Evenki are the indigenous people of the Russian Federation. They also live in Mongolia and northeast China. The self-name is Evenki, which became the official ethnonym in 1931, the old name is Tungus.

Separate groups of Evenks were known as Orochens, Birars, Manegrs, Solons. The language is Evenki, belongs to the Tungus-Manchu group of the Altai language family. There are three groups of dialects: northern, southern and eastern. Each dialect is divided into dialects. The Russian language is widespread; many Evenks living in Yakutia and Buryatia also speak Yakut and Buryat languages. Anthropologically, they present a rather motley picture, revealing a complex of features characteristic of the Baikal, Katanga and Central Asian types. According to the 2010 All-Russian Population Census, 1,272 Evenks live in the Irkutsk region.

Evenki: general information

The Evenks were formed on the basis of the mixing of the aborigines of Eastern Siberia with the Tungus tribes who came from the Baikal region and Transbaikalia. There is reason to consider the Transbaikalian Uvan people as the direct ancestors of the Evenki, who, according to Chinese chronicles (V-VII centuries AD), lived in the mountain taiga northeast of Barguzin and Selenga. The Uvani were not aborigines of Transbaikalia, but were a group of nomadic herders who came here from a more southern area. In the process of settling across the expanses of Siberia, the Tungus encountered local tribes and, ultimately, assimilated them. The peculiarities of the ethnic formation of the Tungus have led to the fact that they are characterized by three anthropological types, as well as three different economic and cultural groups: reindeer herders, cattle breeders and fishermen.

Historical background

II millennium BC - I millennium AD - human settlement of the Lower Tunguska valley. Sites of ancient people of the Neolithic era of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the middle reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska.

XII century - the beginning of the settlement of the Tungus throughout Eastern Siberia: from the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the east to the Ob-Irtysh interfluve in the west, from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Baikal region in the south.

Among the northern peoples not only of the Russian North, but also of the entire Arctic coast, the Evenks are the largest linguistic group: more than 26,000 people live on the territory of Russia, according to various sources, the same number in Mongolia and Manchuria.

With the creation of the Evenki Okrug, the name “Evenki” firmly entered into social, political and linguistic usage.

Doctor of Historical Sciences V.A. Tugolukov gave a figurative explanation for the name “Tungus” - walking across the ridges.

Since ancient times, the Tungus have settled from the shores of the Pacific Ocean to the Ob. Their way of life introduced changes in the names of clans not only based on geographical characteristics, but, more often, on household ones. The Evenks living along the shores of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk were called Evens or, more often, Lamuts from the word “lama” - sea. The Transbaikal Evenks were called Murchens, because they were mainly engaged in horse breeding rather than reindeer herding. And the name of the horse is “mur”. The Evenki reindeer herders who settled in the interfluve of the three Tunguskas (Upper, Podkamennaya, or Middle, and Lower) and Angara called themselves Orochens - reindeer Tungus. And they all spoke and speak the same Tungus-Manchu language.

Most Tungus historians consider Transbaikalia and the Amur region to be the ancestral homeland of the Evenks. Many sources claim that they were forced out by the more warlike steppe inhabitants at the beginning of the 10th century. However, there is another point of view. Chinese chronicles mention that 4,000 years before the Evenks were forced out, the Chinese knew about a people who were the strongest among the “northern and eastern foreigners.” And these Chinese chronicles indicate coincidences in many ways: ancient people- Sushiney - with the later one, known to us as the Tungus.

1581-1583 - the first mention of the Tungus as a people in the description of the Siberian kingdom.

The first explorers, explorers, and travelers spoke highly of the Tungus:

"helpful without servility, proud and courageous."

Khariton Laptev, who examined the shores of the Arctic Ocean between the Ob and Olenek, wrote:

“In courage, humanity, and sense, the Tungus are superior to all the nomadic people living in yurts.”

The exiled Decembrist V. Kuchelbecker called the Tungus “Siberian aristocrats,” and the first Yenisei governor A. Stepanov wrote:

"their costumes resemble the camisoles of the Spanish grandees..."

But we must not forget that the first Russian explorers also noted that “their spears and spears are made of stone and bone,” that they do not have iron utensils, and “they brew tea in wooden vats with hot stones, and bake meat only on coals...” And one more thing:

“There are no iron needles and they sew clothes and shoes with bone needles and deer veins.”

Second half of the 16th century. - penetration of Russian industrialists and hunters into the basins of the Taza, Turukhan and the mouth of the Yenisei rivers.

The neighborhood of two different cultures was interpenetrating. The Russians learned the skills of hunting, survival in northern conditions, and were forced to accept the moral standards and social life of the aborigines, especially since the newcomers took local women as wives and created mixed families.

Territory of settlement and number

The Evenks inhabit a vast territory from the left bank of the Yenisei in the West to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the East. The southern border of settlement runs along the left bank of the Amur and Angara. Administratively, the Evenks are settled within the borders of the Irkutsk, Chita, Amur and Sakhalin regions, the republics of Yakutia and Buryatia, the Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk territories. There are Evenks also in the Tomsk and Tyumen regions. In this gigantic territory, they do not constitute the majority of the population anywhere; they live in the same settlements along with Russians, Yakuts and other peoples.

The number of Evenks at the time of their entry into Russia (XVII century) was estimated at approximately 36,135 people. The most accurate data on their number was provided by the 1897 census - 64,500, while 34,471 people considered Tungusic their native language, the rest - Russian (31.8%), Yakut, Buryat and other languages.

Almost half of all Evenks in the Russian Federation live in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Here they are concentrated in Aldansky (1890 people), Bulunsky (2086), Zhigansky (1836), Oleneksky (2179) and Ust-Maisky (1945) uluses. In their national-territorial formation - the Evenki Autonomous Okrug - there are relatively few Evenks - 11.6% of their total number. There are enough of them in the Khabarovsk Territory. In other regions, approximately 4-5% of all Evenks live. In Evenkia, Yakutia, Buryatia, Chita, Irkutsk and Amur regions, Evenks predominate among other indigenous peoples of the North.

A characteristic feature of the Evenki settlement is dispersion. There are about a hundred settlements in the country where they live, but in most settlements their number ranges from several dozen to 150-200 people. Settlements, where Evenks live in relatively large compact groups, there are few. This type of settlement has a negative impact on the ethnocultural development of the people.

Life, economy, cult

The main occupation of the “foot” or “sedentary” Evenks is hunting deer, elk, roe deer, musk deer, bear, etc. Later, commercial fur hunting spread. They hunted from autumn to spring, two or three people at a time. They walked in the taiga on bare skis (kingne, kigle) or lined with kamus (suksilla). Reindeer herders hunted on horseback.

Reindeer husbandry was mainly of transport importance. Reindeer were used for riding, under pack, and milked. Small herds and free grazing predominated. After the end of the winter hunting season, several families usually united and migrated to places convenient for calving. The joint grazing of deer continued throughout the summer. In winter, during the hunting season, deer usually grazed near the camps where the hunters' families stayed. Migration took place each time to new places - in the summer along watersheds, in the winter along rivers; permanent paths led only to trading posts. Some groups had different types of sleds, borrowed from the Nenets and Yakuts.

"Equestrian" Evenks bred horses, camels, and sheep.

Fishing was of auxiliary importance, in the Baikal region, lake areas south of Lake Essey, in the upper Vilyui, in southern Transbaikalia and on the Okhotsk coast - also of commercial importance. Seals were also hunted on the Okhotsk coast and Lake Baikal.

They moved on water on rafts (temu), boats with a two-bladed oar - dugout, sometimes with plank sides (ongocho, utunngu) or birch bark (dyav); For crossings, the Orochens used a boat made of elk skin on a frame made on site (mureke).

Home processing of hides and birch bark (among women) was developed; Before the arrival of the Russians, blacksmithing was known, including to order. In Transbaikalia and the Amur region, they partially switched to settled agriculture and cattle breeding. Modern Evenks mostly retain traditional hunting and reindeer herding. Since the 1930s Reindeer herding cooperatives were created, settled settlements were built, agriculture spread (vegetables, potatoes, and in the south - barley, oats). In the 1990s. Evenks began to organize into tribal communities.

The basis of traditional food is meat (wild animals, horse meat among the equestrian Evenks) and fish. In the summer they consumed reindeer milk, berries, wild garlic and onions. They borrowed baked bread from the Russians: to the west of the Lena they baked sour dough balls in ash, and in the east they baked unleavened flatbreads. The main drink is tea, sometimes with reindeer milk or salt.

Winter camps consisted of 1-2 tents, summer camps - up to 10, and more during holidays. The chum (du) had a conical frame made of poles on a frame of poles, covered with nyuk tires made of rovduga or skins (in winter) and birch bark (in summer). When migrating, the frame was left in place. A fireplace was built in the center of the chum, and above it there was a horizontal pole for the cauldron. In some places, semi-dugouts, log dwellings borrowed from the Russians, the Yakut yurt-booth, in Transbaikalia - the Buryat yurt, and among the settled Birars of the Amur region - a quadrangular log dwelling of the fanza type were also known.

Traditional clothing consists of rovduzh or cloth natazniks (herki), leggings (aramus, gurumi), a swinging caftan made of deerskin, the hems of which were tied at the chest with ties; a bib with ties at the back was worn underneath it. The women's bib (nelly) was decorated with beads and had a straight bottom edge, while the men's (helmi) had an angle. Men wore a belt with a knife in a sheath, women - with a needle case, tinderbox and pouch. Clothes were decorated with strips of goat and dog fur, fringe, horsehair embroidery, metal plaques, and beads. Horse breeders of Transbaikalia wore a robe with a wide wrap to the left. Elements of Russian clothing spread.

Evenki communities united in the summer to jointly herd reindeer and celebrate holidays. They included several related families and numbered from 15 to 150 people. Forms of collective distribution, mutual assistance, hospitality, etc. were developed. For example, until the 20th century. a custom (nimat) has been preserved, obliging the hunter to give part of the catch to his relatives. IN late XIX V. small families predominated. Property was inherited by male line. Parents usually stayed with their youngest son. Marriage was accompanied by the payment of bride price or labor for the bride. Levirates were known, and in rich families - polygamy (up to 5 wives). Until the 17th century There were known up to 360 patrilineal clans with an average of 100 people, governed by elders - “princes”. The kinship terminology retained the features of the classification system.

Cults of spirits, trade and clan cults, and shamanism were preserved. There were elements of the Bear Festival - rituals associated with cutting up the carcass of a killed bear, eating its meat, and burying its bones. Christianization of ‘wreaths’ has been carried out since the 17th century. In Transbaikalia and the Amur region there was a strong influence of Buddhism.

Folklore included improvised songs, mythological and historical epics, fairy tales about animals, historical and everyday legends, etc. The epic was performed as a recitative, and listeners often took part in the performance, repeating individual lines after the narrator. Separate groups of Evenks had their own epic heroes (soning). There were also constant heroes - comic characters in everyday stories. From musical instruments The famous Jew's harp, hunting bow, etc. are known among the dances - round dance (cheiro, sedio), performed to song improvisation. The games were in the nature of competitions in wrestling, shooting, running, etc. Artistic bone and wood carving, metal working (men), bead embroidery, silk embroidery among the Eastern Evenks, fur and fabric appliqué, and birch bark embossing (women) were developed.

Lifestyle and support system

Economically, the Evenks are noticeably different from other peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East. First of all, they are reindeer hunters. The Evenk hunter spent a good half of his life riding a deer. The Evenks also had groups that hunted on foot, but in general it was the riding deer that was the main calling card of this people. Hunting played a leading role among most Evenki territorial groups. The hunting essence of the Evenk is clearly manifested even in such a secondary matter for him as fishing. Fishing for an Evenk is the same as hunting. For many years, their main fishing tools were a hunting bow with blunt arrows, which were used to kill fish, and a spear, a type of hunting spear. As the fauna depleted, the importance of fishing in the livelihood of the Evenks began to increase.

Reindeer husbandry of the Evenks is taiga, pack and riding. Free grazing and milking of females were practiced. Evenks are born nomads. The length of the migrations of reindeer hunters reached hundreds of kilometers per year. Individual families covered distances of a thousand kilometers.

The traditional economy of the Evenks after collectivization and many other reorganizations during the Soviet period by the beginning of the 1990s. existed in two main variants: commercial hunting and transport reindeer husbandry, characteristic of a number of regions of Siberia and some regions of Yakutia, and large-scale reindeer herding and commercial farming, which developed mainly in Evenkia. The first type of economy developed within the framework of cooperative and state industrial enterprises (state industrial enterprises, koopzverpromhozy), the second - within the framework of reindeer herding state farms, focused on the production of marketable meat products. Fur trade was of secondary importance in them.

Ethno-social situation

The degradation of the traditional economy and the collapse of the production infrastructure in ethnic villages have extremely aggravated the ethno-social situation in the areas where the Evenks live. The most painful problem is unemployment. In the Evenki Autonomous Okrug, due to unprofitability, livestock farming has been completely eliminated, and with it dozens of jobs. A high level of unemployment is recorded in the Evenki districts of the Irkutsk region. Between 59 and 70% of Evenks are unemployed here.

Most Evenki villages do not have regular communications even with regional centers. Products are often imported only once a year along the winter road in an extremely limited assortment (flour, sugar, salt). In many villages, local power plants do not operate stably - there are no spare parts, no fuel, and electricity is supplied only a few hours a day.

In conditions of economic crisis, the health of the population is deteriorating. Disease prevention and measures to improve the health of the Evenks are carried out in a completely insufficient volume due to the lack of financial resources for the work of mobile medical teams, the purchase of medicines, and the maintenance of doctors of narrow specialties. Due to the lack of regular communication with regional centers, people cannot go to regional hospitals for treatment. Air ambulance operations have been reduced to a minimum.

Demographic indicators are worsening. In a number of regions, the birth rate has fallen sharply and the death rate has increased. In the Katanga region, for example, the Evenki mortality rate is more than twice as high as the birth rate. And this is a typical picture for all Evenk villages. In the structure of mortality of the indigenous population, the leading place is occupied by accidents, suicides, injuries and poisonings, mainly due to alcoholism.

Ethno-cultural situation

The modern social structure and the corresponding cultural environment in most areas where the Evenks live is a multi-layered pyramid. Its basis is a thin layer of permanent rural population, which, like 100 years ago, leads a nomadic economy. However, this layer is steadily shrinking, and along with it the main core of carriers is shrinking. traditional culture.

A characteristic feature of the modern linguistic situation among the Evenks is mass bilingualism. The degree of proficiency in the native language varies in different age groups and in different regions. In general, 30.5% of Evenks consider the Evenki language their native language, 28.5% consider the Russian language, and more than 45% of Evenks are fluent in their language. Evenki writing was created in the late 1920s, and since 1937 it has been translated into the Russian alphabet. The literary Evenki language was based on the dialect of the Evenki of Podkamennaya Tunguska, but the literary language of the Evenki has not yet become supra-dialectal. Language teaching is carried out from grades 1 to 8, in primary school as a subject, later as an elective. Teaching the native language depends on the availability of personnel, and even more so on the language policy of local administrations. Pedagogical personnel are trained in pedagogical schools in Igarka and Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, in Buryat, Yakut and Khabarovsk universities, in the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. Herzen in St. Petersburg. Radio broadcasts are conducted in the Evenki language in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and in Evenkia. In a number of areas, local radio broadcasts are carried out. In the Evenki Autonomous Okrug, a supplement to the district newspaper is published once a week. A huge amount of work to revive the native language is being carried out by Z.N. Pikunova, the main author of textbooks. In Sakha-Yakutia, the specialized Evenki school in the village of Yengri is famous.

Evenki public organizations are taking measures to revive traditional culture. The Republican Center of Evenki Culture “Arun” was formed in Buryatia, and the Association of Northern Cultures “Eglen” was formed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Cultural centers operate in many schools in national villages where Evenks live. Republican television and radio of Yakutia and Buryatia broadcast programs dedicated to Evenki culture. In Buryatia, the Bolder festival is regularly held with the participation of Evenks from other regions and Mongolia. Active participation at work public organizations accepted by the national intelligentsia: teachers, medical workers, lawyers, representatives of the creative intelligentsia. Evenk writers Alitet Nemtushkin and Nikolai Oegir are widely known in Russia. The main problem in the development of the ethnocultural life of the Evenks is their territorial disunity. The annual big Suglans, where representatives of all territorial groups would gather to discuss pressing issues of ethnic life, are the cherished dream of all Evenks. The economic situation in the country, however, makes this dream unrealizable for now.

Prospects for preserving the Evenks as an ethnic group

The prospects for the preservation of the Evenks as an ethnic system are quite optimistic. In comparison with other peoples close to them in culture, they have a relatively high number, which makes the problem of preserving them as an ethnic community not relevant. The main thing for them in modern conditions is the search for new criteria for self-identification. Many Evenki leaders associate the revival of their people with the possibilities of their own traditional culture, which seems to them to be completely self-sufficient, capable of not only surviving, but also successfully developing in conditions of coexistence with another external culture. The development of any nation has always occurred in conditions of continuous cultural borrowing. The Evenks are no exception in this regard. Their modern culture is a bizarre interweaving of tradition and innovation. Under these conditions, the Evenks have yet to find an optimal model for their future. However, like all the peoples of the North, their future ethnic fate will depend on the degree of preservation and development of traditional industries and cultural traditions.

Evenki buildings

Evenk camps.

The Evenks led a nomadic life as hunters and reindeer herders. By the beginning of the twentieth century. in the Lensko-Kirensky and Ilimsky regions, the Evenks switched to a semi-sedentary lifestyle. This affected the nature of their home. Evenki camps, depending on the season, were divided into winter, spring-autumn and summer. Families that were related usually settled in one camp. As part of the autumn-spring camp, there is a stationary tent - golomo, the frame of which is made of half-logs and covered with larch bark. The frame of the tent consisted of 25 - 40 poles, installed in a circle and tied at the top. They rested on 2, 4 or 6 main poles located inside. Chum tires were made from tanned deer skin, birch bark, and larch bark. The lower cover was made from 6 – 10 skins, the upper – from 2 – 4 skins. Summer tires - "vices" - were sewn from pieces of birch bark taken from 2 - 3 trees. The hearth in the plague was in the center, the smoke came out through the upper hole. A long transverse pole was attached above the hearth for hanging a boiler or kettle on the hearth hook. Inside the tent was divided into three parts: right - female half, the left one is for men, the part opposite the entrance was intended for guests. The installation of the chum was done by women. When migrating, the Evenks took only tires with them, leaving the carcass unassembled. A new frame was installed in a new location.

Labaz delken

Labaz

Not far from the entrance to the tent there was a flooring made of poles on stilts, about 1.5 meters high. Near standing trees They were sawed down and carefully sanded, grooves were cut into them, on which thick transverse poles were installed, and a knurling of smaller poles was placed on them. Essential items were stored in such a storage shed: dishes, food, clothing, tools. Untreated skins were laid on top of them in case of rain, so that things would not get wet.

Labaz noku

Evenki barns for storing food and belongings were noku sheds - wooden log huts with a gable roof covered with larch bark. The log house was installed on piles 1 to 2 meters high. We climbed onto the storage shed using a log with steps hollowed out in it. This was done so that the animals would not steal things and food. The sanded piles were smooth, and rodents could not climb on them, and the smell of food and things did not spread along the ground. According to the diaries of Siberian researchers, in the event of an attack by enemies or wild animals, the Tungus would climb into a storage shed and hold the defense there, shooting back with a bow and stabbing the enemy with a spear. So, the noku storehouse was originally not only outbuilding. For passive hunting of fur-bearing animals, traps (mouth traps) called langs were placed near the camps. The basis of the summer camp consists of portable rovduga plagues (rovduga - deer or elk chamois among the peoples of Siberia), a fire-smoke to protect deer from midges, devices for drying and repairing nets, for removing fat from animal skins, as well as a primitive forge.

Folk art

– skilled craftsmen folk crafts, whimsically combine fur, birch bark, wood and, oddly enough, beads. Almost all the utensils and clothing of the Evenks are decorated with beads. Beads are used in ritual ceremonies of shamans and are even part of the reindeer harness, an excellent head decoration for deer.

The practical use of clothing did not interfere with decorating it with balls and circles made of mammoth bone, beads, and beads. Beads are always found on ancient clothing and household items of the peoples of the Far North. Clothes and bags were decorated with painting and embroidery, deer hair under the neck or a strip of beads along the contour of the painting, which emphasized the silhouette. If embroidery was used, then, as a rule, it was located along the seams and edges of the clothes to prevent the penetration of evil spirits into the clothes.

Evenki ornament is strictly geometric, clear in structure and form, complex in its composition. It consists of the simplest stripes, arcs or arches, circles, alternating squares, rectangles, zigzags, and cross-shaped figures. The variety of materials used in ornamentation, different colors of leather, fur, beads, and fabrics carefully enrich this seemingly simple ornament and give the decorated objects a very elegant appearance.

In their art, Evenki craftswomen have long widely used colored cloth, rovduga (finely dressed deer skin in the form of suede), deer, elk, squirrel, sable, deer hair, their own dyes and colored threads made from deer tendons. A short, lightweight caftan that fits tightly to the figure, a bib, a belt, high fur boots, greaves, hats, and mittens are abundantly decorated with beads, embroidered with deer hair and colored threads, inlaid with pieces of fur, strips of leather and fabric of various colors, covered with weaving from straps, appliqué from pieces of colored fabrics and tin plaques. The decoration is purely constructive in nature: all these frames around the side, hem, cuffs, main seams of clothing, piping, piping emphasize the design of the item and create a rich texture. The semantics of decoration was determined by the cult of nature. Circles with a dot in the center and without it in the form of rosettes on clothes are astral signs, symbols of the cosmos: the sun, stars, the structure of the world. The triangular ornament is a symbol of the female gender, associated with the idea and cult of fertility, concern for the continuation of the human race, and strengthening the power of the community.

The Evenks, who are usually associated with Siberia and the Russian Far East, also live in China. Currently, according to the Russian broadcast of Radio China International, the Evenks are the only nationality in China that is engaged in reindeer herding. Also, according to the station, the Evenks are also called the last hunters in China. We present excerpts from the Chinese foreign broadcast material from which we cited these statements in the second part of this review. And in the first one we collected all the most important things about the Evenks.

• audio file No. 1

The Museum of Evenki Culture (in the photograph is a Chinese foreign broadcast) opened in the village of Bayan-Tokhoi of the Evenki Autonomous Khoshun (county) of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China in 1998, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the formation of the Khoshun.

In our audio file in the upper left corner of this page you can listen to the original broadcast from Beijing, Russian broadcast of China International Radio about the Evenks (dated 09/12/2011). In particular, the audio file contains a song by the Evenks living in China. “The Evenki song is sung by an Evenki woman named Mariyana. The composition talks about the huge changes that have taken place in recent years with the Evenki people. With this song she expresses joy better life"- said the announcer of Chinese foreign broadcasting.

Evenks. Origin

The self-name of many Eveki groups sounds like Evenkil - which means “man”. Evenks belong to the Mongoloids. Evenks were also previously called Tungus. The origin of the term "tungu" is believed to come from the Chinese name for this people - "tunghu", which means "eastern barbarians".

The Evenki language, along with Manchu and Yakut, belongs to the Tungus-Manchu branch of the Altai language family.

In turn, the Tungus-Manchu language family is something intermediate between the Mongolian (Mongolians belong to it) and the Turkic language family (where, for example, Tuvans belong, although many do not perceive Tuvans as Turks (such as Tatars, or Turks), because Tuvans do not profess Islam, but are partly shamanists, like the Yakuts and Evenks, and partly Buddhists, like the Manchus and Mongols, It should be noted that the Manchus also partly profess Buddhism). The Evenks are very close to the Manchus, but unlike them they did not create famous state entities. And in this they are similar to the Yakuts close to them.

The total number of Evenks is no more than 80 thousand people, of which approx. 35 thousand live in the northern part of Eastern Siberia and the Far East, and many still lead a nomadic lifestyle as reindeer herders and hunters; still ok. 35 thousand Evenks live in China (Inner Mongolia Region) and several more in independent Mongolia. In addition to the Evenki, there is an almost indistinguishable Evenki people, numbering about 20 thousand people, who live in Russia.

The Evenks, both in Russia and in China and Mongolia, with the help of scientists from the respective countries, adapted the writing system adopted by the titular peoples of these states to record their language. In Russia, the Evenks use the Cyrillic alphabet, in Mongolia they use the Old Mongolian alphabet and hieroglyphs, and in China they use the Old Mongolian alphabet. But this also happened recently, in the 20th century. Therefore, the following excerpts from Chinese foreign broadcasts say that the Evenks do not have a written language.

Prepared by: Monitoring site, March 2012;

Chinese view of the Evenks

“China International Radio” in its Russian broadcast dated 09/12/2011 noted:

“Currently, Evenks live in China and Russia. In China, they live mainly in the Evenki Autonomous Khoshun, as well as in the khoshuns (counties of the Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China Inner Mongolia) Arun-Qi, Chen-Barga-Qi, etc...

Evenki" are (as they say in China) "people living in mountain forests." Historically settled in various places (China), the Evenks were formerly called “Soluns”, “Tungus”, “Yakuts”. In 1957, based on the wishes of representatives of this nationality, they were given a single name - “Evenks”. On August 1, 1958, the Evenki Autonomous Khoshun was formed in Inner Mongolia.

Uzhertu is a writer and scientist of the Evenki people. He noted that the Evenks are one of the ancient small nationalities in northern China:

“Evenks usually settle on the banks of the river. The name of the tribe is given by the name of the river. For example, the Aoluguyam tribe lives along the banks of the river of the same name.”

The ancestors of the Evenks inhabited mountain forests in the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang (Amur) River, and were engaged in fishing, hunting and reindeer herding. Subsequently they began to move east. Nowadays the Evenki population is small, but they live on quite vast territories, most of them in the steppe regions of the western slope of the Greater Khingan.

The Evenks do not have their own written language.

Until the 60s of the last century they led a nomadic lifestyle. They hunted and ate wild birds, animals and fish. Snowy highlands and dense forests are their home sites. Gu Xianglian from the Evenki tribe Aoluguya. She says:

“Evenks are a unique people. In the past they were mainly engaged in hunting, and currently in reindeer herding. This is an independent nation, steadily striving forward.”

After the formation of new China, a small part of the Evenks who inhabited the Argun soum adhered to the patriarchal-communal system of the late primitive society, lived in primitive forests in miserable yurts - “Zolozi”, and led a nomadic lifestyle. Due to the fact that they were engaged in reindeer herding, they were often called “Evenks using domesticated reindeer.” They led a primitive communal way of life, the characteristic features of which were joint hunting and even distribution of prey.

After the formation of new China, a number of new Evenk settlements were created, sedentary cattle breeding began to develop, and the nomadic way of life changed radically. (However) in Currently, this is the only nationality in China that is engaged in reindeer herding. The Evenks are also called the last hunters in China.

The traditional dwelling of the Evenki - chum - was a conical hut made of poles, covered in winter with reindeer skins, and in summer time birch bark. When migrating, the frame was left in place, and the material for covering the chum was taken with them. The winter camps of the Evenks consisted of 1-2 chums, the summer ones - from 10 or more due to frequent holidays at this time of year.

The Evenks have their own religion. Shamaism is the ancient religion of the Evenks,” says the Chinese Foreign Broadcast’s description of the Evenks.

But first of all, they ask for iPads as a gift - a report from the MK special correspondent from the most remote region of Russia

Endless taiga, deer, plagues. You can only get to some villages in Evenkia by helicopter (or by snowmobile on frozen rivers). There is no Internet here and there is no cell phone reception. Bank cards? Yes, no one here has even seen them! In general, all the measures of the big world that we are accustomed to do not fit here and only get in the way...

But civilization has insidiously penetrated even here: a couple of TV channels operate on electricity generated by oil. It is TV, and even vodka and wolves, that constitute the main evil for local residents. Because of them, they lose the most valuable thing - deer. And because of them, Evenks increasingly dream of leaving for the mainland.

How the indigenous peoples of Evenkia live and survive today and how they celebrate their most important day of the year - a MK reporter found out.

At the ends of the Earth

“An exciting journey awaits you in one of the most depressing corners of the planet,” said our guide Sergei. He turned out to be both right and wrong at the same time.

We are going to Evenkia, or more precisely, to the tiny and unique village of Surinda. It takes 5 hours to fly from Krasnoyarsk to Surinda (with a stop at oil workers for refueling), but not everything is so simple. Evenkia did not let us in the first time: due to bad weather, the helicopter did not reach its destination, getting stuck in the middle of the taiga. Common in this area. And this year, due to the oddities of winter (the ice was weak, the snow was melting quickly), it was not possible to continue winter roads everywhere. So the Evenks actually found themselves in complete isolation. And this is their pain and salvation at the same time.

“Who knows if this people would have survived if trains ran from there to Krasnoyarsk every day or helicopters flew?..,” Sergei sighs.

— Are many people drawn to the city in general? — I ask the guide.

- Youth. Moreover, enrollment in universities for representatives of indigenous peoples of the North is preferential. Not everyone returns after studying. You can only work in the village on a reindeer herding farm. You can also engage in tanning skins and making decorative items. As they say, the choice is limited. Although, maybe it’s just a good thing that this is the case? The Evenks will preserve themselves if they work as reindeer herders. And by the way, local guys have the opportunity to do alternative service in the army... as reindeer herders!

We were warned that the celebration of Reindeer Herder's Day would begin early in the morning and last almost until the evening. The holiday will end... with a disco, where, as in the famous film, “everyone dances.” In general, Reindeer Herder’s Day means more to the local population than to us New Year. On the eve of the holiday, men return from the taiga along with the deer, women and children run out to meet them - in general, everything is like in the old days... However, in the Evenki village now they live not in tents, but in ordinary one-story houses. But you can’t take the house with you into the taiga, so you can’t live without plague anyway. And on Reindeer Herder’s Day you can see him everywhere. In one tent they prepare treats, in another they treat guests, in a third they tell children stories about... deer, who else!

Reindeer Breeder's Day without a reindeer sled race is like New Year's without Santa Claus and a Christmas tree. But the most beautiful competitions are not on sleds, but on the back of a reindeer. And by the way, the Evenks are generally the only people who ride a deer just like a horse! But this time in Surinda, it was mostly children who took part in the riding races. They weigh less, which means it's easier for deer.

“They felt sorry for the deer, because they got a lot of trouble last season,” the Evenks sigh. — There was intense heat in the summer, the streams dried up. The deer did not have enough food and became weak. And the wolves took advantage of this and attacked more often.

Vodka, wolves and free will

There were once almost 90 thousand deer in Surinda. Now - about three thousand. It’s even difficult to convey how the locals treat them. Reverence? No, not that. Admiration? Not the same again. They treat them much like life in general. And they accept life in this harsh land as it is, do not complain about it and consider it their duty to take care of it, because otherwise the law of balance will be violated. The Evenki language contains about 20 names for deer depending on gender, age, character, etc. Just think about it - 20 names for one animal! This is because the deer is both a breadwinner, a healer, and... everything combined.

What do you think clothes and shoes are still worn in Surinda? The one we are used to is, of course, available in the village store. But, firstly, it is very expensive due to delivery. Secondly, it is impractical.

What do you think the Evenks prepare their breakfast, lunch and dinner from? That's right, from venison. In different “performances”. Deer meat kebabs, isamna (stew with deer fat in its own juice), boiled tongues, sile soup... it’s impossible to even list all the deer dishes. Evenks sometimes drink deer blood and eat raw liver, because they know that it contains a lot of vitamins and microelements, and this will save them from scurvy. The body of local residents is generally not well suited for the food that we eat. Recently, children were taken to an event in the city, there was festive table with fruits and vegetables. So, the teachers strictly ensured that the children only tasted the food, but did not overeat. Otherwise - poisoning, pain, hospital. This has all been done many times before. And by the way, when medicine is powerless, the same deer may well come to the rescue: its antlers make an excellent cure for many ailments. The deer is also a breadwinner in the sense that the state provides subsidies for it as part of a program to support indigenous peoples.

When in last time We were counting the deer, but almost a third were missing. Wolves in these parts are not the size of a dog, but almost the size of a calf, and they attack in whole packs. And it's not easy to shoot them. From a helicopter it’s incredibly expensive (80 thousand rubles – an hour of Mi-8, Mi-2 flight time), from the ground it’s dangerous.

“That’s why they charged a good price for the skin of a wolf,” says the head of the village, Tatyana Savvateeva. — In total, up to 20 thousand can be obtained for a female. We have hunters from more than one generation. They know special methods to lure a wolf. One of them skied against predators and killed 5 wolves last year, for which we awarded him a rubber boat at the festival.

5 wolves - for the residents of the village this seems like a lot. In total, in recent months, only 8 gray predators have been destroyed by land methods. The Evenks even raised a cry for help to Krasnoyarsk extreme hunters. They asked them to come and hunt, even if only purely out of sporting interest. They promised to reward everyone who caught a wolf with local souvenirs and talismans (and here they are made of incredible beauty). Didn't arrive...

“We are often asked whether it is difficult for us to live without hot water,” the Evenks say. - What nonsense! Is this a problem? Wolves are a problem!

In addition to wolves, vodka brings trouble to local residents, but they don’t like to talk about it themselves. The fact that such nationalities are, in principle, prone to drunkenness is a well-known fact. And then there’s this isolation, a feeling of hopelessness that sometimes rolls in, so that the Evenks reach for the bottle. In one of the villages they tried to ban the sale of vodka in stores, but this did not lead to anything good: the residents were outraged and switched to tinctures.

“Specifically in Surinda, we did not introduce any bans on alcohol,” says Tatyana Arkadyevna. — But we limit its sale during certain periods (when animals are calving, etc.). And before Reindeer Herder’s Day, they also limited it.

On the threshold of Heaven

Now 462 residents live in Surinda, of which 449 are representatives of the indigenous nationality. It would seem that everyone here should know the Evenki language. Scientists who recently conducted research thought so too. An entire expedition of employees from the Research Center of Moscow State University and the Research Center for National-Linguistic Relations (SRC NLT) of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences went to Surinda.

“The village supports reindeer herding, which should also contribute to the preservation of the language,” the scientists write. “Nevertheless, the sociolinguistic survey we conducted showed that children no longer use the Evenki language, since their parents speak Russian to them. At school, Evenki is taught as a subject, but “on a residual basis.” The media also played their deplorable role. Among young people, knowledge of the Evenki language is passive (as a rule, they understand, but do not speak). We talked to 18-year-old boys who were considered the best in ethnic language proficiency among their peers, but all they could do was remember a certain number of words (about 15% of the list we presented). The language shift in Surinda began relatively recently - 10-15 years ago. At the same time, in the older generation there are several people who speak almost no Russian (all of them are over 80).”

The key to this study is the influence of the media. There are no newspapers in the village, but there is television. And the locals sit for hours at blue screen behind the series. As a result, they experience a kind of confusion of reality. What they see on TV clearly does not match the lifestyle they lead. And that’s why they are drawn to the city, dreaming about it, about that other life, where instead of deer there are BMWs, instead of tents there are mansions, instead of taiga there are clubs and restaurants. And so the Evenks asked for gifts to be sent to them for the holiday - iPads. And they don’t even understand what to do with these “toys” in the taiga, where mobile Internet No...

“We imagined an ideal picture of the future: all deer are tagged with chips or wearing electronic collars,” says the head of the scientific enterprise, Alexander Salman. — And the reindeer herder sits in the tent with a tablet, watching their movements. But if you think about it, this will completely destroy their way of life. So technology here is rather evil.

Alexander himself brought several collars to the holiday to track the migration routes of wild deer. I wanted to demonstrate to reindeer herders how environmentalists will put them on the “savage” this summer. The scientist says that since the times of the USSR, no one has studied the migration of deer. Therefore, it happens that Evenk hunters in the taiga waste their time waiting for a meeting with wild deer. As a result, they are left without production...

The only thing that could not kill TV about the Evenks was their belief in the spirits of nature. There seem to be no shamans in the village of Surinda, but there are descendants of those who were once considered great Guides of the spirit. And people are drawn to them... Christianity has not really taken root in Evenkia. It turned out to be lifeless here, where there is taiga all around and nature controls everything. Here, for example, is a case described by researchers: a child fell ill, his grandmother took him from the hospital to the taiga, where she sang for a long time at the icon of Jesus Christ and rang the bell so that the Russian God would hear the Evenki prayer. Then they brought a deer so that the girl could inhale its breath. And so that the disease would finally go away, a deer was sacrificed in front of the icon of the Savior. The most interesting thing is that the child survived. Either thanks to prayers, or a sacrificial deer... Or maybe simply thanks to the purest taiga air and a strong body.

And the Evenks have not lost their somewhat naive, but such captivating simplicity and kindness. An Evenki citizen can take off his talisman (which he inherited from his great-grandmother and protected him for many years) and give it to a stranger. Simply because I felt that it was more necessary for him. This is probably why crime is low in Evenkia, although almost every house has a gun. “You bring us Muscovites for re-education,” the Evenks joke. Not such a bad idea...

Evenki are the indigenous people of the Russian Federation. They also live in Mongolia and northeast China. Self-name - Evenki, which became the official ethnonym in 1931, the old name - Tungus. Separate groups of Evenks were known as orochen, birary, manegry, solon. The language is Evenki, belongs to the Tungus-Manchu group of the Altai language family. There are three groups of dialects: northern, southern and eastern. Each dialect is divided into dialects. The Russian language is widespread; many Evenks living in Yakutia and Buryatia also speak Yakut and Buryat. Anthropologically, they present a rather motley picture, revealing a complex of features characteristic of the Baikal, Katanga and Central Asian types. According to the 2010 All-Russian Population Census, 1,272 Evenks live in the territory.

Evenki: general information

The Evenks were formed on the basis of the mixing of the aborigines of Eastern Siberia with the Tungus tribes who came from the Baikal region and Transbaikalia. There is reason to consider the Transbaikalian Uvan people as the direct ancestors of the Evenki, who, according to Chinese chronicles (V-VII centuries AD), lived in the mountain taiga northeast of Barguzin and Selenga. The Uvani were not aborigines of Transbaikalia, but were a group of nomadic herders who came here from a more southern area. In the process of settling across the expanses of Siberia, the Tungus encountered local tribes and, ultimately, assimilated them. The peculiarities of the ethnic formation of the Tungus have led to the fact that they are characterized by three anthropological types, as well as three different economic and cultural groups: reindeer herders, cattle breeders and fishermen.

Historical background

II millennium BC - I millennium AD - human settlement of the Lower Tunguska valley. Sites of ancient people of the Neolithic era of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the middle reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska.

XII century - the beginning of the settlement of the Tungus throughout Eastern Siberia: from the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the east to the Ob-Irtysh interfluve in the west, from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Baikal region in the south.

Among the northern peoples not only of the Russian North, but also of the entire Arctic coast, the Evenks are the largest linguistic group: more than 26,000 people live on the territory of Russia, according to various sources, the same number in Mongolia and Manchuria.

With the creation of the Evenki Okrug, the name “Evenki” firmly entered into social, political and linguistic usage.

Doctor of Historical Sciences V.A. Tugolukov gave a figurative explanation for the name “Tungus” - walking across the ridges.

Since ancient times, the Tungus have settled from the shores of the Pacific Ocean to the Ob. Their way of life introduced changes in the names of clans not only based on geographical characteristics, but, more often, on household ones. The Evenks living along the shores of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk were called Evens or, more often, Lamuts from the word “lama” - sea. The Transbaikal Evenks were called Murchens, because they were mainly engaged in horse breeding rather than reindeer herding. And the name of the horse is “mur”. Evenki reindeer herders settled in the interfluve of the three Tunguskas (Upper, Podkamennaya, or Middle, and Lower) and called themselves Orochens - reindeer Tungus. And they all spoke and speak the same Tungus-Manchu language.

Most Tungus historians consider Transbaikalia and the Amur region to be the ancestral homeland of the Evenks. Many sources claim that they were forced out by the more warlike steppe inhabitants at the beginning of the 10th century. However, there is another point of view. Chinese chronicles mention that 4,000 years before the Evenks were forced out, the Chinese knew about a people who were the strongest among the “northern and eastern foreigners.” And these Chinese chronicles indicate coincidences in many features of that ancient people - the Sushens - with the later ones, known to us as the Tungus.

1581-1583 - the first mention of the Tungus as a people in the description of the Siberian kingdom.

The first explorers, explorers, and travelers spoke highly of the Tungus:

"helpful without servility, proud and courageous."

Khariton Laptev, who examined the shores of the Arctic Ocean between the Ob and Olenek, wrote:

“In courage, humanity, and sense, the Tungus are superior to all the nomadic people living in yurts.”

The exiled Decembrist V. Kuchelbecker called the Tungus “Siberian aristocrats,” and the first Yenisei governor A. Stepanov wrote:

"their costumes resemble the camisoles of the Spanish grandees..."

But we must not forget that the first Russian explorers also noted that " their spears and spears are made of stone and bone"that they do not have iron utensils, and" tea is boiled in wooden vats with hot stones, and meat is baked only on coals..." And one more thing:

“There are no iron needles and they sew clothes and shoes with bone needles and deer veins.”

Second half of the 16th century. - penetration of Russian industrialists and hunters into the basins of the Taza, Turukhan and the mouth of the Yenisei rivers.

The proximity of two different cultures was interpenetrating. The Russians learned the skills of hunting, survival in northern conditions, and were forced to accept the moral standards and social life of the aborigines, especially since the newcomers took local women as wives and created mixed families.

Territory of settlement and number

The Evenks inhabit a vast territory from the left bank of the Yenisei in the West to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the East. The southern border of settlement runs along the left bank of the Amur and. Administratively, the Evenks are settled within the borders of the Irkutsk, Chita, Amur and Sakhalin regions, the republics of Yakutia and Buryatia, the Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk territories. There are Evenks also in the Tomsk and Tyumen regions. In this gigantic territory, they do not constitute the majority of the population anywhere; they live in the same settlements along with Russians, Yakuts and other peoples.

The number of Evenks at the time of their entry into Russia (XVII century) was estimated at approximately 36,135 people. The most accurate data on their number was provided by the 1897 census - 64,500, while 34,471 people considered Tungusic their native language, the rest - Russian (31.8%), Yakut, Buryat and other languages.

Almost half of all Evenks in the Russian Federation live in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Here they are concentrated in Aldansky (1890 people), Bulunsky (2086), Zhigansky (1836), Oleneksky (2179) and Ust-Maisky (1945) uluses. In their national-territorial formation - the Evenki Autonomous Okrug - there are relatively few Evenks - 11.6% of their total number. There are enough of them in the Khabarovsk Territory. In other regions, approximately 4-5% of all Evenks live. In Evenkia, Yakutia, Buryatia, Chita, Irkutsk and Amur regions, Evenks predominate among other indigenous peoples of the North.

A characteristic feature of the Evenki settlement is dispersion. There are about a hundred settlements in the country where they live, but in most settlements their number ranges from several dozen to 150-200 people. There are few settlements where Evenks live in relatively large compact groups. This type of settlement has a negative impact on the ethnocultural development of the people.

Life, economy, cult

The main occupation of the “foot” or “sedentary” Evenks is hunting deer, elk, roe deer, musk deer, bear, etc. Later, commercial fur hunting spread. They hunted from autumn to spring, two or three people at a time. They walked in the taiga on bare skis (kingne, kigle) or lined with kamus (suksilla). Reindeer herders hunted on horseback.

Reindeer husbandry was mainly of transport importance. Reindeer were used for riding, under pack, and milked. Small herds and free grazing predominated. After the end of the winter hunting season, several families usually united and migrated to places convenient for calving. The joint grazing of deer continued throughout the summer. In winter, during the hunting season, deer usually grazed near the camps where the hunters' families stayed. Migration took place each time to new places - in the summer along watersheds, in the winter along rivers; permanent paths led only to trading posts. Some groups had different types of sleds, borrowed from the Nenets and Yakuts.

"Equestrian" Evenks bred horses, camels, and sheep.

Fishing was of auxiliary importance, in the Baikal region, lake areas south of Lake Essey, in the upper Vilyui, in southern Transbaikalia and on the Okhotsk coast - also of commercial importance. On the Okhotsk coast they also hunted seals.

They moved on water on rafts ( topic), boats with a two-bladed oar - dugout, sometimes with plank sides (ongocho, utunngu) or birch bark (dyav); Orochens for crossings used a boat made of elk skin on a frame made on site ( mureke).

Home processing of hides and birch bark (among women) was developed; Before the arrival of the Russians, blacksmithing was known, including to order. In Transbaikalia and the Amur region, they partially switched to settled agriculture and cattle breeding. Modern Evenks mostly retain traditional hunting and reindeer herding. Since the 1930s Reindeer herding cooperatives were created, settled settlements were built, agriculture spread (vegetables, potatoes, and in the south - barley, oats). In the 1990s. Evenks began to organize into tribal communities.

The basis of traditional food is meat (wild animals, horse meat among the equestrian Evenks) and fish. In the summer they consumed reindeer milk, berries, wild garlic and onions. They borrowed baked bread from the Russians: to the west of the Lena they baked sour dough balls in ash, and in the east they baked unleavened flatbreads. The main drink is tea, sometimes with reindeer milk or salt.

Winter camps consisted of 1-2 tents, summer camps - up to 10, and more during holidays. The chum (du) had a conical frame made of poles on a frame of poles, covered with nyuk tires made of rovduga or skins (in winter) and birch bark (in summer). When migrating, the frame was left in place. A fireplace was built in the center of the chum, and above it there was a horizontal pole for the cauldron. In some places, semi-dugouts, log dwellings borrowed from the Russians, the Yakut yurt-booth, in Transbaikalia - the Buryat yurt, and among the settled Birars of the Amur region - a quadrangular log dwelling of the fanza type were also known.

Traditional clothing consists of rovduzh or cloth natazniks (herki), leggings ( aramus, gurumi), an open caftan made of deerskin, the hems of which were tied at the chest with ties; a bib with ties at the back was worn underneath it. Women's bib ( Nellie) was decorated with beads, had a straight lower edge, masculine ( halmi) - angle. Men wore a belt with a knife in a sheath, women - with a needle case, tinderbox and pouch. Clothes were decorated with strips of goat and dog fur, fringe, horsehair embroidery, metal plaques, and beads. Horse breeders of Transbaikalia wore a robe with a wide wrap to the left. Elements of Russian clothing spread.

Evenki communities united in the summer to jointly herd reindeer and celebrate holidays. They included several related families and numbered from 15 to 150 people. Forms of collective distribution, mutual assistance, hospitality, etc. were developed. For example, until the 20th century. a custom (nimat) has been preserved, obliging the hunter to give part of the catch to his relatives. At the end of the 19th century. small families predominated. Property was inherited through the male line. Parents usually stayed with their youngest son. Marriage was accompanied by the payment of bride price or labor for the bride. Levirates were known, and in rich families - polygamy (up to 5 wives). Until the 17th century There were known up to 360 patrilineal clans with an average of 100 people, governed by elders - “princes”. The kinship terminology retained the features of the classification system.

Cults of spirits, trade and clan cults were preserved. There were elements of the Bear Festival - rituals associated with cutting up the carcass of a killed bear, eating its meat, and burying its bones. Christianization of ‘wreaths’ has been carried out since the 17th century. In Transbaikalia and the Amur region there was a strong influence of Buddhism.

Folklore included improvised songs, mythological and historical epics, fairy tales about animals, historical and everyday legends, etc. The epic was performed as a recitative, and listeners often took part in the performance, repeating individual lines after the narrator. Separate groups of Evenks had their own epic heroes (soning). There were also constant heroes - comic characters in everyday stories. Among the musical instruments known are the jew's harp, the hunting bow, etc., and among the dances - the round dance ( Cheiro, Sedio), performed to song improvisation. The games were in the nature of competitions in wrestling, shooting, running, etc. Artistic bone and wood carving, metal working (men), bead embroidery, silk embroidery among the Eastern Evenks, fur and fabric appliqué, and birch bark embossing (women) were developed.

Lifestyle and support system

Economically, the Evenks are noticeably different from other peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East. First of all, they are reindeer hunters. The Evenk hunter spent a good half of his life riding a deer. The Evenks also had groups that hunted on foot, but in general it was the riding deer that was the main calling card of this people. Hunting played a leading role among most Evenki territorial groups. The hunting essence of the Evenk is clearly manifested even in such a secondary matter for him as fishing. Fishing for an Evenk is the same as hunting. For many years, their main fishing tools were a hunting bow with blunt arrows, which were used to kill fish, and a spear, a type of hunting spear. As the fauna depleted, the importance of fishing in the livelihood of the Evenks began to increase.

Reindeer husbandry of the Evenks is taiga, pack and riding. Free grazing and milking of females were practiced. Evenks are born nomads. The length of the migrations of reindeer hunters reached hundreds of kilometers per year. Individual families covered distances of a thousand kilometers.

The traditional economy of the Evenks after collectivization and many other reorganizations during the Soviet period by the beginning of the 1990s. existed in two main variants: commercial hunting and transport reindeer husbandry, characteristic of a number of regions of Siberia and some regions of Yakutia, and large-scale reindeer herding and commercial farming, which developed mainly in Evenkia. The first type of economy developed within the framework of cooperative and state industrial enterprises (state industrial enterprises, koopzverpromhozy), the second - within the framework of reindeer herding state farms, focused on the production of marketable meat products. Fur trade was of secondary importance in them.

Ethno-social situation

The degradation of the traditional economy and the collapse of the production infrastructure in ethnic villages have extremely aggravated the ethno-social situation in the areas where the Evenks live. The most painful problem is unemployment. In the Evenki Autonomous Okrug, due to unprofitability, livestock farming has been completely eliminated, and with it dozens of jobs. A high level of unemployment is recorded in the Evenki districts of the Irkutsk region. Between 59 and 70% of Evenks are unemployed here.

Most Evenki villages do not have regular communications even with regional centers. Products are often imported only once a year along the winter road in an extremely limited assortment (flour, sugar, salt). In many villages, local power plants do not operate stably - there are no spare parts, no fuel, and electricity is supplied only a few hours a day.

In conditions of economic crisis, the health of the population is deteriorating. Disease prevention and measures to improve the health of the Evenks are carried out in a completely insufficient volume due to the lack of financial resources for the work of mobile medical teams, the purchase of medicines, and the maintenance of doctors of narrow specialties. Due to the lack of regular communication with regional centers, people cannot go to regional hospitals for treatment. Air ambulance operations have been reduced to a minimum.

Demographic indicators are worsening. In a number of regions, the birth rate has fallen sharply and the death rate has increased. In, for example, the Evenki mortality rate is more than twice as high as the birth rate. And this is a typical picture for all Evenk villages. In the structure of mortality of the indigenous population, the leading place is occupied by accidents, suicides, injuries and poisonings, mainly due to alcoholism.

Ethno-cultural situation

The modern social structure and the corresponding cultural environment in most areas where the Evenks live is a multi-layered pyramid. Its basis is a thin layer of permanent rural population, which, like 100 years ago, leads a nomadic economy. However, this layer is steadily shrinking, and along with it, the main core of bearers of traditional culture is shrinking.

A characteristic feature of the modern linguistic situation among the Evenks is mass bilingualism. The degree of proficiency in the native language varies in different age groups and in different regions. In general, 30.5% of Evenks consider the Evenki language their native language, 28.5% consider the Russian language, and more than 45% of Evenks are fluent in their language. Evenki writing was created in the late 1920s, and since 1937 it has been translated into the Russian alphabet. The literary Evenki language was based on the dialect of the Evenki of Podkamennaya Tunguska, but the literary language of the Evenki has not yet become supra-dialectal. Language teaching is carried out from grades 1 to 8, in primary school as a subject, later as an elective. Teaching the native language depends on the availability of personnel, and even more so on the language policy of local administrations. Pedagogical personnel are trained in pedagogical schools in Igarka and Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, in Buryat, Yakut and Khabarovsk universities, in the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. Herzen in St. Petersburg. Radio broadcasts are conducted in the Evenki language in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and in Evenkia. In a number of areas, local radio broadcasts are carried out. In the Evenki Autonomous Okrug, a supplement to the district newspaper is published once a week. A huge amount of work to revive the native language is being carried out by Z.N. Pikunova, the main author of textbooks. In Sakha-Yakutia, the specialized Evenki school in the village of Yengri is famous.

Evenki public organizations are taking measures to revive traditional culture. The Republican Center of Evenki Culture “Arun” was formed in Buryatia, and the Association of Northern Cultures “Eglen” was formed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Cultural centers operate in many schools in national villages where Evenks live. Republican television and radio of Yakutia and Buryatia broadcast programs dedicated to Evenki culture. In Buryatia, the Bolder festival is regularly held with the participation of Evenks from other regions and Mongolia. The national intelligentsia takes an active part in the work of public organizations: teachers, medical workers, lawyers, representatives of the creative intelligentsia. Evenki writers, Nikolai Oegir, are widely known in Russia. The main problem in the development of the ethnocultural life of the Evenks is their territorial disunity. The annual big Suglans, where representatives of all territorial groups would gather to discuss pressing issues of ethnic life, are the cherished dream of all Evenks. The economic situation in the country, however, makes this dream unrealizable for now.

Prospects for preserving the Evenks as an ethnic group

The prospects for the preservation of the Evenks as an ethnic system are quite optimistic. In comparison with other peoples close to them in culture, they have a relatively high number, which makes the problem of preserving them as an ethnic community not relevant. The main thing for them in modern conditions is the search for new criteria for self-identification. Many Evenki leaders associate the revival of their people with the possibilities of their own traditional culture, which seems to them to be completely self-sufficient, capable of not only surviving, but also successfully developing in conditions of coexistence with another external culture. The development of any nation has always occurred in conditions of continuous cultural borrowing. The Evenks are no exception in this regard. Their modern culture is a bizarre interweaving of tradition and innovation. Under these conditions, the Evenks have yet to find an optimal model for their future. However, like all the peoples of the North, their future ethnic fate will depend on the degree of preservation and development of traditional industries and cultural traditions.

For the first time I had a chance to see the Evenks at the Vanavara airport, which is located on the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The small airport, from where An-2 planes, Mi6 and Mi-4 helicopters, and occasionally An-24 planes and Mi-8 helicopters flew in good weather, did not accept any equipment, and people waiting for departure from Vanavara accumulated for a week, and sometimes two, a lot, even a lot.

In the corner of the waiting room there were about 20 people, as far as I remember. Women, children, and of course, men. They were all quite short, each man had a small-caliber rifle with a sawed-off cut-off, for some reason, on his back. The barrel. I found out later. That people who hunted squirrels in the taiga often sawed off the barrels of their rifles so that they would not interfere with movement through the forest. Yes, there were still a lot of dogs. But people drove them out of the airport building, and they wandered nearby. We ran through the surrounding forest in search of mice, squirrels and chipmunks.

The entire male population of the airport, after the announcement of bad weather, went to the village where there were two shops. By evening the men were drunk. However. None of them ever took up arms, although there were clashes between them. All these people had to fly further north - to Baykit, Mutorai, etc.
A few years later I happened to live in the north of the Irfkut region, where many Evenks live. Here I learned much more about them and their lives.


According to scientists studying the history of peoples, their movement in the world, etc., the Evenks from the region of eastern Khingan, under the pressure of more aggressive and more warlike tribes of Mongolia and Northern China, migrated to their current places of residence, and here they have already settled from the Yenisei to the Quiet ocean. At the same time. On the banks of the N. Tunguska, in the Evenki district of the modern Krasnoyarsk Territory, in the northern part of the Irkutsk region, and some other places there are much more of them left than anywhere else. In the Irkutsk region, the Evenks stopped at Lake Baikal, but later moved to the northern part of the region - mainly along the Lower Tunguska River.
It is not always easy to get to the Evenki district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory; this is easiest to do from the regional center of Boguchany, which is on the Angara - from there planes fly both to the tour and to Vanavara.

It is possible to fly to the north of the Irkutsk region from the airport in the city of Kirensk, and from there you can fly by helicopter, but this is only possible in flying weather, which is not always the case here. On the Lower Tunguska below Erbogachen there are several villages in which it is always possible to meet Evenks. These are Hamakar, Nakano, Inarigda.


But in villages where people of several nationalities live, the Evenks stand out little; in the taiga, especially in the summer, you can immediately distinguish an Evenk from a Russian, a Yakut, or even a Buryat. The fact is that the Evenks move around the taiga on foot when hunting, but in other cases they can most likely be seen riding a deer.


A group of Evenks in an old photo.
In general, in old photographs, images of any people, including Evenks, are more realistic, in my opinion.


Doesn’t this photo say more than all modern ones about what the Evenks look like at their summer chum? Frankly speaking, it is not always possible to find current plagues in photographs, and plagues standing on a plank floor or paving slabs are no longer plagues, but museum exhibits. True, this tent looks more like a yurt, but it’s hard for me to say for sure.


And this winter chum already quite accurately corresponds to the real chum used by the Evenks in winter.

However, it is worth noting that Evenks do not always and not always live in tents. Many of them bought, and sometimes built, houses in the villages. I noticed the following feature of such houses: most often there are no partitions in them, heating is carried out by a large Russian stove, but along with it there is also an iron “potbelly stove” in the house. A potbelly stove is installed so that in the morning it is possible to quickly heat the air in the house.

At the end of the last century, the Evenks very often gave names to boys Vasya, Kesha (Innokenty), why this is so is difficult to say, but it was so. Their religion is Orthodoxy. But in the Evenki family there is often a shaman, that is, in some way shamanism is preserved among the people whose original religion it was. The Evenki language is used in dealing with Russians and other peoples, Russian, but in the family they often speak their own language, that is, they are completely bilingual.


It is not always possible to see Evenks dressed so colorfully.


More often you can meet a man riding a deer in simple modern clothes in the forest.


I had to visit the plague. Apart from the abundance of fur, I didn’t see anything special there, but this is understandable, almost all Evenks hunt from October until the first thaw. The start of hunting is due to the fact that in early October in Evenkia and part of the Irkutsk region, permanent snow cover is established, and the skins of game animals (squirrels, sable) become “off”.

In this short article I would like to note that Evenki women are amazing craftswomen in the business of dressing fur and sewing it and fabrics of national clothing. Look at the pattern! By the way, the edges of the clothes are always finished with special care, the ornament is smaller the further from the edges.