Elena P. Martynova

Doctor of Science (History), Professor of the History and Archeology Department

Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University

(Tula, Russia)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2023-3-70-82

Abstract. The article deals with the analysis of economic practices of the indigenous peoples of the Northern Ob (Khanty and Mansi). They began to resort to the use of these practices in the period of postSoviet transformations. The aim of the study is to show how rural residents used various strategies of survival in the conditions of total unemployment and market elements, how they responded to the state initiatives to resolve the North peoples’ urgent socio-economic problems. The basis of the study is field materials collected by the author in 2000 – 2004 and 2017 on the territory of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra in rural settlements. The article is written in the framework of informal (nonpolar) economy or "survival economy" concept, the research focus of which is aimed at studying economic activities and economic relations that are not regulated by the state, are not subject to control, do not fall into official statistics. In the post-Soviet period, when the government withdrew from the North, indigenous communities adapted to market conditions through informal economic practices, primarily in the extraction and marketing of fishery resources, as well as through the development of animal husbandry and horticulture in order to save family budgets. This «economy of survival» played the role of a shock absorber of socio-economic tremors. At the same time, it instilled entrepreneurial skills in the natives. The government, at the level of district and regional authorities, has taken the initiative in creating and supporting the activities of indigenous communities, providing financial support, due to which they are increasing their activity not only in traditional economy, but also in related spheres of activity, primarily ethno-tourism. State regulation offers various measures to support traditional sectors of economy and at the same time introduces certain restrictions in informal practices, due to which people tend to distance themselves from the state.
Keywords: native minorities of the North, Ob Ugrians (Khanty and Mansi), informal economy, state, traditional economy, fish resources, tribal communities, entrepreneurship ethnotourism.

Full text of the article (PDF)

For citation: Martynova, EP 2023, ‘How to Survive in a Northern Village: Economic Practices of the Indigenous Inhabitants of the Northern Ob Region’, Tula Scientific Bulletin. History. Linguistics, issue 3 (15), pp. 70–82, http://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2023-3-70-82 (in Russ.)

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