Community Origins and Narratives

Learning Outcomes

• Gain knowledge of the great diversity of Russia.
• Draw connections between the Indigenous peoples of Russia and those of the United States.
• Discuss the debates over using genetic data and research in studying Indigenous peoples and how this could come into conflict with traditional narratives that are present within these communities.

• Background
• Definitions of Indigeneity
• Case Study - The Sakha People
• Excerpts from an Olonkho 
• Genetics Origins of the Sakha People
• Debate: Ethics of DNA Analysis of Origin

Background

Ethnic Groups in Russia

• Russia is one of the most ethnically, linguistically, and religiously diverse countries on Earth.
• Under Russian law, there are two different categories of ethnic groups that we would consider Indigenous.
  • The first category is larger groups, they often have a dedicated territory called a republic (kind of like a state in the US), where they can have things like additional official languages. Some examples of these republics are the Sakha Republic and Tatarstan.
  • The other category is known as the “small-in-numbers peoples.” These groups are defined in the Russian constitution and must have 50,000 members or fewer and maintain a “traditional way of life.”
  • These two categories are how the Russian government defines Indigeneity.

Key Terms

Ethnic Republic These are dedicated territories (kind of like a state in the US) that are viewed as the “homeland” of a specific ethnic group. These territories are afforded extra privileges such as having additional official languages. Some examples of these republics are the Sakha Republic and Tatarstan.

Small-in-numbers peoples This is a specific category of Indigenous peoples in Russia. These groups are defined in the Russian constitution and must have 50,000 members or fewer and maintain a “traditional way of life.” They do not have the same privileges as a titular ethnic group within its own ethnic republic.

Dr. Kim TallBear

• One of the leading scholars working on the topics of Indigenous rights and genetic research. We will be using many of her insights and findings throughout this module as a guide to how Indigenous peoples and the scientific community interact.
• Professor, Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta
• Enrolled Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. Descended from the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.
• Ph.D., History of Consciousness
• Teaching interests: Indigenous and feminist science studies, Politics of Indigeneity, Politics of nature (Native Americans, nature, and culture; queer ecologies), Indigenous queer theory and (de)colonial sexualities
• Former Assistant Professor at ASU, Department of American Indian Studies, (2006-2007)

Key Terms

Indigeneity- This term refers to definitions of what it means to be Indigenous. There are many different potential definitions of this term that are affected by historical, political, and cultural contexts. There is no one definition of Indigeneity.

How does the US government define Indigeneity?

• In the US, there is a process of formal recognition from the federal government. Through this recognition, tribes are afforded certain rights that unrecognized tribes do not receive.

How does the Russian government define Indigeneity?

• Earlier we saw the two categories the Russian government uses for Indigenous peoples: those groups who are afforded the opportunity to have an ethnic republic and those who are labeled the “small-in-numbers peoples”

How do Indigenous people define Indigeneity for themselves?

• Earlier we saw the two categories the Russian government uses for Indigenous peoples: those groups who are afforded the opportunity to have an ethnic republic and those who are labeled the “small-in-numbers peoples”
  
   

This bogatyr’s

lofty name,

distinguished calling

what is it, were one to ask?

The fine upstanding young man

Ellei Bootur,

who rides on a swift light-

bay horse,

racing in a day through what takes seven days-

such is his name.

If one looks closely,

then what is

his outward appearance,

his representative externality:

steady below,

mighty above,

strong muscles,

gnarled sinews,

a well-proportioned figure,

a shining visage,

a sonorous voice,

a fiery gaze.

Key Terms

Bogatyr- A legendary hero from Slavic mythology. The use of the term in this Olonkho translation was done by a Russian who was trying to show a Russian-speaking audience the similarities between Sakha and Russian cultures.

Genetic Origins of the Sakha

• The Sakha people are thought to be an admixture of migrants from the South with the aboriginal peoples of the Lena river (Britannica, 2014).
• The aboriginal people of the Lena river are settlers from the prehistoric mass migration when many populations migrated through Siberia and replaced each other. Thus, around 20,000 years ago, people wandered from Asia to North America across the Beringia landmass, which once connected Siberia and Alaska (Price, 2018).
• Another wave happened around 13,000 and 14,000 years ago when people are thought to have walked from the Altai Mountains through the vast Siberian territory. (Waugh, 2012). Some of them settled within the Siberian region, and some went across the Bering strait to America (Price, 2019).

Key Terms

Beringia - also known as the Bering Land Bridge, is a large landform that linked northwestern parts of Canada and Alaska with northeastern Siberia during the Pleistocene Epoch (2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago).

• “The mtDNA results show a very close affinity of the Yakuts with Central Asian and South Siberian groups, which confirms their southern origin (...) Furthermore, the genetic results show that the Yakuts are a very homogenous population, notwithstanding their current spread over a very large territory. This confirms the historical accounts that they spread over their current area of settlement fairly recently.” (Pakendorf, 334)
• “The mtDNA analyses provide clear evidence of a southern origin of Yakuts. This is shown by the high frequency (» 33%) of haplogroups commonly found in South Siberian and Central Asian populations and lacking in northern Siberians.” (Pakendorf, 349)
• “In either case, the legends of Elley and Omogoy and how they have together changed the way of life in Middle Lena forever are still in agreement with the reconciled scientific data in the current study.” (Tikhonov, 107)

You can use these quotations to guide a discussion among your students.

Key Terms

mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA)- The type of DNA that is passed down from one’s mother. This type of DNA is particularly helpful in understanding historical genetics.

Haplogroup- a population that shares a common, genetic ancestor.