The Evenks (also spelled Ewenki or Evenki based on their endonym )
[Autonym: (); russian: Эвенки (); (); formerly known as Tungus or Tunguz; mn, Хамниган () or Aiwenji ()] are a
Tungusic people
Tungusic peoples are an ethno-linguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages (or Manchu–Tungus languages). They are Indigenous peoples of Siberia, native to Siberia and Northeast Asia.
The Tungusic phylum is divided into two main ...
of
North Asia
North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographical terms and is coextensive with the Asian part of Russia, and consists of three Russian regions east of the Ural Mountains: ...
. In Russia, the Evenks are recognised as one of the
indigenous peoples of the Russian North The indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East (russian: коренные малочисленные народы Севера, Сибири и Дальнего Востока) is a Russian census classification of indi ...
, with a population of 38,396 (
2010 census). In China, the Evenki form one of the
56 ethnic groups officially recognised by the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, with a population of 30,875 (
2010 census).
There are 537 Evenks in
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
(2015 census), called ''
Khamnigan
The Khamnigan, Hamnigan Mongols, or the Tungus Evenki, are a Tungusic- Mongolic ethnic (sub)group of Mongolized Evenks.
Khamnigan is the Buriat- Mongolian term for all Ewenkis. In the early 16th century, the Evenks of Transbaikalia or Khamnigan ...
'' in the
Mongolian language
Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and both the most widely spoken and best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residen ...
.
Origin
The Evenks or Ewenki are sometimes conjectured to be connected to the
Shiwei people
Shiwei () were a Mongolic people that inhabited far-eastern Mongolia, northern Inner Mongolia, northern Manchuria and the area near the Okhotsk Sea beach. Records mentioning the Shiwei were recorded from the time of the Northern Wei (386-534) u ...
who inhabited the
Greater Khingan
The Greater Khingan Range or Da Hinggan Range (; IPA: ), is a -long volcanic mountain range in the Inner Mongolia region of Northeast China.
It was originally called the Xianbei Mountains, which later became the name of the northern branch of th ...
Range in the 5th to 9th centuries, although the native land of the majority of Evenki people is in the vast regions of
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
between
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
and the
Amur River
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
. The Ewenki language forms the northern branch of the Manchu-
Tungusic language group and is closely related to
Even
Even may refer to:
General
* Even (given name), a Norwegian male personal name
* Even (surname)
* Even (people), an ethnic group from Siberia and Russian Far East
** Even language, a language spoken by the Evens
* Odd and Even, a solitaire game w ...
and
Negidal
Negidals (; Negidal: ''элькан бэйэнин'', ''elkan bayenin'', "local people") are a people in the Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, who live along the Amgun River and Amur River.
The ethnonym "Negidal" is a Russification of the Ewenki ...
in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
. By 1600 the Evenks or Ewenki of the Lena and Yenisey river valleys were successful
reindeer herders
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
. By contrast the
Solons The Solon people () are a subgroup of the Ewenki (Evenk) people of northeastern Asia. They live in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Heilongjiang Province, and constitute the majority of China's Ewenki.
Terminology and classification
T ...
(ancestors of the Evenkis in China) and the
Khamnigans
The Khamnigan, Hamnigan Mongols, or the Tungus Evenki, are a Tungusic- Mongolic ethnic (sub)group of Mongolized Evenks.
Khamnigan is the Buriat- Mongolian term for all Ewenkis. In the early 16th century, the Evenks of Transbaikalia or Khamnigan ...
(Ewenkis of
Transbaikalia
Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia.
The steppe and ...
) had picked up horse breeding and the Mongolian
deel from the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
. The Solons
nomadized along the
Amur River
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
. They were closely related to the
Daur people
The Daur people (Khalkha Mongolian: Дагуур, ''Daguur''; ) are a Mongolic people in Northeast China. The Daur form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised in the People's Republic of China. They numbered 131,992 according to the la ...
. To the west the Khamnigan were another group of horse-breeding Evenks in the Transbaikalia area. Also in the Amur valley a body of Siberian Evenki-speaking people were called
Orochen by the
Manchu
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
s.
Historical distribution
The ancestors of the south-eastern Evenks most likely lived in the Baikal region of Southern Siberia (near the modern-day Mongolian border) since the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
era.
Considering the north-western Evenks, Vasilevich claims: "The origin of the Evenks is the result of complex processes, different in time, involving the mixing of different ancient aboriginal tribes from the north of Siberia with tribes related in language to the Turks and Mongols. The language of these tribes took precedence over the languages of the aboriginal population". Elements of more modern Evenk culture, including conical tent dwellings, bone fish-lures, and birch-bark boats, were all present in sites that are believed to be Neolithic. From Lake Baikal, "they spread to the
Amur
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
and
Okhotsk Sea
The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...
…the
Lena Basin
Lena or LENA may refer to:
Places
* Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso
* Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada
* Lena, Norway, a village in ...
…and the
Yenisey
The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук ...
Basin".
Contact with Russians
In the 17th century, the
Russian empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
made contact with the Evenks.
Cossacks
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
, who served as a kind of "border-guard" for the
tsarist
Tsarist autocracy (russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. ''tsarskoye samoderzhaviye''), also called Tsarism, was a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states ...
government, imposed a fur tax on the Siberian tribes. The Cossacks exploited the Evenk clan hierarchy, taking hostages from the highest members to ensure payment of the tax. Although there was some rebellion against local officials, the Evenks generally recognized the need for peaceful cultural relations with the Russians. The Russians and their constant demands for fur taxes pushed the Evenks east all the way to
Sakhalin
Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...
island, where some still live today. In the 19th century some groups migrated south and east into Mongolia and Manchuria. Today there are still Evenk populations in Sakhalin, Mongolia, and Manchuria, and to a lesser extent, their traditional Baikal region.
Russian invasion of the Evenks caused them (and other indigenous peoples)
language erosion, a decline in traditions, and identity loss, among others. This was especially true during the Soviet regime. Soviet policies of
collectivization
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member ...
, forced sedentarization (sometimes referred to as
sedentism
In cultural anthropology, sedentism (sometimes called sedentariness; compare sedentarism) is the practice of living in one place for a long time. , the large majority of people belong to sedentary cultures. In Sociocultural evolution, evolutio ...
), "
unpromising villages
Unpromising, or literally perspectiveless villages (russian: неперспективные деревни) was a term used by the Soviet government in 1960s–80s referring to the small rural settlements, which were considered to be not suitabl ...
", and
Russification
Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...
of the education system compromised social, cultural, and mental well-being of the Evenks. Today, few people can speak the
Evenki language
Evenki (Ewenkī), formerly known as Tungus or Solon, is the largest member of the northern group of Tungusic languages, a group which also includes Even, Negidal, and the more closely related Oroqen language. The name is sometimes wrongly given ...
, reindeer herding is in significant decline, the suicide rate is extremely high, and alcoholism is a serious issue.
Traditional life
![Orochen postcard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Orochen_postcard.jpg)
Traditionally they were a mixture of
pastoralists
Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The animal s ...
and
hunter-gatherers
A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
—they relied on their domesticated reindeer for
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...
and transport and hunted other large game for meat. Today "
e Evenks are divided into two large groups…engaging in different types of economy. These are the hunting and reindeer-breeding Evenks…and the horse and cattle pastoral Evenks as well as some farming Evenks".
The Evenks lived mostly in
taiga
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...
, or boreal forest. They lived in conical tents made from
birch bark
Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''.
The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, crafti ...
or reindeer skin tied to birch poles. When they moved camp, the Evenks would leave these frameworks and carry only the more portable coverings. During winter, the hunting season, most camps consisted of one or two tents while spring encampments had up to 10 households
Their skill at riding their domesticated reindeer allowed the Evenks to "colonize vast areas of the eastern
taiga
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...
which had previously been impenetrable" The Evenks used a saddle unique to their culture, placed on the shoulders of the reindeer to lessen the strain on the animal, and used a stick rather than stirrups to balance. Evenks did not develop reindeer sledges until comparatively recent times They instead used their reindeer as pack animals and often traversed great distances on foot, using snowshoes or skis. The Evenki people did hunt and eat wild reindeer, but not their domesticated reindeer, which they kept for milk.
![Evenks1862](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Evenks1862.jpg)
Large herds of reindeer were very uncommon. Most Evenks had around 25 head of reindeer, because they were generally bred for transportation. Unlike in several other neighboring tribes Evenk reindeer-breeding did not include "herding of reindeer by dogs nor any other specific features". Very early in the spring season, winter camps broke up and moved to places suitable for calving. Several households pastured their animals together throughout the summer, being careful to keep "
ecial areas…fenced off…to guard the newborn calves against being trampled on in a large herd"
Clothing
The Evenks wore a characteristic garb "adapted to the cold but rather dry climate of the
Central Siberia
The Central Siberian Plateau (russian: Среднесибирское плоскогорье, Srednesibirskoye ploskogorye; sah, Орто Сибиир хаптал хайалаах сирэ) is a vast mountainous area in Siberia, one of the Grea ...
and to a life of mobility…they wore brief garments of soft reindeer or elk skin around their hips, along with leggings and moccasins, or else long supple boots reaching to the thigh" (49). They also wore a deerskin coat that did not close in front but was instead covered with an apron-like cloth. Some Evenkis decorated their clothing with fringes or embroidery (50). The Evenki traditional costume always consisted of these elements: a loincloth made of animal hide, leggings, and boots of varying lengths Facial tattooing was also very common.
Hunting
The traditional Evenk economy was a mix of pastoralism (horses or reindeer), fishing, and hunting. The Evenk who lived near the Okhotsk Sea hunted seal, but for most of the taiga-dwellers, elk, wild reindeer, and fowl were the most important game animals. Other animals included "roe deer, bear, wolverine, lynx, wolf, Siberian marmot, fox, and sable" Trapping did not become important until the imposition of the fur tax by the tsarist government. Before they acquired guns in the 18th century, Evenks used steel bows and arrows. Along with their main hunting implements, hunters always carried a "pike"—"which was a large knife on a long handle used instead of an axe when passing through thick taiga, or as a spear when hunting bear". The Evenks have deep respect for animals and all elements of nature: "It is forbidden to torment an animal, bird, or insect, and a wounded animal must be finished off immediately. It is forbidden to spill the blood of a killed animal or defile it. It is forbidden to kill animals or birds that were saved from pursuit by predators or came to a person for help in a natural disaster."
Evenks of Russia
The Evenks were formerly known as ''tungus''. This designation was spread by the
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
, who acquired it from the
Yakuts
The Yakuts, or the Sakha ( sah, саха, ; , ), are a Turkic ethnic group who mainly live in the Republic of Sakha in the Russian Federation, with some extending to the Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin regions, and the Taymyr and Evenk Districts ...
(in the Yakut language ''tongus'') in the 17th century. The Evenks have several self-designations, of which the best known is ''evenk''. This became the official designation for the people in 1931. Some groups call themselves ''orochen'' ('an inhabitant of the River Oro'), ''orochon'' ('a rearer of
reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
'), ''ile'' ('a human being'), etc. At one time or another tribal designations and place names have also been used as self-designations, for instance ''manjagir'', ''birachen'', ''solon'', etc. Several of these have even been taken for separate ethnic entities.
There is also a similarly named Siberian group called the
Evens
The Evens ( eve, эвэн; pl. , in Even and , in Russian; formerly called ''Lamuts'') are a people in Siberia and the Russian Far East. They live in regions of the Magadan Oblast and Kamchatka Krai and northern parts of Sakha east of the ...
(formerly known as ''Lamuts''). Although related to the Evenks, the Evens are now considered to be a separate ethnic group.
![Discussion Media vs Natives 06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Discussion_Media_vs_Natives_06.JPG)
The Evenks are spread over a huge territory of the
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
n
taiga
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...
from the
River Ob
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
in the west to the
Okhotsk Sea
The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...
in the east, and from the
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...
in the north to
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
and
Sakhalin
Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...
in the south. The total area of their habitat is about 2,500,000 km². In all of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
only the Russians inhabit a larger territory. According to the administrative structure, the Evenks live, from west to east, in:
*
Tyumen Oblast
Tyumen Oblast (russian: Тюме́нская о́бласть, ''Tyumenskaya oblast'') is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Western Siberia region of Siberia, and is administratively part of the Urals ...
*
Tomsk Oblast
Tomsk Oblast (russian: То́мская о́бласть, ''Tomskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It lies in the southeastern West Siberian Plain, in the southwest of the Siberian Federal District. Its administrative cen ...
*
Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Siber ...
*
Evenk Autonomous Okrug
Evenk Autonomous Okrug (russian: Эвенки́йский автоно́мный о́круг, ; , ), or Evenkia, was a federal subject of Russia (an autonomous okrug of Krasnoyarsk Krai). It had been created in 1930. Its administrative center w ...
*
Irkutsk Oblast
Irkutsk Oblast (russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast; bua, Эрхүү можо, Erkhüü mojo) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and Nizh ...
*
Chita Oblast
Chita Oblast ( rus, Чити́нская о́бласть, r=Čitínskaja óblastj, p=tɕɪˈtʲinskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) was a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in southeast Siberia, Russia. Its administrative center was the city of Chita. ...
*
Amur Oblast
Amur Oblast ( rus, Аму́рская о́бласть, r=Amurskaya oblast, p=ɐˈmurskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya Rivers in the Russian Far East. The administrative ...
*
Republic of Buryatia
Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia (russian: Республика Бурятия, r=Respublika Buryatiya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə bʊˈrʲætʲɪjə; bua, Буряад Улас, Buryaad Ulas, , mn, Буриад Улс, Buriad Uls), is ...
*
Sakha Republic
Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far Eas ...
*
Khabarovsk Krai
Khabarovsk Krai ( rus, Хабаровский край, r=Khabarovsky kray, p=xɐˈbarəfskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East and is a part of the Far Eastern Federal District ...
*
Sakhalin Oblast
Sakhalin Oblast ( rus, Сахали́нская о́бласть, r=Sakhalínskaya óblast', p=səxɐˈlʲinskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast) comprising the island of Sakhalin and the K ...
.
However, the territory where they are a
titular nation
The titular nation is the single dominant ethnic group in a particular state, typically after which the state was named. The term was used for the first time by Maurice Barrès in the late 19th century.
Countries
Soviet Union
The notion was used ...
is confined solely to Evenk Autonomous Okrug, where 3,802 of the 35,527 Evenks live (according to the 2002 census). More than 18,200 Evenks live in the
Sakha Republic
Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far Eas ...
.
Evenki is the largest of the northern group of the
Manchu-Tungus languages, a group which also includes Even and
Negidal
Negidals (; Negidal: ''элькан бэйэнин'', ''elkan bayenin'', "local people") are a people in the Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, who live along the Amgun River and Amur River.
The ethnonym "Negidal" is a Russification of the Ewenki ...
.
Many Evenks in Russia still engage in a traditional lifestyle of raising reindeer, fishing, and hunting.
Russian Federation
According to the 2002 census 35,527 Evenki lived in Russia.
Evenks of China
At the 2000 Census, there were 30,505 Evenks in China, mainly made up of the Solons and the
Khamnigans
The Khamnigan, Hamnigan Mongols, or the Tungus Evenki, are a Tungusic- Mongolic ethnic (sub)group of Mongolized Evenks.
Khamnigan is the Buriat- Mongolian term for all Ewenkis. In the early 16th century, the Evenks of Transbaikalia or Khamnigan ...
. 88.8% of China's Evenks live in the
Hulunbuir
Hulunbuir or Hulun Buir ( mn, , ''Kölün buyir'', Mongolian Cyrillic: Хөлөнбуйр, ''Khölönbuir''; zh, s=呼伦贝尔, ''Hūlúnbèi'ěr'') is a region that is governed as a prefecture-level city in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. ...
region in the north of the
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
Province, near the city of
Hailar
Hailar District, formerly a county-level city, is an urban district that serves as the seat of the prefecture-level city Hulunbuir in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Hulunbuir, due to its massive size, is a city in administrative terms only ...
. The
Evenk Autonomous Banner
Ewenki Autonomous Banner ( Evenki: ; Mongolian: , ''Eveŋki öbertegen jasaqu qosiɣu'', Эвэнк өөртөө засах хошуу; ) is an autonomous banner that lies on the border between northwestern Greater Khingan and Hulun Buir grass ...
is also located near Hulunbuir. There are also around 3,000 Evenks in neighbouring
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
Province.
![Evenki tent made by birchbark, Aug 2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Evenki_tent_made_by_birchbark%2C_Aug_2019.jpg)
The Manchu Emperor
Hong Taiji
Hong Taiji (28 November 1592 – 21 September 1643), also rendered as Huang Taiji and sometimes referred to as Abahai in Western literature, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizong of Qing, was the second khan of the Later Jin ...
conquered the Evenks in 1640, and executed their leader
Bombogor. After the Manchu conquest, the Evenks were incorporated into the
Eight Banners
The Eight Banners (in Manchu language, Manchu: ''jakūn gūsa'', ) were administrative and military divisions under the Later Jin (1616–1636), Later Jin and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasties of China into which all Manchu people, Manchu households ...
.
In 1763, the
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
government moved 500 Solon Evenk and 500
Daur families to the
Tacheng
TachengThe official spelling according to (), as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Mongolian as Qoqak, is a county-level city (1994 est. pop. 56,400) and the administrative seat of Tacheng Prefecture, in northern Ili Kazakh A ...
and
Ghulja
YiningThe official spelling according to (), also known as Ghulja ( ug, غۇلجا) or Qulja ( kk, قۇلجا) and formerly Ningyuan (), is a county-level city in Northwestern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China and the seat of the Ili Kazakh A ...
areas of
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
, in order to strengthen the empire's western border. Another 1020
Xibe families (some 4000 persons) also came the following year. Since then, however, the Solons of Xinjiang have assimilated into other ethnic groups, and are not identified as such anymore.
The Japanese occupation led to many murders of Evenkis, and Evenki men were conscripted as scouts and rangers by the Japanese secret service in 1942.
Some Evenkis fled to Soviet Siberia across the Amur river after murdering a Japanese officer to avoid punishment from the Japanese.
The Evenks of China today tend to be settled pastoralists and farmers.
By county
;County-level distribution of the Evenk
(Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >0.1% of China's Evenk population.)
Evenks of Ukraine
According to the 2001 census, there were 48 Evenks living in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. The majority (35) stated that their native language was
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
; four indicated
Evenk as their native language, and three that it was
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
.
Religion
Prior to contact with the Russians, the belief system of the Evenks was
animistic
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, hum ...
. Many have adopted
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
.
The Evenki, like most nomadic, pastoral, and subsistence agrarian peoples, spend most of their lives in very close contact with nature. Because of this, they develop what A. A. Sirina calls an "ecological ethic". By this she means "a system of responsibility of people to nature and her spirit masters, and of nature to people"(9). Sirina interviewed many Evenks who until very recently spent much of their time as reindeer herders in the taiga, just like their ancestors. The Evenki people also spoke along the same lines: their respect for nature and their belief that nature is a living being.
This idea, "
e embodiment, animation, and personification of nature—what is still called the animistic worldview—is the key component of the traditional worldview of hunter-gatherers" Although most of the Evenkis have been "sedentarized"—that is, made to live in settled communities instead of following their traditional nomadic way of life —"
ny scholars think that the worldview characteristic of hunter-gatherer societies is preserved, even if they make the transition to new economic models.
Although nominally Christianized in the 18th century, the Evenki people maintain many of their historical beliefs—especially shamanism The Christian traditions were "confined to the formal performance of Orthodox rites which were usually timed for the arrival of the priest in the taiga"
![Evenki shaman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Evenki_shaman.jpg)
The religious beliefs and practices of the Evenks are of great historical interest since they retain some archaic forms of belief. Among the most ancient ideas are spiritualization and personification of all natural phenomena, belief in an upper, middle, and lower world, belief in the soul (''omi'') and certain totemistic concepts. There were also various magical rituals associated with hunting and guarding herds. Later on, these rituals were conducted by shamans. Shamanism brought about the development of the views of spirit-masters
There are few sources on the shamanism of the Evenki peoples below the Amur/Helongkiang river in Northern China. There is a brief report of fieldwork conducted by
Richard Noll
Richard Noll (born 1959 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American clinical psychologist and historian of medicine. He has published on the history of psychiatry, including two critical volumes on the life and work of Carl Gustav Jung, books and articles ...
and Kun Shi in 1994 of the life of the shamaness Dula'r (Evenki name), also known as Ao Yun Hua (her Han Chinese name). She was born in 1920 and was living in the village of Yiming Gatsa in the Evenki Banner (county) of the Hulunbuir Prefecture, in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. While not a particularly good informant, she described her initiatory illness, her multiyear apprenticeship with a Mongol shaman before being allowed to heal at the age of 25 or 26, and the torments she experienced during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s when most of her shamanic paraphernalia was destroyed. Mongol and Buddhist Lamaist influences on her indigenous practice of shamansim were evident. She hid her prize possession—an Abagaldi (bear spirit) shaman mask, which has also been documented among the Mongols and Dauer peoples in the region. The field report and color photographs of this shaman are available online.
Olga Kudrina Olga Dmitrievna Kudrina (c. 1890-1944) was a shamaness among the Reindeer Evenki of northern Inner Mongolia along the Amur River's Great Bend (today under the jurisdiction of Genhe, Hulunbuir). She was accepted as an arbiter between the various R ...
(c. 1890–1944) was a shaman among the Reindeer Evenki of northern
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
along the
Amur River
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
's Great Bend (today under the jurisdiction of
Genhe
Genhe (Gegengol) ( mn, (Гэгээнгол хот) Gegen Gôûl Hôt; ), formerly Ergun Left Banner or Ergun Zuoqi (), is a county-level city in the far northeast of Inner Mongolia, China, under the administration of Hulunbuir City. The city spa ...
,
Hulunbuir
Hulunbuir or Hulun Buir ( mn, , ''Kölün buyir'', Mongolian Cyrillic: Хөлөнбуйр, ''Khölönbuir''; zh, s=呼伦贝尔, ''Hūlúnbèi'ěr'') is a region that is governed as a prefecture-level city in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. ...
).
Notable Evenks
*
Bombogor (died 1640), leader of Evenk federation
*
Olga Kudrina Olga Dmitrievna Kudrina (c. 1890-1944) was a shamaness among the Reindeer Evenki of northern Inner Mongolia along the Amur River's Great Bend (today under the jurisdiction of Genhe, Hulunbuir). She was accepted as an arbiter between the various R ...
(c. 1890–1944), shaman
*
Semyon Nomokonov
Semyon Danilovich Nomokonov (; 12 August 1900 – 15 July 1973) was a Soviet sniper during World War II credited with 367 kills. An ethnic Hamnigan Evenk, Nomokonov was among the indigenous peoples of Russia who fought in the war. He received th ...
(1900–1973), sniper during World War II
*
Nikita Sakharov
Nikita Vasilyevich Sakharov (russian: Ники́та Васи́льевич Са́харов; 1915 in Gulya, Transbaikal Oblast – 1945) was a Soviet Evenk poet and prose writer.
Biography
Nikita Sakharov was born in Siberia in 1915. He began hi ...
(1915–1945), poet, prose writer
*
Alitet Nemtushkin (1939–2006), poet
*
Maria Fedotova-Nulgynet
Maria Prokopyevna Fedotova-Nulgynet (russian: Мария Прокопьевна Федотова-Нулгынэт) (born December 31, 1946) is an Evenk poet, children's writer, and storyteller.
Born in the Ust-Yansky District, Fedotova-Nulgynet b ...
(born 1946), poet, children's writer, storyteller
*
Galina Varlamova
Galina Ivanovna Varlamova or Keptuke (native name) (18 January 1951 – 19 June 2019) (russian: Галина Ивановна Варламова, Кэптукэ) was an Evenk writer, philologist and folklorist. She was an expert in Evenk language ...
(1951–2019), writer, philologist, folklorist
*
Ureltu Ureltu (simplified Chinese:乌热尔图) is a modern Evenk Chinese writer.吴重阳,《乌热尔图》条目.《中国大百科全书》第一版.
Ureltu's original name is Tu Shaomin (涂绍民). He was born in Ulan Hot, Inner Mongolia on April ...
(born 1952), writer
*
D. O. Chaoke (born 1958), linguist
Gallery
File:Evenk shaman costume.jpg, Shaman costume
File:Evenk folk ensemble Osiktakan.jpg, Folk ensemble Osiktakan
File:Evenk sprit tree.jpg, Spirit tree in Genhe, China
File:Историко-культурные004.png, Evenki handiwork
File:Историко-культурные006.png, Tools
File:Историко-культурные007.png
File:Туризм096.png
See also
*
Hamnigan
The Khamnigan, Hamnigan Mongols, or the Tungus Evenki, are a Tungusic- Mongolic ethnic (sub)group of Mongolized Evenks.
Khamnigan is the Buriat- Mongolian term for all Ewenkis. In the early 16th century, the Evenks of Transbaikalia or Khamnigan ...
(Hamnigan Mongols)
*
Bokon /
Yungyuele
, image =Yungyuele-ONC D-7.jpg
, image_caption = Course of the Yungyuele ONC map section
, source1_location = Aldan Highlands
, source1_coordinates =
, source1_elevation =
, mouth = Aldan
, mou ...
/
Nyukzha
The Nyukzha (russian: Нюкжа) is a river in Amur Oblast and Transbaikalia, East Siberia, Russian Federation. It is the second largest tributary of the Olyokma river in terms of length and area of its basin. The Nyukzha is long and has a drai ...
Bibliography
*
** (The online edition needs
Book Reader for NLCand a ZIP extractor)
*"Altaic." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2009. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2009.
*Anderson, David G. "Is Siberian Reindeer Herding in Crisis? Living with Reindeer Fifteen Years after the End of State Socialism." Nomadic Peoples NS 10.2 (2006): 87-103. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.
*Bulatova, Nadezhda, and Lenore Grenoble. Evenki. Munchen: LINCOM Europa, 1999. Print. Languages of the World.
*"Evenki." Cassell's Peoples, Nations, and Cultures. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2009.
*"Evenki." Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth Edition. Ed. Paul M. Lewis. SIL International, 2009. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
*Fondahl, Gail. Gaining ground? Evenkis, land and reform in southeastern Siberia. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998. Print.
*Forsyth, James. History of the Peoples of Siberia: Russia's North Asian Colony, 1581-1990. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1992. Print.
*Georg, Stefan, Peter A. Michalove, Alexis M. Ramer, and Paul J. Sidwell. "Telling general linguists about Altaic." Journal of Linguistics 35.1 (1999): 65-98. JSTOR. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
*Hallen, Cynthia L. "A Brief Exploration of the Altaic Hypothesis." Department of Linguistics. Brigham Young University, 6 Sept. 1999. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
*Janhunen, Juha. "Evenki." Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. Ed. Christopher Moseley. UNESCO Culture Sector, 31 Mar. 2009. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
*Nedjalkov, Igor. Evenki. London: Routledge, 1997. Print. Descriptive Grammars.
*Sirina, Anna A. ''Katanga Evenkis in the 20th Century and the Ordering of their Life-world'', transl. from 2nd Russian edn (2002)
Northern Hunter-Gatherers Research Series 2 Edmonton: CCI Press and Baikal Archaeology Project, 2006.
*Sirina, Anna A. "People Who Feel the Land: The Ecological Ethic of the Evenki and Eveny." Trans. James E. Walker. Anthropology & Archaeology of Eurasia 3rd ser. 47.Winter 2008-9 (2009): 9-37. EBSCOHost. Web. 27 November 2009.
*Turov, Mikhail G. ''Evenki Economy in the Central Siberian Taiga at the Turn of the 20th Century: Principles of Land Use'', transl. from 2nd Russian edn (1990)
Northern Hunter-Gatherers Research Series 5 Edmonton: CCI Press and the Baikal Archaeology Project, 2010.
*Vasilevich, G. M., and A. V. Smolyak. "Evenki." The Peoples of Siberia. Ed. Stephen Dunn. Trans. Scripta Technica, Inc. Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1964. 620-54. Print.
*Vitebsky, Piers. Reindeer people: Living with Animals and Spirits in Siberia. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005. Print.
*Wood, Alan, and R. A. French, eds. Development of Siberia: People and Resources. New York: St. Martin's, 1989. Print.
The Evenki in literature
* .
* ''The Moose of Ewenki'' , picture book written by
Gerelchimeg Blackcrane (), illustrated by Jiu Er (), translated by Helen Mixter . (Greystone Kids, 2019)
Notes
References
External links
*
Evenks"Native Sounds of Evenki", The first Evenki album issued in China
{{Authority control
Ethnic groups officially recognized by China
Ethnic groups in Russia
Indigenous peoples of North Asia
Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East
Tungusic peoples
Indigenous peoples in the Arctic
Modern nomads