The Chukchi-Eskimo Group “Ergyron” (“Sunrise” in the Chukchi language) come from The Far North-Eastern Russia. This year they came on a three month tour of Europe to perform there Dance and music.
The Chukchi Eskimo culture reveres animals like The Orca, Wolf, Raven, Spider, the swallow and The whale. In the tales and beliefs of their people they believe that Raven created the world. The swallow (bird) is thought to protect hunters at sea. Killer whales were also revered as protectors of hunters; it was also thought that the killer whale became a wolf in winter and devoured the reindeer unless some of the reindeer submitted to the hunters. Walrus are hunted in a flatbottomed, open leather boat (angyapik) as well as in closed, leather canoes (kayaks) with the help of a harpoon tied to a sealskin float. A special whalebone clapper was used to simulate the sound of a killer whale, which drove the walrus and seal onto land where other hunters were waiting with spears and clubs.
In these photos, dressed in their seal skin clothes Ergyron performed a mixture of folklore and traditional dances for the children of Brunssum North.