The history of Baikit and Evenkia and its effect on the culture

There is not a lot that can be found on the internet about the history of Baikit and other settlements within the Evenki region. There is nothing in English on Wikipedia about Baikit. The entry in the Russian Wikipedia is also scant.

Russians first began to move into Siberia in 1581. They first came across the north of the Ural Mountains where they flatten out to the sea. Gradually they traveled south down the major rivers, settling in the north before the south.

On the river Yenisey (flows from south to north through the entire Krasnoyarsk territory; means "mother river", from the Evenki language), settlements were founded in Turukhansk in 1607 and Yeniseysk in 1619, earlier than Krasnoyarsk which was founded in 1628. 

Russians established forts at these locations. They used them as bases to further their exploration and conquest of Siberia, as they moved further east towards the Pacific Ocean and Alaska.

Trade with the indigenous nations occured out of these forts, not dissimilar to concurrent history in Canada. Furs were in great demand in Europe, the indigenous people being excellent hunters could procure these furs very easily. Russians traded items such as flour, sugar, vodka. As Russian settlement became more permanent, Imperial Russia exacted their taxes on the indigenous population. Conflicts were not frequent, but not unheard of either.

By and large the Evenki (and other indigenous nations) continued their traditional lifestyles, with some influences from Russian culture, from the 1600s to the early 1900s. They remained in their nomadic lifestyle, herded their reindeer, hunted and gathered. They continued in their native language and pagan spiritual beliefs and practices.

All of this changed with the age of communism. Communism held an ideology that all are equal. Cultural equality is a mathematical non reality. The 1920s saw a lot of exploration by the Soviet state. Plans were made on how to educate people, how to introduce literacy and how to teach communism. It doesn't matter if it is communism or the gospel, the same methods of education and literacy are applied so that a message can be communicated. The same methods have resulted in loss of indigenous cultures around the world in all countries, Australia, Canada and Russia included.

The town of Baikit was founded in 1927. The town of Tura (1927) further north and Vanavara (1932) east (all in Evenkiya) were founded around the same time. Other villages across Evenkiya followed in subsequent years and decades, into the 1950s. 

Westernisation and Russification have happened in Siberia starting in the 1930s, not the 1600s. Loss of culture and language have occurred in this period not earlier. People alive today still remember much of this process. There were yet further losses of reindeer herds during perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet economic system. 

There is still a process of death occurring. Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it can not bring new life. I hope that new life can come to this region, there is still much death and depression.