The authorities to help in multiplication of rare nations of the North

This Friday, Plenipotentiary on Human Rights in Sverdlovsk region, Tatyana Merzlyakova, who visited settlements of Mansi people in Northern Ural, called the main problem of this small nation. According to her, this is natural modesty of Mansi, which hinders their young people from making acquaintance with Mansian girls from other settlements. As a result, the nation is on the verge of extinction. As a main measure for increasing natality of this nation, the authorities propose a series of actions, which should help Mansian young men and girls to meet. This is a serious problem, Tatyana Merzlyakova said in her interview to Izvestia newspaper. Civilization has practically not touched Mansi living in Sverdlovsk region. They are too modest. Their nearest neighbours live in Hanty-Mansi District, at a distance of 40 km, though our Mansi seldom visit them, they do not make the acquaintance to them and do not create new families. Now, only 194 representatives of this nationality live in Sverdlovsk region. They live in eight jurts in taiga and in three settlements in Ivdel district – in Khorpia, Treskolye and in Burmantovo. Within last 10 years, no marriage was registered here. Mansi age and naturally die out. Many of them drink a lot of alcohol. In Khanty-Mansi District, there are 6 thousand Mansi, though they live as if on another planet – in closed clans, whose elders sometimes do not know about other Mansi living in a neighbour region. Being concerned with the issue of the rare nationality’s extinction, Tatyana Merzlyakova came to Khanty-Mansi region to exchange experience with the local authorities. She understood that Sverdlovsk Mansi, like Mansi from other regions, need tax privileges in deer-raising, horse breeding, fishing and hunting. They also need school textbooks and boarding schools, and a programme for preserving their culture heritage. Though, first of all, they need an acquaintance institution, otherwise, they soon will need neither boarding schools, nor textbooks. This was why, Tatyana Merzlyakova agreed with Assembly of Native Northern Nations, with Committee on Rescue of Yugra about carrying out this summer Festival of Bear, to which Sverdlovsk and Khanty-Mansi aboriginal should come. The authorities hope, that the young people will make the acquaintance to each other there. The northern neighbours promised to supply Severnoye Siyanie newspaper in Mansian language to Sverdlovsk. In this newspaper, matrimonial advertisements could be published, however Merzlyakova supposes Mansi hardly will publish information about themselves because of their modesty. Just in case, Tatyana Merzlyakova left in the city of Hanty-Mansiysk the full list of unmarried Mansi from Sverdlovsk, with their birth dates. At least, there is a hope that the authorities should not resort to cloning to multiply this nationality.