Arctic Identity: Between Frontier and Homeland

Abstract

This article discusses the processes through which Arctic identity is shaped, using surveys, interviews, media, and document analysis. How has Arctic identity emerged, and why? The aim is not only to trace historical and cultural elements, but to explore their formation and place them within processes of larger regional transformations. To discuss these processes in depth, three perspectives are used: territorial, symbolic, and institutional. The case of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in Russia demonstrates that Arctic identity is not always manifested blatantly but rather performed through certain activities. Its emergence has been in response to challenges: it was in economic turmoil following the dissolution of the Soviet state and growing environmental concerns that drove development of Arctic identity in the northern region. Moreover, opening of the borders and development of international relations enabled a strong sense of shared identity among Sakha (Yakutia) citizens and other northerners of the world.

Keywords:

• Arctic identity
• Sakha Republic (Yakutia)
• environment
• Indigeneity
• territory
• institutions
• symbols

Notes

1. The Government of Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Kontseptsiia gosudarstvennoi natsionalnoi politiki [On the Concept of State National Policy], 13.10.1995, N446.

2. The Government of Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Ob osobykh merakh gosudarstvennoi podderzhki traditsionnykh otraslei, zhizneobespecheniia i sotsialnoi zashchity sel’skogo naselenia arkticheskikh ulusov [On special measures of state support for traditional sectors, life support, and social protection rural population of the Arctic regions], 02.12.1995, N521.

3. Recent zig zags of Arctic geopolitics have called this optimistic metaphor into question. It is also ironic when juxtaposed to Huntington’s original “clash of civilizations” argument. Huntington’s “clash” has been frequently cited and critiqued since its first 1993 post-Soviet appearance. An issue of this journal demonstrated its overly generalizing ramifications, using authors from the former Soviet space: M. M. Balzer, ed. “Clash of Civilizations?” Anthropology and Archeology of Eurasia, 1995, Vol. 34 (3).

4. Indigenous philosophies of land stewardship versus ownership have been expressed in many variations, given the widespread histories of Indigenous peoples being overrun and murdered by settler communities. Daria Burnasheva mentions in particular (correspondence 9/11-13/2020) Rosalie Howard, participant in an Indigenous Research Methodologies Masterclass prepared by Indigenous academics Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson and Dr Maggie Walter at Charles Darwin University. An original source is available as Moreton-Robinson and Walter http://ecite.utas.edu.au/59358 (2009), cited by Burnasheva. Its themes became the basis for Rosalie Howard’s 2015 James Cook University doctoral dissertation.

5. Turkic and Arctic identities continue to be among the viable variations available to Indigenous individuals in Sakha Republic. Their relative influences and the depth of Russian Orthodox beliefs among the Sakha are debated, depending on one’s interlocutors. See also the Introduction to this issue.

6. In her doctoral dissertation (University of Warsaw, 2019), Daria Burnasheva provides new insights into the “charismatic animal” phenomenon that some Indigenous groups and ecology activists have used to call attention to their concerns about the environment and climate change. People living close to the realities of dangers from hungry bears do not necessarily see their poster-charm value the same way as people living in towns and cities. See the article in this issue by Elena Erokhina.