The most widely dispersed people of Eastern Siberia are the Evenk.

Before the coming of the Russians, Evenk tribes roamed across Siberia from the Yenisei to the Pacific, and into parts of Mongolia and Manchuria. The Evenks were formally known as the Tungus, and the use of Evenk didnt become official until 1931. The Even live east of the Evenki, mostly along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, and are said to be a subgroup or offshoot of the Evenki. The Even are known as the reindeer people, and also the ocean people, deriving from their former name, Lamut. The name Even became official sometime in the 1930s. The Evenk and Even have unfortunately been shrunken down to isolated minorities throughout Eastern Siberia and even live together in the north of Yakutia.

The Evenk and Even have absorbed an earlier population, believed to be related to the Yukaghirs, from which they adopted certain linguistic and cultural traits. The Evenk language endures and is taught in the local schools, though the multiple dialects of the language have burdened the development of a single literary standard. The survival of large number of Evenk language dialects in written language is uncertain due to the small number of speakers of each dialect. The Association of Native People of Chukotka and Kolyma classifies Even culture as severely damaged. The Even population is scattered and few communities have enough traditional people to start education and cultural activities in culture and language.

A common instrument to the Even, and the only Evenk musical instrument, is the jew's harp. It is a metal, stringed instrument, which resonates in the mouth (the name jews harp comes from "jaw and harp). A certain type of traditional circle dance is performed at festivals using this instrument. Due to the cultural closeness of the Even and the Evenk, both make their clothing from reindeer or elk skin, and decorate them with beads, embroidery made

from reindeer and elk hair, and small metal ornaments. All items of clothing are elegantly ornamented.

An ancient Evenk creation story, shared by all the Evenk groups and subgroups, including the Even, in one form or another, is as follows: In the beginning there were two brothers' the elder was an evil spirit and the younger a good one who became spirit-master of the upper world. The elder brother lived at the top and the younger brother at the bottom. Between them was water. The younger brother had two assistants, a golden-eyed duck and a loon. One day the golden-eyed duck dove down and brought back the earth in its beak. The earth was thrown on the surface of the water. The brothers went there to work. The younger brother created the first people out of clay as well as all of the "good" animals, that is, animals that people could hunt and eat. The bad brother made "bad" animals, that is, the ones that are useless or harmful to humans. Various versions of this creation legend depict the raven or the dog as the good brother's helper.

In other legends, the bear was a hero who sacrificed himself by becoming a forest animal in exchange for the spirits of the forest to provide reindeer for the humans. The bear feast is performed by Evenk and Even tribes throughout Siberia. There are also more than fifty different names for the bear in Evenk language dialects.

Bibliography

Blackwelder, Joshua. Eveni Siberia Information Packet. Bountiful/Davis Art Center, 2012. Print.

"East Asian Studies 210 Notes: The Ewenki/Ewen." East Asian Studies 210 Notes: The Ewenki/Ewen. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 July 2012. <http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ea210/ewenkiewen.htm>.

"Even - Arctic Studies Center." Even - Arctic Studies Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 July 2012. <http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/features/croads/modeven.html>.

"THE EVENKS." The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2012. <http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/evenks.shtml>.

"THE EVENS." The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 July 2012. <http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/evens.shtml>.

Image URLs: http://www.flickr.com/photos/national_library_of_norway/6435260821/ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Even_women.jpg