Materials of Land Management Expeditions as a Source for Studying the Population of Local Territories (on the Example of the Anabar District of Yakutia)

Abstract

The review of the materials of the Anabar-Olenek land management expedition of 1934 that have survived to the present time is given, which may be of interest as sources for studying the population of local territories in comparison with the censuses of 1926-1927 and 1939. An attempt is made to show the value of the source in the study of the population of local territories for the reconstruction of the settlement of indigenous people of the North before collectivization and transfer to a sedentary lifestyle. The study of the materials of the land management expedition was carried out using statistical, comparative-historical, retrospective and cartographic methods, methods of analysis and description. The author examines in detail the characteristics of the population and settlement of the Anabar district, describes in detail how the traditional settlement system was organized and the traditional land use associated with it. The author pays special attention to the form of economic organization of the population – belekh. It is established that the grouping of households in belek was a forced step of survival and joint management dictated by natural and economic conditions. The main conclusions of the study are the reconstruction of the settlement of the population of the area in 1934. A special contribution of the author in the study of the topic is the comparison of the data of the report of 1934 with the materials of the population censuses of 1926-1927 and 1939. The information contained in the reports of the Anabar-Olenek land management expedition fills in the gaps in the characteristics of the population of the Anabar district and is introduced into scientific circulation as a valuable source for studying the history of the population of the North.