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

No. 6B, January 2002 - English Language Edition

	Secretariat:	Norsk Polarinstitutt, Polarmiljøsenteret, N-9296 Tromsø	E-mail: 	ANSIPRA@npolar.no
				Norwegian Polar Institute, Polar Environmental Centre, 	Phone: 	+47 - 77 75 05 00
				N-9296 Tromsø, Norway	Fax: 	+47 - 77 75 05 01
	Coordinator / Editor:	Winfried K. Dallmann, Tromsø	Website: 	http://www.npolar.no/ansipra
	Assistant Coordinator:	Galina Diachkova (Дьячкова Галина), Moscow	
	Assistant Editor:	Helle V. Goldman, Tromsø		

ANSIPRA (formerly NNSIPRA) 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. 

ANSIPRA (formerly NNSIPRA) is a communication network linking Russian Indigenous Peoples' Organisations (IPOs) 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 and application for funding. 

CONTENTS OF THIS EDITION:	

This issue is an appendix of ANSIPRA Bulletin No. 6 (October 2001) and contains English translations of selected articles from the official periodical of RAIPON “Мир коренных народов – живая арктика” (Indigenous Peoples’ World - Living Arctic) No. 8, 2001. 
It is only distributed to recipients of the English language edition of ANSIPRA Bulletin.
How to make the federal law on Territories of Traditional Nature Use work	3
O. Murashko, IWGIA
Training workshops of the “Rodnik” Legal Centre continue	4
E.M. Khmeleva, “Rodnik” Legal Centre	
The Russian Indigenous Training Centre (RITC) to mark its first year	7
P.V. Sulyandziga, director of RITC
RAIPON initiates research on Arctic pollution and its impacts on indigenous health	9
L.I. Abryutina, Vice President of RAIPON 
Endangered grey whales have caused suspension of prospecting by the EXXON company	10
N.A. Barannikova, Sakhalin Environmental Watch	
Why protect grey whales?	11
O.A. Yakovleva, “Rodnik” Legal Centre & N.A. Barannikova, Sakhalin Environmental Watch	
Clan-based community – necessary for stable and efficient indigenous employment in the Koryak Auton. Okrug	13
S.V. Lebedev	
How to save the Itelmen language	14
V.I. Uspenskaya, “Aborigen Kamchatki” 
About native Chukotka in native language	17
N.N. Noskova
The Samarga forests threatened to be cut down	19
Arkadiy Kaza, Chairman of “Azgu” community; with editor’s remarks (RAIPON)

Translations from “Мир коренных народов – живая арктика” (Indigenous Peoples' World – Living Arctic)

According to an agreement between ANSIPRA and RAIPON (Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North), we present translations of selected articles of the newsletter “Мир коренных народов – живая арктика” (Indigenous Peoples’ World – Living Arctic), the official periodical of RAIPON. The following part of this issue presents translated articles from Indigenous Peoples’ World No. 8, 2001.

How to make the federal law on Territories of Traditional Nature Use work1

1 Editor's note.—This is a summary only. Interested readers are referred to the original full-length Russian text, as well as the model claim forms referred to therein published in “Mir korennykh narodov – zhivaya arktika No. 8”; a rough English translation of the article, but not the model documents, is also available from the ANSIPRA Secretariat upon request.

Olga Murashko, IWGIA	

On 11 May 2001, the federal law "On Territories of Traditional Nature Use of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation" was put into effect. Six months have passed, but RAIPON is still unaware of a single Territory of Traditional Nature Use (TTP) being established according to this law. However, the Association has been informed that claims to establish TTPs have been already filed by indigenous peoples’ organisations of certain regions but applications have met with a refusal or the matter is still pending.
	The lack of legal standards regulating the system, introduced by the above legislation for establishing TTPs, has proved to be a stumbling block both to representatives of indigenous peoples and the authorities. This system for establishing TTPs requires that the Government should elaborate enforceable enactments both regarding the form of claims to establish TTPs and the procedure for their establishment. The Association has already approached the Government in this regard. But time waits for no man: the federal law “On Federal Landed Property Delimitation” is about to be put into effect. Indigenous peoples should declare their intentions to establish TTPs without delay.
To facilitate this, RAIPON has, with the help of the experts at the “Rodnik” Legal Centre, drafted models of claims to establish TTPs and draft TTP regulations in connection with the above federal law. Experience drawn from the establishment of the TTP “Tkhsanom” in the Koryak Autonomous Okrug and its subsequent abolishment has been useful in several ways.  One important lesson is that a TTP of a local subdivision should not be established incorporating lands and natural resources in federal ownership. This presents a problem: many indigenous peoples of the North inhabited and were engaged in traditional subsistence activities basically on lands under federal ownership. Therefore, most of TTPs have to be established at the federal level. The claim structure suggested by the “Rodnik” Legal Centre lawyers is laid down in the article “Educational workshops of the “Rodnik” Legal Center to continue” (in this ANSIPRA issue).
	To substantiate the choice of place and size of a planned TTP, the historical relation between the indigenous people concerned and the territory in question has to be supported by information on historical, cultural and archeological monuments, sacred sites, ancestors’ burial grounds, ancient settlements and so on. Statistical data are also needed about the number of indigenous as well as local population likely to be engaged in traditional subsistence activities on the planned territory. 
	Establishment of TTPs is the only way to protect indigenous peoples’ rights to their territories in the face of federal power. Information is pouring into RAIPON headquarters about lands that were previously allocated to indigenous peoples at a regional level as lineage-based kinship areas, peasant/farming units and other entities now being handed over to other users. It is not necessary for each and every kinship-oriented economic unit to register as a community, that is, as a legal entity. It is possible to register an amalgamation of several neighbour kinship-oriented or peasant/farming units, reindeer herding teams as one territorial community. At this stage associations of indigenous peoples must step in to help people find an optimal form of self-organisation matching the law.
	Please contact RAIPON for model claim forms and related documents for in connection with the establishment of TTPs. Electronic versions are also available from RAIPON. So that we can follow the success of these endeavours, you are kindly requested to send to RAIPON copies of your applications to establish TTPs and other documents you have already sent or about to send to authorities as well as copies of the replies you have received.

TRAINING WORKSHOPS FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS

In the last year workshops, training sessions and conferences became a widely used way to protect indigenous rights by the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON).
	The topics of these practical forums where the Association and the NGOs gather indigenous representatives are legal education, training in the development of small businesses based on traditional activities, and case studies of foreign indigenous experience.
	The first workshop this year was "The federal legislation on indigenous rights and its application", organised by the Association with support from the MacArthur Foundation and the International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) on the eve of the IV Congress of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East.
	December will see the workshops on application of the federal law "On Territories of Traditional Nature Use for the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East" and development of projects on traditional activities. Indigenous representatives of the North who prepare documentation to establish Territories of Traditional Nature Use (TTP) and those who develop projects on traditional activities will be invited. We hope that the participants to these workshops will leave Moscow with ready documentation to establish TTPs and with project documentation in concordance with requirements of potential sponsors.
	“Mir korennykh narodov – zhivaya arktika No. 8” publishes information on some training programmes for indigenous people in 2001. Two of these articles (by E.N. Khmeleva and P.V. Sulyandziga) have been translated for this issue.

Training workshops of the “Rodnik” Legal Centre continue
	
E.N. Khmeleva PhD (Law), “Rodnik” Legal Centre

The fifth issue of the magazine “Mir korennykh narodov – zhivaya arktika” (2001) included an article by O.A. Yakovleva, the Head of “Rodnik” Legal Centre, titled "The indigenous peoples can and will protect their rights in court". The article concerns the workshop run by lawyers of our organisation on the island of Sakhalin.
	Protection of indigenous rights is a priority for the Rodnik Centre; therefore we attribute great importance to workshops for representatives of the indigenous peoples. The indigenous peoples are lacking in legal knowledge and awareness. Three laws on indigenous rights were recently adopted. In these workshops, our lawyers attempt to provide the participants not only with the meaning but also with the spirit of these laws, and attempt to transfer to the students the understanding necessary to apply the laws in order to protect their own rights.
	I would like to tell about the two recent workshops run by the lawyers of our organisation in the village of Tura in the Evenk Autonomous Okrug and in the city of Krasnoyarsk.
	The preparation to the Evenk workshop started when the “Rodnik” Legal Centre received a request from RAIPON to protect the rights of the indigenous peoples in the Evenk Autonomous Okrug whose reindeer pastures were alienated from them by a resolution of the Governor of the Evenk Autonomous Okrug. The result of the letter to the Russian President, the Russian Government, and the Office of the Prosecutor General by the “Rodnik” Legal Centre, supported by RAIPON and signed by many NGOs who protect interests of the indigenous peoples from various regions, was the Official Protest of the Evenk Public Prosecutor. The response to this protest was that the Governor cancelled all resolutions on withdrawal of rights to the lands from the indigenous peoples. The detailed description of this case was published in “Mir korennykh narodov – zhivaya arktika No. 5” (2001).
	This was the start of cooperation between the “Rodnik” Legal Centre and the Association of the Indigenous Peoples in the Evenk Autonomous Okrug called “Arun” (Revival). When Olga Yakovleva, the centre’s director, met M.D. Smirnova, the president of the Association Arun, they came up with the idea to run a workshop for the indigenous peoples in Evenkiya. But no funding was available to implement it.
	In early summer the centre’s lawyers received an invitation to carry out the workshop in August 2001 in the town of Tura. The Governor of Evenkiya allocated the funding at the request of the association of “Arun”.
	The basic theme of the workshop was the establishment of Territories of Traditional Nature Use (TTPs). The choice was well based. In May 2001 the federal law "On Territories of Traditional Nature Use of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation" was adopted. The lawyers of the “Rodnik” Legal Centre believe that establishment of TTPs is the most urgent problem for the indigenous peoples at present. With the adoption of this federal law, the indigenous peoples have an opportunity to establish such territories in order to preserve their traditional way of life and to protect their environment. However, it it is necessary to implement the law as soon as possible: when the recently adopted Land Code is in force, the active process of distribution and transfer of deeds will start.
	The traditional indigenous territories are rich in oil, gas, gold and other minerals. Perhaps the mission of the indigenous peoples is to keep these treasures of the Earth. Unfortunately few understand what is involved. The land that is so rich with these minerals is worth a great deal, and once the Land Code is adopted, for certain many will want deeds to this land for other purposes than preservation of the traditional way of life. The bitter experience of many indigenous nations shows the irreversible damage to the environment incurred by geological surveys and production of minerals. Hence, doubt is cast on the preservation of the traditional way of life for the indigenous people and their survival.
	The federal law "On Territories of Traditional Nature Use of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation" permits special legal status for the lands where the indigenous peoples live; environmentally hazardous activities are excluded.
	Article 1 of the law defines "the Territories of Traditional Nature Use of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation" as protected nature areas established to conduct traditional land use and traditional way of life. As defined by the law, traditional land use by the indigenous peoples is "a historically determined and sustainable use of plant and wild life, as well as of other natural resources by the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation".
	A TTP, according to the law, is a territory under special protection in order to preserve its natural environment for indigenous traditional land use. Therefore, the status of a TTP legally prevents any activity that conflicts with the purpose of establishment of this protected territory, i.e. an activity that may hinder traditional land use.
	This concept and the idea to establish such Territories of Traditional Nature Use guided our workshop in the village of Tura. Mrs O.A. Yakovleva, the head of the “Rodnik” Legal Centre , Mrs E.N. Khmeleva, a Moscow barrister, and Mr V.A. Preobrazhenski, the cecntr’s lawyer,d provide workshop participants with an understanding of this law and legal tools to implement this knowledge.
	The programme included lectures on constitutional and legislative guarantees of the indigenous rights to the traditional way of life and environmental protection, as well as the right to live in a sound environment, and the right to information. The key lecture at the workshop was the analysis of the federal law " On Territories of Traditional Nature Use of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of The Russian Federation " by Mrs O.A. Yakovleva.
	When we, the lawyers of the “Rodnik” Legal Centre, give lectures, especially to the indigenous people, we try to teach students to see “living” and practical tools in the dry and strict text of the law, the tools that everybody can and should apply on their own. Further, we teach the students not to confine themselves to one or two laws that most directly pertain to their rights, but to apply a broad set of laws, as well as the Constitution. It is very important to remember Article 15 of the Russian Constitution that sets the Constitution as the highest law with direct application all over Russia.
	An important part of the Centre’s workshops are the exercises designed to indicate participants’ understanding of what they have learned, and to give them practice in applying their knowledge – making the laws “come to life”. In these exercises, the students learn how to compose legal documents, such as inquiries for information, official letters to various authorities and court complaints. This will help them afterwards to apply the law. Appropriate to the theme of the workshop in Evenkiya, participants composed official letters to the Government of the Russian Federation on establishment of TTPs with a federal status. The students learned to provide reasons for the establishment of such a territory, to determine its purpose and define the borders that meet this purpose. For this workshop, the lawyers of the Centre selected an example based on establishment of a TTP with federal status. The federal status for a TTP is much more difficult to justify than territories of regional or local status. Having studied the most difficult situation, it is hoped that the workshop participants will be able to apply their newly acquired knowledge in less difficult conditions.
	Article 6 of the law "On Territories of Traditional Nature Use …" states that "the establishment of TTPs of federal status is done through decisions by the Government of the Russian Federation based on co-ordination with appropriate regional authorities. However, the legal initiative belongs to indigenous people and indigenous communities or to their authorised representatives". This means that in order to establish a TTP, the indigenous people should direct official letters to the Government of the Russian Federation, the decision-making body. Such letters may be sent in by representatives of the indigenous peoples and by their communities. The law does not say that the communities must be registered. Therefore, the indigenous communities that are not registered by the government and have no status as legal entities may address these letters as well. The law says that the official letters may be directed by the authorised representatives of the indigenous peoples – indigenous peoples associations, NGOs, scientists and other persons whom representatives of the indigenous peoples have entrusted to initiate the process of establishment of a TTP as they themselves are sometimes lacking in the expertise required to do so.
	By composing a sample of an official letter at the workshop, the participants learned to justify the establishment of a TTP and its borders, according to the provisions of the law. The sample developed by the lawyers of the Centre together with O.A. Murashko, includes exсerpts from the relevant legislation.  Exact explanations are given regarding which information is to be included in such an official letter in order to prove competently the necessity to preserve the indigenous environment and the traditional way of life and economy of the indigenous peoples. This sample is attached to the article and may be used at your convenience.
	A basic part of all training workshops by the lawyers of the “Rodnik” Legal Centre is a role game named Judicial Process. The workshop in Evenkiya was no exception. The premise of the game is that indigenous communities have addressed the Government of the Russian Federation regarding the establishment of a TTP. Their request was not met on the grounds that oil extraction and construction of an oil pipeline are planned on this land. The indigenous communities address to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation a complaint on the infringement of their rights.
	Usually every role in the judicial process – a judge, an assessor, a public prosecutor, plaintiffs and their lawyers, defendants and their representatives – are played by the workshop participants, while the instructors only observe. However, this tradition was broken at the workshop in Tura, and Mrs. O.A. Yakovleva, the director of the “Rodnik” Legal Centre, played the judge.
	The plaintiffs and their lawyers were well prepared, supporting their position well, and providing good arguments regarding infringement of the indigenous rights as a result of refusal by the Russian Government. They also brought proof that oil development and construction of an oil pipeline would have adverse effects on the fragile and unique ecosystem of Evenkiya, where the Evenks have conducted a traditional way of life for centuries.
	However, the judge was very rigid towards the plaintiffs: she supported the position of the defendants. She posed provocative questions, and even did not allow representatives of the Association to speak. This shocked the plaintiffs. They did not expect usually polite Olga Alekseevna, who understands indigenous problems so well, to behave in this manner. This had been planned in advance to immitate a real situation which, unfortunately, develops in many cases, especially when a defendant is the Government or governmental agencies.
	The plaintiffs came out of this situation with credits. They challenged the objectivity of the judge. Though the application to demur the judge was not satisfied, the plaintiffs felt much more confident as they saw a way to solve this difficulty. During the pleadings, they proved their position excellently, using the constitution and the current legislation. And they used not only the laws on the indigenous peoples, but also referred to the environmental legislation. With this experience, the participants of to the workshop are better able to protect their rights.
	At the conclusion of the workshop, the participants thanked the organisers and the lecturers. Especially remembered are the words of one participant, the head of the Kuyumba community. She said that the words of the lawyers went from their heart to the hearts of the students. It was the best appraisal of our work. We are sure that the knowledge given to the participants of the workshop in Evenkiya will be successfully used and will contribute to actions to protect the traditional way of life.
	Mrs E.A. Sinkevich, the head of the indigenous association of Krasnoyarskiy Kray, took part in the Tura workshop. She invited the lawyers of the “Rodnik” Legal Centre to carry out a workshop on the same subject in Krasnoyarsk. The Governor of Krasnoyarskiy Kray allocated funding for the workshop. Since this workshop took place on the eve of the congress of the Krasnoyarsk Indigenous Association, it differed from the workshop in Evenkiya. The students were the leaders of the indigenous movement from various districts of the regions, and from the Evenk and the Taymyr autonomous okrugs. The congress and the elections of the president of the Association took some attention away from the workshop. But it did not prevent them from successfully completing the exercise on development of an official letter, a complaint to court, and to carry out the role game Judicial Process.
	The lawyers were happy to use the opportunity to transfer knowledge and practical skills on protection of indigenous rights to the most active representatives of indigenous peoples from various regions. The latter, in turn, can disseminate this information further. In this respect, the success of this workshop was that even remote regions were covered where no separate workshops are perhaps possible otherwise.
	The fact that regional authorities have begun to support these sorts of indigenous actions, for example, by funding these two workshops, is notable.
	We, the lawyers the “Rodnik” Legal Centre, hope that the samples of the legal documents on establishment of Territories of Traditional Nature Use will help representatives of the indigenous peoples to initiate the process of establishment of these territories, and will contribute to the preservation of traditional ways of life and the nature environment in Russia.
The Russian Indigenous Training Center (RITC) to mark its first year 

P.V. Sulyandziga, Director of RITC

More than six months have already passed since the Training Center for Indigenous Peoples of Russia’s North (alias, Russian Indigenous Training Center – RITC for short) opened its doors for representatives of all indigenous peoples inhabiting the immense expanses of Siberia and the Far East. The time has shown that the establishment of such a training center with no analogue in Russia is both well-timed and right for the purpose. The main objective of RITC is to render educational and consultative services in the sphere of market-oriented economic development of indigenous peoples.
	At present, the Center has worked out two educational programs each focusing on training representatives of indigenous peoples in the fundamentals of small business and entrepreneurship as well as federal legislation regulating indigenous peoples’ rights and their traditional subsistence activities. It should be emphasised that both programs envisage familiarisation with Canadian experience in aboriginal and small business development resorting to good offices of Canadian specialists and businessmen of indigenous origin.
	The first course entitled “Project development. Fundamentals of small-scale and subsistence business” was conducted in Moscow, in the RITC educational classroom from February 25 to March 9, 2001. Seventeen representatives of indigenous peoples of the North from 15 regions of the Russian Federation became the first trainees of the Center. The course stirred a good deal of interest among indigenous peoples igniting their anxiety to acquire economic and legal knowledge. 75 applications were received from virtually all the regions inhabited by Northern peoples. 17 of them were satisfied. Priority was given to representatives of indigenous peoples residing in outlying villages and having at least some practical experience in administrative or entrepreneurial activities. Out of the 17 trainees seven were female participants, which is an indicator of their active part in the social life and economic development of their communities and villages. All the trainees made a positive contribution to the two-week course sharing information about what was going on in their village or region, offering their commentaries and recommendations with regard to further improvement of the course. Judging by the feedback received by now including the appraisals made by the trainees themselves it can be stated with confidence that convening courses like that is badly needed and extremely vital for the task of preserving and developing traditional economic branches. The extracts below are just a few opinions expressed by the course attendees.
	“First and foremost, it’s been an information breakthrough for me since back home we are under blockage in our regions, cut off from incoming information and with no access to it”.
	“We had a chance to socialise with each other and share information”.
	“It’s been the first step on the way to overcome the scaring roadblock of entrepreneurship”.
	“Thank you for the course. We’ll try to apply the received knowledge in practice so that a positive educational wave would spread across all the outlying villages and communities”.
	The training center tries to maintain uninterrupted contact with its former trainees so that the people in localities would not feel isolated from information and could implement their plans and initiatives. RITC publishes its own information bulletin, which is circulated among the Center’s trainees. On its pages, we invite them to become active participants in the exchange of information and are anxiously waiting for their letters. We are happy that many of them have become leaders in their regions, communities, and villages. Some of them were elected delegates to the Fourth Congress of indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation.
	In May-June 2001, the Training Center convened its second specialised course to train regional coordinators in economic development. To participate in the course, four individuals were selected representing the Khabarovsk Territory (Ms. Galina Bel’dy), Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area (Ms. Elena Salinder), Taimyr Autonomous Area (Mr. Gennadiy Shchukin) and Kamchatka Region (Ms. Janna Dolgan). The candidates having gone through the contest selection enjoyed a wide support from regional associations and organisations of indigenous communities. All of them had higher education and were experienced in practical work. The training program consisted of two parts, the first one, based in Canada, providing the future coordinators with a two-week theoretical course in the organisation of economic development of communities and villages. It was followed by practical studies and familiarisation with subsistence activities of an Indian reservation and organisation of Canada’s cooperative movement engaged in deliveries of goods and fuel to the North. The second part of the program took place in Moscow where the trainees were educated in the field of organising small businesses, legal fundamentals, project proposals writing, fund raising techniques. On completion of the course, the trainees returned back to regions as regional coordinators in economic development with their tasks spread out to include elaboration of economic project proposals at the level of an individual community, ethnic village, enterprise or region as a whole. In this instance, we hope for positive cooperation and support of all the parties concerned including regional associations, indigenous communities and villages, authorities, private companies, non-governmental organisations. The Center is currently involved in negotiations about possible opening of its subdivision with a direct support from the administration of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area, thus laying the foundations for long-term cooperation.

The immediate plans
	
When the first course was over, specialists and experts of the Training Center produced a book of instructions with practical recommendations for preservation and development of subsistence economies of Northern peoples under the prevailing conditions of market economy. At present, preparation of a textbook for a course in small and subsistence business is also underway. A reference book on legislation with a bearing on subsistence activities of indigenous peoples is being compiled. A practical textbook on dealing with donor organisations and funds is nearing completion. Efforts are underway to adjust the training course for regional coordinators taking into account the trainees’ comments and wishes. The Center’s immediate plans envisage elaboration of similar training programs for representatives of the state-owned sector on issues of international legal standards of defense of indigenous peoples’ rights, fundamentals for nature use and co-management of natural resources.
	In addition, RITC will render further consultative assistance in making project proposals, coming from the regions and oriented at economic development, and their expert assessment. To this effect, the Center will employ an expert with an assignment to look for funds in support of projects worked out with an active cooperation of regional coordinators and former trainees from ethnic villages.
	Summing up the results of the first year of the Russian Indigenous Training Center, I would like to say that we have laid good foundations for our future work. Such notions as business and subsistence activities, profit and kinship community might be still incompatible and, at times, antagonistic but the prevailing market economy relations provide no other way except the one imposed on indigenous peoples of the North by history and the state – to look for their own forms of survival and further development. The only method to achieve that is to acquire necessary knowledge and skills appropriate for today’s economic and social realities. Our potential is huge. It is substantiated by the applications coming in from the regions. Unfortunately, due to some organisational limitations, we cannot conduct courses for more than 15 to 20 trainees at a time so far but we shall push ahead so that to put such training on a more regular footing. We understand that it is impossible to teach anyone how to become an entrepreneur or a businessman in a short span of time but we try hard to lay the foundations and improve legal literacy among indigenous peoples in this new sphere of activities. We are also aware of our social mission aimed at a widespread coverage and popularisation of the subsistence lifestyle as a basis for the survival of indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East and preservation of their culture.
	
Announcement about the upcoming courses and contests
	
(1) RITC announces the next training course on “Project development. Fundamentals of small-scale and subsistence business” scheduled for February 2002 (the exact date is being verified in Moscow). All those interested in participation are kindly invited to have a thorough look at the contest conditions and send us the attached questionnaires with answers filled in not later than the indicated deadline.

	Explanatory note about the training course
	The training course on “Project development. Fundamentals of small-scale and subsistence business” will be conducted in February 2002 (the exact date is being verified), in the RITC classroom in Moscow. A two-week course will be focused on tapping into potential economic projects in regions; checking their financial feasibility (for example, making a business plan and learning how to put it into effect, studying supply and demand economics); looking into traditional subsistence activities and their present-day state; learning how to write projects for their submission to donor organisations; coming to understand the fundamentals of business and gaining initial stage business management skills; studying the federal laws. Trainees will be also acquainted with Canadian experience in developing aboriginal entrepreneurship.
	The candidates wishing to attend the classes are expected to comply with the following criteria:
-		To be ready to travel and be inclined to do so;
-		To possess communicative abilities;
-		To have support of the local indigenous population;
-		To be actively involved in the activities of his or her community and village;
-		To have working experience, preferably, in some economic activity;
-		To be aware of his or her region’s resource and potentials.
	Note: when forming the training group, sex ratio, age distribution and regional balance will be taken into account.
	Preference will be given to representatives of indigenous nationality.
	The number of trainees in the group is 15.
	Those interested in attending the course should fill in the application form and meet certain criteria. All the expenses of the selected candidates, including the cost of return tickets from and back to their regions, accommodation and meals, will be covered by the Training Center.
	The application form for participation will be distributed by post and e-mail. You can also get it at the head-office of RITC at the given address or filing a request at www.raipon.org.
	Filled in application forms should reach the Center not later than January 15, 2002. Each of them should be accompanied with a supporting letter (recommendation) from an organisation of indigenous peoples (Association or its subdivision, kinship community, ethnic enterprise or economic unit) as well as applicant’s brief account of the economic situation in his or her community (village, region). Your application without a letter of recommendation will be regarded as incomplete and will not be accepted for consideration.
	
(2) RITC announces the beginning of a contest for small grants as of December 1, 2001 to foster economic development of communities, villages and regions. To participate in this contest, corresponding application forms of project proposals should be filled in and mailed with a full description of the whole project to the given address prior to July 1, 2002.
	
Explanatory note about the Contest of project proposals
The program to support regional project proposals is slated for implementation in 2002 focusing on proposed projects selected during the contest and meeting the following criteria:
	
-		To bring indigenous population into profit and improve its employment situation;
-		To envisage self-repayment for a long term;
-		To rely on local resources;
-		To envisage participation of women and youth;
-		To be of benefit and serve the village (community) as a whole;
-		To take into account traditional knowledge and/or forms of economic management;
-		To be supported by the village (community) and indigenous peoples’ organisation on the local and regional levels;
-		To be supported by local offices and regional authorities;
-		To be good in financial accounting.

The application forms for project proposals are readily available in the Center’s head-office. They will be also distributed by post and e-mail.
	Your assistance in distributing this information in your region will be highly appreciated.

RAIPON initiates research on Arctic pollution and its impact on indigenous health

L.I. Abryutina

The project "Persistent toxic substances, food security and indigenous peoples of the Russian North" was launched in four Arctic regions of Russia: Murmansk Oblast, and Nenets, Taymyr and Chukotka autonomous okrugs. The project will run for the next three years under the guidance of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) in cooperation with RAIPON and with funding from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Researchers of the North-Western Research Centre for Hygiene and Public Health, the Regional Arctic Monitoring Centre, medical experts and regional employees of the Sanitary Control Authority take part in the project implementation. Dr Larisa Abryutina, RAIPON's Vice-President on Health Issues, is the project coordinator. Her regional deputies work in the field. Most of them belong to the medical profession; their participation was established in cooperation with the indigenous organisations locally, where the medical and environmental activities take place.
	The project is clearly needed. Intensive industrial and agricultural development involving the wide use of various chemical substances inevitably results in global environmental pollution. Pollution is especially hazardous in the North as chemicals and waste enter the northern environment from local plants as well as from the South. It is almost a mystery how South African chemicals against malaria mosquito get into our seas, and hence, into the fish, the walrus and other animals. Weed-killers and pesticides used in the South arrive here as well. They poison us, the Northerners. Why? Because these chemical substances are very persistent and accumulate well in the Northern water, in the flora and the fauna, for example, in adipose cells. Once inside, some substances do not disintegrate or disappear. They slowly poison the body and cause sicknesses, sometimes very serious ones. Those who consume traditional Northern food suffer most, as well as infants who risk getting a "dose of poison" with breast milk. The Northern environment is likely to turn from the world's purest into the most dangerous.
	Therefore the aim of the project is to study contents of the persistent chemical pollutants in humans and in the environment. Together with the local doctors and local assistants, researchers collect samples of blood, breast milk, soil, fish, reindeer meat and berries. Simultaneously, the population is studied through questionnaires.
	If the scientists detect the presence of persistent chemical pollutants in the environment and the people, the second phase of the project will identify the origin of the pollution and will formulate appropriate actions to mitigate the problems.
	The research takes place in the settlements of Lovozero and Krasnoshchelye of the Murmansk Oblast; in the settlements of Nelmin-Nos and Indira of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug; in the town of Dudinka and the settlements of Khatanga, Novorybnoe and Kheta in Taymyr; and in the settlements of Lavrentiya, Uelen and Kanchalan in Chukotka.
	The RAIPON coordinator, together with colleagues from St. Petersburg, visited all these settlements and met with local authorities, and local indigenous associations, regional public health and sanitary control authorities. They had a number of meetings with the inhabitants of these settlements where the purpose and tasks of this project were discussed in questions-and-answer sessions. The meetings were broadcasted on radio and TV – they attracted a lot of media attention.
	The author believes that this project is very relevant since we need to know the level of pollution in the Russian Arctic. The project will also allow us to identify ways to overcome environmental problems. Similar research projects have taken place in Alaska, Canada, Norway – in all Arctic countries except Russia. We have to do it as well. The first field work was done by four groups of scientists and doctors this summer. Dr V.P. Chashin, the Head of the North-Western Research Centre for Hygiene and Public Health, coordinated it with Mr V. Kimstach, the AMAP Project Coordinator.
	Further details on this work will be provided in the report to the environmental conference in Tromsø, Norway, in January 2002.
	The task of the RAIPON coordinator is to present the indigenous interest in this project. To do this, the coordinator must help the researchers in identifying the most urgent issues, provide logistical support through a network of regional assistants, members of RAIPON. Meeting people helps to identify imminent problems. Further, logistical issues are solved at these meetings, and the people are given a chance to understand the importance of this research. Meetings help to establish "bridges" between researchers and the local population.
	One of the most important results of the project, besides research on environmental hazards in the Arctic, will be the establishment of partner relationships between indigenous communities of the North and researchers. This is one of the goals set by the ethnic policy of the government. We hope that all project tasks will be successfully accomplished.

Endangered grey whales have caused suspension of seismic prospecting operations by the Exxon company

Sakhalin Environmental Watch, media release
N.A. Barannikova

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, 27 August, 2001. Last week, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) of the Russian Federation banned further seismic prospecting operations by the company Exxon Neftegaz Ltd. off northeastern Sakhalin in the Odoptu oil field region. The cause of that step was the critical condition of the unique Korean-Okhotsk population of grey whales, listed in the International Red Data Book and facing complete extinction. The text of the official telegram of 20.08.2001 signed by A.M. Amirkhanov (Head, Department of the Environment and Ecological Safety, MNR) forwarded to A.S. Chibisov, head of the Committee for Natural Resources, Sakhalin Region: "Urgently ensure that the environmental standards of seismic prospecting for oil resources off Sakhalin be met, taking into account Resolution 53 of the International Whaling Commission. Make sure that no seismic prospecting is conducted off Sakhalin. Urgently report the measures taken.”
	In late July 2001, the Trust Dalmorneftgeofizika, a state enterprise, started seismic prospecting operations in the marine gas field Odoptu, off northeastern Sakhalin (under Sakhalin-1 project as commissioned by the Exxon NL Company). For 1.5 months, the vessel "Nordic Explorer", under the Norwegian flag and with two support ships, will be at work in the Sea of Okhotsk, making multiple (5-120 pulses per minute) pneumatic shocks in the water to obtain a spatial subsoil picture by means of the reflected seismic signal. In this way, 2100 km of profiles in an area of 430 sq. km are to be covered. It should be noted that the operations directly affect the main summer stock range of unique grey whales off the shore of the Piltun Lagoon. In the year 2000 the western population of grey whales dwelling there was listed as “critically endangered” in the International Red Data Book. According to scientists, of all the cetaceans dwelling in the World Ocean, this particular species is the most endangered due to the heavy pressure of human development.
	Surveys have demonstrated that a similar seismic operation in 1997 (in the Molikpaq platform region) was associated with notable changes in whale behavior, although the air guns operated about 30 km away from the animals. That indicates a detrimental effect by seismic operations even at a long range. Currently, the seismic operations of Exxon NL are planned directly in the center of major foraging grounds. As early as the beginning of August, immediately after the Nordic Explorer operations, the scientists monitoring the whales of the Russian-American group noted massive movement of the animals from the seismic prospecting area northward and southward.
	It should be noted that in the southern portion of the whale summer oil from the Molikpaq Platform is produced and transported, which entails a geat deal of ship traffic.
	In the meantime, the International Whaling Commission (IWC), at its 53rd session, in July 2001, admitted the acute need for the elimination of any anthropogenic pressure on western whales dwelling off Piltun Bay and called upon all countries and organisations to undertake every effort to reduce the mortality of this unique population. The reasons for that are well-founded. In fact, in 1999, 10 emaciated whales were recorded there, and there were 27 according to the year of 2000 survey. In the same year, 68 grey whales were recorded in the water area adjacent to the Piltun Lagoon, out of which 12 were classified as emaciated. This implies that the whales are chronically undernourished, which may affect the birth and survival of the offspring and the survival of the entire whale population, since the majority of emaciated whales are females with calves. Due to the hazardous tendency concerned, the IWC Research Committee has recommended suspending seismic prospecting operations during the entire period when grey whales stay in their summer habitat off northeastern Sakhalin, between early June and early October. 
	By its decision to suspend seismic prospecting operations, the MNR has de facto confirmed its allegiance to international environmental protection standards. Further developments will reveal the attitude toward those standards as held by Exxon itself. 
	Additional information can be obtained from Natalia Barannikova and Dmitriy Lisitsyn in the public organisation Ekologicheskaya Vakhta Sakhalina (Sakhalin Environmental Watch), city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, ph. (42422) 3-21-53, e-mail: watch@dsc.ru.

Why protect grey whales?

O.A. Yakovleva, Lawyer, Chairman of the “Rodnik”Legal Center 
N.A. Barannikova, "Ekologicheskaya Vakhta Sakhalina"

Two public organisations, the "Rodnik" Legal Centre and "Ecologicheskaya Vakhta Sakhalina” (Environmental Watch of Sakhalin) have initiated a case against the Government of the Russian Federation to protect grey whales.
	Today the Sea of Okhotsk sees the implementation of the national "Programme for Geologo-Geophysical Operations in the Water Areas of the Far Eastern Seas of the Russian Federation for the Near Future".
	The water area of the Sea of Okhotsk adjacent to Piltun Bay is home to the unique Okhotsk-Korean grey whale population listed in the RF (Russian Federation) and IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red Data Books as critically endangered. The uniqueness of this particular population of grey whales lies in the fact that it numbers no more than 90 individuals, which dwell off the Piltun Bay shore. Annually, from May to November, the stock of grey whales comes to the area adjacent to the Piltun Bay to feed on bottom-dwelling organisms. Because the feeding area of the grey whale population is unique and small, the preservation of its natural state and the exclusion of any disturbing factors in this region of the sea is necessary for the further survival of this population. This is of particular importance because the whales do not feed at other sites during other seasons of the year. Between November and April they winter off the Korean Peninsula, bearing calves, with which they return for foraging off Sakhalin.
	Seismic prospecting in the area which is the foraging ground of grey whales between late July and early September 2001 (in the course of the foraging peak, when the greatest number of individuals, including calves, are feeding) has exerted a very detrimental effect on the state of the animals. This fact has been supported by the conclusions of world leading experts on the grey whales of the Okhotsk-Korean population.
	In fact, on 1 September 2001, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), Glavrybvod, Sakhalinoblkomekologiya, and Sakhalinrybvod, were addressed by a group of scientists, demanding that seismic prospecting in the northern and central portion of the grey whale foraging range (the marine field Odoptu) be immediately discontinued. The scientists pointed out an undoubted detrimental impact of seismic prospecting on grey whales. Excerpts from the scientists’ address are given below:
	"As early as 1997, our joint Russian-American team noted some obvious changes in whale behaviour as a result of seismic operations, performed over 30 km away from the whale foraging grounds (Wursig et al., 1997). A similar response was recorded in the bowhead whale, which avoided the seismic prospecting vessels operating several kilometers away from them. On the basis of our grey whale survey of 1997 – 2000, we found that in the years 1999 and 2000 there occurred redistribution of individuals in the foraging region and the majority of the whales left for the northern part (up to 50 km). A similar migration of whales was noted in the August 2001 (compared with June), but the whales moved in the northern direction. The above migration occurred suddenly, in early August and coincided with the beginning of seismic prospecting operations conducted by the company "Exxon Neftegaz Ltd." in the central and northern portions of the grey whale foraging grounds. Presumably, the whales had to abandon the best foraging areas due to high noise level on account of seismic explosions in the course of seismic prospecting operations in the northern portion of the foraging area … This gives grounds to believe that migration of grey whales from the most forage-valuable areas is caused by seismic prospecting …".
	The scientists demanded that seismic prospecting be banned during the period of grey whales’ presence in the foraging area from May to November. In addition to the scientists' statement, numerous addresses by Russian and international public environmental organisations were forwarded to the MNR and other Russian state bodies. 
	According to the Environmental Watch of Sakhalin, the environmentalists’ action and the decision of the International Whaling Commission have resulted in a direct ban by the MNR on seismic prospecting during the foraging of grey whales. In fact, beginning 20 August 2001, the leader of the Environmental Protection and Safety Department sent the following telegram to the head of the Committee for Natural Resources of the Sakhalin Region:
	"Urgently ensure that the environmental standards of seismic prospecting for oil resources off Sakhalin be met, taking into account Resolution 53 of the International Whaling Commission. Make sure that that no seismic prospecting is conducted off Sakhalin. Urgently report the measures taken".
Despite the direct ban, the seismic prospecting operations have been carried on.
The implementation of the programme envisages systematic seismic prospecting operations in the Sea of Okhotsk, including the grey whale foraging areas. The fact of damaging of the biological resources of the Sea of Okhotsk is confirmed by the RF State Fishery Committee. In fact, regulating seismic prospecting in the Odoptu Field in 2001, the State Fishery Committee estimated the loss of fish products due to seismic prospecting operations as a result of mortality of zooplankton, and juveniles of walleye pollock, flounder, herring, capelin, saffron cod, dog salmon, and humpback salmon at USD 3952 (113240 rubles).
	That compensation was paid confirms that damage was done to the biological resources as a result of seismic prospecting. But if zooplankton and various fishes suffered, harm has also been done to grey whales. But this fact is not regarded as damage: Indeed, grey whales are of no commercial importance. Those are creatures that nature gave to us, similar to the rest of its riches. But not only are we unable to preserve these unique mammals, we do not even feel we are to blame for their eventual extinction, similar to the loss of numerous animal species as a result of human activities.
Why does it happen this way?
The causes of devaluation of human life and the life of whole peoples lie in the indifference of authorities and society to nature. Before everybody’s eyes they are cutting down valuable forests, and rivers, seas and the world ocean are polluted. The first alarming evidence is already here. The extinction of plant and animal species not only impoverishes nature, but demonstrates to humans that we may become extinct ourselves if we continue mercilessly to exploit living nature. Indigenous peoples who have retained their links with Nature longer than others, are aware of how detrimental are thoughtless industrial activities and limitless consumerism mentality that have seized humankind.
	The action for grey whales is an attempt to protect humans, to remind ourselves that one cannot violate nature laws with impunity. The pitiless attitude to animals, forests and seas destroys the human soul and makes humans temporary rulers of the Earth. But the Earth has not been created for temporary rulers and it can protect itself.
	The citizens of Russia and environmental organisations demand the banning of environmentally harmful activity, including the damaging activity of seismic prospecting and any other anthropogenic actions at the foraging areas of grey whales off Sakhalin from May to November.
	This is of principal importance not only for the conservation of the species and this particular critically endangered stock. Of no less importance is the fact that by protecting the whales, man revives his soul and consciousness, and hence, makes the first steps towards his own survival and the survival of humankind.
	We invite you to take part in the case concerned, and we will publish warranty forms and instructions for their completion.

Clan-based community – necessary for stable and efficient indigenous employment in the Koryak Autonomous Okrug

S.V. Lebedev, PhD (Econ.)

Russia is primarily and essentially a Northern country. It is in fact an Arctic country with a very high Northern influence on virtually everything – from the demographic patterns to incomes per capita. Russia cannot live without the North, as the North cannot live without Russia. At the same time, the economy of the Northern regions is as depressed due to the crisis of recent years as the rest of the national economy. The indigenous people are in the most vulnerable position – their traditional lifestyle involves lengthy environmental exposure in the most extreme Arctic zone. The indigenous people of the North have a traditional culture, economy and lifestyle. In this context they are "ethnically valuable": the global community is interested to preserve this value.
	Interaction between the industrial society and the relatively isolated communities with clan structures and a subsistence economy results in social, economic and legal conflicts. An extensive legal base on indigenous issues has been estrablished by now. For example, since the Koryak Autonomous Okrug became an independent unit of the Russian Federation in 1992, the Presidential Decree No. 2163 (16.12.1993) "On governmental support to socio-economic development of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug" and the Governmental Decree No. 972 (19.08.94) "On urgent measures to solve social and economic problems in the Koryak Autonomous Okrug" were adopted. However some of these measures were never implemented. Various programmes of economic and social development of the North were not carried out as well. Even basic problems were not solved, and in many cases were actually aggravated, unemployment being one of them.
	The issue of employment has always been essential and very special to the indigenous population. In the North, there is no concept of an unemployed person according to the traditional way of thinking of the Northerners. The indigenous people have always worked to ensure survival. Therefore unemployment is not acceptable in any form.
	On the other hand, the issue of indigenous unemployment is not new. It has a lengthy history. Before the revolution of 1917, every day was devoted to exhausting physical work in order for every family member and the whole clan to survive. Everybody had a role defined by the way of life of the group. Work as such was automatically the driving force underlying the ethnic identity of the Northerners.
	Everything changed with the revolution. The policy of incorporating the peoples of the North into the national economy and their transformation – carried out without regard to indigenous practices and culture – from a nomadic way of life to a sedentary one resulted in the destruction of the traditional economy as the main means of subsistence. The state severely deformed the natural historical development of the labour relations, properties, and forms of management of the indigenous way of life. The main reasons for the reduction in indigenous employment are the reduction of reindeer livestock due to reforms in collective farming, closure of forestries, the drastic decrease of investments in industrial construction, and the privatisation of trade – these are the factors that contribute to reduction of employment opportunities that traditionally belonged to the indigenous people of the North.
	Frequently the indigenous inhabitants are forced out by immigrants from mainstream Russian society even in such traditional economic activities as fishing, hunting and partially in reindeer herding.
	The traditional economy of the Northern indigenous population – the basis of their existence in the recent past – faces tough challenges today. The future of the indigenous peoples of the Russian North lies in developing the traditional economy.
	It is necessary to remember that solving employment problems for the indigenous peoples is a rather special and in many respects a delicate issue that will not stand hasty and rash actions. Maintenance of employment is essential for the development of the indigenous people in the modern world. Applied economic measures must be coordinated and take into account the special features of Northerners. This process must not be based – as it is at present – upon imposed, artificial forms of indigenous participation, but on upon principles of self-organisation, self-management and self-development. Hence, the important features here lie in these fundamental changes, expansion of opportunities, and the increased participation of indigenous peoples in the decision-making processes.
	The measures developed to improve the socio-economic situation of indigenous Northerners should be related to the traditional economic activities. The focus must be on the expansion of labour opportunities for the indigenous population.
	The government's Northern policy should promote the gradual revival of traditional economy in clan-based communities of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug. In the context of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug the complexity of the present situation is that the indigenous peoples were not traditionally oriented towards the market economy, and the Koryak environment does not provide opportunities for intensive use of its bioresources. The indigenous inhabitants subsisted by balancing consumer needs with the natural limitations of bioresources. The reproduction cycle of these resources did not allow for capital innovations as in a modern economy. The choice for the indigenous peoples of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, as well as the rest of the North and the population of Kamchatka especially, depends on the involvement of the peoples themselves in the development process. They need the support of a legal base and an appropriate governmental policy regarding the North, including sensitive environmental and cultural policies.
	The territories of traditional land use for the indigenous peoples of the North are historically determined as the land and the water used by many generations of our indigenous ancestors.
	Setting up clan-based communities will contribute to solving a whole complex of economic, social and other problems. In this sphere the aid of indigenous intellectuals will bring prompt results in the improvement of the socio-economic situation of the indigenous peoples of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug.

How to save the Itelmen language

V.I. Uspenskaya

At present, the Itelmens (their old name is Kamchadals) make up a small ethnic subgroup of Palaeo-Asiatic peoples of northeastern Asia. They used to occupy virtually the entire Kamchatka, from Cape Lopatka in the south to the Tigil’ River in the north. In 1697, Vladimir Atlasov, the first Kamchatkan explorer, estimated their number at about 20,000.
	The Itelmen language belongs to the Chukotkan-Kamchatkan group of Palaeo-Asian languages. Scientists S.P. Krasheninnikov and G.B. Steller stated in 1743 that all the settled indigenous inhabitants spoke the Kamchadal language, which consisted of several dialects. They identified three dialects: the “eastern” (Pacific coastline, the valley of the Kamchatka River), “southern” (around the town of Petropavlovsk, Ust-Bolsheretska) and “western” one (western coastline of Kamchatka). The scientists noted that though Kamchadals spoke different dialects they understood each other perfectly well.
	During the time Kamchatka was being opened up by the Russians, the Itelmen language was disappearing quickly in the south. In the 1908-1909 period, V.N. Tyushov met only one old man, Feoktist Permyakov, who could understand and speak Kamchadal.
	In the west of Kamchatka, the language was still alive. V. Iokhelson (1910-1911) wrote down 40 Itelmen fairy tales. I was born in the village of Sedanka-Osedlaya, Tigilskiy District in 1941. I remember that Itelmen was generaly spoken only until the Itelmen village of Sedanka-Osedlaya was “closed”. As children, we did not know the Russian language. However, the “southern” and “eastern” dialects had by that time disappeared for good.
Why is the Itelmen language disappearing so quickly? What had a bearing on these processes?
The sharp reduction in the number of the Itelmen people happened during the intensive colonisation of Kamchatka by the Russians. Christianisation by persuasion, outbreaks of smallpox and other epidemics, and a great influx of Russian population intensified assimilation processes.
	In 1925, the Kamchatka Guberniya (Province) Revolutionary Committee decided not to consider the Kamchadals inhabiting the southern districts of Kamchatka as natives but to register them as Russians in their passports since they had lost their language and differed insignificantly from the Russians in their economic activities and lifestyle. This decision reduced the official number of Itelmens (Kamchadals) considerably. Officially, only those Kamchadals who inhabited the western coastline in the Tigilskiy District were considered Itelmens. Later, further loss of the native language went on under the influence of the campaign of closing the so-called “unpromising”, ancient villages and resettling Itelmens (Kamchadals) to larger villages. 
	Life in predominantly Russian villages did not contribute to preservation of the Itelmen language. Russian was spoken at work, at home, in public. Most Itelmen families were of mixed marriage.
	In modern times, according to the 1989 census there were 1,441 Itelmens.
	
Modern Itelmen
	
The surviving “western” dialect is subdivided: the Kovran dialect and Sedanki dialect. The Itelmen language has not been reproductive (transferred from parents to children) for over 50 years.
	S.P. Krasheninnikov, G.V. Steller (1743-1744), B.Dybowski (1878), V.N. Tyushov (1908-1909), Tan Bogoraz, V.I. Iokhelson (1910-1911) and others studied the Itelmen language and wrote down its vocabulary.
	A.P. Pogodin began to study the Itelmen language in 1956. He remains to this day one of the most competent experts of Itelmen. He published a book called “The Itelmen Language” and other works.
	K.N. Khaloymova, an Itelmen born in 1934 and a graduate student of the Khabarovsk Teachers’ Training Institute, published, in co-authorship with A.P. Volodin, the Itelmen alphabet, an “ABC Book”, “The Itelmen Language Dictionary”, independently produced textbooks for the 1st-4th years of primary school, and extracurricular reading books for the 1st and 2nd school grades. At present, she is involved in working out a system of methods to teach the Itelmen language.
	
Experience of teaching the Itelmen language in family schools 
	
Let me tell you briefly about myself first before sharing the modest experience of our “Lach” school in Petropavlovsk.
	I, V.I. Uspenskaya (Bekkerova), was born in the village of Sedanka-Osedlaya, Tigilskiy District, in 1941. Until the age of 10, I could speak Itelmen only and knew no Russian. I spoke the native language of my family. I mastered the Russian language painstakingly at primary school. When in 1953 our village was closed as "unpromising", we were all resettled in the predominantly Russian village of Tigil. The native Itelmen language started to be erased from household speech, the words kept slipping from my memory.
	I graduated from the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy teachers’ training school for primary education, studied at the Khabarovsk Higher Party School, worked as a teacher of primary classes in schools of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug for 12 years, and then became a chief specialist at the regional center of the RF State Committee for the North (now transformed into a territorial body of the RF Economic Development Ministry).
	I started to forget my native tongue during the many years that had passed since the closure of our village of Sedanka-Osedlaya. We could hardly identify ourselves as Itelmens at that time. It came after 1990, when the ethnic movement began to revive and ethnic self-consciousness began to wake up. We started paying homage to our Itelmen roots, getting more interested in our culture, feeling a greater need to know more about our language and culture, and pass our traditions over to the next generations. I was approached by people from two kinship communities of the Yelizovskiy District with a proposal to organise Itelmen language classes in their family schools. The lessons started, but in a year the schools were closed due to numerous roadblocks on our way.
	The “Lach” school, affiliated to the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy-based Association of Northern Peoples, has functioned since 1999. Its students make up a group of 15 to 18 Itelmens. For six months we had our classes in a small room of the Association but from February 2001 moved to the building of the Kamchatkan teachers’ training institute. It also houses the Northern Academy, where students study native languages along with ethnic dancing, applied arts and law.
	I conduct lessons once a week, an hour and a half each with both adults and children attending. Several people come from as far as the Yelizovskiy District. I have to work out the program and teaching methods myself, making plans for every lesson, and preparing visual aids and photocopies of educational literature.
	The Itelmen language is one of the most difficult languages, especially its pronunciation. In particular, the sounds of k, k’, n, kh, ch’, t’, p’, э and others are mastered with great difficulty by contemporary Itelmens. Therefore, I spend a lot of time on phonetics and spelling of these sounds and letters. We memorise words by topics starting with such simple everyday words as “lach” (the sun), “samt” (land), “kist” (home), “chamzan’lkh” (man), etc. The list of topics includes “tynun” (relatives), “uvik” (body), “ktyn” (head), “vyrnik” (animals), “nomnom” (food) and others. A bit of time is given to morphology with students studying the noun, the verb, the pronoun, and the numerals. While practicing spoken language they learn how to talk about themselves, about their families, the environment and nature. We use the "ABC Book" for reading. "The Historical and Ethnographical Teaching Instruction Book of the Itelmen Language" is our guiding reference.
	We learn by heart riddles, rhymes, songs and chant-as-you-walk pieces. We rehearse adaptations for stage to perform during festive events. My students are of different ages, with different educational backgrounds and of different ethnic groups. Their motives to learn the Itelmen language differ and their achievements in mastering the subject are not of the same level either. For example, strange as it might look, I would mark out Viktor Ryzhkov, a Russian, as the best pupil: he spends a lot of time working hard on his own to learn the language. Many school goers have memorised twenty, thirty words learning to read and write, but the majority masters the language with great effort as a foreign language.
	Some attend the classes to really understand their native tongue, others want to have a deeper knowledge of Itelmen culture. The young ones, possibly, intend to devote themselves to ethnography or linguistics. But there are also those who simply enjoy mixing with other Itelmens in a native atmosphere.
	During the classes, we use the "ABC Book", edited by A.P. Volodin and K.N. Khaloymova, "The Historical and Ethnographical Teaching Instruction Book of the Itelmen Language" written by K.N. Khaloymova, E. Kasten, S. Longinov (printed in Berlin), “The Itelmen Dictionary” (compiled by K.N. Khaloymova, A.P. Volodin), a collection of Itelmen riddles called “To Children of Kutkha” as well as issues of the “Aborigen Kamchatki” newspaper (I am its editor).
	The main problems of mastering the Itelmen language, as I see them, boil down to the absence of language basis. Nobody speaks Itelmen in his or her everyday life at present. The students of our school are of different ages, with different educational backgrounds and different degrees of interest. It frequently happens during the year when new pupils come to join the class that I have to explain the subject all over again. We have one lesson a week lasting for an hour and a half only. It is too little. The interval between the lessons is too long and by the time the students come again they tend to forget what they have already learned at the previous lesson.
	There is no system of methods to teach a language in such “family” schools. I teach as I reckon it is right with no experience to draw from. I know the Sedanka dialect but I have to teach the Kovran dialect since all the textbooks are in the Kovran dialect. As a chief specialist of the territorial body of the Economic Development and Trade Ministry and the editor of the “Aborigen Kamchatki” newspaper, I can hardly devote much time to working out a system of teaching methods. During the past years I taught free of charge or, as they say, on a voluntary basis, and only lately it has been agreed that would be paid 50 rubles per lesson (an hour and a half). It is a token figure rather than a real payment. There is no money to cover traveling expenses of those coming from villages of the Yelizovskiy District, to pay for visual aids or to buy textbooks either.
	
Tasks to revive and develop the Itelmen language in Kamchatka
	
One of the major problems to solve immediately is to preserve and record materials collected from elderly Itelmen speakers. According to our estimates, there are about 35 native speakers now residing in nine villages of the Kamchatkan Oblast. According to my detailed list, the oldest is 77 and the youngest 51. Most of them are 60 to 66. They are all sick people facing difficult economic conditions. They know many Itelmen words, folklore, and chanting rhymes. They can be the main informants within the framework of the program to preserve the Itelmen language.
	It is vital to make an immediate record of everything known by these informants, with special attention given to male ones (3 persons) since they remember specific Itelmen terms of traditional subsistence activities and toponymy. It is essential to record everything they know without delay because in 5-6 years their number will be drastically reduced. Russian scholars and linguists have not been engaged in any field studies of the Itelmen language in recent years. A.P. Volodin’s last visit to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy was in 1995 whereas Japanese linguists Chikako Ono and Mitsuhiro Yadzu come up here virtually every year. Jonathan Bobalick (Canada) also speaks and studies the Itelmen language.
	It is expedient to organise a field survey in the Tigilskiy District, and to convene a workshop of Itelmen informants (35 people) in Tigil, video- and audiotaping the material there. The cost of airfare to the Tigilskiy District is very high. We cannot afford visiting our motherland even on vacations. We have no video or photographic equipment, no state-of-the-art recorders or personal computers.
	It is most important to make the Itelmen language carriers absorb the idea that they are the last ones so that they will pass on their rich knowledge of the language and culture to people and science. It would be already a tangible contribution to the development of native culture if every informant succeeds in sharing his or her knowledge with at least one grandson or granddaughter. 
	Our “Lach” school is the first experience of organising family schools to teach Itelmen. The teaching experience is meager and, possibly, the results are hardly visible. But this experience should be disseminated across the regions, villages and Itelmen families.
	First steps have been made in the right direction. Representatives of the “Koyana” kinship community from the village of Koryaki (O.N. Golenchik) have started to arrange their first junior classes of the Itelmen language and culture for children raised in indigenous families of Koryaki. V.E. Fedotova, an Itelmen-speaking native, is invited as their teacher.
	But so far there are too few enthusiasts like that. The native language should be studied in every Itelmen (Kamchadal) community.
	One of the problems is the lack of equipment and technical facilities. A personal computer, video and audio equipment, cameras, dictating machines and modern programmes to print Itelmen literature in small numbers are all needed.
	The tasks related to the revival and development of the Itelmen language in Kamchatka can be formulated in the following way:
(1)		Improvement of the system of methods to teach Itelmen at family schools;
(2)		Organisation of family schools in the districts inhabited by Itelmen (Kamchadals);
(3)		Elaboration of programs, methodological instructions and visual aids;
(4)		Publication of an additional page of the “Aborigen Kamchatki” newspaper in the native languages, including Itelmen;
(5)		Organisation of a field survey in the Tigilskiy District to videotape informants of the Itelmen language;
(6)		Organisation of a two-week workshop of Itelmen informants and Itelmen teachers in Tigil;
(7)		Publication of literature in Itelmen;
(8)		Arrangement of a specialisation teach-in on the Itelmen language with scientist K.N. Khaloymova in Palana and A.P. Volodina in Saint-Petersburg;
(9)		Dissemination of experience in teaching native languages.
In conclusion, I would like to say that I dream about the time when I would be able to fully devote myself to the task of reviving Itelmen without giving a second thought to making a living. Time is too short for the language’s revival and development.

About native Chukotka in native language

N.N. Noskova
translated from Chukotkan into Russian by V.A. Gracheva

Below is the translation from the Chukotkan language of a composition by Ms. Nataliya Nikolayevna Noskova, teacher at the Anadyr medical school, winning the first prize among other works written in Chukotkan for “Chukotka on the Threshold of the 21st century”, a youth contest to mark the 70th anniversary of the Chukotkan Autonomous Okrug. 	
	Live by doing good and loving next of kin!
	V.D. Lebedev

I was born in the most northeastern village of our country – Uelen. From my green years I was pretty sure that one’s birthplace determined largely one’s nature and has a bearing on the rest on one’s life. The village of Uelen is world famous not only for its bone carving art but also its native people: Yu.S. Rytkhëu, V.K. Veket, Tukkay, Seygutegin, and many others. V.V. Leontev, L.V. Belikov, B.A. Vasilevskiy worked in Uelen for years. As children, we were plunged into the atmosphere of arts and creativity. It was in the 1980s, when Chukotka was on the upswing: people worked to be and make other people happy, domestic problems were virtually nonexistent and nobody could even suspect that in a short while everything would be changed.
	Possibly, the prerequisites for taking hard knocks were laid down then, in “the full belly times…” My grandfathers and great-grandfathers were reindeer herders. Here is what my mother, V.A. Ranautagina used to tell me:
	“Our granddad, Panan, owned a large reindeer herd and was a well-to-do Chukchi. He had two wives. His second wife, her name was Papy, died in the early 1970s at the age of over 100. Up until her death, she was always busy with doing some work in her power about the house, nursing her grandchildren”. In the 1950s, collective farms (kolkhozes) were imposed all across Chukotka. Collectivisation was triggered. Ranautagin, my father, was a skillful reindeer herder. He and my granddad Panan are frequently referred to in V. Leontev’s narrative “Time to Hunt Walrus”. Granddad Panan was of sound mind and a skillful man. He taught his sons, Ranautagin and Konop many smart things of the world. Leontyev writes about it in his story “Fortune-teller”: 
	“The old man was too weak though tried to be of help one way or another: carried out repairs of reindeer sledges and harnesses, mended snow shoes and gave advice every now and then… And when Ranautagin asked the old man he looked thoughtful for a moment and then, in full view of everybody present, took a shoulder blade of a freshly flayed reindeer, put on it a little smoldering piece of coal from the hearth and started to blow… The old man looked at the crack for a long time, feeling it with his hardened fingernail and whispering something under his nose. At last, the old man said quietly and confidently: “Calving should take place in the valley of Kyttapvaam”.
	I remember my granddad Konop quite well. He was a strong and courageous man. His physical defect (he was one-legged) did not prevent him from working at a collective farm and, later, a state farm as a guide. He knew the tundra like the back of his hand, he could find the way in any weather.
	At my little age, when Konop was still alive, I was unable to realize the profundity of that man who, in my view, personified the whole epoch, but my respect and that of my kinsfolk for that great man was boundless. Konop was a man of few words but those few words, gestures and expressions on his face were more than enough for him to show his feelings and thoughts. With his passing, it seems to me, a piece of ancient wisdom was lost forever and at times I catch myself wishing to ask him and nobody else: “What next – what’s to be done? What shall we do and every one of us in particular?”
	I had good luck not only in as far as my place of birth and my relatives were concerned but also in the acquaintances of mine, the people I came across as fate willed. First and foremost, it is Iliya Aleksandrovich Radov. Having no specialisad ethnographical education, he has been doing individual research into the traditional lineage-based social organisation of the Chukchi. Residing in Uelen, he spent time having long talks with old reindeer herders, Konop and Kiyem, and drawing family trees. He managed to identify specific features of various tribes, drawing out the differences between the Reindeer Chukchi and the Coastal ones, tracing the migration itineraries of certain tribes across Chukotka. After moving to Ust’-Belaya and while working in the state farm there, he went on with his research, talking with thousands of natives, mostly of old age, and discovering relationships between the Chukchi inhabiting the Chukotskiy District and those living in the Anadyr District. He has collected valuable materials and his book, written in co-authorship, will soon be out of print in Magadan. Iliya Aleksandrovich has spent 34 years in Kamchatka working in agriculture, the most labor-intensive branch of economy. He is in fact “a soldier of an unknown front” – it is in his time that the state farm has managed to stay among the most stable units against the background of total disintegration of reindeer breeding. Having sacrificed his best years to Chukotka, this man has failed to save even for an apartment somewhere in mainland Russia.
	Chukotka is now struggling through the worst time in its history. A medical worker myself, I have always been guided by concrete figures and facts. In the recent years, the indigenous peoples of the North have been subject to the most severe trials in their entire history. Indigenous people who have been engaged in subsistence activities are now forced to abandon the once so familiar and dear places and resettle in towns and villages where jobs are easier to find. The prevailing crisis of traditional subsistence economies is the main reason for the high unemployment level, and is compounded by bad, misbalanced nourishment and alcoholism among aborigines of the North. The high accident, murder and suicide mortality rates, three to four times higher than the average in Russia, and the average life expectancy of indigenous population being ten to eleven years shorter than the national average are the aftermath of the above. More than half of the total number of deaths among the aborigines of Chukotka falls among the able-bodied section of population. Only a few individuals reach pension age.
	And here is what V.G. Bogoraz wrote in his monographic essay “The Chukchi”:
	“The Chukchi are the healthiest tribe in northeastern Siberia. During the 1897 census in the Kolyma Area, families were encountered with five, seven and even nine children, all very much alive… There are many old people among the Reindeer Chukchi. There are also families with four generations living side by side with their great-grandfather being 70-75” - a comparison not in favor of the present day. 
	I cannot help mentioning one more person – Olga Dmitrievna Tumnettuvge. I consider her my professional teacher. She has taught me a lot in my professional activity, assisting me in becoming a specialist. Olga Dmitrievna has worked for more than forty years in health care. She has seen a good deal of everything but her soul has not grown stiff because of all the hardships she has experienced. She loves her job, the people. She is constantly full of ideas striving for creation, emotionally going through all the ordeal the Chukotkan people are enduring at this time. A.P. Chekhov was quite right saying: “What a lofty and happy fate it is to stay among the ranks of those saving people from sufferings, giving this idea everything, one’s youth, strength! “
	And O.D. Tumnettuvge’s fate has been “lofty” and “happy” indeed. People’s life has been changed before her eyes and, unfortunately, not always for the better. There have been some shortcomings in the development healthcare in Chukotka, which have led to serious consequences. Namely, the people’s traditions and beliefs have been ignored, the strength of their family roots, as well as their food ration and diet dictated by a harsh climate have been disregarded. The forceful and, at times, thoughtless “alienation” could lead to the destruction of the entire civilisation. Over and over again I have been convinced that our Chukotka is rich in people, our real wealth, rather than in gold, tin, ore or precious stones – people like Konop, I.A. Radov, O.D. Tumnettuvge and many others whose lives are like the sun’s rays giving light and showing the way.
	
	The wind’s so fierce, so devilishly cold,
	The frost’s so biting like nowhere in the world.
	In spite of all that, the folks are open an’ fair 
	In the land where the sun’s so welcome but rare.
	What’s their openness one is talking about? 
	Their soul’s wide open, any stranger’s allowed
	To enter it easily like their well-heated home –
	The cost of the warmth among them is well known.
	
	 A.Pchelkin
	 (Translated by W.Czarev)
	
	Sometimes, a thought comes to your mind: what is your significance for this world? A human being in the universe is like a grain of sand in the ocean. On the other hand, how many good deeds and what an awful lot of evil things man can do during his so short a life.
	Analyzing the situation Chukotka is now experiencing, thinking over the prospects for its future in the 21st century, I become ever more strongly convinced in one thing: to live with dignity one should start with oneself first. It was not without reason that L. Leonov said: “All victories start with the victory over yourself”.
	This is the occasion when it is not a disgrace to become selfish and fall in love with your good self. Anyone inhabiting this land should take care of oneself, one’s health, one’s children. There must be no confidence in anyone whatsoever to avoid disappointment in future, which might be too much for you. You would never let yourself down, would you? The statement that “you are responsible for your children” is as old as the world. It just cannot be so, I refuse to believe it outright, that our strong and courageous ancestors struggled to survive for many centuries so that we would degrade ourselves and perish in a wink of an eye, in a few decades.
	We, our fathers’ and grandfathers’ successors, are responsible to those who were among the first explorers to open up Chukotka, sacrificing their best years for the sake of this land. Don’t we have the right to be striving only for a better everyday life? I am sure that Chukotkan future will be bright and happy for those who inhabit the land. All there is to do is to work a lot, raising our kids in the spirit of traditional culture, never ignoring the precepts of our ancestors.
	I would like to sum up my composition with the words of the great Michel de Montaigne:
	“Life in itself is neither good, nor evil. It is a receptacle of both good and evil depending on what you have turned it into…”

The Samarga forests threatened to be cut down
	
Arkadiy Kaza, Chairman, Public Organisation of Hunters and Fishermen of the “Agzu” kinship nomadic community

In accordance with Order # 13 dated 27 February 2001, given by the Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee of the Primorskiy Territory’s administration, the concession to the exploitation rights to the Samarga state forestry station’s area of 428,100 hectares, covered with virgin forests, was put up for auction and granted on lease to “Terneiles” for a period of 25 years (minutes of the auction commission of 9 March  2001, Chairman E.S. Stomatyuk).
	Taking these actions, the Territory’s administration has violated a number of articles of the Russian Federation's Constitution envisaging concerning the rights of a population to use their territory’s resources, as well as having infringed federal and territorial laws – its own regulations preserving the natural environment and traditional subsistence territories of indigenous peoples.
	First and foremost, in accordance with RF Presidential Ordinance # 397 (22 April 1992) “On Urgent Measures to Protect Areas of Inhabitance and Economic Activities of Numerically Small Peoples of the North” and “The System of Protected Natural Territories” adopted by the session of the Territorial Council on 28 June 1991 (Decision M 145), the Samarga River basin in the river’s upper and middle stream covering the area of 660,000 hectares is protected and included in a special nature reserve in order to give the ethnic territory a special status. In accordance with the above documents, no economic activity is admissible in this territory without prior content of specially authorised environmental protection bodies and authoritative agencies of indigenous peoples of the North.
	Further, on 15 October 1998, the Territory’s Acting Governor signed Enactment M 511 concerning adoption of the Territory’s “Strategy to Preserve the Biodiversity of Sikhote-Alin”, recommending that “the organs of state power and local self-governance, while carrying out the activities having any impact on biodiversity of ecosystems…, to be guided strictly by the given strategy”. This strategy, on page 92, states the availability of “a prospective ethnic territory “Samarginskaya” of 634,000 hectares”.
	In accordance with federal law “On Guarantees of Rights of Indigenous Numerically Small Peoples of the Russian Federation” # 82-F3 (30 April 1999), the local offices of self-governance in the residence areas of Northern indigenous peoples are authorised to “to take part… in supervision over the use of land in the localities of traditional inhabitance and economic activities” (Article 7, Paragraph 2). In accordance with Article 8 of the above law, “associations of indigenous peoples have the right to own and use gratuitously the land of various categories needed for their traditional activities and subsistence occupations in the localities of their traditional inhabitance and economic activities (Paragraph 1.1), participate in supervision over the use of land of various categories (Paragraph 1.2), participate in supervision over the observance of federal laws and those of the Russian Federation's units on protection of the natural environment (Paragraph 1.3), participate in environmental and ethnological investigations during the elaboration of natural resources development programs” (Paragraph 1.6).
	In its reply to the enquiry of the “Agzu” kinship nomadic community about the legitimacy of the given lease of the forest in the reserved territory (Letter # 69/4-15, dated 6 June 2001) the Primorskiy Territory’s Natural Resources Committee stated that the “Agzu” kinship community already had the legally guaranteed right to use hunting grounds in the area concerned (the agreement with the territorial administration for a period of 25 years and the license to harvest the fauna). This, however, did not exclude the possibility of leasing the area for other kinds of use without any coordination with the previous lessee. In legal terms, it is evidently correct. However, in accordance with common sense, the owner of the forest has hardly any grounds to lease the area for an additional type of land use that unconditionally destroys the very object of the primary agreement – the fauna and the entire ecosystem. It is all the more objectionable that it happened without the primary leaseholder being informed. The RF law “On Environmental Investigations” (adopted on 23 November 1995), making obligatory the environmental impact assessment (EIA) before planned economic activity, including large-scale tree felling, should have eased the problem since it is mandatory, during EIA operations carried out at every stage of a project, including the preparation of materials for the concession auction, to take into account all possible environmental, economic and social consequences. However, in this particular case, there has been neither an EIA nor any other investigation. This, in itself, is ample grounds to find the whole auction precedure and leasehold agreement legally objectionable.
	It is also mentioned in the reply of the Primorskiy Territory’s Natural Resources Committee to the Chairman of the “Agzu” community that all the forest sections of the previously unregistered area in the Samarga River basin “have been leased out to “Terneiles” and “Primorskiye lesopromyshlenniki” companies with the right to hold them for a single purpose – felling. In this connection, it’s a bit of a puzzle why the Natural Resources Committee of the Territorial Administration, putting up the already leased forest sections for auction, restricts in advance the type of land use exclusively to felling as the main activity and even determines the volume of output. Moreover, in spite of the comprehensive nature use ideology, which has existed in Russia for a long time, the available leasehold mechanisms, and assessed volumes of extraction of non-lumber forest products, the given and the only sustainable type of resource exploitation is being bluntly ignored, thus infringing at least the RF Presidential Ordinance “On Securing Sustainable Development”.
	Reference was made by the Natural Resources Committee to the fact that the “Agzu” community has not so far concluded an agreement about its own type of land use (hunting) with the Samarginskiy forestry station, as stipulated by the Territorial Administration Natural Resources Committee’s order # 240 (27 December 1999). As a result, the community is subject to withdrawal of its leasehold right and even to paying the damages springing up from God knows where, allegedly caused to traditional economic activities on its own reserved area. This is a mere indication that the territorial authorities, being ready to carry the situation to the point of absurdity, would not stir a finger to render even negligible assistance to people deprived of their means of existence. In our view, both Committees, the territorial and federal, should patiently bring their information to the attention of the remote village of Agzu (whose only means of communication with the mainland is extremely expensive helicopter), explain the rapidly changing rules currently in force to the inadequately informed people, and look for any ways and means to fulfill the obligations once assumed by the state to preserve the traditional environment of the indigenous population of Samarga.

Editor’s Remarks (by RAIPON)
	
On receiving the above information, with attached documents substantiating its context from the Udege village of Agzu, RAIPON, in the person of its President, S.N. Kharyuchi, has approached the Government and the Primorskiy Territory’s Administration with a letter emphasising, in particular, the following: “The events going on in the area concerned can be considered as a blunt violation of the rights of indigenous peoples of the North as contained in Articles 2, 7, 9, 15, 18, 20, 69 of the RF Constitution as well the federal law “On Guarantees of Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the RF”.
	In reply to this appeal to the state authorities, RAIPON has received the following letter from the RF Ministry of Natural Resources:
	
“There have been no violations of requirements laid down in the enforceable legal enactments of the Russian Federation by leasing out forest sections to the “Terneiles” and “Primorskiye lesopromyshlenniki” open joint stock companies for lumber production in the Samarginskiy forestry station, within the administrative boundaries of the Terneiskiy District. According to the Primorskiy Territory’s Natural Resources Committee, no traditional subsistence territories of the Udege people have been established in the forest sections leased.
	To introduce a special legal regime stipulated by the federal law “On Territories of Traditional Nature Use (TTPs) of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation” in the area inhabited by the Udege in the Terneiskiy District of the Primorskiy Territory it is necessary to establish, according to procedure, a traditional subsistence territory of the Udege, specifying its precise boundaries.
	There are no legal grounds for cancellation or changing any agreements about leasing forest sections in the territory inhabited by the Udege as established by the legislation of the Russian Federation until the adoption of above decision."
Signed by N.A. Andreev, Head of Forest Use and Rehabilitation Department
	
It is worthwhile examining this written answer closely. It follows from its context that all the decisions of the Territorial Administration and the Council of Peoples’ Deputies previously adopted in the 1991-1998 period concerning the territory of Samarga forests and about “its inclusion in a special nature reserve until granting it a special status of an ethnic territory” are considered by the today’s Ministry of Natural Resources to be null and void, apparently due to the fact that these regional decisions have not been approved at the federal level. Only this interpretation would allow the Ministry of Natural Resources to assert that “there have been no violations of requirements of the enforceable legal enactments of the Russian Federation” in leasing out these forests for lumber production.
	In its answer the Ministry of Natural Resources also recommends the Udege of Agzu to establish a Territory of Traditional Nature Use (TTP) in accordance with the law “On Territories of Traditional Nature Use of Indigenous Numerically Small Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation” so as to create legal grounds for cancellation of the leasing agreement with “Terneiles”.
	The case in question has proved once again that all the previous forms of using natural resources and legally establishing TTPs at a regional level as ethnic territories, kinship grounds, peasant/farming units may be declared null and void at any time. Therefore, indigenous peoples of the North should approach the authorities as soon as possible with a demand to establish traditional subsistence territories in accordance with the federal law on TTPs. Meanwhile, it is expedient to find out what lands and natural resources are included in the planned TTPs, and, in case federally owned land is a part of TTPs, to apply for the establishment of TTPs at a federal level.