Indigenous Peoples and the Georgian Reality

Abstract

The article explores the challenges associated with the development of energy projects in Georgia, specifically focusing on the construction of the Nenskra HPP in Svaneti. This project has brought to the forefront the issue of recognizing the Svans as Indigenous People.

Recently there has been growing opposition to energy projects in the country, with part of society expressing concerns about the potential ecological, demographic, and ethnocultural impact of large-scale hydropower plants in the region. These opponents have resorted to persistent protests to express their dissent. Some of them view granting indigenous status to the Svans as a potential solution and a mechanism to impede ongoing processes.

In 2018, a Svan council meeting – Lalkhor was held in Svaneti which resulted in a unanimous decision to prohibit the construction of HPP, gold mining, and any other activities deemed harmful, destructive to nature, and detrimental to the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of human habitation throughout Svaneti. The Lalkhor also demanded official recognition of the Svans as Indigenous People .

Indigenous  Peoples  is a social group consisting of the original inhabitants of a particular region, distinct from the groups that settled later. They have preserved their traditions and other notions of their early culture. Indigenous Peoples stand apart politically and culturally from the ethnic majority of their state. Today, indigenous peoples represent a non-dominant segment of society.

Indigenous Peoples are granted special rights by the United Nations. Thus, recognizing the Svans as Indigenous People would provide them with an opportunity to legalize their traditional and communal property. According to international legislation, no infrastructure project could be implemented in Svaneti without their agreement, granting them the freedom to pursue their own policies and control activities they do not wish to have on their territory. This right allows them to refuse and suspend such projects.

Within the context of the Nenskrahydro project, the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the Svans has become subject to manipulation. The confusion arises from the Georgian translation of the term “indigenous peoples”, which is rendered as “indigenous population” in the relevant organizational documents in Georgian. “Indigenous peoples” and “indigenous population” represent distinct categories. “Indigenous peoples” is a socio-political term, while “indigenous population”, used as a substitute for “indigenous peoples”, does not accurately convey the same meaning and is not a socio-political term. It remains unclear whether this discrepancy is a result of poor translation or a deliberate attempt to create confusion regarding the subject matter.

Categorizing the Svans as Indigenous People opens up the possibility of creating new external threats to our state. This problem involves a third party with its own geopolitical interests towards our country, with a specific focus on capturing border regions.

Scientific evidence supports the notion that granting indigenous status to the Svans lacks a logical foundation. Aside from their distinct language, the Svans do not differ significantly from the inhabitants of other regions in Georgia who possess specific local socio-cultural characteristics, similar to the Svans.

We propose the adoption of the term “indigenous people(s)” in the Georgian vocabulary, replacing “indigenous population”. This change would align with the concept of Indigenous People(s) and prevent the manipulation of these terms. Additionally, it would safeguard against misleading the public by groups with diverse political, financial, and personal interests.