Daurkin (Tangitan), Nikolay Ivanovich (About 1734–After 1795)

Daurkin (Tangitan), Nikolay Ivanovich (about 1734 – after 1795) – a Chukchi traveler, Arctic mariner, cartographer, and Chukchi Peninsula and Alaska explorer. He was of the Chukchi origin and was brought up by the Cossack squadron commander D.I. Pavlutskiy. In 1760, he left for Tobolsk where he was accepted into the Cossack squadron due to his knowledge of the Russian and the Yakut languages. In 1761, he was appointed as an interpreter to the Anadyr Ostrog (settlement). In 1763, he participated in the bidarrah trip along the Anadyr but later left his service and went to live with the Chukchi. Daurkin roamed with them around Chukotka and visited St. Lawrence Island. Upon returning to Ostrog in 1764, he was arrested for self-willed actions. In confinement he wrote a report on his trip around the Chukotka Peninsula and drew a first relatively correct map which was used up to 1811. In 1765, he was declared not guilty and transferred to Irkutsk where he studied cartography. He served in...