Evenki

1. A member of a people inhabiting a large area of eastern Siberia in Russia and northern Nei Monggol (Inner Mongolia) in China.
2. The Tungusic language of the Evenki.

[Russian, Evenki people, from Evenki ə´wənkī.]

The Evenki are the most geographically wide-ranging native people of Russia, occupying a territory from west of the Yenisey River to the Pacific Ocean, and from near the Arctic Ocean to northern China. One of Russia's northern peoples, they number about thirty thousand. Traditionally many Evenki pursued hunting, using small herds of domesticated reindeer mainly for transport and milk. Some groups focused more on fishing, whereas in northerly areas larger-scale reindeer husbandry was pursued. Largely nomadic, Evenki lived in groups of a few households, gathering annually in larger groups to trade news and goods, arrange marriages, and so forth.

The Evenki language is part of the Manchu-Tungus language group. Its four dialects differ substantially, a fact ignored by the soviets when they introduced Evenki textbooks based on the central dialect, which were barely intelligible to those in the East. Evenki cosmology includes a number of worlds; and their shamans negotiate between these worlds. Indeed, the word shaman derives from the Evenki samanil, their name for such spiritual leaders. Shamans were severely repressed during the Soviet period; the possibility of revitalizing shamanism proved a common trope for cultural revival among Evenki in early post-Soviet years.

Russian traders began to penetrate Evenki homelands in the mid-seventeenth century. Prior to this, southern Evenki had carried on trade relations with the Chinese. Russians subjected Evenki to a fur tax (yasak), and held hostages to ensure its payment. The Soviet government brought new forms of control, organizing Evenki into collective farms, arresting rich herders, and settling nomads to the extent possible. Families were often sundered, as adults remained with the reindeer herds while children attended compulsory school. Children were not taught their own language or how to pursue traditional activities. Inadequate schooling, racism, and apathy have hindered their ability to pursue nontraditional activities. In some areas, mining and smelting have removed substantial pastures and hunting grounds through environmental degradation. Hydropower projects have also challenged traditional activities by appropriating portions of Evenki territory.

Since the demise of the Soviet Union, Evenki reindeer herds have suffered serious decline. At the same time substantial numbers of families took the opportunity provided by new laws to leave state-owned farms and establish small, family based hunting and herding operations. However, lack of government support has made the survival of these enterprises almost impossible. Evenki are battling this predicament through the establishment of quasipolitical organizations, mainly at the regional level, to pursue their rights.

Bibliography

Anderson, David. (2000). "The Evenkis of Central Siberia." In Endangered Peoples of the Arctic. Struggles to Survive and Thrive, ed. Milton M. Freeman. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Anderson, David. (2000). Identity and Ecology in Arctic Siberia. The Number One Reindeer Brigade. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fondahl, Gail. (1998). Gaining Ground? Evenkis, Land, and Reform in Southeastern Siberia. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

—GAIL A. FONDAHL

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: a member of the people inhabiting an area of northern Mongolia and eastern Siberia
  Synonym: Ewenki

Meaning #2: the Tungusic language of the Evenki people in eastern Siberia
  Synonyms: Tungus, Tunguz, Ewenki

Evenki or Evenk may refer to

• Evenks, or Evenki, people of Russia and China
• Evenki languages, languages of Tungusic family
  • Evenki language, subdivision of Evenki languages, spoken by Evenks
• Evenk Autonomous Banner, subdivision of Inner Mongolia, China
• Evenk Autonomous Okrug, current Evenkiysky District, in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia

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