Secrets of Eskimo women: tattoos on their faces, fur thongs and sex with strangers

All the Eskimo men as one believe that the women of their people are the best. That is why Eskimos rarely associate their lives with representatives of other nations. They say that the women of the North are dark, slender, strong and very passionate, so is there any point in seeking happiness with others? What else do representatives of the people living in the most extreme conditions on the planet appreciate in their women?

Today, it is not often possible to meet a tattooed Eskimo, but even 50-70 years ago everything was completely different and drawings on the face and body of women were given great importance. Anthropologist Sergey Rudenko, who studied the life and culture of the Chukchi in the 40s of the 20th century, described this interesting phenomenon in his scientific work "Tattoos of Asian Eskimos".

The scientist wrote that in 1945, most northern women were tattooed and men found them very attractive. Rudenko said that the drawings covered not only the bodies of girls and women, but also their faces. On the chin and cheeks, Asian Eskimos applied broken lines, and circles were placed in the corners of the mouth.

At the same time, the anthropologist noted that the type of drawing depended on the area where the woman lived. On the coast from Cape Chaplin to the settlement of Sirenik, the Chukchi ladies had the most complex tattoos on their faces and covered a large area of the face. The lines ran from the eyes along the nose to the chin, and also passed along the forearms and hands. On the forehead, above the eyebrows, there were "crow's feet", and on the "cosmic" ornaments were intricately intertwined on the cheeks.

Rudenko learned that such tattoos were made not only for beauty. They were considered powerful amulets against diseases and helped women during childbirth. Patterns were applied to girls before marriage and it was very difficult to find a good spouse without a tattoo. Drawings were applied in a special way, using a thread-it was rubbed with soot, and then stretched under the skin. This procedure is very painful, but what not only ladies do not tolerate for the sake of beauty and family happiness.

Among the Eskimos of Alaska (Inuit), women were tattooed in the form of stripes on the chin, forehead and cheeks, located vertically. Inuit women also covered their hands and forearms with lines. Sometimes, in addition to lines, there were more complex patterns, for example, ovals, V-shaped elements called "whale tails", and tridents.

Today, tattoos are still relevant in some areas of Chukotka and Alaska, but they are mainly worn by older women. Now the girls have stopped observing the ancient traditions and if they do tattoos, they prefer the usual decorative plots for young people around the world that do not carry any sacred meaning.

Piercing has been popular among the peoples of Chukotka, Taimyr and Alaska, as well as among some Indian tribes of North America, since ancient times. Most often, women decorated themselves in this way — they pierced and cut through their noses, lips and even cheeks for this purpose.

Traditional piercing jewelry in the North is called labrettes and they are made from the bones of marine animals and from stone. Krasnoyarsk archaeologist Danila Lysenko in 2016 found two stone labrettes on the site of an ancient camp in Taimyr — one for wearing on the cheek, and the other for the lip. We made similar finds on Kamchatka.

Many travelers in the first half of the 20th century mentioned the custom of Eskimo women to wear labrettes made of mammoth or walrus bones. The decorations were very intricate in shape and for some of them three holes were made in the cheeks and lips at once. Some of these piercing jewelry was additionally equipped with pendants.

For centuries, the Chukchi and Inuit have lived in extremely difficult conditions, when they had to fight for survival every day. This has left an imprint on the relations of these peoples to women. Both Asian and American Eskimos have always chosen strong and hardy women as wives.

A skinny and sickly Eskimo woman could not count on a good marriage and most often found herself in other people's families as a farmhand. Many fairy tales and legends of the Eskimos tell about strong women who are able to move loaded sleds with one hand and walk with a spear and a knife on a polar bear or a walrus.

It happens when in an Eskimo family a woman is taller and physically stronger than a man. This is normal for peoples in which most of the heavy physical work is performed by a woman, and the husband is engaged in hunting, fishing and trading. At the same time, in the case when hunger came to the camp, first of all they tried to feed the man as a breadwinner. If the breadwinner weakened or died, the whole family was waiting for death.

Few people know that for the first time thongs appeared... in Greenland. Eskimos living on the ice island have long worn naatsit-small panties made of short and smooth fur of fur seals. These polar thongs had no special practical significance and were worn by women as summer clothes.

In such a fur thong, the hostess could work near the yaranga and even go for berries. The only explicable purpose of naatsit is to conquer the hearts of men, and to make these swimming trunks even more attractive, they were embroidered with red, white and yellow beads.

For sure, a dark, slender beauty in a thong, picking berries in the tundra or butchering a deer, is a very exciting sight for a northern man. In the life of Eskimos, sex occupies a significant place, especially in the winter, which lasts up to 8 months. As a rule, women gave birth to children one after another, but not all survived in harsh conditions.

And there are real legends about the debauchery of Eskimo women. Allegedly, the women of Chukotka and Alaska willingly give themselves to strangers with the consent of their husband, observing the laws of hospitality. The basis for such stories are stories about the ancient northern custom "areodyarekput", the existence of which is dictated not by lust, but again by harsh living conditions.

Asian and American Eskimos do not have the concept of "virgin" — they say very simply — "not yet used by a man". A single woman will never be called an "old maid" or "abandoned", but they will say very delicately -" living separately". And it is also not customary for Eskimos to pry into someone else's personal life and gossip behind their backs — this is something we should learn from them.