Ethnological Expertise in Yakutia: The Local Experience of Assessing the Impact of Industrial Activities on the Northern Indigenous Peoples

Abstract

Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North traditionally live on the territory of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). Growing industrial activities on their traditional natural resource management territories (hereinafter TNRMT) raise issues of assessing the impact on traditional indigenous livelihood. Ethnological expertise was introduced in Yakutia in 2010 as the way to solve these problems. This article addresses issues of the practical application of the ethnological expertise in the complex environment of the Russian Arctic. More specifically, the local experience of implementation of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is examined in the article. The research was conducted with the use of analytical, social, statistical, and legal methods. The necessity of development of the ethnological expertise institute is explained, along with the legal basis for regulating relationships among governmental bodies, business, and northern indigenous peoples. Both of those factors are necessary for sustainable development of the Russian Arctic.