This study analyses the ethnocultural specifics of understandings of patriotism, the concepts of "homeland" and "hero" among the indigenous peoples of Chukotka, and the historical memory of the Great Patriotic War in the context of modern geopolitical challenges, including the special military operation. The relevance of this study stems from the need to study the consolidating role of patriotism in a multiethnic region. The research methodology combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The theoretical framework integrates the ethnographic method, memory studies and oral history approaches, focusing on "history from below." Chukotka residents' perception of their homeland is closely linked to their place of birth, family, and nature. Patriotism is interpreted through the prism of traditional values, such as land protection, family ties, and a willingness to self-sacrifice. Thus, in the Chukchi tradition, patriotism can be understood through concepts of blood solidarity. The historical memory of the Great Patriotic War reveals the contribution of the indigenous peoples of Chukotka to the victory (volunteers at the front; construction of airfields on the AlSib highway in Markovo and Uelkal; rear support – supplies of furs, reindeer meat, fish products, marine mammals, fur clothing, fundraising, purchase of bonds, unpaid labour).

The article analyses possible reasons for the apparent imbalance in participation in the special military operation between the indigenous peoples of Chukotka and the non-indigenous population ("newcomers"). Indigenous peoples view modern participation in the special military operation as a continuation of the tradition of commemorating the Great Patriotic War and it is associated with voluntary choice, social needs, and a warrior-hunter mentality, expressed in a habit of risk-taking and fatalism.

The study revealed that the patriotism of the peoples of Chukotka is deeply rooted and based on a synthesis of ethnic traditions of defending "their land," the Soviet legacy of the Great Patriotic War and contemporary civic solidarity. 86.2% of respondents identify themselves as patriots of Russia. Patriotism is manifested through the continuity of heroism (the Great Patriotic War is a special military operation), solidarity in the face of external threats, and a deep connection to the territory.

indigenous peoples of Chukotka, ethnocultural characteristics, identity, historical memory, patriotism, homeland, heroes, the Great Patriotic War, special military operation

1.  Adiyev A. Z. Patriotic discourse in publications of humanities scholars of the Republic of Dagestan. Vestnik instituta sotziologii, 2023: 14(3): 133–148 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.19181/vis.2023.14.3.8; EDN: LXXZBO.
2. Assman A. The Long Shadow of the Past: Memorial Culture and Historical Policy. Transl. from Germ. by B. Khlebnikov. Moscow, NLO, 2014: 328 (in Russ.).
3. Assman Ya. Kulturnaya pamyat: pismo, pamyat o proshlom i politicheskaya identichnost v vysokih kulturah drevnosti [Cultural Memory: Writing, Memory of the Past, and Political Identity in the High Cultures of Antiquity]. Transl. from Germ. by M. M. Sokolskoy. Moscow: YaSK, 2004: 355 (in Russ.).
4. Baklanov V. I. On patriotism and non-patriotism in the history of Russia in the 19th–21st centuries. Filosofiya. Istoriya. Obrazovaniye, 2023: 3(9) (in Russ.). EDN: ZDKYKM.
5. Bogoraz V. G. Chukchi: Sotsial′naya organizatsiya. [Chukchi: Social organization]. 2^nd ed. Moscow, LIBROKOM, 2011: 216 (in Russ.).
6. Vasil′yeva O. V. The meanings of patriotism in the ideas of the indigenous peoples of Yakutia and Chukotka. Teoriya i praktika obshchestvennogo razvitiya, 2023: 12: 70–79 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.24158/tipor.2023.12.7; EDN: YKVIYW.
7. Vo imya naroda. Istoriya Chukotskogo avtonomnogo okruga. Organy gosudarstvennoy vlasti Chukotki [In the name of the people. History of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Government bodies of Chukotka]. Ed. by A. A. Noskov. Anadyr, Duma ChAO, 2012: 615 (in Russ.).
8. Galtseva N. V., Favstritskaya O. S., Sharypova O. A. Identifying the causes of population outflow from the successful Far Eastern Arctic region (1990–2020). Ekonomika regiona, 2024: 20: 2: 539–555 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.17059/ekon.reg.2024-2-13; EDN: ENGGGU.
9. Golovkova T. P. Aion. My Island. Ed. by T. I. Bardashevich. St. Petersburg, Almaz-Graf, 2024: 143 (in Russ.).
10. Istoriya i kul′tura chukchey. Istoriko-etnograficheskiye ocherki [History and culture of the Chukchi. Historical and Ethnographic Essays]. Leningrad, Nauka, 1987: 288 (in Russ.).
11. Istoriya Chukotki s drevneyshikh vremen do nashikh dney [History of Chukotka from Ancient Times to the Present Day]. Ed. by N. N. Dikov. Moscow, Mysl′, 1989: 492 (in Russ.).
12. History of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Russia Begins Here. Ed. by A. A. Noskov. Lavrentiya, Administratsiya Chukotskogo munitsipal′nogo rayona, 2018: 527 (in Russ.).
13. Kolomiyets O. P. Ethnic Groupsof Chukotka. People and Time. Omsk, Nauka, 2025: 340 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.70201/978-5-98806-364-3; EDN: YCFESZ.
14. Komlev V. A., Balyberdin Yu. A., Smirnov M. A., Morzunov A. P. Assessment of the Level of Pragmatic Patriotism of the Youth of the Kirov Region. Vestnik NNGU im. N. I. Lobachevskogo. Socialnye nauki, 2023: 1(69): 55–164 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.52452/18115942_2023_1_155; EDN: WPPLIW.
15. Kuznetsov I. M. Variability and Dynamics of Patriotic Attitudes of Russians in the Context of the SVO. Sotsiologicheskaya nauka i sotsial′naya praktika, 2024: 12: 4: 65–81 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.19181/snsp.2024.12.4.4; EDN: HIDDBV.
16. Kuznetsov I. M. Value Markers of Russian Identity and Patriotic Attitudes of Russians: All-Russian and Regional Context. Mezhnatsional′nyye otnosheniya, grazhdanskaya identichnost′ i integratsionnyye protsessy v polietnicheskom prostranstve Rossii, 2023: 1: 24–34 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.19181/INAB.2023.1.3; EDN: RSTOLG.
17. Leont′yev V. V. Narodnyye umel′tsy [Craftsmen. In Time. Events. People. 1946–1958]. Ed. by I. N. Kashtanov. Magadan, Kn. izd-vo, 1973: 172–191 (in Russ.).
18. Naukan and Naukanites: Stories of the Naukan Eskimos. Comp. by V. Leonova. Vladivostok, «IPK «Dal′press», 2014: 212 (in Russ.).
19. Nefedkin A. K. Military Culture of the Chukchi (mid-17th – mid-20th centuries). St. Petersburg, Lema, 2017: 456 (in Russ.).
20. Nora P. Problems of Places of Memory. France-Memory. Transl. from Fr. by D. Khapaeva. St. Petersburg, SPbGU, 1999: 17–50 (in Russ.).
21. Salnikova L. V. The Huelkalians – U’al’K’ylyg’mit. On the 100th Anniversary of the Village of Uelkal. Moscow, PressPass, 2022: 112 (in Russ.).
22. Tan-Bogoraz V. G. Klassovoye rassloyeniye chukoch olenevodov [Class Stratification of the Chukchi Reindeer Herders]. Sovetskaya etnografiya, 1931: 1–2: 93–116 (in Russ.).
23. Halbwachs M. Sotsial'nyye ramki pamyati [Social Framework of Memory]. Transl. from French by S. Zenkin. Moscow, Novoye izd-vo, 2007: 348 (in Russ.).
24. Shcheglova T. K. Russian Experience in the Development of Oral History: Organizational Structure, Directions, and Forms of Activity. 1990–2020s. Russkiy arkhiv, 2021: 9(1): 12–28 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.13187/ra.2021.1.12; EDN: HEPBEJ.
25. Shcherbina E. A. Patriotism in the Regional Dimension (using the Karachay-Cherkess Republic as an Example). Vestnik antropologii, 2023: 4: 51–58 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2023-4/51-58; EDN: PMHKSB.
26. Enmynkau N. Old people have always taught us goodness. Izhevsk, Print-2, 2016: 256 (in Russ.).