Liuxia feeds reindeer in the family's mountain home. (Photo/GT)
More than 10 years since the local government began to move Ewenki people out of their native forests, some members of the small ethnic group have returned to resume their traditional lifestyle.
The Yakut branch of China's Ewenki people mainly reside in the forests of the Daxingan Mountains in Heilongjiang Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. For thousands of years they lived a relatively isolated lifestyle, hunting and keeping reindeer. But in 2003 local governments began to move them away from the forests to better protect the natural environment and in 2015 banned hunting in the Daxingan Mountains.
There are no more than 30,000 Ewenki people in China. The government built residences near cities for the Ewenkis, however, not all of them like the city life. Some Ewenkis have since returned to the forests. As they are now banned from carrying guns, they can only keep reindeer that feed on moss and fungus.
Weijia and his family are part of this group. He resisted when the police banned gun ownership. Since then, Weijia has been struggling with alcoholism. His elder sister Liupa, the first Ewenki college student, was once a painter. After years of being caught in the middle between the city and the forest, she was found drowned in a river in her hometown. Weijia's other sister Liuxia feeds their reindeer every day.
After they were moved, Budongxia found another patch of forest on which she can keep reindeer. As the size of her herd increased, tourists have begun to visit her place. She makes some money through hosting tourists, but said she prefers the serenity of solitude.
Keeping reindeers is not easy. Every autumn when they enter their mating season, they must be released into the forest for the males to each have their own territory. The deer may travel more than 5 kilometers away, so herders have to climb across the mountains to keep an eye on each of them.
Not all the Ewenki miss their old lives. Suobin, 34, donned fashionable clothes and accessories and thinks it is no big deal to get used to a new place, however, his mother doesn't like being frequently visited by sightseeing outsiders.
After they were made to leave, most of the old homes of Ewenkis were turned into tourist hotels, while several of the houses were left as they were to showcase the lives the Ewenkis once lived.
