István Sántha

Size and Place in the Construction of Indigeneity in the Russian Federation

Within the Russian Federation there are nearly 200 recognized “nationalities,” approximately 130 of which could claim to be “indigenous.” However, only 45 peoples are officially recognized as “indigenous small‐numbered peoples of the Russian Federation” and thereby qualify for the rights, privileges, and state support earmarked for indigenous peoples. This status is conditioned upon a maximum group size of 50,000. While experts insist that this numerical criterion is provisional and without serious political implications, our fieldwork demonstrates that it has become a social fact that cannot be ignored, especially in light of the 2002 All‐Russia Census and the release of its results in 2004. This numerical benchmark forces a dichotomization into small‐numbered versus non‐small‐numbered peoples and creates a peculiar type of identity politics based on ethnic‐group size. The “indigenous small‐numbered” status is also conditioned upon a set of overlapping but often contradictory residency requirements. Using case studies from southern Siberia and the north of European Russia, we document the dynamic interplay between these dimensions of identity and the opportunities for maneuvering in the competition for the benefits that attach to certain categories. However, indigenous peoples who engage in such identity politics run the risk of becoming “incarcerated” within the confines of those categories.

Culture Contact in Evenki Land

This anthropological monograph contains the results of recent fieldwork conducted among the Evenki people in East Siberia, Russian Federation. It is an ethnography of a Siberian people that will be welcomed by professional social anthropologists as well as by specialists in Russian and Siberian Studies.

Invisible Places, Hidden History: The Role of the Former "Russian Airport" in Telling Stories about the Front in the South Vértes Region

The South Vértes is one of the regions in Hungary where the battles between the opposing Hungarian-German and Russian sides went on for the longest period of time and were the severest. The fates of the people living in the region varied, as every village had its unique history and played a different role in the war. Moreover, individual families expressed unique attitudes in their narratives about the front, depending on whether they survived the war without major losses or suffered great traumas. The article explores stories told by local people about the “Russian airport”, the only Soviet barracks established in the region after World War II, and how it was linked to the violent events of the war. While the Russian barracks in general appeared to serve as a platform for the fear accompanying the comments on World War II, different generations of local people have different positions in relation to the front and rely on different techniques for telling stories about the war. The focus is on people who were born during or just before the war and consequently have limited personal experience of the front. Members of this generation unconsciously use the “Russian airport” and its residents as a parallel platform to talk about World War II and experiences involving their families, exemplifying the complexities of communicating about the war and emotions.

New technologies among Evenki hunter-gatherers in East Siberia

This article presents some results of the photographic analysis project, that we accomplish on the basis of 17,000 photos shot during the anthropological fieldwork between October 2008 and November 2009 among Evenki living in East Buryatia, in the Eastern part of Siberia. The aim of the project is to study the non-verbal patterns of culture. Some activities are significant due to the natural environment and the peripheral position of the Evenki land. Modern and old instruments can be seen together in the taiga, they relate to each other and form pairs. The existence of these pairs show the necessity of the co-presence of modern and old technologies and the importance of the categories — activities — tasks connected with them. An old instrument can remain among the Evenki only if an adaptable new instrument can find its place in the everyday life. Sometimes old practical skills also need to be reinvented for the accomplishment of a particular task. The things which have no modern existing pair, step by ste...