Rahile Dawut (Uyghur: راھىلە داۋۇت; Chinese: 热依拉·达吾提; pinyin: Rèyīlā Dáwútí; born May 20, 1966) is a prominent Uyghur ethnographer whose scholarship has made significant contributions to the study of Uyghur folklore, religious practice, and cultural history. Formerly a professor at Xinjiang University, she founded the Minorities Folklore Research Centre, which became a major institutional hub for research on the intangible cultural heritage of the region. In 2017, Dawut was forcibly disappeared by state authorities, and in 2023 she was reported to have received a life sentence on charges of “endangering state security.” An ethnic Uyghur from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Dawut had been a member of the Chinese Communist Party...