Evens

The Evens ( Lamuts, Even, Tungus ) are an indigenous people of Northeast Asia.

General Information

In Russia, about 12,000 (1987 ) Evens are registered as " small people of the North". They belong to the Manchu - Tungusic peoples and mainly live in the Republic of Sakha, Magadan Oblast, the Khabarovsk region, in the Autonomous District of the Chukchi and Koryak Autonomous District of the. In the Republic of Sakha their rights are protected by special laws. There is also a National District consists ( Nazionalny Rajon ).

Languages

The majority of the Evens speaks no longer the ewenische language but Russian, but especially Yakut. Although since 1932 there is a written language and a modest literature on Ewenisch arose, the Ewenische threatened with extinction.

Economy

The Evens are traditional nomadic reindeer herders and hunters. In contrast to the very large herds of reindeer in the western Siberian tundra, the boreal forests of the Evens hold much smaller herds. In the Soviet period they were settled down and eventually organized into state farms ( state farms ). There they could partly follow their traditional occupations. A significant incision formed the industrialization part of their territories (especially mining, partly timber industry) since the 1930s, which was accompanied by the establishment of prison camps ( Gulag ).

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union many Evens have returned to the nomadic lifestyle that gives you a more solid subsistence basis.

Religion

The Evens were Christianized by the Russian Orthodox Church in the 19th century. However, influences of shamanism are still important today and were integrated as part of a syncretic worldview.

Policy

In Russia, the Evens the group of indigenous peoples of the Russian North, Siberia and the Russian Far East are assigned that are organized under the umbrella organization RAIPON.