Why Are We Praying for Them?

This is the background article about the peoples of Russia's Arctic and Siberian regions from "Peoples on the Move." Since I couldn't improve on what they had already done, I am including the text from pp. 395-396. "Peoples on the Move," by David J. Phillips, Picant, 2001. This book can be ordered from William Carey Library, 1-800-MISSION

These peoples are nomadic hunter-gathers, pastoralists and fishermen, for the terrain is best used for nomadism. This fragile environment is described by the Russians as "taiga," meaning birch and conifer forest on permanently frozen ground with very low rainfall, and with too-short summers when the surface is boggy and useless for cultivation. To the north of the tree line is the tundra, or rocky open country supporting grasses, mosses and lichens, alternately boggy in the brief summer and frozen the rest of the year, with permanently frozen subsoil.

This region had its colonial period of exclusive Russian expansion, so that it did not benefit from contact with the rest of the world as other post-colonial areas have. Its peoples have been disadvantaged and submerged by an alien and excessively dominant culture, in a situation similar to that of the American Indians.

The Soviet period was hostile to the nomadic native peoples of Siberia. Even the identity of the peoples was tampered with, as new "nationalities" were created such as the Khahas from the Kachas, Saigais, Beltirs, Kyzyls or Koibals, and the Altainans from seven small Turkic groups. Traditional rituals, art, music, costumes, and dancing were revived, as folklore art forms but without their indigenous and religious meanings.

Agriculture, industry and urbanization were imposed where possible, and pastoralists were reorganized into collective farms. This resulted in the widespread slaughter of livestock, the substitution of Russian huts for tents, and boarding schools for the children where they learned the Russian language and culture, and were taught to dislike the traditional way of life. Small settlements were forcibly closed and the population was concentrated in large centers, mostly for bureaucratic convenience.

The collective farms restricted herding with inappropriate ideas of industrial production as the men became state employees of a centralized bureaucracy, and the herds were enclosed in fenced areas. While the advantages of education, medical care and modern transport came through the Soviets, the native societies were demoralized and disrupted. In the post-communist era, Russia's economy requires the rapid development of oil and natural gas in the region, with resulting transport systems, population invasion and damage to the fragile environment.

Since the end of communism all groups are ready to exploit their new freedoms within the Russian Federation. Young leaders, grieved at the injustices under communism, are determined to re-establish their identities and self-confidence as peoples, and they are open to outside trade and partnership. Anyone seeking to befriend them must seek to share their involvement with their environment. The paternalistic and oppressive experience with communism serves as a warning to how we witness and adapt to their culture and revived nomadic lifestyle.

A number of Christians are now working among these peoples. The Slavic Mission in Sweden is co-operating in a Urals Bible School to train a number of CIS nationalities such as Mari, Komi, Chuvashian, Tatar, and so on. YWAM wants to establish a School of Frontier Missions in Norway, which will train workers for the Arctic. Russian churches need to be culturally sensitive in reaching out to these peoples. They need to be effective not only in evangelism, but also in helping to bring about reconciliation between the indigenous and "white" races after centuries of Russian domination.