Chapter 5.3 How are Indigenous peoples and communities in northern Yakutia affected by industrial development?

Vyasheslav Shadrin

doi:10.7557/5.3214

Abstract

Today, the Indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation are called in Russian legislation: “the peoples living in areas of traditional settlement of their ancestors, preserving the traditional way of life, economy and trading, numbering in the Russian Federation at least 50 thousand people and considering themselves as independent ethnic communities”. Currently, in 28 Russian regions there live 41 peoples of the North. According to the census of 2002, the total number of Indigenous peoples of the North is 244,000 people, while the population of individual nations ranged from 41,500 people (Nenets) to 22 people (Kerek). According to the 2002 census, 33,133 of them lived in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), about 65 percent of them living in rural areas – traditional territories. Those are 81 localities in the 21 districts. Five peoples of Yakutia are recognized as Indigenous: Dolgans (1,272 out of 7,330 in Russia, that is, 17%), Chukchi (602 out of 15,827, 4%), Evenki (18,232 from 35,377, 52%), Evens (11,657 from 19,242, 61%) and Yukaghirs (1,097 of 1,529, 72%).

Highlights

To secure the survival of Indigenous peoples is one of the key global challenges
The importance of its solution is emphasized in many international documents, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent countries, the UNESCO Declaration on Cultural Diversity, and others
The Indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation are called in Russian legislation: “the peoples living in areas of traditional settlement of their ancestors, preserving the traditional way of life, economy and trading, numbering in the Russian Federation at least 50 thousand people and considering themselves as independent ethnic communities”

Summary

Introduction

To secure the survival of Indigenous peoples is one of the key global challenges. Demographic: associating with reindeer the herding way of life provides a relatively isolated living for nomadic families It promotes marriages with representatives of their nationality and education of children in the traditional ethnic culture. Indigenous peoples are exclusively engaged in deer-breeding, which is the most favourable field for their constructive self-organization This is an opportunity to unite representatives of different Indigenous peoples on the basis of common professional and economic interests. Displacement of traditional industries breaks the traditional livelihoods of Indigenous populations, leading to the extinction of ethnic culture and later to the dying out of the ethnic peoples themselves Ignoring these facts, as well as the role of traditional knowledge in sustainable environmental management, is a result of the alienation of Indigenous inhabitants from the competent management of their development

Modern challenges and adaptation strategies

Ecological problems

Findings

Climate change