ANSIPRA BULLETIN
Arctic Network for the Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Arctic 
Сеть Арктических Организаций в Поддержку Коренных Народов Российского Севера

No. 11-12, July / December 2004 - English Language Edition

ANSIPRA is a communication network linking Russian Indigenous Peoples' Organisations with international institutions and organisations alarmed about the future of the indigenous peoples of the Russian North. ANSIPRA's main goal is to spread information, to mediate contacts, and to assist in project coordination.

Secretariat:	Norwegian Polar Institute, Polar Environmental Centre 
	NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway
Phone: 		+47 - 77 75 05 00
Fax: 			+47 - 77 75 05 01 
E-mail: 		ANSIPRA@npolar.no
Internet: 		http://npolar.no/ansipra/

Coordinator / Editor:	Winfried K. Dallmann, Tromsø
Assistant Coordinator:	Galina Diachkova, Anadyr
Assistant Editor:	Helle V. Goldman, Tromsø

ANSIPRA Bulletin is an information publication of the ”Arctic Network for the Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Arctic”. The Bulletin is issued twice a year. Additional issues are produced as new information warrants it. The Bulletin is edited in English and Russian. ANSIPRA Bulletin is distributed – by internet or hard copy – to all registered network participants, as well as relevant state agencies and funding institutions. Distribution is free. All written contributions are appreciated. 
ANSIPRA Bulletin is politically independent. A special part of the English language edition, however, presents translations of articles from the newsletter ”Мир коренных народов” (Indigenous Peoples’ World), the official periodical of RAIPON (Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation), selected in cooperation with RAIPON. 

CONTENTS OF THIS EDITION:

FROM THE SECRETARIAT:
Letter from the Secretariat  	3
Russian policies put off indigenous peoples 	3
Right and responsibility of choosing ethnic identity	4
GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION:
Presentation by President V. Putin at meeting of representatives from Northern Territories in Russia   April '04 	5
Extraordinary meeting of the Presidium of the State Council of the RF in Salekhard  April'04, ed. G. Diachkova	6
Appeal to the President of the Russian Federation by RAIPON   August'04	8
PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMES:
Local traditional knowledge and global ecological programmes: Perspectives of interaction   T. Semenova	9
Project proposal: Monitoring of oil development in … Nenets Autonomous Okrug   W. Dallmann & V. Peskov	14
Keepers of ethnic arts and crafts   L.G. Ignatenko	15
The Novosibirsk State University expands its project on indigenous peoples of Siberia   V. Churikova	16
International Polar Year 2007-08	16
SOCIETY AND CULTURE:
Social and economic problems of the indigenous population of the Magadanskaya Oblast …  W. Dallmann	17
The nomadic camp “Neltenke”   Yu.A. Sleptsov	19
Salmon festival “Let’s help the river Avacha”   L.G. Ignatenko	20
About legislative activities of the indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation   M. Apollon, G. Diachkova 	21
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' ORGANISATIONS:
Passport to the global information society   M.L. Stapleton	22
The public organisation “Union of Reindeer Breeders of Yakutia”   Yu.A. Sleptsov	24
NOTES		24
NEW LITERATURE	26
ANNOUNCEMENT	28
RAIPON appeal to the public and mass media – protest action on Sakhalin	29

Letter from the Secretariat 

Contact us:

Secretariat:	
Norwegian Polar Institute
Polar Environmental Centre
NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway
Phone: +47 - 77 75 05 00
Fax: +47 - 77 75 05 01 
E-mail: ANSIPRA@npolar.no
Internet: http://npolar.no/ansipra/ 

Members of the Secretariat:
Winfried Dallmann
Coordinator and editor
E-mail: dallmann@npolar.no
Phone: (+47)-77750648 / 77750500
Fax: (+47)-77750501	
Galina Diachkova
Assistant coordinator and editor 
E-mail: vaegi.gala.mayn@list.ru;
galinadiatchkova@hotmail.com
Helle Goldman
Assistant editor 
E-mail: goldman@npolar.no
Phone: (+47)-77750618 / 77750500
Fax: (+47)-77750501

About this issue
The previous volume of ANSIPRA Bulletin, No. 11, was only issued in Russian. The reason was that we have a reduced capacity of editing due to a leave of one of our secretariat members. However, English versions of the articles contained in No. 11 were posted on the Internet. The present English language edition of this issue contains relevant articles and information from No. 11, in addition to new articles.
	During the past year we have translated to English and published selected articles from RAIPON’s journal “Mir korennykh narodov – zhivaya arktika” No. 11-12 (ANSIPRA Bull. No. 10a, January 2004) and No. 13 (ANSIPRA Bull. No. 10b, April 2004). The English languange edition of the present volume is accompanied by a special issue (ANSIPRA Bull. No. 12a) with translations from “Mir korennykh narodov – zhivaya arktika” No. 14.
	The Russian language edition of this issue follows up our series of contributions about indigenous peoples in other countries, now with a compilation of information about the Saami people of Norway. We are aware of the lack of such comparative information in many remote regions of Russia. We do not consider it necessary to print these articles in English, because sufficient material is available through the Internet and other sources of information. However, some of these contributions are posted on our Internet website also in their English version.
We appreciate economic and voluntary support of our work
We would like to express our gratitude to all people who help us voluntarily with providing information, writing articles, translating and editing texts for the Bulletin and our Internet website. We could not do without this form of support.
	ANSIPRA has a quite small basic budget allocated from the Norwegian Polar Institute, which covers salaries of the secretariat staff, office facilities, copies and postage of the bulletins, and a minor amount of translation work. We need more support, mainly to pay for translations. With a larger budget we could also produce more and better translations of material from RAIPON’s journal “Mir korennykh narodov – zhivaya arktika”. 
	We would be grateful if any of the institutions, which use the information we distribute through our bulletin and website, could help – or continue to help – through economic support to keep our activities alive.

Russian policies put off indigenous peoples
Winfried Dallmann, ANSIPRA Secretariat	

“When analysing Russia, it is easy to get
sucked down Alice’s rabbit hole, where
nothing is ever quite what it seems.”
[Business Week special report, May 31st, 2004]

Where are indigenous peoples now, 20 years after the beginning of Gorbachev’s perestroika policy, and at the end of the UN Decade of Indigenous Peoples? 
	There was a time of hope. Things started to change. But they got stuck. Russia signed the ILO Convention No. 169 but never ratified it. A new Constitution was written, guaranteeing indigenous peoples’ right to develop their own culture and to live accordingly. Indigenous peoples organised themselves and got a voice. New laws were written with nice words. They have something in common: they all are “may” clauses, not “must” clauses. Russia has produced a lot of legislation, which never is implemented. Implementation is left to the regional authorities, and these normally don’t want to do it. The important Law on Territories of Traditional Nature Use, for instance, was close to being implemented in a number of places, and then it suddenly was questioned and put on ice by strong, central forces. The new Land Code contradicts the intention of Russia’s Constitution and deprives indigenous peoples further of the basic and moral right to their ancestral lands. Government target programmes for the development of indigenous peoples exist, but there is no real effect to be seen. And the most fundamental laws meant to guarantee indigenous peoples’ basic rights are now undermined and in reality put out of function by a number of most recently adopted amendments.
Indigenous representatives sometimes blame their local or regional authorities for negative attitudes, while they look up to the Russian government and hope for miracles coming from there. But there are significant reasons to doubt. Isn’t it possible that the government – or at least strong groups within it – count exactly on the local authorities to prevent the laws from being implemented? May it be they make laws only for reasons of propaganda? Is there a political intention that all laws, which eventually might lead to a positive effect for indigenous peoples, are sooner or later made ineffective, changed or withdrawn – such as the one on Territories of Traditional Nature Use? Are draft laws only made to please public opinion? Are they playing to the gallery?
	Many say the government is unable to act against powerful resource-extracting companies and their unrestrained capitalistic interests devoid of human and environmental moral. Politicians who really are working for changes are shot on the street. Maybe so. And, possibly, these new businessmen have by now channelled sufficient numbers of their own people into the governmental system or bought the officials for money. 
	It all seems very much like those who steer the country pretend to make promises accompanied by a lot of noise, and then quietly make up some excuses – relating to conditions beyond their power – in order not to fulfil them. Thus they stay in the fold of the public opinion, while the state does not need to do anything. There may be the hope that the “problem” of indigenous peoples will dissolve because in a few decades there will be no more indigenous individuals left, who demand their ancestral grounds and who want to pursue traditional ways of life. 
	I am not saying this is necessarily so, but it could easily be concluded. If it is not so, the government should do something to prevent these ideas from gaining ground. In the end, politicians are judged by their deeds, not by their words.
What would be the problem if indigenous peoples were to have the possibility to live according to their traditional lifestyle? Does the state fear they would rise up? 
	It is ridiculous. Oppressed people may rise up, not the ones that are given the freedom and lands to develop. The problem is rather that there is an overall sickness among powerful people that makes them want to stay in full control and power of every single thing in their sphere of influence. 
	Or is it the fear that indigenous people’s rights endanger economic development like oil and gas production, timber felling, large-scale fishing, etc.? It seems as if economic development in Russia is a sort of ultimate goal, which sanctifies all means. Everything that counts is immediate profit. Human issues are a headache. Working for indigenous cultures might be profitable in a while, but now it costs, and locally it even may delay the short-sighted, much more profitable activities like oil production and export.
	But haven’t other countries achieved ways of coexistence of economic development – including extraction of resources – and traditional land use, or at least made real attempts to achieve it? Other Arctic countries have through the recent decades developed more or less decent policies towards their indigenous populations. At least, there have been processes to settle the problems and to make indigenous representatives real partners in negotiations. They do not paternise them anymore, and if they try, there is a big fuss which is clearly heard. But Russia’s government doesn’t hear, or only pretends to hear. In this respect Russia still implements attitudes which qualify for under-developed third-world states.
Another thing may be mentioned: the fear of terrorism. Measures against terrorism can easily be used against all sorts of ethnic movements and affect peaceful movements along with violent ones. Totalitarian governments promote the idea that ethnic demands for justice are the first step towards liberation battles and terrorism. They use people’s fear of terrorism to destroy everything that moves. Liberation battles, on the other hand, are directed against a definite, oppressing enemy. 
	Remarkably, indigenous peoples of Russia are not close to any of these; they are promoting the concept of partnership with the state, the authorities, and even with companies. Very restricted actions of non-obedience are the most aggressive incidents that have occurred, and these are tools, which generally are accepted by large parts of the population in a democratic society. 
	But there are voices saying that Russian authorities regard any counteraction of indigenous inhabitants in defense of their rights as a display of nationalism. It is not difficult to imagine that indigenous movements, although conducted in a civilised manner, in the near future may get into conflict with anti-terror laws. And the hidden agenda behind would not be fear of terrorism or ethnic uprisings. It would be a way to save money for the development of the indigenous peoples. 
As the new Chair of the Arctic Council – a political formation, which considers the protection of Arctic indigenous peoples as an important issue – Russia should develop some sort of acceptable behaviour towards these peoples.
What does President Putin’s recent move towards full control of the regions by hand-selected governors mean in this context? We do not know. We should carefully watch and listen to the signs. 

Right and responsibility of choosing ethnic identity

Winfried Dallmann, ANSIPRA Secretariat

Until recently, Russian identification documents contained information of a person’s ethnic affiliation (in Russian: “nationality”, as opposed to “citizenship”). This is now abandoned in all newly issued documents. People have lost the only official way of easily proving, which ethnic group or people they belong to. This may be disadvantageous for those who want to prove that they are members of numerically small indigenous peoples which have benefits. It may be advantageous for those who feel they belong to a different group than the one they are registered to, for example, if one wants to be registered as Udegey instead of something else.
	A very large number of Russian citizens have a mixed ethnic origin, often through many generations, and there may occur good and not so good reasons during a person’s lifetime, which make him or her feel to belong to the mother’s instead of father’s, or other ancestors’ ethnic affiliation. This may either be a genuine commitment for cultural, psychological, political or other reasons, or a pretext in order to achieve economic or other benefits.
	But with rights normally also come along duties. Assigning themselves to a new ethnic identity makes one people smaller and another one larger in number, especially when many individuals do the same. The overall results will have political consequences. During the census of 2002, which never was officially published, most of the numerically small indigenous peoples showed a sudden increase in size since the 1989 census, most of them by 10-30%, but up to 140% – the latter for the very small, severely endangered Orok people. While it is known that many representatives of these peoples live under very poor economic conditions, are subjected to severe health problems and higher mortality than birth rates, such a statistic increase may be used by the authorities as a pretext to decline from urgently needed measures to support the cultural survival of this ethnic group. 
	Most of the growing numbers are probably caused by the fact that more and more people of mixed origin assign themselves to the numerically small peoples, which now are focussed on by many political agendas. Also, many fully indigenous individuals, earlier assigning to other ethnicity by convenience (for example, Russian), now have changed both their conviction and nationality .
	Another problem that may occur in this context is an ethnographic confusion. The easiest way of explaining this is by using examples: The word Oroch is of Tungus linguistic origin and means “reindeer people”. It refers to a traditional occupation with a strong cultural content. The word is used by many Tungusic peoples with different languages and residence areas. A subgroup of the Evenk people in the Trans-Baikal area call themselves Orochon; both the Orok and Negidal peoples were called Orochi by others; a part of the Even people living at the Sea of Okhotsk traditionally call themselves Oroch; and finally, there is an officially recognised people called Orochi that lives in the southeasternmost part of the Khabarovsk Territory. Due to this usage, for instance, people of ethnographically seen distinct Even ancestry identify themselves as Orochi, although they do – ethnographically – not have much in common with the officially recognised people of the same name. Such circumstances may give rise to confusion about size and geographical distribution of the peoples in question.
	Consequently, changing ethnic identity may have severe consequences and should be considered carefully by each and everyone. Being a member of a numerically small indigenous people is much more popular today than it was for most of the last century. It is known that even persons with solely Russian ancestors, possibly due to sympathy or to achieve economic benefits, suddenly assign themselves to a numerically small people, not being aware of possibly rendering their host group a disservice.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Presentation by President V. Putin at meeting of representatives from Northern Territories in Russia

Salekhard, NAO Center of National Cultures, 29 April 2004

Distinguished Friends!

Efforts to study and search for solutions concerning the North of Russia have already started yesterday. I am pleased to have the opportunity to meet representatives of various organisations and associations, and with all those who care for the Russian North. But first of all I want to thank the “northerners” for their efforts, their creativity and of course their persistence, because by not giving in to the extreme conditions, you are working for the good of your country and are achieving success.
	At the Presidium of the State Council yesterday, we discussed the type of state policy best suited for the conditions we now face in the North of Russia: a policy capable of satisfying the needs of the day and in turn will make it possible to bring to light the potential and competitive advantages under new social and economic circumstances.
	We talked about the great abundance of natural resources and the spacious territory, in other words a unique chance and significant means for a long-term ascent to be felt not only in the northern territories of Russia but throughout our entire nation, while at the same time promoting sustainable development of the northern regions, and an increase in the well-being of the millions of people residing here.
	It goes without saying that it has never been easy to inhabit the northern corners of our country: north is north and the numerous problems we are faced with such as the state of the health system, education, and housing systems are felt even more severely here in view of the specific character of nature and climate in comparison to other regions in Russia. They are simply more difficult to resolve.
	We are also aware of the disparity in our complicated demographic processes, the inconsistency within the labour market, the biased development in the economy, crises in vulnerable ecosystems. All these subjects were the topic of our discussion yesterday.
	It is quite obvious that these existing problems cannot be eliminated solely by redistribution of finances even though this also is a problem to be reviewed separately. And our task is to arrange the work in such a manner that even while the state provides the required forms of state support, new solutions based on effective market mechanisms will be sought. Not only our own experience but international experience is witness to the fact that such solutions are possible and they exist. I also know that there are many who are occupied with this matter in the regions of the North. We have just been to the data bank with the governor at the centre where the entire data on the NAO is stored using computer engineering. A praiseworthy model to be copied by other regions in the country.
	I also want to say that if we want to achieve economic development, the federal authorities must first cope with the infrastructure problems in the northern territories. This is indeed a long-term project. Already at this stage, together with the regions we must start looking for mechanisms capable of providing the population in northern territories with access to the blessings of civilisation. There must also be a guarantee that competent and qualified services are available to provide the population in the northern territories with access to all the material wealth of civilisation and which ensures them an opportunity to make use of competent and qualified services in the social, transport, medical and educational spheres.
	People living and working in the North must not feel cut off from the country – these people must have a bright outlook, and not just for themselves, but also for their children. 
	A system is required that operates based on diverse forms of production implemented using natural resources. This kind of policy is directly connected to creating new jobs. At the same time care must be taken to maintain the ecological balance of the northern flora and fauna. We are well aware of its vulnerable nature. 
	Another question which worries the “northerners” is state guarantees and compensations. We spoke of this also yesterday in great detail, and not without becoming emotionally involved.
	The government will continue to execute the social responsibilities it has previously taken upon itself. I should like to confirm this. This deals rather with housing subsidies, “northern” pensions and wages, state housing certificates, and relocation? repatriation? programs in northern territories.
	The time has come to renew our economic and legal foundation, the traditional ways of making a living. For the indigenous peoples of the North this is not just a production method – it is the basis of their spiritual being, the very social and economic structure, a preservation of a unique culture of the indigenous peoples of the North. It was a pleasure for me to take a look around one of the settlements. Representatives of the indigenous peoples of the North live there, not far from Salekhard. I must say it was enjoyable to see one of these settlements and how people live in them. Hopefully this was not the only such settlement of this type in the North. We do not have the right to allow the original, national and cultural wealth of all the peoples living here to be lost. 
	Once again I must emphasise – as I have so often stated – that Russia’s greatest wealth is not even oil and gas but the versatility inherent in the cultures of peoples of the Russian Federation.
	I presume that now it is of utmost importance to use the possibilities of the Institute for Territorial Self-governing of the Indigenous Peoples of the North. A basis for this development has been put into the new legislature on local self-government. The municipal establishments will play an especially significant part in the development of the economic, cultural, social and communal spheres. And really, the preparations for this crucial task need to start locally.
	We arrive at the final decisions concerning these questions. Not everything has been carried out in full, and here I agree with the leaders of the regions, but in the long run it is we who must make the final decision. 
	In conclusion I want to emphasise once again: the Russian North – that is our enormous and common wealth. It is a our common heritage that will be of service to our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren.
	And that is why we must not only use it carefully and in a calculated manner but also strive to augment it.
	Finally, the North has always been a sort of rating system for courage, partnership and mutual cooperation. In this place people lived and worked side by side in peace and friendship regardless of the many nationalities and religions. It pleases me to see also at our conference representatives of the most varied confessions. I am quite sure that with such valuable human capital we can achieve very, very much. And in particular let us help the Russian North so that they may obtain a new license for their development.
	Thank you for your attention. This is all I wanted to say at the beginning of today’s meeting. I am convinced there will be many interesting presentations.

Press_office@prpres.gov.ru
(c) PRESIDENT.KREMLIN.RU
The official internet – diplomatic corps of the President of Russia

Extraordinary meeting of the Presidium of the State Council of the Russian Federation in Salekhard, 28-29 April 2004

Prepared by G. Diachkova on material from http://sl.yamal.ru/territory/tarkosale/2004/05/07/36zsoflwf3.mtml.

After the speech of the President of the Russian Federation, V.V. Putin, the fundamental report “Basic State policy of the Russian Federation in Northern regions” was presented by the head of the working group of the State Council, President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Vyacheslav Shtyrov. In his opinion, state regulations are needed to carry out legal acts which fully take into account the specific features of Northern regions: division into districts and state support of numerically small indigenous peoples. 
	The governor of the Yamalo-Nenetskiy Autonomous Okrug, Yuriy Neyolov, suggested in his speech that the President of the Russian Federation should create a Federal agency to deal with questions of the Northern territories. It is now extremely important to establish a specialised federal body, which engages in regional initiatives and makes sure that topics concerning the Northern administrative areas are continuously part of the agenda of the central ministries and departments. 
	During the debate the Governor of the Chukotskiy Autonomous Okrug, Roman Abramovich, put forward the thesis that traditional subsidence branches of Northern, numerically small indigenous peoples do not have a sufficient economic basis, and therefore depend on state support. Subsequently Putin added: “Hence, they demand state grants”. He emphasised that “the biggest wealth in the North is not oil and gas at all, but the diversity of cultures of the Northern peoples”.
	After the speech of V. Shtyrov the word was taken by the chairman of the State Duma of Yamal, president of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Sergey Kharyuchi. In his report he led attention to the need to reform the federal legislation, so that it would take into account the interests of Northern, numerically small indigenous peoples. “It is necessary to adopt a number of measures at the federal level. These measures must eliminate gaps in the federal legislation on questions of social responsibility of business and traditional land use. These questions also include the payment of compensations for the damage put to territories of traditional nature management through industrial exploitation. There is a need of support of ethnic communities and enterprises dealing with traditional economies, which must be paid from the federal budget for compensations, stipulated by the federal legislation.” Addressing to the President of the Russian Federation, Kharyuchi said: “We believe that it is necessary to create a state structure focused on solving problems of the North, problems of development of numerically small indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, or to create an institution with special representation of the President on problems of the North. We are absolutely sure that only by means such uniform state body it will be possible to achieve a balanced economic development in the Northern territories and normal living conditions for all northerners, including the small indigenous peoples”. The President consented to Kharyuchi's proposals and asked to direct them to the Administration of the President and the Council of the Federation. 
	The speech of the chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Council on problems of the North and the Far East, Valentina Pivnenko, to the assembly became one of the most conceptual ones. She supported the previous speaker, Sergey Kharyuchi, in practically all aspects. Valentina Pivnenko especially emphasised the necessity of an immediate approval of the law “On reindeer breeding”. She also suggested reconsidering a system of interbudgetary relations in view of the entire complex of northern problems. She rested in detail on the legislative problems of pensions, premature delivery of perishable goods, migratory processes, and proposed to revive the federal program “Children of the North”. 
	Concerning premature delivery of perishable goods to northern provinces, the President of the Russian Federation said that in many northern regions of the country this is not a problem anymore, and when it occurs, it is normally the fault of the leaders of the regions. 
	The President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), V. Shtyrov, paid attention to the necessity of raising the social responsibility of resource-exploiting companies towards the regions in which they operate. The companies should also worry about the condition of the cities, about the indigenous population, and about the entire complex of infrastructure development. 
	In the final session of the assembly, representatives of associations of indigenous peoples of the North, representatives of other public organisations, scientists, leaders of enterprises, etc., gave their contributions. A prominent contribution was held by the president of the Association of Polar Explorers, Artur Chilingarov, a man who is familiar with the problems of the North; he also insisted on the necessity to forma governmental body with the aim to solve the problems of the northern territories.
	Deputy of the President of the Russian Federation in the Uralskiy Federal Okrug (UrFO), Petr Latyshev, stated that the discussed questions are significant for his territory, where numerically small indigenous peoples reside in four administrative regions. In the Yamalo-Nenetskiy and Khanty-Mansiyskiy autonomous okrugs, regional legal acts and programmes for social and economic development of the peoples of the North have been adopted. In 2003 in the Sverdlovskaya Oblast a 5-year programme of social development for the Mansi people was adopted for the first time. He noted that in spite of the fact that for last years a number of positive social and demographic tendencies among the indigenous peoples in the UrFO are marked, there are a number of acute social and economic problems influencing their development which need to be solved. Among them are the destruction of traditional ways of life and the difficulty of these people to adopt to modern society, housing problems, and a low standard of living. A separate problem is the underfinancing of the Federal Target Programme “Economic and Social Development of Indigenous Peoples of the North until 2011”. 
	At the closing of the meeting of representatives of northern territories, Vladimir Putin again emphasised that of all northern problems the problems of the indigenous peoples have topmost priority.

Appeal to the President of the Russian Federation by RAIPON

N 350, 18 August 2004

To: Vladimir Putin
President of the Russian Federation 
Cc: Sergey Mironov
Chairman of the Federation Council 
Cc: Boris Grizlov
Chairman of the State Duma 

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! 

The Association of indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East of Russian Federation (RAIPON), representing interests of regional and ethnic public organisations of 40 indigenous peoples, is asking you to consider our suggestions concerning the Federal Bill N 58338-4 “On Amendments to Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation and Recognising the Annulations of Several Legislative Acts of RF in Connection with Adopting of the Federal Laws ‘On amendments to the federal law ‘On General Principles of Organisation of Legislative (Representative) and Executive Bodies in the Administrative Regions of the Russian Federation’ and ‘On General Principles of Local Self-government Organisation in the Russian Federation’’”, in which the regulations in the federal laws “On the Guaranties of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the Russian Federation”, “On General Principles of Establishing Communities of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East” are being subjected to review, especially in the article 119 (Insert into Federal Law of April 30, 1999 No. 82-FЗ “On the guaranties of indigenous peoples’ rights in Russian Federation”) and in the article 130 (Insert into Federal Law of July 20, 2000 No. 104 FЗ “On General Principles of Establishing Communities of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East”) of the Bill No.583338-4. 
	RAIPON is unconditionally opposed to the changes into these federal laws owing to the following reasons. 
The proposed amendments to this bill destroy the legal frame of principle rights of indigenous peoples in the Russian Federation and contradict the RF Constitution (particularly articles 55, 69, 72 and 76), as well as international regulations and norms, and violate human rights. 
	At the same time regulations, removed from the federal laws “On the Guaranties of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the Russian Federation”, “On General Principles of Establishing Communities of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East” in articles 119 and 130 of the bill No.58338-4, do not contradict to federal laws “On Amendments to the Federal Law ‘On General Principles of Organisation of Legislative (Representative) and Executive Bodies in the Administrative Regions of the Russian Federation” and “On General Principles of Local Self-government Organisation in the Russian Federation”, and this fact is in opposition to the idea and the aim of this bill. 
	Unfortunately, we have to underline that the proposed changes in these articles are intended to reduce the rights of indigenous peoples, to provide maximum leverage to government officials to avoid their obligations regarding indigenous peoples, to reduce the authority of administrative regions of the Russian Federation during the solving of issues related to the defense of traditional living space and traditional way of live of indigenous peoples, that contradict to articles 55 and 72 of the RF Constitution. 
	The adoption of this bill occurs in a time, when most of the indigenous peoples live below of the poverty limit, are distinguished by an exceptionally low life span and high illness rates. The reasons of such negative processes are both insufficient attention of federal authorities to indigenous peoples, absence of federal structure engaged in indigenous peoples’ problems, and aggressive seizure of traditional natural resources, which are the base of indigenous peoples’ existence, and transfer of these resources to industrial, extractive companies. In light of this the removal of the article 4, item 10 of the article 5, items 1 and 5 of the article 7, and the article 13, changing the content of the items 8 and 9 of the article 8, and the article 11 of the federal law “On the Guaranties of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the Russian Federation” would appear blasphemous. 
	It should be noted that the norms that are being removed – the right on support from state authorities in the field of defending traditional living space and way of live, the right on organisation of territorial public self-government, the right on representation in legal (representative) bodies of the RF administrative regions and in representative bodies of local self-government, the right on taking part in decision-making process on local level, in issues related to indigenous communities’ interests, etc. – have been recognised at an international level owing to RF Government annual reports to the UN and during five years have become a basis for international agreements and long-term projects, most of which have been signed by the Government and are already implemented. Removal of these rights, which were obtained as a result of the International Decade of Indigenous Peoples, will be looked upon as a very strange action, especially in the light of Russia’s upcoming Chairmanship in the Arctic Council, whose priority is the concern for indigenous peoples of the North. 
	It should be underlined that during the five years that have past since the adoption of the first of the mentioned laws, not a single piece of legislation was introduced to adjust the adopted laws’ norms to other federal laws for timely and effective realisation. 
	At the same time legislative acts led to realisation of the mentioned laws’ norms and improvement of indigenous peoples’ life in the field of defending traditional living space and way of live provided by article 72, part 1, item “м” of the RF Constitution, were adopted at regional levels in many administrative regions of the RF. 
Consistent removal, in this bill, of the authority of administrative regions of the Russian Federation in the field of defending traditional living space and way of live and development of indigenous self-government will destroy regional legislation in this field, cancel positive regional experience, and above all will worsen critical economic, social and ecological status of indigenous peoples. 
	RAIPON thinks that removal of the authority of administrative regions of the Russian Federation in the field of defending defending traditional living space and way of live is untimely and illegal, because this not only contradicts to the RF Constitution, but also is a criminal act against indigenous peoples – in the absence of a special federal structure engaged in indigenous peoples’ problems, indigenous peoples are turned out to be exposed, deprived of legal support, which they had in the regions. 
	Under hasty reconsideration of the articles of the above mentioned laws is may be missed that texts of federal laws currently in force about indigenous peoples’ current status are the result of ten years’ activity of the working groups and conciliatory commissions. These texts were based on generally recognised principles and norms of international law and international agreements of the RF according to the article 15, item 4 of the RF Constitution. 
	Contradictory and insufficiently considered removal of the mentioned norms from Russian legislation can sell short of the Russian Federation on the international scene in the field of indigenous peoples’ rights observance according to international principles and norms. 
	It is impossible to adopt such bill in the present form, in the part related to indigenous peoples’ rights. We would like to ask during the future work on the bill’s text to take into account our suggestions and include RAIPON’s representatives in the working group staff. 

Respectfully yours,
Sergey Kharyuchi
President of RAIPON; Chairman of State Duma of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug

Editor's comment:
As we have learned from personal communication with RAIPON, they have not received an answer to this letter. Instead, the disputed ammendments were put into force. We wonder how these actions by the Government fit with the assurance by President Putin that of all northern problems the problems of the indigenous peoples have topmost priority (presentation in Salekhard, April 2004, see above: p.5-6 ).

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMES

Local traditional knowledge and global environmental programs: 
prospects for interaction 

Tamara Semenova,
Senior Researcher, Russian Research Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage

This report contains information about global ecological projects and programs. We hope that their data and inclusive participatory structures will be useful for public organisations and scientific institutions that closely work with the local population and indigenous communities in the field.

Russia 129366 Moscow, Kosmonavtov str., 2, tel. +7 095 286 13 19, Fax +7 095 286 13 24, email: tams@online.ru

Keen interest for traditional and local knowledge applied by indigenous populations for diverse productions and use of energy and resources is nowadays increasing. Many traditional habits and skills are environmentally safe and highly effective from the point of view of economy and energy utilisation. However, in the local communities or in the rural and native settlements (in Russian: sel’skie posyolki) these skills and knowledge are constantly, and sometimes quickly, being destroyed and disappear. At the same time the majority of the population in these settlements has no access to modern technologies, and in some cases is forced to apply highly detrimental economic methods and practices, often with unfavorable environmental outcomes. These facts lead to the increasing awareness of a considerable gap between the global initiatives and programs, aimed at technological and social human progress and simultaneous achievement of a secure and environmentally sustainable future. It is getting ever more evident that sustainable economic development is not attainable at the global and regional level, if an essentially important process of the sustainable development is not ensured at the local level.
Is there any connection between the traditional natural skills and know-how of the indigenous population and the attempts to solve the existing problems by establishing global programs? What is the role of traditional knowledge in the environmental projects? We will try to clarify these questions here and look at the prospects and forms of their interaction.
	The first and principal document for our analysis is the so-called ‘Agenda 21’ (Agenda 21: A Blueprint for Action for Global Sustainable Development into the 21st Century), adopted by a majority of the states at the Summit in Rio-de-Janeiro in 1992. This second global conference on environmental protection, was organised by the United Nations, and later supported by many initiatives, including global conventions and ecological programs. Agenda 21 has been recognised as an Action Plan along with the Declaration on Environment and Development, signed by the states at this Summit.
	The Rio Declaration affirms that the only way to secure the long-term economic progress of mankind is to ensure the protection of the environmental. Partnership is one of the principles of the development: nations could achieve prosperity and well-being by establishing a partnership between the governments, state citizens and stakeholders in the social development of the community. Agenda 21 deals with 27 principles of development in 40 chapters. The principle 22 reads:
	“Indigenous people and their communities and other local communities have a vital role in environmental management and development because of their knowledge and traditional practices. States should recognise and duly support their identity, culture and interests and enable their effective participation in the achievement of sustainable development.”
In chapter 26 Recognising and Strengthening the Role of Indigenous People and Their Communities, three principal tasks have been formulated as a basis for indigenous peoples and their communities to establish partnership with governments in order to elaborate a common approach towards integration of environmental protection and development. These are:
a)	Establishment of a process to empower indigenous people and their communities through measures …
b)	… to strengthen the active participation of indigenous people and their communities in the national formulation of policies, laws and programmes relating to resource management and other development processes that may affect them …
c)	Involvement of indigenous people and their communities at the national and local levels in resource management and conservation strategies …
The Declaration of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+10) in Johannesburg in 2002 has once more stated the importance of indigenous peoples – “we re-affirm the vital role of indigenous peoples in the sustainable development”. Recognition of this role is reflected in the establishment of the Permanent Forum of Indigenous Peoples within the Social and Economic Council of the UN (ECOSOC). The Permanent Forum includes about a dozen persons, the representatives of the nominated states, including the officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and the indigenous peoples from non-governmental organisations of all continents. At present one representative from Russia, Mr. Pavel Sulyandziga, vice-president of RAIPON, is elected to the Permanent Forum.
The process of political recognition of indigenous peoples is strengthened by the raising awareness that it is highly important to involve local communities and apply their traditional knowledge for poverty eradication and sustainable development. International organisations and financial institutions are targeting the implementation of the Millennium Goals adopted by most of the states at the global summit of the World Bank in 2001. Fundamental values to be declared in this document include, among others, the tolerance, nature conservation and common responsibility. The main focus is on solving the economic, social and environmental problems, and in particular, on interconnectedness of these issues. Interdisciplinary interaction is a complicated task due to the different scales of problems to be solved at the local, regional and global levels. That is the reason why improvement of the management, its humanistic dimension – ‘good governance’ – becomes one of the new priority trends in the planning of the projects and programs.
	A specific example under this trend is the international project of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment covering all major ecosystems of the planet. In Russia this project is still in the initial phase, and the circumpolar region (Arctic ecosystems) is not yet considered in the subprojects. In general, the project is challenging a wide range of tasks, including the following:
1.	to provide the different users (including local communities) with the information on ecosystem state, local resources and most rational ways of their utilisation and management;
2.	to evaluate the relation between the ecosystem state and well-being of the population (summing up the ‘ecosystem services’);
3.	to involve the population into the ecosystem management at the local level.
In contrast to previous research and mainly global assessments of the ecosystems, this project is focused on the uniqueness of ecosystems and practices of their use, in essence there is planned an inventory of the natural agricultural systems. It is connected with decreasing confidence of the local communities in the global political decision-making. In substance, the project objective is an enhancement of the local component in all estimations and in the process of ecosystem management. The representation of the indigenous peoples (Ms. Esther Camac from Costa-Rica) in the International Consultative Committee of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was envisaged from the project initiation. This committee accumulates information on subprojects, implemented by local and indigenous communities within the aforementioned project.
	On 17-20 March 2004 in Alexandria (Egypt) an International conference was organised under this project: “Bridging Scales and Epistemologies: Integration of Traditional Knowledge and Science in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment”. Many indigenous representatives from various world regions participated in the conference. The conference objective was to make the project outcomes accessible and useful for local communities (including indigenous peoples), as well as present the tools for the environmental and ecosystem monitoring with the local participation (indicators, interview, questionnaires, maps, reports, databases etc.).
	At the conference the bulk of the presentations criticised that local traditional knowledge was inadequately not considered in the global assessments. At the same time it was clearly stated that there is a lack of social conditions and institutions for consideration of such knowledge. For indigenous peoples the conference resolutions, as well as the subprojects’ outcomes are of high interest. They comprise the following issues:
-	case studies on integral (jointly with the local communities) ecosystem assessment, including the participatory system for such assessment;
-	application of traditional knowledge for sustainable development;
-	traditional knowledge in the biodiversity conservation;
-	introduction of a participatory system into the resource management;
-	simulation and models of ecosystem management on the basis of traditional knowledge;
-	ways and practices for traditional knowledge interpretation and promotion in international conventions and global assessments.
	The conference incorporated presentations of interesting pilot projects on the following themes:
-	how institutional barriers for participatory system introduction in the ecosystem management are to be overcome;
-	how ecosystem assessment by local population could add to or enrich the existing scientific evaluations;
-	how does local knowledge reflect or supplement the evaluation of the ecosystem actual degradation;
-	experience with adaptation to or mitigation of the ecological threats by local communities.
The representatives of the indigenous communities have expressed their views on the integration of different types of knowledge in the following statements:
1.	indigenous communities are able to communicate and use scientific knowledge;
2.	ecosystem assessment by indigenous communities is distinguished by both emotional and spiritual dimensions and expression of their connection to the land;
3.	indigenous communities have their own vision of the future and well-being, where economic, social, cultural and spiritual components constitute an entuty, a vision that differs from Western values;
4.	indigenous communities are capable to react to the ecosystem changes and integrate (or successfully apply) scientific knowledge;
5.	Western authors shall introduce the ethic approach into the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Project, because the ideology of ecosystem service evaluation might cause a threat to the system of values of indigenous communities, and the indigenous representatives shall be included into the team for the risk assessment;
6.	the project is based on the ideology of the UN (and the member-states), what results in the priority assessment of the ecosystem goods and services instead of needs of people. This paradigm of the project shall be subsequently modified.
The conference recognised that public and private institutions, responsible for ecosystem management, are not yet holistic and multi-level and do not adequately reflect the interests of different actors. Significant work is needed on legal, institutional and capacity building issues. Recognition of local knowledge shall also be reflected in the global financial actions. Participation in the international project of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is of high interest in case of further implementation of its subprojects on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development of indigenous lands.
	Integration of traditional and scientific knowledge might also be implemented under the new project of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) on integrated ecosystem approach to conserve biodiversity and minimise habitat fragmentation in the Russian Arctic (ECORA). The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources has recently launched this project in cooperation with international partners. The ultimate goal of this project is to foster nature protection in the regions outside the existing protected areas network. This objective assumes the close interaction with the local population, which in the pilot regions Kolguev Island, Kolyma River Basin and Chukotkan Peninsula are represented by indigenous peoples. The representative of RAIPON is included in the ECORA Steering Committee, a very important action from the point of view of practical project implementation, because the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment project also aims at research and solution of the environmental problems intrinsically related to the socio-economic conditions.
	Essentially topical to the ECORA project is the program on Ecological Knowledge in the Arctic Transborder Territories, which envisages environmental monitoring and is implemented with the participation of indigenous communities. The project period is 1996-2004. It covers Arctic regions in Canada and USA. Descriptions of the concept, methods and intermediate results are posted on the Internet.
	Under the aegis of the Arctic Council a pilot project on “Conservation Value of Sacred Sites of Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic” was carried out in 2001-2002 jointly by the RAIPON and international organisations, the Arctic Council’s Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat (IPS) and the Working Group of the Arctic Council on Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF). Data from the final report on this project are available on RAIPON’s website. Namely two pilot areas in the Yamalo-Nenets and Koryak autonomous regions were investigated by indigenous peoples. 70 interviews were conducted with the Nenets elders in the Tazovsky district of theYamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and 263 sacred sites were identified, described, and mapped. In the Olyutorsky district of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug there were 30 people (Koryak, Chukchi, Even) interviewed, and 84 sacred sites described and identified on the map. All sacred sites were registered and documented according to a standard questionnaire, which was personally filled in by indigenous interviewers at the meeting with each respondent. Audio and video records, as well as photos were taken. As a result, substantial information on sacred sites has been collected, a number of sites were visited and described in detail. Processed materials, archived records and findings, analysis of the available information sources and literature form the basis of the project report’s classification of the sacred sites. Recommendations for their protection at the local, national and international levels are given. In the amendments to the report, vast and diverse information has been published, although much significant material is not yet processed and published.
	The methodology of these projects might be successfully used and applied for organising a training seminar, proposed by UNEP/GRID-Arendal to be held in St. Petersburg next year, on Community Based Nature Resource Management with particular attention to the problems and conditions in the Russian Federation.
The ecosystem approach has gained a greater significance since adoption of the Convention on Biodiversity Conservation (CBD) in 1998. The international community makes additional efforts to legitimise traditional knowledge in all programs, concepts, approaches, tools and action plans for biodiversity management (in particular, through implementation of the Decision 6.10 of the CBD Article 8, where indigenous peoples take part as principal executives via expert committees, elaboration of documents, pilot projects etc.). Activities under the Convention and its projects constitute a parallel processes of integration of traditional and scientific knowledge at different levels, mutually beneficial for all stakeholders.
In this context it is worth to mention several other initiatives of the largest international organisations. The Arctic Program of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has been implemented since the late 1990s. This program affirms the priority of the traditional knowledge of Arctic indigenous peoples along with its ecological value and significance. Arctic Strategy of the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) also indicates the importance of aboriginal knowledge for nature protection and rational use of resources, as well as the need to integrate scientific and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples.
	The World Bank has recently elaborated a new political document discussed and modified through the process of consultations with indigenous peoples. Though this policy document has been criticised for the insufficient use of indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge, it still serves as a good example of adjusting political strategy by a global financial institute in response to the needs of local communities. In spite of considerable indulgences in the application of declared environmental standards, it is expected that the practice of preliminary consultations on the World Bank projects with indigenous peoples will be maintained.
	The Convention of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and its article 169 in particular, is a fundamental document regulating rights of indigenous peoples and responsibilities of the state in ensuring their well-being and development. Unfortunately, the Convention is not yet ratified by the Russian Federation, therefore it is necessary to fight for the recognition of basic rights by available instruments. It is especially important to ensure the participation of the local population in the self-governance and decision-making at the local, regional and national levels.
In connection with the latter issue, RAIPON recently conducted a survey and collected data from over 400 traditional, indigenous settlements. The survey revealed that these settlements are extremely isolated from the ‘outer world’ and other communities. Accessibility of information and mass media are of high importance for local residents. The question on availability of mass media and authorities was answered as shown by the following table:
This evaluation clearly demonstrates that the opinion of local and indigenous people practically is not available for the decision-making process, and without public organisations able to champion interests of their members, these opinions cannot be taken into consideration by governments and power structures. The objective to enhance the potential and build the capacity of the existing non-governmental organisations is very important and actual.
Other instruments can also be used for the evaluation of local and traditional knowledge application.
	On 23-27 June 2004 in Elista, capital of the Kalmykian Republic in Russia, there was held an international seminar on Traditional Knowledge and Modern Technology for the Sustainable Management of Dryland Ecosystems. This seminar made use of the UN Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD) for its practical work. The role of the indigenous knowledge is recognised in the Convention Article 18, which calls for the protection, promotion and use of traditional knowledge to combat desertification. At the 6th session of the UNCCD Conference (Havana, Cuba, 25 August-5 September, 2003) the parties had adopted the decision 16/COP.6 titled “Traditional Knowledge” with the intention to conduct a pilot research and to study experiences on application and protection of the traditional knowledge.

Mass media	available
(% of settlements)	unavailable (% of settlements)	
radio	85	15	
television	73	27	
local newspapers	98	2	
regional press	95	5	
national (central) press	77	23	
Authorities	accessible
(% of settlements)	inaccessible (% of settlements)	
local militia	45	17	
local deputies	48	20	
local administration	18	15	
regional administration, deputies and authorities	2-7	41-47	
deputies of federal (national) level	0,7	95	

	The UNESCO Department on Ecological Sciences since 1971 has implemented the multidisciplinary program “Man and the Biosphere” (MAB), aimed at nature conservation, environmental research and harmonisation of the resources use. In this scientific program there has been established a global network of biosphere reserves with 440 protected sites in 97 countries. This network can be used for monitoring and as a polygon of the sustainable ecosystem management with the application of traditional knowledge and modern technologies. One of the MAB projects on sustainable management in the marginal drylands (ICARDA) with studies of the traditional practices and know-how has been implemented in 8 countries. In this project the local population is a principal participant defining, evaluating and raising awareness about the local systems of community resources management for the conservation of the biological diversity and ecological sustainability in order to overcome the negative social and environmental consequences. Methods of the evaluation are incorporated into the project design, comprising collection of information and its assessment according to the following three elements:
1.	State of existing natural resources: A detailed description of the current state of existing ecosystem services in terms of its natural resources – water, soil, biodiversity – at the local level and their relationships at spatial and temporal scales.
2.	Characterisation of stresses: An overall characterisation of the typical environmental stresses including scarcity of water, land degradation, overgrazing, irrational cultivation and reliance on agriculture, social stresses and social services deficiency, and urbanisation dynamics and its effect on local inhabitants’ traditions and culture.
3.	Description of indigenous, adaptive and innovative approaches: The adaptation of the local communities to the conditions in the key area and its hinterland and whether such adaptations are sustainable in the long-term was assessed in the field through interviews and observations. Various management approaches and technologies – indigenous, adaptive and innovative – were considered, including water resource management practices, management of rangelands and grazing patterns, soil degradation identification, land suitability for agriculture, etc.
An Environmental Information System (EIS) based on a participatory geo-information system (GIS) is suggested to administer the required master database of the project. It is structured to manage all forms of information, of spatial (base maps, satellite imagery and the like), and non-spatial character (texts, tables, graphs, statistics and the like) from existing literature, previous projects, field observation, data analyses and their interpretations. This will facilitate the data archiving, analysis and query as well as combination of the scientific, administrative and social data obtained for the local inhabitants in one common repository. Implementing this GIS-database will enable comparative evaluation of study sites and dissemination of information amongst the partner institutions. The detailed comprehensive methodology of the project is described in the report of the UN University (UNU) in 2003.
	One of the largest projects covering traditional knowledge issues has been launched by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). This initiative has been supported by UNESCO, UNDP, GEF, governmental and non-governmental organisations for global recognition, preservation and sustainable development of the Globally-Important Ingenious Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS Project).
	Such systems comprise mainly crop or mobile animal-based agriculture which optimise resource use and mitigate the risk of overgrazing. These ingenious systems are well adapted to highly variable ecosystems, in particular, with significant climatic and seasonal variations. Such systems are intertwined with carefully adapted social institutions for access to common resources and ecosystems management. Deep knowledge of the dynamics of the ecosystems in the territory with highly specialised ecological niches is the basis for these lands’ traditional management.
	Such outstanding and highly specific traditional management systems, or cultures have co-evolved over centuries with the landscape and its components. They are noteworthy for their contribution to biodiversity conservation, sustainable land and water and landscape management and the provision of food, livelihood security and quality of life. Many provide globally important goods and services well beyond their geographical limits.
	Under the current circumstances from the perspective of the developing communities and their agricultural systems it is not so important to dwell upon the limits of applicability of local knowledge systems versus scientific knowledge. What is more interesting and relevant is how to develop approaches that successfully integrate the comparative strengths of both types of systems. These attempts need to be participatory and inclusive by definition and would have implications for the role of the expert, moving from a provider of information to a nexus between scientific knowledge system and local communities.
	One more step in this direction is to be made under the European Landscape Convention. It is aiming at the protection of the rural landscapes, as well as local land use practices and management systems. In the Guide on Rural Heritage, prepared under the Convention, the local practices, traditions, knowledge and technologies are considered as most important heritage items. The entire document is earmarked by an idea of the heritage protection, in particular preservation of the living heritage as a most important component of the sustainable development.

***

INTERNET WEBSITES:
RAIPON: http://www.raipon.org
Arctic Council: http://www.arctic-council.org
Commission of the European Communities: http://europa.eu.int/comm
ECORA project: http://www.grida.no/ecora/public/PDF-A_A03.pdf
FAO: http://www.fao.org
Freedominfo: www.freedominfo.org
Globally-Important Ingenious Agricultural Heritage Systems Project: http://www.fao.org/ag1/ag11/giahs/
GRID/ Arendal: http://www.grida.no
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Conventions…: http://conventions.coe.int
Implementation of the UN Millennium Declaration (2003): http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals
International Labour Organisation: http://www.ilo.org
IUCN: http://www.iucn.org
MAB programme: http://www.unesco.org/mab
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Project: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/
UNECSO: http://www.unesco.org
UNDP: http://www.undp.org
UNEP: http://www.unep.org
United Nations Organisation: http://www.un.org
WWF Arctic Programme: http://www.panda.org.arctic 

Project proposal:
Monitoring of oil development in traditional indigenous lands of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug

Winfried K. Dallmann, Norwegian Polar Institute, and Vladislav V. Peskov, Association “Yasavey”

This project proposal was proposed for funding to the council of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region (BEAR), Indigenous Peoples’ Programme, in early 2004. The Council could not allocate any funding due to the current lack of available means, but expressed interest and recommended strongly to pursue other funding possibilities. A subsequent application to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was declined. WWF Norway has signalled interest of cooperation and minor economic support. An application to the Nordic Council of Ministers is underway, while it is also intended to include the project into the agenda of the International Polar Year.

Background and motivation 
The Association of Nenets People “Yasavey” has documented numerous violations of Russian environmental law by oil companies in various areas of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO). Reindeer pastures have been ― and are continually ― destroyed and polluted To collect and make easily available data on this development, an Internet-based electronic GIS database showing these activities is envisaged. 
Aims and objectives
1. To produce a GIS map database to the scale of 1:1 mill. of the NAO providing information on
- indigenous settlements and traditional land use areas;
- oil activities (drilling sites, pipelines, damaged tundra areas, spills, etc.);
- development of the situation through annual comparison (preferably spring and autumn). 
	Such a database can be used towards management and authorities to achieve actions against the illegal development, and towards oil companies for negotiations on compensation claims.
2. Training staff of Yasavey in GIS systems and use of GIS data.
3. Stimulate similar projects in other areas of the circumpolar North.
Participants
1. Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI)
Contact person: Winfried Dallmann (research leader “Geokart” and ANSIPRA network coordinator); e-mail: dallmann@npolar.no, ansipra@npolar.no
2. Association of Nenets People “Yasavey”
Contact person: Vladislav Peskov (President of “Yasavey”, leader of RAIPON’s Information Center); e-mail: vladpskv@mail.ru, yasavey@atnet.ru
3. Possible participant: Nenets Information and Analytical Centre (NIAC), department of NAO administration. Participation is not yet clarified, although steps have been taken to involve NIAC in the project. NIAC’s participation would facilitate cooperation with the ongoing project “Nenets Environmental Database”. The project would gain from NIAC’s participation, but could be carried out without them. 
Work programme
Phase 1:
Duration: ca. 1 year from the start of funding.
	Within phase 1 a GIS geodatabase will be established. Easily accessible thematic data will be collected and entered. Easily accessible means that the data are contained in available documents, or available from analysing one set of satellite images. The resulting preliminary database will be made available on the Internet as an interactive map database. A series of paper plots covering the data of the GIS database will be also be made and issued together with a written project report. 
Phase 2:
Duration: ca. 1 additional year.
	Within phase 2, staff of Yasavey will undertake travel to relevant communities within the NAO in order to get up-to-date, local information on the communities and oil-related activities. Data will be added into the database. One or two sets of satellite images, taken one year later (spring and/or autumn), will be analysed in order to monitor changes in selected areas with expected new activities. A series of paper plots covering the updated dataset of the GIS database will be made and issued together with a second project report.
Phase 3:
After the second phase, monitoring and data supply into the database will continue at a rate dependent on available funding. No further funding would probably still allow to add continuously available data into the database. Annual satellite monitoring will only continue with further funds.
Preliminary setup of the database
Besides standard geographical data, the database will contain information as listed below. The database allows to switch on or off various thematic layers showing the items in the table below by point and line symbols, colours or shading. The preliminary setup (see table below) will be evaluated during the project. In addition, relevant photos will be linked to respective localities. 
Language
The language of the Internet GIS database is English. The possibility of a bilingual (English and Russian) database will be considered. The project reports will be written in English and Russian (translated by the participants’ staff).
Budget
We do not consider it necessary to list a detailed budget here. The overall budget is calculated to be ca. US$50,000 for phase 1 and US$40,000 for phase 2. 

DATA SETS	ATTRIBUTES	

Towns / non-indigenous settlements	total population	% Nenets	% Izhma Komi	main activities	references	
Indigenous villages	total population	% Nenets	% Izhma Komi	% related to reindeer breeding	references	
Nature use areas	type of nature use (reindeer pasture/ calving site; fishing /spawning grounds, hunting grounds, etc.)	users	season of use	remarks	references	
Reindeer pastures	name(s) of breeding unit(s)	type of unit	ethnic affiliation	seasons of use	references	
Protected areas	type of protected area	purpose	established (year)	remarks	references	
Exploitation license area	company	year of approval	activity	remarks	references	
Oil installations
(localities)	type of installation (drilling rig, work camp, harbour, etc.)	year of establishment / 
abandonment	type of activity	company	references	
Traffic lines	type of traffic line (road, track, pipeline, power line, etc.) 	year of establishment	relation to oil business 	remarks	references	
Impact areas	type of damage (oil spill, eroded tundra,etc.)	age of damage	degree of damage	company	references	
Other relevant installations 	type of installation	owner	activity	remarks	references	
Preliminary database setup

Keepers of ethnic arts and crafts 

L.G. Ignatenko, President of Union of Communities of Northern indigenous peoples of Kamchatka “Yayar” 

A cultural training project, “Ethnic Arts and Crafts”, has been started up in the Elizovo District of Kamchatka. It has been initiated by the head of the public Union of Communities of Northern Indigenous Peoples of Kamchatka “Yayar”, L.G. Ignatenko, on request of the clan communities “Aleskam” in the villages of Razdolnyy, “Koyana” in Koryaki, “Kamyak”, “Kam-Avva” and “Arguch” in Elizovo, and primary organisations in the villages of Lesnoy, Nikolaevka, etc. 
	The Project is financially supported by the UNDP/GEF. Activities are threefold: woodcarving, weaving with natural materials, and ethnic products of leather, fur and beads. Every Saturday and Sunday people join with pleasure in their selected working circles. Work takes place in the Children's House of Creative Work kindly hired out to us by the director of the centre, Irina Borisovna Savina. It should be noted that people not only receive skills, but also in a relaxed way communicate in the native language of our ancestors – Itelmen. In conversations they recollect interesting histories, customs, recipes, tell about herbs, berries for gathering, catching fish, about preparation of meat, fur, leather, etc. 
	We are so lucky that the teachers who work with us are native speakers, and also keepers of the traditional culture of the peoples of Kamchatka. One of them, Viktor Viktorovich Ryzhkov, teaches the course in woodcarving. He is an outstanding person who on his own has mastered working with fur, leather, wood, metal, and even ceramics, which our people have done for ages. For many years he has collected songs, fairy- tales, and legends of the native peoples of Kamchatka, and he has made an audio- and a video-archive of many keepers of the traditional culture of Kamchatka. But his most important quality is that he has studied the Itelmen language towards perfection, and he is invited to communities to teach it. Viktor Ryzhkov enjoys an enormous authority among the native people of southern Kamchatka. This is probably why both adults and teenagers work with him, and he appeals to everybody. And although work has only been done for two months, the first “best pupils” have already appeared: Grandfather and grandson Anisimov from the community “Kamyak” in Elizovo, and also a person from the community “Kam-Avva”, Nataliya Stanovaya of the well-known clan Novograblenov, which is trying very hard to adopt the skill of woodcarving. The results can already be seen.
	 The head of the “Weaving of natural materials” course, Lidiya Innokentevna Chechulina, also deserves praise. Very few people own such rare gifts today. Lidia Chechulina is a carrier and the keeper of Koryak culture, who also perfectly masters throat singing, and knows traditional songs from native places. She is frequently invited to international conferences, where she not only tells about the people and culture of the Koryaks, and in general about the population of northern Koryakiya, but she also conducts training courses in many disciplines: work with natural materials such as leather, fur, and beads, weaving of sedges, sea grass, ivan-tea, and nettles; all crafts, which must be revived from scratch. Lidiya Chechulina also has her “best schoolgirls”: Elena Posvolskaya from Vilyuchiysk, Nadezhda Tokareva from Elizovo, and Viktoria Fedotova from Koryaki – an elder who wants to become skilled in weaving despite her age, and has made great progress. 
	The leader of the “Fur, leather and bead crafts” course, Zinaida Pavlovna Zaeva, also deserves much attention. The best results in her group are from Valentina Anatolevna Mashikhina from the “Arguch” community in Elizovo, and from Svetlana Anatolevna Kislova. 
	We will certainly leave a good legacy to our children and grandchildren. Yu. Kashnikova, the coordinator of our courses, with whom we began and organised this vital work, was right when he said: “We have lost much during the past years, which have been so difficult for our country. But the living soul cannot live without art, cultural roots, and native traditions”. 

Novosibirsk State University expands project framework on indigenous peoples of Siberia 

Viktoria Churikova (http://www.ngs.ru/ip)

A joint project of the Novosibirsk State University (NSU) and UNESCO, “Expansion of opportunities of indigenous peoples of Siberia to receive higher education”, has received a grant from the European Union.
	The project has existed for just over one year. Its aim is to counteract discrimination against the indigenous peoples of Siberia, to increase their social status, self-esteem and self-reliance by means of special educational programs and the creation of organisations that would work for such goals. 
	Specific goals of the project are the development of the linguistics and culture of indigenous peoples of Siberia, the training of highly qualified indigenous staff for preservation and development of their languages, the raising of awareness about their cultures, and the inclusion of their culture and languages into the global knowledge pool. This work goes along with educating indigenous leaders at a higher level, to make them capable of asserting the rights of their people within the Russian state authorities. 
	NSU is trying to increase study places and social opportunities for young representatives of the indigenous peoples of Siberia. For children and teenagers at the age of 5-15 years an educational model based on a dialogue between the cultures will be created. For youth of 16-30 years a special system of recruitment, examination entry and undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education will be developed at NSU.
	An outcome of the project will be a model of tolerant interaction to facilitate the distribution of information on indigenous cultures, to bring the indigenous peoples of Siberia further towards justice, and to increase their participation in civil society. 
	A concrete tool to realise the project in remote areas is the creation of contact branches in places of concentrated indigenous habitation. Contact branches are intended for remote training, consultation and regular communication with representatives of the educational sphere in a given sub-area. They are equipped with computers and provide access to the Internet. 
	Within the first three months it is planned to open such a contact branch in the office of the Union of Itelmen Clans, to carry out corresponding “Olympics” on mathematics among schoolchildren, and to select the representative Itelmen people for a three-weeks’ training course at the Summer School of Computer Science and Programming at the Maximum College of Computer Science at NSU. 
	The persons in charge of the contact branch, President of the Union, Pëtr Bekkerov, and the NSU teacher, Viktoria Churikova, started their work at the 5th Congress of Arctic Social Sciences in Fairbanks, Alaska, 19-23 May 2004. Participation in sessions and discussions with experts working in Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and other countries has helped to give to the project real substance. Talks at the sessions on education, history of the eastern and western Pacific, and also on preservation of traditional wildlife management in protected territories led to discussions and new useful contacts. 
	In the main building of the University at Fairbanks, where the conference was held, a stand was placed, which showed the results of the NSU project and exhibited recent literature. Special attention was attracted by dolls representing the ‘numerically-small’ indigenous peoples of Siberia, made by children in Russia. 

International Polar Year 2007-2008 

Preparations are underway for a new large-scale international program in polar research known as “International Polar Year 2007-2008,” or IPY. IPY will include several months of intense research activities, followed by data analysis, publication, and discussions. IPY will be organised jointly by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Several international science bodies – including IASSA – have endorsed the IPY initiative and are engaged in its planning.
	This will be the fourth IPY; the first one was in 1882-83, the second in 1932-33, and the third in 1957-58. This IPY, however, will be the first one with a clearly defined social science and humanities component, thanks to the efforts of an IASSA taskforce of twenty social scientists formed at the 5th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences in Fairbanks in May. IASSA has also nominated Igor Krupnik and Grete Hovelsrud-Broda to serve on the main planning body, the IPY Joint Committee (IPY JC).
	On 5 November 2004, the ICSU Secretariat issued an invitation for submission of expressions of intent (pre-proposals) from scientific groups and individual scholars for prospective endorsement by the IPY JC. The deadline is 14 January 2005.

Social Science Theme
The IPY will include a broad range of activities organised around a select number of scientific themes. Thanks to IASSA efforts, a social science theme has been added – to investigate the cultural, historical, and social processes that shape the sustainability of circumpolar human societies, and to identify their unique contributions to global cultural diversity and citizenship. 
	Priority issues to be addressed in the IPY 2007-2008 under this theme include:
•	How can the “wellness” of polar environments be studied in terms of changing socio-political conditions and the health of ecosystems? 
•	What has been the effectiveness of governance regimes in polar regions, and how can these respond to the divergent and rapidly evolving cultural and socio-economic systems? 
•	What research methodologies are best suited to an interdisciplinary understanding of the fundamental links between ecosystems, economies and cultural diversity? How can polar residents become more instrumental in shaping these activities; and how can social sciences, humanities, and fine arts communicate this understanding to diverse audiences? 
•	What are the key human health and medical issues in polar regions? How, for example, are diseases carried into polar communities and how is community health affected by environmental change? 
•	How can historical studies and records of the polar regions enhance understanding of contemporary social and cultural problems? 
•	What do the polar societies contribute to global cultural diversity and the political status of indigenous people worldwide? 

The IASSA IPY Facilitation Initiative
To facilitate the submission of arctic social science and humanities expressions of intent (pre-proposals) to the ICSU, IASSA has launched an initiative to create a vigorous exchange of ideas, discussion, and active communication. To learn more and/or participate, please go to:

Internet links:
IASSA IPY Facilitation Initiative (http://www.uaf.edu/anthro/iassa/ipysubmitform.htm)
IPY Idea Submissions to IASSA (http://www.uaf.edu/anthro/iassa/ipysubmissions.htm)
IASSA IPY News (http://www.uaf.edu/anthro/iassa/ipynews.htm)
IASSA IPY Task-group (http://www.uaf.edu/anthro/iassa/ipytask.htm)
Links to Other IPY Sites  (http://www.uaf.edu/anthro/iassa/ipylinks.htm)

Contact: Anne Sudkamp, e-mail: fyiassa@uaf.edu.

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SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Social and economic problems of the indigenous population of the Magadanskaya Oblast, with the example of the Ola village

by Winfried Dallmann (Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsø), mainly based on material collected by:
M.T. Yaschenko (coordinator of economic development of indigenous peoples, Ola), I.M. Yaschenko (economist, chairman of clan community “Nevte”, Ola), and A.P. Yakushkova (Ola Village Organisation of Northern Indigenous Peoples)

The Magadanskaya Oblast (Magadan Region) in the Russian Far East experienced a more than 40 % drop in its population, especially at the end of the 1990s, from 397,310 (census 1989) to 227,200 inhabitants (Jan. 2001, Goskomstat). As many of the people leaving the region were educated personnel, this clearly had a major effect on the social and economic situation of the region. At the same time the number of inhabitants belonging to Northern indigenous peoples was slowly rising, from 5283 (census 1989) to approximately 6100 now; this means a doubling of the percentage, from 1.3 % to 2.6 %.

The Ola village
The Ola village in the Olskiy District, situated about 20 miles east of the town of Magadan, is officially recognised as a place of concentrated (“compact”) indigenous habitation. Out of a total population of ca. 6400, the indigenous portion constitutes 715, or 11 %. These inhabitants belong to the Even, Kamchadal, Yupik (Eskimo), Chukchi, Orochi, Shor, Chuvan, and Itelmen peoples, with Evens forming the largest and autochthonous portion. From the earliest time the traditional occupation of native people in this area has been fishing, which still plays a role in all indigenous economic enterprises and clan communities of the village. Seven enterprises in the village have the status of “Economic Subject of Aboriginal People”, and there are six recognised clan communities (“obschiny”).
Lack of economic resources
The main problem for the majority of the indigenous economies is lack of own capital, no access to loans at low interest rates, and difficulties obtaining a fishing quota. These problems are urgent as they are closely interconnected. The absence of a firm materialistic and technical base for the enterprises decreases their possibility of receiving the commercial quotas, which are distributed on the basis of competition. Applicants cannot participate in a competition unless they can document the necessary technical resources. 
	This regulation applies regardless of the fact that indigenous people of the area consider the fish resources as their property since time immemorial. They do not accept that the non-native administration of the area has any right to deprive them of their traditional resources and consequently expel them from their primordial ground. In 2003, dissatisfaction with these conditions led to an action of civil disobedience among village fishers. 
	Today, only about one third of the indigenous work force of the Magadanskaya Oblast work in traditional economic branches. 
Unemployment
The exact number of unemployed aboriginals is unknown, as many of them are not registered at the labour administration. The registered number for the Magadanskaya Oblast as a whole is 12.8 %, but the percentage is higher in the districts with a high proportion of indigenous residents (for the Severo-Evenskiy District 17.5 %, for the Olskiy District 16.9 %). The real number is estimated to be three times higher and may be close to 50 %. Efforts to create new jobs have not been successful, because the indigenous population is passed over by employers, who favour more qualified non-indigenous villagers. Unemployment has marginalised a group within the population, people who were cut off from their traditional occupations and could not adapt to modern society. This group is largely asocial and has a high rate of addiction to alcohol. Their prospective jobs are not in the advanced branches of industry, but in subsidiary production and infrastructure, such as auxiliary workers, loaders, watchmen, and technicians.
Housing

Rayon (district)	adults	children	retired 	able-bodied	unem-ployed	
Severo-Evenskiy	 864	 867	 134	 502	 251	
Olskiy	 1213	 484	 240	 973	 622	
Omsukchanskiy	 235	 136	 25	 186	 51	
Tenkinskiy	 88	 18	 23	 56	 32	
Yagodninskiy	 35	 12	 11	 28	 11	
Srednekanskiy	 280	 102	 162	 101	 89	
Khasynskiy	 96	 38	 14	 82	 46	
Magadanskiy	 753	 378	 124	 629	 215	
Susumanskiy	 22	 2	 3	 22	 12	
Total of Magadanskaya Oblast (Region)	
3586	
2037	
736	
2579	
1329	
Social distribution of the indigenous population in the Magadanskaya Oblast according to numbers provided by regional administration and indigenous peoples’ organisations. The real unemployment rate is thought to be much higher; only registered unemployed persons are listed.

Another problem is that of housing conditions. In the Ola village, 27 indigenous families have registered at the village administration that they wish to improve their housing conditions. Two families do not have their own accommodation at all, while 22 families need major renovation of their apartments. The real number of families in need of better conditions is much higher. Many do not even apply to the village administration, because things happen far too slowly and they do not expect any help.
Promises and reality

Family units	392	
Families with more than one child	9	
Total number of children	116	
Children of pre-school age	44	
Children of school age	72	
Total number of students (middle- and high-school)	28	
Persons with completed middle-school education	57	
Persons with completed middle-school education	14	
Retired persons	49	
Total number of handicapped persons	26	
Handicapped adults	19	
Handicapped children	7	
Social distribution of the indigenous population in the Ola village. 

In April 2004 leaders of indigenous enterprises and clan communities of the Magadanskaya Oblast met to discuss the situation. The oblast administration offered to establish an Initiative Group at the governor’s office to develop a concept to improve the employment situation for the indigenous population of the area. The news was reflected in the press, so the public could read that something would be done. 
	The inhabitants of native villages were sceptical towards this news, taking into account the critical condition and the problems concerned with these villages (Yamsk, Takhtoyamsk, Gadlya, Orotuk, etc.). The idea of creating a programme for the development of indigenous peoples of the North based on individual communities had been worked with for a long time, and the Programme of Revival of the Native Settlement Orotuk was soon worked out. However, when the Initiative Group delivered a proposal, the interest of the administration had waned and the proposal was rejected. 
The Concept stands
To preserve the traditional way of life, employment of the native population must be based on their interest in helping themselves, their families and relatives. Therefore, we expect obligatory participation of village inhabitants in maintaining employment through the establishment of clan communities, small business enterprises, and individual labour.
	 When developing a Concept, emphasis must be placed on actions which will promote the creation of new employment opportunities, particularly in remote areas. 
The recent approval of the Directive titled “About the procedure and conditions of competitions for financial support of ‘Economic Subjects of Aboriginal People’ and Clan Communities of the Magadanskaya Oblast” does not aid in solving unemployment among indigenous people, because it is limited to providing continuing financial support to existing enterprises. 
	The Directive is convenient for strong enterprises, while the chance for weaker enterprises to receive financial support is almost nil. These are hardly able to raise the necessary funds to even register their projects. There is a paradox in that while we are trying to solve a problem, we build new barriers on the way to solve it.
	In Magadanskaya Oblast, a total of 50 ‘Economic Subjects of Aboriginal People’ and Clan Communities are registered. Nevertheless, nearly two thirds of these registered enterprises do not receive their share of quota in coastal fishery. Why? The answer is simple: all enterprises which passed competition, are the personal enterprises of public leaders and administration officers. It is easy for them to pass this competition, and it is also obvious that the above-mentioned Financial Support Directive is mainly intended for themselves, and not as a benefit to the simple natives.
	The Russian saying “Rescue of the drowning is a task for those who drown” may as well be applied to the Initiative Group, which put forward the idea of a Concept of Actions. The Concept is aimed at sustainable development of indigenous peoples. This means promoting the economic development in the region and an harmonious development of production, social sphere, population and environment.
	The group has established a “Coordination Center for Social and Economic Development of Northern Indigenous Peoples and Old Settlers” to improve the situation by creating real conditions to increase the employment possibilities of the indigenous population. 
	The purpose of the Center is to study the marketing of production and services, to establish promising branches, and to help to develop business plans. Within this framework, the Center will primarily help communities and business people, beginning with a business planning and strategy concept. The next step is to design business planning, search for investors, and to support the project in every way possible. 

employment categories 	out of these: traditional occupations	
state authorities 	745	reindeer-breeding 	268	
municipal auth.	274	fishing	133	
industry 	245	hunting 	35	
commerce	227	stock-farming 	14	
		agriculture 	1	
		others 	40	
total	1491	total	491	
Distribution of indigenous work force in the Magadanskaya Oblast; numbers indicate employed persons.

	On the one hand, support by and participation of the state is necessary, for instance the provision of grants to support traditional economies. Actions to protect the environment are urgently needed, for instance allocation of territories sufficient for traditional wildlife management. On the other hand, vocational training of indigenous individuals is necessary to prepare them for working with the economic and administrative staff, so that they can contribute to adjusting traditional indigenous economies to the market economic system.
	The basic purpose of the Concept is the creation of conditions for a sustainable development of indigenous peoples based on self-supply. This must be pursued by working simultaneously on many different levels, including—but not restricted to—traditional management, the resource and industrial base, spiritual and cultural development, improvement of education, and health issues.

For further information on this Concept, please contact:
Mikhail T. Yaschenko, RUS-686010 Magadanskaya Oblas, pos. Ola, ul. Lesnaya, 3-a, kv. 4, phone (+7) 41341-25271, e-mail: cadar@netman.ru.

The nomadic camp “Neltenke” 

Yu.A. Sleptsov

Camp “Neltenke” is a nomadic camp established to revive the traditional way of life, language, spiritual culture and customs of the indigenous Even people. The name “Neltenke”, or “Sun” in English, was thought of and selected by the young children – Camp Neltenke’s future pupils.

Issues:
•	to attract the coming generation of Even children to a Northern indigenous way of life and work;
•	to study the native Even language under the conditions of a nomadic life and its application in daily life;
•	to invite young people to develop skills in the area of nomadic reindeer breeding and experience life under extreme conditions;
•	to make clear the problems of Northern indigenous peoples and northern territories through publication of a bulletin and through mass media.

Camp “Neltenke” is located in the Momsk District of Yakutia, in the upper reaches of the river Arga-Tirekhtyakh, in the territory of the reindeer-breeding unit “Choloy” of the State Unitary Enterprise “Momskiy”.
	In 2000, the camp was visited by eighteen Even children in the 4 to 17 years age group. The children came from the Khonuu settlement, of the village Kulun-Elbyut and the town of Yakutsk. Ten of the children came from single-parent households or socially challenged families, and four children were under the protection of the Child Care Department. In 2001, nineteen Even children between 7 and 17 years of age from Khonuu, Kulun-Elbyut and Yakutsk participated. Three of these had handicapped parents, eight were from single-parent households, two came from large families, and two were orphans.
	The main purpose was to study and learn the native Even language and ancestral customs. The teacher (E.N. Gerasimov) applied the language training techniques used in pre-schools. The children studied every day for 1-2 hours and practiced speaking Even with each other after school; i.e., during meal preparations, camp work and breaks. The children quickly learned to master the most common words used in ordinary conversation. They also learned songs and rhyme, to help them to understand and remember words. To begin with, the children hardly spoke or remembered any of the language and had to use notes to read. But by end- summer, the children both read, remembered and understood much of the dialogues, and carried on Even conversations without notes.
	Before the camp started, some parents had felt ashamed of the fact that their children did not know their own native language. After the children returned from “Neltenke”, the parents expressed great pleasure in their children’s knowledge of the Even language, and they were no longer ashamed. This was the highest distinction paid to the project participants.
	An examination carried out at the end of the season showed very good results: the children had begun to speak and understand their native language. When visiting Momsk and the village Kulun-Elbyut again, E.N. Bokova, one of camp employees, happily informed me that children who had participated in the camp, were accepted at high school faculties.
	In addition to the Even language, children studied extreme survival techniques, how to use portable radio sets and fire-arms, and orientation and they learned ancestral customs and place-names. Their ancestors named places according to their properties and features, and knowledge of places is especially important for future reindeer breeders. The children studied basic occupational safety, transportation, and crossing of mountain passes. They distinguished between and gathered various sorts of berries. Mountain cranberries, blueberries, black and red currant, cloudberries, crowberries and arctic blackberries grew in the camp vicinity. Older children went hunting and fishing together with the instructors. Children liked the salty fish prepared according to my recipe. When I salted a fish, children sat around and watched with great interest. We caught mainly grayling, as there practically was no other fish.
	The children who visited the places of their nomadic ancestors, not only relaxed, but also received a charge of vivacity for the whole year. They also played various sport games with pleasure.
	I would like to explain one of the Even games. Games using rocks were especially interesting. Using rocks of various size and colours, the children constructed miniature nomad camps staffed with people and reindeer. Through this game they learned the order of things in place and time in nomadic camps, where the clan leader, the reindeer breeders, their families and housings should be, depending on the location of the pastures, etc. This game made helped the children understand their heritage, and to accumulate knowledge of the unwritten laws of a rough, nomadic life.
	The children also learned how to store meat the traditional way by preparing fresh meat and hanging it out on pegs and smoking it for preservation and storage.
	Children were trained in many other skills necessary for a nomadic lifestyle. These skills will undoubtedly, be useful to them in their future lives. In the end, the camp fulfilled its purpose: children became professional reindeer breeders, learned to express themselves in their native language, and acquired all the necessary working skills necessary for a nomadic lifestyle.

The Salmon Festival “Let’s Help the River Avacha”
L. Ignatenko, Head of Ketkino-Pinachevskaya territorial community “Aleskam” and Union of Communities “Yayar” of Kamchatka Oblast

The public organisation “Aleskam” Community and the Kamchatkan Union of the Communities of Northern Indigenous Peoples of the North “Yayar” organised the third Salmon Festival “Let’s Help the River Avacha”. The festival was organised with the help of the indigenous peoples of Yelizovskiy Rayon, using traditional skills and knowledge of natural resource use. It formed part of the project “Establishing nature preservation posts” for sports fishing and camping for environmental and ethnographic tourism.
	The Festival was opened on the 22 August 2004, in the village of Razdolny situated near the River Kolokolnikova.
The aims of the Festival were attracting people’s attention to preservation of wild salmons, as well as environmental education of the population.
	Welcoming speeches to the Festival were given by
•	Aleksandr Doroshenko, head of the Razdolny village administration,
•	Viktoriya Sharakhmatova, coordinator of the working group of the indigenous peoples of the North within the UNDP/GEF project “Preservation of Salmon Biodiversity and Sustainable Development in Kamchatka”,
•	Margarita Kulakova, head of the Salmon Museum of Yelizovo,
•	Irina Chigoshvili, coordinator of the project “The Living Sea”,
•	Aleksandr Kiyaykin, head of the Public Youth Organisation “The Komandor”, and
•	Viktoria Mikhailova (village of Milkovo), co-author of the project “Prevention of poaching through alternative employment of the population”, and head of the club “The Kamchadal”.
Besides the official part of the Festival, competitions were carried out and “The Oath to Salmon” was signed. The following exhibitions demonstrated the ways of traditional nature resource as an alternative to poaching, were organised together with the native enterprise “Association of Environmentally and Socially Responsible Producers of Non-wooden Products Using Kamchatkan Forest Resources”:
•	trade exhibition of souvenirs made by the Crafts School of the Children’s Public Organisation “Uykoal” of Yelizovo, headed by Nadezhda Slepchenko;
•	trade exhibition of crafts made of non-wooden forest materials – birch-bark, willow, and other traditional souvenirs – produced by the manufacturing firm “Producing and Procuring Organisation”;
•	tasting of food and drinks made of fern, berries and other forest plants.

The Foundation “Rare Fish Species and Biological Diversity”, Yelizovo, headed by Vyacheslav Zvyagintsev, sponsored the Festival. Our partners, The Kamchatka League of independent experts (head: Olga Chernyagina), and the director of the school of the village of Razdolny, Viktor Rimovich Li, helped us with transportation festival participants. The bulletin “We Are the People of the Salmon Country” was (“Pilot”, head: Dmitriy Panov); the bulletin “Reserve Area” and T-shirts were granted by the UNDP/GEF projects “Demonstrating Sustainable Conservation of Biological Diversity in Four Protected Areas of Russia’s Kamchatka Oblast” (head: Sergey Karmadonov), and “Preservation of Salmon Biodiversity and Sustainable Development in Kamchatka” (head: Sergey Sinyakov). Books were presented by the Northern Pacifica Foundation (head: Sergey Vakhrin).
	We are very grateful to the local division of the Emergency Control Ministry (leader: Vasiliy Vasilievich Shevchuk) that always helps us with the field-kitchen. The fish-soup they cooked this year was very much appreciated by the Festival’s guests.
	Members of the communities “Aleskam”, village of Razdolny, “Koyana”, village of Koryaki, “Lukichi”, village of Zelyony, “Diveevs’”, village of Nikolaevka, the indigenous enterprise, joint-stock company “Kronos” (head: Aleksandr Velitskiy), and Aleksey Bobryakov, a member of the city’s branch of RAIPON, helped us with preparations for the Festival, and provided it with fish, vegetables and even tents, models of chums, that are always very useful at such occasions. We also would like to thank volunteers from the community “Aleskam”, the elder Gennadiy Ivanovich Koptsev, Nikolay Ignatenko, an artist and designer, Marina Timonina, Aleksey Vedyashkin, Vladimir Popov, Sergey Tkhor, Vasiliy Pavlusenko, Maxim Krivogornitsyn, - who not only helped us to prepare the place for the feast but also guarded the camp overnight. Special thanks to Yakov Pavlovich Bebko who facilitated the Festival with a diesel generator. On completion of the feast, a group of the community’s volunteers were tidying up the area, and it was a nice surprise when three of the guests from the city, who still stayed there, offered their help. They were provided with garbage bags and cleaned the place together with the volunteers.
	Judging from the guests’ thankful responses, the Festival has been a success.

Contact information:
L. Ignatenko
Tel.: 8 (231) 37140, E-mail: yupik@mail.kamchatka.ru

About legislative activities of the indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation  

edited by G. Diachkova from material presented by M. Appolon

We received a letter from Maria Nikolaevna Appolon, a member of the tribal community “Agya”, Koryakskiy Autonomous Okrug. She tells us about the goal of the establishing a community to protect indigenous peoples’ legal rights to lead their traditional way of life, preserve their culture, customs and traditions. She also asks us a question that certainly would be of interest to many. It concerns the practice of allocating quotas and licenses for personal and large-scale fishing and fur animal hunting, cooperation between indigenous peoples’ organisations and local authorities to establish social programs to fight unemployment and alcoholism, and to help young mothers, families with many children, and retired people. The questions raised in the letter are urgent and complex, so we ask our readers to tell us how they solve them in their regions and villages. We, in turn, tell you about the experience of indigenous peoples I terms of legislative and other activities in the Russian Federation.

Taking into account peculiarities of indigenous peoples’ way of life, the Constitution of the Russian Federation singles these people out as a separate group and guarantees their rights in accordance with international legal regulations. The Russian legislation contains general regulations concerning the establishing of election districts in the areas of compact residence of the indigenous peoples with a necessary turnout of 30 %. There are also quota regulations for the election of representatives to legislative bodies of the regions of the Russian Federation and representative institutions of local self-government. There are regulations of rights of authorised representatives of indigenous peoples and their organisations to participate in decision-making processes concerning rights and interests of indigenous peoples, and of their right to control the fulfilment of such decisions.
	It is known that RAIPON participates in discussing federal draft laws relating to the indigenous peoples of the North. The quotas for representatives are established for indigenous peoples to take part in regional politics in Russian: in election committees (Yamalo-Nenetskiy Autonomous Okrug), in legislative institutions (Republic of Buryatia, Nenetskiy, Khanty-Mansiyskiy and Yamalo-Nenetskiy autonomous okrugs). There are special bodies at the regional parliaments (Duma): Assembly of representatives of northern indigenous peoples (Khanty-Mansiyskiy Autonomous Okrug), Standing Commission on affairs of Nenets and other northern indigenous peoples (Nenetskiy Autonomous Okrug), Representative of the indigenous peoples of the North (Sakhalinskaya Oblast). Indigenous peoples’ organisations of Sakhalinskaya and Kemerovskaya oblasts, as well as Chukotskiy, Koryakskiy, Nenetskiy and Evenkiyskiy autonomous okrugs, have the right to forward legislative initiatives. In the Chukotskiy Autonomous Okrug, councils of indigenous peoples’ representatives were established at the okrug government, regional and municipal executive bodies to consolidate cooperation between the indigenous peoples and the government. 
	Despite RAIPON’s participation in the political sphere both in Russia and abroad, the indigenous peoples’ contribution to solving many vitally important questions is still very small both at the regional and local levels. This results from the lack of mechanisms to involve indigenous peoples in controlling of the observance of laws relating to themselves, as well as the lack of juridical knowledge among the indigenous peoples. The latter was proven by several research works, for example, those conducted in the Chukotskiy Autonomous Okrug in 2002. Therefore it is necessary to hold various seminars and workshops devoted to enable indigenous peoples to solve their problems together with the authorities.
	During a workshop held in Moscow in 2003, various issues of parliamentarism were discussed, and the following recommendations for the regions of the Russian Federation were elaborated:
-	to include the legal norms in regulations of the legislative bodies to establish a procedure of involving indigenous peoples’ organisations and their representatives in discussions of draft laws, programs, and other documents;
-	to settle the procedure of the participation of indigenous peoples’ organisations and representatives in controlling of the observance of constitutional regulations, laws, and other legal acts;
-	to determine the status of indigenous representatives authorised to express the interests of the indigenous peoples in legislative bodies;
-	to conclude agreements between legislative and executive bodies and regional organisations on a range of problems and directions of activity;
-	to elaborate a system of regional laws to guarantee the indigenous peoples’ right to participate in decision-making by the authorities of the Russian regions, etc.
There are many problems to be solved urgently. It is therefore important that already existing experience and recommendations are use to establish certain mechanisms for realizing the rights and ideas of the indigenous peoples.

Maria Nikolaevna Appolon
Sovetskaya str., 42-6, Ossora village, 688700
Karaginskiy Rayon, Koryakskiy Autonomous Okrug
Phone: 47-3-48

The Editors ask the readers to respond and share their experience in dealing with the various problems.

See also: Participation of Indigenous Peoples in Political Life of Circumpolar Countries. In: Collected Papers of the International Workshop “Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, and the System of Parliamentarism in the Russian Federation: Reality and Perspectives”. March, 12-13, 2003, Moscow.

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INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ ORGANISATIONS

Passport to the global information society:
UN fellows from Arctic circumpolar countries attend Global Forum on Indigenous Issues in the Information Society, and the World Summit on the Information Society

Mary Leeds Stapleton, Managing Director, Arctic Circumpolar Route

“It opened the world to me”, says Roy Dahl, Member of the Pikangikum First Nation, and Northern Correspondent, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. “We are not the only ones. Many others are seeking answers to best uses of information and communication technology (ICT)”, he added. Roy was one of ten indigenous professional journalists from around the Arctic Circle who were awarded United Nations Fellowships to attend the Global Forum on Indigenous Issues in the Information Society. The Global Forum was held in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 2003, in conjunction with the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). These conferences showcased every aspect of information technology and its uses, and indigenous groups attended from throughout the world. Others who won Fellowships included:
•	Shirley Adamson (Wolf Clan, Ta’an Kwach’an Council), Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada; General Manager, Northern Native Broadcasting, Yukon.
•	Madeleine Allakariallak (Inuit), Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, CBC Commentator and Broadcaster in Inuktitut and English
•	Elizabeth (Sabet) Biscaye (Chipewyan-Dene), Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, Executive Director, Native Communications Society. NCS owns and operates CKLB radio and NCS TV producing weekly programming for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
•	Roy Dahl (Member, Pikangikum First Nation), Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada;Northern Correspondent, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
•	Nils-Johan Heatta (Saami), Karasjok, Norway; Director of Saami Broadcasting in Norway. NRK Sami Radio is a subsidiary of Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK).
•	Isak Kleist, (Inuit) Nuuk, Greenland, Documentary filmmaker and journalist, Greenland national television (KNR-TV).
•	Nadezhda Mikhailova, Novokuznetsk, Siberia, Organisation of Indigenous Women of Siberia.
•	Ole-Isak Mienna (Saami), Kiruna, Sweden; Head of Saami Radio in Sweden, a division of Swedish Radio.
•	Zebedee Nungak (Inuit), Commentator, Speaker, Translator, and Politician, Kangirsuk, Nunavik, Canada (declined at his request)
•	Naja Paulsen (Inuit), Nuuk, Greenland; Head of Radio News, Radio Greenland;Teacher/Master, producer, The Greenlandic School of Journalism.
Shirley Adamson, Sabet Biscaye, and Roy Dahl, all from Canada, and Naja Paulsen from Greenland, addressed international participants on “Indigenous Peoples, Territorial-based Development and ICT: Challenges and Opportunities”; and “Traditional Indigenous Styles and Ways of Communication and Implications for Modern Technologies”. Their spirited presentation described the strengths and challenges of using information technology in an Arctic and northern context. Examples were given of successful approaches to multilingual broadcasting, aboriginal cultural content, and dedicated programming in all media. Canada’s and Greenland’s existing communications interested many other indigenous groups, many of whom are working in an environment which limits aboriginal peoples’ free expression of views.
	Naja Paulsen described the accomplishments of Greenland in providing wide access to the Internet in small, isolated Arctic communities. To benefit all indigenous peoples, she suggested included multilingual media training involving the Greenland School of Journalism in Nuuk, where she is a teacher.
	Nils-Johan Heatta addressed the Global Forum on Saami Radio’s proposed “intranet” to exchange programming among worldwide indigenous communicators. His vision includes expansion of services to northern Russia, which is at present without extensive access to electronic communication. Saami Radio, which he heads, presents regular programming in all Saami dialects in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The Saami have shown leadership in political and social cooperation across international boundaries for many years, and their example provided encouragement to groups now struggling with these issues.
	Translation services were provided for all meetings, promoting vigourous discussions among representatives of all languages. Even those inexperienced in the use of the Internet acknowledged the potential of electronic communication to assist in conserving tradition while moving forward in education, health, governance, and sharing in the global Information Society. A concurrent Trade Show allowed participants to see such practical applications of ICT as an interactive African village, a mobile “Medivan”, and Japanese “high tech” developments for the future. “We could see ICT helping people to move forward on their issues”, says Shirley Adamson, General Manager, Northern Native Broadcasting, Yukon, Canada; “All this reaffirms what we’re doing in small organisations and small communities, with uncertain funding. It regenerates our enthusiasm and commitment.”
	Inclusion of Arctic peoples did not come without major efforts on the part of many individuals and organisations. Even organisers from Geneva, an international centre, had to learn to deal with the costs and complications of travel from Arctic communities. Some who had received Fellowships did not receive the necessary funding in time to travel to the Summit.
	As a result, a group of northern journalists formed the Arctic Circle of Indigenous Circumpolar Communicators (ACICC) to prepare for the second World Summit to be held in Tunis in 2005. “This was the greatest step forward that we made, thanks to attending the Global Forum. We could meet face to face and shape an agenda for the future”, says Shirley Adamson. “We will have a say in the impact of the Internet, e-medicine, and e-commerce on our communities.” The ACICC has established a preliminary website (http://acicc.on.to) where information can be exchanged by communicators both within and outside the Arctic. ACICC will work to ensure that journalists are aware of the opportunity to share views, programming, and training opportunities. ACICC’s aim is to encourage local content and relevant programming reaching the smaller communities, as well as those which are now well-served. Control and regulation of the Internet and provision of services in remote areas can be monitored and developments communicated. Wider consultation will take place when ACICC has been formally constituted. In the meantime, Mary Stapleton has been appointed Facilitator, and can be contacted for further information. The Arctic Circumpolar Route, of which she is managing director, will continue to foster the sharing of information on successful Arctic community projects and the inclusion of Arctic peoples in international activities (See www.circumpolarRoute.org.)
	“This forum expanded my horizon”, says Sabet Biscaye, Executive Director, Native Communication Society, from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. “Talking to people from other countries made me realize what ICT really means. It was a stark reminder of how we in Canada are so privileged.” As an advocate for women, Sabet added that a lot of women who could really benefit from the Information Society do not have access to electronic communications, and as a result lack the skills to use it. “I recognised what we’re dealing with, and how far we have to go”, she stated. The Global Forum and the World Summit demonstrated the potential for Arctic inclusion in the Information Society of the Future.

Contact:
Mary Leeds Stapleton
Managing Director, Arctic Circumpolar Route
Research Associate, Arctic Institute of North America
University of Calgary
Box 12, Site 7, R.R. 8
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2J 2T9
Tel. +1.403.931.2453; Fax +1.403.931.2454
e-mail: mary_stapleton@circumpolarRoute.org
Internet: www.circumpolarRoute.org

The “Union of Reindeer Breeders of Yakutia” – a public organisation

Yuriy Alekseevich Sleptsov
Head, Union of Reindeer Breeders of Yakutia

The organisation, the Union of Reindeer Breeders of Yakutia was created on the initiative of its Chairman (Yu.I. Sleptsov) and representatives of ‘numerically-small’ indigenous peoples of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) on 29 August 1999. The objective of the Union is the protection of primordial settlement, and preservation and development of traditional ways of life, crafts and cultures of these indigenous peoples of the North. The Union was created to strengthen the unity of representatives of the indigenous peoples in dealing with social and economic problems, and also in developing participation in local self-management of the indigenous residence areas. Expansion of inter-ethnic communications between Northern indigenous peoples and other peoples of the world was a further aim.
	The basic purposes of the Union are:
•	to promote social, economic and cultural development of the indigenous peoples of the North;
•	to protect the continuous residence of these peoples on their primordial lands (nature protection), their traditional ways of life and traditional kinds of nature management;
•	to restore stocks of domestic reindeer;
•	to promote experiences from conducting traditional management in different regions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia and abroad under free market conditions;
•	to advertise the traditional way of life of numerically-small indigenous peoples and members of the Union of Reindeer Breeders of Yakutia through printed publications, cinema, photo, audio, and video productions;
•	to render required legal and other help in the framework of the legislation of the Russian Federation;
•	to search for and introduce new ways of nature management based on traditional ways of life of the indigenous peoples, taking into account the legislation of the Russian Federation;
•	to organise annual children's camps with various themes, including ethnographical and ecological topics.
	Hence, the organisation works directly to enhance life, traditional management and protection of rights for Northern indigenous peoples in Yakutia.
The Union organise nomadic camps such as the ethnographic camp “Neltenke” (Even: “Sun”), which has been working since 2000, where children study the Even language. Participants in the ecological camp “Raduga” (Even: “Rainbow”), created in 2001, travel on a certain route. Findings made by the participants - such as that of an entire fossil rhinoceros – have gained much interest from palaeontologists.
	In 2002, in the territory of the Momsk National Nature Park, the Union organised the ethno-ecological camp “Garpanga”, which was to study Even language, culture and natural biodiversity. Geobotanists from the Institute of Cryo-Lithozone Studies at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Yakut State University became interested in the results of the field work. The Ministry of Wildlife Management of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is planning an expedition to study the radiation from the uranium deposits Sugun and Boruluolakh and in the Sasyr area of the Momsk region during the next years, based on results from the camp “Garpanga”. Participants in the camp took practical measures for the protection of the Momsk National Nature Park. Scientists also have expressed their desire to participate in the nature protection activities of our Union and to contribute to preservation of the cultural heritage of the Northern indigenous peoples.
	The Union of Reindeer Breeders of Yakutia has accumulated experience in fundraising for projects:
•	2000 - a grant from the Ministry of Affairs of Peoples and Federal Attitudes of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for the project “Ethnographic nomad camp ‘Neltenke’”;
•	2001 - a grant from the Ministry of Wildlife Management of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) on the project “Ecological camp ‘Maranga’”;
•	2002 - a grant from the Khyuletta Fund’s programme ISAR – Far East;
•	2003 – a reward from the Ford Motor Company in the field of preservation of cultural-historical values.
All activities of the Union are widely reflected in the mass media of Yakutia and the Far East. The idea of nomadic camps for children of Northern indigenous peoples is also established among Evens in the Magadan area and among Saami in the Murmansk area. The experiences of our Union are communicated to other regions through RAIPON.

NOTES

Udeges of the Primorskiy Kray agree with company “Terneyles” upon partnership and interaction
On 27 May 2004 a cooperation agreement was signed in Vladivostok between the Association of Northern Indigenous People of the Primorskiy Kray and the open joint company “Terneyles”, one of the largest timber industry enterprises of the Russian Far East.
The agreement states the obligation to observe international principles and standards concerning the rights of indigenous people. This is of prime significance for the movement of the Northern indigenous peoples in Russia, because an industrial company wants not only to cooperate within the framework of its activities, but also to contribute on the whole to a development programme for the indigenous peoples of Primore.
		RAIPON Information Centre

The new administration of Altai to solve problems of Kumandin revival
The Kumandins are one of the most ancient Turkic-speaking peoples in Southern Siberia. According to the last census of 2002 their number is 1250.
	The present governor of the Altai Territory, M.S. Evdokimov, is a native of the area and is therefore familiar with the problems of the Kumandin people, not just by hearsay but through first-hand experience. He considered questions of revival of the traditional economic activities and culture at a meeting on 20 May 2004 with leaders of the Kumandin people: G.A. Satlaevym, chairman of the Union of Kumandin Associations and L.P. Mamedragimovoy, head of the public organisation “Kumandin Revival” in Biyskoy.
	This meeting resulted from work aimed at Kumandin revival led by the board of public counsellors of the chapter of the territory administration under the presidency of A.V. Osipov and the deputy head of the administration, Dr. soc. sci., professor S.I. Grigorev. The meeting resulted in a joint concept of development for the Kumandin people within the framework of the Federal Target Program of Economic and Social Development of the Peoples of the North. The programme, which is to last until 2011, was given a governmental status. It was also agreed that the Kumandins would gain ethnic-cultural autonomy.
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. 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 Nations. 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

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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-17TH – 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.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND GLOBAL RIGHTS
Edited by S. Jentoft, H. Minde & R. Nilsen. Eburon Academic Publishers, 2003. ISBN 90-5166-978-х, 315 pp. 
Indigenous peoples are under heavy pressure from developments beyond their control. Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, а legal process within the auspices of the UN has been underway that may help indigenous peoples to sustain their natural environment, industries, and cultures. This book addresses some of the legal, political and institutional implications of these processes. Are the processes providing indigenous peoples with а more solid foundation for protecting their natural environment and culture? The international group of authors of the essays included draw on examples from different parts of the world, which highlight the issues that are involved in indigenous peoples' struggle for control of their lives and their future.
То order the book: 
Chicago University Press: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/16348.ctl
Eburon Academic Publishers: http://www.eburon.nl

Big Oil Playground, Russian Bear Preserve or European Periphery?
The Russian Barents Sea Region towards 2015
Bjørn Brunstad, Eivind Magnus, Philip Swanson, Geir Hønneland, and Indra Øverland. Eburon Academic Publishers, 2004. The final book from the ”Barents Russia 2015 Scenario Project”. ISBN 90 5972 039 3. 212 pages.
In the northwestern corner of Russia lies the Barents Sea: a region of natural resources that has yet to be fully exploited. Future actions taken in the Barents Sea region will create environmental, political, and economic ripples around the globe. The book explores three plausible and thought-provoking scenarios for the region’s future over the next two decades. The volume considers whether the international energy industry will transform the Barents Sea region into a “big oil playground”, if Russian strategic interests and instincts for control will make it a “Russian bear preserve”, or if integration into world trade will put it on the “European periphery”. The result is a valuable resource for understanding the changing dynamics and challenges in modern public planning and a globalised economy.
То order the book: 
Chicago University Press: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/16348.ctl
Eburon Academic Publishers: http://www.eburon.nl

Arctic Governance
Edited by T. Koivurova, T. Joona, and R. Shnoro, Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, 2004. ISBN 951-634-940-4 
The book deals with social science and, in particular, legal perspectives on Arctic issues. It is subdivided into four parts: 1. International governance in the Arctic, 2. Indigenous peoples and governance, with special reference to the Arctic, and 3. Environmental governance in the Arctic. 
To order the book, please contact Marja Collins, Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, e-mail: marja.collins@ulapland.fi
For further information about Arctic Centre Publications, please go to:
http://www.arcticcentre.org/contentparser.asp?deptid=10827#juridica

People of the Far North.
Paleoenvironment and prehistory of the Eurasiatic and American Far North
[original title: Peuples du Grand Nord]
By Patrick Plumet, 2 volumes (ISBN: 2-87772-270-8 and ISBN: 2-87772-276-7), 2004, in French.
Volume I: From myths to prehistory. Topics includes: Myth, fantasy, and science in the Arctic; The northern environment; First approach of the Far North in Eurasia.
Volume II: Toward the "Eskimo" - From mammoths to whales. Topics includes: Life in the Far North of Eurasia at the end of Pleistocene; The great upheavals of the end of the Pleistocene and beginning of the Holocene.
For further information including French and English summaries, see at: http://www.unites.uqam.ca/tuvaaluk/accueil/PresentAng.html

Persistent Toxic Substances, Food Security and Indigenous Peoples of the Russian North
A joint project established by RAIPON (Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far-East of the Russian Federation), AMAP (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme), and GEF (the Global Environmental Facility).
The AMAP Assessments have documented how persistent toxic substances (PTS) have a tendency to be transported to, and accumulate in the Arctic region. They also describe how Arctic ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to exposure to PTS, and why certain Arctic indigenous communities in Greenland and Canada have some of the highest exposures to PTS of any populations on Earth. A number of factors, among which the cold Arctic climate, lipid-rich food chains, and lifestyle of indigenous peoples, in particular their reliance on traditional foods, all play an important role.
	Preliminary studies in the Russian Arctic upto 1998 showed that environmental levels of PTS can be significantly elevated, however the data were sparse and many areas of the Russian Arctic were not covered in these studies. At the same time, as a result of economic changes in Russia, consumption of traditional food by indigenous peoples in the Russian Arctic increased. For these reasons, the Arctic Indigenous Peoples Organisations (Permanent Participants of the Arctic Council), in collaboration with the AMAP Secretariat, initiated, with financial support of the Global Invironmental Facility (GEF), the project Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS), Food Security and Indigenous Peoples of the Russian North.
Further information: http://www.amap.no/Resources/PTS_project.htm#PTSrelease

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

ANNOUNCEMENT

The 5th Congress of Indigenous Peoples of the Russian North, Siberia and Far East will be held on 11-14 April 2005 in Moscow. 
For detailed information watch RAIPON’s website: http://www.raipon.net/

RAIPON Appeal to the public and mass media – protest action on Sakhalin
 
The Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East is appealing to the public and mass media to SUPPORT THE PROTEST ACTION OF SAKHALIN’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLES!
 	20 January 2005 has been chosen as a day of Protest Action on the part of the Sakhalin Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, with the support of Sakhalin’s social movements and parties.
 	Two pipelines pumping oil and gas from the Okhotsk Sea shelf will cross the length and breadth of Sakhalin Island. These pipelines will cross 1,103 rivers and brooks comprising salmon spawning areas and will split the migration routes of wild animals and domestic reindeer in two. The full length of the land pipelines will lie on seismic zones of potential earthquake magnitude 8-9 and will cross 44 tectonic faults of different types no less than 55 times. The potential for danger to the population is clear and the impact these projects will have on Sakhalin Island’s eco-system and close-lying areas of water is undoubted. 
 	And yet these projects are already being implemented by the transnational companies Exxon, Shell, British Petroleum, Sakhalin Energy and their subsidiaries, in serious violation of Russian legislation and international standards. 
 	The economic benefit for Russia of the production sharing agreements signed between the Russian Federation and transnational companies is challenged by experts. Eight years of oil and gas extraction on Sakhalin Island have provided no benefit whatsoever to the island’s population. Not even a supply of gas to Sakhalin’s settlements has been provided, as was promised eight years ago. But half a million people have begun to feel the damaging effects of this activity. A key sector of the economy – fishing – is suffering losses and phasing down. 
 	The indigenous peoples of Sakhalin – the Nivkhi, Nanai and Ulchi, who have a traditional self-subsistence economy based on fishing, hunting, reindeer herding and wild plant gathering – disproportionately suffer the negative environmental consequences. Structural engineering has destroyed reindeer pastures and forests, work on the shelf has led to an abrupt decline in fishing and fishing limits for the indigenous population, while traditional handicrafts now form virtually the indigenous peoples’ only source of livelihood. 
 	Industrial companies take no account of indigenous peoples’ interests. An analysis of published impact assessments showed that no consideration was taken of the cumulative, long-term negative impacts on indigenous traditional lifestyles. Long-term mitigation programs or programs to adapt indigenous peoples to the serious ecological consequences of the projects, which should be implemented in Sakhalin for the decades to come, are absent. The attempts of indigenous peoples’ organizations to negotiate with industrial companies with regard to assessing the long-term economic, social and cultural consequences have failed.
 	The absence of access to complete and reliable project information, the disinformation contained in published project documentation and the companies’ unwillingness to seriously dialogue with indigenous peoples’ organizations have forced them to commence a process of civil protest. 
 	The Vth Congress of Indigenous Peoples of the North of Sakhalin Region, held on 29 October 2004, came to the following decision: “To commence a process of defence of our constitutional rights via protest actions against oil companies violating indigenous peoples’ rights according to the norms and principles of international justice and Russian legislation”. This decision has been supported by the Russian Association of Indigenous peoples of the North.”	On 15 December 2004 RAIPON and the Sakhalin Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North held a meeting at the Sakhalin regional Duma in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with the participation of the Chairman of the Duma, 8 deputies, representatives of Sakhalin Energy, Rosneft, British Petroleum, Exxon and the head of the Sakhalin Administration’s Department for Indigenous Affairs. Participants in the meeting were again informed that Sakhalin’s indigenous peoples are suffering the negative effects of intensive oil and gas exploitation. As a way of solving the problem, a draft Memorandum was submitted to stakeholders, calling for the following:
•	The conducting of an independent Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA, with an ethnological assessment) for all industrial projects.
•	The creation of a Sakhalin Indigenous Peoples’ Development Fund. This will be extremely necessary in terms of the industrial developing of Sakhalin Island.
•	The creation of a special permanent Working Group to achieve the Memorandum’s goals (i.e. EIA implementation and Fund creation) 
Unfortunately, the meeting’s participants were unable to reach an agreement and the Memorandum was not accepted. 
 	Since the indigenous peoples of Sakhalin can see no other way to defend their lands and traditional lifestyle, they have decided to commence protest actions such as road blocks and pipeline blocks. The indigenous peoples and representatives of different NGOs will set up tents in the path of the pipeline and on the road leading to construction works. This action will commence on 20 January 2005 and its duration will depend on the response received from the oil and gas companies and authorities. 

We call upon all those who are not indifferent to the destiny of the indigenous peoples and population of Sakhalin, and to the future Environment of the North Pacific basin, to appeal in support of the indigenous peoples’ protest action to the Russian authorities and companies implementing oil and gas extraction projects in Sakhalin, and to take part in the protest action that will commence on 20 January 2005 in the Noglikskiy region of Sakhalin Oblast. We ask all of you to send letters of protest to the Russian authorities and to the oil and gas companies working on Sakhalin island (with copy to RAIPON). Mailing addresses for the authorities and companies are attached. Please also send letters in support of Sakhalin’s indigenous peoples to:
Sakhalin Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North: Address – Prospekt Mira, build. 245-Б, apart. 74, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 693000, Russia. E-mail: green-sakhalin@mail.ru Fax +7 4242 72 13 46
RAIPON: P.O. box 110, Moscow, 119415, Russia. Tel/fax: +7 095 780 87 27; raipon@online.ru 
For more information, please contact Olga Murashko or Yana Dordina at RAIPON: raipon@online.ru; murkre@aha.ru; yanadordina@hotmail.com

Addresses of the RF authorities and companies implementing oil and gas extraction projects in Sakhalin 
 
1.	
1.	Президент Российской Федерации В.В. Путин 
	103132, Россия, г. Москва, Старая площадь, д. 4 (для почтовых отправлений)
	President of Russian Federation – Vladimir Putin
	Staraya ploshad, build. 4, Moscow, 103132, Russia
2.	Председатель Правительства Российской Федерации М.Е. Фрадков 
	103274, Россия, г. Москва, Краснопресненская набережная, д. 2
	Chairman of the RF Government – Mikhail Fradkov
	Krasnopresnenskaya naberezhnaya, build. 2, Moscow, 103274, Russia
3.	Председатель Совета Федерации Федерального Собрания Российской Федерации С.М. Миронов 
	103426, Россия, г. Москва, ул. Б. Дмитровка, д. 26
	Chairman of RF Federation Council – Sergey Mironov
	B. Dmitrovka street, build. 26, Moscow, 103426, Russia
4.	Председатель Государственной Думы Федерального Собрания Российской Федерации Б.В. Грызлов 
	103265, Россия, г. Москва, ул. Охотный ряд, д. 1
	Chairman of RF State Duma – Boris Grizlov
	Okhotny Ryad street, build. 1, Moscow, 103265, Russia
5.	Министр природных ресурсов РФ Ю.П. Трутнев 
	123995, Россия, г. Москва, ул. Большая Грузинская, д. 4/6
	Тел: +7 (095) 254 48 00; Факс: +7 (095) 254 43 10; e-mail: admin@mnr.gov.ru
	RF Minister on natural resources – Yuriy Trutnev
	Bolshaya Gruzinskaya street, build. 4/6, Moscow, 123995, Russia
	Tel: +7 (095) 254 48 00; Fax: +7 (095) 254 43 10
6.	Министр экономического развития и торговли РФ Г.О. Греф 
	125993, Россия, ГСП-3, Москва, А-47, 1-я Тверская-Ямская ул., д.1,3
	Тел: +7 (095) 200 03 53, 200 53 38, 200 52 77, 209 53 38; Факс: +7 (095) 250 37 37, 251 69 65; e-mail: presscenter@economy.gov.ru
	RF Minister on economic development and trade – German Gref
	1 Tverskaya-Yamskaya street, build. 1,3, Moscow, A-47, ГСП-3, 125993, Russia 
7.	Министр регионального развития РФ В.А. Яковлев 
	103274, Россия, г. Москва, Краснопресненская набережная, д. 2
	RF Minister on regional development – Vladimir Yakovlev
	Krasnopresnenskaya naberezhnaya, build. 2, Moscow, 103274, Russia
8.	Генеральный прокурор РФ В.В. Устинов 
	103793, Россия, г. Москва, ул. Б. Дмитровка, 15а
	Тел: +7 (095) 292 88 69
	RF General Prosecutor – Vladimir Ustinov
	B. Dmitrovka street, build. 15a, Moscow, 103793, Russia
	Tel: +7 (095) 292 88 69
9.	Губернатор Сахалинской области И.П. Малахов 
	693011, Россия, г. Южно-Сахалинск, Коммунистический пр., д. 39
	Sakhalin oblast Governor – Ivan Malakhov
	Kommunistichesky prospect, build. 39, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 693011, Russia 
10.	Полномочный представитель Президента РФ в Дальневосточном федеральном округе К.Б. Пуликовский 
	680030, Россия, г. Хабаровск, ул. Шеронова, д. 22
	Тел: +7 (4212)31 30 44; Факс: +7 (4212) 32 65 31 
	RF President’ Plenipotentiary Representative in Far East Federal Okrug – Konstantin Pulikovsky
	Sheronova street, build. 22, Khabarovsk, 680030, Russia
	Tel: +7 (4212)31 30 44; Fax: +7 (4212) 32 65 31 
11.	Председатель Комиссии по правам человека при Президенте РФ Э.А. Памфилова 
	Москва, ул. Стромынка, д.18, тел. 268-1321
	Chairman of RF President’ Commission on Human Rights – Ella Pamfilova
	Strominka street, build. 18, Moscow, Russia
	Tel: +7 095 268 13 21
12.	«Сахалин Энерджи Инвест Компани Лтд.» 
	693020, Россия, г. Южно-Сахалинск, ул. Дзержинского, 35
	Тел +7 (4242) 73 20 00 Факс +7 (4242) 73 29 38
	119435, Россия, г.Москва, ул. Малая Пироговская, д.14 
	Тел. Приемная +7(503)/+7(095) 956 17 50 Факс +7(503)/ +7(095) 956 17 78
	Sakhalin Energy Investment Company LTD
	Dzerzhinskogo street, build. 35, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 693020, Russia
	Tel: +7 (4242) 73 20 00 Fax: +7 (4242) 73 29 38
	Malaya Pirogovskaya street, build. 14, Moscow, 119435, Russia
	Tel: +7(503)/+7(095) 956 17 50 Fax: +7(503)/ +7(095) 956 17 78
13.	«Эксон Нефтегаз Лтд.» 
	693000, Россия, г. Южно-Сахалинск, ул. Пушкина, 80
	Тел. +7 (4242) 46 88 20, 46 88 00, 48 81 11, 46 88 12, 42 29 22, 42 29 23, 	Факс +7 (4242) 66 88 95, Григорий Беляков (отдел по связям с общественностью) +7 (4242) 72 71 64 \ 60 \ 61 \ 62 \ 63
	Exxon Neftegaz Limited
	Pushkina street, build. 80, Yuzhno-Sakalinsk, 693000, Russia
	Tel: +7 (4242) 46 88 20, 46 88 00, 48 81 11, 46 88 12, 42 29 22, 42 29 23
	Fax: +7 (4242) 66 88 95 
	Grigory Belyakov (Public Relations department) +7 (4242) 72 71 64 \ 60 \ 61 \ 62 \ 63