The village site of Deering, located on Kotzebue Sound in Northwest Alaska, was thought to be only recently inhabited. However, Danish archaeologist Helge Larsen unearthed an Ipiutak ceremonial center in 1950 and a burial site was discovered during local construction in 1977. Thule tunnels have also been located and abundant baleen has been found, far from whaling regions.

In 1997, the Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation (UIC), the Barrow village corporation, was awarded the archaeological contract from the City of Deering to coincide with the current water project construction in the village. This contract demonstrates the working relationship of one Native village helping another Native village. In turn, UIC, under the direction of the City and the IRA, submitted a proposal to the NPS Beringia program for an educational archaeology school in connection with the construction archaeology.

Twelve local students worked on the archaeology and other residents were hired to work on the water line construction. Students worked both at the constructions site and in the processing laboratory. Job Training Partnership program students were also included in the training. Melgor, a student of Helge Larsen, was brought back to Deering this summer to study the site and the Danish Museum will soon publish Larsen’s papers for the first time.

The excavation unearthed a rich record from the Ipiutak, Thule and Gold Rush eras. The artifacts will be catalogued, cleaned, dated and analyzed. Most legal land owners agree that the disposition of the artifacts will be determined by the IRA council. Traveling educational display cases with models of some of the artifacts will be constructed and will be on display in the region.

É Anne Jensen can be reached at UIC (907) 852-3050 or Ajensen@barrow.com

This three-year joint project on polar bear habitat use in Chukotka is being conducted by the Alaska Nanuuq Commission, the National Park Service and the Russian Union of Marine Mammal Hunters, with the technical assistance of the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

The Alaska Nanuuq Commission was founded in 1994 to ensure polar bear conservation and subsistence opportunity for Native residents of coastal villages. The commission also ensures Alaska Native involvement in the management of polar bear populations and has representatives at international meetings. Native members now constitute fifty percent of these delegations.

A treaty between Russia and the United States on polar bear management has been signed and is awaiting ratification by the US Senate. The US-Russian agreement was modeled on the US-Canadian agreement, which has been very successful in the southern Beaufort Sea region. Because of this Beaufort agreement, there has been a reduced harvest of polar bears from this population. The Beaufort agreement has also been a model for the shared population between Canada and Greenland. The US-Russia treaty is based on sound conservation principles. Part of this conservation work is to assess the habitat of polar bears on both sides of the Bering Straits.

The Nanuuq Commission will work with the Union of Marine Mammal Hunters to conduct traditional knowledge surveys of polar bear habitat in Chukotka. Hunters will be asked to assess the health of the polar bear population and asked for ideas on better management practices of the species. A protocol will be developed and the methodology will be tested on one or two villages before including other villages between Anadyr and Pivek in the study. The Russian habitat survey will be modeled on work done by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska. The results of this work can be found in the August 1997 publication Collection of Local Knowledge Regarding Polar Bear Habitat Use in Alaska.

In the US study, 61 hunters from 12 villages participated in the survey at the request of their village IRAs. Polar bear feeding, travel and denning information was noted on area maps and entered into geographic information and database systems. Once the data was compiled, the Fish & Wildlife Service met back in the villages again to confirm the data and to report back to the communities.

Native people have specialized knowledge of polar bears and that is useful for management purposes. This is the first time that the FWS has put traditional ecological knowledge into a management document. Polar bears are difficult to study because of their large range and habitat use is not well documented.

É Charlie Johnson can be reached at the Alaska Nanuuq Commission (907) 443-5044 or at Cjohnson@nook.net

É Susanne Kalxdorff can be reached at US Fish & Wildlife Service (907) 786-3828 or Susanne_Kalsdorff@fws.gov

 "A Science Camp for Northwest Alaska" Bob Gal, National Park Service, Kotzebue, Alaska

The Western Arctic Parklands consists of four park areas (Bering Land Bridge, Cape Krusenstern, Kobuk Valley, and Noatak) and 12 million acres of protected land with different mandates in the Kotzebue and Nome region. The park is considering setting up an interdisciplinary science camp in the near future and thoughts and suggestions were elicited from the conference participants. The park would provide logistic support to the scientists. The camp would be temporary and would rotate to different locations each summer. A questionnaire was distributed to gather suggestions and find the interest level of such an idea.

An extensive archaeological field season was undertaken in the parks this summer. Several early man sites were studied. One site of 9,500BP contained spearpoints that were a variation from the Mesa site. Numerous microblade cores were found. Another site dated to 8,300BP with 1,000 microblades located. At another site, a fluted projectile Clovis like point was found which would date to 10,500 in the Lower 48 states. All sites had different cultural expressions.

É Bob Gal can be reached at the Anchorage National Park Service office (907) 257-2440 or at Bob_Gal@nps.gov

 "Ancient Maritime Cultures in the Northern Sea of Okhotsk" Aleksandr Lebedintsev, Northeastern Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Institute, Magadan, Russia

The Tokarev culture is the most ancient culture in the North Okhotsk Sea area. The period of its flourishing was from the second part of first millennium B.C. to the first millennium A.D. During the late period of this culture the bone artifacts including toggle and barbed harpoons were widely used. According to a number of features Tokarev points are similar to the points of Dorset culture and Okhotsk culture of Kuril Islands. The barbed harpoons have analogs in Kachemak I and Chiluk cultures. The appearance of the harpoon culture can be associated with the influence of Paleo-Eskimo culture of Alaska. The similar features can be found in the cultures of Aleutian Islands and Arctic regions of Canada. That can be explained by the deep ties of ancient culture of the northern part of the Pacific basin and maritime Arctic region.

Many tools of the Tokarev culture including harpoons, points, borers, combs, and other household items were decorated with a variety of ornaments mostly applied by carving. The Eskimo of Old Bering Sea culture were familiar with similar motifs. According to the ethnographic data, features similar to Tokarev ornaments can be found in the decorative art of Eskimo and Aleuts. It is quite possible that people of the Tokarev culture could have borrowed some motifs of Eskimo ornaments together with the harpoon technology. Stone carving apparently appeared among Tokarev people also under the influence of the Eskimo. At the same time the stone inventory and ceramics have more southern Asian analogs.

The upper boundary of the Tokarev culture is determined by the appearance of Old Koryak culture in the first half of the first millennium A.D. The lower boundary is not determined very well yet. Most dated artifacts are from the seventh millennium B.C. to the second millennium A.D.

The Old Koryak culture was formed in the beginning of the first millennium A.D. Some sites of Old Koryak culture existed on the shores of Penzhinskiy Bay since the middle of the first millennium A.D. Most settlements of Koryak culture are from its Otorgan period and can be dated to the end of the first millennium A.D. A great similarity between the Koryak and Aleut cultures can be noted. The ties between the Old Koryak culture and the ancient inhabitants of Bering Sea area did exist but they date to the later period.

The strong influence of the west sector of the American Arctic, including the Thule Culture, can be noted in Northeast Asia including the coast of Okhotsk Sea. The Eskimo and Aleut influence on the cultures of Okhotsk Sea coast went indirectly through the cultural contacts, and possibly through the cultures of North Kamchatka. The Eskimo northern cultures influenced the cultures of North Kamchatka through northwest Bering Sea region. The Lakhtin culture was shaped by the Old Eskimo cultures, such as Old Bering Sea Culture, Punuk, Brinirk, Ipituak. The formation of the maritime cultures of the North Okhotsk Sea region was a very long and complicated process. The southern, northern, and western cultures participated in their formation at different time periods. The hypothesis of the migration of Eskimo and Eskimo-Aleuts to the Okhotsk Sea coast region is not supported by the archeological data. By origin the cultures of the North Okhotsk Sea region are related to Pacific cultural unity. Possibly in the past there even existed the circom-Okhotsk cultural unity. It had very strong ties with the neighboring cultures of Asian shores and the islands of the northwest part of the Pacific Ocean and North America.

É Aleksandr Lebedintsev can be reached at the Northeastern Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Institute, Magadan, Russia (413-22)2-31-08 or at archaeol@neisri.magadan.su

 "The American-Russian Center in Beringia" Russell Howell, American-Russian Center, University of Alaska-Anchorage, Anchorage, Alaska

The University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA) has been involved in Russian affairs for many years. Currently, there are more Russian students attending UAA than are attending any other American university.

The university’s American Russian Center has four business centers in Russia in the cities of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Magadan, Khabarovsk and Yakutsk. Each center has a Russian academic partner. Courses and business training are offered at each of the centers as well as in Anchorage. More than 1,000 small and mid-sized new businesses have been established, creating over 4,000 jobs. In the past five years, 18,000 people have participated in business training as well as in cultural, political and educational exchanges.

É Russ Howell can be reached at the University of Alaska-Anchorage American-Russian Center (907) 786-4338 or at ANRBH@uaa.alaska.edu

 "Nature-Ethnic Park Beringia in Chukotka: Its History and Current Status" Nikolai Zhelesnov, Nature-Ethnic Park Beringia, Anadyr, Russia

The regional Nature-Ethnic Park Beringia (NEPB) was created on January 25, 1993 by an order of the governor of Chukotka. This order followed after the presidents of the United States and the Soviet Union--and later the presidents of the United States and Russia-- signed an agreement endorsing the establishment of a Beringia international park. This year NEPB celebrated its 5th anniversary. At present the administrative structure of the park is completely formed. There are two branch departments (one in Provideniya and another in Lavrentiya), a ranger network has been established, and the main normative regional regulations have been prepared. An extensive monitoring program that helps to collect information all along the Chukotka coast has been developed. As a part of this program the rangers collect a lot of useful information, as, for example, data on polar bear or snow sheep. Currently, due to the economic situation in Russia, the park experiences some problems such as lack of financing and shortage of personnel.

A new detailed feasibility study was developed in cooperation with the Pacific Institute of Geography. Within this feasibility study the natural and economic conditions of all Chukotka Peninsula were analyzed and the zones of ecological stability and the areas most sensitive to the damage from the human economic activity were determined. Based on all this work five nature complexes that require the most preservation were selected: Koluchinskaya Bay, Chegitun’, Mechigmen Bay, Senyavin Archipelago, and Iul’tin Region.

It is also planned to include 5 miles of marine waters along the shore line in the park. It is well known that the ecosystem of sea and terrestrial areas is the most complex. This will be done to preserve the sea-continent ecosystem and its ecological biodiversity. It is very important to protect, control and rationally use the population of marine mammals and other marine resources that is the source of life for Native population.

During the last several years a variety of scientific research has been conducted in the park. Different

expeditions from Moscow, Magadan, Alaska (Fairbanks and Anchorage), Washington, and Japan have visited park’s territory. In 1998 park personnel participated in a large international archeological expedition organized by the Museum of the Northeast with the participation of scientists from Sweden and Switzerland. Three years ago a survey of all carnivores along the park coast line was conducted. In 1997, park employees participated together with the Okhotsk Fish Inspection in the survey of walrus haulouts and marine bird rookeries along the coast line from Anadyr’ to Neshkan. Representatives from the U.S. National Park Service observed part of this effort.

At the present time the work on the feasibility study for NEPB is almost completed. By the end of 1998 it should be presented to the Chukotka Regional government and appropriate federal agencies.

É Nikolay Zheleznov can be reached at the Nature Ethnic Park Beringia office, Anadyr’, Russia 2-44-80 or at nzhelez@nmc.rospac.ru

 "Joint U.S.-Russian Research on Volcanic Eruptions and Hazards in Alaska and Kamchatka" Tom Miller, United States Geological Survey-Alaska Volcano Observatory, Anchorage, Alaska

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) of the US Geological Survey (USGS) has had a close working relationship with Russian scientists in Kamchatka doing research and monitoring since 1990. The scientists have an active correspondence via weekly telephone and daily email communication. The AVO is in partnership with the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and Academy of Science Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

There are approximately 100 active volcanoes in the North Pacific excluding Japan. Forty are in Alaska with two eruptions a year and 29 are located in Kamchatka with 2-3 eruptions per year.

The North Pacific is a major air route between North America and Asia with additional flights to and from Europe. Over 200 flights per day use this route carrying 20,000 passengers. The Boeing Corporation estimates a 300% increase in air traffic on this route. There have been 80 encounters of aircraft with volcanic ash clouds in the past 15 years.

Some funding for research and monitoring comes from the airline industry. Pressure is also placed on the Russian government to jointly fund the program, which it does.

A Kamchatka Volcano Emergency Response Team (KVERT) has been formed to notify appropriate authorities concerning volcanic threats. Communication is by fax and email and is used a minimum of once a week with a call down list of contacts. Local warning systems are maintained separately for each country.

A conference was held this past July 1-9 in Kamchatka with 50 Russian scientists and 39 scientists from North America and Japan attending. A report of the 50 presentations should be out shortly. The next conference will be in Fairbanks in the summer of 1999.

In order to have a successful international program, it is necessary to focus on the program on a daily basis and to follow-up with commitments. It is then possible to move into a close working relationship with your Russian colleagues and achieve the goals of your program.

É Tom Miller can be reached at the Alaska Volcano Observatory (907) 786-7454 or at Tmiller@tundra.wr.usgs.gov

 "Eskimo Heritage Project" Eileen Norbert, Kawerak, Inc., Nome, Alaska

The Eskimo Heritage Program was begun in 1981. The collection, consisting of 1,000 audio tapes, photos and video, was initiated to enable elders to pass on the culture, knowledge, history and traditions of the Inupiat, Central Yupik, and Siberian Yupik people to their youth. The elders saw cultural changes taking place and they wanted to document their knowledge. So the main purpose of the collection is the education of the youth.

There are two sets of audio tapes: field tapes and conference tapes. The field tapes are interviews of elders in the selected villages of Gambell, Savoonga, Stebbins, Unalakleet, and Shishmaref. Information from other villages still needs to be collected. The conference tapes were made at the Elders Conferences which are held every two years. Many of the first interviews were of elders who have since passed away. They were people who were born in the late 19th and beginning of the 2oth Century. They were the bridge during the contact period. The tapes contain legends and personal memories of the people being interviewed.

This past year, 97 of the field tapes were transcribed and then translated into English. Six hundred fifty tapes have now been completed with 350 remaining. Of the 350 tapes, 50 are field interviews with the additional 300 being Elders Conference tapes.

The collection has not yet been available for educational and scientific purposes since all of the tapes have not been transcribed and translated. They also have not adequately been indexed so that topics of interest can be readily searched. We are now working with the Bering Strait School District to digitize all of the materials. This will allow for easier searches of the collection and more secure storage of the data. We plan on finishing the transcription and translation so school curricula can be developed.

There were problems with our database development, which would contain basic inventory and tacking of the tapes. These should soon be resolved. Kawerak in the past developed readers for early and middle elementary school students from some of the EHP material. The 4th-6th grade material is out of print, but Kawerak will print a new edition. Part of the collection is also suitable for language education.

Eventually, Kawerak would like to build a cultural center, that would house the photo and video collections, and a computerized jukebox version of the audio tapes.

É Eileen Norbert can be reached at Kawerak, Inc. (907) 443-5231 or at Enorbert@kawerak.org

 "Plant Assemblages and Floristic Mysteries at the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, Kobuk Valley National Park" Carolyn Parker, University of Alaska-Fairbanks Museum Herbarium, Fairbanks, Alaska

The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes is an island of sand sitting in the boreal forest north of the Arctic Circle in western Alaska. The present dune area is a remnant of an earlier large dune. The dunes are at least 40,000 years old and 90% of the Pleistocene sand sheet is forested today.

The dunes are a damp habitat and act as a temporary sponge, with water pouring out of the dune margins. There is no permafrost in the area.

Plants are of large size compared to the same species in other areas. Clusters of seedlings were found in abundance so there is good airborne viable seed. There is evidence of many animals using the dunes.

There are several types of oases: grassy, dry mountainous and boreal forest. On the grass covered steppe sand sheets there are numerous Beringia endemics. There is also a heritage of plants from Russia and the Yukon Territory.

The Dunes are interesting for Beringia natural history. There is still little known regarding insects, lichens and fungi in the dunes.

É Carolyn Parker can be reached at the University of Alaska Museum Herbarium (907) 474-7109 or at FNCLP@aurora.alaska.edu

 Management Aspects of Lake Hanka International (Russian-Chinese) Zapovednik" Yuriy Sushitskiy, Lake Hanka Nature Reserve, Spassk-Dalniy, Russia

Lake Hanka is the largest fresh water reservoir in the Russian Far East, and is located on the border between Russia and China. Its total area is more than 4,000 square kilometers. Despite its big size, the lake is very shallow, and its average depth is no more than 4-5 meters. The water-marsh landscape of Lake Hanka forms a unique nature complex where migrating birds stop for rest during their long journey to the Beringia area.

The idea for the establishment of a protected nature unit at the lake came during the 1920’s. Finally, the State zapovednik [nature reserve] Hankaiskiy was established in 1990. The original plan was to include 150 ,000 hectares in the zapovednik. When it was actually established the total protected area was 110,000 hectares comprised of 38 thousand hectares in the main body of the unit and 72,000 hectares as different protective buffer zones. Today the reserve includes five separate areas located in different administrative regions. The lands around the lake are extensively used for rice growing and that precluded the planners from including all the area originally planned to be in the reserve.

According to regulations, there is no visitation or economic activity allowed in the core body of the zapovednik. Some activities, for example cattle herding, that do not present any potential danger to the reserve are allowed in the buffer zones.

According to the Ramsar convention of 1971, the basin of Lake Hanka is considered include water-marsh lands of world significance. More than 334 bird species are registered on the territory of the reserve, 49 of them are included in the Russian Red Book of endangered species, and 12 are included in the World Red Book. Lake Hanka ichthyofauna is one of the richest in the world. Forty three mammal species are registered in the reserve.

Three main goals of the Hankaiskiy reserve are to preserve the nature complex, to conduct ecological research, and to provide interpretive services and information to the general public. Though the reserve is considered one of the ten best in preserving nature at the present, it encounters certain problems with its financing being cut down almost in half.

In 1992, relations started to develop between the Hankaiskiy reserve and the Chinese nature protective unit Sinkaihu located at Lake Hanka. At first the cooperative acivity was quite extensive, but due to the economic crises in Russia and new harsh visa regime at the Russian-Chinese border it slowed down. Though in April 1996 it received a new boost when the Russian and Chinese governments signed an international cooperation agreement. According to this agreement there should be established an international reserve Lake Hanka based on the existing Russian zapovednik Hankaiskiy and Chinese reserve Sinkaihu. The agreement fostered a revival of cooperative activities, and exchanges of delegations and scientific opinions. At present the most important task on the way to further the creation of the international reserve is to develop a unified protective regime for the units located in the two countries. The establishment of the international protective unit can be very beneficial as the practice shows that nature can be protected much better when two countries put their efforts together.

 "The Activities of the Provideniya Museum in Light of the Current Conditions in Russia Today" Vladimir Bychkov, Provideniya Museum of Regional Studies, Provideniya, Russia

The Provideniya Museum of Regional Studies was established in 1985 as a public museum and in 1989 it became a state museum. Museum collections started with 200 items of Eskimo and Chukchi material culture and some paintings and graphics. The four main avenues of museum work are: 1) collection of objects related to history, nature, and culture of Chukotka Peninsula, 2) preservation and storage of the collections, 3) scientific study of the collections, and 4) education of the general public.

At the present there are more than 14,000 items in the museum collections. The total museum personnel is 7 people. The main block of the items are objects of archeology and ethnography that represent cultures of marine mammal hunters and reindeer herders of Chukotka. The collections also contain some photographs, slides, documents, and paintings on the history of Chukotka area. These items were received as gifts from private parties and organizations, collected during scientific and field trips, purchased from the population, or received from different archives in Russia. This year the museum received more than 950 new items. The most complicated task for the museum is to prepare required storage conditions.

In 1992, the museum started to participate in the joint project between North Slope Borough (NSB) and the Naukan cooperative on the study of bowhead whale migration. Beginning in 1997, the museum has worked together with the NSB on the project agreement "Preservation and Development of the Subsistence Lifestyle and the Traditional Use of Natural Resources by Native People", which is partially funded by the National Park Service. According to the project agreement, the Provideniya Museum of Regional Studies has two tasks to accomplish. The first one is to enlarge the exposition of the objects of material and spiritual cultures of Chukotka people. The second one is to create a catalog of the museum collections. The financial support that museum receives through the joint project agreement with NSB allows it to exist, to have telephone and fax communications, to do simple building repairs, and to purchase new and unique items for its collections.

Since 1996 the situation became increasingly difficult as the museum does not receive any financial help for the projects form the local administration, just enough money to pay salaries and even this is delayed often. The museum gets all money necessary for research through the joint agreements with the NSB and from providing services to tourist groups and cruises. During the last summer, from June to September, about 1,000 organized tourists visited the area, and 200 to 300 came without groups. The town of Provideniya has a great potential to develop a tourist industry. It is conveniently geographically located, has both an airport and a sea port, as well as abundant and unique nature.

Despite of all the difficulties the museum was able to prepare three new expositions, and organize short exploration expeditions. During the last summer season, museum personnel successfully worked with the Moscow archeological expedition and established good contacts with the American Museum of Natural History.

É Vladimir Bychkov can be reached at the Museum of Regional Studies in Provideniya, Russia at 2-26-20

 "The Work of the Yupik Eskimo Society of Chukotka Regarding the Preservation of a Traditional Lifestyle" Lyudmila Ainana, Yupik Eskimo Society of Chukotka, Provideniya, Russia

The Yupik Eskimo Society of Chukotka was founded in August of 1990 in the town of Provideniya. The representatives of all 9 villages where the Chukotka Eskimo reside attended the founding conference. The purpose of this organization is to unite the smallest Eskimo ethnic group in Chukotka, to provide for ethnic rebirth, and to preserve and rebuild traditional culture and the traditional way of life. At first, the Society existed only with the support of membership dues as a true public non-governmental organization. Then in 1994, the North Slope Borough (NSB) proposed that the Society participate in a project on the study of the migration of bowhead whales. Work on this project continued from 1994 to 1997, and the money the Society received through this project allowed it to exist.

In 1997, the Society together with the NSB started to work on a new project—the "Preservation and Development of the Subsistence Lifestyle and the Traditional Use of Natural Resources by Native People". This project was supported and financed by the National Park Service. It is interesting to note that the main goals of the project and the Society of Yupik Eskimo coincide, because the project allows Eskimo people to preserve and conserve their way of life. Most importantly, it allows Native people to live through the difficult time that Russia now experiences, and to mitigate the aftermath of the horrible economic blow that the people of Chukotka have experienced.

The project allows Eskimo Native hunters to be actively engaged in the traditional subsistence hunting. The hunters collect information about the traditional ways of hunting and record animal concentrations on maps and charts. They became willing participants of a scientific study and do their work with great interest. The information they collect is interesting not only to the biologist or sociologist, but also to everybody who is indifferent to the destiny of the northern peoples.

Some Native hunters do not receive their pay check for 3-4 months and participation in the project allows them to get some financial support, to receive technical assistance in the form of motors, nets, clothes and to get educated in how to conduct small business. Now hunters can sell surplus fish or caviar or barter it for sugar, tobacco, or other items necessary for their families. Now when they have their own boats, nets, hunting weapons, the marine mammal hunters can re-establish their traditional barter system with the reindeer herders. In the past the traditional barter relations between the herders and hunters coexisted and could not survived one without the other. During Soviet times reindeer herding was considered to be the primary occupation of Native people of Chukotka, so the herders received financial and goods support from the government.

The information obtained in the course of work on this project provides a lot of contemporary and traditional knowledge about Beringia and allows Native people to continue their traditional life style.

É Lyudmila Ainana can be reached at the Yupik Eskimo Society of Chukotka, Provideniya, Russia at 2-36-47

 "The Role of Technical Support in the Preservation and Development of Traditional Subsistence Use" Mikhail Zelenskiy, Naukan Cooperative, Lavrentiya, Russia

The people of Chukotka now face the issue of how they can survive, preserve themselves and their culture, and adapt to new economic conditions when they do not get any help from the government. They understand that the only way to survive is to return to the old traditional ways and means used by their ancestors. This idea is a good one but in order to fulfill it one needs to have special conditions to establish a technical base. Persons can not do this by themselves, especially when they do not receive a salary for many months and can not purchase the equipment necessary for traditional subsistence. That is why the Native people decided to establish new public and commercial cooperative organizations.

The National Cooperative "Naukan", organized in 1987, was one of them. It united hunters from the former villages of Naukan, Yandogai, Nuniamo, and Akani. The cooperative’s main activity is the subsistence use of land and sea resources. Unfortunately, the cooperative encountered many problems. That is why, in 1991, the cooperative members welcomed the suggestion of the North Slope Borough (NSB) to participate in the study on the migration of bowhead whales in the waters of the Chukchi and Bering Seas. In 1997, the Naukan cooperative and the NSB started a new project—the "Preservation and Development of the Subsistence Lifestyle and the Traditional Use of Natural Resources by Native People"--funded by the National Park Service. These projects help the cooperative to survive and provide help to the inhabitants of the Chukotkskiy and Providenskiy regions.

Through these projects, Native people got a real opportunity to participate in traditional subsistence and received some technical support: new outboard motors, CB radios, darting guns to hunt whales, nets, rifles, and other equipment. Now when the Native hunters have first class technical equipment from Alaska they are able to exploit the resources of sea and tundra at the maximum and provide for themselves.

The Native people were successful in re-establishing marine mammal hunting, collection of wild plants, and many other aspects of traditional land use. When the hunters have motors that work without breaking they can collect information for the project, stock up on marine mammal meat and fish for the winter, safely make long trips along the coast line delivering cargo and gas to the other villages. This year, the Naukan cooperative was even able to organize the search for the boat from Little Diomede that was lost at sea. The CB radios is now the only way of communicating between the hunters, since for the last half a year the telephone lines in Lavrentiya are not working. This year the Native hunters met the quota in whale hunting thanks to the darting guns that came from Alaska.

Everything the Natives in Chukotka receive from Alaska allows them to have hope and know that people on the other side of the Bering strait will help them in the times of need. And if the situation in Russia changes the tiny sprouts of small business attempts in Chukotka will flourish into beautiful strong plants.

É Mikhail Zelenskiy can be reached at 2-26-69, Naukan Cooperative, Lavrentiya, Russia

Mikhail Zhelenskiy, Igor’ Zagrebin, Nikolay Zheleznov at "Beringia Days", photo by Peter A. Richer

 "The Perspectives of Beringia Research in Chukotka" Georgiy Elyakov, Chairman of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia

The Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FEBRAS) is one of the academy’s three regional branches: Ural Branch, Siberian Branch and Far Eastern Branch. The Far Eastern Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences was established in 1932, which marked the beginning of academic science in the Pacific coast area. In 1970 the Presidium of USSR Academy of Sciences decided to organize Far Eastern Scientific Branch. The Center had the following goals:

• to develop fundamental research in the field of natural and social sciences;
• to elaborate on scientific problems connected with the economic advance of the Far East, as well as the development of its productive forces;
• to train scientists and researchers locally;
• to coordinate research on the natural and social sciences carried out by scientific institutions of the USSR Academy of Sciences, of various ministries and departments, and by institutes of higher learning.

In 1986 the Presidium decided to reorganize the Far Eastern Scientific Center into a Far Eastern Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. At present it comprises 32 research institutes. Its main headquarters, the Presidium and some institutes are located in Vladivostok, other institutes are in Khabarovsk, Blagoveshchinsk, Magadan, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, and a special Chukotkan regional center in Anadyr’. The study of nature, geology, and geophysics represents the largest part (36%) of the FEBRAS current scientific research; biology and biotechnology is in the second place.

Most of the areas in the Russian Far East--Yakutiya, Chukotka, Magadan Region, and Kamchatka--have a lot of common features: small population, very harsh natural conditions, poor transportation system, and very undeveloped or underdeveloped industry. The main problem for all these areas is lack of good transportation--there are practically no railroads or roads. Everything is delivered via air or sea, by airplane or by boat. That creates lots of difficulties in delivering fuel and other products, especially at the present economical situation in Russia.

An increase or decrease in population provides a very precise indication of social and economical situation. In Chukotka, the population began dropping in 1983, and now the population decrease in Chukotka is almost 50 %. The situation is the same in the neighboring Magadan Region and somewhat better in Yakutiya. The lack of active population and young population in particular creates a very difficult situation for the future development of the area.

Northern nature is very sensitive to anthropogenic influences. It would take centuries to restore some of it elements if they are damaged. At the present when FEBRAS is actively involved in the preparation of the feasibility study for the Nature-Ethnic Park Beringia in

Chukotka it is very important to determine the areas more sensitive to damage from anthropogenic factors.

The existing data shows that the toxic waste from local sources--if compared with the rest of Russian Federation--is almost zero. At the same time, the increase in reindeer herding and extensive use of pastures over the last ten years has caused degradation of the ecosystem.

At present the infrastructure and service sector in the park area is very underdeveloped. In order to successfully develop tourist business it will be necessary to develop the infrastructure. Provideniya and Lavrentiya have a good potential for the development of tourism as they can serve as central bases for the main tourist routes most of which go along the coast of Chukotka.

The area included in the Nature-Ethnic Park Beringia is very rich in its biological resources, and should be protected for future generations. Scientists that study this area should be actively involved in decision making because science can pave the way for the future political decisions on the international park.

• Georgiy Elyakov can be reached at the Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia at (4232)22-25-28 or at elyakov@piboc.marine.su

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by Peter A. Richter and

Katerina Solovjova Wessels

Golovin Field School 1998, photo courtesy of Golovin Native Corporation

North West Alaskan landscape, photo by Bob Barbee

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