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This study, based on materials from the State Archive of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, analyzes the formation and activities of the Turukhansk District Association of Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the North in 1995-1996. It examines the Association as a key social movement of indigenous ethnic groups (Kets, Evenks, Selkups) in the Turukhansk District of Krasnoyarsk Krai during the deep post-Soviet crisis. Established in May 1995 in response to the collapse of traditional clan-based economies, socio-economic catastrophe (mass unemployment, loss of reindeer husbandry, inaccessibility of basic services), and the absence of effective state support, the Association emerged as the first institution of self-organization and advocacy for the interests of vulnerable communities in the vast and isolated Turukhansk District. The research details the extreme operating conditions of the Association: a catastrophic resource deficit (minimal office space, lack of office equipment and transport, chronic underfunding, protracted salary delays), a paralyzed transportation infrastructure that severed connections with settlements, and a critical shortage of legal expertise. Despite these systemic barriers, the Association demonstrated a high degree of self-organization. Its activities were multifaceted: aggregating and articulating the needs of communities to all levels of government (up to and including international forums in Arkhangelsk); providing direct, vital material aid (distribution of food, clothing, housing improvements) using meager budgetary allocations; creating local support structures; active advocacy and human rights work, including the struggle for traditional land use and demanding the enforcement of existing laws (Presidential Decree of the Russian Federation No. 397 from April 22, 1992); establishing connections with federal and international organizations; initiating the creation of a krai-level Association of Indigenous Peoples; and developing a strategic program within the framework of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. The author concludes that the social movement, embodied by the Turukhansk Association, became not merely a tool for consolidation but a vitally necessary, albeit resource-limited, mechanism for survival and addressing urgent social problems. It compensated for state failures, provided a voice for marginalized communities, and laid the groundwork for the future institutional protection of the rights of indigenous peoples in Krasnoyarsk Krai, despite the insurmountable systemic constraints of the transition period. This work contributes to the study of the history of civil initiatives and the adaptation of Russia's indigenous peoples in the 1990s.
Indigenous small-numbered peoples, social movement, post-Soviet Russia
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