Soyuz: The Research Network for Postsocialist Studies

Former book of the month for July 2002

Page date:July 15, 2002

Th. Køhler & K. Wessendorf, eds. (2002) Towards a New Millennium: Ten Years of the Indigenous Movement in Russia, IWGIA & RAIPON.

Review by Ethel Dunn

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, indigenous peoples in Russia started to get organised and a movement emerged that has achieved many developments in the past more than 10 years. The indigenous umbrella organisation in Russia, the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2000, an occasion for looking back at its work during its 10-year history and at the same time looking forward to the new millennium. Many leaders of indigenous peoples of the North gathered in Moscow for the anniversary celebration and met with people from all over the world, who were invited to join this special event. For this occasion, RAIPON produced a book with articles by indigenous leaders and politicians from all parts of Russia, who outlined the history, events and conditions of the recent decade.

This book is the translation of the original Russian version and an attempt to strengthen the awareness outside the country of the struggle of indigenous peoples in Russia.

The book can be directly ordered from IWGIA on the web: http://www.iwgia.org/order_book.phtml?id=17
Or by contacting the IWGIA's secretariat: iwgia@iwgia.org
ISBN: 87-90730-52-6
ISSN: 0105-4503
US$ 16.00; GBP 11.20; DKK 120.00 + postage

PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the indigenous peoples in Russia have started to get organised and a movement emerged that has achieved many developments in the past more than 10 years. The umbrella indigenous organisation in Russia, the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2000, looking back at its work during its 10 years’ history and at the same time looking forward to the new millennium. Many leaders of indigenous peoples of the North gathered in Moscow for the anniversary celebration and met with people from all over the world who were invited to join this special event. For this occasion, RAIPON produced a book with articles of indigenous leaders and politicians from all over the Russian world, covering a time span of ten years.

This book is the translation of the original Russian version and an attempt to strengthen the awareness of the struggle of indigenous peoples in Russia outside of the country. Even though, this English version is published two years after the important event of RAIPON’s tenth anniversary, many statements and articles have not lost their actuality. To understand the events that the indigenous peoples of Russia have gone through over the last ten years, one has to understand the Russian context the indigenous peoples live in. To take a look at this country from a Western point of view is like taking a look into another world. Specific names or concepts will be explained in footnotes in the individual chapters. The book contains articles by representatives of different age, sex and background, from different regions, written in different genres such as interviews, speeches, short thoughts, academic texts etc. This way, the book also gives a chance to "get to know" some of the key persons in the indigenous movement in Russia. A short note on each author is placed in the end of the book.

Many of the problems described will be familiar to indigenous peoples of other parts of the world. Discrimination of indigenous peoples is part of everyday life in Russia. The fight for land rights and environmental protection is common for all indigenous peoples of the Arctic and not a Russia specific phenomenon. The conflict between "the greens" and the indigenous people that has dominated the debates in the Western part of the Arctic has however not played a big role in Russia, but rather, the conflict between industry and indigenous peoples has a long history. So have all the social problems. One of the much debated issues is the difference between the urbanised indigenous people and the people still living traditionally. Sergey Haruchi mentions the loss of the indigenous languages that comes along with the modern life style in his article "Who am I in this land, what people am I part of".

The northern area of Russia where the indigenous peoples represented by RAIPON live, can be roughly divided into three regions: the Russian North (the European part of the northern most region), Siberia and the Far East. The indigenous peoples count approximately 200.000 individuals. Most numerous is the Nenets people with about 35,000 persons; the least numerous are the Enets with about 209 and the Orok with 109 individuals. The subsistence area of the indigenous peoples comprises roughly 60% of the overall territory of the Russian Federation.

Indigenous Peoples in Russia have in some regions been in contact with fur traders and other people from the South since the 13th century and with Kazaks (Cossack) since the 16-th century. The relationship between these newcomers and the indigenous peoples was very often marked by an unequal power structure resulting in the indigenous peoples’ disadvantage and often oppression. The indigenous peoples were regarded as subjects of the greater Russian state and had to pay taxes (called yasak) in the form of furs to the Russian Czar. Although these initial contacts and exploitations changed the lives of many people in the North, the biggest changes and lasting implications for indigenous peoples happened in the 20th century within the greater politics of the Soviet Union. Up to this time the indigenous peoples mainly lived a subsistence life, which encompassed hunting, gathering, fishing and reindeer breeding. These activities were supplemented by trading with non-indigenous people.

In 1926 a special decree of the Russian Central Executive Committee and the Soviet of Peoples Commissars distinguished 26 small peoples of the Russian North as a special group of small ethnic nations. Since the end of the 1930s, as part of the new policy, the state started to resettle some of the indigenous populations from small villages or nomadic camps to larger settlements. As a result, the new form of a settled life destroyed parts of the traditional economy and the historically and ecologically balanced structure of the habitats and land use of indigenous peoples.

After the Second World War, the Soviet Union’s interest in industrial development of the North increased and as a result, the indigenous peoples experienced an enormous influx of Southern migrant into their land, which led to a shift in the population composition. Nowadays in most regions the indigenous people are a minority. The life in big settlements as a minority and a state policy that separated children from their parents during their education in boarding schools, as well as by the reduction of native lands due to economic exploitation all resulted in a spiritual and economic crisis among the indigenous population. The traditional cultures started to disappear and families began to break up due to the spreading of concealed unemployment and alcoholism. Serious health problems, a decline of birth rates and increase of death rates were the tragic result of the changes.

During the last 300 years the governmental policy towards indigenous peoples has varied from complete isolation of communities to full transformation and modernization of their traditional life style. After the break down of the Soviet Union, many of the newcomers, engineers, doctors, teachers, geologists, etc, left the Northern regions due to cut subsidies. This led to a decline in the living standards of many settlements.

In recent years, the indigenous peoples of Russia formed a number of organisations in order toimprove their living conditions and to defend their right to self-determination within the nation state. Their aim is not only to preserve their own culture and to fight for a better life but also to gain specific rights as peoples. Most regional organisations are united in their umbrella organisation "The Russian Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the North" (RAIPON)

Although it should not go unsaid that religion, culture, languages were suppressed in the Soviet period, and that, accordingly, the indigenous peoples of Russia have been victims of colonialism like so many other indigenous peoples of the world, it is characteristic that the leadership of RAIPON today to almost all challenges says: it is our own responsibility if we want change, we must do something about it ourselves. To make a meaningful difference in such an enormous area as the North, Siberia and the Far East, RAIPON is working together with international and Russian partners to develop a communication network, to initiate concrete projects addressing environmental problems, health issues, cultural issues and legal issues etc. In an area where there is often no transport available, and no telephone connections at hand, the efforts to ensure communication through all possible methods, be it by establishing the necessary telephone and e-mail connection or bringing people together at seminars and conferences, are the first steps to becoming the master of your own fate. The indigenous authors that tell their story in this book share a lot of common problems with all of the other peoples of the Russian Federation. They are a part of the multicultural Russia where distinction is made between russkij, meaning "native Russian" and rossijskij, the adjective to "Russia", meaning "from Russia". They live in a chaotic transition economy. They also live in a country where private ownership of the land is something completely new. They have gone through the phases of internal competition, of "ambition and emotion" as Sergey Haruchi calls it, and they are trying to improve their own situation now. An example is the work RAIPON is doing to use the Russian legislation on indigenous peoples rights. The whole text of the "Law on the Guarantees of the Right of the Small-numbered Indigenous Peoples of the North" can be found in the end of the book. The law contains legal definitions such as "small-numbered" and other key concepts, referred to in the book.

Furthermore the law "On traditional natural resource use of indigenous numerically small peoples of the North" is annexed to this book. This law has been passed through parliament and came into effect in May-June 2001, after the publication of the Russian version of this book. Many articles therefore refer to this law as not yet existing. However, many of the worries expressed by the authors are still topical, as the government has not worked out any mechanisms and regulations for the implementation of the law. The awareness of the law and its use is still not very wide spread.

Most of the articles in this book have not been changed and no further additions have been made to the Russian originals. However, the editors have, together with RAIPON, updated some parts describing the current activities of the Association and have included a more recent speech of its President Sergey Haruchi. Furthermore, the order of the articles have been slightly changed, maps and new illustrations have been added and a new introduction by Olga Murashko introduces the English reader to the situation of indigenous peoples in Russia.

The Russian edition of this book has given indigenous people a voice as a possibility to express their situation and their thoughts in their own words. This translation will hopefully help to carry their voice out of Russia and to awaken interest and help to raise awareness of their situation in the English-speaking world.

Thomas Køhler & Kathrin Wessendorf
Copenhagen, 2002

Former book of the month for July 2002

Page date:July 15, 2002

Th. Køhler & K. Wessendorf, eds. (2002) Towards a New Millennium: Ten Years of the Indigenous Movement in Russia, IWGIA & RAIPON.

Review by Ethel Dunn

Table of Contents:

PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION