoples of the Chukotka Peninsula, the Chukchi and Siberian Eskimo, whose traditional economies are based on whaling, hunting of other sea mammals, and reindeer herding. Coastal and tundra dwelling people are linked by trading relationships and a common culture. Coastal Chukchi are shown engaged in subsistence practices indistinguishable from their ancestors while the reindeer herders are shown living in the
HSFA 1989.7.2