View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by British Columbia's network of post-secondary digital repositories “IT’S GOOD FOR THE SOUL:” EVENY TRADITIONAL LAND-USE AND MEANING IN LIFE by Sean Richard O’Rourke BASc., University of Lethbridge, 2015 M.A., Mount Saint Vincent University, 2017 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA September 2019 ! Sean R. O’Rourke, 2019 O’ROURKE ii Abstract Following Russian/Soviet colonization, Indigenous Siberian Eveny less frequently engage in hunting and reindeer herding—land-based activities central to their culture. Research suggests that an inability to engage in key cultural activities may hamper Indigenous peoples’ capacities to construct meaningful existences (i.e., fulfilling lives with purpose), but this has not been empirically investigated among Eveny. I conducted 14 semi-structured interviews on traditional land-use and meaning in life with Eveny men in Batagay-Alyta (Sakkyryr), Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia. Half of the participants lived in the village; the other half were nomadic herders. Both herders and non-herders described meaningful existences, but the groups often acquired meaning from different sources. Some sources (i.e., family, finances, reindeer) were deemed important by both groups. My findings illuminate what makes life meaningful for some Eveny, and can help policy-makers better address their unique needs. O’ROURKE iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of Contents iii List of Appendices vi List of Figures vi List of Tables vi Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Definitions: Indigeneity and Traditional Land-Use 2 1.2 Research Objective 3 1.3 Research Significance and Implications 4 1.4 Thesis Outline 5 Chapter 2. Literature Review: Eveny Culture 6 2.1 Who are the Eveny? 6 2.1.1 Brief overview of Eveny culture 6 2.2 The Tungus Peoples: Eveny and Their “Cousins,” the Evenki 6 2.3 “A Reindeer Culture” 8 2.3.1 Origins of reindeer herding 8 2.3.2 Perpetual migrations 9 2.4 Eveny Philosophy and Cosmology 11 2.4.1 Bayanay: Keeper of animals 12 2.4.2 Eveny shamanism 12 2.5 History of Eveny Colonization 13 2.5.1 Early European contact 13 2.5.2 The Soviet era 14 2.5.3 The post-Soviet period 17 2.6 The State of Eveny Reindeer Herding Today 19 2.7 Eveny Mental Health Outcomes 21 2.7.1 Alcohol abuse and violence 21 2.7.2 Suicide 23 2.7.3 Factors contributing to poor mental health 23 2.7.4 Glimmers of hope? 24 2.8 The Future of Eveny Reindeer Herding: Refuting the ‘Dying Culture’ Trope 24 O’ROURKE iv Chapter 3. Literature Review: Meaning in Life 26 3.1 What is Meaning in Life? 26 3.1.1 How do we experience meaning? 26 3.2 Meaning in Life for Indigenous Peoples 27 3.2.1 Meaning from Indigenous perspectives 27 3.2.2 Wellbeing of Indigenous groups: Empirical studies 28 3.3 Meaning in Life and Wellbeing 30 3.4 What is Necessary for Meaning in Life? 31 3.5 The Universality of Meaning in Life 31 3.6 What is Identity? 34 3.6.1 Identity and self-concept 35 3.6.1.1 Self-concept and context 37 3.6.1.2 Further clarity on identity 38 3.7 Identity and Meaning-Making 39 3.8 Identity Cohesion 40 3.9 Identity and Culture 41 Chapter 4. Methodology and Methods 44 4.1 Methodology 44 4.1.1 Interpretivist-constructivist paradigm 44 4.1.2 Interviewing 45 4.1.3 Inductive reasoning 46 4.2 Research Methods 47 4.2.1 Setting 47 4.3 Participants 49 4.3.1 Participant recruitment 49 4.3.2 Sample size 49 4.3.3 Participant characteristics 49 4.4 Research Materials 50 4.5 Procedure 51 4.6 Data Analysis 52 Chapter 5. Results 54 5.1 Data Analysis: Traditional Land-Use 54 5.1.1 Group 1: Non-herders 54 5.1.1.1 Hunting 54 5.1.1.2 Why did they choose not to herd reindeer? 55 5.1.1.3 Psychological connections to land 55 5.1.2 Group 2: Reindeer herders 56 5.1.2.1 Hunting 56 5.1.2.2 Why do they herd? 56 O’ROURKE v 5.1.2.3 Where do they herd? 57 5.1.2.4 Problems while herding 58 5.1.2.5 Psychological connections to land 59 5.2 Data Analysis: Meaning in Life 60 5.2.1 What is important to you in life? 60 5.2.2 What is important to others? 61 5.2.3 What are your concerns in life? 62 5.2.4 What are your goals? 63 5.2.5 What are the qualities of ‘good Eveny’? 64 5.2.6 Are you a ‘good Eveny’ person? 66 5.2.7 What are the qualities of ‘bad Eveny’? 67 5.2.8 Community reactions to ‘bad Eveny’? 67 5.2.9 Are you content with your life? 68 5.3 Meaning in Life Participant Pairs 69 5.3.1 1. Anatoly and Eduard 70 5.3.1.1 Anatoly 70 5.3.1.2 Eduard 71 5.3.2 2. Timur and “Vladimir” 72 5.3.2.1 Timur 72 5.3.2.2 “Vladimir” 73 5.3.3 3. Maksim and Petr 74 5.3.3.1 Maksim 74 5.3.3.2 Petr 75 5.4 Common Meaning Sources: Family, Finances, and Reindeer 77 5.4.1 Family 77 5.4.2 Finances 77 5.4.3 Reindeer 78 Chapter 6. Discussion and Conclusion 80 6.1 Interpretation Caveats: Sources of Miscommunication 80 6.1.1 Misinterpretation 80 6.1.2 Varying cultural values 81 6.2 Different Life-ways, Different Relations with Land 83 6.2.1 Hunting 84 6.2.2 Herding 86 6.2.2.1 Reindeer herding today: Apprehension and optimism 86 6.2.2.2 Can obshchiny save reindeer herding? 89 6.2.3 Psychological connections to land 91 6.2.3.1 Eveny and the tundra: A complex relationship 92 6.2.3.2 How do land-use findings fit in the literature? 93 6.3 Shared Meaning: Family, Finances, and Reindeer 94 O’ROURKE vi 6.3.1 Family 94 6.3.2 Finances 97 6.3.3 Reindeer 99 6.4 Spirituality and Meaning 100 6.5 Alcohol Consumption in Batagay-Alyta: Implications for Meaning? 102 6.5.1 Alcohol abuse and decreased meaning 105 6.6 Eveny Identity-processing and Meaning in Life 106 6.7 A ‘Reindeer Herding Culture’? 109 6.8 Demographic Concerns 110 6.9 Limitations 112 6.10 Directions for Further Research 113 6.11 Accountability and Dissemination of Results 114 6.12 Conclusion 115 6.12.1 Final Thoughts 117 References 119 List of Appendices Appendix A Interview questions (English and Russian) 140 Appendix B Project description 142 List of Figures Figure 1 Present-day distribution of Eveny and Evenki in the Russian Federation 7 Figure 2 The location of Batagay-Alyta (Sakkyryr) in the Russian Federation 47 Figure 3 Participants’ experiences of meaning in life 76 List of Tables Table 1 Participant Characteristics (Name, Age, Group, Occupation) 50 Running head: O’ROURKE – EVENY TRADITIONAL LAND-USE AND MEANING 1 Chapter 1. Introduction Although the individuals and cultures of humankind are infinitely diverse, each member of our species shares a desire to lead a meaningful and worthwhile existence—part of what Wong (2011) calls ‘the good life.’ Precisely what the ‘good life’ looks like, including how feelings of meaningfulness are achieved, is dictated by the norms, values, and traits of one’s culture (Wong, 2011, 2013, 2016). If a culture and its accompanying way of life have been severely disrupted in some manner—for example, via colonization, as experienced by many Indigenous societies—the abilities of its members to construct lives they perceive to be meaningful may be hampered (Salzman, 2001; Usbourne & de la Sablonnière, 2014). Halloran (2004), Salzman (2001), and Salzman and Halloran (2004) theorize that cultural disruptions, like colonization, contribute to the poor mental health outcomes some Indigenous communities face. This thesis explores a mental outcome—feelings of meaning in life—among an Indigenous people in a Russian-context. In the Russian Federation (aka Russia), colonization and subsequent implementation of state policies (e.g., sedentarization) have dramatically disrupted the cultures of Indigenous peoples by decreasing their abilities to engage in customary life-ways and use their traditional lands and resources (Forsyth, 1992; Slezkine, 1994). Eveny,1 an East Siberian Indigenous people (Levin & Vasil’yev, 1964), are no exception. They are historically herders of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus sibiricus) and hunters, but most now live in villages and less frequently herd and hunt (Ulturgasheva, 2012, p. 7; Vitebsky, 2005, p. 35). Despite colonial interference, hunting and herding remain core elements of Eveny 1 Vitebsky (2005, p. 399) notes that the English-language plural form of ‘Eveny’ is ‘Evens’ (singular: ‘Even’). The label ‘Eveny,’ commonly used in English research, is actually the Russian plural form. In accordance with Vitebsky (2005, 2012), and other English-speaking scholars (e.g., Ulturgasheva, 2012, 2014, 2016), I have chosen to use the label ‘Eveny’ throughout this thesis to avoid confusion with the English word ‘even.’ O’ROURKE – EVENY TRADITIONAL LAND-USE AND MEANING 2 identity and culture (Sirina, 2008; Ulturgasheva, 2012, p. 27, 58; Vitebsky, 2012; Vitebsky & Alekseyev, 2015b). These activities provide goals and values that continue to shape Eveny society and guide what many Eveny do on a day-to-day basis.