Gaining Ground? Evenkis, Land, and Reform in Southeastern Siberia provides an assessment of how land reform in the Russian Federation is affecting indigenous peoples. Based on fieldwork in thirteen native (Evenki) villages in Southeastern Siberia, it contrasts the intent of legislation passed in Moscow with the real-life experiences of indigenous persons who are trying to gain greater control over their lives and historic homelands. Gaining Ground? situates the current reforms — and their implementation — in the historical geography land alienation experienced by the Evenkis since the coming of the Russians to this part of Siberia. The book offers information on “traditional” land tenure systems, the persistence of these during various reforms, and the gradual erosion of access to resources which the Evenkis experienced under Soviet rule. It catalogues the hurdles Evenkis face today in trying to realize new opportunities provided by the federal government in terms of gaining rights to land. Part of the Cultural Survival Studies in Ethnicity and Change series, edited by David Maybury-Lewis and Theodore Macdonald, Jr. of Cultural Survival, Inc., Harvard University. Sharply focused on key issues affecting indigenous and ethnic groups worldwide, this series of ethnographies builds on introductory material by going further in-depth and allowing students to explore, virtually first-hand, a particular issue and its impact on a culture.