Arctic Peoples

RAIPON Vice-President Pavel Sulyandziga">This is anRAIPON Vice-President Pavel Sulyandziga"> edited version of an interview with Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North ( RAIPON ) Vice-President Pavel Sulyandziga. The original interview by Alexandra Beluza first appeared in the Russian Newspaper “Tribuna”.

Pavel Vasilyevich, recently the [Russian Federation] legislaRAIPON Vice-President Pavel Sulyandziga">tors rejectedRAIPON Vice-President Pavel Sulyandziga">RAIPON Vice-President Pavel Sulyandziga" height="432" style="width: 316px; height: 432px" title=" RAIPON Vice-President Pavel Sulyandziga" /> a bill on ethnological appraisal initiated by RAIPON .

Yes, we did propose that the state should include an ethnological study to find out how a particular business project impacts a traditional life style of an aboriginal community. I can give you an example of such influence from the life of my own people. Until the 1970s, eight ethnic groups of the Udege people existed, while today only half of them are left because the Ussury taiga forest was cut down on the territories where four of them used to live, which deprived them of their hunting grounds and in effect removed the economic basis of their livelihoods from their under their feet.

In my opinion, it is here that the gravest danger lies: depriving the indigenous peoples of opportunities to practice their traditional pursuits on which their culture, language, traditions and customs are based. Many negative developments took place in Soviet times, yet then the authorities supported the traditional economies of Indigenous Peoples. Today the government has practically abandoned any policy regarding the small Indigenous Peoples.

The Law on Guarantees of Small Peoples’ Rights has been so badly mutilated over the past few years that there are practically no rights left. The Law on Territories of Traditional Natural Resources Use of the Small Indigenous Nations of the Russian North, Siberia and the Far East has been in effect since 2001, yet not a single such territory has since been created. Read the rest of this entry »

The Coordinating Council is a Board comprised of 34 regional RAIPON chapters and meets twice a year. The most recent meeting was held on November 25, 2006.

During the meeting, Pavel Sulyandziga, First Vice-President of RAIPON reported on the work of the Permanent Forum. The Board proposed that Mr. Sulyandziga include in the agenda the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation’s meeting issues concerning the Indigenous Peoples’ problems. The Council also discussed the idea of holding the seminar in one of the regions of Russia with participation from the UN Permanent Forum members. The information has been offered on the special seminar on the preparation of the World Report on the State of the Indigenous Peoples which take place in Salekhard on December 1-2, 2006. RAIPON will create an expert group to draft its part of the report. More information will be available in the coming days.
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On November 23-24 RAIPON held a round table discussion on the Ratification of the International Labour Organization Convention (No. 169) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. The first day was given to the representatives of governments and Indigenous Peoples of Norway, Denmark and Guatemala to share their experiences in the realization of the convention status and the submission of the reports to the ILO.

The second day was dedicated to the analysis of the Russian legislation with regard to the provisions of the ILO Convention, discussions and final recommendations.

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Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North ( RAIPON ) is pleased to invite Arctic Council members, Permanent Participants and other stakeholders to attend the International Fair - Exhibition “NORTHERN CIVILIZATION. REGION EXPO 2007 “, which will take place in Moscow (All Russian Exhibition Center), April 25-27, 2007.

This Fair will become the important event for all Indigenous Peoples of the Russian North, Siberia and the Far East and for the Circumpolar region at whole.

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by Clive Tesar

A United Nations declaration affirming the rights of the world’s Indigenous Peoples has been set aside for further consultation. The declaration, which has been in negotiation for more than 20 years, was delayed after a resolution put forward by Namibia was backed by other African countries. Of the Arctic states, Canada and Russia voted in favour of Namibia’s resolution, while the United States abstained. Finland, speaking on behalf of the European Union, spoke against it, calling the move a “groundless delay”. Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden all joined Finland in voting against the delay.

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At the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting in [GP:Salekhard], Russia, Indigenous Leaders from the circumpolar Arctic region delivered strong messages to the Arctic Council .

Watch the statements here in their original languages. Russian/English transcripts will be added later.

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NEWS RELEASE 26/10/2006

Leaders of Indigenous Peoples from around the Arctic wrapped up their meeting with the Arctic Council in [GP:Salekhard] today. The end of the meeting marks the end of Russia’s two-year chairing of the eight-nation Council. It was attended by Foreign Ministers from several countries, as well as the Indigenous Leaders. While the Indigenous Leaders praised the achievements of the Council over the past two years, they also took the opportunity to point out to the Ministers that many pressing issues in the Arctic remain. The Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North ( RAIPON ) told Ministers that development pressures, particularly in areas such as the Amur River watershed are facing development pressures and pollution that are threatening reindeer pastures, hunting and fishing activities, and sacred sites.

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While in some parts of the Arctic, Indigenous Peoples push for self-government, they have a different solution in the Yamal Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Russia. Indigenous Peoples here number just over 34,000 out of a total of more than 500,000 people, but they have managed to secure an impressive amount of control by working within the system. There is a quota system that sets aside positions in the Government of the Okrug for Indigenous Peoples. Sergey Kharuchi is President of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North ( RAIPON ). He is also speaker of the Parliament for the Okrug, a powerful position. Kharuchi says the Yamal Nenets Government has passed legislation that supports the position of Indigenous Peoples in their dealings with resource companies.

“We have our own system,” says Kharuchi. “We are not separated, but integrated into the system. We think it is more effective.”

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The eight states that make up the Arctic Council are meeting along with Arctic Indigenous Leaders this week in [GP:Salekhard], Russia. Much of the discussion to date has focused on what is maybe the biggest issue in the Arctic at the moment, climate change. Indigenous Peoples had hoped that the release of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment would lead to immediate action on climate change by the Arctic states. However, much of the two years since the ACIA was released has been taken up with discussing what to do next. Chief Gary Harrison, from Chickaloon Village in Alaska, is the Chair of the Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat, the organization that helps to coordinate the work of the Indigenous Peoples at the Arctic Council . He says that he is particularly concerned that the states should take actions that reduce the production of climate change.

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