Every year on August 9, we celebrate the International Day of Indigenous Peoples. The first meeting of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations took place on this day in 1992, and two years later, the UN General Assembly established the holiday. The first Decade of Indigenous Peoples was announced in 1995, followed by the second in 2004. On September 13, 2007, the UN adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The goal of these initiatives is to support 476 million people from 90 countries who speak most of the world's 7,000 languages and to preserve their culture and heritage for future generations.

Specialised support for small indigenous peoples began in our country long before the last decade of the 20th century. In 1917, the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia signed by V. I. Lenin contained Article 4, "Free development of national minorities and ethnographical groups populating the territory of Russia." This not only guaranteed self-determination for all future union constituents but also acknowledged the need to consider the voices of all the country's peoples, even national minorities without real political or military power. After the Civil War, the USSR actively invested in national cultures and tried to include indigenous peoples in the overall continuum of the socialist economy. By the 1960s, it became clear that these indigenous people needed special status. Why? Active prospecting of oil and gas fields in Yamal demonstrated that unavoidable interference in the traditional Nenets economy violates the rights of indigenous peoples and causes a gradual destruction of their culture, which is closely tied to reindeer herding and a nomadic way of life. Similar processes were observed across the whole of the country, from Kamchatka to Karelia, creating an urgent need to guarantee special rights for indigenous peoples within the USSR Constitution. This was accomplished in 1977.

Today, the rights of indigenous minorities are governed by Federal Law No. 82 "On Guarantees of the Rights of Indigenous Minorities of the Russian Federation" dated 30 April 1999. The document outlines the fundamental rights of indigenous people, their interactions with regional and federal authorities, as well as the state's obligations towards them. In 2021, the legislation for Arctic indigenous minorities was amended with the "Programme of Government Support for Traditional Economic Activities of Indigenous Minorities of the Russian Federation carried out in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation." Indeed, the government and businesses are tackling the same issues they faced nearly a century ago. The Arctic is a promising region for industrial growth, being a resource-rich area offering a unique transportation route. Conversely, thoughtless exploitation of the vast Arctic territories could result in the complete disappearance of entire ethnic groups, as evidenced by examples from other countries. Indigenous people must be thoughtfully integrated into the economic and cultural landscape of the rapidly developing Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation while maintaining a delicate balance between the interests of the nation and those of indigenous peoples. This is entirely feasible, as demonstrated by the support measures being implemented in the Arctic regions of Russia.

Traditions and business

The culture and language of indigenous peoples, as well as their very existence, are closely tied to their traditional lifestyle. In today's Russia, this translates into supporting local venison production of nomadic reindeer herders, abolishing restrictions and granting special quotas for hunters and fishermen. Coastal Chukchi and Eskimos are the only ones in the country allowed to hunt whales, while in Chukotka, preferences are given to indigenous peoples engaged in mammoth tusk mining. To transform venison into a product in demand on the market, local entrepreneurs establish specialized production facilities, leveraging AZRF resident preferences to expedite construction and achieve projected capacities. Authorities actively involve indigenous people in contemporary business structures — implementing educational and grant programs aimed at integrating traditional economies into the Russian economy. Major corporations have also embraced this approach. For instance, Nornickel has constructed a woodworking shop in Volochansk and a polar fox farm in Dudinka for the Nganasan community of Khuale. Currently, an assessment is being conducted on the impact of constructing the Kolmozersky lithium mining complex on the local population. Nornickel and Rosatom are primed to invest in local reindeer herding enterprises to counteract the reduction in grazing lands, and will also assist in establishing a tourism business. In 2022, Rosneft provided assistance to 16 reindeer herder families from the villages of Nosok and Khatanga by donating equipment for conducting fishing activities in the taiga.

Other forms of support are also available. Nomadic reindeer herders with large families receive the so-called Chum Capital upon childbirth, while the tundra dwellers of Yamal are provided with essential supplies for maintaining their traditional lifestyle. As stated by Natalya Novikova, a senior researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS, the population of indigenous minorities in Yakutia has seen a 60% increase over the last 30 years. This was made possible due to systematic government support. The current trend is to involve businesses in this process at a legislative level: numerous researchers and government officials emphasise the need to implement the experiences of Arctic regions on a federal level, especially those of business accountability towards the local community.