Are Indigenous People hostile towards development?
Recently, in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Murmansk Governor Yuri Yevdokimov reportedly said ‘indigenous peoples in the Russian North are development hostile, and that they have hampered investment projects in the region.’ [1] A statement like this should come as no surprise, but it’s clearly an effort to mischaracterize the indigenous people of Russia. I mean, they’re not exactly gun-toting, hard line thugs here. More to the point though, around the world there seems to be alot of moves and statements to criminalize and exacerbate the lives of Indigenous People For example, in Canada near the end of March Jim Prentice took a few of his own steps [2] to criminalize Indigenous People’s choice to set up blockades, if only in a social sense. Then there was of course, the recent arrest and release of Shawn Brant [3], the Mohawk activist involved in Feb 28 blockade in Desoronto, Ontario… and the subsequent lawsuit by CN Rail for loss of money (said to be around $100 mil
