Urbanization processes among the indigenous peoples of the North of Yakutia during the industrial development of the Arctic region in the 1960s.

Grigorev Stepan Alekseevich PhD in History Senior Researcher, Yakut Scientific Center Institute for Humanitarian Studies and Problems of Indigenous Population of the North SB RAS 677027, Russia, respublika Sakha (Yakutiya), g. Yakutsk, ul. Petrovskogo, 1, kab. 403 DeTample@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

 Relevance: The twentieth century was marked by the increasing pace of globalization and urbanization of the Arctic, which gradually began to turn from a remote, inaccessible and sparsely populated region into a dynamically developing part of the planet.

The development of transport and communication infrastructure, the expansion of the geography and capacity of extractive industries, as well as the intensification of migration flows contributed to the active growth of settlements in the Arctic region. It is quite natural that these processes have had a significant impact on local Aboriginal communities, changing their social structure, economy and lifestyle. As you know, the second half of the XX century was a period of mass transformation of the settlement of the peoples of Yakutia. At this time, there is a reduction in the living space of ethnic minorities of the North leading a traditional way of life, the number of nomadic population has decreased due to their transition to sedentarism. As a result of large-scale social changes caused by the active industrial development of the region, a natural trend has emerged in the form of an increase in the number of "new citizens" from among the small peoples, i.e. those residents of the rural area of Arctic Yakutia who left their previous occupations and moved to larger settlements.

There is a consensus in the modern scientific community that these urbanization processes have had an extremely negative impact on the traditional way of life of the indigenous ethnic groups of the North, their culture, as well as the environment. These reasons that arose during the Soviet period, according to the absolute majority of scientists who left a huge layer of scientific publications on this topic, radically changed the entire sphere of activity of these peoples and continue to influence their current situation. At the same time, the processes of migration of representatives of aboriginal ethnic groups to urban settlements, the impact of the urban environment on migrants, their strategy of adaptation to new conditions and socio-professional deformations remain insufficiently studied. All this leaves open the question of the impact of Arctic migrants themselves on the urban environment of settlements and their contribution to the development of urban centers.

The interest in this problem on the part of the Russian scientific community has manifested itself relatively recently, although the processes of industrial development of the Russian Arctic have long received fairly complete coverage in Russian historiography. Among them, one can single out works on the history of industrial development of Siberia in the 1950s and 1980s, when the processes of industrialization and urbanization were actively taking place, which predetermined the fundamental socio-economic and demographic changes in the region (L.E. Kiselev^[1], S.V. Slavin^{[2, 3]}, A.I. Timoshenko^[4], etc.)

Currently, Russian scientists are conducting research on the preservation and development of traditional cultures of the indigenous peoples of the North. The range of topics studied includes modern demographic and social challenges, traditional nature management, experience of interaction with industrial companies, education and sociolinguistic situation, ethnic identity, etc. (D.A. Funk, N.I. Novikova^[5], T.N. Vasilkova, etc. ^[6]). In the 90s of the twentieth century, the involvement of the local population in industrial types of labor began to be interpreted based on the metatheory of the ethno-cultural division of labor, Yakut sociologists, in particular, I.I. Podoinitsyn, developed models of professional prestige of various types of employment (I.I. Podoinitsyn^[7]). A significant contribution to the generalization of sociological and economic data on the situation of small-numbered peoples during the period of active industrial development was made by scientists of the Institute of Problems of Small-Numbered Peoples of the North SB RAS ^[8-10]. From more modern studies devoted to the settlement and development of the areas of life of aboriginal ethnic groups in Yakutia in the twentieth century, the works of V.V. Filippova ^[11-13] and L.I. Vinokurova ^[14-16] can be noted. In general, there are currently few works devoted to the urbanization processes of the aboriginal ethnic groups of the North, and even fewer of them are devoted to the history of this phenomenon in Yakutia. This study aims to fill this gap for a more complete coverage of the social history of the Arctic region.

The main part: The vigorous industrial development of the polar regions of Yakutia, which began on a full scale in the second half of the twentieth century, required the investment of significant material and human resources, since it took place in conditions of shortage of local population and infrastructure, traditionally characteristic of the north-eastern territories of the country. In a relatively short period of time, with great efforts, the state managed to create a fairly developed mining industry in the region. Education on the remote underdeveloped outskirts of enterprises of various profiles required the construction of many settlements for the incoming workforce and an appropriate support system, which also required a significant number of specialists from all over the country. All this changed the social and ethnic appearance of northern Yakutia in the shortest possible time, determining the vector development for several decades.

The massive influx of migrant workers has significantly reduced the proportion of the indigenous population. Despite the fact that the total number of northern ethnic minorities steadily increased during this period. According to the All-Union Population Census of 1959, 6550 representatives of the small peoples of the North lived in the Arctic regions of Yakutia, which was 2.6% of the total population of the republic. The next population census in 1970 recorded noticeable changes in the demographic indicators of the region. So, in 1970, 9403 people of indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North were recorded in the northern regions, which amounted to 57.5% against 78.2% of all residents in 1959. According to V.V. Filippova, the decrease in the share of the indigenous peoples of the north of Yakutia in the total population was primarily due to intensive industrial development of the Arctic territories and active migration from outside^{[11, p. 47]}.

The intensive development of the region, the escalation of the settlement structure, as well as the rolling waves of immigrants from other regions of the country inevitably spurred the processes of social transformation of local communities, including among small peoples who still preserved the traditional way of life. One of the key factors of these changes was the strengthening of intercultural interaction with the arriving population, which had a significant impact on the local system of worldviews and value paradigms. The new social guidelines, which had the greatest impact on the younger generation of northern ethnic groups, assumed their more active inclusion in the economic process of developing the region, simultaneously motivating them to move to industrial settlements and cities.

As a rule, the purpose of moving to larger settlements was to get education from young people or access to the health care system, state pension provision and cultural resources from representatives of the older generation. According to the results of the work of the sociological laboratory of the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the SB Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Yakutsk), which studied migration trends among Evens and Evenks in the 1960s and 1970s, it was noted that the main centers of their attraction were settlements mainly in central and southern Yakutia (Yakutsk, Aldan, Tommot) that represented access to education and a more prestigious job in the mining industry. At the same time, the northern cities of Verkhoyansk and Srednekolymsk, despite their location near the places of traditional settlement of the small peoples of the North, did not become an object of migration for the indigenous population due to the absence of industrial enterprises, secondary educational institutions and cultural centers in them ^{[17, p. 126]}.

It should be noted here that several rapidly developing urban settlements, such as Mirny (Western Yakutia), Batagai, Deputatsky, Tiksi and Chersky (Northern Yakutia), etc., did not come to the attention of the employees of the above laboratory. Later studies based on questionnaires show that other industrial settlements were also at different times the object of intensive migration. For example, representatives of small peoples began to move to Mirny in the 1950s, and to the village of Tiksi, which was an important transport hub on the Arctic coast, at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s ^{[9, p. 6]}

In total, according to the 1939 population census, there were 7 cities and 10 working settlements in the republic, according to the 1959 census – 8 cities and 39 urban–type settlements, then on January 1, 1965 - already 9 cities and 46 working settlements. In 1946-1965, the population of Yakutia increased 1.6 times. The rural population has grown 1.3 times, the urban population – 2.1 times. If in 1946 the share of citizens was 41.7% of the total population, then on 01.01.1965 it was 54.1%^{[18, p. 351]}.

Assessing the scope of the migration processes that took place among the small peoples of Northern Yakutia in the 1960s, it can be assumed that at that time they were not yet of a full-scale nature and only gradually attracted the indigenous population of the region. According to the results of the All-Union population census of 1970, 577 Evenks out of 9070 who lived in Yakutia (i.e. 6.3%) and 451 Evens out of 6471 (7.1%) changed their place of residence within the Yakut ASSR. But considering that migration trends were mainly affected by representatives of the most qualified stratum of the indigenous population, as well as the younger generation, it should be noted that ethnosocial transformations in the local aboriginal society reached a new level and probably took on an irreversible character already at that time.

Table 1. The population who changed their place of residence within the Yakut ASSR according to the 1970 census ^{[17, p. 123]}

As can be seen from Table 1, the representatives of small peoples who changed their place of residence had the highest proportion of movement from rural areas to the city: the Evenks – 40.7% and the Evens – 37.5%, which was much higher than the average for the republic – 26.4%. Also, the researchers drew attention to the fact that these ethnic groups had a high rate of natural movement from village to village, i.e. from small villages to larger ones. The most active social group, prone to change of residence, predictably was the youth. With the transition to older age categories, there was a noticeable decrease in the proportion of those who migrated, which was explained both by an objective decrease in activity with increasing age, and by sharper differences in value orientations among different generations ^{[17, p. 124]}.

At the same time, one more important factor should be taken into account, which probably could have a significant impact on the statistical results of migration processes. In this case, we mean the policy of the authorities to consolidate rural settlements (settlements) by eliminating small settlements and consolidating the population in administrative centers, which was actively implemented in the 1930s and 1970s. According to statistics, in 1939 there were 10683 rural settlements in the JASSR, by 1959 their number had decreased to 4438, by 1970 to 1557 and in 1979 there were only 796 villages ^{[19, p. 44]}. Undoubtedly, this dynamics of settlement reduction had a significant impact on migration trends in the republic in the twentieth century. The deformation of the traditional settlement structure was undoubtedly an important factor in strengthening urbanization processes among the entire rural population of Yakutia, including small ethnic groups. In this vein, urbanization manifested itself not only in the movement of human resources from village to city or from village to even larger village, but also in the development of rural settlements themselves, in which, as the number of inhabitants increased, individual elements of the urban environment inevitably appeared, as their infrastructure, cultural and social facilities expanded.

The reduction in the number of rural settlements with the simultaneous growth of urban-type settlements gradually formed, as noted above, a new social paradigm, to which representatives of northern ethnic groups were forced to adapt, adapting their life strategies to changing conditions. Even then, experts noted that "the proximity of the city, industrial and cultural center certainly plays an important role in assessing the situation preceding the decision on migration. The immediate proximity of the city, the working settlement to the place of traditional settlement causes higher rates of urbanization, taking into account the usual geographical environment and the structure of communication with relatives remaining in the village" ^{[17, pp. 126-127]}.

The formation of a network of urban settlements with their infrastructural environment had an impact not only on strengthening the motivation to change the place of residence of the local indigenous population, but also directly influenced the transformation of the internal social structure of even those communities who continued to remain in the territories of traditional life. A comparative analysis of the population censuses of 1959 and 1970, which allows us to identify the main trends among the small peoples of the North in the 1960s. They demonstrate a significant shift in professional orientation. So, for example, according to the 1959 census, out of all 4219 working Evenks of Yakutia, 18.0% belonged to the category of "workers", 9.2% to "employees", 71.6% to "collective farmers", i.e. employed in traditional types of economy, and 1.22% to others. While according to the 1970 census, the share of Evenks engaged in traditional crafts (reindeer herding, hunting and fishing) decreased to 19.0% of the total working population, i.e. in just one decade, the drop was from 71.6% in 1959 to 19.0% in 1970 ^{[20, p. 86]}.

Correlating these data with the still rather low migration mobility of the Evens and Evenks recorded by the 1970 population census, researchers at the sociological laboratory of the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the SB Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Yakutsk) identified the following factors that influenced the change of professional preferences of the Evens and Evenks of Yakutia in the 1960s. "Firstly, the association of small collective farms and large state farms entailed; a) the formation of enlarged settlements with a wide network of service enterprises (hospitals, schools, trade and catering establishments, municipal and construction organizations, communications, transport, etc.); b) the emergence of a wide network of various organizations in the regions of settlement of these peoples expanded the choice of work and professions, corresponding to the educational level and inclinations of the individual. Secondly, migration and urbanization, which took place during this period, could not but influence the socio-professional movements of these peoples" ^{[20, pp. 86-87]}.

These conclusions, made by Yakut sociologists back in the 1970s, confirm the general thesis that urbanization manifested itself not only in migration from village to city or from village to an even larger village, but also in the infrastructural development of rural settlements themselves, in which, as they grew, new elements characteristic of urban landscape. Despite the fact that the researchers of those years were based on the methodological and theoretical basis adopted within the framework of the Soviet research paradigm, they already noted the influence of the urban environment on neighboring rural spaces, thereby changing their ethno-social appearance.

Conclusion: Thus, the 1960s became the initial stage of the large-scale inclusion of aboriginal ethnic groups in the urbanization processes provoked by the industrial development of the Yakut ASSR. During this period, various elements of urban life began to penetrate widely into the areas of traditional residence of small-numbered peoples, including infrastructural and social innovations that had a decisive impact on the choice of life strategies of many representatives of the indigenous population. These trends were the result of the state policy on the consolidation of collective farms, which caused a change in the general settlement structure in the republic and the active industrial development of the region, which caused a powerful influx of immigrants from other regions accompanied by an increase in the number of urban settlements. It should be noted that by that time migration activity among the local indigenous population had not yet reached its historical maximum. In the following decades, the number of migrants from villages to larger settlements increased several times, which eventually led to the final deformation of the traditional way of life of the North. During the period under review, the processes of urbanization among the indigenous peoples of Yakutia manifested themselves more in changing the surrounding reality and everyday practices, rather than in changing their place of residence.