VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
The Nenets have a strong prejudice against counting. They believe that the calculable is never sufficient, and things and creatures become especially vulnerable once calculated. A Nenets will never say: "My wife and I have five children" but "There are several people in my family"-or the number will reach God's ears, and He will not let them have any more children and will send premature death on the older members of the household.
Be that as it may, population statistics are available. There were 20,000 people of indigenous ethnic minorities in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area 10 years ago, slightly more than 23,000 in 2000, and 37,000 in December 2008-more than 20% of all Russian citizens representing Far Northern ethnic minorities.
About a half of the indigenous population of the area are nomadic reindeer breeders. Reindeer husbandry is the economic pivot of the Far North. The ethnic entities who shifted to sedentism in the 20th century-the Ket, Yukagir, Nganasan and Dolgan-abandoned their reindeer herds of many thousand heads. Now, their ethnic culture is on the verge of extinction. Few remember their native tongue, customs, crafts and lore.
Yamal reindeer breeders have no such problems. One of the top social priorities for the area is the promotion of ethnic culture. Native languages are taught at schools and kindergartens, and local history is part of school and college curricula. Yamal Television and Radio Company has five ethnic boards catering for the entire area. There are regional Nenets- and Khanty-language newspapers. Folk festivals are among the main attractions of local life, and international anthropological film festivals, personnel upgrading seminars and reindeer breeder congresses are held regularly.
A comprehensive legal foundation has formed in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area in the last ten years. It envisages vital programmes that guarantee dynamic development of traditional economic patterns and promise higher living standards. The implementation of regional laws On Reindeer Breeding and On Fishing, and of the relevant national project has provided all agro-industrial companies with powerful refrigerators, and modernised slaughterhouses and meat and fish canneries. Fishing and reindeer breeding not merely survive but develop. They are the backbone of local life and the basis of ethnic social organisation. So a cultural niche has been preserved for Northern nomads.
The area has adopted a priority environmental protection plan, and established an Environment Protection Coordination Council, where local executive and self-government bodies are represented alongside mineral developers.
Experts report a steady natural growth of the indigenous population in Yamal parallel to the growth of reindeer population, in contrast to localities whose traditional economy is dying. Population shrinkage is their lot, deaths drastically exceeding births.
Man and reindeer are closely tied in the Arctic. Distant ancestors of the Nenets, Khanty and Selkup adapted perfectly to the harsh local climate. Their descendants have inherited the gift of being at one with Nature. Newcomers admire their harmony with wildlife.
The present-day reindeer population of Yamal-700,000 heads-is the largest in Russia and one of the largest in the world. Reindeer are not exotic animals to the local people, who live according to ancestral laws even today. To them, their herds mean food, clothes, transport and a great deal more. Indicatively, the Nenets word for "reindeer" translates literally as "life-giver".
