Activists from Indigenous nations that share geography with Russia have spoken and written about their vision of a post-Putin Russia, and several live in exile because of it.
And still they met in April at Orcas Center in Eastsound to lay the foundation for Indigenous self-determination in a Russia they hope is not too distant in the future — a Russia free of economic exploitation of natural resources on Indigenous lands, a Russia that respects Indigenous rights, a Russia that is committed to reconciliation with the First Peoples of the land.
Twenty-seven activists signed a Statement on Reconciliation and Respect, also known as the Orcas Island Declaration, during the three-day International Conference on Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East and the Future of Russia — a blueprint of sorts for a Russia that “aligns with the principles of international law” and “guarantees the rights of Indigenous peoples to self-determination, to traditional lands and resources and to cultural development, as articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of lndigenous Peoples.”
The Russian government has so far listed no response to the conference. There were no news reports as of today in Pravda.ru, the Russian nationalist online newspaper that broke away from Pravda when the latter was acquired by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
The conference was organized by the Batani International Indigenous Fund for Development and Solidarity; the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia, the Indigenous Russia online platform and Russian America for Democracy in Russia. It was co-sponsored by Se’Si’Le, a nonprofit led by former Lummi Nation chairman Jay W’tot Lhem Julius.
Se’Si’Le (pronounced saw-see’-law) is the Lummi word for “our grandmother.”
The connection: Julius and Pavel Sulyandziga Sr., a Udege Indigenous rights activist now living in Maine, met in October 2022 at the International Indigenous Salmon Seas Symposium sponsored by Se’Si’Le at Woodland Park in Seattle.
“A big part of [the] Se’Si’Le mission is to bring the spirit and ceremony into the conversation around environment and climate change,” Julius said. “It’s something the Indigenous have held on to and not let go of — that connectedness to what you call nature and the environment and climate. It’s a relationship.”
Of the decision to meet on Orcas Island, in the heart of Lummi’s historical territory: “We’re a safe space and we’re a safe place, and we’re a safe organization that is at the forefront” of environmental protection and climate change adaptation, Julius said. “And obviously we’re Indigenous, with an all-Indigenous led board and organization. And that’s our focus.”
Of the Statement on Reconciliation and Respect, he said, “We didn’t do anything with drafting the statement, but it’s in line with our way and our teachings.”
In the statement, the signatories:
- Condemn colonial policies, forced assimilation and repression against Indigenous peoples in Russia.
- Commit to collaboration with democratic forces for a future based on equality and human rights.
- Call for the creation of permanent dialogue between Russia and the Indigenous nations with which it shares geography.
- Call for monitoring rights violations, developing legislative initiatives for Indigenous rights and land/resource protection and advancing research and education projects.
The signatories wrote that persecution, displacement and resource exploitation have long been part of Russian history — from the Russian Empire to the Soviet Union to the modern Russian Federation — but attempts at change have been stymied by colonial policies that continue within Russia and beyond its borders.
“We affirm that reconciliation and respect are not limited to acknowledging past injustices but are essential conditions for building a shared and just future based on equality, historical justice and the norms of international law,” the signatories wrote in the statement. “We express our readiness to work in partnership with democratic forces, civil society and international allies in pursuit of these necessary changes.”
Sulyandziga said Russian support for President Vladimir Putin may wane as the country tires of the war in Ukraine. The nonprofit think tank Atlantic Council — citing data from Russian polling companies Russian Field and Levada — reports that “a solid majority of Russians” oppose a potential second wave of Russian troop mobilization in Ukraine and support peace talks over a continuation of the war. And those who offered firm, unquestioned backing rather than those who “more support than oppose” the war had fallen from 53% in 2022 to 39% in 2023, the Atlantic Council reported.
Russia has reacted heavily against Batani and other Indigenous rights organizations.
Batani opposes Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine and its exploitation of natural resources and as a result, the organization reported, is listed by the Russian government as a foreign agent and banned by the Russian Ministry of Justice. Several Indigenous rights groups were designated as “terrorist” organizations by Russia’s Supreme Court, Batani reported.
Orcas Island Declaration co-author Sulyandziga, a former member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues now living in Maine, said he would be arrested or worse if he returned to his native Bikin River Valley in eastern Russia, near the Chinese border and the Sea of Japan.
Eight signatures were redacted from a copy of the Orcas Island Declaration in order to protect the signers’ safety.
Outnumbered and oppressed
More than 160 Indigenous nations share geography with Russia, though only 40 are officially recognized by Russia as “Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East,” according to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, an Indigenous rights organization based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Indigenous peoples in Russia share challenges faced by Indigenous peoples elsewhere around the globe. They are largely rural peoples and subsist on fishing, hunting and reindeer herding. They are vastly outnumbered — about 260,000 out of a total Russian population of 143.8 million. Natural resource extraction, including oil and gas drilling, deprives them of access to ancestral lands and resources; Russia’s export revenues are largely generated from the sale of fossil fuels and minerals, according to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs.
Transcripts of meetings show the conflict between Indigenous lifeways and Russia’s economic development goals for the Arctic regions. Russian officials talked in 2021 and 2024 about preserving Indigenous cultures, languages and traditions while unveiling incentives to attract economic development in the Arctic regions and fast-track the availability of land there.
The government created Bikin National Park — 1.16 million hectares, or 2.8 million acres — in the Russian Far East in 2015. Some 68% of the land is set aside for the traditional uses of the Udege and Nanai peoples. But park zoning also allows other land uses, such as ecotourism.
Khibiny National Park was established in 2018 on 209,555 acres in the Murmansk Region, an area occupied by Sámi people. The Russian government also allows recreational uses and industrial mining in the national park.
Lenskiye Stolby National Park was created in 2018 on 3 million acres in the Siberian Arctic, where tour boats take visitors to see the natural rock formations known as the Lena Pillars. The Indigenous Evenki people depend on these lands for reindeer herding, hunting and fishing.
The Russian constitution and national legislation set out the rights of “Indigenous minority peoples of the North,” but there is no such concept as “free, prior and informed consent” enshrined in legislation, according to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. And while Russia ratified the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe, it has not endorsed the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Sulyandziga said the Orcas Island Declaration was inspired by reconciliation efforts in Canada, the U.S., Australia and Norway, and the signatories urge Russia to undertake a similar path — acknowledging its colonial legacy, restoring respect for Indigenous communities and enacting institutional reforms.
In addition to Indigenous representatives, conference participants included Russian scholars, politicians, journalists and international partners. They conferred on Indigenous rights, Russian imperial policy, decolonization and the democratic future of Russia.
The conference “was the first kind of meeting between Indigenous peoples and representatives of the Russian opposition,” Sulyandziga said. “We expected this meeting to be more like an introductory meeting — the opposition doesn’t know who the Indigenous representatives are — but during the preparation, there were two members of the Russian opposition who said it would be important to have a declaration or a statement about the outcomes of our meeting.
“A colleague and I prepared a concept of the declaration, and when we presented it we saw that everyone agreed and realized, yes, this is a very important document.”
Presenters included U.N. special rapporteur
The conference opened with presentations: “Indigenous Peoples of Russia: Our History, Lands and Lifeways,” “Inside the Russian Federation: Challenges and Opportunities for Indigenous Peoples” and “All Our Relations: Indigenous Rights Are Human Rights.” Presenters included Vladislav Inozemtsev, a Russian economist and political scientist; Mariana Katzarova, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Russian Federation; and Tjan Zaochnaya, Itelmen Nation, a member of the Munich Group of the Society for Threatened Peoples and of the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia.
The Statement of Reconciliation and Respect was discussed and adopted on day two. The Lummi Nation hosted a community event for conference participants and residents. On day three, conference participants visited the Lummi Reservation and met with members of the Tribal Council, recognizing “shared histories of colonization and the global movement for Indigenous rights,” Batani reported.
Russian editor and Indigenous rights activist Dmitry Berezhkov wrote after the conference, “It should be remembered that self-determination in the broad sense is the right of a people or community to freely determine its political status and independently develop its economic, social and cultural life, including the choice of forms of self-government, the preservation of language, traditions, way of life and participation in decisions that affect its destiny. And I think we need to allow the Indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East to decide for themselves which path of self-determination they will choose.”
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