TORGANAY

A long time ago, when mother earth was the size of a small rug, and the sky was the size of a chipmunk's eye, it gleamed a little, two boys lived. The elder's name was Torganay, the younger was Chanyka. So they lived and lived, day by minute, year by night kazau \ sya, So gradually one of the guys grew up. He made toys for himself, he made beams. He made a chip-chip with a lachko - he lowered the arrow, shouting "kuk-kuk", did not let the kuksha fly past. He killed all the birds.

The younger boy was not guarded at all, he was not cleaned at all. Everywhere the plague stuck with its mud - both to the log and to the pole. Torganai began to trade. He hunted and killed animals. He will kill the beast, tie a caftan to the knitting and drag him home. Once, having come home, he looked at his brother, and he was clean-chpst. Torganai Chanykoya asked:

How did you become smooth and white?

Chanykoy said:

Oh, I'm smoothed with birch bark and snow, calculate

puppy and whitewashed.

Torganai continued to trade. He hunted, killed animals and dragged home. Chanykoy is somehow very smooth and white! Torgay asked:

What are you doing that turned so white, washed and smooth

Kim became, slits and dirt from the hair, from the clothes removed? Ras

say well. If you don't tell me, I'll beat you.

Chanykoy said:

Brother, don't hit me, I'll tell you. From the side of the sunrise

of the sun, two swan-girls came and combed me, me

lathered, so I became clean.

Torganai said:

Well, you catch one of the two! """" Chanykoy said:

Torganai hid behind the tent. When he hid and noon came, two swan-maidens flew in. There, at the place where Chanykoy was chopping firewood, they descended and entered the tent. Entering. they combed and washed Chaiykoy, When they were washing, Chanykoy, having caught the elder, shouted:

Torganai! Rather go!

Torganai ran running, hung the plumage of a swan-maiden on the top of the pole. So Torganay got a wife. Having married, Torganai lived with his wife for three days. Then he went to trade. Torganai came home, but there was no one at home - no brother, no wife, He looked at the pole-tree - the tree fell, found his brother's overturned cauldron rusty.

Well, Torganay was left alone. Left behind, Torganai pondered:<:Что же я, одинокий, должен делать?» Пошел тогда Торганай на запад. В пути встретил трехголового орла, запел:

gong! Gate! Genge-koen! Eagle, be healthy! I went out of grief and misfortune to roam. Three-headed eagle, what do you know? -Tell me.

The three-headed eagle sang:

Dyngdy! Dyngdy! Dingdy-koen!

Taiga man is great!

Two swan girls

Flew to the east

It's been three days already

Torganai says:

Well, you could help me!

Three headed eagle says:

I will tell you. Here you go west. There will be three rivers along the way. If you are cunning, you will cross rivers. Then you will meet ten wild deer beyond the third river. Of these, the tenth beast broke half of the horn, he had a silver saddle and a three-foot silver bridle. If you catch it, you will be very happy.

Torganai went west, reached the river. I looked, and the river is wide. There is nothing for Torganai to move on. Torganai looked up and down, shouted in all directions in a thin voice. He ran, took the bark of a birch, stuck it to the soles and crossed the river. So he crossed all three rivers. Beyond the third river he saw the tracks of the beasts. Slowly Torganai crept up to the animals. The animals sensed it. Seeing him, the animals ran. Torganai chased after them. Chased, chased, caught up with the beast. Clutching his horns, Torganai rolled over, And then he saw a plain instead of mountains and hills instead of pits. Overturned. For three days he stood upside down, for five days he came to his senses. Standing up, he said:

With a silver bridle the beast! My veins are tired, my lungs are tired of running. Will you save me though?

So Torganai got a riding beast. On this animal he chased other animals. Having caught up with the animals, he killed a calf for food on the road. Torganai again went to the west. I reached Silver Mountain. Having reached the mountain, he said to his riding deer: “Become a kolodiy!” Kicked it, and the beast turned into a deck. He himself became a little child and wept at the foot of the mountain. When he was crying, the eagle descended to the top of the mountain, hearing the crying, he rejoiced. “Someone sent me a son?!” - he said and, having flown up, took him to his sons. He brought it home, left it at home, he flew off to fish. Left alone, Torganai made toys for himself from the bones of animals, he made a tambourine. Tired of hunting, the eagle flew home and lay down to rest. When he was sleeping, Torganai quietly tied himself to his leg. Tied, hit the tambourine, the Eagle flew up. He flew to the top of the mountain, and Torganai fell. Having fallen, Torganai descended. Going down, I heard a cry, He went to cry. Approaching, he looked, and in the dried-up lake near Chir-kumai, a newborn child was crying. Chirkumai sings:

Cheever! Cheever! Cheever Koen!

Hush, Little Baby, Do not Say a Word.

Don't cry, don't cry!

Evenk legends

Torganai approached Chirkumai and asked:

Whose child is this? Chirkumai said:

This is the abandoned son of the swan-maiden I am nursing. Torganai asked again:

Where did the swan-maidens themselves fly away? Chirkumai said:

Swan-girls left for themselves, flew away, at noon

turn around.

Torganai thought, said:

This is my son. Come on, make him cry to let-

Let the girls come soon.

Chirkumai made the child cry profusely. Torganai hid himself in the thicket. Noticing how the swan-girls were approaching, Torganay, going to the side of the house, hid. Hiding, I heard the singing of a swan-maiden.

The eldest had the name Geltangachan-Kuvul'gat, the eldest says:

Let's get down soon! The son cried. Chirkumai, on

right, I forgot to feed him,

The youngest girl, singing, said:

Genge! Genge! Genge-koen!

We won't go down

Torganai approached,

Somewhere around here!

The elder swan-maiden, Geltangachan-Kuvulgat, descended to a dry lake. She ran to her son. Taking her son from Chirkumai, she began to feed him. As soon as she began to feed, Torganai, running up, chopped the plumage of the swan-maiden with a six-pound ax. Another girl, Geltangachan-Kuvulgat sister, sang:

Well, goodbye now!

If you didn't listen to me and went down

Stay with your son-in-law!

She sang and flew west.

Well, now Torganai, having found his wife, began to live with her. Their son grew up every night. His father made toys for him, he also made an onion. The child, having made a chip-chip with a beam, did not let a single bird fly over him. So he became an industrialist. He traded, met different birds and animals, They asked: “What is your name?”

The boy has no name. There is nothing to answer if there is no name. Dareyek came home and asked his mother:

Here I hunt, I meet birds, they tell me about my

they ask for a name, they laugh that I have changed neg. How

Am I going to be without a name? Give me a name! -- saying so,

he began to ask his father and mother.

The mother said to her husband:

Well, hubby, let's give our son a name! Let me give him a name: Huruguchon let his name be.

OK then! Torganai said.

The boy, having received a name, was delighted, took a bow, went to hunt. Traded, again met the birds. The birds asked him:

What is your name?

My name is Huruguchon.

Huruguchon used to hunt animals. Kill a dozen, bring the tenth home. Once, while hunting, I saw a chipmunk. Chipmunk - what kind of animal is this? Why so handsome? Well, I'll catch him alive,” said Huruguchon, chased and caught him. Having caught it, he was delighted, and ran home, pushing the spruce forest, shaking off the buds of the alder. He flew through marnik76, came home, asked his father:

What kind of animal is it - edible or not? Father said:

This is God's worker. You can't eat it!

Huruguchon went to hunt again. When he was walking, hunting, suddenly a strong whirlwind arose. And the whirlwind suddenly spoke:

Well, you strong guy, what are you waiting for? Where is your

mother? Tell! If you don't tell me, I'll take it from you

Huruguchon looked - no one was there. I thought: "What did it say?" Thinking about it, he looked around again - there was nothing anywhere. Understanding nothing, he went ahead - home. Iduchp sees the tracks of the animals, and the animals in front of him were driven away. So, without killing anything, Huruguchon returned home. When he got home, he asked his mother:

When I went fishing, a strong whirlwind rose,

then someone spoke: “What are you, a strong guy,

are you waiting? Where is your mother?" - asked.

Mother said:

A! This is the daughter of the Sun, the strong maiden Sekakchan-

Kuvulgat, probably.

Huruguchon asked his mother:

Where is this daughter of the Sun Sekakchan-Kuvulgat? Ras-

tell me, I'll go to her. She annoyed me a lot and

She interfered with the fishing: she dispersed my animals in front of me.

Huruguchon's mother said:

Well, okay, I'll tell you. Go south there

when you go, there will be a silver house with a pillar, doho

up to the sky. In this house lives the daughter of the Sun named

nor Sekakchan. One-legged, one-armed Avasi the bogatyr is there

pudet. His food is half a berry, and a spoon is half a spoon. If

defeat him, you will take the maiden as your wife.

Khuruguchon in his mother's house placed ten-pound iron beams on both sides of the entrance.

Now, if these beams rust, you count me

dead, he said.

He said goodbye to his father and mother and went. Huruguchon walked, walked, and walked day and night. As he walked, he thought to himself: “If I came from the Lower Land, on my heel I would have stuck.” He said so, looked at his heels. There is no land there. Then he said: “If I came from the Middle Lemla, my leather caftan would wear out." I downloaded it, looked - his leather caftan was worn off. So having passed, he approached the silver house. He came, tried to open the door, it does not open at all.

Huruguchon turned into a bird, sat on a tree, and began to examine. Avasi-bogatyr carries firewood, brings firewood into the house. Avasi opened the door. As soon as he was about to open the door, Huruguchon turned into a fly and flew into the house. Entering, in the middle of the house remained ...

ABOUT THE HEROIC TALES OF THE EVENKI

The Evenki epic is diverse, it includes different types of legends about bogatyrs and bogatyrs. Among the heroic tales, several characteristic types about heroes-heroes stand out, each of them, in turn, has typical features that indicate the unequal degree of development of the Evenk epic as a genre among different local groups of Evenks. Heroic tales reflect different stages in the development of the epic creativity of the Evenks. It is this fact that is very remarkable and interesting for the scientific world: in the epic folklore heritage of the Evenks, legends of different levels of development coexisted. The material of heroic tales of the Evenks in all its typical diversity allows the scientist not only to see and analyze the process of formation and development of the Evenki epic, but also, when comparing texts with samples of the epic of other peoples, to identify the general stages of development of the heroic epic as a genre.

First of all, let's briefly talk about the folk terminology (used by the Evenks in relation to the works of their own folklore), its features and genres of folklore among different groups of Evenks. In the general environment of all local groups of Evenks in Russia, there are two main definitions: 1) nimngakan, 2) ul-gur. The term nimngakan combines works that, from the point of view of a folklorist, belong to different genres: myth, fairy tale, heroic tale and the type of heroic tale. Ulgur - legend (historical, mythological, etc.), as well as oral stories of the Evenks (ulgur - lit.: story). However, the presence and existence of genres of Evenki folklore, as well as their designation by folk terms, is not the same everywhere (more precisely, not among all local groups). For example, we have not revealed the existence of heroic tales among the Evenks of the northern regions, namely, in Evenkia and in the north of Yakutia. They were not noted among these local groups by other, earlier, collectors of Evenk folklore. Heroic tales are predominantly common among the Evenks of Transbaikalia and eastern puppies (including the territory of South Yakutia), this is also confirmed by the published texts of scientific publications of Evenk folklore.

The folk terminology of the Western Evenks differs from the terminology of the Eastern ones, and also has its own characteristics among the Trans-Baikal (Buryat) Evenks. For example, the Western Evenks do not know the term of the Eastern Evenks nimngakama nimngakan (lit.: shamanic-singing nimngakan), the Eastern Evenks also distinguish epic narratives, which they define as gume nimngakan (lit.: spoken, narrated nimngakan) and correlated with heroic fairy tales. The presence of the type of the Evenk heroic fairy tale was first noted by the GM. Vasilevich in the introductory article to the collection "Historical folklore of the Evenks (tales and legends)". Speaking about the Zeya-Aldan tales about heroes, she writes that “the Zeya-Aldan tales are told.<...>They are closer to heroic tales and they contain many motifs from the epic of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples. However, she does not name the folk term, which in most cases defines this type of narrations by Evenki.

Connoisseurs of Evenk folklore, professional performers mark their epos with the term nimngakama nimngakan, which literally translates as “nimngakan, similar to shamanistic singing nimngan” and is understood as “singing nimngakan”, since the monologues of the heroes of legends are necessarily sung. Each hero has an individual melody and sung words that serve as his calling card. This is the main difference between the Evenki epic and the works that the Evenks define as gume nimngakan. For example, the storyteller Claudia Pavlovna Afanasyeva, before starting the performance of a particular plot, always stipulated: “Er nimkakama nimkakan, nunanman hegevkil ‘This is nimngakama nimngakan, they sing it’” or: “Er gume nimkakan, nunganman evkil hegere ' This is gume nimngakan, it is not sung.

Evenki narratives, defined as gume nimnga-kan, have much in common with a typical heroic tale. However, they have their own specifics, indicating that the Evenk heroic tale gume nimngakan is at an early stage of its formation and is a transitional stage to the developed epic of the Evenks. Our observations of the existence, storytelling, performance of different types of Evenk folklore show that the form of performance (storytelling) of gume nimngakan was accessible to a larger circle of people than the epic nimngakama nimngakan. Conventionally, the Evenk heroic tale can be called a more “democratic”, “profane” type of epic narration than the heroic tales of the nimngakama nimngakan, for the following reasons - in order to convey, tell the gume nimngakan, you do not need to: 1) have a special singing talent ; 2) ear for music (for memorizing all the musical-individual songs of the heroes of the epic); 3) to coincide with special events (as opposed to the performance of the epic); 4) to gather a large audience, they could be told to one listener (whereas the performance of the epic required collective hearing). The transmission of the gume of the nimngakans was not associated with sacred moments. Good performers of the epic had their own spirit, the patron of their talent (itchi), the narrator of the Gume Nimngakans did not need him. The narrator of the epic went through a kind of initiation to become the executor of the epic - nimngakalan, this popular definition-term is awarded only to the executors of the epic along with shamans, who are called nimngalans. Women, the narrators of the Evenki epic, in most cases went through a kind of “path of initiation”, most often through an illness that they got rid of by mastering the skill of performing heroic tales. For example, according to the story of K.P. Afanasyeva, by the age of 29, she began to get sick with “falling sickness”, fainting. Her grandmother was a storyteller of the Evenk nimngakama nimngakans. As a child, K.G. Afanasyeva learned many legends from her grandmother, but did not perform them in public. Grandmother took her to a shaman to cure her seizures. Pokamlav (to find out the way of healing), the then-famous shaman Fedot Timofeev showed her the way to get rid of the disease - she had to perform heroic tales in front of an adult audience for 7 days. So K.G. Afanasyeva was healed and became a nimngakalan storyteller.

Thus, the gume nimngakan was a democratic type of epic narration by the Evenks. The works of this genre, like the Ulgurs (legends), could tell everything. Many threads of Evenk folklore said: “Gume nimnakanma ulgugechinme niket sari bee ulguchendinen - tarlak bo. Nimnakama nimnakanma nimkakalan-nyun nimnakandyan. ‘Gume nimngakan, like the Ulgur, any knowledgeable person can tell — it’s true. Nimngakama nimngakan (heroic tale) is only a narrator - nimngakalan will perform-sing '.

There are no such requirements for the transmission (telling) of the gume nimngakan as for the performance of the Evenk epos, because the nimngakama nimngakan is sacred for the Evenk, and the gume nimngakan is, as it were, taken out of this sphere, like the Ulgur. For example, the storyteller Anisya Stepanovna Gavrilova spoke about it this way: -Nimkakama nimkakanma baldynal, gerbinel, alganal, ikevkil "Nimngakama nimngakan after giving birth, calling, singing the spell alga, perform-sing '". Speaking about how to perform nimn-gakama nimngakan ( epos), K.P. Afanasyeva explained to us that the storyteller’s narration should be like a strong and smooth flow of a river: “Eekte bira eektekechin ikenyvkil “The singing of a nimngakan should be like a powerful flow of a large river.” She spoke about the originality of the performance of the heroic legend as follows: “Nadalladu eendenny, nadalladu ikendenny, Bugava tokorihinmuvna ‘Seven days you swim with the flow of nimngakan, seven days you eat nimngakan, you circle around the entire Bug Universe with nimngakan’”.

V.M. Zhirmunsky put forward the concept of the "heroic tale" as the ancestral form of the heroic epic. The archaic features of the epic in the heroic tale are: 1) the fabulous image of the giant hero; 2) the miraculous nature of his exploits; I) a clear mythological background of many motifs and images. V.M. Zhirmunsky singled out the main structural parts of the heroic tale: the prologue, the heroic matchmaking, the adventures of the hero, the return home. All these structural parts are also present in the gume nimngakana. However, in most of them there is no heroic matchmaking in its classical form, which speaks of the archaic stage of the Evenki heroic tale. V, M. Zhirmunsky, on the basis of comparing the heroic tale of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples about Alpamysh with the epic about Alpamysh, deduced the theory of the epic, which later became generally recognized. Published and unpublished material of Evenki folklore (available in the archives of modern collectors of Evenki folklore A.N. Myreeva, N.Ya. Bulatova, G.I. Varlamova) testifies to one remarkable fact - the popularity of the same names of heroes for the sung heroic tales of the nimngakam nimngakans and gume nimngakans performed in narrative form. We list the names of the main characters (with variations of petting-diminutive, augmentative suffixes):

Male names

1. Umusli, Umusni, Umusliken, Umuslindya, Umusnindya.

2. Harpani, Harparican, Harpanindya, Harpas Harparican.

3. Torganai, Torganu, Torgandun.

4. Huruguchon, Hurukuchon, Hurukuchondya.

5. Altanay, Altanukan, Altanyndya.

Women's names

1. Sekankan, Sekak, Sekakindya, Sekalan

(the most common).

2. Nyungurmok, Nyungurdok, Nyungurmokchan, Nyungurdokindya.

3. Unyaptuk, Unyuptuk, Unyuptukchon, Uunyaptukindya.

For example, there is a heroic tale about Garparikan, as well as an epic about Garparikan among the Eastern Evenks. There are many works of the same name of both types, the epic itself (nimngaka-ma nimngakan) and the heroic fairy tale (gume nimngakan), among the Eastern Evenks. For example, we recorded the heroic tale “The daring maiden Sekakchan-Seryozhka and her younger brother named Of those who have strong veins, the most wiry, Iran-hero who never falls on his ribs” and the heroic tale “The daring maiden Sekak and the brother of Iran”. The legend was recorded in 1989 in the village. Udskoe from A.S. Gavrilova (native of the Selemdzhi River in the Amur Region). The heroic tale about Sekak and her brother Irana was recorded in 1984 from Varvara Yakovleva in the village. Ulgen, Amur region. The plots of the bogatyr tale and the legend coincide in the main points and belong to the same local territory. There are more characters in the heroic tale about Sekak and her brother Irana, the heroes have more trials than in the Boga-Tyr tale.

Among the heroic epic heritage of the Evenks, one can single out the earliest type, when the hero, although perceived as a hero, does not perform feats in the fight against enemies - he simply travels to unknown distant lands, finds relatives, participates in peaceful heroic fights, finds himself bride, returns to his native land and becomes the ancestor of the Evenks. Tales of this type are small in volume, the main character is a lonely hero who wants to find others like himself (a person, people), there are few minor characters here, some of them are represented by the animal helpers of the hero. The classic image of the early type of heroic tales is the text about Umusliken published in this collection.

There are many legends about a lonely hero named Umusliken (Umusmi, Umuslinei, Umuslindya) among the Evenki, this is one of the most popular heroes of the Evenki epic. We have chosen for publication the most striking example of the early type, when the hero, according to the plot, does not perform heroic deeds in the generally accepted sense (fight against enemies). His whole feat consists in the fact that he finds his relatives, having arrived in the Upper World with the help of an assistant deer (ancestral totem). Umusliken takes part in the Ikenik festival and finds a wife for himself. The hero overcomes certain difficulties, reaches the Upper World, and in the final part becomes the ancestor of the Evenks. The purpose of his campaign is the instruction that the deer will guide him:

You yourself will go to the Upper Land of Iray.

To that Upper Iray-land and heroes,

And the girls-birds of kidak arrive at the games of Ikenik.

Go to those games Ikenik yourself.

There you will find a friend.

I'll stay here, go.

If you find yourself a girlfriend, then you will become a man. You will become the root-ancestor of man,

You will kindle the fire-hearth,

You will give birth to a child.

Well, go

Become the root-ancestor of man!

Already at the very beginning of the tale, the lone hero is warned of danger by the arrival of a kidak bird:

— Kimonin! Kimonin!

Kimonin! Kimonin!

From middle-earth Turin-land

Residents hello let it be you!

Umusliney, listen!

Kimonin! Kimonin!

An orphan if you

From distant lands"

Arriving, traveling

From the country of the seven gorges of the earth,

I've arrived, listen!

Enemies from the Nether

In seven days

Your hearth-Kulumtan will be extinguished,

Run quickly, she said.

The next type includes legends, where the main characters are a single brother and sister. In this work, we publish one of them as a typical example of this type of legends: the main character is a heroic sister who arranges the fate of her younger brother. She is a daring hero to the same extent as her brother. The daring girl Sekakchan-Seryozhka, wanting to marry her brother to the daughter of the Sun, fights with the heroes of the Upper World, the daughter of the Sun herself, defeats her and forces her to marry Irana's brother. Parallel to the story of the exploits of Sister Sekak, there is a story about her younger brother Irana. Irani opposes the hero-enemy from the tribe of Avakhs named Iron Root (Selame Nintani), he protects the heavenly old man named Gevan (Dawn) and his daughter from the encroachments of the hero of the Lower World.

An example of the developed epic of the Evenks is the story about Irkismond, offered in this book. The publication is the first cycle of the legend "Irkismond the Bogatyr", the whole legend consists of four cycles. The first cycle tells about the hero Irkismond from the moment of his birth, his heroic campaign to other worlds and countries in search of his native roots, his betrothed, in order to continue his family, his native Evenk tribe. As a result of the victory over the enemies of the heroes of other tribes and worlds, the hero of the Middle World Dulin Buga, the hero of the Evenk tribe Irkismondya finds his betrothed in the Upper World Ugu Buga and wins the right to become her husband. He brings her with a rich dowry to his Middle World and becomes the ancestor of the Evenks.

At the beginning of the story, an epic picture of the appearance of the Middle World - the earth is given. With this, as usual, all traditional tales of the Evenks begin. This is a traditional beginning, which is also characteristic of the epic of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples. In this legend, Irkismondi has a mute blacksmith brother, who makes hunting and fighting weapons for him.

Three cycles of the legend were first published in the scientific publication "Folklore of the Evenks of Yakutia" in 1971, the last cycle (fourth) has not yet been published. The first cycle tells about the life and deeds of the first ancestor of the Evenks, Irkismondi, then about his son, grandson and great-grandson. The legend about Irkismond in 1971 was the first experience of publishing the heroic epic of the Evenks, the text has not yet been divided into stanzas of the narrator's correspondingly rhythmic speech. The characters' monologues are also printed in a continuous prose text. Scientific transcription was used in publication. In this book, for the first time, the poetic text of the heroic legend about Irkismond meets the requirements for publishing a heroic epic, and the practical writing of the Evenks is used to read the legend to a wide range of readers.

A special type of heroic tales of the Evenks are tales close to heroic tales. It should be noted that the heroic tale of the Eastern Evenks often has a brief beginning. This opening is inherent only to the Gume Nimngakans about lonely heroes: it is similar to the beginning of an epic, it always has its own specific rhythm, which makes it easy to write it down as a poetic-rhythmic text:

Dulin Buga dulkakundun,

Egder Yane Hulidun,

Umun bee baldychan.

Eni guneri enine achin,

Ami guneri amina achin.

Emukkokon bidechen.

Tyken Bidechen.

Gorovo-gu,

Ahakana-gu tyken bidecheng,

N "i-kat ehin sara.

In the very middle of Middle Earth,

On the edge of the taiga big river,

One person was born.

There is no mother called mother,

There is no father who is called father.

Alone lives.

That's how he lived.

How long

How little did he live

No one knows.

Further narration is more often conveyed by simple speech (non-rhythmic).

Singing about the brothers Tyvgunai Urkeken and Cholbon Chokuldai, recorded from the native Aldan Evenk from the Dyovulga clan, belongs to special types of heroic tales of the Evenks. It was passed down from generation to generation only in this genus. I.T. Marfusalov (b. 1895), from whom this nimngakan was recorded in 1965, from childhood heard it performed by his father Dulei Timofei, a famous shaman and storyteller. Nimngakan has the features of a heroic fairy tale, for example, the presence of magical objects that turn into various insects, birds, etc. In terms of its characteristic features, this text has something in common with the legends of the neighboring Upper Aldanose Evenks. Nimngakan is filled with everyday details of the traditional life of the Evenks: for example, a method of dressing skins using boiled brains and livers of ungulates is described. However, with all this, this work is characterized by elements characteristic of the epic. Nimngakan has an original beginning that is not found in the legends of the Evenks of other regions:

In the wilds of the ancients lay down,

In the depths of bygone years

At the mouth of five deep-water rivers

With thundering valleys

with blazing capes.

Under a spreading tree

Born-appeared Tyvgunai-young man.

As in many gume nimngakans, here the hero is lonely:

He did not know at all whether he was born by his father,

Is it lifted by thunder

Did it come from the mother

Did he come out of the cradle.

He was an orphan.

The characters are bogatyrs, who are called bukunor, from the word buku ‘strong’; in all other Evenki legends, bogatyrs are called mata or soning. The assistants of the rich-rey are magical horses-atyga, such a name is recorded only in this nimngakan, in all other Evenk legends they are called the general Tungus murin ‘horse’.

The noted features give grounds to assume that this legend, as a genre, is at the stage of transition from a heroic tale to a heroic epic and represents a special type of Evenki heroic tales.

This book is addressed both to specialists in folklore and to a wide range of readers. The purpose of the publication is to expand the idea of ​​the heroic epic of the Evenks. Studies on Evenki folklore and samples of works are published in insufficient quantities, for this reason the Evenks do not have the opportunity to get acquainted with their folklore in more detail. We hope that this collection will allow representatives of the Evenk ethnic group to learn more about their native folklore, one of the fundamental foundations of the spiritual culture of the people.

G. I. Varlamova, Doctor of Philology

A.N. Myreeva, candidate of philological sciences

Historical folklore of the Evenks: Tales and legends / comp. G.M. Vasilevich. — M.; L., 1966. - S. 15.

Legends and myths are an invaluable source of folk wisdom that has preserved in coded form information about the worldview and thinking of the ethnic group. Sometimes only thanks to these sources it becomes possible to shed light on many facts. There are interesting legends and traditions about the origin of folk musical instruments and their prototypes. This article contains Ulch and Evenk legends about how the harp appeared.

The legend ascribes the "invention" of the prototype of the Evens' wooden jew's harp to a bear. So, the legend says that once a young man Chuldun ran away to the taiga.

“Suddenly a strong wind picked up. The age-old larches rustled loudly. Here Chuldun caught quite different sounds in this noise and whistling. They excited him. They called me as if from another world. He got up and went towards the wind, towards these mysterious sounds. To his surprise, he saw a huge bear sitting by a stump left from a broken larch. Wood chips, similar to bird feathers, protruded from the top of the stump in thin plates. The bear pulled these plates towards itself with its paws and let them go. They made rattling, and sometimes melodic sounds.

Chuldun stood without breathing. Having played enough, the bear went into the taiga. The young man cautiously approached the stump. For a long time he did not dare to pull the elastic wood chips. The wind tousled his hair, trying to drive him away from this place. He pulled one chip and let go. A strange sound flew downwind towards the thicket. Chuldun began to alternately pull the tips of the wood chips and let them go. The sounds merged, were carried away by the wind, and after them new and new [...]

The young man broke off two thin plates, tightly connected them and, putting them to his lips, blew. A thin piece of wood chips, which was between the plates, rattled thinly. Chuldun blew quieter. The sound turned out to be similar to the whistling of the wind in the crevice of the rock [...] He cut off two plates from the stump. The third was cut so thinly that you could see the sun through it. The young man put a thin plate between two thicker ones and tied them at one end with his hair [...] Chuldun put an instrument he had made to his lips and began to blow into the slot where the planed thin plate vibrated, making amazing sounds [...] ".

The Ulchi also made an instrument from dry bamboo brought from the Tatar Strait, thanks to which the jew's harp of this people got its name holdecto kunkai (bamboo sliver, dry bamboo). The Ulchi considered the holdecto kunkai to be their first musical instrument. N. D. Duvan cites the legend “Dry Bamboo” (“Holdekto Kunkai”) about the origin of the first musical instrument of the Ulchi - the jew's harp, told to her by the famous Ulchi shaman M. S. Duvan.

“Many years ago they lived in the village of Halal, which is near the village. Kalinovka, old people. Three brothers and one young sister lived in the same house. At the top of the cliff grew a long and thick
tree - larch. One day a bird flew in and sat on the top of a tree branch. The older brother decided to look at the bird, just opened the door, immediately fell back. After the second brother also went to look at the bird, also fell at the threshold. Then the third, younger brother, also wanted to look and also fell dead at the threshold. All three brothers were dead. Only one young sister remained. Old people from another village buried the brothers. Left alone, the sister cried day and night. One day she went outside, found a piece of old wood and made a musical instrument holdecto kunkai. She played and cried day and night until the instrument split in half. After that, she decided to make an iron musical instrument muhene. She was a great craftswoman. So living, playing and crying, one day she went down the Amur. People lost her, they heard that she got married and left for no one knows where.

Playing the lamellar jew's harp required special skill. The sound produced was quite quiet, and therefore this instrument was less common than the metal bow-shaped one. The performers on lamellar jew's harps were mostly men. The tool has the form of a plate (length -
12–15 cm, width - 1.5–3.5 cm) in the middle of which a tongue was cut out - a thin vibrating stick. The length of the tongue is up to 8–10 cm, the width is 2–5 mm. A cord made of animal tendon (currently a nylon thread) is threaded into the hole at the base of the tongue, from 18 to 35 cm long. The end of the cord was wound around the finger of the right hand or tied to a wooden stick. The instrument is held in the left hand. With sharp movements of the right hand, the cord twitches, setting the tongue in motion. The oral cavity serves as a resonator. Due to the articulation of the performer, melodic overtones of various heights arise against an ostinato background in the process of playing the jew's harp.

The Nanais believed that playing this instrument contributed to hunting luck. Some Udege believed that after the traps were set, the hunter needed to play on a lamellar jew's harp in order to ensure fishing success. Old Evens also sometimes still carry this instrument with them through the taiga and play it.

Svetlana MEZENTSEVA,
Senior Lecturer, Department of Theory and History of Music, Khabarovsk State Institute of Arts and Culture

The mouth harp is one of the most common musical instruments of the natives of the Russian Far East. So far, there are two types of jew's harps - lamellar wooden and arched metal. The lamellar jew's harp is more ancient. The instrument is made of wood, bamboo, cane or animal bone. The Nanais most often made a lamellar jew's harp from barberry, the Udege and Ulchi - from cedar and larch. Evens, following an old legend, are also made of larch.

Literature:

1. Trofimov, E. E. Bride of the North Wind: Even. myths, legends, legends / E. E. Trofimov. - Khabarovsk: RIOTIP, 2003. - S. 60–62.
2. Duvan, N. D. Musical instruments of the Ulchi / N. D. Duvan // Notes of the Grodekovsky Museum / Khabar. edges. local historian. museum to them. N. I. Grodekova. - Khabarovsk, 2003. - Issue. 6. - S. 59–60.
3. Sheikin, Yu. I. The history of the musical theater cultures of the peoples of Siberia: c. research / Yu. I. Sheikin. - M.. Vost. lit., 2002. - 718 p.

The Evenks (the name Tungus was also used earlier) are one of the most ancient indigenous peoples of Eastern Siberia, in particular the Baikal region. In this article, we will not reveal sentimental secrets, because the history of the Evenks is probably so ancient that they themselves have long forgotten the beginning. They write about their original legends and traditions, but apparently these legends do not clearly reveal the secret of the origin of life on planet Earth either. Therefore, we narrate without sensationalism, maybe someone will come in handy.

There are two theories about the origin of the Evenks.

According to the first, the ancestral home of the Evenks was located in the region of southern Baikal, where their culture developed from the Paleolithic era, with their subsequent settlement to the west and east.

The second theory suggests that the Evenks appeared as a result of assimilation by the local population of the Uvan tribe, mountain-steppe pastoralists of the eastern spurs of the Greater Khingan. Uvan literally - "people living in mountain forests"

They call themselves modestly - Orochons, which in translation means "a man who owns a deer."

Evenki hunter. photo 1905.

According to the anthropological type, the Evenks are pronounced Mongoloids.

The Evenk ethnic group can be entered in the Guinness Book of Records. By the 17th century, with a population of only 30,000 people, they had mastered an incredibly vast territory - from the Yenisei to Kamchatka, and from the Arctic Ocean to the border with China. It turns out that on average, one Evenk has about twenty-five square kilometers. They constantly wandered, so they were said about them: Evenki everywhere and nowhere. At the beginning of the 20th century, their number was about 63 thousand people, and now it has again decreased to 30 thousand.

Politically, before meeting with the Russians, the Evenki depended on China and Manchuria.

The history of Russian-Evenki contacts dates back to the middle of the 17th century - to the time of the famous Evenki prince Gantimur, who took the side of the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and led his fellow tribesmen. He and his squad guarded the Russian borders. And the Evenks living in China guarded their country. So the Evenks became a divided people.

In the Russian Empire, the authorities adhered to the rule not to stick their nose into the internal affairs of the Evenks. A system of self-government was developed for them, according to which the Evenks were united in the Urulga Steppe Duma with a center in the village of Urulga. Traditionally, the Evenki Duma was headed by the dynasty of princes Gantimurovs.

Coat of arms of the family of princes Gantimurovs

After the revolution, in 1930, the Evenki national district was created. But collectivization and the forced transfer of the Evenks to a settled way of life dealt a severe blow to their economic and cultural traditions, putting the whole people on the brink of extinction.

Evenks are real children of nature. They are called pathfinders of the taiga trails. They are excellent hunters. Bows and arrows in their hands became precision weapons. Evenk is able to hit a target for three hundred meters. The Evenks had special, "singing arrows" with bone whistles, which fascinated the beast.

But the Evenk will not touch the wolf - this is his totem. Not a single Evenk will leave wolf cubs unattended if they suddenly find themselves without parental care.

In the 15th-16th centuries, the Evenks learned reindeer herding, becoming the northernmost herders in the world. No wonder they say: "Our home is under the North Star."

Evenki to this day have an unwritten set of traditions and commandments that regulate social, family and inter-clan relations:

"nimat" - the custom of donating one's prey to one's relatives.

“malu” is the law of hospitality, according to which the most comfortable place in the chum is intended only for guests. Anyone who crossed the "threshold" of the plague was considered a guest.

"levirate" - the custom of inheritance by the younger brother of the widow of the older brother.

"tori" - a marriage transaction, which was made in one of three ways: by paying a certain amount of deer, money or other valuables for the bride; girl exchange; working for the bride.

The Evenks most solemnly held a spring holiday - iken, or evin, dedicated to the onset of summer - “the appearance of new life” or “renewal of life”.

The first meeting was necessarily accompanied by a handshake. Previously, it was customary for Evenks to greet each other with both hands. The guest stretched out both hands, folded on top of each other, palms up, and the head of the family shook them: from above with the right palm, from below - with the left.

Women also pressed alternately with both cheeks to each other. The older woman greeted the guest with a sniff.

In honor of the guest, a deer was specially slaughtered and treated with the best pieces of meat. At the end of tea drinking, the guest put the cup upside down, showing that he would no longer drink. If the guest simply moved the cup away from him, the hostess could continue to pour tea indefinitely. The head of the family saw off the welcome guest in a special way: he drove off with him for several kilometers, and before parting, the host and guest stopped, lit a pipe and agreed on the next meeting.

One of the distinguishing features of the Evenks has always been a respectful attitude towards nature. They not only considered nature to be alive, inhabited by spirits, they deified stones, springs, rocks and individual trees, but they also firmly knew the measure - they did not cut down more trees than necessary, did not kill game unnecessarily, even tried to clean up after themselves the territory where the hunting ground stood. camp.

The traditional dwelling of the Evenks - the tent - was a conical hut made of poles, covered in winter with deer skins, and in summer with birch bark. During migrations, the frame was left in place, and the material for covering the chum was taken with them. The winter camps of the Evenks consisted of 1-2 chums, the summer camps - from 10 or more due to frequent holidays at this time of the year.

The basis of traditional food is the meat of wild animals (for equestrian Evenks - horse meat) and fish, which were almost always consumed raw. In summer they drank reindeer milk, ate berries, wild garlic and onions. They borrowed baked bread from the Russians. The main drink was tea, sometimes with reindeer milk or salt.

The Evenki language is precise and at the same time poetic. Evenk can usually say about the onset of the day: dawn. But maybe so: The morning star died. Moreover, the Evenk likes to use the second expression more often. An Evenk can simply say about rain: it's raining. But the old man will express his thought figuratively: the sky is shedding tears.

There is a proverb among the Evenks: "Fire has no end." Its meaning: life is eternal, for after the death of a person, the fire in the plague will be supported by his sons, then grandchildren, great-grandchildren. And isn't that what we call a genus?!

Evenki (the self-name Evenkil, which became the official ethnonym in 1931; the old name is Tungus from Yakut. Toҥ uus) is the indigenous people of the Russian Federation (Eastern Siberia). They also live in Mongolia and northeast China. Separate groups of Evenks were known as Orochens, Birars, Manegri, Solons. The language is Evenki, belongs to the Tungus-Manchurian group of the Altai language family. There are three groups of dialects: northern, southern and eastern. Each dialect is subdivided into dialects.

Geography

They live from the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the east to the Yenisei in the west, from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Baikal region and the Amur River in the south: in Yakutia (14.43 thousand people), Evenkia (3.48 thousand people), Dudinsky district of the Taimyr Autonomous District, Turukhansk district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (4.34 thousand people), Irkutsk region (1.37 thousand people), Chita region (1.27 thousand people), Buryatia (1.68 thousand people .), Amur Region (1.62 thousand people), Khabarovsk Territory (3.7 thousand people), Sakhalin Region (138 people), as well as in the northeast of China (20 thousand people, spurs Khingan Ridge) and in Mongolia (near Lake Buir-Nur and the upper reaches of the Iro River).

Language

They speak the Evenki language of the Tungus-Manchurian group of the Altai family. Dialects are divided into groups: northern - north of the lower Tunguska and lower Vitim, southern - south of the lower Tunguska and lower Vitim, and eastern - east of Vitim and Lena. Russian is also widespread (55.7% of Evenks are fluent, 28.3% consider it their native language), Yakut and Buryat languages.

The Evenk language, along with Manchu and Yakut, belongs to the Tungus-Manchu branch of the Altaic language family.

In turn, the Tungus-Manchurian language family is something intermediate between the Mongolian (Mongols belong to it) and the Turkic language family (which, for example, Tuvans belong to, although many do not perceive Tuvans as Turks (such as Tatars, Uighurs, Kazakhs or Turks) , because Tuvans do not profess Islam, but are partly shamanists, like the Yakuts and Evenks, and partly Buddhists, like the Manchus and Mongols, It should be noted that the Manchus also partly profess Buddhism). Evenks are very close to the Manchus, but unlike them, they did not create famous state formations. And in this they are similar to the Yakuts close to them.

Evenks, both in Russia and in China and Mongolia, with the help of scientists from the respective countries, adapted the writing system adopted by the titular peoples of these states to record their language. In Russia, the Evenks use the Cyrillic alphabet, in Mongolia they use the Old Mongolian script, and in China they use the Old Mongolian script and hieroglyphs. But this also happened recently, in the 20th century. Therefore, in the following excerpts from the material of the Chinese foreign broadcast, it is said that the Evenks do not have a written language.

Name

Perhaps it sounds strange, but even the very name of the Evenki people is fanned with the spirit of myths and doubts. So, from the time of the development of the vast territories occupied by the Evenks by the Russians, until 1931, it was customary to call this people (and at the same time their kindred Evens) with the common word "Tungus". At the same time, the origin of the word "tungus" is still unclear - whether it comes from the Tungus word "kungu", meaning "a short fur coat made of deer skins, sewn with wool up", or from the Mongolian "tung" - "forest", then whether from the Yakut "tong was" - "people with frozen lips", i.e. speaking in an unknown language. One way or another, but the name "Tungus" in relation to the Evenki is still used by a number of researchers, which confuses the already confusing history of the Evenk people.

One of the most common self-names of this people - Evenki (also Evenkil) - was recognized as official in 1931 and acquired the form of “Evenki”, which is more familiar to the Russian ear. The origin of the word "Evenki" is even more mysterious than "Tungus". Some scholars argue that it comes from the name of the ancient Transbaikal tribe “uvan” (also “guvan”, “gyui”), from which the modern Evenks supposedly have their roots. Others completely shrug their shoulders, refusing to attempt to interpret this term and pointing out only that it arose about two thousand years ago.

Another very common self-name of the Evenks is "orochon" (also "orochon"), literally meaning "a man who owns a deer", "deer" man. That is how the Evenks-reindeer herders called themselves in a vast territory from Transbaikalia to the Zeya-Uchursky region; however, some of the modern Amur Evenki prefer the name "Evenki", and the word "orochon" is considered just a nickname. In addition to these names, among the various groups of Evenks there were also self-names "Manegri" ("Kumarchens"), "Ile" (Evenks of the Upper Lena and Podkamennaya Tunguska), "Kilen" (Evenks from Lena to Sakhalin), "Birars" ("Birarchens" - i.e. living along the rivers), "khundysal" (i.e. "owners of dogs" - this is how the deined Evenks of the Lower Tunguska called themselves), "salts" and many others, often coinciding with the names of individual Evenk clans.

At the same time, not all Evenki were reindeer herders (for example, the Manegry, who lived in the south of Transbaikalia and the Amur region, also bred horses), and some Evenks were completely on foot or settled and were engaged only in hunting and fishing. In general, until the 20th century, the Evenki were not a single, integral people, but rather a series of separate tribal groups that sometimes lived at a great distance from each other. And yet, at the same time, they were connected by a lot - a single language, customs and beliefs - which allows us to talk about the common roots of all Evenks. But where do these roots lie?

Story

II millennium BC - I millennium AD - human settlement of the Lower Tunguska valley. Sites of ancient people of the Neolithic era of the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in the middle reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska.

12th century - the beginning of the settlement of the Tungus in Eastern Siberia: from the coast of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bOkhotsk in the east to the Ob-Irtysh interfluve in the west, from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Baikal region in the south.

Among the northern peoples not only of the Russian North, but of the entire Arctic coast, the Evenks are the most numerous language group: on

On the territory of Russia, more than 26,000 people live, according to various sources, the same number in Mongolia and Manchuria.

The name "Evenki" with the creation of the Evenki district has firmly entered the social, political and linguistic everyday life. Doctor of Historical Sciences V.A. Tugolukov gave a figurative explanation of the name "Tungus" - going across the ridges.

Tungus from ancient times settled from the shores of the Pacific Ocean to the Ob. Their way of life made changes in the name of the genera, not only on geographical grounds, but, more often, on household ones. Evenks living along the shores of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk were called Evens or, more often, Lamuts from the word "lama" - the sea. The Trans-Baikal Evenks were called Murchens, because they were mainly engaged in horse breeding, and not reindeer breeding. And the name of the horse is “mur”. Evenk reindeer herders who settled in the interfluve of the three Tunguskas (Upper, Podkamennaya, or Middle, and Lower) and the Angara called themselves Orochens - deer Tungus. And they all spoke and still speak the same Tungus-Manchu language.

Most Tungus historians consider Transbaikalia and the Amur region to be the ancestral home of the Evenks. Many sources claim that they were driven out by more warlike steppe people at the beginning of the 10th century. However, there is another point of view. The Chinese chronicles mention that even 4000 years before the Evenks were forced out, the Chinese knew about the strongest people among the "northern and eastern foreigners." And these Chinese chronicles testify to the coincidence in many ways of that ancient people - the sushi - with the later one, known to us as the Tungus.

1581-1583 - the first mention of the Tungus as a nationality in the description of the Siberian kingdom. The first explorers, explorers, travelers spoke highly of the Tungus: "helpful without servility, proud and brave." Khariton Laptev, who explored the shores of the Arctic Ocean between the Ob and Olenek, wrote:

“The Tungus surpass all those living in yurts with courage and humanity and sense.” The exiled Decembrist V. Kuchelbecker called the Tungus “Siberian aristocrats”, and the first Yenisei governor A. Stepanov wrote: “their costumes resemble the camisoles of the Spanish grandees ...” But we must not forget that the first Russian explorers also noted that “they have stone spears and spears bone", that they do not have iron utensils, and "tea is brewed in wooden vats with red-hot stones, and meat is only baked on coals ... "And one more thing: "there are no iron needles and they sew clothes and shoes with bone needles and deer veins."

Second half of the 16th century - the penetration of Russian industrialists and hunters into the basins of the rivers Taz, Turukhan and the mouth of the Yenisei. The neighborhood of two different cultures was interpenetrating. The Russians were trained in the skills of hunting, survival in the northern conditions, they were forced to accept the norms of morality and the hostel of the natives, especially since the newcomers took local women as wives and created mixed families.

Gradually, the Evenk tribes were forced out by the Yakuts, Russians and Buryats from part of their territory and moved to Northern China. In the century before last, the Evenks appeared on the lower Amur and Sakhalin. By that time, the people had been partially assimilated by Russians, Yakuts, Mongols and Buryats, Daurs, Manchus and Chinese. By the end of the 19th century, the total number of Evenks was 63 thousand people. According to the 1926-1927 census, 17.5 thousand of them lived in the USSR. In 1930, the Ilimpiysky, Baikitsky and Tunguso-Chunsky national

the districts were united into the Evenk national district. According to the 2002 census, 35,000 Evenks live in Russia.

Life of the Evenks

The main occupation of the "foot" Evenks is hunting. It is carried out mainly on a large animal deer, elk, roe deer, bear, however, fur hunting for smaller animals (squirrel, arctic fox) is also common. Hunting is usually carried out from autumn to spring, in groups of two or three people. Evenk reindeer herders used the animals for riding (including for hunting) and for packing, milking. After the end of the hunting season, several Evenk families usually united and migrated to another place. Some groups had sleds of various types, which were borrowed from the Nenets and Yakuts. The Evenks bred not only deer, but also horses, camels, and sheep. In some places, seal hunting and fishing were common. The traditional occupations of the Evenks were the processing of skins, birch bark, blacksmithing, including to order. In Transbaikalia and the Amur region, the Evenks even switched to settled agriculture and cattle breeding. In the 1930s, reindeer herding cooperatives began to be created, and with them stationary settlements. At the end of the last century, the Evenks began to form tribal communities.

Food, housing and clothing

The traditional food of the Evenks is meat and fish. Depending on the type of occupation, Evenki also eat berries, mushrooms, and settled people - vegetables grown in their own gardens. The main drink is tea, sometimes with reindeer milk or salt. The national dwelling of the Evenks is the chum (du). It consists of a conical frame of poles covered with skins (in winter) or birch bark (in summer). In the center was a hearth, and above it was a horizontal pole, on which the boiler was hung. At the same time, various tribes used semi-dugouts, yurts of various types, and even log structures borrowed from Russians as dwellings.

Evenki traditional clothing: cloth natazniks, leggings, a caftan made of reindeer skin, under which a special bib was put on. The women's bib was distinguished by beaded decoration and had a straight lower edge. Men wore a belt with a knife in a sheath, women - with a pincushion, a tinderbox and a pouch. Clothing was decorated with fur, fringe, embroidery, metal plaques, beads. Evenk communities usually consist of several related families, numbering from 15 to 150 people. Until the last century, the custom was preserved, according to which the hunter had to give part of the prey to his relatives. Evenks are characterized by a small family, although earlier polygamy was common in some tribes.

Beliefs and folklore

Cults of spirits, trade and tribal cults, shamanism were preserved. There were elements of the Bear Festival - rituals associated with butchering the carcass of a dead bear, eating its meat, and burying bones. Christianization of the Evenki has been carried out since the 17th century. The influence of Buddhism was strong in Transbaikalia and the Amur region. Folklore included improvisation songs, mythological and historical epic, animal tales, historical and everyday legends, etc. The epic was performed

recitative, often listeners took part in the performance, repeating individual lines after the narrator. Separate groups of Evenks had their own epic heroes (soning). Constant heroes - comic characters were also in everyday stories. From musical instruments known harp, hunting bow, etc., from dances - a round dance (heiro, sadyo), performed to song improvisation. The games were in the nature of competitions in wrestling, shooting, running, etc. Artistic carving on bone and wood, metalworking (men), beadwork, silk embroidery, appliqué with fur and fabric, embossing on birch bark (women) were developed among the Eastern Evenks.

Evenki of China

Although it is generally believed in Russia that the Evenks live in Russian Siberia, in the adjacent territory of China they are represented by four ethnolinguistic groups, the total number of which exceeds the number of Evenks in Russia: 39,534 versus 38,396. These groups are combined into two official nationalities living in the Evenk Autonomous Huoshun Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia and neighboring Heilongjiang Province (Nehe County):

• Orochons (literally "reindeer herders", Chinese 鄂伦春, pinyin: Èlúnchūn Zú) - 8196 people according to the 2000 census, 44.54% live in Inner Mongolia, and 51.52% live in Heilongjiang province, 1.2% - in Liaoning province. About half speak the Orochon dialect of the Evenki language, sometimes treated as a separate language; the rest are only in Chinese. At present, Evenk reindeer herders in China are a very small ethnic group, numbering only about two hundred people. They speak a dialect of the North Tungus language. The existence of their traditional culture is under great threat.
• Evenki (Chinese: 鄂温克族, pinyin: Èwēnkè Zú) - 30,505 in 2000, 88.8% in Hulunbuir, including:
• a small group of Evenki proper - about 400 people in the village of Aoluguya (Genhe county), who are now being moved to the suburbs of the county center; they call themselves "yeke", the Chinese - yakute, since they erected themselves to the Yakuts. According to the Finnish altaist Juha Janhunen, this is the only ethnic group in China that practices reindeer herding;

• The Khamnigans are a strongly Mongolized group that speaks the Mongolian languages ​​- the Hamnigan proper and the Hamnigan (Old Barag) dialect of the Evenki language. These so-called Manchurian Hamnigans emigrated from Russia to China within a few years of the October Revolution; about 2500 people live in the Starobargut khoshun;
• Solons - together with the Daurs, they moved from the Zeya River basin in 1656 to the Nunjiang River basin, and then in 1732 partly went further west, to the Hailar River basin, where the Evenk Autonomous Khoshun was later formed with 9733 Evenks. They speak the Solon dialect, sometimes treated as a separate language.

Since both the Hamningans and the "Yakut-Evenks" are very few in number (about 2,000 of the former and probably about 200 of the latter), the overwhelming majority of persons assigned in China to the Evenki nationality are Solons. Salons were estimated at 7,200 in 1957, 18,000 in 1982, and 25,000 in 1990.

Great people of the Evenk people

GAUDA

Aguda (Agudai) is the most famous historical figure in the early history of the Tungus, the leader of the Tungus-speaking tribes of the Amur region, who created the powerful state of Aisin Gurun. At the beginning of the second millennium, the Tungus, whom the Chinese called Nuizhi (zhulichzhi) - Jurcheni, stopped the domination of the Khitans (Mongolian tribes). In 1115, Aguda declared himself emperor, creating the empire of Aisin Gurun (Anchun Gurun) - the Golden Empire (Chinese "Jin"). In 1119, Aguda decided to start a war with China, and in the same year the Jurchens took Kaifeng, the capital of China at that time. The victory of the Tungus-Jurchens under the leadership of Aguda was won by a number of 200 thousand soldiers against a million Chinese troops. The empire of Aisin Gurun lasted more than 100 years until the beginning of the heyday of the Mongol empire of Genghis Khan.

Bombogor

Bombogor - the leader of the union of the Evenki clans in the Amur region in the fight against the Manchu conquerors in the 17th century. Under the leadership of Bombogor, the Evenks, Solons and Daurs opposed the Manchus of the Qing dynasty in the mid-1630s. Up to 6,000 warriors gathered under his banner, who fought for several years with the regular Manchurian army. Only 5 years later, the Manchus were able to capture Bombogor and suppress the resistance of the Evenks. Bombogor was captured by the Manchus in 1640, brought to the capital of the Manchu emperor - the city of Mukden, and executed there. With the death of Bombogor, the Evenki and all the peoples of the Amur region in China were subordinated to the emperor and the Qing dynasty.

Nemtushkin A.N.

Nemtushkin Alitet Nikolaevich is a famous Evenk writer and poet. Born in 1939 in the camp of Irishki, Katangsky district, Irkutsk region, in the family of a hunter, was brought up in boarding schools and by his grandmother Ogdo-Evdokia Ivanovna Nemtushkina. In 1957 he graduated from the Yerbogachenskaya secondary school, in 1961 from the Herzen Leningrad Pedagogical Institute.

After studying, Alitet Nikolaevich comes to work in Evenkia as a correspondent for the Krasnoyarsk Rabochy newspaper. In 1961 he became the editor of the Evenk Radio and worked in journalism for over 20 years. His first book, a collection of poems Tymani Agidu (Morning in the Taiga), was published when Alitet Nikolaevich was still a student in 1960. Since then, more than 20 books have come out from under the pen of Nemtushkin, which were published in Krasnoyarsk, Leningrad, Moscow, Yakutsk. Nemtushkin's poems and prose have been translated into dozens of languages ​​of the peoples of the former USSR and socialist countries.

The most significant and popular works of Alitet Nemtushkin are the poetry collections “The Bonfires of My Ancestors”, “The Breath of the Earth”, the prose books “I Dream of Heavenly Deer”, “Pathfinders on Deer”, “The Road to the Underworld”, “Samelkil - Marks on a Deer Ear "etc. In 1986, A. Nemtushkin was elected executive secretary of the Krasnoyarsk Writers' Organization; in 1990 he was awarded the title of "Honored Worker of Culture"; in 1992 he was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of literature; member of the Writers' Union since 1969.

Chapogir O.V.

A well-known composer, author and performer of many Evenki songs. Oleg Vasilyevich Chapogir was born in 1952 in the village of Kislokan, Ilimpiysky District, Krasnoyarsk Territory, into a family of Evenk hunters. From childhood, he heard folk tunes from his mother and other Evenks, which, together with a natural gift, later influenced his life choice.

After graduating from the eight classes of the Turin secondary school, Oleg Vasilievich entered the Norilsk Music College in the class of folk instruments of the northern department. Having received a diploma, in 1974 the future composer returned to his native Evenkia, where he began to create his works. He worked in the Ilimpiysky district department of culture, in an art workshop, in the district scientific and methodological center.

About the talent and activities of Oleg Chapogir, G.V. Shakirzyanova: “The works of an earlier period, written by him immediately after graduating from college, are mainly devoted to youth topics, they have an unstoppable rhythm and a clear pulse of time. Song works of the late period bear the imprint of a deep thoughtful attitude to folk poetry, to their historical roots, which noticeably distinguishes the composer's art of Oleg Chapogir from the work of other composers of Evenkia. Oleg Chapogir drew his inspiration not only from the unique beauty of the taiga nature, but also from the poems of our famous Evenki poets A. Nemtushkin and N. Oegir. Oleg Chapogir is the author of over 200 songs and melodies. He released eight albums with songs about the Evenks and the North.

Atlasov I.M.

Atlasov Ivan Mikhailovich - a well-known public figure, one of the modern leaders of the Evenks, Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Evenk people of Russia. Ivan Mikhailovich was born in 1939 in the Ezhansky nasleg of the Ust-Maya region of Yakutia in the family of an Evenk hunter. From an early age, he worked on a par with adults, knowing the hardships of wartime. He graduated from the 7-year-old Ezhansky school, a secondary school in Ust-May. In 1965, he graduated from the Yakutsk State University with a degree in industrial and civil engineering, remaining to teach at the same faculty. Since 1969, he worked at the Ministry of Housing and Public Utilities of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, then as Deputy Director of Yakutgorpishchetorg. From 1976 until retirement, he worked at Yakutagropromstroy, built the largest commercial and warehouse buildings of that time.

From the end of the 80s. 20th century is one of the founders of the social movement of indigenous peoples in Yakutia. For several years he headed the Association of the Evenks of the Republic of Sakha, in 2009 he was elected Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Evenk people of Russia. The initiator of a number of legislative acts of republican significance aimed at supporting indigenous peoples, an active defender of the environment and the legal rights of small ethnic groups.