The Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM) project has been the embodiment of (post-)Soviet modernisation with its promises of economic prosperity, mobility and connectivity. It boosted regional development and introduced new forms of mobility, but also accelerated sedentarisation, assimilation and social polarisation among Evenki, an indigenous people who had been living in the region long before the arrival of the megaproject. Complex and often ambiguous entanglements of Evenki with the BAM infrastructure – from participation in construction to the exchange of goods to loss of reindeer and land, shaped indigenous ways of life, memories and identities. The master-narrative of the BAM seems to have been internalised by many Evenki and to have drowned out critical voices and indigenous identities. In this article, I direct attention to ‘hidden transcripts’, thereby giving voice to underrepresented memories and perspectives on the BAM within Evenki communities. Drawing on ethnographic materials and interviews with indigenous leaders, reindeer herders and village residents, who experienced the arrival of the BAM and have been entangled with the railroad in various ways, I seek to contribute to a critical and comprehensive history of the BAM and to explore the construction and articulation of indigenous identities vis-à-vis large-scale infrastructure and development projects.

中文翻译：

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模糊的纠葛：贝加尔-阿穆尔干线沿线鄂温克土著社区的基础设施、记忆和身份

贝加尔-阿穆尔干线 (BAM) 项目一直是（后）苏联现代化的体现，它承诺经济繁荣、流动性和连通性。它促进了区域发展并引入了新的流动方式，但也加速了鄂温克人的定居、同化和社会两极分化，鄂温克人是在大型项目到来之前很久就生活在该地区的土著人民。鄂温克语与 BAM 基础设施的复杂且经常模棱两可的纠葛——从参与建设到商品交换再到驯鹿和土地的损失，塑造了土著的生活方式、记忆和身份。BAM 的主要叙事似乎已被许多鄂温克人内化，并淹没了批评的声音和土著身份。在这篇文章中，我直接关注“隐藏的成绩单”，从而表达对鄂温克族社区中 BAM 的代表性不足的记忆和观点。借助民族志资料和对土著领袖、驯鹿牧民和村庄居民的采访，他们经历了 BAM 的到来并以各种方式与铁路纠缠在一起，我力求为 BAM 的批判性和全面性历史做出贡献，并探索土著身份的建构和表达与大型基础设施和开发项目相比。