TUNGUZ RELIGION. The peoples of Siberia speaking Tunguz languages numbered 65,900 persons, according to the 1989 census of the U.S.S.R. The most numerous of them are the Evenki (30,000) and Eveny (17,000), who are collectively called Tunguz in the older literature. Sometimes the ethnonym Lamut ("sea person") is employed, applying only to certain groups of Eveny. The close racial and cultural relationship of these two peoples makes it possible to examine their beliefs in the framework of a single system, which may be designated "Tunguz religion." Other peoples speaking Tunguz languages are the Nanay (Goldi; 12,000), Ulchi (3,200), Udege (1,900), Oroki and Orochi (1,200), and Negidalʾtsy (600). They represent a special cultural area, extending as far as the basin of the lower Amur River and Sakhalin Island, that includes the ancient cultural legacies of the Ainu and Nivkhi (Giliaks) and the inhabitants of northeastern China. A common religion has long been...