Geography and Language of Ewenki (鄂温克族)
The Ewenkis live across seven banners in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Nahe County, Heilongjiang. Like many other ethnic minority groups, they have no traditional written language, but their spoken language comprises three dialects. In agricultural regions, Han is spoken, whereas Mongolian is preferred in pastoral regions.
Sitting among the Greater Hinggan Mountains, Ewenkis live in tight communities in the Ewenki Autonomous Banner. The area is full of springs and lakes.
The seat of local government is the city of Nantunzhen, the cultural, economic and political centre of the banner, where, wool for knitting and pelts of local animals are produced; much of the local produce is exported. Reeds grow in abundance along the Huihe River and these are used to produce paper. The area is also rich in natural mineral deposits such as gold, iron and rock crystal.
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Population: 26,400
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Distribution: Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang
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Language: Ewenki and Han
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Religion: Animism, Lamaism
History of Ewenki (鄂温克族)
The Ewenkis can trace their history back as far as the Shiweis back in the 4th-6th centuries AD, and to the Ju tribes of the Tang dynasty. By the Qing dynasty, they were known as Sulongs or Kemunikans and were well-known for using deer. The tribes underwent many changes and now their descendents live in the Ewenki Autonomous Banner.
The Ewenki peoples developed at different paces due to differing environmental conditions where they settled separately, but they are all skilled horsemen, learning how to ride from age six or seven.
Feudal lords once ruled over the Ewenkis, and landlords owned great swathes of land. Ewenkis then became hunters for these landlords, who then took most of what the Ewenkis caught for themselves.
Traditions of Ewenki (鄂温克族)
Hunters in the Ergunazuo Banner forests lived in tents and wandered with their reindeer from place to place, searching for game. The entire commune helped with hunting, with the catch being carried by the reindeer and divided equally between the families.
The Ewenkis are a generous group of people who offer stewed meat, milk tea and tobacco to guests. Hunters are allowed to use what others store in the forests on the understanding that what they borrow will later be returned.
Ewenki people are strictly monogamous and a wedding is a great occasion. This is an opportunity for folk dancing, which is one of the traditions of the people, together with fables, riddles, ballads and myths which make up their oral literary tradition. Floral designs are often used to decorate utensils.
Religion of Ewenki (鄂温克族)
Mostly animists but with a few followers of Lamaist Buddhism, there are even a very few followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Dead ancestors are also worshipped and some hunters still practise bear worship.
Wind burial – where parts of the body are placed in dry grass or in birch bark – has mostly been replaced by ground burial because of the influence of other nearby ethnic groups.
Modern Times of Ewenki (鄂温克族)
Following the suppression of a peasant army in 1695, only around 300 Ewenkis survived, bringing them close to extinction. Many were drafted into the Japanese army in 1931, bringing another sharp decline in numbers. Life improved for them after 1945, and most Ewenki areas had undergone socialist reforms by 1958, when the Ewenki Autonomous Banner was established. Livestock production has improved thanks to better veterinary services, permanent housing and the use of machinery and more than ninety per cent of Ewenki children now go to school.
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