Indigenous yet unrecognised. The legal reality of the Izhma Komi people

ABSTRACT

The Russian Federation defines indigeneity narrowly. Under Russian law, only those groups that inhabit the territories of the North, Siberia and the Far East, comprise fewer than 50,000 people, maintain a traditional, nature-based way of life, and self-identify as a separate ethnic group can be recognised as so-called small-numbered indigenous peoples (KMNS). As a result, several de-facto indigenous groups cannot obtain the status of KMNS and benefit from related rights. There are also peoples that, despite fulfilling the Russian criteria of indigeneity, still fail to be recognised as KMNS. Russian legislation nevertheless does provide certain rights for some non-KMNS groups. This article is based on a literature review and fieldwork research among one such non-recognised community, the Izhma people, who belong to the wider Komi group. It asks what legitimate rights the Izhma Komi possess as an indigenous group and how these are exercised on the ground. In doing so, this article provides new knowledge that reduces confusion among scholars and practitioners regarding Izhma Komi legal and factual positions. The paper focuses specifically on legislation that covers the traditional economic activities of reindeer herding, fishing, and hunting, as embodied in both federal and republic regulations, to demonstrate the interplay between written laws and their non-coherent implementation on the ground.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous rights
• reality of law
• Russian North
• Izhma Komi
• empirical legal research

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the Nordenskiöld-samfundet and Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation for financial support, and the two anonymous reviewers for providing highly valuable comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ The Federal State Statistics Service, “Census 2010”.

² Stammler-Gossmann, “Who Is Indigenous?”.

³ Russian Federation, “The Law on Guarantees of the Rights”.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Sokolovskiy, “Russian Government Policies and Minority Identities”.

⁶ Besides the Izhma Komi, some groups are disqualified from the registry based on their numerical size, such as for example the Sakha (Yakuts), Buryat, and Khakas; while others such as the Kamchadals and Nagaibaks are listed as KMNS even though they are sub-groups of other big ethnic groups (Russians and Tatars). A different case are the Soyot, who were granted KMNS status after the re-identification of their ethnic identity.

⁷ The Federal State Statistics Service, “Census 2010”.

⁸ Fryer and Lehtinen, “Iz”vatas and the Diaspora Space of Humans and Non-Humans in the Russian North”; Shabaev and Sharapov, “Izhma Komis and Pomors”.

⁹ Istomin and Shabaev, “Izhma Komi and Komi-Permiak”.

¹⁰ Shabaev and Istomin, “Territorialnost, Ethnichnost, Administrativnije i Kulturnije Granicy: Komi-Izemtsy (Izvatas) i Komi-Permyaki Kak “Drugije” Komi”.

¹¹ Shabaev and Istomin.

¹² Habeck, What It Means to Be a Herdsman.

¹³ Mankova, “The Komi of the Kola Peninsula”.

¹⁴ Hawkes, Glasnost and Perestroika. Interview IK.

¹⁵ Ibid.

¹⁶ Rohr, “Indigenous Peoples in the Russian Federation”.

¹⁷ See Niezen, The Origins of Indigenism.

¹⁸ Slezkine, Arctic Mirrors.

¹⁹ Mälksoo, “The Soviet Approach to the Right of Peoples to Self-Determination”.

²⁰ Donahoe et al., “Size and Place in the Construction of Indigeneity in the Russian Federation”.

²¹ Kryazhkov, “Development of Russian Legislation on Northern Indigenous Peoples”.

²² Russian Federation, “The Law on Guarantees of the Rights”, para. 8.

²³ Kryazhkov, “Development of Russian Legislation on Northern Indigenous Peoples”.

²⁴ Donahoe, “The Law as a Source of Environmental Injustice in the Russian Federation”, 27.

²⁵ Donahoe, “Naming, Claiming, Proving? The Burden of Proof Issue for Russia”s Indigenous Peoples”.

²⁶ Donahoe, “On the Creation of Indigenous Subjects in the Russian Federation”.

²⁷ Sikora and Fedina, “Izvatas Cultural Identification and Self-Determination. The Study of the “Lud” Tradition”.

²⁸ Donahoe, “The Law as a Source of Environmental Injustice in the Russian Federation”.

²⁹ International Labour Organisation, “C169 – Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention”.

³⁰ United Nations, “United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”.

³¹ United Nations, “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”.

³² United Nations, “International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights”.

³³ United Nations, “International Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination”.

³⁴ Mankova, “The Komi of the Kola Peninsula”; interview VA.

³⁵ Pika, Grant, and Grant, Neotraditionalism in the Russian North. Interview KM.

³⁶ RAIPON and INFOE, “Parallel Information: Discrimination against Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the Russian North, Siberia and the Russian Far East”.

³⁷ Pika, Grant, and Grant, Neotraditionalism in the Russian North.

³⁸ Shabaev and Sharapov, “Izhma Komis and Pomors”.

³⁹ Interview VA.

⁴⁰ Interview FF.

⁴¹ Interview VA, FF, JC.

⁴² Murashko, “What Is the Etnologicheskaia Ekspertiza in Russia?” Interview VA, FF.

⁴³ Interview VA.

⁴⁴ Interview AT.

⁴⁵ Shabaev and Istomin, “Territorialnost, Ethnichnost, Administrativnije i Kulturnije Granicy: Komi-Izemtsy (Izvatas) i Komi-Permyaki Kak “Drugije” Komi”.

⁴⁶ Shabaev and Istomin.

⁴⁷ Sikora and Fedina, “Izvatas Cultural Identification and Self-Determination”.

⁴⁸ Interview YY.

⁴⁹ Internal divisions within larger ethnic/indigenous groups are widespread across the Russian North. Particularly the Soviet policies of “splitting” and “merging” peoples have been exemplified on the case of the Enets-Nenets, Tozhu-Tyva and Altai peoples.

⁵⁰ Mezak, “Izhemtsy Okazalis” v Bednykh Rodstvennikakh u Yaz”vintsev”.

⁵¹ Donahoe et al., “Size and Place in the Construction of Indigeneity in the Russian Federation”.

⁵² Mankova, “The Komi of the Kola Peninsula”.

⁵³ Donahoe et al., “Size and Place in the Construction of Indigeneity in the Russian Federation”.

⁵⁴ Slezkine, Arctic Mirrors.

⁵⁵ Donahoe et al., “Size and Place in the Construction of Indigeneity in the Russian Federation”.

⁵⁶ For instance, Donahoe, B., J.O. Habeck, A. Halemba, and I. Sántha, 2008: “Size and Place in the Construction of Indigeneity in the Russian Federation”. Current Anthropology; Stammler-Gossmann, A. 2009. “Who Is Indigenous? Construction of “Indigenousness” in Russian Legislation.” International Community Law Review 11 (1).

⁵⁷ Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, “Portal Gosuslug”.

⁵⁸ Russian Federation, “The Law on Guarantees of the Rights”.

⁵⁹ Russian Federation, “Law on Territories of Traditional Use of Natural Habitat”.

⁶⁰ Russian Federation, “Law on General Principles of Organization”.

⁶¹ Russian Federation, “On Approval of the List of Places of Traditional Residence and Traditional Economic Activities”.

⁶² Ibid.

⁶³ Russian Federation, “The Law on Guarantees of the Rights”.

⁶⁴ Russian Federation, “Law on Territories of Traditional Use of Natural Habitat”.

⁶⁵ Russian Federation, “On Approval of the List of Places of Traditional Residence and Traditional Economic Activities”.

⁶⁶ Stammler and Ivanova, “Confrontation, Coexistence or Co-Ignorance?”.

⁶⁷ Sulyandziga and Sulyandziga, “Indigenous Self-Determination and Disempowerment in the Russian North”.

⁶⁸ Komi Republic, “On Amending the Resolution of the Government of the Komi Republic No. 299 of 18 December 2007”.

⁶⁹ Interview FF.

⁷⁰ Interview Valentina Semyashkina.

⁷¹ Gracheva, Pravovoye regulirovaniye finansovogo obespecheniya korennykh malochislennykh narodov Severa, Sibiri i Dal”nego Vostoka. Monografiya.

⁷² Author”s personal observations.

⁷³ Interview FF.

⁷⁴ Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation On the application by courts of legislation on liability for violations in the field of environmental protection and nature management”.

⁷⁵ Author”s personal observations.

⁷⁶ Istomin, Popov, and Kim, “Snowmobile Revolution, Market Restoration, and Ecological Sustainability of Reindeer Herding”.

⁷⁷ Goloviznina, “Indigenous Agency and Normative Change from “Below” in Russia”.

⁷⁸ Interview NC, FF.

⁷⁹ Interview FF.

⁸⁰ Interview FF.

⁸¹ Gracheva, Pravovoye regulirovaniye finansovogo obespecheniya korennykh malochislennykh narodov Severa, Sibiri i Dal”nego Vostoka. Monografiya.

⁸² Interview EA, EA.

⁸³ Komi Republic, “Law on Reindeer Husbandry”. Interview FF.

⁸⁴ Russian Federation, “On Approval of the List of Places of Traditional Residence and Traditional Economic Activities”.

⁸⁵ Donahoe, “The Law as a Source of Environmental Injustice in the Russian Federation”.

⁸⁶ Russian Federation, “Law on Hunting and on the Preservation of Hunting Resources and on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation”.

⁸⁷ Interview DA.

⁸⁸ Interview VK.

⁸⁹ Interview VK, FF.

⁹⁰ Stammler and Peskov, “Building a “Culture of Dialogue” among Stakeholders in North-West Russian Oil Extraction”; Stammler and Ivanova, “Confrontation, Coexistence or Co-Ignorance?”.

⁹¹ Stammler, Ivanova, and Donahoe, “Russian Legal Anthropology: From Empirical Ethnography to Applied Innovation”, 9.

⁹² Russian Federation, “Law on the Protection of Wildlife”.

⁹³ Interview DA, IK.

⁹⁴ Russian Federation, “On Fishing and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources”.

⁹⁵ Ministry of Agriculture, “Order on the Approval of the Fishing Rules for the Northern Basin”.

⁹⁶ Ibid.

⁹⁷ Interview FF.

⁹⁸ Kryazhkov, “Development of Russian Legislation on Northern Indigenous Peoples”, 147.

⁹⁹ Interview AT.

¹⁰⁰ For example, in 2007, Taymyr Dolgano-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Evenk Autonomous Okrug were merged into Krasnoyarsk Krai, or the same year, the Koryak Autonomous Okrug was merged with Kamchatka Krai.

¹⁰¹ Kryazhkov, “Development of Russian Legislation on Northern Indigenous Peoples”.

¹⁰² Ibid., 145.

¹⁰³ The most recent means to limit indigenous rights and impact the politics of indigeneity and ethnicity in Russia is introduced in the 2020 Registry of Indigenous Peoples. For more see: Fondahl, G., V. Filippova, and A. Savvinova. “Introducing a Registry of Indigenous Persons in Russia: Rationale and Challenges.”

¹⁰⁴ Donahoe, “On the Creation of Indigenous Subjects in the Russian Federation”.

¹⁰⁵ Stammler, Ivanova, and Donahoe, “Russian Legal Anthropology: From Empirical Ethnography to Applied Innovation”.