Viktoria Churikova - Сеть Арктических Организаций в Поддержку Коренных Народов Российского Севера

Viktoria Churikova
2005 declared Year of Indigenous Peoples of the Barents Region
Petrozavodsk, 6 October 2004
2005 is declared “Year of Indigenous Peoples of the Barents Region”. The decision was taken on Wednesday during the second day of the session of the Council of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region (BEAR) in Petrozavodsk. Petrozavodsk - Kareliyadagi shahar (1777 yildan). Kareliya Respublikasi poytaxti. Temir yoʻl tuguni. Onega koʻlidagi port. Aholisi 282,3 ming kishi (1998). P. Kareliyaning muhim sanoat markazi (respublika yalpi sanoat mah-sulotining 1/4 qismini beradi). Representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Finland, Sweden and Norway, as well as of local administrations of the northwestern regions of Russia and of some Nordic countries were present.
Within the framework of the year of indigenous peoples of the region it is planned to carry out actions in the Nordic countries and Russia, devoted to problems of public health services, education, culture and preservation of the environment.
In particular, a meeting of indigenous leaders is supposed to be held in February 2005 in Norway. An international music and folklore festival will take place in Arkhangelsk in spring, and in Murmansk will be the place of competitions in traditional sports.
For the summer, the international festival of Finno-Ugric peoples is planned to be carried out in Syktyvkar. Other planned events are various exhibitions, competitions and other activities, a conference on problems of mass media in Petrozavodsk, and a youth camp.
The Council of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region is an intergovernmental organisation comprising Russia, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Geographically BEAR includes the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions, the Republic of Karelia and the Nenets autonomous region, and a number of northern administrative entities of the Nordic countries. The activity of the Barents Council is focused on promoting international co-operation in the fields of economy, tourism, protection of environment, transport and communications, education, culture and other spheres.
Aleksey Ukkone; Source: RIA Novosti, 6 October 2004
http://www.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=61&msg_id=4938700&startrow=301&date=2004
Round table talks between numerically small indigenous peoples of Sakhalin and oil industry
Press Centre of the Sakhalin Branch of the Russian Environmental Party "The Greens", 16 December 2004
Yesterday in the Sakhalin regional Duma a meeting was held between representatives of the Sakhalin Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North and the oil companies operating oil extraction projects on the continental shelf of Sakhalin. The parties discussed principles of their future relationship before the backdrop of the recent decision by the Association to conduct an open-ended blockade action against the oil development on the shelf of Sakhalin.
The project operators where represented at the meeting by the General Director of OAO NK “Rosneft-Sakhalinmorneftegaz”, Ramil Valitov, as well as representatives of “Exxon Neftegaz ltd.” (operator of Sakhalin 1) and “Sakhalin Energy” (operator of Sakhalin II) and others. The indigenous peoples were represented by Aleksey Limanzo, president of the Sakhalin Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North. Furthermore Pavel Sulyandziga, first vice-president of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), came from Moscow to attend the meeting. The meeting was also attended by the Green Party as well as by the members of the regional administration and the regional Duma.
Representatives of indigenous peoples asked the attendants to consider and eventually sign a joint memorandum. It re-emphasises the direct harmful effect of the oil industry’s activities on the environment as well as on the indigenous peoples of the area.
In order to achieve a full assessment of the scale of the impact and to develop a strategy for future activities they proposed to undertake an ethnological assessment, which would be financed by a special fund to be set up by the oil companies.
Representatives of oil companies recognised that their activity has a negative impact on the environment – just as any other industrial production. But they declared that they were acting in accordance with current Russian legislation. Furthermore all companies were lending direct assistance to the indigenous peoples. Special emphasis was put on the fact that all project operators were using loans by the World Bank, which strictly controls compliance with indigenous peoples’ rights.
No concrete decisions were taken. Oil company representatives said that they were ready for further talks and would consider the proposed document. Possibly there will be formed a special working group to formulate the memorandum. A follow-up meeting was proposed, but no specific date fixed.
After the meeting, Pavel Sulyandziga said that he was not satisfied with its outcome. “I have the impression that company representatives fail to understand how serious our concerns are. Furthermore, we insist that only an ethnological assessment will be able to identify the damage, for which oil companies will have to make compensations. We have the experience in conducting such assessments. Last year a similar approach has been tested in Salekhard. Our Association will lend all necessary assistance to the indigenous peoples of Sakhalin and we will press for concrete steps to be taken”, said Sulyandziga. Furthermore he announced that starting from 1 January 2005 he will be representing indigenous peoples’ interests within the United Nations2. The first session will be held in February in Geneva. One of the issues under discussion will be relationships between indigenous peoples and industrial companies.
See APPEAL on p. 29-30
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NEW LITERATURE
Circumpolar Ethnicity and Identity
Edited by Takashi Irimoto and Takako Yamada
In English. National, Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan 2004.
Series: Senri Ethnological Studies no 66. 414 pp.
The book can be ordered from: The National Museum of Ethnology, Senri Expo Park, Suita, Osaka 565-8511, JAPAN
This book has a wide range of articles on several issues concerning ethnicity and identity in the Circumpolar North, and consists of five main parts: I. Ainu in Japan, II. Alaskan Eskimos and Canadian Inuit, III. North American Natives, IV. North Asian and Siberian Peoples, V. Mongols and Saami.
The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development
By: Josh Newell
In English. Danial & Daniel Publ. Inc., McKinleyville, California. 468 pages (including 16 in colour), ISDN 1-880284-76-6 (hardcover), 1-880284-75-8 (paperback), Price: $99.95 (hardback), $79.95 (paperback).
Online orders: http://www.rfebook.com/
"The Russian Far East" overviews and analyzes the region's geography and ecology, natural resources, major industries, infrastructure, foreign trade, demographics, protected area system, and legal structure. Particular attention is devoted to how the region can develop in an environmentally sustainable way.
The book also includes contributions from an interdisciplinary team of ninety specialists from Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
The book is divided into eleven chapters. The first chapter summarises the Russian Far East as a whole, while each of the remaining chapters deal with an administrative region within the Russian Far East. All of the chapters are divided into identical sections to simplify comparison among the regions.
Book features:
Reference: Region-by-region summaries of geography, climate, flora and fauna, population, political status, resources, industries, infrastructure, and trade.
Expert Analysis: The ninety contributing authors range from botanists to economists, geologists to environmental activists.
Maps: More than fifty maps, many in colour, depict administrative districts and indigenous peoples' lands, protected areas, mineral deposits, timber resources, fisheries, and oil and gas developments.
Tables and Charts: Tables and figures provide the reader with a wealth of useful, hard-to-find statistics. Statistics cover population, industrial production, foreign investment, and trade.
Photography: Spectacular photos from some of the region's best photographers.
DICTIONARY OF LANGUAGE OF THE ESKIMOS OF NAUKANSK (СЛОВАРЬ ЯЗЫКА НАУКАНСКИХ ЭСКИМОСОВ)
Authors: E.V. Golovko, E.A. Dobrieva, S. Dzheykobson, M. Krauss. Editor: S. Dzheykobson.
Centre for the Study of Eskimo Languages, Alaska, 2004.
The edition represents a Naukansk-Russian part of the dictionary, with Naukansk written with Cyrillic orthography. The volume consists of six sections:
1) a basic section consisting of Naukansk roots, listed in alphabetic order;
2) a section including only “doubtful” Naukansk words, i.e. words on which the authors do not fully rely;
3) a section including nonvalidated Naukansk words from old written sources;
4) section of Naukansk word-forming suffixes including a small enclitic;
5) a Russian-Naukansk index;
6) a section of Naukansk typonyms.
The Naukansk language is spoken in the extreme northeast of Chukotka, at Cape Dezhnev. It is the center of the region at the joint of two continents, Eurasia and North America, also called “Beringia”. It is surrounded by Eskimo languages of the Yup’ik group. It represents a connection between Central–Alaskan Yup’ik spoken by the Eskimos living in between Bristol Bay and Norton Sound, and the Chaplinsk language spoken by the inhabitants of the villages Novoe Chaplino, Sireniki and Uelkal in Chukotka, and also on St. Lawrence Island (USA).
OUR WORDS PUT TO PAPER
Compiled by Igor Krupnik and Lars Krutak. Edited by Igor Krupnik, Willis Walunga and Vera Metcalf. Published by the Arctic Studies Center National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution. Washington D.C. 2002.
This project was motivated by a shared understanding that residents of the North should have free access to all documentary resources related to their culture and history. This includes, first of all, historical memories shared by community members, enshrined by “oral knowledge”. The second part of cultural legacy is the stock of historical documentary records relating to Native communities. The latter is preserved in the form of old archival documents, census materials, unpublished written notes, and variuos early publications.
PARTICIPATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THE POLITICAL LIFE OF THE CIRCUMPOLAR COUNTRIES: RUSSIAN REALITY AND FOREIGN EXPERIENCE. (УЧАСТИЕ КОРЕННЫХ НАРОДОВ В ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ ЖИЗНИ СТРАН ЦИРКУМПОЛЯРНОГО РЕГИОНА: РОССИЙСКАЯ РЕАЛЬНОСТЬ И ЗАРУБЕЖНЫЙ ОПЫТ.)
Edited by O.A. Murashko.
Collection of material of the International Round Table "Indigenous numerically small peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East and the system of parliamentarism in the Russian Federation: reality and prospects"; Moscow, 12-13 March 2003. Issued with the support of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Denmark.
The collection includes reports of participants of the International Round Table, analyzing experiences from parliamentarism (representation) of indigenous peoples of Canada, the USA, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland. Regional experience and prospects of development of parliamentarism among indigenous peoples of Russia are considered, and various forms of parliamentarism of indigenous peoples in political systems of the circumpolar countries are described. The book evaluates the legislation of the Russian Federation regarding the realisation of democratic participation of numerically small indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East in the political life of the country. The book is useful to deputies and indigenous peoples’ organisations which are concerned with representation of indigenous peoples in various bodies of the government at local, regional and federal levels.
WATCHING ICE AND WEATHER OUR WAY
Edited by: Igor Krupnik, Henry Huntington, Chritopher Koonooka, and George Noongwook. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. 2004.
This book is the product of a joint four-year effort by subsistence hunters from two Yup’ik communities on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska and northern scholars researching Arctic climate change. Its title, Watching Ice and Weather Our Way, reflects the project team’s belief that northern communities and polar scholars can both benefit tremendously from one another. The book illustrates the richness and the value of traditional knowledge presented by the most experienced elders in two Yupik communities.
NOMADIC CAMP "NELTENKE" (КОЧЕВОЙ ЛАГЕРЬ «НЕЛТЭНКЭ»)
Yu.A. Sleptsov. Edited by N.T. Ivanov. YAGU Yakutsk.
The book provides a glance into the surprising and fine world of the indigenous inhabitants of the boundless open spaces of the Momsk Mountains and the plains of Yakutia, the Evens. Having repeatedly visited the reindeer breeders, I have paid attention to the fact that many Northern indigenous groups leading a nomadic lifestyle have maintained their native language, while they have not so in the settlements. On these small nomadic islands the language and culture of the Evens, their survival skills under extreme conditions, and together with this methods and ways of conducting domestic reindeer breeding is kept alive. Out of this an ethnographic camp with a linguistic emphasis has been established. The environment and nomadic people help to master faster the native Even language which here is used more widely, both in daily life, in place names and the dissignations of tools.
“Devoted to the heroic Chukchi people.” With these words begins A.K. Nefyodkina's
WARFARE OF THE CHUKCHI IN THE MID-17 – EARLY 20TH CENTURY (ВОЕННОЕ ДЕЛО ЧУКЧЕЙ (СЕРЕДИНА XVII – XX ВВ.)
St. Petersburg: "Petersburg Oriental Studies", 2003. - 352 pp. (Ethnographica Petropolitana, X).
The edition considers the various parties of military skills of the Chukchi to the entire extent known to us through written and other sources of the epoch from the second half of the 17th century when the Chukchi for the first time collided with the Siberian cossacks, and down to the beginning of the 20th century, when still there were collisions on grounds of by blood feud. Data on adjacent peoples, the Asian and American eskimos, Koryaks and Russians are included, allowing to access better the features of the military skills of the Chukchi. The book is the first in a histography devoted to the military skills of the Chukchi. It is useful not only to expert ethnographers, but also to the broad audience of readers who are interested in military skills.
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