[The L'auravetl'an Information Center is a Moscow based training center
for Siberian indigenous human rights activists. Its information bulletin
is issued regularly in Russian and English. For contact please see below.]
*****Nenets Autonomous Region*
Education:
The new school year begins in the region with the same old problems. There
are not enough qualified teachers. In village of Karatay they need a math
teacher. In Amderma a few retired teachers are helping out as much as they
can. In Ust-Kara the situation is the hardest. In Nelmin-Nos there are
117 students and relatively no problems with teachers. But the school
cafeteria burnt down long time ago and there are no money to build the new
one. So the children will be without a hot meal. Also the school building
itself is too small and too old. The administration is promising a new
building for many years, but for now the children will have to study in
two shifts. The boarding school in the region's center Narian-Mar was
built in 1936. 70 Nenets children from the tundra villages will be
studying here this year. Before the beginning of the school year the
school is repaired and freshly painted. But the building is so old and
dilapidated that no fixing can make it truly livable. To build a new
school there are no money. In Oksino the primary school, the secondary
school, the cafeteria and the boarding house are all in the different
houses at the opposite ends of the village. All buildings are very small
and ancient. Each and everyone is in desperate need of repair. There is no
gym-nasium. In all of the buildings there is no adequate heating and
electricity. During the winter an average tem-perature in class rooms is
+14C. Teachers and students are forced to wear the overcoats throughout
the day. Because of the weak electrical currency it is impossible to read
or to write comfortably and children are straining their eyes which is
not the best thing for their eye sight. In village of Om the boarding
school was especially important for the Nenets children from the tundra.
Unfortunately on September 14, 1996 the build-ing burnt down. 215
children of different ages are without a roof over their heads.
*****Nenets Autonomous Region*
Reindeer Herding
Up to not long time ago not many people were interested in talking about
the reindeer pastures. The general opinion was that the pastures are
endless and can feed as many reindeers as we want. But the reality
finally forced the issue. Many reindeer farmers are feeling the pressure
already. The Chairman of the regional committee for the land reforms and
land resources Mr. Georgy Iastrebov explains the problem by the bad land
management in the region. According to Mr. Iastrebov there are 320
drilling stations in the region that are abandoned by the geologists. The
old equipment is rusting, the tundra around is not suitable for
reindeers. But all this stations are right in the heart of the reindeer
pastures. Some are there since 1977. The geologists ex-plain that they
cannot recultivate the ruined places due to the absence of the necessary
funds. In the region 75% of the land (8650 thousands hectares) are used
for the reindeer herding. The total number of the herds is 200 000
reindeers. If in any particular place there are 4000 heads more than the
norm then the pasture is exhausted. What will be doing the reindeer
herders when instead of the pastures they will have just a barren land?
When the reindeers are no more then the Nenets people is no more.
*****Yakut-Sakha Republic*
The ethnic publishing house "Beetchik" is preparing a book by Platon
Oyunsky "D'uluru'ar Niurgun Bootur" in Even language. "Beetchik" is
specializing in publications in the languages of the Indigenous peoples
of the Yakut-Sakha republic. It just finished a book of poems by a famous
Even leader and writer Mr. Andrey Krivoshapkin.
***** Moscow*
The Russian Demographic Journal The first issue of the "Demographic
Journal" was pre-sented in Moscow. It is the first of its kind
publication in the history of Russia. The founders are the Ministry of
Labor of the R.F., the Russian Academy of Sciences and a commercial bank
"Interbank". The publication is devoted to a competent analysis of the
demographic situation in the country as a whole and in the regions. In
the 1990s the demographic development of Russia is in acute crisis. It
includes all of the major demographic processes, such as death rate, birth
rate and migration. The negative effect of the social and economic crisis
in the country leads to the rise of the negative demographic processes.
As the result there is a rapid decline of the living condition of the
population. All that dictates an urgent development of a new population
policy. Radical measures which are adequate to the level of crisis must
be taken. Joint efforts of the Federal center and the regions in careful
study of the demographic development of the regions and development of
the regional anti-crisis programs can lead to the State Federal
demographic strategy. The journal will cover all the steps taken in
solving these problems and will allow the readers to know the concrete
results of the Government's demo-graphic policy. The future articles will
be on demography, analysis of the demographic labor issues, family
planning, etc.
*****Tuva*:
ILO Convention 169 and UN-Draft Declaration translated
In November 1996, the Convention and the UN Draft Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples were translated into the Tyvinian language
and printed in 200 copies each. This important work was done in Kyzyl,
Tuva republic, by the newspaper "Ene Sozu" (Mother's Word), Ms. Artyk Hom-
Otukovna Khovalyg-Editor in Chief.
*****Khabarovsk*
On November 12, 1996 a conference of the Regional Association of
Smallnumbered Indigenous Peoples of the Khabarovsk region took place in
Khabarovsk. The conference discussed the work of the Association, an
amendment to its by-laws, selected the delegation to the III All-Russia's
Congress of Indigenous Smallnumbered peoples and elected the new
president. He is Mr. Vladimir V. Digor (Nanai).
---------------- Our contact address for readers outside of Russia is:
L'auravetl'an Indigenous Information Center
c/o L'auravetl'an Foundation Heiligkreuz 40
P.O. Box 39 FL- 9490 Vaduz
Liechtenstein
Fax 41-75-237 45 46
e-mail: 106224.747@compuserve.com
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INFOE - Institute for Ecology and Action Anthropology
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http://www.koeln-online.de/infoe/