Country: China

Group: Evenki

Date Finalized: 11/27/2020

Team: Arisha Khan (lead), Thomas Chia, Alexandra Hager

Content Warning: forced drafting, death, disease

Approximate Time Period: 1695, 1940-1945

Evenki, also considered reindeer herders, live in Siberia in China and Russia (Nentwig, 2003). There are about 30,000 people of the Evenki nationality living in China (Nentwig, n.d.). Around 1695, 1,700 Evenki were forced to fight for the Qing Empire to suppress peasant armies of other ethnic groups. Only 300 survived in the fighting (Hays, 2015). After the occupation of the Japanese army in 1932, they brought together the Evenki people in formation camps. Under the authority of the Japanese Secret Service, Evenki were trained to become rangers used for reconnaissance and scouting the wilderness (Heyne, 2007). Between the years 1940 to 1945, the Evenki population declined by 200. Many died by disease or military action, while others fled to the Soviet Union from fear of repercussions for killing Japanese soldiers (Nentwig, 2003). 

          In conclusion, the Evenki have faced forced labor in the territory of China. The data quality was a 2 because there was information about Japan and the Qing Army forcing the Evenki to be part of their military. However, there wasn’t a lot of peer-reviewed information about these events.

Sources

  1. Hays, J. (n.d.). EWENKI AND THEIR HISTORY | Facts and Details. Retrieved November 27, 2020, from http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat5/sub88/entry-4360.html
  2. Heyne, F. G. (2007). Notes on Blood Revenge among the Reindeer Evenki of Manchuria (Northeast China). Asian Folklore Studies, 66(1/2), 165–178.
  3. Nentwig, I. (2003). Reminiscences About the Reindeer Herders of China. Cultural Survival Quarterly. Retrieved November 21, 2020, from http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/reminiscences-about-reindeer-herders-china