At the time of the Jesup Expedition, the Evenk (Evenki, Tungus) were nomadic hunters and reindeer breeders closely related in language and lifestyle to the Even (Lamut) and to the Orochon of Sakhalin. Their dispersion is associated with the historical spread of reindeer herding, and Evenk are found over roughly a quarter of all of the territory of Siberia, living among Russian settlers, Buryat, Sakha, and Yukagir and less frequently among Chukchi, Koryak, and Kamchadal. Evenk live as far east as the Sea of Okhotsk and Sakhalin Island, as far west as the Ob'-Yenisey watershed in the west. Between 10,000 and 19,000 Evenk live in China.

During the short summer, Evenk family groups moved their reindeer in search of moss, lichens, and plant shoots, fattening them for the long winter when the reindeer would paw through the snow for lichen. Because repeated trampling by the herds made the snow impenetrable, they were constantly moved from place to place. Evenk herders lived in conical tents covered with birch bark in the summer and with reindeer or moose hides in the winter.

The Evenk had powerful shamans; the word "shaman" is thought to have originated in their language. By the time of the Jesup Expedition, many Evenk were baptized Christians, but because their nomadic life gave them little contact with priests and church ritual, their basic beliefs and practices remained shamanic. Evenk were traditionally governed by a clan assembly including the elders of each household and the clan shaman. Meat was divided among all the households of a multi-clan camp, whatever their clan, and clans intermarried.

Evenk traded their furs with the Chinese and later with the Russians. Russian miners and settlers traded various goods for the Evenk's climate-efficient fur clothing. Evenk boots were especially valued. Trade brought alcohol and its attendant problems. In the Soviet period, Evenk were encouraged or coerced to settle in permanent villages and since the 1950s, these were consolidated into larger villages and towns. As with the Even, this development often meant a separation of school age-children, women, and elders from the men who continue to herd and hunt. Evenk have protested government projects that threaten their hunting grounds, the basis of Evenk cultural survival. Today, approximately 30 to 50 percent of the Evenk population are herders and hunters. Others work in health care, education, administration, industry, and as unskilled labor. Women, more often than men, seek white collar jobs in villages and towns. There are approximately 33,000 Evenk today.

For more information:

Gail Fondahl, "Evenki (Northern Tungus)," in Encyclopedia of World Cultures Vol. 6, P. Friedrich and N. Diamond, eds., pp. 120-124 (G. K. Hall and Co., 1994).

S.M. Shirokogoroff. Social Organization of the Northern Tungus (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., 1933)

S.M. Shirokogoroff. Psychomental Complex of the Tungus (Kegan Paul, Trench, TLrubner and Co., 1935).16/2409, Spoon