Negidal

(self-designation, El’kan Beienin), a small ethnic group living along the Amgun’ and Amur rivers (Khabarovsk Krai, RSFSR). Their language is related to the Manchu-Tungus languages and is very close to the Evenki language. The Negidals are Evenki who, after settling along the Amgun’, merged with the Gilyak, Nanai, and Olcha. Until the October Revolution of 1917, they engaged in hunting and fishing. Although they were officially considered Orthodox believers, they have preserved animistic religious beliefs and shamanism. In the Soviet period, the Negidals have been gathered on kolkhozes with a diversified economy.