North American Indians' Expedition to North Urals

21.07.2009 — News

THE SVERDLOVSK OBLAST.

Representatives of the American Indian tribe Kiowa arrived at the North of the Sverdlovsk Oblast where there are some settlements of Mansi, one of the Russia’s indigenous ethnoses. The American delegation includes Jonathan Hook, a Professor from the University of North Texas, and three of his students, and Christopher G. Istrati, the Branch Public Affairs Officer of the US Consulate General in Ekaterinburg.

Jonathan Hook has initiated various projects for the support of indigenous people and the preservation of the environment. For instance, the first foundation stone of the International Youth Center of UNESCO in the Sverdlovsk Oblast was laid in 2008 with his direct participation. The new project is the Center for teaching teenagers traditional Mansi crafts. The US State Department issued a grant for the establishment of the Center.

The US Consulate General informed RusBusinessNews that the expedition will use an off-road vehicle to reach their final destination, the taiga village of Ushma, and come back by a river boat. There are around 11 thousand of Mansi living in Russia today. Most of them live in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug.