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Links to Articles

* The Ewenki Ethnic Minority by China.org.cn

* The Evenks by the Peoples of the Red Book

* Evenki Autonomous District by Scott Polar Research Institute

* Evenki Reindeer Herding: A History by N.V. Ermolova

* Satisfying Your Ancestral Appetite by Catherine Zandonella

* Origin and Affinities of Indigenous Siberian Populations as Revealed by HLA Class II Gene Frequencies by T. S. Uinuk-Ool, et al. 

* mtDNA Variation of Aboriginal Siberians Reveals Distinct Genetic Affinities with Native Americans by Antonio Torroni, et al.

* Basal Metabolic Adaptation of the Evenki Reindeer Herders of Central Siberia by V.A. Galloway.

* Nutrition, Thyroid Function and Basal Metabolism of the Evenki of Central Siberia by W. R. Leonard, et al.

* Population Distributions of APOE, APOH, and APOA4 Polymorphisms and Their Relationships with Quantitative Plasma Lipid Levels Among the Evenki Herders of Siberia by M. I. Kamboh, et al. 

* The Genetic Legacy of the Mongols by Tatiana Zerjal, et al

* The Reindeer People by NPR

 

Tungusic Peoples

The term Tungusic peoples is used to describe peoples speaking a Tungusic language. The largest of the Tungusic peoples are the Manchu who are around 10,000,000 in number. They are originally from Northeast China (Manchuria), but since they conquered China in the 1600s, and especially during the 1900s, they have almost totally been assimilated into the main Han Chinese population, though are often still living in northern China.

 

• Origins
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The flag of Evenk Autonomous Okrug in the Russian Federation is a horizontal tricolor of light blue, white, and dark blue, all of which stand for the polar days and nights in Northern Siberia. It is charged in the center by a red kumalan, the solar emblem in Evenki culture.

 

Official Website of Evenkiysky Municipal District (in Russian)

 

The State Museum of Ethnology in Ulan Ude

capital of the Buryat Autonomous Republic in eastern Siberia

 

Forest Peoples Project

 

Photographs of Evenks by ArticPhoto.co.uk

 

Man, God and Magic by Ivar Lissner

 

Reindeer People: Living with Animals and Spirits in Siberia by Piers Vitebsky

 

Evenks domicile - Evenks home in ethnographic museum in Ulan Ude, Russia.

 

 

EVENKI

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

The Evenks or Evenki (obsolete: Tungus or Tunguz, autonym: Эвэнки, Evenki) are a nomadic Tungusic people of Northern Asia. In Russia, the Evenks (Russian: Эвенки, Evenki; pop. 35,527, 2002 Census), are recognized as one of the Indigenous peoples of the Russian North. In China, the Evenki (鄂温克族; pop. 30,505, as per 2000 Census) form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. There is also a small Evenki group of Manchu-Tungus origin in Mongolia, referred to as Khamnigan. Evenki people is related to Altaic people of Eurasia.

 

Origin

The Evenki or Ewenki traced back to the Shiwei people who inhabited the Greater Khingan Range in the 5-9th centuries, but such connection is merely conjectural. Ewenki language forms the northern branch of the Manchu-Tungusic language group and is closely related to Even and Negidal in Siberia. By 1600 the Ewenkis or Evenkis of the Lena and Yenisey valleys were successful reindeer herders. By contrast the Solons and the Khamnigans (Ewenkis of Transbaikalia) had picked up horse breeding and the Mongolian deel from the Mongols. The Solons (ancestors of the Evenkis in China) nomadized along the Amur River. They were closely related to the Daur people. To the west the Khamnigan were another horse breeding Evenkis in the Transbaikalia area. Also in the Amur valley a body of Siberian Evenki-speaking people called Orochen by the Manchus.

 

Historical Distribution

The Evenks have most likely been in the Baikal region of Southern Siberia (near the modern-day Mongolian border) since the Neolithic era; "The origin of the Evenks is the result of complex processes, different in time, involving the mixing of different ancient aboriginal tribes from the north of Siberia with tribes…related in language to the Turks and Mongols. The language of these tribes took precedence over the languages of the aboriginal population" (Vasilevich, 623). Elements of more modern Evenk culture, including conical tent dwellings, bone fish-lures, and birch-bark boats, were all present in sites that are believed to be Neolithic. From Lake Baikal, “they spread to the Amur and Okhotsk Sea…the Lena Basin…and the Yenisey Basin” (623).

 

Contact with Russians

In the 17th century, the Russian empire began to expand enough to contact the remote Evenkis. Cossacks, men who served as a kind of “border-guard” for the tsarist government, imposed a fur tax on the Siberian tribes. The Cossacks exploited the Evenki clan hierarchy and took hostages from the highest members in order to ensure payment of the tax. Although there was some rebellion against local officials, the Evenks generally recognized the “great need of peaceful cultural relations with the Russians (624). Contact with the Russians and constant demand for fur taxes pushed the Evenkis east all the way to Sakhalin Peninsula, where some still live today (Cassell’s). In the 19th, some groups migrated south and east into Mongolia and Manchuria (Vasilevich, 625). Today there are still Evenki populations in Sakhalin, Mongolia, and Manchuria (Ethnologue), and to a lesser extent, their traditional Baikal region (Janhunen).

 

Evenki Language

Evenki language (sometimes incorrectly called Evenk language) is the largest member of the northern group of Tungusic languages (or Manchu-Tungusic languages or Manchu-Tunguz languages).

It is spoken by Evenks in Russia, Mongolia, and People's Republic of China. According to the 2002 Russian Census, it has 7,584 speakers.

The basic vocabulary and inflectional morphemes have almost nothing in common with the Mongolian and the Turkic languages, with which the Tungusic languages are sometimes popularly connected. In certain areas the influences of the Yakut and the Buryat languages are particularly strong. The influence of Russian in general is overwhelming (in 1979, 75.2 % of the Evenkis spoke Russian, rising to 92.7% in 2002). The Evenki language varies considerably among its dialects which are divided into three large groups: the northern, the southern and the eastern dialects. These are further divided into minor dialects. The written language based on the Cyrillic alphabet was created in the late 1920s for Evenkis living in the Soviet Union. In China, Evenki is written in the Mongolian alphabet.

 

 

 

 

Traditional Life

Traditionally they were a mixture of pastoralists and hunter-gatherers—they relied on their domesticated reindeer for milk and transport and hunted other large game for meat (Vasilevich, 620-1). Today “[t]he Evenks are divided into two large groups…engaging in different types of economy. These are the hunting and reindeer-breeding Evenks…and the horse and cattle pastoral Evenks as well as some farming Evenks” (620). The Evenks lived mostly in areas of what is called a taiga, or boreal forest. They lived in conical tents made from birch bark or reindeer skin tied to birch poles. When they moved camp, the Evenks would leave the dwelling’s framework and carry only the more portable coverings. During winter, the hunting season, most camps consisted of one or two tents while the spring encampments encompassed up to 10 households (Vasilevich, 637).

The skill of riding the domesticated reindeer allowed the Evenkis to “colonize vast areas of the eastern taiga which had previously been impenetrable” (Vitebsky, 31). The Evenks use a saddle unique to their culture which is placed on the shoulders of the reindeer with lessens the strain on the animal. Also, the Evenks traditionally did not use stirrups but used a stick to balance (31-32). Evenks did not develop reindeer sledges until comparatively recent times (32). They instead used their reindeer as pack animals and often traversed great distances on foot, using snowshoes or skis (Vasilevich, 627). The Evenki people did not eat their domesticated reindeer (although they did hunt and eat wild reindeer) but kept them for milk. (Forsyth, 49-50).

Large herds of reindeer were very uncommon. Most Evenks had around 25 head of reindeer because they were generally bred for transportation purposes. Unlike several other neighboring tribes Evenk reindeer-breeding did not include “herding of reindeer by dogs nor any other specific features” (Vasilevich, 629). Very early in the spring season, the winter camps broke up and moved to places suitable for calving. Several households pastured their animals together throughout the summer, being careful to keep “[s]pecial areas…fenced off…to guard the newborn calves against being trampledon in a large herd” (629).

Clothing: The Evenks wore a characteristic costume “adapted to the cold but rather dry climate of Central Siberia and to a life of mobility…they wore brief garments of soft reindeer or elk skin around their hips, along with leggings and moccasins, or else long supple boots reaching to the thigh” (49). They also wore a deerskin coat that did not close in front but was instead covered with an apron-like cloth. Some Evenkis decorated their clothing with fringes or embroidery (50). The Evenki traditional costume always consisted of these elements: the loincloth made of animal hide, leggings, and boots of varying lengths (Vasilevich, 641). Facial tattooing was also very common (642).

Hunting: The traditional Evenki economy was a mix of pastoralism (of horses or reindeer), fishing, and hunting. The Evenki who lived near the Okhotsk Sea hunted seal, but for most of the taiga-dwellers, elk, wild reindeer, and fowl were the most important game animals. Other animals included “roe deer, bear, wolverine, lynx, wolf, Siberian marmot, fox, and sable”(Vasilevich, 626). Trapping did not become important until the imposition of the fur tax by the tsarist government. Before acquiring guns in the 18th century, Evenks used steel bows and arrows. Along with their main hunting implements, hunters always carried a “pike”—“which was a large knife on a long handle used instead of an axe when passing through the thick taiga or as a spear when hunting bear” (626). The Evenks have deep respects for animals and all elements of nature: "It is forbidden to torment an animal, bird, or insect, and a wounded animal must be finished off immediately…It is forbidden to spill the blood of a killed animal or defile it…It is forbidden to kill animals or birds that were saved from pursuit by predators or came to a person for help in a natural disaster" (Sirina, 24).

 

 

Lake Baikal and the Altay Mountains

 

Altaic is a disputed language family that is generally held by its proponents to include the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, and Japonic language families and the Korean language isolate (Georg et al. 1999:73–74). These languages are spoken in a wide arc stretching from northeast Asia through Central Asia to Anatolia and eastern Europe (Turks, Kalmyks). The group is named after the Altai Mountains, a mountain range in Central Asia.

These language families share numerous characteristics. The debate is over the origin of their similarities. One camp, often called the "Altaicists", views these similarities as arising from common descent from a Proto-Altaic language spoken several thousand years ago. The other camp, often called the "anti-Altaicists", views these similarities as arising from areal interaction between the language groups concerned. Some linguists believe the case for either interpretation is about equally strong; they have been called the "skeptics" (Georg et al. 1999:81).

Another view accepts Altaic as a valid family but includes in it only Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic. This view was widespread prior to the 1960s, but has almost no supporters among specialists today (Georg et al. 1999:73–74). The expanded grouping, including Korean and Japanese, came to be known as "Macro-Altaic", leading to the designation by back-formation of the smaller grouping as "Micro-Altaic". Most proponents of Altaic continue to support the inclusion of Korean and Japanese.

Micro-Altaic would include about 66 living languages, to which Macro-Altaic would add Korean, Japanese, and the Ryukyuan languages for a total of about 74. (These are estimates, depending on what is considered a language and what is considered a dialect. They do not include earlier states of language, such as Old Japanese.) Micro-Altaic would have a total of about 348 million speakers today, Macro-Altaic about 558 million.

 

 

Classification of the Tungusic Languages

Linguists working on Tungusic have proposed a number of different classifications based on different criteria, including morphological, lexical, and phonological characteristics. One classification which seems favoured over other alternatives is that the Tungusic languages can be divided into a northern branch and a southern branch, with the southern branch further subdivided into southeastern and southwestern groups.

Northern Tungusic

• Evenki (obsolete: Tungus), spoken by Ewenkis in central Siberia and northeastern China and
• Even (Lamut) of eastern Siberia

Following languages can be considered dialects or related languages of Evenki

• Oroqen
• Negidal
• Solon
• Manegir

Southern Tungusic

• Southeastern Tungusic
  • Nanai (Gold, Goldi, Hezhen)
  • Akani
  • Birar
  • Kile
  • Samagir
  • Orok
  • Ulch
  • Oroch
  • Udege

• Southwestern Tungusic (or the Jurchen-Manchu group)
  • Manchu of Manchuria, the language of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Dynasty of China.
  • Sibe: spoken in Xinjiang autonomous region by descendants of a Manchurian tribe dispatched by the Qing Dynasty to Xinjiang as a military garrison.
  • Jurchen: an extinct language of the Jin Dynasty of China.

Jurchen-Manchu (Jurchen and Manchu are simply different stages of the same language; in fact, the ethnonym "Manchu" did not come about until 1636 when Emperor Hong Taiji decreed that the term would replace "Jurchen") is the only Tungusic language with a literary form (in Jurchen script and later the Manchu alphabet) which dates back to at least the mid- to late-1100s; as such it is a very important language for the reconstruction of Proto-Tungusic.

The earliest and one of the most important extant texts in Jurchen is the inscription on the back of "the Jin Victory Memorial Stele" (Da Jin deshengtuo songbei), which was erected in 1185, during the Dading period (1161-1189). It is apparently an abbreviated translation of the Chinese text on the front of the stele.

 

 

Evenks of Russia

Evenk Autonomous Okrug in the Russian Federation

The Evenks were formerly known as tungus. This designation was spread by the Russians, who acquired it from the Yakuts and the Siberian Tatars in the 17th century. The Evenks have several self-designations of which the best known is even, evenk. This became the official designation for the people in 1931. Some groups call themselves orochen ('an inhabitant of the River Oro'), orochon ('a rearer of reindeer'), ile ('a human being'), etc. At one time or another tribal designations and place-names have also been used as self-designations, for instance manjagir, birachen, solon, etc. Several of these have even been taken for separate ethnic entities.

Besides Evenks, the list of indigenous ethnic groups of Siberia includes similarly named Evens (formerly known as Lamuts). Although related to the Evenks, the Evens are now considered to be a separate ethnic group.

The Evenks are spread over a huge territory of the Siberian taiga from the River Ob in the west to the Okhotsk Sea in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to Manchuria and Sakhalin in the south. The total area of their habitat is about 2,500,000 km². In all of Russia only the Russians inhabit a larger territory. According to the administrative structure, the Evenks live, from west to east, in Tyumen and Tomsk Oblasts, Krasnoyarsk Krai with Evenk Autonomous Okrug, Irkutsk, Chita, and Amur Oblasts, the Buryat and the Sakha Republics, Khabarovsk Krai, and Sakhalin Oblast. However, the territory where they are a titular nation is confined solely to Evenk Autonomous Okrug, where 3,802 of the 35,527 Evenks live (according to the 2002 Census). More than 18,200 Evenks live in the Sakha Republic.

Anthropologically the Evenk belong to the Baikal or Paleo-Siberian group of the Mongolian type, originating from the ancient Paleo-Siberian people of the Yenisei River up to the Okhotsk Sea.

 

Evenk Autonomous Okrug (Russian: Эвенки́йский автоно́мный о́круг, Evenkiysky avtonomny okrug; Evenki: Эведы Автомоды Округ, Evedy avtomody okrug), or Evenkia, was a federal subject of Russia (an autonomous okrug of Krasnoyarsk Krai). Its administrative center was Tura. As of 2006, at 767,600 km², it was Russia's seventh largest administrative division, and the country's least populous (17,697 as of the 2002 Census).

Following a referendum on the issue held on April 17, 2005, Evenk and Taymyr Autonomous Okrugs were merged into Krasnoyarsk Krai effective January 1, 2007. Administratively, they are now considered to be units with special status within Krasnoyarsk Krai; municipally, they have a status of municipal districts.

Boris Zolotaryov was the last governor of the autonomous okrug.

 

 

Evenks of Mongolia

Khamnigan is the Buriat-Mongolian term for all Ewenkis. In the early 16th century, the Ewenkis of Transbaikalia or Khamnigans were tributary to the Khalkha. The Khamnigan are only ethnic group of Manchu-Tungus origin in Mongolia. They who lived around Nerchinsk and the Aga steppe faced both Cossack demands for tribute and Khori-Buriats trying to occupy their pastures. Most of them came under the Cossack rule and enrolled the Cossack regiments in the Selenge valley. The Khori Buriats occupied most of the Aga steppe and forced the Ewenkis to flee to the Qing Dynasty.

After 1880 Russia's Khamnigan Ewenkis moved to semi nomadic herding of cattle, sheep, camels and horses. Some time after 1918 the Ewenkis, along with their Buriat neighbors, fled over the border into Mongolia and Hulun Buir, establishing the current Khamnigan communities there. The Khamnigan of Mongolia, numbering 300 households, are scattered among the Buriats and speak only the Khamnigan dialect of Buriat language. They live around the Yeruu Lake, Dornod and Khentii provinces as well as Möngönmorit of Töv Province.

 

 

Evenks of China

Map of Hulunbuir within Inner Mongolia

 

Map of Heilongjiang

According to the 2000 Census, there are 30,505 Evenks in China mainly made up of the Solons and the Khamnigans. 88.8% of China's Evenks live in the Hulunbuir region in the north of the Inner Mongolia Province, near the city of Hailar. The Evenk Autonomous Banner is also located near Hulunbuir. There are also around 3,000 Evenks in neighbouring Heilongjiang Province.

In 1763, the Qing government moved 500 Solon Evenk and 500 Daur families to the Tacheng and Kuldja areas of Xinjiang, in order to strengthen the empire's western border. 1020 Xibe families (some 4000 persons) followed the next year. Since then, however, the Solons of Xinjiang have assimilated into other ethnic groups, and are not identified as such anymore.

 

Harbin (哈爾濱) Kharbin) is a sub-provincial city and the capital of the Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China. It lies on the southern bank of the Songhua River. Harbin is ranked as the tenth largest city in China, serving as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural and communications center of Northeastern China.

Harbin is originally a Manchu word meaning 'a place for drying fishing nets.

In 1763, the Qing government moved 500 Solon Evenk and 500 Daur families to the Tacheng and Kuldja areas of Xinjiang, in order to strengthen the empire's western border. 1020 Xibe families (some 4000 persons) followed the next year. Since then, however, the Solons of Xinjiang have assimilated into other ethnic groups, and are not identified as such anymore.

 

Creating a Chinese Harbin: Nationalism in an International City, 1916-1932 by James Hugh Carter

 

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* Genetic Polymorphisms at HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 Loci in Han Population of Xi’an City in China by Chunmei Shen, et al.

Dendrogram Constructed by the Neighbor-joining Method Showing the Relationship Between Han Population with Other 15 Populations Based on the Allele Arequencies of HLA-DRB1 Locus

 

 

* Genetic Relationship of Populations in China by J. Y. Chu, et al.

Phylogeny Constructed by Using the Neighbor-joining Method based on 30 Microsatellites

 

 

* Human Evolution in Siberia: From frozen bodies to ancient DNA by Eric Crubézy, et. al.

MDS Plot of Genetic Distances Between Populations on the Basis of Y- STRs

 

 

* A Y-chromosomal Comparison of the Madjars (Kazakhstan) and the Magyars (Hungary) by Bíró AZ, et al.

Unrooted Phylogenetic Tree of 38 Populations

 

 

* Phylogeographic Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA in Northern Asian Populations by Miroslava Derenko

PC Plot Based on Haplogroup Frequencies for the 18 Population Samples

Populations are coded as follows: PS = Persians, KU = Kurds, TJ = Tajiks, Ko = Koreans, MN = Mongolians, KM = Kalmyks, BR = Buryats, KN = Khamnigans, TV = Tuvinians, EE = East Evenks, WE = West Evenks, YK = Yakuts, SH = Shors, KH = Khakassians, AL = Altaians-Kizhi, TL = Teleuts, TG = Telenghits, and CH = Chukchi.

 

 

* From East to West: Patterns of genetic diversity of populations living in four Eurasian regions by I. Kutuev, et al.

 

 

* The Human Genetic History of East Asia: Weaving a complex tapestry by Mark Stoneking, et al.

Map depicting the distribution of major mtDNA haplogroups in East Asia

Abbreviations and references are: sCh, southern China; nCh, northern China; Tib, Tibet; Mon, Mongolia; wEv, western Evens; cEv, central Evens; eEv, eastern Evens; STE, Stony Tunguska Evenk; Ien, Iengra; Nyu, Nyukzha; YSE, Yakut-speaking Evenks; Yak, Yakuts; Yuk, Yukaghirs; Krk, Koryaks; Tuv, Tuvans; Kor, Korea; Jap, Japan; Tai, Taiwan; Vie, Vietnam; Tha, Thailand; Mal, Malaysia; Sum, Sumatra; Jav, Java; Bor, Borneo; Ten, Tengarras; Mol, Moluccas; Phi, Philippines.

 

Map Depicting the Distribution of Major NRY Haplogroups in East Asia

 

 

* Y-Chromosome Evidence for a Northward Migration of Modern Humans into Eastern Asia during the Last Ice Age by Bing Su, et al.

Abstract: The timing and nature of the arrival and the subsequent expansion of modern humans into eastern Asia remains controversial. Using Y-chromosome biallelic markers, we investigated the ancient human-migration patterns in eastern Asia. Our data indicate that southern populations in eastern Asia are much more polymorphic than northern populations, which have only a subset of the southern haplotypes. This pattern indicates that the first settlement of modern humans in eastern Asia occurred in mainland Southeast Asia during the last Ice Age, coinciding with the absence of human fossils in eastern Asia, 50,000–100,000 years ago. After the initial peopling, a great northward migration extended into northern China and Siberia.

Principal-component Analysis of Y-chromosome Haplotype Frequencies of 30 Eastern-Asian Populations from

 

 

* The Human Y Chromosome: An evolutionary marker comes of age by Mark A. Jobling, et al.

Global Distribution of Y Haplogroups

1, !Kung; 2, Biaka Pygmies; 3, Bamileke; 4, Fali; 5, Senegalese; 6, Berbers; 7, Ethiopians; 8, Sudanese; 9, Basques; 10, Greeks; 11, Polish; 12, Saami; 13, Russians; 14, Lebanese; 15, Iranians; 16, Kazbegi (Georgia); 17, Kazaks; 18, Punjabis; 19, Uzbeks; 20, Forest Nentsi; 21, Khants; 22, Eastern Evenks; 23, Buryats; 24, Evens; 25, Eskimos; 26, Mongolians; 27, Evenks; 28, Northern Han; 29, Tibetans; 30, Taiwanese; 31, Japanese; 32, Koreans; 33, Filipinos; 34, Javanese; 35, Malaysians; 36, West New Guineans (highlands); 37, Papua New Guineans (coast); 38, Australians (Arnhem); 39, Australians (Sandy Desert); 40, Cook Islanders; 41, Tahitians; 42, Maori; 43, Navajos; 44, Cheyenne; 45, Mixtecs; 46, Makiritare; 47, Cayapa; 48, Greenland Inuit.

 

 

* Y-Chromosome Evidence of Southern Origin of the East Asian–Specific Haplogroup O3-M122 by Hong Shi, et al.

Abstract: The prehistoric peopling of East Asia by modern humans remains controversial with respect to early population migrations. Here, we present a systematic sampling and genetic screening of an East Asian–specific Y-chromosome haplogroup (O3-M122) in 2,332 individuals from diverse East Asian populations. Our results indicate that the O3-M122 lineage is dominant in East Asian populations, with an average frequency of 44.3%. The microsatellite data show that the O3-M122 haplotypes in southern East Asia are more diverse than those in northern East Asia, suggesting a southern origin of the O3-M122 mutation. It was estimated that the early northward migration of the O3-M122 lineages in East Asia occurred ~25,000–30,000 years ago, consistent with the fossil records of modern humans in East Asia.

 

The Frequency Distribution of the O3-M122 Haplotypes in East Asian and Other Continental Populations

 

 

* Recent Spread of a Y-Chromosomal Lineage in Northern China and Mongolia by Yali Xue, et al.

Abstract: We have identified a Y-chromosomal lineage that is unusually frequent in northeastern China and Mongolia, in which a haplotype cluster defined by 15 Y short tandem repeats was carried by ~3.3% of the males sampled from East Asia. The most recent common ancestor of this lineage lived 590 ± 340 years ago (mean ± SD), and it was detected in Mongolians and six Chinese minority populations (Xibe, Inner Mongolians, Ewenki, Oroqen, Manchu, and Hezhe). We suggest that the lineage was spread by Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) nobility, who were a privileged elite sharing patrilineal descent from Giocangga (died 1582), the grandfather of Manchu leader Nurhaci, and whose documented members formed ~0.4% of the minority population by the end of the dynasty.

 

 

* Paternal Population History of East Asia: Sources, Patterns, and Microevolutionary Processes by Tatiana Karafet, et al.

Northern Han (Nha), Hui (Hui), Tibetans (Tib), Manchu (Man), Chinese Evenks (Cev), Oroqen (Oro), Uygurs (Uyg), Mongolians (Mon), Siberian Evenks (Sev), Buryats (Bur), Koreans (Kor), Yizu (Yiz), Tujians (Tuj), Southern Han (Sha), Taiwanese Han (Tha), Zhuang (Zhu), She (She), Miao (Mia), Yao (Yao), Vietnamese (Vie), Malaysian (Mal), Kazakhs (Kaz), Altai (Alt), Uzbeks (Uzb), Kirghiz (Kir)

 

 

* Mating Patterns amongst Siberian Reindeer Herders: Inferences from mtDNA and Y-chromosomal analyses by Brigitte Pakendorf, et al.

Abstract: The Evenks and Evens, who speak closely related languages belonging to the Northern Tungusic branch of the Tungusic family, are nomadic reindeer herders and hunters. They are spread over an immense territory in northeastern Siberia, and consequently different subgroups are in contact with diverse peoples speaking Samoyedic, Turkic, Mongolic, Chukotka-Kamchatkan, and Yukaghir languages. Nevertheless, the languages and culture of the Evenks and Evens are similar enough for them to have been classified as a single ethnic group in the past. This linguistic and cultural similarity indicates that they may have spread over their current area of habitation relatively recently, and thus may be closely related genetically. On the other hand, the great distances that separate individual groups of Evens and Evenks from each other might have led to preferential mating with geographic neighbors rather than with linguistically related peoples. In this study, we assess the correlation between linguistic and genetic relationship in three different subgroups of Evenks and Evens, respectively, via mtDNA and Y-chromosomal analyses. The results show that there is some evidence of a common origin based on shared mtDNA lineages and relatively similar Y-haplogroup frequencies amongst most of the Evenk and Even subgroups. However, there is little sharing of Y-chromosomal STR haplotypes, indicating that males within Evenk and Even subgroups have remained relatively isolated. There is further evidence of some female admixture in different Even subgroups with their respective geographic neighbors. However, the Tungusic groups, and especially the Evenks, show signs of genetic drift, making inferences about their prehistory difficult.

 

 

* mtDNA and Y-chromosome Lineages in the Yakut Population by V P Puzyrev, et al.

Abstract: The structure of female (mtDNA) and male (Y-chromosome haplotypes) lineages in the Yakut population was examined. To determine mtDNA haplotypes, sequencing of hypervariable segment I and typing of haplotype-specific point substitutions in the other parts of the mtDNA molecule were performed. Y haplogroups were identified through typing of biallelic polymorphisms in the nonrecombining part of the chromosome. Haplotypes within haplogroups were analyzed with seven microsatellite loci. Mitochondrial gene pool of Yakuts is mainly represented by the lineages of eastern Eurasian origin (haplogroups A, B, C, D, G, and F). In Yakuts haplogroups C and D showing the total frequency of almost 80% and consisting of 12 and 10 different haplopypes, respectively, were the most frequent and diverse. The total part of the lineages of western Eurasian origin ("Caucasoid") was about 6% (4 haplotypes, haplogroups H, J, and U). Most of Y chromosomes in the Yakut population (87%) belonged to haplogroup N3 (HG16), delineated by the T-C substitution at the Tat locus. Chromosomes of haplogroup N3 displayed the presence of 19 microsatellite haplotypes, the most frequent of which encompassed 54% chromosomes of this haplogroup. Median network of haplogroup N3 in Yakuts demonstrated distinct "starlike phylogeny". Male lineages of Yakuts were shown to be closest to those of Eastern Evenks.

 

 

* The Peopling of Korea Revealed by Analyses of Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosomal Markers by Han-Jun Jin, et al.

Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) Plot Based on FST Distances of Y Chromosome Haplogroups

 

Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) Plot Based on FST Distances of mtDNA Haplogroups

 

 

* Old Siberia: Basic Genetic Contributions in the European and Siberian Taiga by DNA Tribes

(American Indian: Paleo-Siberian and/or Yeniseian, via Yukaghir and other pre-Tungusic and pre-Turkic cultures)

 

 

Oroqen

Photo from Joshua Project

The Oroqen people (鄂倫春族) are an ethnic group in northern China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. According to the 2000 Census, 44.54% live in Inner Mongolia and 51.52% along the Heilongjiang River (Amur) in the province of Heilongjiang. The Oroqin Autonomous Banner is also located in Inner Mongolia.

The Oroqens are mainly hunters and it is customary of them to use animal fur and skins for clothing.

The Oroqen language is a Northern Tungusic language. Their language is very similar to the Evenki language and it is believed that speakers of these two languages can understand 70% of the other language.

The Oroqen ethnic group is one of the oldest ethnic groups in northeast China. Their name Oroqen, means "people using reindeer" (in Mongolian, it means "Guruchin"), it is a name they gave themselves. The ancestor of the Oroqens originally lived in the vast area south of the Outer Xing'an Mountains and north of Heilongjiang. They once formed part of the ancient people known as the Shiwei. In the 17th century, following the invasions by Russia, some Oroqens moved to the area near the Greater and Lesser Xing'an Mountains.

 

* Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Polymorphisms of Five Ethnic Populations from Northern China by Qing-Peng Kong, et al.

Abstract:  To study the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms in a total of 232 individuals from five ethnic populations (Daur, n=45; Ewenki, n=47; Korean, n=48; Mongolian, n=48; Oroqen, n=44) in northern China, we analyzed the control region sequences and typed for a number of characteristic mutations in coding regions (especially the region 14576–16047), by direct sequencing or restriction-fragment-length-polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. With the exception of 14 individuals belonging to the European-specific haplogroups R2, H, J, and T, the mtDNAs considered could be assigned into the East Asian-specific haplogroups described recently. The polymorphisms in cytochrome b sequence were found to be very informative for defining or supporting the haplogroups status of East Asian mtDNAs in addition to the reported regions 10171–10659 and 14055–14590 in our previous study. The haplogroup distribution frequencies varied in the five ethnic populations, but in general they all harbored a large amount of north-prevalent haplogroups, such as D, G, C, and Z, and thus were in agreement with their ethnohistory of northern origin. The two populations (Ewenki and Oroqen) with small population census also show concordant features in their matrilineal genetic structures, with lower genetic diversities observed.

 

* Sequence Polymorphism of mtDNA HVR Iand HVR II of Oroqen Ethnic Group in Inner Mongolia by CX Yan, et al.

Abstract: Venous blood samples from 50 unrelated Oroqen individuals living in Inner Mongolia were collected and their mtDNA HVR I and HVR II sequences were detected by using ABI PRISM377 sequencers. The number of polymorphic loci, haplotype, haplotype frequence, average nucleotide variability and other polymorphic parameters were calculated. Based on Oroqen mtDNA sequence data obtained in our experiments and published data, genetic distance between Oroqen ethnic group and other populations were computered by Nei's measure. Phylogenetic tree was constructed by Neighbor Joining method. Comparing with Anderson sequence, 52 polymorphic loci in HVR I and 24 loci in HVR II were found in Oroqen mtDNA sequence, 38 and 27 haplotypes were defined herewith. Haplotype diversity and average nucleotide variability were 0.964+/-0.018 and 7.379 in HVR I, 0.929+/-0.019 and 2.408 in HVR II respectively. Fst and dA genetic distance between 12 populations were calculated based on HVR I sequence, and their relative coefficients were 0.993(P < 0.01). A phylogenetic tree was constructed based on genetic distances and included Oroqen, Taiwan and South Han population in a clade, which indicated near genetic relation between them, and far relation with northern Han, Mongolian and other foreign populations. The genetic polymorphism of mtDNA HVR I and HVR II in Oroqen ethnic group has some specificities compared with that of other populations. These data provide a useful tool in forensic identification, population genetic study and other research fields.

 

 

History of Siberia

 

The History of Siberia may be traced to the sophisticated nomadic civilizations of the Scythians (Pazyryk) and the Xiongnu (Noin-Ula), both flourishing before the Christian era. The steppes of South Siberia saw a succession of nomadic empires, including the Turkic Empire and the Mongol Empire. In the late Middle Ages, the Lamaist Buddhism spread into the areas south of Lake Baikal. A milestone in the history of the region was the arrival of Russians in the 16th and 17th centuries, contemporaneous and in many regards analogous to the European settlement in the Americas. During the imperial period of Russian history, Siberia was an agricultural province and served as a place of exile for Avvakum, Dostoevsky, and the Decembrists, among others. The 19th century witnessed the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the industrialization and the discovery of vast reserves of Siberian mineral resources.

Pre-History: According to the field of genetic genealogy, people first resided in Siberia by 45000 BP and spread out east and west to populate the Americas and Europe.

The shores of all Siberian lakes which filled the depressions during the Lacustrine period abound in remains dating from the Neolithic age. Countless kurgans (tumuli), furnaces, and other artifacts bear witness to a dense population. In fact some of the earliest artifacts found in Central Asia derive from Siberia and western Turkistan During the great migrations in Asia from east to west, many populations were probably driven to the northern borders of the great Central Siberian Plateau and thence compelled to descend into Siberia. Succeeding waves of immigration forced them still farther towards the barren grounds of the north. As early as first millennium BC silk goods began turning up in Siberia having traveled over the North China Silk Road including the Hexi Trail segment.

According to Vasily Radlov, the earliest inhabitants of Siberia were the Yeniseians, who spoke a language different from Ural-Altaic; some traces of them (Yenets or Yeniseians, Sayan-Ostiaks, and Kottes) exist in the areas of Sayan Mountains.

The Yeniseians were followed by the Ugro-Samoyedes, who also came originally from the high plateau and were compelled, probably during the great migration of the Huns in the 3rd century BCE, to cross the Altay and Sayan ranges and to enter Siberia. They are credited with leaving behind the very numerous remains dating from the Bronze Age which are scattered all over southern Siberia. Iron was unknown to them, but they excelled in bronze, silver, and gold work. Their bronze ornaments and implements, often polished, evince considerable artistic taste, and their irrigated fields covered wide areas in the fertile tracts.

Eight centuries later, Turkic peoples such as Khakases and Uyghurs, also compelled to migrate north-westwards from their former seats, subdued the Ugro-Samoyedes. These new invaders likewise left numerous traces of their stay, and two different periods may be easily distinguished in their remains. They were acquainted with iron, and learned from their subjects the art of bronze-casting, which they used for decorative purposes only, and to which they gave a still higher artistic stamp. Their pottery is more artistic and of a higher quality than that of the Bronze period, and their ornaments are accounted included in the collections at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

This Turkic empire of the Khagases must have lasted until the 13th century, when the Mongols, under Genghis Khan, subdued them and destroyed some of them. By 1206, Chingis conquered all mongol-turkic tribes in Siberia. And his eldest son Jochi subjugated Siberian forest people: Oirats, Baruga, Buryats, Khori-Tumed, Khakhas, Uriankhais and Kyrgyzs in 1207. A decided decline is shown by the graves which have been discovered, until the country reached the low level of population at which it was found by the Russians on their arrival towards the close of the 16th century.

Siberia Khanate is an anachronistic rendering of its actual name Khanate of Sibir, a Tatar khanate in the later Russian Siberia. The Khanate had an ethnically diverse population of Siberian Tatars, Khanty, Mansi, Nenets and Selkup people.

In the beginning of the 16th century Tatar fugitives from Turkestan subdued the loosely associated tribes inhabiting the lowlands to the east of the Urals. Agriculturists, tanners, merchants, and mullahs (priests) were called from Turkestan, and small principalities sprang up on the Irtysh and the Ob. These were united by Khan Yadegar, and conflicts with the Russians, who were then colonising the Urals, brought him into collision with Muscovy. Khan Ediger's envoys came to Moscow in 1555 and consented to a yearly tribute of a thousand sables.

Novgorod and Muscovy: As early as the 11th century the Novgorodians had occasionally penetrated into Siberia. In the 14th century the Novgorodians explored the Kara Sea and the West-Siberian river Ob (1364). After the fall of Novgorod Republic its communications between Northern Russia and Siberia have been inherited by Moscow. On May, 9, 1483 the Moscow troops of princes Feodor Kurbski-Cherny and Ivan Saltyk-Travin moved to West Siberia. The troops moved on the rivers Tavda, Tura, Irtysh up to the river Ob. 1499 Muscovites and Novgorodians skied to West Siberia up to river Ob and subdued some local tribes. In 1570s the entrepreneur Stroganov in Perm enlisted many cossacks for protection of the Urals settlements against attacks of the Siberian Tatars. Stroganov suggested to their chief Yermak to conquer the Siberia Khanate, promising to help him with supplies of food and arms.

Yermak and the Cossacks: Yermak entered Siberia in 1580 with a band of 1,636 men, following the Tagil and Tura Rivers. The following year they were on the Tobol, and 500 men successfully laid siege to Isker, the residence of Khan Kuchum, in the neighbourhood of what is now Tobolsk. Kuchum fled to the steppes, abandoning his domains to Yermak, who, according to tradition, purchased by the present of Siberia to tsar Ivan IV his own restoration to favour.

Yermak drowned in the Irtysh in 1584 and his Cossacks abandoned Siberia. But new bands of hunters and adventurers, supported by Moscow, poured every year into the country. To avoid conflicts with the denser populations of the south, they preferred to advance eastwards along higher latitudes; meanwhile, Moscow erected forts and settled labourers around them to supply the garrisons with food. Within eighty years the Russians had reached the Amur and the Pacific Ocean. This rapid conquest is accounted for by the circumstance that neither Tatars nor Turks were able to offer any serious resistance.

Imperial Russian Expansion: The main treasure to attract Cossacks to Siberia was fur of sables, foxes, and ermines. Explorers brought back many furs from their expeditions. Local people, submitting to Russia, received defense by Cossacs from the southern nomads. In exchange they were obliged to pay yasak (tax) in form of furs. There was a set of yasachnaya roads, used to transport yasak to Moscow.

A number of peoples showed open resistance to Russians. Others submitted and even requested to be subordinated, though sometimes they later refused to pay yasak, or not admitted the Russian authority. There is evidence of collaboration and assimilation of Russians with the local peoples in Siberia though the more they advanced to the East, the less local people were developed and the more resistance they offered. The most resistant groups were Koryak and Chukchi (in Chukchi Peninsula), the latter still being at the Stone Age level of development

In 1607–1610, the Tungus fought strenuously for their independence, but were subdued around 1623. In 1628, the Russians reached the Lena, founded the fort of Yakutsk in 1637, and two years later reached the Sea of Okhotsk at the mouth of the Ulya River. The Buryats offered some opposition, but between 1631 and 1641 the Cossacks erected several palisaded forts in their territory, and in 1648 the fort on the upper Uda River beyond Lake Baikal. In 1643, Vassili Poyarkov's boats descended the Amur, returning to Yakutsk by the Sea of Okhotsk and the Aldan River, and in 1649–1650 Yerofey Khabarov established the fort of Albazin on the bank of the Amur.

The Manchu resistance, however, obliged the Cossacks to quit Albazin, and by the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689) Russia abandoned her advance into the basin of the river, instead concentrating on the colonisation of the vast expanses of Siberia and trading with China via the Siberian trakt. In 1852 a Russian military expedition under Nikolay Muravyov explored the Amur, and by 1857 a chain of Russian Cossacks and peasants were settled along the whole course of the river. The accomplished fact was recognised by China in 1860 by the Treaty of Aigun.

In the same year in which Khabarov explored the Amur (1648), the Cossack Semyon Dezhnev sailed from the Kolyma River around the north-eastern extremity of Asia through the strait which was rediscovered and described eighty years later by Bering. James Cook in 1778, and La Pérouse after him, settled definitively the broad features of the northern Pacific coast.

Although the Arctic Ocean had been reached as early as the first half of the 17th century, the exploration of its coasts by a series of expeditions under Dmitry Ovtsyn, Fyodor Minin, Vasili Pronchishchev, Lasinius, and Laptev—whose labours constitute a brilliant page in the annals of geographical discovery—was begun only in the 18th century (1735–1739).

Indigeneous People of Siberia

• "Ural-Altaic"
  • "Uralic-Yukaghir"
    • Uralic
      • Permic (about 1 million speakers)
      • Samoyedic (some 70,000 speakers)
        • Northern Samoyedic peoples
          • Nenets
          • Enets
          • Nganasan
        • Southern Samoyedic peoples
          • Selkup
          • Kamasins or Kamas (now extinct as a distinct ethnic group)
          • Mator or Motor (now extinct as a distinct ethnic group)
          • Koibal (now extinct as a distinct ethnic group)
      • Ugric (some 15,000 speakers): Khanty (obsolete: Ostyaks), Mansi (obsolete: Voguls)
    • Yukaghir (nearly extinct)
  • "Altaic"
    • Turkic: Siberian Tartars
      • Yakuts (some 440,000 speakers)
      • Tuvans (some 220,000 speakers)
      • Khakas (some 80,000 speakers)
      • Altay (some 70,000 speakers)
    • Mongolic (some 400,000 speakers): Buryats
    • Tungusic (some 80,000 speakers): Evenks, Orochs or Orochons
• Chukotko-Kamchatkan (some 25,000 speakers)
• Nivkh (some 5,000 speakers)
• Eskimo-Aleut (some 2,000 speakers)
• Ket (some 1,400 speakers)