Following Russian/Soviet colonization, Indigenous Siberian Eveny less frequently engage in hunting and reindeer herding—land-based activities central to their culture. Research suggests that an inability to engage in key cultural activities may hamper Indigenous peoples’ capacities to construct meaningful existences (i.e., fulfilling lives with purpose), but this has not been empirically investigated among Eveny. I conducted 14 semi-structured interviews on traditional land-use and meaning in life with Eveny men in Batagay-Alyta (Sakkyryr), Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia. Half of the participants lived in the village; the other half were nomadic herders. Both herders and non-herders described meaningful existences, but the groups often acquired meaning from different sources. Some sources (i.e., family, finances, reindeer) were deemed important by both groups. My findings illuminate what makes life meaningful for some Eveny, and can help policy-makers better address their unique needs.
What is the best way to achieve and sustain clarity of First Nations territorial jurisdiction in British Columbia (BC)? The question is critical to addressing the legal imperative of Indigenous-Crown reconciliation; that is, balancing the rights of Indigenous peoples with the interests of society as a whole through negotiation. Reconciliation requires dialog, and effective dialog is almost impossible amidst conflict concerning which Indigenous polities have legal authority to negotiate concerning specific territories. This dissertation argues that hybrid law – involving the harmonization of state and Indigenous legal systems – should be the basis of common understanding and legitimacy for determining which Indigenous polities have legal authority to negotiate concerning areas subject to “overlapping claims”. Drawing upon the experiences of BC, New Zealand, and Australia, the study concludes that First Nations and the Crown in BC should work collaboratively to empower an independent Indigenous Territories Tribunal to oversee a program of regional inquiries across the province. Regional inquiries should involve: a) research, b) community hearings that empower Indigenous people to articulate their history and legal systems, c) assessments of the character and strength of claims, d) recommendations, and e) the development of Indigenous Jurisdiction Agreements that express complex Indigenous territorialities, hybrid law, and the Indigenous polities that have the legal authority to negotiate with the Crown concerning specific territories. Clarity of Indigenous territorial jurisdiction is a critical aspect of addressing the legal imperative of Indigenous-Crown reconciliation. This dissertation proposes a framework for achieving a geography of reconciliation: that is, an exhaustive map of BC that clearly communicates which First Nation polities have legal authority to negotiate where.
In Russia’s largest region, the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Indigenous (KMNS) leaders and communities representing five different cultural groups have succeeded in preserving traditional ways of life, and particularly nomadic reindeer husbandry, through the enormous political, social, and environmental changes of the past century. To ensure continued cultural survival, Indigenous leaders have developed a wide range of political and legal instruments, processes, and bodies within and without Russian governance structures. Key among these instruments is the “Territory of Traditional Nature-Use” (TTP), a geographically bounded legal-cultural landscape within which dozens of normative republican and federal acts, constitutional laws, and codices regulate and protect traditional land-use, socioeconomic organization, and ways of life.
Federal laws in the Russian Federation set out restrictive criteria for Indigenous peoples to be recognized politically, socially, and culturally as Indigenous Small Numbered Peoples of the north (KMNS). These criteria emphasize “traditionality,” a strategic tactic equating indigeneity with rural landscapes and thus discounting urban Indigenous individuals and communities as modern political and self-determining subjects. Stories from Indigenous women living in Yakutsk, the capital city of Sakha Republic (Yakutia) challenge these narratives by reconstituting the urban landscape from an Indigenous perspective. The challenges emanating from urban landscapes, and relationships integral to navigating these challenges, are examined in this thesis from a critical Indigenous feminist geographical framework, honouring and celebrating the numerous manifestations of urban indigeneity entangled throughout Yakutsk.
