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The Evens (formerly known as the Lamuts) (Эвены in Russian) are a people in Siberia. They live in some of the regions of the Magadan and Kamchatka Oblasts and northern parts of Sakha east of the Lena River. In 1970, there were 12,000 Evens. They speak their own Even language. The Evens are close to the Evenks by their origins and culture. Officially, they were considered to be of Orthodox faith since the 19th century, but the Evens managed to preserve different forms of pre-Christian beliefs, such as shamanism and the like. The Evens used to be engaged in reindeer-breeding, hunting, fishing and trapping.
The Soviet years marked significant changes for the Evens. The Soviets created a written language for them and did away with illiteracy among the Evens in the 1930s. Many nomadic Evens chose to settle down, joined the kolkhozes and engaged themselves in cattle-breeding and agriculture.
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