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영어

Creation myths of the Chukchi tribe come in various versions according to the agents, objects and materials of the creation. The agents of creation are usually , ‘tenantomny’, and ‘raven’, and the objects of creation are the world, human beings and animals. And the materials of creation are usually clay, dust, a variety of woods, grasses and excrement. Basic narrative structure of the Chukchi creation myths is [beginning situation → mediation → end situation]. The beginning situation is ‘chaos’ including ‘darkness’, ‘not existing’, ‘few’, and the end situation is ‘order’ including ‘brightness’, ‘existing’, ‘many’. In this case, it is the mediation which converts the chaos into order. The world-view of the Chukchi is reflected in these creation myths. First, animals are anthropomorphized. Second, all things are considered animated. Third, they worship ‘va′irgit’, the supernational being beneficial for nature. Fourth, spirits of the directions reside in each four directions, among which east, west, and south are favorable directions while north is a harmful direction for humans. Fifth, the universe is symmetrically comprised of 3 worlds, ‘world above the sky’, ‘world above the earth’, and ‘world under the earth’. Sixth, кele is an evil spirit which steals the sun in the Chukchi creation myths.