Thousands of Kilometers Along the Northern Rivers and Taiga

The exhibition is dedicated to the
125th anniversary of the candidate of linguistic sciences, doctor of
historical sciences, ethnographer-tungusist Glafira Makaryevna Vasilyevich.

Album № 1. From trips to the Tungus (1925/1927) by Unknown authorNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

A
trip to the Tungus


In March 1925, after graduation, from the Leningrad branch of the Committee for Assistance to the Peoples of the Northern Outskirts (Committee of the North) under the Central Executive Committee of the USSR G.M. Vasilievich rides on her first expedition.

Album № 1. From trips to the Tungus (1925/1927) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

She was entrusted with work among the Tungus population of Siberia. The tasks of the North Committee were reconnaissance in nature: a general survey of Evenks, with clarification of the situation on the ground, establishing contacts, as well as collecting ethnographic and linguistic materials.

Album № 1. From trips to the Tungus (1925/1927) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

A year later G.M. Vasilevich went on a second expedition to the Evenks, also through the Northern Committee - from September 1926 to April 1927. This time, the region of the middle part of the Podkamennaya Tunguska basin, the Krasnoyarsk district - the Boguchansky and Taimba districts was chosen.

Album № 2. A trip to the Vitim-Olekminsky Tungus (1929) by Unknown authorNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

A trip to the Vitim-Olekminsky Tungus

In 1929, on the instructions of the Committee of the North G.M. Vasilievich rides on her next expedition to Siberia to the Evenks of the Olekma and Vitim basin, which lasted more than three months.

Album № 2. A trip to the Vitim-Olekminsky Tungus (1929) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Due to the short time, G. M. Vasilievich developed the following expeditionary route : from the Mogocha station of the Trans-Baikal Railway, to the village of Tupik on the Tungir River, from Tupik along Tungir and Olekma to the mouth of the Nyukzhi River with stops on the parking of the Tungus.

Album № 2. A trip to the Vitim-Olekminsky Tungus (1929) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

During the trip, statistics were collected on the population, key activities such as reindeer herding and hunting.

Album № 3. A trip to Symsky Tungus (1930) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

A trip to Symsky Tungus

In 1930, on the instructions of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography for the study of Symsky Tungus and on a business trip from the Academy of Sciences of the USSR G.M. Vasilievich goes to the area of the left tributary of the Yenisei p. Sym.

Album № 3. A trip to Symsky Tungus (1930) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

In this area, she collects extensive material on the ethnography and language of the Symsky Tungus.

Album № 3. A trip to Symsky Tungus (1930) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

According to the collected data, G.M.Vasilevich opportunity to present of the peculiarities of the ethnogenesis of the Symsky Tungus, the specifics of their language and culture.

Album № 4. A trip to the Nizhnyaya Tunguska (or 3,000 km on oars) (1931) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

A trip to the Nizhnyaya Tunguska

In 1931, the research association of the Institute of the Peoples of the North, Central Executive Committee of the USSR, together with the Committee of the New Alphabet  at the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, sent G.M. Vasilevich on a linguistic expedition to the Evenks of the Nizhnyaya Tunguska.

Album № 4. A trip to the Nizhnyaya Tunguska (or 3,000 km on oars) (1931) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

This time G.M. Vasilevich chose an area she had not been to before - the area of the Nizhnyaya Tunguska basin. She rode a boat throughout the Nizhnyaya Tunguska from its headwaters to the confluence of the Yenisei.

Album № 4. A trip to the Nizhnyaya Tunguska (or 3,000 km on oars) (1931) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Thanks to this, G.M. Vasilevich supplemented her materials with data on the linguistic features of the Nizhnyaya Tunguska Evenks and, upon her return to Leningrad, she began writing a dialectological dictionary.

Album № 5. A trip to the Evenk district (1935/1936) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

A trip to the Evenk district

In the years 1935-1936 G.M. Vasilevich rides to a new large-scale expedition, on the instructions of the People's Commissariat of Education  of the RSFSR, to the Evenki National District.

Album № 5. A trip to the Evenk district (1935/1936) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

The expedition's goals were to check the quality of textbooks published for Evenk schools, consultations and assist teachers, as well as collect materials on the methodology of teaching the native and Russian languages.

Album № 5. A trip to the Evenk district (1935/1936) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

At the same time, the ethnographic direction was not forgotten, and, as always, among the Evenks, G.M. Vasilevich not only works as a linguist, but also as an ethnographer, carefully recorded all her observations on life and culture.

Album № 6. Trip to the Dzhukdir Evenks (1947/1948) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Trip to the Dzhukdir Evenks

In the years 1947-1948 two long stationary expeditions were carried out on all the main groups of the eastern range of the Evenks resettlement in the southern regions of Yakutia and the Khabarovsk Krai.

Album № 6. Trip to the Dzhukdir Evenks (1947) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

The study of this region was associated with the continuation of work on the problem of ethnogenesis of the Tungus. During this expedition, missing materials were collected for all the main groups of the eastern distribution area of Evenks.

Album № 6. Trip to the Dzhukdir Evenks (1947/1948) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Evenks of this region were dispersed over hunting and reindeer herding farms, which were located at distances from 300 to over 1000 km from each other.

Album № 7. Trip to the Amur Evenks (1948) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Trip to the Amur Evenks

A few months after arriving from a previous expedition in the summer of 1948, G.M. Vasilevich off again went on a trip to the Khabarovsk Krai.

Album № 7. Trip to the Amur Evenks (1948) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

This time, in the field of his research, G.M. Vasilyevich passed through Khabarovsk, and from there to the upper reaches of the tributaries of Urmi, Amguni and Bureya in Kur-Urmi and Verkhne-Bureinsky districts.

Album № 7. Trip to the Amur Evenks (1948) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

As a result of recent expeditions, G.M. Vasilevich collected not only materials on ethnography, language and folklore, but also a new collection with a total complexity of about 150 objects, containing wooden and birch bark toys, as well as traditional ornaments and stencils.

Album № 8 (1 part). Trip to Evenki (1959) by Unknown authorNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Trip to Evenki

In 1959, G. M. Vasilievich went to the Katanga district of the Irkutsk region, in the upper half of the Nizhnyaya Tunguska basin.

Album № 8 (1 part). Trip to Evenki (1959) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

She went on this expedition together with her colleagues from Moscow: ethnographer Yuri Borisovich Strakach and anthropologist Yuri Grigoryevich Rychkov.

Album № 8 (1 part). Trip to Evenki (1959) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

At this time, G.M. Vasilevich worked on her monograph "Evenks" and specially went to the "field" to get acquainted with the changes on the spot and bring the study to the end.

Album № 8 (2 part). Trip to Evenki (1959) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Evenks living in these places during the years of Soviet rule became almost settled, but some reindeer herders remained, who have been living in the forest for most of the year.

Album № 8 (2 part). Trip to Evenki (1959) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

The outbuildings became more diverse under the influence of time, their location on the land used to correspond to the nomadic, and now semi-sedentary life of the Evenks.

Album № 8 (2 part). Trip to Evenki (1959) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Part of the outbuildings is being built and located in camps, the other part is in the taiga, near roads or in the field of trade.

Album № 9 (1 part). A trip to the Evenks in the Evenki district (1960) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

A trip to the Evenks in the Evenki district

In 1960, G.M. Vasilevich visited the Evenki National District, where she invited her friend Danila Alexandrovich Savelyev as a photographer.

Album № 9 (1 part). A trip to the Evenks in the Evenki district (1960) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

The expedition visited five Evenks collective farms in the Baikitsky and Ilimpiysky areas.

Album № 9 (1 part). A trip to the Evenks in the Evenki district (1960) by Unknown authorNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

They traveled the entire western part of the Evenk district, having visited 7 villages (Tura, Nidym, Baykit, Polygus, Kuyumba, Tutonchany, Uchi) and the neighboring taiga camps, where they had to travel by seaplane, helicopters, and also by river in boats.

Album № 9 (2 part). A trip to the Evenks in the Evenki district (1960) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

In these years, G.M. Vasilevich was especially attracted by data on the clothes and cradle of the Tungus, in the appeal to which she saw a good scientific perspective.

Album № 9 (2 part). A trip to the Evenks in the Evenki district (1960) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

After these expeditions G.M. Vasilevich published two significant publications “The Tunguska Cradle” and “Types of shoes of the peoples of Siberia”.

Album № 9 (2 part). A trip to the Evenks in the Evenki district (1960) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

In the expeditions of 1959-1960 G.M. Vasilevich managed to collect enough field materials, which would later be included in her monographic works.

Album № 10. Expedition to the Amur and Aldan Evenks (1969) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Expedition to the Amur and Aldan Evenks

In 1969, G. M. Vasilevich took place, despite the considerable age of 74 years, she once again visited the south of Yakutia and the Amur region, where she visited the Evenks villages of Pervomaisky, Tynda and Zolotinka.

Album № 10. Expedition to the Amur and Aldan Evenks (1969) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

G.M. Vasilievich continues to get acquainted with the life and mode of life of Evenks, and also meets old friends who remember her from the 1947 expedition.

Album № 10. Expedition to the Amur and Aldan Evenks (1969) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

G. M. Vasilievich until the last years retained an inexhaustible strength of mind and his scientific vision, not yielding to any doubt.

Album № 8 (1 part). Trip to Evenki (1959) by Glafira Makaryevna VasilevichNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Glafira Makaryevna Vasilevich, having devoted her whole life to the chosen business once and for all, made an invaluable contribution to the ethnographic and linguistic study of Evenks. She photographed the state of the realities of the culture of Evenki groups of Siberia and the Far East, ranging from Symsky living to the west of the Yenisei to Sakhalin Island.
During her life, Glafira Makaryevna managed to do a lot, her work, covering almost all aspects of the Evenki life, opens up the widest opportunities for studying various aspects of the life of this people.

Credits: Story

Sargylana Maksimova,
candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Director of the National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Alexey Ivanov,
author and curator of the project «Culture of Yakutia in the world space» (inclusion of regional cultural of institutions of Yakutia into the project Google Cultural Institute), initiator of support for the Yakut language and languages of indigenous peoples in machine translators, research fellow of the National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Ekaterina Zakharova,
librarian of the Scientific Research Center for Book Monuments of the National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Exhibition of 2020

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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