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Pivneva E. Indigenous Peoples of the Russian North: Project or Destiny?

E. Pivneva
N. N. Miklouho-Maclay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the RAS
Moscow, Russia
ORCID: 0000-0001-8582-417X
E-mail: pivnel@mail.ru

 

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ABSTRACT. This article, grounded in the methodological principles of L. P. Lashuk, explores the impact of formal institutions (beyond purely cultural factors) on the construction of identity. The author examines how project-based initiatives (from the state, scientific communities, and ethnic leaders) have shaped ethnic and ethnocultural boundaries. Through an analysis of regulatory documents and administrative decisions, the article investigates the creation of official lists (or rolls) of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, and how specific mechanisms for legitimizing their legal status were developed and entrenched during the Soviet era and in the post-Soviet period. The findings support a well-established conclusion in scholarly literature that identity, including ethnic identity, is the product of complex social dynamics in which governance plays a pivotal role. The small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Russian Far East represent a unique form of collective identity, heavily shaped by state intervention. This identity is primarily a legal construct, serving as the basis for state recognition and support. At the same time, the case discussed illustrates the phenomenon of reification, where classificatory terms, initially devised by researchers and administrators for scientific and statistical purposes, come to be perceived as representing distinct ethnic groups in the public imagination and are imbued with a lived identity.

 

KEYWORDS: Indigenous peoples, Soviet modernization project, governance, identity, ethnicity, official registers, ethnocultural complexity

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2025-4(30)-84-103
UDC 316.7

 

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