[The Guardian] The Evenki people, custodians of the resources of Yakutia – photo essay

The Evenki people, custodians of the resources of Yakutia – photo essay

The north of Russia conceals innumerable riches such as gold and diamonds –  but also Indigenous cultures. The Evenki are Indigenous people of reindeer herders who guided Russian prospectors to mineral deposits, helping the industrial development of the Soviet Union. Today, their homeland is massively felled, riverbeds are ransacked and groundwater is polluted

On 29 July 2022, on a shore of Lake Baikal, Evenki people from all over Russia gathered for the first time. The Evenki are Indigenous people of reindeer herders, and at the Tungus congress they had the opportunity to visit their original homeland, the cradle of their culture. More recently, the Evenki have occupied a vast territory from the Yenisei River to Kamchatka, from Yakutia to China.

Above: A children’s reindeer race during the herders’ festival. Right: Valery Evseev was born in the taiga into a family of reindeer herders. With the fall of the USSR in 1991 they lost all their animals. In 2020, the government of the Republic of Sakha reopened the Syuldyukar state farm. Far right: Alla Kourbaltinova has spent her entire life camping near the village of Iengra, in the Neryungri region, in the taiga of southern Yakutia. Despite the death of her husband three years ago, she continues to raise her herd of 215 reindeer, with her son Aleksei and three employees. Below: Prokopiï, an Evenki hunter renowned throughout Yakutia, celebrates his 60th birthday in Yakutsk

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Source: The Evenki people, custodians of the resources of Yakutia – photo essay

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