What do the Chukchi and Mapuche Indians have in common? How did it happen that peoples with similar cultures, traditions, and rituals live on opposite ends of the planet? Where did common words come from in two different languages?
The Russian House in Santiago opened a photo exhibition “The Chukchi – Mapuche brothers” at the Chilean Bernardo O’Higgins University. The public was presented with a series of works by Chukotka photographer, director and ethnographer Victor Puy.
“I lived with the Indians in the south of Chile and roamed with the Chukchi in the Far North. During the research it turned out that the peoples are very similar. These include shamanic practices, legends, weapons, musical traditions, and much more. We continue to study this phenomenon”, explained in his welcoming speech ethnographer, director of the Museum of Nomadic Culture in Moscow, Konstantin Kuksin.
According to the representative of the Mapuche community “Ryan Kosklla” Ricardo Inalef, he is happy to know that he has brothers on the other side of the planet. “I was extremely surprised to discover that the Chukchi and us have a lot of similarities in philosophy and rituals. We are all children of the Earth and Nature. Now I have a great desire to go to Russia and see with my own eyes how our relatives live”, Ricardo Inalef shared his impressions.
“Now many scientists are coming to the conclusion that the ancestors of modern Indians came to the New World along the “Bering Bridge” – a narrow strip of ice and land between Alaska and Chukotka.
There are studies that prove the genetic kinship of Native Americans and our northern peoples. All this suggests that we have common roots and past. This means that we are all united”, said Nina Milovidova, Head of the Russian House in Santiago.
After the presentation in Santiago, the exhibition will travel to the south of Chile – to the Mapuche region of Araucanía, and then to the island of Chiloe, where it will be seen by thousands of representatives of the indigenous people of Chile.