Cencus strengthens local patriotism among Pomors

Last year's census in Russia was the first in 13 years. The previous 1989 census was held under a Soviet reform government, soon about to lose its control over the 15 Soviet republics. Today's Russian government is facing a much smaller and more homogenous population. Still, the number of officially acknowledged nationalities has more than quadrupled. Before the 1989 census 128 nationalities were registered, before this year's - more than 800.

The official census results will be published only in spring this year. Preliminary figures can still give a general idea of the outcome, which will not be without surprises. For instance, Russia has not experienced a dramatic decrease of population, as has been predicted by some. According to Russian Minister of Nationalities, Vladimir Zorin, there are today 145,1 million Russian citizens, about 3 millions less than in 1989. Another interesting estimate is a sharp increase of the number of Chechens, despite the last years of war.

Still, the fact that might have surprised most people about the census is the high number of registered nationalities. "Peterburgers" from St.Peterburg, "Uralers" from the Urals, "Cossacks" from the South. In the North - "Pomors". But not only regular Pomors - also the "Kanin Pomors", the population of the Kanin Peninsula, became registered as a separate nationality.

Before the 1989 census Soviet authorities composed a list of 128 "ethnic units", among which the population of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic could choose their adherence. In the 2002 census Russian authorities paid full obedience to the Russian constitution, which states that every citizen has the right to individually choose their ethnic belonging. The 2002 census was conducted more in accordance with the wishes of the small nationalities.

Ethnic natives or simply Russians?

The question about ethnic origin has always been a part of Russian censuses. In the 2002 census thousands of Arkhangelsk Oblast citizens reportedly registered as Pomors. The result was a victory for the group of Arkhangelsk individuals who in August 2002 officially requested the Russian federal authorities to include the Pomors in the census list over nationalities in Russia. In the wake of the census the leader of the Pomor Revival movement (Pomorskoe Vozrozhdenie), Ivan Moseev, in high spirit declared that the official status of the Pomors now, finally, is no longer "simply Russians" but an "independent ethnic group".

The registration was a dream coming through for the Pomor Revival movement. Since its establishment in 1987 by a group of Arkhangelsk students the movement has advocated increased self-government in the North and even the establishment of a "Pomor Republic", an idea which was specified in the manifesto of the movement, published in the newspaper Volna 1 January 1991.

The manifesto, formed as an open letter under the title "We want a Pomor republic!", talked about the 20th century "colonization" of Pomor areas, the "genocide" of the Pomor people and severe exploitation of Pomor natural resources. The authors threatened with "chaos in the established state system" unless an economically independent Pomor republic was allowed to be formed.

Pomor Revival was not a true independence movement, though - it talked about a Pomor Republic as a part of Russia. Still, the movement memorandum described historical Pomor territory as stretching all along the White Sea coast, from Murmansk Oblast', the Republic of Karelia and Arkhangelsk Oblast. This "expansionist" policy, mixed with the high-running emotional national, and nationalistic, argumentation, arose fear in some Moscow circles for a "Pomor separatism".

Local identity and economic interests

Like so many of the "nationality movements" of the 1990s Pomor Revival was first of all working for stronger economic independence and regional self-government over regional resources. Ethnic argumentation was used to reach economic gains. The movement was not opposing "the Russians", but rather the Moscow bureaucrats mismanaging the economic resources of the region.

Pomor Revival today continues to work for the Pomor case, but has downplayed its most nationalistic rhetoric. Economic interests now more clearly stand in the foreground. Thus, an underlying incentive behind the status "native" or "indigenous" is exclusive access to the use of natural resources. Both Russian national and international legislation proclaim indigenous peoples' special rights.

Having gained status as "ethnic group" the Pomor advocates are already starting their fight for control over the rich natural resources of the region. In November 2002 the Pomor Revival movement sent an official request to the 3rd All-Russian Congress of Fishermen urging them to push for a change in Russian fishery policies towards a more "indigenous" friendly distribution of quotas. Aleksey Ovchinnikov, himself a businessman and one of the leading figures in the Pomor census campaign, is convinced the ethnic recognition will give a boost to small and medium-sized business in the region. He is joined by head of the Arkhangelsk Oblast Duma Committee on Fisheries, Leonid Meleshko, who loudly proclaims: "I registered as a Pomor! When Pomors are acknowledged as an official native people the Arkhangelsk Oblast will obtain extra, free fish quotas." And he adds: "[…]minorities have special rights when it comes to mineral resources. In Arkhangelsk Oblast we have oil, and soon they will start extracting diamonds."

Moscow and the Pomors

In its response to the Pomor census request the Russian State Committee on Statistics, Goskomstat, stated that all Russian citizens are free to individually define their ethnic adherence. This apparent softening of official Russian ethnicity understanding is still not likely to mean a change in Russian nationality policy. The Russian constitution clearly states that all the nationalities of Russia are part of a unified all-Russian (Rossiiski) people.

The extended number of registered ethnic groups will therefore hardly be of major significance, as long as they all adhere to the common all-Russian people. Some regional leaders might see the census and "the new nationality approach" as part of the prevailing regional reform wave and as another attempt to regulate their power. The much debated municipal reform package, the reorganisation of federal subjects and the new legislation on the regions' right to control mineral and hydrocarbon resources all propose significant changes to Russian center-periphery relations.

In Arkhangelsk Oblast the ethnic acknowledgement of the Pomors is not likely to change power relations inside the federal subjects, nor in relation to the center. What it could influence, though, is the position of the previously acknowledged indigenous groups. For instance, the Nenets people might be in danger of losing some of their exclusive rights as "natives" when challenged by the Pomors.

Nationality policy remains an important part of Russian center-periphery relations, also what the North is concerned. Still, in the case of Arkhangelsk Oblast the Pomor recognition is first of all likely to strengthen a healthy kind of local patriotism. The small and active group of Pomor Revival supporters have achieved their desired ethnic acknowledgement, but will hardly be able to change the identity of the Arkhangelsk population. The Pomors will remain a sub-ethnic group - simply meaning the Russians living along the White Sea coast. Having registered as a Pomor at the census, Arkhangelsk governor Anatoly Yefremov himself says, "To be a Pomor is a state of the heart. The Pomors are of course not a nation. We have always been Russians".

By Atle Staalesen

First published at the Internet site Barentsnews.net, April 2003