In 1995, five Evenki traveled across Northern British Columbia, visiting Canadian First Nations along the way, to discuss land claims and self-government. At almost every stop, First Nations individuals also broached the subject of residential schools. In the previous few years, stories of horrendous abuse - psychological and physical - had regularly hit the Canadian press, and what was long a proscribed subject began to air (cf. Haig-Brown 1988; AFN 1994). Yet the Evenki (ranging in age from late 30s to late 50s) seemed somewhat perplexed by the questions, and the occasional brief testimony of personal experience. Their replies to questions about their own experiences indicated that while they had endure discomforts, they supported the institution for the most part, condemning rather individuals' excesses as aberrations. I found their circumspection puzzling, and knew not whether to attribute it more to a significantly different situation in the Soviet north or to a reticence bred from deeply inculcated taboos.
Alexia Bloch's book sets out to elucidate this enigma: "Why is the institution [of boarding school] not widely vilified by Evenki?" (87), and, by extension, by all aboriginal peoples of the Russian North. Why do current accounts in Russia show so little resistance to the institution, in contrast to the extreme aspersions to residential school we are witnessing in North America? Why are the residential schools even seen as sites of cultural revitalization in the post-Soviet period? What she has produced is a fascinating, well written and robustly documented study, and one that is interwoven with the voice of individuals who had experienced the residential school system, as students, parents or teachers/administrators. Photographs enliven her text.
Bloch uses a framework of identity negotiation in which to situate her analysis. She notes how Soviet power was differentially experienced by Soviet citizens, along axes of gender, class, profession, ethnicity and location (e.g. rural vs. urban), and how these different experiences transformed individuals - and their evaluations of their residential school experiences - in diverse ways. Bloch chooses to focus especially on women's appraisals of the residential schools system, arguing that women (and especially indigenous women) were the "icon of Soviet efforts to transform society" (91), and are currently those who frequently negotiate relationships with educational institutions, as the heads of village based households. Through ample use of quotations and paraphrased anecdotes offered by her interviewees, she represents the spectrum of assessments, from condemnation through ambivalence to nostalgia for the institution, and explores the underlying motives for these various discourses.
Her study is contextualized in an examination of the historical significance of the residential school as an institution that promoted native culture, then assimilation, during different periods. "As both an institution created in the Soviet period and one that influenced the collective consciousness of Evenki and other indigenous Siberians for decades, the residential school is an ideal site for thinking about the relations of power between the Evenki and the Soviet state." (90). Bloch traces the role of residential schools in the mobilization and reproduction of identity among Evenki as both modern Soviet citizens and indigenous persons.
Yet most interesting is her exploration of the ways the residential school system is currently being evaluated and utilized by Evenki. In the post-Soviet period, such schools have served as sites of cultural preservation and revitalization, offering language and culture classes. Concomitantly, they have offered material help, providing food, shelter and clothing to children at a time when state subsidies for such have plummeted and many Evenki suffer low and irregular wages or unemployment. They also offer Evenki children an improved chance to access post-secondary education, through affirmative action programs that favor residential school graduates. Some Evenki parents feel the residential schools provided a learning atmosphere less rife with racial prejudices for their children; others worry that they offer a second-class education. Yet others assess the residential school as protecting some of the collective values that are so vehemently challenged in other realms of post-Soviet life. Thus, Bloch explores the diverse roles that such schools play for different Evenki families, and the varied identities Evenki advance in explicating their relations to these schools.
A map of the area under discussion (with the villages mentioned in the text) would have been a nice addition. In a few instances, the information provided in the copious footnotes might have been better incorporated directly into the text, as it was important to the understanding of Bloch's argument (e.g. footnote 8, chapter 2). The definition of internat is only provided in Footnote 1 to Chapter 2. Providing this earlier would help non-Russian specialists who consult the book for comparative experiences of residential schooling. These minor criticisms aside, Bloch has provided a fascinating exploration of, and some unexpected insights into, the ways in which Evenki have accommodated this form of state power throughout the Soviet and post-Soviet periods.
References
Assembly of First Nations (1994) Breaking the Silence, Ottawa: AFN.
Haig-Brown, Celia (1988) Resistance and Renewal: Surviving the Indian Residential School, Vancouver: Tillacum