The Moscow Times has weighed in on the debate with this interesting take on the weekend’s vote to merge the Krasnoyarsk, Evenki and Taimyr regions.
The merger of the Evenkia and Taimyr ethnic
autonomous regions with Krasnoyarsk is being billed as part of yet
another plan to strengthen the power vertical, this time by reducing
the number of regions. But what it does instead is dismantle the
guarantees of ethnic autonomy established in the 1920s without
replacing them with any other concept of ethnic identity or any
national ideology at all.
Also contained within the article was this observation about the referendum:
The high turnout and high "yes" vote in Sunday’s
referendum should come as no surprise. Administrative resources were
effectively marshaled, and in some reindeer herder villages,
authorities managed to get every single eligible voter to the polls.
Is this a dig at the integrity of the referendum itself? Could the 90% who voted in favour of the merger not actually have been 90%?
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The editorial tries to make a general point (big regions = bad) but misses the points relevant to Krasnoyarsk. The status of Evenkia and other areas originally populated by reindeer herdspeople (think Inuit for comparison) has been discussed for ages, and the unification idea is neither new nor Putinist. The pro vote was far less than 90% in Taymyr, by the way.
What reindeer herders thought of the unification is sociologically important but, I’m afraid, irrelevant as I doubt their ability to make informed decisions. This is the root of ethnic problems in these areas: those Native Siberians who abandon the herder lifestyle become effectively Russian, and those who cling to it don’t have a place in modern society (let’s face it). One solution would be US-style reservations. We’re talking about a maximum of 55,000 people — the combined population of Evenkia and Taymyr; in reality, probably many less, since many of these are of European descent.
Let’s go on with the US parallel: as in 19th-century America, the key issue is land, or, rather, subsoil. Evenkia, with its handful of residents (pop. 19,000) and not a single city, sits on large oil reserves. The current governor is a Yukos man but now that Yukos is no more, he’s all in favor of the union.
Alexei,
So if you don’t live like a good Russian you have no rights. Or did I miss something?
Stuff that noise. You don’t listen to your people, no matter how they make their way through life, you have failed as a leader. Even the voice of the nomadic and itinerant are worth heeding.
The consolidation alone makes me wonder. Is there a sufficently robust infrastructure in place to make it workable? Can what infrastructure exists be maintained, let alone expanded to cover the new demands?
In short, does Russia have the people necessary to make this work? would Russia be better off declaring substantial portions of the territories national wildlife sanctuaries and turning it over to federal control?
Really, are we talking about organized entities, or about scattered city states given de-jure authority over territory they have no de facto control over?
Has Russia the resources to administer her lands? If not, then consolidating many ethnic territories into few ethnic territories isn’t going to work.
Alan, I doubt that a person who survives by reindeer herding in Evenkia has the education or access to information necessary to make a meaningful choice on whether that huge area should be governed directly from Krasnoyarsk — unless someone well-informed, friendly and neutral happens to be around.
It does not mean her opinion should not count but rather she is asked the wrong question. Whether Evenkia is a member of the Russian Federation or the Krasnoyarsk Kray is not going to affect the lives of the herders. Contrary to The Moscow Times, Evenkia’s direct membership in the Federation (with Krasnoyarsk partly responsible for Evenkia’s fiscal matters) is no guarantee of “ethnic rights.” There are only 4,000 Evenks out of the area’s 19,000 inhabitants after all. What may be a safeguard is Russia’s laws privileging the so-called “minor peoples” such as the Evenks. I support extending these protections and possibly forming land reserves for the use of the native peoples. But it’s a different issue that will have to be taken to the federal level anyway.
Even in the best scenario, I’m pessimistic about the Evenks’ future as a people. What happens when an advanced and advancing civilization meets an ancient, homeostatic one is well known from the history of North America and Australia. Russia is not much different.
Most of Evenkia and Taymyr are vast unpopulated areas with a rather harsh climate and patches of unmatched beauty. The largest settlement in the area is the mining city of Norilsk, which is not part of the Taymyr District and has always been managed from Krasnoyarsk.
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