Siberian Regionalism and Indigenous self-government

Abstract

This chapter explores the complex process of imagining postimperial orders in Northern Eurasia. It focuses on Siberian Regionalism and the agency of Buryat and Sakha Indigenous intellectuals and politicians during Russia’s imperial transformations around the 1905 and 1917 revolutions. Siberian Regionalism, originating in the middle of the nineteenth century, advocated for a self-governing, decolonized Siberia within a transformed imperial framework. Indigenous intellectuals adapted these ideas to protect their languages and cultures against settler colonialism and Russification, emphasizing self-government as crucial for survival. The 1905 Revolution accelerated political self-organization, with Buryat congresses calling for territorial autonomy and Sakha activists seeking inclusion in local governance and cultural rights. During the 1917 Revolution, Indigenous leaders and Siberian Regionalists collaboratively advanced visions of a decentralized Russia, contributing to the establishment of the Buryat-Mongol Autonomy and Sakha inclusion in zemstvo self-government. Although Siberian Regionalism’s influence waned during the Civil War, Indigenous movements persisted, later aligning with Bolshevik autonomy promises. Siberian Regionalist approaches to territorial autonomy remained relevant when designing the Yakut and Buryat Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republics. This chapter highlights diverse Indigenous and regionalist approaches to shaping postimperial futures amid global decolonization dynamics, challenging the notion of a linear transition from empire to nation-states.