The Number One Reindeer Brigade

Abstract UPON ARRIVING IN Taimyr, my professed desire to learn about Evenkis was met with some confusion. In the district capital of Dudinka many Russians and members of the native intelligentsia alike told me with authority that there were no Evenkis in Taimyr. The more anxious among them suggested I get back on an aeroplane and travel to the Evenki Autonomous District where, judging by the map at least, I should be able to find Evenkis. Those with a deeper understanding of the history of Taimyr politely informed me that if there were any tungusy left in Taimyr they were very few and had most certainly ‘forgotten’ their culture. These practically minded advisers invited me to study Dolgans, Nenetses, or Nias-all of whom are classically associated with Taimyr. At Khantaika, the place where most of Taimyr’s Evenki population is officially registered, the reaction to my project was even more polarized. Dolgans who worked in the office of the state farm, at the school, or for the village council laughed at the thought that ‘the tongustar’, as they are called locally, could offer much of interest to a foreigner. Once again I was invited to learn about old legends from Dolgan elders or to study the beadwork of Dolgan seamstresses. To my surprise, many Evenkis to whom I was introduced initially repeated the same trope by emphasizing that their language was forgotten, that the ‘old people’ were now all gone, and that their people had all but vanished. Using the last resort of a desperate student, I pleaded with my hosts that I had to learn some Evenki words or at least understand a bit about Evenki pastoralism since I had travelled so far to write a project for my school. With greater sympathy, I was then told by Dolgans, Russians, and village Evenkis alike that the only people who could help me were tundroviki-the ‘people who live on the tundra’. Among tundrwviki the place to start, they said, was with the Number One Reindeer Brigade; the ‘most Evenki brigade’ on the territory of the Khantaiskii state farm.