Mountains, corners, azimuths… We wade, trudge, cross, bypass… Cherenda is a small Russian village in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, central Evenkia. People shake our hands and welcome us with open arms. After inviting us into their home, they implore us, the two exhausted travellers that we are, not to bother taking our shoes off. Soon after they offer us pryaniki (traditional cookies), which traveled here a long and difficult way and served us some tea on a modest table… But something is still not quite right…

Evenkia is a region in Russia, with area of 767,660 km2 and Population of 17,264. Most of the people live in the capital Tura and all the rest in the small villages, spread out in the wilderness. There are only 4000 Evenks left in Evenkia (there are 67 000 Evenks left in total). The biggest problem of these indigenous people is alcohol. „Hello, do you have Vodka?“ – seems to be a common greeting in the villages. Because of unstoppable drinking, people lose their hands and feet, which are amputated after getting frostbites while falling asleep on the snow. Houses burn down time to time because of irresponsible dealing with fire while drinking. Children are left behind, taking care of themselves and each other.

The village eccentric. Under the influence of alcohol, a Chirinda village local greets the sun dancing and performing martial arts. Although the locals find this slightly suspicious, the village dogs happily join in on her morning exercise.
The Russian word „zapoi“ denotes a form of binge drinking that can last for days, and is used quite often and drinking is a major problem here.

.

Jeniseysk village – accessible only by helicopter or by road in deep winter once rivers and lakes are frozen to drive upon them.

.
Spiridon takes care of his younger sister Alina. A 12-year-old boy doesn’t hear and cannot speak but only mumbles and shows his own signs to communicate. Spiridon doesn’t attend school and usually is playing alone or with dogs around the village. But once his brothers, sisters and other kids come back from school he sometimes tags along. Spiridon and Alina play outside in -30°C. “Yesterday was really warm, only -20°C, I was wondering around until it got dark”,- says Alina smiling, even though the colder weather doesn’t seem to keep her away from walking and playing outside.

.
The village dogs are the best friends of kids left by parents to play in the -40°C cold.

.
Alcoholism is one of the Evenks’ greatest problems. Unattended children need to know how to keep themselves busy. Experienced in machinery from an early age, the children rejoice every time they get a chance to ride snowmobiles. All children living in Cherenda,  go to local school until the fifth grade. Then they have to leave home and fly to Tura, where they study in the boarding school and only goes back home a few time a year.

.
A small house with bathroom outside, some wood for fire in the yard and a dog – this is how most of the people live in Cherenda, small village in Evenkia.  Alcohol… The issue of indigenous people (korenoe naselenija, in Russian), one relevant to the entire world, silently arises: how are they to be dealt with? Give them money and let them be, there by the Arctic Circle. And get them to vote occasionally.

.

Everything is frozen. “Meat” delivers itself. Anyway, tidying around home appears to be quite a challenging task. Ecological consciousness is poor, empty fuel barrels lie abandoned together with leftovers from the deer – heads, horns and legs. Dogs eat or play with dear bones and children also seem to be used to such grotesque settings.

.

A local woman on the helicopter, flying from Tura ro Cherenda. Heavily breathing she seems tired and hardly taking the trip. Cherenda village contains over 100 inhabitants, large part of whom is made up of Evenks – an ethnic group that is fast becoming endangered.

.
The Mi8 helicopter, the pride of Russia, was created fifty years ago but can still fly. Route Tura-Cherenda, the distance—500km. The MI-8 makes journey from the capital Tura once every two weeks—bringing with it both people and deliveries. It’s the fastest means of communication with the capital, and, at the same time, the most exciting event in town—large groups congregate at the landing site and wait for the helicopter’s arrival.

.
Aleksandr, who is also a painter, is accountable for the gas station in Cherenda village. It is usually locked and only opens upon agreement or every time a helicopter lands and needs to fill up the tank. Aleksandr got frostbites and lost all of his fingers. But he manages to deal with all the work he has to do at home, where he has six kids, and at work.

.

Cherenda is a small Russian village in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, central Evenkia. The nearest road is about 1000 km away. So how do trucks operate and fuel reach this primitive fuel station if neither planes nor ships call within this barren land? The answer lies in zimnik – a winter road that only operates for a few of the coldest months of the year: making it an important artery for Evenkia. In summer, when the ice melts and the flowers are once more in bloom, there is not even the smallest trace of the surface used by the Russian Kamaz and Ural trucks.

.
During the helicopter’s short stop-over in the villages, people exchange parcels and receive news from the capital. Alongside the passengers, the helicopters also transport the wooden boxes that carry the dead. The MI-8 doesn’t fly in conditions of poor visibility or at night as it isn’t equipped with advanced navigation system. It’s only in exceptional circumstances or emergency calls, so-called “San-reis“, that the pilot will choose whether or not to take the risk. On one such occasion the pilot took to the sky at night to rescue a lumberjack who had been injured by a falling tree in Cherenda.

.
Village hunters often have to travel across long distances to find a pray, sometimes over 100 kilometers, it is important they take fuel along with them. A 200 liter barrel is, therefore, a common companion.

.
The state provides Cherenda village with enough fuel to keep its electricity generators going even at night, providing light for around 150 people behind the polar circle. The huts are heated up by wood. Rising chimney smoke, undisturbed by the wind, creates a phantasmagorical view.

.
Fires caused by careless drinking are, unfortunately, a common phenomenon. This block of flats, which had caught fire for the second time in Tura (the capital city of Evenkia), could not be saved. The water from fire hoses freezes right away on burning house.

Download Evenkia – Lost Nation PDF