#evenks

Evenki people, photos by Alexander Khimushin

1. Evenki girl, Republic of Buryatia, Siberia 2. Evenki girl, Sakha Republic, Siberia 3. Evenki mother and child, Sakha Republic, Siberia

The Evenks (also spelled Ewenki or Evenki) are a Tungusic people of Northern Asia. In Russia, the Evenks are recognised as one of the indigenous peoples of the Russian North, 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, with a population of 30,875 (2010 census). There are 537 Evenks in Mongolia (2015 census).

Traditionally they were a mixture of pastoralists and hunter-gatherers—they relied on their domesticated reindeer for milk and transport and hunted other large game for meat (Vasilevich, 620-1). Today “[t]he 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” (620). The Evenks lived mostly in areas of what is called a taiga, or boreal forest. They lived in conical tents made from birch bark 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 the spring encampments had up to 10 households (Vasilevich, 637).

Their skill of riding the domesticated reindeer allowed the Evenks to “colonize vast areas of the eastern taiga which had previously been impenetrable” (Vitebsky, 31). The Evenks used a saddle unique to their culture which is placed on the shoulders of the reindeer so as to lessen the strain on the animal, and used not stirrups but a stick to balance (31-32). Evenks did not develop reindeer sledges until comparatively recent times (32). They instead used their reindeer as pack animals and often traversed great distances on foot, using snowshoes or skis (Vasilevich, 627). The Evenki people did not eat their domesticated reindeer (although they did hunt and eat wild reindeer) but kept them for milk. (Forsyth, 49-50).

The Evenks wore a characteristic costume “adapted to the cold but rather dry climate of Central Siberia 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: the loincloth made of animal hide, leggings, and boots of varying lengths (Vasilevich, 641). Facial tattooing was also very common.

^Evenks in 1862

In the 17th century, the Russian empire made contact with the Evenks. Cossacks, who served as a kind of “border-guard” for the tsarist government, imposed a fur tax on the Siberian tribes. The Cossacks exploited the Evenk clan hierarchy and took hostages from the highest members in order 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 (Vasilevich, 624). Contact with the Russians and constant demand for fur taxes pushed the Evenks east all the way to Sakhalin island, where some still live today (Cassells). In the 19th century some groups migrated south and east into Mongolia and Manchuria (Vasilevich, 625). Today there are still Evenk populations in Sakhalin, Mongolia, and Manchuria (Ethnologue), and to a lesser extent, their traditional Baikal region (Janhunen). Russian invasion of the Evenks (and other indigenous peoples) resulted in language erosion, traditional decline, identity loss, among others, of thereof. This was especially the case during the Soviet regime. Soviet policies of collectivization, forced sedentarization (or sometimes refer to as Sedentism), "unpromising villages", and Russificationof the education system compromised social, cultural, and mental well-being of the Evenks . Today, few people can speak the Evenki language, reindeer herding is in significant decline, the suicide rate is extremely high, and alcoholism is a serious issue.

Flag of the Evenks People (An Indigenous group of Russia)

A portrait of a young Indigenous Evenki woman from Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

The Russians had first heard about the Lena River (the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers) from the Evenks (called Tungus at the time).  The Evenks also told the Russians about the Yakuts, or “horse people”, who lived along its shores.

The Yakuts were pastoral nomads who had originally lived in regions further south.  But upheavals accompanying the rise of Genghis Khan forced them to flee northwards, and they eventually settled along the middle Lena River.  There, they continued to breed cattle and horses despite the harsh climate, sheltering them in their own houses during the winter.

Russians set out on expeditions from Yeniseysk and Mangazeya, reaching the Lena's western tributaries from the Yenisei's eastwards branches.  They travelled across short portages of low rolling hills, and entered the river basin from the north and south.

But rival exploring parties from Tomsk and Tobolsk soon showed up as well.  Eventually, the government sent the Cossack Petr Beketov, who had already subjugated the Buryats and Evenks along the Angara River, and the conquest of the Lena really began.

In 1631, he portaged from Ilimsk (founded 1630) to the Lena with 30 men.  They then travelled up the Lena, built a fortified camp of fallen trees, and forced the local Yakuts to pay them tribute.

In 1632, Beketov founded Yakutsk on a large bend of the Lena River, and Zhigansk to the north.  (Yakutsk would later be used as a base for expeditions to the Arctic and Pacific Oceans.)

He founded Amginsk (Amga-Sloboda?), Vilyuysk (1634), and other outposts on tributary streams.  Olyokminsk was founded at the junction of the Olyokma and Lena Rivers in 1635.

I think Amga is the (approximate?) location of Amginsk.

Cossack bands from various towns had begun to fight among themselves for a share of the spoils.  Some even became involved in intertribal wars, on opposing sides, with some kind of hometown pride or loyalty.

In some places, tribute was collected 2-3 times from the locals, which led to uprisings (the people here had been easily subdued at first).  These uprisings led to a decline in revenue for the Treasury, so in 1638 Moscow designated Yakutsk as the headquarters of a separate administrative district, from which servicement from all other districts were banned.  However, this was only partially successful.

The conquest of Western Siberia had been methodically planned, but this was not the case for the east.  This was a more rugged country, with frontier fortresses creating tiny islands of domination in this giant land.  The Lena was about 4000km from the Ural Mountains – they were so remote from Kremlin directives that local authorities, and even individual groups, took the initiative.

Most Cossack or exploring parties were no more than 20-30 men, and some had fewer than 10; the men were called promyshlenniks (hunters and trappers).  They led the way, with the state following after them, instead of the other way around as it had been in the east.  They built forts to command rivers and portages, and to supervise the collecting of tribute.

At times, the lack of an organized military seemed to give the native peoples a fighting chance.  In particular, the Buryats continued to fiercely resist the Russians' incursions, and their guerrilla tactics were very effective in the mountainous terrain.  But in 1648, the Russians managed to ascend the Angara River as far as Lake Baikal. The Cossack Kurbat Ivanov (the first Russian to discover the lake) then crossed it, and after fierce fighting he imposed yasak (fur tribute) on the Buryats who lived on its eastern shores.

In 1649, Ivan Pokhabov (a commander from Yeniseysk), renovated the fort of Bratsk on the Angara River (which had been founded in 1631), and strengthened it with moats and parapets.  He also led another party across Lake Baikal to the mouth of the Selenga River, finding himself on the Mongolian frontier.

He found that the local Buryats traded furs for silk, silver, and other goods from Outer Mongolia.  He sought the warlord or khan of the eastern Mongols, Altan Khan of the Khalkha, but the khan claimed to have no silks or silver of his own, except for what he obtained from the Chinese.

Meanwhile, progress was being made with fort-building.  Forts were built at Verkholensk (1641), Verkhneangarsk (1646), Verkhneudinsk (1648) and Barguzin (1648).  These forts were on the sides of Lake Baikal.

In 1652, a fort was built at Irkutsk, at the junction of the Angara and Irkut Rivers.

Verkhneangarsk is now Nizhneangarsk.  Verkhneudinsk is now Ulan-Ude.

The native peoples were forcibly baptized.  “Those who did not willingly consent were driven into the Stream, and when they came back, a Cross was hung around their necks.”  Another method was to tie 2-3 Buryats to a long pole, and plunge them through a hole in the ice into the freezing water.  The Buryats attacked the Bratsk garrison in response to this treatment.

Petr Beketov was sent to restore the tsar's authority in 1652. During the year of 1653, he explored the Selenga, Ingoda and Shilka Rivers on rafts, and founded Irgensk.  In the spring, he established Nerchinsk, across from the mouth of the Nercha River.

While the Yenisei River was being brought under control, progress was also being made on the Lena River.  The conquest from Yakutsk proceeded in three direction – north-east to the Bering Strait, the Bering Sea and Kamchatka; eastwards to the Sea of Okhotsk; and southwards to the Amur River Valley.