Everything about The Evenk totally explained
The
Evenks or
Evenki (autonym:
Эвэнкил Evenkil;
Evenki; ; formerly known as
Tungus or
Tunguz) are a
Tungusic people of Northern Asia. In Russia, the Evenks are recognized as one of the
Indigenous peoples of the Russian North, with a population of 35,527 (
2002 Census). In China, the Evenki form one of the
56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the
People's Republic of China, with a population of 30,505, as per 2000 Census.
Evenks of Russia
The Evenks were formerly known as
tungus. This designation was spread by the
Russians, who acquired it from the
Yakuts and the Siberian
Tatars (in the Yakut language
tongus) in the 17th century. The Evenks have several self-designations of which the best known is
even,
evenk. This became the official designation for the people in 1931. Some groups call themselves
orochen ('an inhabitant of the River Oro'),
orochon ('a rearer of
reindeer'),
ile ('a human being'), etc. At one time or another tribal designations and place-names have also been used as self-designations, for instance
manjagir,
birachen,
solon, etc. Several of these have even been taken for separate ethnic entities.
Besides Evenks, the list of indigenous ethnic groups of Siberia includes similarly named
Evens (formerly known as
Lamuts). Although related to the Evenks, the Evens are now considered to be a separate ethnic group.
The Evenks are spread over a huge territory of the
Siberian
taiga from the
River Ob in the west to the
Okhotsk Sea in the east, and from the
Arctic Ocean in the north to
Manchuria and
Sakhalin in the south. The total area of their habitat is about 2,500,000
km². In all of
Russia only the Russians inhabit a larger territory. According to the administrative structure, the Evenks live, from west to east, in
Tyumen and
Tomsk Oblasts,
Krasnoyarsk Krai with
Evenk Autonomous Okrug,
Irkutsk,
Chita, and
Amur Oblasts, the
Buryat and the
Sakha Republics,
Khabarovsk Krai, and
Sakhalin Oblast. However, the territory where they're a
titular nation is confined solely to Evenk Autonomous Okrug, where 3,802 of the 35,527 Evenks live (according to the 2002 Census). More than 18,200 Evenks live in the
Sakha Republic.
Anthropologically the Evenk belong to the Baikal or
Paleo-Siberian group of the Mongolian type, originating from the ancient Paleo-Siberian people of the
Yenisei River up to the
Okhotsk Sea.
The
Evenk language is the largest of the northern group of the
Manchu-Tungus languages, a group which also includes the Even and
Negidal languages.
Evenks of China
According to the 2000 Census, there are 30,505 Evenks in
China mainly made up of the
Solons and the
Khamnigans. 88.8% of China's Evenks live in the
Hulunbuir region in the north of the
Inner Mongolia Province, near the city of
Hailar. The
Evenk Autonomous Banner is also located near Hulunbuir. There are also around 3,000 Evenks in neighbouring
Heilongjiang Province.
In 1763, the
Qing government moved 500 Solon Evenk and 500
Daur families to the
Tacheng and
Kuldja areas of
Xinjiang, in order to strengthen the empire's western border. 1020
Xibe families (some 4000 persons) followed the next year. Since then, however, the Solons of Xinjiang have assimilated into other ethnic groups, and are not identified as such anymore.
Religion
Prior to contact with the Russians, the religion of the Evenks was
shamanism. Although many of them have adopted
Lamaism (which is the mainstream form of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism) the Evenks of both the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China are a nominally
Orthodox Christian people. Along with their
Even cousins and a few other tribes in Siberia, they're some of the only Asiatic peoples who nominally practice Orthodox Christianity, which they'd voluntarily adopted (as opposed to being coerced to do so) during contacts from Russian expansion into Siberia.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Evenk'.
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