Этнографическая экспедиция в Аяно-Майский район Хабаровского края

In August 2015, an ethnographic expedition was organized by Viktoria Malakshanova, a researcher from the Ethnography Department, to the Evenks living in the village of Nelkan in the Ayano-Maysky District of Khabarovsk Krai.

The main task of the expedition was to collect empirical, material and documentary materials about the socio-economic and socio-cultural development of the indigenous population of the Ayano-Maysky district - the Evenks. 

The program of the expedition, which began on August 3, consisted of two stages: the first (from August 3 to 12) - collection of data and work with documents in the municipal archives of Nikolaevsky District (Nikolaevsk-on-Amur); the second stage (from August 12 to 19) - gathering field materials in the village Nelkan of Ayano-Maysky District. 

While working in the archive, interesting documents covering the history of the Ayano-Maisky and Tuguro-Chumikansky districts were discovered. At present, the Evenks in these districts are engaged in reindeer herding and lead a traditional way of life. The problem of preserving and developing traditional livelihoods, including reindeer herding, is the most urgent.

At the second stage of the expedition, in the village of Nelkan in the Ayano-Maisky District, where more than 60 percent of the population are Evenki, meetings and interviews were held with folk craftsmen, representatives of the Evenki ethnos, the head of the village. Nelkan and employees of cultural institutions. We managed to visit the camp (tabor) of the Karamzin reindeer breeders, who gladly met us and told us about the traditions, customs, and history of the Evenks who roamed the territory of the modern Ayana-Maisky District.

The collected materials will be used in the study of the Evenks of the Sea of Okhotsk and will highlight the issues of preserving the historical and cultural heritage and the problems of destruction of traditional life forms among the Evenks at the present stage.