Aboriginal entrepreneurship in the Northern Ob region

Abstract

he article deals with the history of the development of entrepreneurship in the Northern Ob region among the Nenets, Khanty and Mansi. The author calls it «aboriginal” meaning that it as an economic activity that makes profit from the works directly related to the traditional sectors of the economy of the indigenous North peoples or from sale of products of economy. The article is based on the author’s field materials obtained during many years of field research (2000, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2017 years) in different areas of Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It was found that two types of aboriginal entrepreneurship are developed in the Northern Ob region: institutional and informal. The first is represented by communities (either tribal or national) of indigenous people and farms. Their organization is socially oriented: communities are primarily a place of work for fishermen and reindeer herders. Community entrepreneurship is supported by the authorities of the district and the Okrug through a system of grants. The income of most community members is low, forcing them to seek additional income opportunities. The structure of communities of indigenous people is based on family ties. Informal aboriginal entrepreneurship spontaneously emerged in the crisis of the 1990-s and still does not give up its position. It provides the main income to families of private reindeer herders and fishermen. As a result of this aboriginal business quite stable client networks are formed that contribute to the social integration of local communities. Such entrepreneurship brings higher incomes, compared with the legalized formal ones, despite the lack of support from the “top” of the authorities. This largely contributes to its stability in the harsh northern conditions, where the market is small. The risk of being deceived is not an obstacle to the development of such business. The boundaries between institutional and informal economies in the North are penetrable and fluid. A private reindeer herder can be a member of the family community, and after delivering the minimum rate of products traditional industries can act as an independent businessman, selling products through his customers or visiting merchants. The same can be true for members of fishing communities. The interweaving of institutional and informal entrepreneurship forms a complex network of social and economic interaction in local communities.