The Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) represents some 200,000 indigenous peoples from more than 30 ethnic groups throughout the Russian Federation, including the Evenki, Tozhu, Tofa, and Soyot, discussed in this issue of Cultural Survival Quarterly.
RAIPON was founded by the first Congress of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East held in Moscow from March 20 to March 23, 1990. RAIPON is a non-government organization devoted to protecting the interests and lawful rights of the people it represents, including their rights to land, natural resources and self-government in accordance with international standards and Russian legislation, and their right to resolve their own social and economic problems. RAIPON also provides assistance in cultural development and education, and promotes international exchange, cooperation, and organized humanitarian aid.
Taking into account the input of indigenous leaders, the Coordination Council members have sanctioned the following as the baseline directions of RAIPON activities: law making and guarantees of a legal position; health protection of indigenous peoples; preservation and development of culture; upbringing and education; establishment of traditional subsistence territories (territories of traditional use of natural resources) and development of traditional forms of economic activity; and youth policy.
—Pavel Sulyandziga, RAIPON Coordination Council
Excerpted and adapted with permission from the RAIPON Web site: www.raipon.org.
For more information
Contact RAIPON at raipon@online.ru. Address: P.O. Box 110 Moscow, 119415 Russia. Telephone: 7 (095) 164-69-39.
The Arctic Network for the Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Arctic (ANSIPRA) is a communication network linking Russian indigenous peoples’ organizations with international organizations. ANSIPRA distributes English translations of selected articles from the RAIPON journal Mir korennykh narodov - zhivaya arktika. See the ANSPIPRA Bulletin.
