Aboriginal land rights in Russia at the beginning of the twenty-first century

Abstract

During the last decade, aboriginal peoples in Russia have sought to improve their legal rights, including their rights to their homelands and the resources of these lands. The Russian government initially responded to an aboriginal lobby by including discrete articles addressing aboriginal rights in a number of its laws, including those on forests, sub-surface resources, and protected areas. More comprehensive laws, specifically addressing aboriginal rights to land, were finally adopted at the turn of the twenty-first century, in 1999, 2000, and 2001. This article summarizes the rights of aboriginal peoples regarding land ownership/tenure, access to natural resources (renewable and sub-surface), and protection of ancestral lands, in the light of the new federal legislation. It also notes how the federal laws' provisions concur with international requirements for aboriginal land rights.