The Even (Eveny, Lamut) are nomadic reindeer herders living on the shore of the Okhotsk Sea, in the middle and southern part of the Indigirka and Kolyma river basins, and in northern Kamchatka where they moved in upon the Koryak in the mid-19th century. They are closely related to the Evenk (Tungus) who live further to the west. Reindeer herded by the Even are larger and stronger than those of the Chukchi and Koryak and, traditionally, were used as a primary means of transportation. Tungusic peoples, including the ancestors of the Even, trained reindeer to the saddle, probably inspired by the ancient horse-riding peoples of Central Asia. Reindeer fared better on the tundra than horses. Until the 20th century, when reindeer were bred for meat and hides, Even considered reindeer too valuable to slaughter. They subsisted by hunting fox, mountain sheep and wild reindeer, sometimes using a tame deer from the herd as a hunting lure, and by fishing, particularly along the Okhotsk Sea. By the late 17th century, they were trading animal pelts with the Russians as a major source of income.

Before collectivization, a clan composed of several tents of Even nomads shared common pastures and hunting and fishing grounds. In the summer, some members of the group would travel with the herd while others fished and processed the catch for distribution among the entire group. A hunter's game was shared among the clan and a distribution of bear meat was the occasion for an important feast, ritual dancing, and performance lasting several days. Then as now, the spirit of the fire received the first portion of any meal.

The reindeer herding clans were collectivized in the 1930s and, as elsewhere in Siberia, Even shamans were persecuted. In the 1960s, children were removed to the village for school, usually followed by their mothers. Even men who were not herders were also expected to live in the village. Herding, once the center of Even life, became an isolated activity performed in the seasonal absence of wives and children. This policy had a profound effect on Even life as a generation of children grew up away from the social, economic, and spiritual experiences of life in a reindeer camp. Today, approximately 17,200 Even are scattered across northeastern Siberia. Some are trying to maintain reindeer-herding camps under new conditions of "self-determination." In the post-Soviet period, the Even, with other Siberian peoples, are revitalizing their sense of ethnic consciousness and cultural heritage through schools and other programs to recover their language and history.

For more information see:

S. A. Arutiunov, "Even: Reindeer Herders of Eastern Siberia," in Crossroads of Continents: Cultures of Siberia and Alaska, W. W. Fitzhugh and A. Crowell, eds. (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988).

Piers Vitebsky, "Landscape and Self-determination among the Eveny," in Bush base: forest farm: Culture, environment and development, E. Croll and D. Parkin, eds. (Routledge, 1992).