Inuit travel to Siberia to probe living conditions

Canadian delegation to make recommendations for a new development strategy in Russia’s North.

By NUNATSIAQ NEWS

ANNETTE BOURGEOIS

Bring extra soap and lots of toilet paper.

Those were some of the instructions given to a delegation of Canadians travelling to northern Russia to investigate living conditions of the aboriginals there.

“I was told to take myself back 30 years ago in the North,” delegate Peter Ernerk said. “Thirty years ago I lived in tents in the summer, walked on the land, lived in igloos and travelled by dog team.”

Ernerk, a commissioner with the Nunavut Implementation Commission, and 10 other Canadian delegates, flew to Moscow on Monday. They’ll visit more than a dozen communities in Russia’s Far East and western Siberia as part of the Institution Building for Northern Russian Indigenous Peoples’ Project (INRIPP).

Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency and co-ordinated by the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, INRIPP is a joint initiative of Canada and several Russian organizations. It aims to increase the number of aboriginal employees at all government levels and to help the Russian government create a northern development and aboriginal strategy.

The delegates will evaluate living conditions and the level of aboriginal involvement in policy decisions.

Ernerk will travel to Russia’s Far East with five delegates, while four others will travel to western Siberia.

“Once we get to the Far East, we’ll meet with the local people, meet with the regional organizations and exchange ideas about why we’re there and we’ll get an explanation about what type of help these people need,” Ernerk said.

The delegates plan to return to Moscow July 16 to develop recommendations and to meet with representatives of the Russian federal government.

“I’m really proud to be part of this delegation to take a look at that part of the world,” Ernerk said. “It’s good that Inuit of Canada are going out to other parts of the world to help other indigenous people. We’re putting our experiences to use.”

Ernerk remembers life in the Canadian North when the federal government decided to move Inuit into permanent communities. He said his people weren’t involved in the decision-making process at all.

There are about 160,000 aboriginals inhabiting the northern reaches of the former Soviet Union. About 10 per cent of these people continue to enjoy a migratory lifestyle. In some communities there are no hospitals or schools and people live without electricity.

Russian aboriginals also face dramatic changes in their traditional way of life because of economic development. The changes have been linked to severe health problems. The average life expectancy of northern Russian aboriginals is nearly 20 years less than the national average.

Few aboriginal people have the skills required to take advantage of economic opportunities.

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