| Summary: | The article provides a short overview of the central Chukchi myths, concepts and beliefs concerning celestial bodies at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The Chukchi starry sky is related to their main means of making a living, breeding wild reindeer. Chukchi are one of the few Siberian peoples that have maintained their own religion. Peoples of the far north, among them the Chukchi, personified the Sun, Moon and starts. Reindeer breeders today still make sacrifices considering the help or influence of a constellation or planet, e.g. sacrifying at full moon. The Chukchi believe the most important character in the sky is the Sun. They describe it as a separate being (vaœrgœn). In addition, the special (upper/higher) beings include Creator, Dawn, Zenith, Midday and Northern Star. In Chukchi mythology, the Moon is a human-creature. He is the ketlja `bad spirit' of the Sun. Several Chukchi star myths (e.g. concerning the Northern Star and the Orion) are very similar to those of other nations.
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