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

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

But civilization still insidiously penetrated even here: a couple of TV channels operate on electricity generated by oil. It is TV, and even vodka and wolves that are the main evil for the locals. Because of them, they lose the most precious thing - deer. And because of them, Evenks are increasingly dreaming 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 - the MK reporter found out.

At the edge of the earth

“A fascinating journey to one of the most depressing corners of the planet awaits you,” said our guide Sergei. He was both right and wrong at the same time.

We are going to Evenkia, or rather, to the tiny and in its own way unique village of Surinda. It takes about 5 hours to fly from Krasnoyarsk to Surinda (with a stop at the oil workers for refueling), but not everything is so simple. Evenkia did not let us in the first time: the helicopter did not reach its destination due to bad weather, getting stuck in the middle of the taiga. A common thing in this area. And this year, due to the oddities of winter (the ice was weak, the snow melted 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 these people would have survived if trains or helicopters flew from there to Krasnoyarsk every day?” Sergey sighs.

- And in general, many are drawn to the city? I ask the guide.

- Youth. Moreover, admission to universities for representatives of the indigenous peoples of the North is preferential. Not everyone comes back after graduation. You can work in the village only in the reindeer farm. You can also engage in dressing skins, making decorative items. As they say, there is not much choice. Although, maybe it's just good, what is it? The Evenks will save themselves if they work as reindeer herders. And by the way, local guys have the opportunity to do an alternative service in the army... reindeer herders!

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

A reindeer herder'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 horseback 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 horse races. They weigh less, and, therefore, it is easier for deer.

“They took pity on the reindeer because they got hurt last season,” the Evenks sigh. — There was a strong heat in the summer, the streams dried up. The deer did not have enough food, they were weakened. And the wolves used it and attacked more often.

Vodka, wolves and free will

There were once almost 90,000 deer in Surinda. Now there are about three thousand. How the locals treat them is hard to convey. Reverence? No, not this. Delight? Again, not that. They treat them like life in general. And they accept life in this harsh land as it is, do not grumble at it and consider it their duty to protect it, because otherwise the law of balance will be violated. The Evenk language contains about 20 deer names depending on gender, age, character, etc. Just think - 20 names for one animal! This is because the deer is both a breadwinner, a doctor, and ... all taken together.

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

What do you think the Evenks prepare their breakfast, lunch and dinner from? That's right, venison. In different performance. Reindeer meat skewers, isamna (stew with reindeer fat in its own juice), boiled tongues, sile soup... all the deer dishes are beyond list. Evenks sometimes drink deer blood and eat raw liver, because they know that there are a lot of vitamins and microelements, and this will save you from scurvy. The body of local residents is generally not well adapted for the food that we eat. Recently, children were taken to an event in the city, there was a festive table with fruits and vegetables. So, the teachers strictly watched so that the children only tried the dishes, but did not eat up. Otherwise - poisoning, pain, hospital. This has all been done many times already. And by the way, when medicine is powerless, the same deer may well come to the rescue: from its horns an excellent cure for many ailments is obtained. And the deer is also a breadwinner in the sense that the state gives subsidies for it as part of the program to support indigenous peoples.

When the reindeer were last counted, almost a third were missing. Wolves in these parts are not the size of a dog, but almost the size of a calf and attack in whole packs. And it's hard to shoot them. From a helicopter it is insanely expensive (80 thousand rubles is an hour of flight time for Mi-8, Mi-2), from the ground it is 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 in more than one generation. They know special methods to lure a wolf. One of them went skiing on predators, killed 5 wolves last year, for which we rewarded him with a rubber boat at the festival.

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

“We are often asked if it is not difficult for us to live without hot water,” the Evenks say. - What nonsense! Is that a problem? Wolves are the problem!

In addition to wolves, vodka brings trouble to local residents, but they themselves do not like to talk about it. The fact that such nationalities are, in principle, prone to drunkenness is a well-known fact. And then there is this isolation, a feeling of hopelessness sometimes rolls over, 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 indignant, switched to tinctures.

- Specifically, in Surinda, we did not introduce any bans on alcohol, - says Tatyana Arkadyevna. - But we limit its sale to certain periods (when the animals are calving, etc.). And before the Day of the reindeer breeder, 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. So thought and scientists who recently conducted research. A whole expedition of employees of the Research Center of Moscow State University and the Research Center for National-Language Relations (NRC NNR) of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences went to Surinda.

“The village maintains a reindeer herding economy, which should also contribute to the preservation of the language,” the scientists write. “Nevertheless, our sociolinguistic survey showed that the children no longer use the Evenki language, as their parents speak Russian to them. At school, Evenki is taught as a subject, but "according to the residual principle." 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 interviewed 18-year-old boys who were considered the best in terms of 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, there are several people in the older generation who hardly speak 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 the blue screen watching serials. As a result, they have a kind of mixing of reality. What they see on TV clearly does not match the lifestyle they lead. And so they are drawn to the city, dreaming about it, about that other life, where instead of deer - "BMW", instead of tents - mansions, instead of the taiga - clubs and restaurants. And so the Evenki asked to send them gifts for the holiday - iPads. And they don't even understand what to do with these "toys" in the taiga, where there is no mobile Internet...

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

Alexander himself brought several collars to the festival to track the migration routes of wild deer. I wanted to show the reindeer herders how environmentalists would put them on the "savage" this summer. The scientist says that no one has studied reindeer migration since Soviet times. Therefore, it happens that Evenk hunters in the taiga spend their time in vain, waiting for a meeting with wild deer. As a result, they are left without prey ...

The only thing that TV could not kill in the Evenks was their belief in the spirits of nature. It seems that there are no shamans in the village of Surinda, but there are descendants of those who were once considered great Spirit Guides. And people are drawn to them... Christianity in Evenkia did not particularly take root. It turned out to be lifeless here, where the taiga is all around and everything is controlled by nature. Here, for example, is the case described by the 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 inhaled his breath. And in order for the disease to finally go away, the deer was sacrificed in front of the icon of the Savior. What is most interesting - the child survived. Either thanks to prayers, or to a sacrificial deer ... Or maybe just thanks to the purest taiga air and a strong body.

And the Evenks did not lose them in something naive, but such captivating simplicity and kindness. An Evenki 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 he felt that he needed it more. This is probably why crime is low in Evenkia, although almost every house has a gun. “You bring Muscovites to us for re-education,” the Evenks joke. Not such a bad idea...

Evenks 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 Orochens, Birrars, Manegras, Solons. The language is Evenki, belongs to the Tungus-Manchurian group of the Altai language family. There are three groups of dialects: northern, southern and eastern. Each dialect is subdivided into dialects. The Russian language is ubiquitous, many Evenks living in Yakutia and Buryatia also speak Yakut and Buryat languages. In anthropological terms, they present a rather variegated 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 a mixture of the natives of Eastern Siberia with the Tungus tribes who came from the Baikal and Transbaikalia. There are reasons to consider the Trans-Baikal people Uvan as the immediate ancestors of the Evenks, who, according to Chinese chronicles (V-VII centuries AD), lived in the mountain taiga northeast of Barguzin and Selenga. The Uvans were not natives of Transbaikalia, but were a group of nomadic pastoralists 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 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.

History reference

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

12th century - the beginning of the settlement of the Tungus in Eastern Siberia: from the coast of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bOkhotsk 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 of the entire Arctic coast, the Evenks are the most numerous language group: more than 26,000 people live in Russia, according to various sources, the same number in Mongolia and Manchuria.

The name "Evenki" with the creation of the Evenki district has firmly entered the social, political and linguistic everyday life.

Doctor of Historical Sciences V.A. Tugolukov gave a figurative explanation of the name "Tungus" - going across the ridges.

Tungus from ancient times settled from the shores of the Pacific Ocean to the Ob. Their way of life made changes in the name of the genera, not only on geographical grounds, but, more often, on household ones. Evenks living along the shores of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk were called Evens or, more often, Lamuts from the word "lama" - the sea. The Trans-Baikal Evenks were called Murchens, because they were mainly engaged in horse breeding, and not reindeer breeding. And the name of the horse is "mur". Evenki reindeer herders who settled in the interfluve of the three Tunguskas (Upper, Podkamennaya, or Middle, and Lower) and called themselves Orochens - deer Tungus. And they all spoke and still speak the same Tungus-Manchu language.

Most Tungus historians consider Transbaikalia and the Amur region to be the ancestral home of the Evenks. Many sources claim that they were driven out by more warlike steppe people at the beginning of the 10th century. However, there is another point of view. The Chinese chronicles mention that even 4000 years before the Evenks were forced out, the Chinese knew about the strongest people among the "northern and eastern foreigners." And these Chinese chronicles testify to the coincidence in many ways of that ancient people - the sushi - with the later one, known to us as the Tungus.

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

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

"helpful without servility, proud and bold."

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

"The Tungus surpass all those living in yurts with courage and humanity and sense."

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

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

But we must not forget that the first Russian explorers also noted that " spears and spears they have stone and bone"that they don't have iron utensils, and" tea is brewed in wooden vats with red-hot stones, and meat is baked only on coals..." And further:

"There are no iron needles, and they sew clothes and shoes with bone needles and deer veins."

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

The neighborhood of two different cultures was interpenetrating. The Russians were trained in the skills of hunting, survival in the northern conditions, they were forced to accept the norms of morality and the hostel of the natives, especially since the newcomers took local women as wives and created mixed families.

Territory of settlement and population

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 also Evenks in the Tomsk and Tyumen regions. On this gigantic territory, they nowhere make up the majority of the population, they live in the same settlements together 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 numbers was given by the 1897 census - 64,500, while 34,471 people considered Tungus as their native language, the rest - Russian (31.8%), Yakut, Buryat and other languages.

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

A characteristic feature in the settlement of the Evenks is dispersion. There are about a hundred settlements in the country where they live, but in most settlements their number ranges from a few dozen to 150-200 people. There are few settlements where Evenks live in relatively large compact groups. This type of settlement negatively affects the ethno-cultural development of the people.

Life, economy, cult

The main occupation of the "pedestrian" or "sedentary" Evenks is hunting deer, elk, roe deer, musk deer, bear, etc. Later, commodity fur hunting spread. Hunted from autumn to spring, two or three people. They went through the taiga on golitsy skis (kingne, kigle) or lined with kamus (suksilla). Reindeer herders hunted on horseback.

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

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

Fishing was of secondary importance; in the Baikal region, lake areas south of Lake Essei, in the upper Vilyui, in southern Transbaikalia and on the coast of Okhotsk, it was also of commercial importance. On the coast of Okhotsk, seals were also hunted.

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

Home processing of skins, 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-breeding cooperatives were created, settled settlements were built, agriculture spread (vegetables, potatoes, in the south - barley, oats). In the 1990s Evenks began to organize themselves into tribal communities.

The basis of traditional food is meat (wild animals, equestrian Evenks have horse meat) 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 koloboks from sour dough in the ashes, in the east - unleavened cakes. The main drink is tea, sometimes with reindeer milk or salt.

Winter camps consisted of 1-2 tents, summer - up to 10, during the holidays and more. Chum (du) had a conical frame 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. In the center of the plague, a hearth was arranged, above it - a horizontal pole for the boiler. In some places, half-dugouts were also known, timber-framed dwellings borrowed from Russians, the Yakut yurt-booth, in Transbaikalia - the Buryat yurt, among the settled Birars of the Amur Region - a quadrangular log dwelling of the fanza type.

Traditional clothing consists of rovduk or cloth natazniks (kherki), leggings ( aramus, gurumi), an open caftan made of deer skin, the floors of which were tied on the chest with strings; under it was put on a bib with ties at the back. Women's bib ( nelly) was decorated with beads, had a straight bottom edge, male ( helmy) - angle. Men wore a belt with a knife in a sheath, women - with a pincushion, a tinder box and a pouch. Clothing was decorated with stripes of goat and dog fur, fringe, horsehair embroidery, metal plaques, and beads. The horse breeders of Transbaikalia wore a dressing gown with a wide wrap to the left. Elements of Russian clothing spread.

Evenk communities united in the summer to jointly herd reindeer and celebrate holidays. They included several related families, numbering from 15 to 150 people. Forms of collective distribution, mutual assistance, hospitality, etc. were developed. For example, before the 20th century the custom (nimat) has been preserved, obliging the hunter to give part of the prey to his relatives. At the end of the XIX century. dominated by the small family. 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. Levirate was known, in rich families - polygamy (up to 5 wives). Until the 17th century up to 360 paternal clans were known, numbering an average of 100 people, ruled by elders - "princes". In the terminology of kinship, the features of the classification system were preserved.

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

Folklore included improvisational songs, mythological and historical epic, fairy tales about animals, historical and everyday legends, etc. The epic was performed in recitative, often listeners took part in the performance, repeating individual lines after the narrator. Separate groups of Evenks had their own epic heroes (soning). Regular heroes - comic characters were also in everyday stories. From musical instruments, the harp, hunting bow, etc. are known, from dances - a round dance ( heiro, sadyo), performed to song improvisation. The games were in the nature of competitions in wrestling, shooting, running, etc. Artistic carving on bone and wood, metalworking (men), beadwork, silk embroidery, appliqué with fur and fabric, embossing on birch bark (women) were developed among the Eastern Evenks.

Lifestyle and provision system

In economic terms, the Evenks are noticeably different from other peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East. First of all, they are hunters-reindeer herders. An 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 in most Evenk territorial groups. The hunting essence of the Evenk is clearly manifested even in such a secondary matter for him as fishing. Fishing for the Evenk is the same 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 kind of hunting spear. As the fauna was depleted, the importance of fishing in the life support of the Evenks began to increase.

Reindeer breeding of the Evenks is taiga, pack and riding. Practiced free grazing, milking cows. Evenks are born nomads. The length of nomadic hunters-reindeer herders reached hundreds of kilometers a year. Individual families covered distances of a thousand kilometers.

The traditional economy of the Evenks after collectivization and many other reorganizations in the Soviet period by the beginning of the 1990s. existed in two main variants: commercial hunting and transport reindeer breeding, which is characteristic of a number of regions of Siberia and some regions of Yakutia, and a large-herd reindeer breeding and commercial economy, which has developed mainly in Evenkia. The first type of economy developed within the framework of cooperative and state fishing enterprises (state industrial farms, coop animal farms), the second - within the framework of reindeer-breeding state farms, oriented towards the production of marketable meat products. Fur trade in them was of secondary importance.

Ethno-social setting

The degradation of the traditional economy, the curtailment of the production infrastructure in the national settlements extremely exacerbated the ethno-social situation in the areas where the Evenks live. The most painful is the problem of unemployment. In the Evenk Autonomous Okrug, due to unprofitability, animal husbandry 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. The unemployed here are from 59 to 70% of the Evenks.

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

In the context of the economic crisis, the state of health of the population is deteriorating. Prevention of diseases 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. The work of air ambulance has been curtailed to a minimum.

Demographic indicators are deteriorating. In a number of regions, the birth rate has fallen sharply and the death rate has increased. In , for example, the death rate among the Evenks exceeds the birth rate by more than two times. And this is a typical picture for all Evenki settlements. Accidents, suicides, traumas and poisonings, mainly on the basis of alcoholism, occupy the leading place in the structure of mortality of the indigenous population.

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 foundation is a thin layer of permanent rural population, which, like 100 years ago, leads a nomadic economy. However, this layer is steadily shrinking, and with it the main core of the bearers of traditional culture is shrinking.

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

Evenk public organizations are taking measures to revive traditional culture. In Buryatia, the republican center of Evenk culture "Arun" was formed, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory - the Association of Northern Cultures "Eglen". Cultural centers operate in many schools in ethnic settlements where Evenks live. Republican television and radio of Yakutia and Buryatia broadcast programs dedicated to the culture of the Evenks. In Buryatia, the Boulder holiday 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. Evenk writers, Nikolai Oegir, are widely known in Russia. The main problem in the development of the ethno-cultural life of the Evenks is their territorial disunity. Annual large 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.

Prospects for the preservation of the Evenks as an ethnic group

The prospects for the preservation of the Evenks as an ethnic system are rather 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 irrelevant. 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 taken place in conditions of continuous cultural borrowing. The Evenks are no exception in this respect. Their modern culture is a bizarre interweaving of tradition and innovation. Under these conditions, the Evenki have yet to find the optimal model for their future. However, like all the peoples of the North, their further ethnic fate will depend on the degree of preservation and development of traditional industries and cultural traditions.

The Evenks, who are usually associated with Siberia and the Russian Far East, also live in China. At present, 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, Evenks are also called the last hunters in China. Excerpts from the material of the Chinese foreign broadcast, from which we cited these statements, we present in the second part of this review. And in the first one, we collected all the most important things about the Evenks.

• audio file #1

The Museum of Evenk Culture (pictured in Chinese Foreign Broadcasting) opened in the village of Bayan-Tokhoy, Evenk Autonomous Khoshun (county) of the Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia, 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 transmission from Beijing, the Russian broadcast of "Chinese Radio International" about the Evenks (dated 09/12/2011). In the audio file, in particular, the song of the Evenks living in China sounds. “The song of the Evenks is sung by an Evenk named Mariyana. The composition tells about the huge changes that have taken place in recent years with the Evenk people. With this song, she expresses the joy of a better life,” said the Chinese foreign broadcaster.

Evenki. Origin

The self-name of many Evek groups sounds like Evenkil - which means "man". Evenks belong to the Mongoloids. Evenks were also called Tungus earlier. 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 Altaic language family.

In turn, the Tungus-Manchu language family is something intermediate between the Mongolian (Mongols belong to it) and 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). Evenks are very close to the Manchus, but unlike them, they did not create famous state formations. 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 life as reindeer herders and hunters; still ok. 35,000 Evenks live in China (Inner Mongolia Region) and a few more in independent Mongolia. In addition to the Evenks, there is an almost indistinguishable people from them, the Evens, numbering about 20 thousand people, who live in Russia.

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 - and in China - the old Mongolian script and hieroglyphs. But this also happened recently, in the 20th century. Therefore, in the following excerpts from the material of the Chinese foreign broadcast, it is said that the Evenks do not have a written language.

Prepared by: Monitoring website, March 2012;

Chinese view of the Evenks

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

“Currently, the 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 Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the PRC) Arun-Qi, Chen-Barga-Qi, etc...

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

Uzhertu is a writer and scientist of the Evenk people. He noted that the Evenks are one of the ancient small peoples 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 the mountain forests in the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang (Amur) River, were engaged in fishing, hunting and reindeer herding. Subsequently, they began to move east. Today, the population of the Evenks is small, but they live in fairly large territories, for the most part 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, ate wild birds, animals and fish. Snowy highlands and dense forests are their home. Gu Xianglian from the Evenk tribe Aoluguya. She says:

“Evenks are a kind of people. In the past, they were mainly engaged in hunting, and at present - reindeer herding. This is an independent nation, steadily striving forward.

After the formation of new China, an insignificant part of the Evenks who inhabited the Argun somon adhered to the patriarchal-communal system of the late primitive society, lived in primitive forests in wretched yurts - “tszolotsy”, led a nomadic lifestyle. Due to the fact that they were engaged in reindeer herding, they were often called "Evenks using tamed deer." They led a primitive-communal way of life, the characteristic moments of which are joint hunting and an even distribution of prey.

After the formation of new China, a number of new settlements of the Evenks were created, settled cattle breeding began to develop, and the nomadic way of life changed radically. (Still) in at present, it is the only nationality in China that is engaged in reindeer herding. Evenks are also called the last hunters in China.

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

The Evenks have their own religion. Shamaism is an ancient religion of the Evenks,” says the characterization of the Evenks by the Chinese foreign language.

The Evenks (the name Tungus was also used earlier) are one of the most ancient indigenous peoples of Eastern Siberia, in particular the Baikal region. In this article, we will not reveal sentimental secrets, because the history of the Evenks is probably so ancient that they themselves have long forgotten the beginning. They write about their original legends and traditions, but apparently these legends do not clearly reveal the secret of the origin of life on planet Earth either.

Therefore, we narrate without sensationalism, maybe someone will come in handy. There are two theories about the origin of the Evenks. According to the first, the ancestral home of the Evenks was located in the region of southern Baikal, where their culture developed from the Paleolithic era, with their subsequent settlement to the west and east. The second theory suggests that the Evenks appeared as a result of assimilation by the local population of the Uvan tribe, mountain-steppe pastoralists of the eastern spurs of the Greater Khingan. Uvan literally means “a people living in mountain forests.” They call themselves modestly - Orochons, which in translation means “a man who owns a deer”.

According to the anthropological type, the Evenks are pronounced Mongoloids. The Evenk ethnic group can be entered in the Guinness Book of Records. By the 17th century, with a population of only 30,000 people, they had mastered an incredibly vast territory - from the Yenisei to Kamchatka, and from the Arctic Ocean to the border with China. It turns out that on average, one Evenk has about twenty-five square kilometers. They constantly wandered, so they were said about them: Evenki everywhere and nowhere. At the beginning of the 20th century, their number was about 63 thousand people, and now it has again decreased to 30 thousand. Politically, before meeting with the Russians, the Evenki depended on China and Manchuria. The history of Russian-Evenki contacts dates back to the middle of the 17th century - to the time of the famous Evenki prince Gantimur, who took the side of the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and led his fellow tribesmen. He and his squad guarded the Russian borders. And the Evenks living in China guarded their country. So the Evenks became a divided people. In the Russian Empire, the authorities adhered to the rule not to stick their nose into the internal affairs of the Evenks. A system of self-government was developed for them, according to which the Evenks were united in the Urulga Steppe Duma with a center in the village of Urulga. Traditionally, the Evenki Duma was headed by the dynasty of princes Gantimurovs.

After the revolution, in 1930, the Evenki national district was created. But collectivization and the forced transfer of the Evenks to a settled way of life dealt a severe blow to their economic and cultural traditions, putting the whole people on the brink of extinction.

Evenks are real children of nature. They are called pathfinders of the taiga trails. They are excellent hunters. Bows and arrows in their hands became precision weapons. Evenk is able to hit a target for three hundred meters. The Evenks had special, "singing arrows" with bone whistles, which fascinated the beast.

But the Evenk will not touch the wolf - this is his totem. Not a single Evenk will leave wolf cubs unattended if they suddenly find themselves without parental care.

In the 15th-16th centuries, the Evenks learned reindeer herding, becoming the northernmost herders in the world. No wonder they say: "Our home is under the North Star." The Evenks still have an unwritten set of traditions and commandments that regulate social, family and inter-clan relations: “nimat” is the custom of donating one’s booty to one’s relatives. “malu” is the law of hospitality, according to which the most comfortable place in the chum is intended only for guests. Anyone who crossed the "threshold" of the plague was considered a guest. "levirate" - the custom of inheritance by the younger brother of the widow of the older brother. "tori" - a marriage transaction, which was made in one of three ways: by paying a certain amount of deer, money or other valuables for the bride; girl exchange; working for the bride. The most solemnly held among the Evenks was the spring holiday - iken, or evin, dedicated to the onset of summer - "the appearance of new life" or "renewal of life". The first meeting was necessarily accompanied by a handshake. Previously, it was customary for Evenks to greet each other with both hands. The guest stretched out both hands, folded on top of each other, palms up, and the head of the family shook them: from above with his right palm, from below - with his left.

Women also pressed alternately with both cheeks to each other. The older woman greeted the guest with a sniff. In honor of the guest, a deer was specially slaughtered and treated with the best pieces of meat. At the end of tea drinking, the guest put the cup upside down, showing that he would no longer drink. If the guest simply moved the cup away from him, the hostess could continue to pour tea indefinitely. The head of the family saw off the welcome guest in a special way: he drove off with him for several kilometers, and before parting, the host and guest stopped, lit a pipe and agreed on the next meeting. One of the distinguishing features of the Evenks has always been a respectful attitude towards nature. They not only considered nature to be alive, inhabited by spirits, they deified stones, springs, rocks and individual trees, but they also firmly knew the measure - they did not cut down more trees than necessary, did not kill game unnecessarily, even tried to clean up after themselves the territory where the hunting ground stood. camp. The traditional dwelling of the Evenks - the chum - was a conical hut made of poles, covered in winter with deer skins, and in summer with birch bark. During migrations, the frame was left in place, and the material for covering the chum was taken with them. Winter camps of the Evenks consisted of 1-2 chums, summer - from 10 or more due to frequent holidays at this time of the year. The basis of traditional food is the meat of wild animals (for equestrian Evenks - horse meat) and fish, which were almost always consumed raw. In summer they drank reindeer milk, ate berries, wild garlic and onions. They borrowed baked bread from the Russians. The main drink was tea, sometimes with reindeer milk or salt. The Evenki language is precise and at the same time poetic. Evenk can usually say about the onset of the day: dawn. But maybe so: The morning star died. Moreover, the Evenk likes to use the second expression more often. An Evenk can simply say about rain: it's raining. But the old man will express his thought figuratively: the sky is shedding tears. There is a proverb among the Evenks: "Fire has no end." Its meaning: life is eternal, because after the death of a person, the fire in the plague will be supported by his sons, then grandchildren, great-grandchildren. And isn't that what we call a genus?!

Roaming with reindeer, the Evenks settled in the vast northern territory - from the Yenisei to Kamchatka and from the Arctic Ocean to the border with China. They have preserved the culture and language of their ancestors to this day. Many features of their life are common to the northern peoples, but there are also bright national features.

Everywhere and nowhere

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Evenks were called Tungus. The Tunguska meteorite is actually Evenki! Evenk, "uvan", literally - "people living in mountain forests". They also called themselves "orochons", which in translation means "a man who owns a deer", as well as "ile" - a man.

It is still not known exactly where these pronounced Mongoloids came from to the lands of Eastern Siberia. Perhaps their ancestral home is in Altai. There is another hypothesis, according to which the nomadic people from Manchuria (modern Mongolia) were forced out to the Arctic Ocean by Genghis Khan and his descendants.

“The main role in the formation of the Evenki people was played by two ethnic components - the local East Siberian, related in language, apparently, to modern Yukagirs, and the newcomer - from the Amur and Transbaikalia, Tungus-speaking,” says the head of the department of archeology and ethnology of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local Lore Nikolai Makarov.

Be that as it may, roaming on deer, the Evenki settled widely in the northern lands. Perhaps there is no other people who, with a population of 60 thousand people (there were so many Tungus by the beginning of the 20th century), mastered an incredibly vast territory - from the Yenisei to Kamchatka and from the Arctic Ocean to the border with China. On average, one person has about 25 square kilometers. They said about the constantly nomadic people: Evenks are everywhere and nowhere. They easily adapted to a different way of life and life, adapted to new living conditions and climate. And for the developed culture, rich in traditions, the Evenks were called the aristocrats of the tundra.

The Evenks roamed over a vast territory. A photo:

Follow the sun

The life of the Evenks was subject to the conditions of a nomadic way of life. The loaded deer were connected in bundles and lined up in a caravan in such a way that the Evenk, turning around, could see all the animals in a bundle. Ahead of the herd, separately from everyone else, was a "taboo", usually white, deer. He carried bags with tribal shrines - images of family guardians and hunting amulets.

The daytime march among the Evenks is called argish. Having completed it in the evening, it was necessary to prepare a temporary parking lot. The place was chosen a few meters from the old "monsters". The three main "turgu" poles were taken from the skeleton of the plagues of the past. They were installed so that one of the sides of the resulting triangle looked in the direction from which they came to the parking lot. Then, moving along the sun, they put the rest of the poles of the frame. The chum was covered with reindeer skins, birch bark, and fabrics. The hole at the top was free. The bottom was lined with coniferous branches and covered with snow for warmth.

The traditional dwelling of the Evenks is the chum. Photo: Official website of LSG bodies of the Evenki municipal district

Inside the chum, a dense flooring was arranged from pine spruce branches, on which beds were laid out. In the center is a place for a hearth. On the left is a women's place with all kitchen utensils and products, on the sides is the hosts' bed. To the right of the door is a place for children or next of kin. Behind the fire, opposite the entrance, there was a sacred place - for dear guests, and when they were not there - for the owner, where he did his manly things: working with a knife, repairing, loading cartridges, cleaning a gun. In the summer in the tent, a fire was usually not kindled, only a smoker was placed, and food was cooked outside by a large fire.

The Evenk tent is a very hospitable house. The guest was given the most comfortable seat. The first meeting was accompanied by a special handshake: the guest held out both hands, folded on top of each other, palms up, and the head of the family shook them: from above with his right palm, from below - with his left. Women also pressed alternately with both cheeks to each other. The eldest greeted the guest with a sniff.

In honor of the guest, a deer was slaughtered and treated with the best pieces of meat. At the end of the tea party, he had to put the cup upside down, thus showing that he would not drink anymore. If you simply move the cup away from you, the hostess could pour tea endlessly. The head of the family saw off the welcome guest in a special way: he drove off with him for several kilometers, and before parting, the host and guest stopped, lit a pipe and agreed on the next meeting.

Evenk girl in traditional dress. Photo: Official website of LSG bodies of the Evenki municipal district

Traditional clothing performed the primary task - protection from severe cold. They sewed it so that even the strongest wind could not get to the body and carry away the precious heat. At the same time, Evenk clothing stood out among the attire of other peoples of Siberia with its colorfulness and elegance.

Outerwear, the so-called "caftans", were of the same cut for men and women. They were made from a single skin, the floors did not converge - they were tied with straps, and the chest and stomach were covered with a bib that protected from the cold. The men's bib was narrower than the women's, and ended at the bottom with a sharp cape, while the women's, embroidered with beads, had a straight bottom. Men wore a belt with a knife in a sheath, women - with a pincushion, a tinder box and a pouch. Clothing was decorated with stripes of goat and dog fur, fringe, horsehair embroidery, metal plaques, and beads. Evenk shoes, high fur boots, were considered very warm, they are popular today.

Many Evenks applied tattoos to their faces and arms using a tendon thread soaked in diluted soot. The Russians of that time called them "Shitolitsy".

The fire has no end

The Evenks speak the language of the Tungus-Manchurian group of the Altai family. True, now almost everyone speaks Russian, and about a third of the Evenks even consider it native. Literature in Evenki began to be published in 1931. Writing was originally created on the basis of the Latin alphabet, and in 1936-1937 it was replaced by Cyrillic.

Evenks are very poetic. Of the rising of the sun, one can usually say: dawn. And the Evenk will say: the morning star is dead. Old Evenks used to say about rain: the sky is shedding tears. One Evenki proverb says: "Fire has no end." It means: life is eternal, after the death of a person, the fire in the plague will be supported by his sons, then grandchildren, great-grandchildren - from generation to generation. Evenki storytellers used figurative and understandable comparisons. The weapons of the bogatyrs, blunted during the duel, are compared with the scrapers of the old craftswoman, the spears with the crooked edge of the knife of the old blacksmith. The hero taking off into the saddle looks like a large beautiful taiga bird - a black capercaillie, and the horse's high ears resemble Evenk skis lined with fur.

The Evenki language is very poetic. Photo: Official website of local self-government bodies of the Evenki municipal district / K. Kuzmina

From Gantimur to the newspaper

The history of Russian-Evenki contacts dates back to the middle of the 17th century - to the time of the famous Evenki prince Gantimur. When the Russians conquered the territory of the Tungus, he unexpectedly took the side of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and the squad of the Even prince began to guard the Russian borders. In the future, the Russian Empire preferred not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Evenks, and before the advent of Soviet power, they lived according to a system of self-government.

The development of the North by Russians began in the era of the USSR. In 1927, the first hospital and elementary school appeared, the Evens received passports. In 1930, the Evenk National District was created, compulsory primary education was introduced, and three years later the first newspaper, Evenk Life, was published. It was printed in the absence of electricity, the wheel of the typewriter was turned by hand by the editors.

Not understanding the peculiarities of the Evenki way of life, they began to be transferred to a settled way of life, many traditions were lost. If at the end of the 19th century there were 63 thousand Evenks in Russia, by now their number has halved. At the same time, only every third Evenk speaks their native language, mostly people of the older generation.