There Indigenous Peoples of the Sakha Republic include the following groups:

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• The Chukchi people inhabit the north-easternmost part of Siberia: the Chukotskiy (Chukotka) autonomous okrug (district) in Russia. They are of Paleo-Asiatic origin and divided into two main subgroups, reindeer Chukchi and maritime Chukchi. The reindeer Chukchi inhabit the interior of the easternmost portion of the okrug, the Chukotskiy (Chukchi) Peninsula, and its Siberian hinterland. The maritime Chukchi inhabit the Arctic and Bering coasts. In addition to reindeer herding and hunting, the Chukchi engage in bone and walrus tusk carving, and deer hair embroidery. Their traditional diet mainly consist of meat (reindeer and sea animals depending on the group). Fish do not play a significant role in their diet but different plants and berries are consumed as meat supplements.

• The Dolgan people are of Turkic origin and migrated into their current territories in northern Krasnoyarsk Kray and northwestern Yakutia from the southwest, presumably in the 18th century. The nucleus of the Dolgan people was formed from a few Evenk (Evenki) clans that subsequently adopted a dialect of the Turkic-speaking Sakha (Yakut). In the late 20th century they were principally reindeer herders, collectivized under the Soviets, though their way of life was only gradually becoming less nomadic. Vegetable gardening become important along with traditional game hunting. The basis of their traditional diet is raw, frozen or boiled venison. Fish is eaten raw, slightly salted, or frozen (stroganina), as well as boiled and fried. Soup is cooked from poultry or deer meat, seasoned with flour or cereals. They also eat onions, the roots of some plants, berries, and pancakes.

• The Even people live in northeastern Siberia and are a branch of the northeastern Tungus (the ancestors of the modern Evenk and Even). By late nineteenth century, they had split into three groups (RAIPON 2011): taiga reindeer husbandry, mixed taiga-coastal (where hunting, fishing, and reindeer husbandry were equally important), and non-reindeer herding fishing and hunting (with a main focus on coastal fishing). The majority of Even live today in the Republic of Sakha, Magadan Oblast, Kamchatka Oblast, and Khabarovsk Kray.

• The Evenk or Evenki also spelled Evenky or Ewenki, represent the most numerous and widely scattered of the many small ethnic groups of northern Siberia (Asian Russia). The Evenk people can be divided into two distinct groups. The first group comprise nomadic hunters and reindeer breeders scattered in the vast area of the taiga (boreal forest) from the Ob-Irtysh watershed eastward to the Sea of Okhotsk coast and Sakhalin, and from the Amur River basin in the south northward to the Arctic Ocean. Together with reindeer herding they practiced hunting (elk, wild deer, red deer) and fishing. In the coastal areas they also engaged in marine hunting. Evenk rode reindeer, which distinguished them and Even from other deer peoples. The second group comprises horse and cattle pastoralists or sedentary farmers residing in Transbaikalia and northeastern China and Mongolia.

• The Russian old-timers or old-settlers (starozhyli) are a sub-population of Russian (Slavic) origin likely originally descending from the first European colonists of the Age of Discovery who settled the Arctic Ocean shores of Eastern Siberia in the 16th century and subsequently consolidated by the expansion of the Russian Empire in the early 17th century originally covering the lower reaches of the Lena River in Yakutia, Olga, Yana, Indigirka and Kolyma. In contrast to other neighbouring nomadic peoples like the Yukaghirs, Evenks, and Chukchi, the Russians old-timers did not keep cattle or practice reindeer herding, engaging instead in fishing and Arctic fox hunting as main subsistence activities. Interestingly, they are recognized as the first to introduce the use of seine nets for river fishing in the region.

• The Sakha, also called Yakut, is one of the major peoples of eastern Siberia of Turkic origin. In the 17th century they inhabited a limited area on the middle Lena River but progressively expanded throughout Yakutia. Despite the Arctic climate, the Sakha have clung to an economy based on the raising of cattle, reindeer, and horses, despite their livestock requiring shelter and feeding for a large part of the year. Dairy products occupy a prominent place in their diet, with meat reserved for special occasions. Fishing in rivers and lakes is the second most important economic activity.

• The Yukaghir, also spelled Yukagir or Jukagir, call themselves Odul (powerful, strong) and are a remnant of an ancient group of Uralic origin inhabitant of the tundra and taiga zones of Arctic Siberia east of the Lena River in Russia; an area with one of the most severe climates in the inhabited world. In Yakutia, they still generally inhabit the upper valley of the Kolyma River where these once-nomadic people are for the most part engaged in hunting, fishing, and reindeer herding.

Given the vast extension of the Sakha Republic, and contrary to the Karen case study, we will follow a two-stage approach for the Sakha case study. During the first year of the project, a total of 18 settlements distributed across each of the five geographical zones of Yakutia will be visited (spring-autumn) to conduct preliminary household surveys and gather basic information that will then be used to select two representative settlements for conducting the in-depth field surveys similar to those conducted for the Karen case study in Thailand. The two selected communities will have contrasting characteristics in terms of their geographic, ethnic and social characteristics, and traditional food systems. A complete list of the 18 settlements selected for the first stage of the Sakha case study can be consulted in the data portal section.