Utilizing Extractive Transportation Infrastructures for Subsistence Livelihoods: Experience of Evenki Communities in Eastern Siberia

Authors

Vera Kuklina, The George Washington UniversityFollow
Viktoriya Filippova, Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Natalia Krasnoshtanova, Institute of Geography of the Siberian Branch of the RASFollow
Antonina Savvinova, North-Eastern Federal University
Viktor Bogdanov, Institute of Geography of the Siberian Branch of the RASFollow
Mariia Kuklina, University of Northern Iowa

Comments

First published in Sustainability, v16 n23 (2024) published by MDPI. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su162310583

Document Type

Article

Publication Version

Published Version

Keywords

Evenki, Indigenous communities, infrastructure, Sakha, sustainability

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Sustainability

Volume

16

Issue

23

Abstract

The availability of natural resources drives the exploration and transformation of remote regions in the Arctic and beyond. Extractive infrastructure is one of the major sources of industrial development and environmental impact on landscapes. For Indigenous people, these landscapes are homely environments full of sentient beings, and for other local communities, they provide a wide variety of subsistence and hunting resources. While extractive infrastructure violence is the evident issue for many Indigenous communities, there are more complicated situations where extractive infrastructure is adopted and utilized for the subsistence and support of other human and more-than-human relations in local and Indigenous communities. Based on materials from interviews and observations with Evenki communities in Eastern Siberia in 2013–2021, the authors discuss the complex relations and sustainability issues entangled around infrastructure objects’ creation, use, maintenance, and transformations. The results demonstrate a wide variety of relations between obshchinas (non-governmental organizations of Indigenous peoples) and extractive companies constructed with infrastructure development of the latter. The paper discusses the shortcomings of the top-down approach in infrastructure planning and the need for contextualization and meaningful engagement with affected communities, some examples of which have already taken place in specific locales. The study concludes by calling for the support of environmentally and socially just infrastructure defined by Indigenous people and local communities as a way to increase sustainability.

Department

Department of Geography

Original Publication Date

12-3-2024

Object Description

1 PDF File

DOI of published version

10.3390/su162310583

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Copyright

©2024 The Author(s)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Kuklina, Vera; Filippova, Viktoriya; Krasnoshtanova, Natalia; Savvinova, Antonina; Bogdanov, Viktor; and Kuklina, Mariia, "Utilizing Extractive Transportation Infrastructures for Subsistence Livelihoods: Experience of Evenki Communities in Eastern Siberia" (2024). Faculty Publications. 6728.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/facpub/6728