Unusual Love and Sex Traditions Among the Indigenous Peoples of Northern Russia
Many of these customs can only be found in ethnographers’ academic research — and some may come as a shock. Much of this stems from the remnants of ancient magical cults that survived among some of Russia’s small ethnic groups well into the 20th century. Wife Swapping Among the Chukchi The Chukchi had a tradition called “nevtumgyt”, which ethnologists translated as “wife partnership.” Men formed a friendship pact where each had the right to sleep with the other’s wife. These unions could include more than ten couples. A man could take his friend’s wife for a few months, then return her. Sometimes, however, the guest wife stayed permanently. Children from such unions were considered shared, and the men were viewed as brothers.
This practice was strictly forbidden between actual relatives, even third cousins. According to a 1924 report in the newspaper Polar Star, women reportedly welcomed the practice. One local…
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