Katanga Evenkis in the 20th Century and the Ordering of Their Life-World (Paperback)

This work documents the lives of a group of hunters and reindeer herders living at the headwaters of the Lower Tunguska River at the end of the 20th century. Katanga Evenkis are best described by the flexible and creative way they use the land around them, and continue to exercise a strong presence on their lands, despite severe pressure by Soviet-era policies and even more devastating dislocations by industrial development and privatisation. According to Sirina, Katanga Evenkis at the end of the 20th century are best characterized not by what they have lost but instead by the way they continue to make a home for themselves in the taiga, using a variety of adaptive strategies and intuitions that reflect what she calls the 'outlook of a mobile people.'