Editing Nenets (section)

==Environment==

Although the Nenets people were able to remain resilient in the face of continuous change and maltreatment, a new challenge now awaits them. Environmental damage to the Nenets' is significant due to [[industrialisation]] of their land, [[colonization]] and [[climate change]]. The Nenet people depend heavily on fishing and reindeer herding to support their lifestyle. However, these practices are highly reliant on the environment which is under threat from the oil industry. Specifically, the nomadic lifestyle the Nenet people have been accustomed to for generations is in danger as the oil industries encroach on reindeer pasture and territory.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Forbes|first=Bruce |date=2009 |title="High resilience in the Yamal-Nenets social–ecological system, West Siberian Arctic, Russia". |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=106 |issue=52 |pages=22041–22048 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0908286106 |pmid=20007776 |pmc=2791666 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Approximately half of the 10,000 Nenets people in the Yamal Peninsula are nomadic and herd reindeer.<ref name=":0" /> With oil industries continuing to expand, the impact on the Nenets people is expected to increase.

=== Oil drilling in the peninsula ===
Since the 1980s, the Arctic Circle has gained the interest of those in the energy and mining industry.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Degteva|first1=Anna |last2=Nellemann|first2=Christian |date=2013 |title=Nenets migration in the landscape: impacts of industrial development in Yamal peninsula, Russia |journal=Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=15 |doi=10.1186/2041-7136-3-15 |issn=2041-7136 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2013Pasto...3...15D }}</ref> Although expansion halted briefly in the 1990s post-USSR disintegration, development picked up in 2004.<ref name=":1" /> As oil and gas companies continue to expand, along with it has come an expansion of infrastructure coming in the form of roads, power lines as well as human and vehicle traffic.<ref name=":1" /> A big milestone was in 2008, when Gazprom, the largest natural gas company in the world, entered the Yamal peninsula in their efforts to launch the Yamal Megaproject.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Evolution of Arctic Energy Development: A Timeline (1962–Present) |url=https://www.stimson.org/2013/evolution-arctic-energy-development-timeline-1962-present/ |website=Stimson |date=15 September 2013 |access-date=30 December 2023}}</ref> Gazprom's arrival to the Yamal peninsula has brought about significant change to the area. According to the company's website, they operate a total of 32 fields.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Yamal |url=https://www.gazprom.com/projects/yamal/ |access-date=2020-11-23 |website=www.gazprom.com |language=en}}</ref> These fields bring in up to 360 billion cubic meters of gas per year and in 2019, Gazprom alone produced 96.3 billion cubic meters of gas.<ref name=":3" /> Another milestone was when Yamal LNG Project: Novatek, another Russian owned company, partnered with two other international corporations to build a plant on the Yamal peninsula in July 2013.<ref name=":2" />

=== The impact on the Nenets people ===
[[File:Archangel reindeer3.jpg|thumb|256x256px|Herders with their reindeer]]
The impact of large energy corporations in the Yamal peninsula can be felt in numerous ways. The largest of these can be seen in the effects on migration routes. With the Nenets people being nomadic and reliant on reindeer husbandry, the migratory routes for the reindeer are very important to them. These migratory routes are very specific and a lot of consideration goes into planning them. Additionally, the herders believe that it is necessary for the reindeer to migrate in order for them to maintain their good health.<ref name=":1" /> The herders claim that this is because the vegetation found on the coast are good for reindeer as they are richer in salt and minerals.<ref name=":1" /> Also, by reaching the coast with the migrations, the reindeer are able to find relief from insects such as mosquito and botfly by avoiding infestation periods.<ref name=":1" /> These migratory routes that the herders and reindeer use are made of rugged terrain as they provide a good space to herd the reindeer. However, the companies that enter the Yamal peninsula also prefer this rugged terrain to build their infrastructure upon, causing a direct overlap in land of interest.<ref name=":1" /> For example, in the Bovanenko core area, a research study was conducted that found that industrial development targeted "rugged, elevated drier land" which is the type of land used by the reindeer herders.<ref name=":1" />  Thus, as the Nenets people rely on reindeer that, in turn, rely on the migratory routes, the expansion of industrial development has had a large impact on the Nenets people.

Although not directly related to migration routes, another impact is the effect on Nenets peoples' sacred spots. The Nenets people have a tradition of designating a sacred spot where they make a request of the spirits for a successful migration. Nenets sacred spots are made into a major sand/quarry pit and marked by wooden pegs.<ref name=":1" /> In one case, a sacred spot of the Nenets people was fenced in during the industrial development, dissolving it of its traditional significance.<ref name=":0" /> Many of the workers believed that their construction did not actually intrude on the sacred spot, however many of the herders believed that the spot had been "desecrated".<ref name=":1" /> This difference in perceptions highlights how many non-indigenous people are only able to view land as something to be owned. Meanwhile, for indigenous people, such a viewpoint is non-existent. Herders have a spiritual relationship with the land and do not view it as simply owned vs not-owned.<ref name=":1" />

Another smaller effect of the industrial development has been its impact on fish. Due to the industrial development, there has been a degradation of freshwater sources which has led to a decrease in the population.<ref name=":0" /> Additionally, the industrial development has spilled over to occupy much of the fishing grounds necessary for the Nenets people. As the Nenets people depend on the fish as their source of food in the summer, the depletion of fish has directly impacted the Nenets people.

Lastly, an impact that is loosely related with the migration routes is accessibility to health care clinics by the Nenets people. Since the arrival of large oil and gas companies in the 1990s, climate in the region has been impacted. In fact, since 1991 temperature anomalies in the Kanin have increased an estimated 1.4 degrees Celsius per decade.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Amstislavski|first1=Philippe |last2=Zubov|first2=Leonid |last3=Chen|first3=Herman |last4=Ceccato|first4=Pietro |last5=Pekel|first5=Jean-Francois |last6=Weedon|first6=Jeremy |date=2013-01-31 |title=Effects of increase in temperature and open water on transmigration and access to health care by the Nenets reindeer herders in northern Russia |url= |journal=International Journal of Circumpolar Health |language=en |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=21183 |doi=10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21183 |issn=2242-3982 |pmc=3749856 |pmid=23971018}}</ref> Within this same period, researchers found a trend of delayed herder arrivals to their local health clinic.<ref name=":4" /> Researchers cite the lengthening of the migrations as the reason for the delay. As the herders need open water to freeze to make crossings of reindeer and herders possible, there is a specific window in which herders can visit their local health clinics. Since 1991, the arrival of herders at one health clinic can be observed shifting from October to December, marking an evident postponement in arrival.<ref name=":4" />

=== Nenets activism ===
[[File:Nenets Child.jpg|thumb|230px|Nenets child]]
There are some Nenets people, activists, and researchers who are nervous about the current situation in the Yamal peninsula. They worry that the authorities of the Nenets people will make a deal to merge with another region.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |title=Secluded Arctic region rejects Putin in rare protest |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/secluded-russia-arctic-region-rejects-putin-12916660 |access-date=2020-11-23 |website=CNA |language=en}}</ref> Nenets people worry that the deal will lead to a further decline in their autonomy as well as their language and traditions.<ref name=":5" />

Nenets people also face danger from industrial companies. Although the industrial companies have paid compensated the Nenets people and made efforts to assist them, some experts say that the current process does not allow for participation from the Nenets people.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Henry|first1=Laura A. |last2=Nysten-Haarala|first2=Soili |last3=Tulaeva|first3=Svetlana |last4=Tysiachniouk|first4=Maria |date=2016-09-13 |title=Corporate Social Responsibility and the Oil Industry in the Russian Arctic: Global Norms and Neo-Paternalism |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09668136.2016.1233523 |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |language=en |volume=68 |issue=8 |pages=1340–1368 |doi=10.1080/09668136.2016.1233523 |s2cid=157741433 |issn=0966-8136}}</ref> The relationship is described by some as "paternalistic" because it does not allow Nenets people to make their own decisions.<ref name=":6" />

The Nenets people have previously attempted to organize and protest against these oil and gas companies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Edwards|first=Maxim |date=20 February 2020 |title=Pipeline problems for indigenous peoples on Russia's Yamal Peninsula |url=https://globalvoices.org/2020/02/20/pipeline-problems-for-indigenous-peoples-on-russias-yamal-peninsula/ |website=GlobalVoices |access-date=30 December 2023}}</ref> However, it is difficult for the nomadic people to gather as a collective unit as they live so far apart from each other. Yuri Vella is a notable example of an individual protestor. Vella was a Nenets writer and, having lived near a lake that was licensed over to an oil company, protested often.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Magomedov|first=Arbakhan |date=2019 |title=Challenges for Indigenous Peoples in the Russian North |journal=Riddle}}</ref> Most notably, he is remembered for having stood up against a bulldozer alone with an axe.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Klyashev|first=Alexander |date=2017-11-20 |title=Reindeer Herders and White-Collar Workers: A Descriptive Study of Protestant Ethnic Groups in Urals and Western Siberia |url=http://www.preprints.org/manuscript/201711.0123/v1 |access-date=30 December 2023 |doi=10.20944/preprints201711.0123.v1 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Vella is not alone in his activism. There exists a rural protest community called Voice of the Tundra that currently speaks on topics such as the rights of the Nenets people.<ref name=":7" /> As aforementioned, it is difficult to gather collectively and so this community relies on VKontakte, a Russian online service, to mobilize and communicate.<ref name=":7" /> Additionally, rather than being led by lawyers or journalists or scholars, the community has a young reindeer herder from the tundra as their leaders.<ref name=":7" /> The Voice of the Tundra focuses its attention on three main issues: a shortage of land for the reindeer due to oil and gas companies expanding use of the territories, the uncertainty surrounding the future of nomadic reindeer herding, and the lack of Indigenous leadership and organization.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Magomedov|first=Arbakhan |date=2020 |title=The Russian State and the Arctic Indigenous Peoples: Is Politics Coming Back? |journal=The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization}}</ref>

The Voice of the Tundra project is being celebrated as it symbolizes a return of politics to Russia's Indigenous peoples.<ref name=":8" /> Specifically, a reindeer herder by the name of Eiko Serotetto is being heralded as the main activist generating the change. Serotetto is not someone who has had a traditional background or education. However, in 2016, he demonstrated that this would not weigh him down when he began to take action in the aftermath of the anthrax epidemic.<ref name=":8" /> Serotetto posted a petition on social media that asked for attention to be brought to the Indigenous peoples and their reindeers. Serotetto requested protection of Indigenous habitats, reindeer, and rights. This petition brought attention to the Russian officials who were not  addressing the "real life of the tundra and Indigenous people".<ref name=":8" /> Later, Serotetto's most impactful petition was made when he advocated for the boycott of Russian oil and gas.<ref name=":8" />

Although there are many Nenets people who are against the industrial development going on in the Yamal peninsula such as the activists aforementioned, there are also many who are in support of the developments. Those who are in favour of the developments highlight the economic benefits that they are able to receive. In a research study conducted in the area, one villager reported that they were able to coexist with the industries through social agreements, voluntary giving, and compensation for damages.<ref name=":6" />

Some argue that this variance in support for the industrial companies from the Nenets people lies in factors such as active leadership from community leaders.<ref name=":6" /> This reasoning can be seen as falling similarly in line with what the Voice of the Tundra was fighting for, as it can be seen that proper Indigenous leadership and involvement can lead to higher satisfaction among the Nenets people.