Evenks
From Wikipedia Mirror
Template:Infobox Ethnic group The Evenks (Ewenti or Eventi) (autonym: Эвэнкил Evenkil; Template:Lang-ru Evenki; Template:Lang-zh Template:Lang; formerly known as Tungus or Tunguz; Template:Lang-mn) 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. There is also a small Evenki group of Manchu-Tungus origin in Mongolia, referred to as Khamnigan.
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Origin
The Evenki or Ewenki traced back to the Shiwei people who inhabited the Greater Khinggan Range in the 5-9th centuries, but such connection is merely conjectural. Ewenki language forms the northern branch of the Manchu-Tungusic language group and is closely related to Even and Negidal in Siberia. By 1600 the Ewenkis or Evenkis of the Lena and Yenisey valleys were successful reindeer herders. By contrast the Solons and the Khamnigans (Ewenkis of Transbaikalia) had picked up horse breeding and the Mongolian deel from the Mongols. The Solons (ancestors of the Evenkis in China) nomadized along the Amur River. They were closely related to the Daur people. To the west the Khamnigan were another horse breeding Evenkis in the Transbaikalia area. Also in the Amur valley a body of Siberian Evenki-speaking people called Orochen by the Manchus.
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.
There is also a similarly named Siberian group called the 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 are 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 SeaTemplate:Fact.
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. [1] [1]
Evenks of Mongolia
Khamnigan is the Buriat-Mongolian term for all Ewenkis. In the early 16th century, the Ewenkis of Transbaikalia or Khamnigans were tributary to the Khalkha. The Khamnigan are only ethnic group of Manchu-Tungus origin in Mongolia.[1] They who lived around Nerchinsk and the Aga steppe faced both Cossack demands for tribute and Khori-Buriats trying to occupy their pastures. Most of them came under the Cossack rule and enrolled the Cossack regiments in the Selenge valley. The Khori Buriats occupied most of the Aga steppe and forced the Ewenkis to flee to the Qing Dynasty.
After 1880 Russia's Khamnigan Ewenkis moved to semi nomadic herding of cattle, sheep, camels and horses. Some time after 1918 the Ewenkis, along with their Buriat neighbors, fled over the border into Mongolia and Hulun Buir, establishing the current Khamnigan communities there. The Khamnigan of Mongolia, numbering 300 households, are scattered among the Buriats and speak only the Khamnigan dialect of Buriat language. They live around the Yeruu Lake, Dornod and Khentii provinces as well as Möngönmorit of Töv Province.
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 are some of the only Asiatic peoples who nominally practice Orthodox Christianity, which they had voluntarily adopted (as opposed to being coerced to do soTemplate:Fact) during contacts from Russian expansion into Siberia.Template:Fact
References
External links
Template:Ethnic groups in China Template:Mongol Yastanca:Evenkis cs:Evenkové de:Ewenken es:Evenki (etnia) eu:Evenki etnia fr:Evenks fy:Ewinken ko:예벤키족 it:Evenchi lt:Evenkai nl:Evenken ja:エヴェンキ no:Evenker pl:Ewenkowie pt:Evenkis ru:Эвенки sah:Эбэҥкилэр sk:Evenkovia sl:Evenki sr:Евенки sh:Evenki fi:Evenkit sv:Evenker uk:Евенки ug:ئېۋېنكى مىللىتى zh:鄂温克族
