Introducing a Registry of Indigenous Persons in Russia: Rationale and Challenges

Numerous Russian laws recognize rights of, and provide for benefits to, Indigenous peoples living within the Russian Federation. Yet in the past two decades, Indigenous persons have faced challenges in accessing these rights, having no way to prove that they are members of an Indigenous people. For almost two decades, Indigenous leaders have petitioned the Russian government to address this situation, and in January 2020, the Government of Russia passed a law to create a registry of Indigenous persons. Drawing on news coverage, scholarly discussion and interviews with Indigenous leaders and their allies in the Russian Federation, we describe the genesis of the problem, the interim measures various regions adopted to address the problem, and the unresolved challenges facing the implementation of this law. We recognize the registry as a problematic and contested legal site through which the state continues to delimit Indigeneity in ways that afford but also constrain rights.