Conflict or Compromise?
Traditional natural resource use and oil exploitation
in northeastern Sakhalin/Noglikskii district
Emma Wilson
Local
Populations
The Native question
in Noglikskii district is a particularly complex one. The official
policies of assimilation during the Soviet era - based on ideology and
carried out through collectivisation and sedentarisation programmes -
have today been replaced by a broadly accepted assumption of
assimilation based on public demands for equal rights for all (e.g.
Davydenko, 1999). This takes the form of an official and public denial
of indigenous claims to special status (e.g. Psiagin, 1999) that finds
resonance with the local non-Native populations, especially the
long-term residents.
The percentage of Native people in the total
population of Noglikskii district is relatively low. According to the
district administration, of a total of 14,700 population in Noglikskii
district, 1,086 people or 7.4% of the population are indigenous
(including those of mixed parentage). Of these, 205 live in rural
settlements. *1
There are about 17 reindeer herders (Uil'ta, Evenki) who live in
the forest in winter and on the shores of the eastern bays in summer.
There are also about 15 Nivkhi and at least one Russian (married to a
Nivkh woman), who live permanently on the shores of the Okhotsk sea and
north-eastern bays and depend on fishing for their livelihoods.*2
According to the
Federal Law of 30th April 1999 "On the Guarantees of the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Federation," indigenous people
include those who: (i) live on the territories where their ancestors
traditionally lived; (ii) preserve the original way of life and
economic activities of their forebears; (iii) number in Russia less
than 50 thousand; (iv) consider themselves an independent ethnic
community. The law also includes those non-Native people who live a
traditional lifestyle on traditional Native lands (Article 3).
Essentially, no-one denies the special rights of those people involved
in subsistence fishing, hunting and reindeer herding, and official
regulatory organs make special efforts to accommodate the needs of
these people. However, the question of whether the indigenous
semi-urban populations of Nogliki satisfy the above criteria, and can
therefore make any claims on the basis of this law, is hotly debated.
"The problem for the Native people of Nogliki is proving that we exist"
(Mongush, 1999).
The situation is compounded by the fact that
support for indigenous rights, while fairly strong at a national level,
decreases with distance from Moscow. The long-awaited appearance of the
law "On the Guarantees of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the
Russian Federation" gave a significant boost to those fighting for
indigenous rights, but it is a framework law and needs to be filled out
with appropriate legislation at the regional and local levels. Article
69 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees the rights
of Native people according to international norms and principles, while
article 73 "m" acknowledges the responsibility of the federal and
regional governments to protect the traditional environment and
livelihoods of indigenous populations. Article 12 of the Sakhalin
Regional Statutes (Ustav) (1995) echoes this, while article 20
confirms the representative of northern Native people in the Sakhalin
regional parliament and article 76 confirms the responsibility of the
regional and local authorities to set aside territories of traditional
natural resource use (TTPs), to allow use of these without payment and
to give priority in agreements and for licences for use of renewable
natural resources.
However, at the
local level, the Noglikskii District Statutes (1999) do not provide an
adequate foundation to address issues of Native rights or TTPs.
Furthermore, the job of "Specialist in Native issues" in the local
administration was dissolved in 1998. There is a strong lobby in the
local administration and the local district assembly (including the
deputy head of the local assembly who is a Nivkh himself) which claims
that since the Native people of Nogliki, who live in houses and flats
like the rest of the population, cannot be considered indigenous, there
can be no talk of Native rights to land, resources or social privileges
in the district as a whole. Thus legislative and political support for
Native rights effectively comes to a halt at the district level. This
is largely related to the desperate need for the district as a whole to
survive, given the absence of support from the federal and regional
governments.
In fact the issues relating to the indigenous
populations and traditional natural resource use - especially those
that relate to conflict with the oil and gas industry - extend beyond
the scope of the law "On the Guarantees of the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples of the Russian Federation." Native people living in semi-urban
centres may not live traditional lifestyles, but they still depend
heavily on the natural resources of the local area; their diets depend
on fish - probably more so than the non-Native diets; many are involved
in fishing as an occupation (very few are involved in hunting). At the
same time, many Russians who are second and third generation settlers
in the district consider themselves as "indigenous" as the Native
populations. Many of them hunt and fish, have an in-depth knowledge of
the land, depend on the natural resources for their livelihoods and are
not planning to move away anywhere. Many Russians are suffering extreme
poverty in the same way as many of the Native residents. Therefore the
issue of fish quotas, priority licences and other special privileges
for the Native population are a source of some division and resentment
among the local populations.
In many cases,
when talking about the effects of the oil industry in general and the
off-shore oil developments in particular, it is important to consider
the local population as a whole and the overall pattern of natural
resource use represented by the activities of all sections of the
population.
On the other hand there are specific issues
relating to the Native populations that have historically not been
resolved and are important issues today, from a socio-economic as well
as from a psychological viewpoint. Within living memory, many of the
Nivkh people lived in Native villages (e.g. Venskoe, Nyivo) on the
shores of the northeastern bays. In the 1950s and 1960s they were
forced to move to Nogliki, and thus their ties with their lands and
fishing areas were broken. Many have found it very difficult to
overcome the trauma of removal, and to get used to life in the major
settlement. Reindeer herders refuse to move to a settled life in the
villages and continue to lead their traditional way of life despite the
total collapse of State support, the non-payment of salaries, the
non-profitability of their occupation, and the continuing loss of
reindeer to poachers and reindeer pastures to forest fires, oil
extraction, geological explorations, road building and pipeline
construction. It is estimated that 90% of summer pastures have been
lost over the past 70 years to fires and industrial encroachment (Roon,
1999). Two pipelines from the Sakhalin off-shore projects are planned
to cut across the remaining pastures, though the final routes have yet
to be finalised.
Historically,
there is a great deal of resentment towards the non-indigenous
population that came into the region and took over the resource
management and administration of Native lands, without the agreement of
the indigenous land users themselves. A major problem here, as in other
oil-producing regions of Siberia, is the question of land rights -
officially allocating land for traditional use - and payment of
compensation for lands already destroyed by the oil industry (Roon,
1999).
Another factor that particularly affects the
Native communities is the education system under the Soviets. Most of
the Native population was educated in the boarding school (Internat).
This system split families, forced children not to speak their Native
language and made them dependent on the State to provide everything
from regular meals to clean bed-linen. The "rolling back" of the State
has hit all populations in Russia hard, but the Native populations more
so. "They were cradled in the arms of the State and have now been cast
to the winds of fate."*3
The Native people
themselves claim that they are not good at adapting to the new
conditions. This is particularly a problem for the men - the women are
generally more adaptable and less inclined towards alcoholism. The
profession of reindeer herder (Uil'ta and Evenki) used to be
prestigious and reindeer herders could support their families. Now many
have lost their jobs, while the remaining herders are barely able to
survive due to the withdrawal of State support. The occupation has lost
not only prestige, but also dignity.
Jobs available in the fishing industry are
often taken now by non-Natives. The collective fishing enterprise
"Vostok" which used to have the status of "ethnic enterprise (natsional'noe
predpriiatie)," due to the representation of indigenous workers,
employs only about 26% of indigenous workers, and is run by outside
managers. The director is from southern Sakhalin and his second in
command is from St. Petersburg. However this is not unusual for the
enterprise, whose directors have historically been outsiders. The
indigenous population has rarely produced its own leaders and managers.
As one Nivkh mother commented: "Competition for fishing jobs is hard
for our young men, as the Russians tend to be physically stronger, more
ambitious and generally more reliable workers."*4
There is also a tendency for the non-Native population to be prejudiced
towards the Native population, resentful of past State nannying and
present-day privileges.
The oil industry
also does not provide significant job opportunities for the Native
populations of the district. The local branch of Sakhalinmorneftegas,
for example, employs about 1,350 people in Noglikskii district of which
only 6-7 are indigenous. The men have mechanical jobs, the women tend
to work as cleaners.*5
The small number of jobs available to local populations in the new
off-shore projects (mostly in the service industry) are offered on the
basis of equal competition. Many of the indigenous populations do not
have the skills to compete for these jobs. Technical jobs require
special training; clerical jobs generally require good English language
skills, which many don't have. In the service industry serving
Molikpaq, there is only one indigenous (woman) employee. The
development of the off-shore oil and gas projects is unlikely to create
meaningful employment for the Native populations of Noglikskii district.
Sakhalin's Native people, in a relatively
recent period of time, have lost the State support they relied on,
their lands, their roots, their language and the dignity of being
meaningfully employed in their traditional economic activities.
Alcoholism (widespread now among the young, too) is both a cause and a
consequence of serious socio-economic dislocation. While alcoholism is
a serious problem for the non-Native population as well, it is probably
more serious for Native people, who are naturally less resistant to
alcohol.
A major problem
for the Native population is the level at which these issues are
discussed. Very few Native representatives write in the local press
(and these are generally Nivkh residents of Nogliki), still fewer write
at a national or international level. The two most prolific Nivkh
writers on these questions have occupied extreme and opposite positions
and polarise the debate into "all lands to the Nivkh people" and "there
are no Nivkh people." This undermines the position of Sakhalin Native
people at a local and regional level, compounding the lack of support
from officials.
Traditional natural resource use is struggling
to survive in the present economic climate, but there is a movement
today, including young Native residents and long-term Russian
residents, that is attempting to revive these activities within the
modern context (traditional fishing enterprises, tourism and hunting
programmes to supplement reindeer herding, etc.). This provides some
hope for a broadening of the local economic base, focusing on renewable
resource use and providing employment for indigenous workers.
However, the
tendency today is still strongly towards developing non-renewable
resource use, which does not provide much hope for indigenous
populations. The off-shore oil and gas developments threaten lands and
waters used for traditional activities. What is more, they are unlikely
to bring significant financial benefits to the local (indigenous and
non-indigenous) populations who will be immediately affected. If
efforts are not made to influence the projects, the indigenous people
of Sakhalin will simply be assimilated and forgotten, while Sakhalin's
northern communities as a whole will drift into poverty and those
people who can will move away (the Native citizens are unlikely to).
There have already been plans to make northern Sakhalin into a
development zone based on shift work.
At the national and international levels it has
taken the multinational off-shore oil developments to draw attention to
the plight of Sakhalin's indigenous minorities. While this is a tragic
irony, it may prove a final opportunity for them to define themselves
and determine the path of their future development. The path will not
be easy, particularly given the acute economic crisis that forms a
backdrop to their struggle. This economic crisis frames the fate of the
entire population, therefore many of the economic issues facing the
district as a whole should be addressed in "partnership" with the local
non-indigenous populations.
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