Gaining Ground?: Evenkis, Land, and Reform in Southeastern Siberia

by Gail A. Fondahl

For indigenous people, land is a critical determinant to cultural survival. the indigenous people of the Russian North currently struggle to gain greater control over their homelands against a backdrop of state reforms regarding land privatization, political devolution and the renegotiation of state-aboriginal relations. This book recounts the experiences of one group, the Evenkis of Transbaykalia (southeastern Siberia) in implementing indigenous land reform in the Russian Federation.KEY After examining "traditional" Evanki land tenure practice, this book recounts the dispossession of land from the Evenkis of Transbaykalia during the Tsarist and Soviet periods. It then looks at the successes and obstacles that Evanki villagers identify in their recent efforts to reassert control over their native land. Based on fieldwork over the course of three years, the book incorporates the views of numerous Evenki individuals on a "land claims" process which has endangere

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First published July 14, 1997