The incorporation of the Siberian aboriginal into administrative structures of Russia

The participation of the Siberian aboriginals in Russian administrative structures in Siberia in the 17 th – beginning of 18 th century is analyzed. The author undertakes the thorough search of more than 20 biographies of the Siberian service men of an aboriginal descent («novokrestcheny»). She notes the baffling complexity of the identification this service men's category among Siberian garrisons. The author provides a number of procedures to resolve this problem. The Russian government paid considerable attention to the aboriginal elite, called «the best people» as the potential service men. Holding a high rank (syin boyarskiy) was not so rarely among Siberian aboriginals and it was reflected in documents. The depth study of the documentary evidence of Siberian towns («razbornyie spiski») showed that a lot more service men of an aboriginal descent served in the ranks. The author reviews the wide territory and chronological evidence from a multidisciplinary body of findings in an effort to describe the basic activities of the «novokrestcheny» service men and focuses attention on the ambassadorial work, the institute of the interpreters, the economic activity, the participation in the military expeditions and secret service.