R 140818Z MAY 09
FM AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1277
INFO AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 
AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 
AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 
EPA WASHINGTON DC
AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR 
AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 
AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG

UNCLAS YEKATERINBURG 000029 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR IIP/SV -- STACEY ROSE-BLASS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP RS MY SCUL SENV
SUBJECT: A GLOBAL VILLAGE TACKLES GLOBAL WARMING 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary - The world is truly a global village and 
nowhere more so than at the U.S. Consulate General in 
Yekaterinburg.  On Wednesday morning, April 16, 2009, the 
Consulate participated in a Digital Video Conference (DVC) with 
Kiowa Indian students at the University of North Texas in 
Denton, TX; indigenous students at the Lincoln Resource Center 
in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia; and indigenous members of the 
community of Ufa-Shigiri in the Russian Ural Mountains.  The 
theme of the conference was how environmental changes have 
affected the cultural traditions of these ethnic communities. 
Participants from all three communities gave oral reports on the 
theme and represented their community cultures with traditional 
dress, song and dance.  The DVC was a great exercise in cultural 
exchange and a step towards meaningful dialogue on global 
problems at a local level.  End Summary 
 
¶2. (U)  About 30 children, parents, teachers and community 
leaders from the village of Ufa-Shigiri in the Ural Mountains 
near Yekaterinburg participated in the DVC.  The community is 
comprised of indigenous peoples from the Bashkir and Tatar 
ethnic groups.  Members of the Mari people from a nearby 
community also presented their cultural dress and traditions. 
The Bashkir and Tatar peoples are traditionally Muslim, while 
the Mari are Christians with strong animistic beliefs in nature 
spirits.  They co-exist peacefully in adjoining communities. 
The audience in Texas consisted of approximately 20 members of 
the Kiowa American Indian communities of Oklahoma who traveled 
to Denton, TX for the DVC.  The Malaysian audience consisted of 
about 50 members of indigenous communities from the island of 
Borneo, including Chinese, Malay, Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau, Kayan 
and Kenyah,  who met for the DVC at the Lincoln Resource Center 
located in the Sarawak State Library of Kuching, Malaysia. 
 
3 (U)  The conference was organized by IIP/SV, as a follow up to 
similar successful programs in 2008 and 2007, with then Director 
of EPA's Region 6 Office, Dr. Jonathan Hook.  In January, 2009, 
Dr. Hook moved to the University of North Texas (in Denton, TX) 
as the Director of International Indigenous and American Indian 
Initiatives.  This was the third annual, multi-national DVC 
hosted by the U.S. Consulate in Yekaterinburg, Russia and the 
Lincoln Resource Center in Kuching, Malaysia, in cooperation 
with IIP's Speaker Program.  Last year the DVC included students 
from Uganda, but because of time differences they decided not to 
participate this year.  This year the participants from the Mari 
culture provided a welcome addition to the cultural exchange. 
 
4 (U)  In addition to reporting on how environmental changes 
have affected cultural traditions, the students shared songs and 
dances from their respective cultures.  The effect of seeing 
different cultural practices from three such different corners 
of the earth made everyone realize that we have much more in 
common than our differences would suggest.  One participant 
suggested that maybe humanity shared a common ancestor and that 
the links between Asia and America are more than just 
theoretical.  The Kiowa Indians from Oklahoma reported that they 
were feeling more environmental effects in the form of tornadoes 
and droughts, while the Russians didn't notice as much 
environmental effects other than warmer winters.  The Malaysians 
mentioned that they had more rains and flooding in their region 
which were affecting their traditional crops.  The Malaysian 
students were from a school Environmental Club and had more 
detailed environmental presentations than the other Russian and 
American students.  There was much interest in the different 
forms of dance and music from each community that formed the 
highlight of the DVC.  The participants enjoyed seeing and 
hearing each other on video and promised to see each other again 
next year. 
 
¶5. (U)  The regional and local media covered the event 
extensively.  The provincial Oblast TV compiled shots from last 
year's DVC together with an ecological summer camp near 
Ufa-Shigiri and a UNESCO gathering at the village, to make a 
more in-depth story of Ufa-Shigiri's international connections. 
A local politician and member of the Bashkir Assembly of Peoples 
who was present at the DVC also promised to cooperate in 
developing these kinds of cultural exchanges.  The Russian 
director of an NGO dealing with migration issues was also 
present and showed strong support for this kind of international 
exchange. 
 
¶6. (U)  Evaluating the content of the DVC in terms of the goals 
expressed by the organizer, there was little in-depth reporting 
on the effects of climate change on cultural practices. 
However, in terms of cultural exchange there was a high level of 
interaction.  The technological feat of bringing together 
indigenous groups from such remote locations provided much of 
the excitement for the event.  During the DVC there was a 
significant dropout in signal that resulted in the loss of 
transmission from Malaysia.  Although the Russian and US 
audiences missed about five minutes of the Malaysian 
presentation, post encouraged the teachers and community leaders 
to say a few words in support of the event.  The event was able 
to proceed without an awkward break in the presentations. 
 
¶7. (U) For future events several recommendations could be made 
for the benefit of other posts contemplating cultural exchanges 
via DVC or webchats: 
 
Prior preparation: a detailed background of each participating 
community could be sent out in English to be translated into the 
different languages of the participants.  Names of participants 
and organizers, as well as a more detailed list of the dances, 
songs, and reports with names and subjects could have been 
submitted prior to the event in order to familiarize the 
audiences with the different cultures represented.  Potential 
coordination with the DOS/IO, or DHR Indigenous Issues Office 
would be welcome. 
 
b.      Presentations: some of the cultural activities were lost 
due to poor camera placement.  The Kiowa drum presentation 
suffered from not having a camera placed properly.  Seating 
should be arranged to maximize camera placement for the "virtual 
audience" as well as the local audience participation. 
 
c.      Participants: more time could be given to explaining the 
national dress, songs, dances and traditions of each culture, 
although some of that can also be covered by the prior 
preparation of sending out information.  It wasn't clear from 
the Malaysian presentation if several ethnic groups were 
represented and how they related to the majority Malay 
population.  It might also be more effective to keep the same 
ages of the audiences, for example to add younger participants 
from the US and Malaysia.  Most of the Russian participants were 
younger children while those from the US and Malaysia were high 
school age.  Alternatively, the Russian audience could have 
brought more high school age students to the event. IIP/SV might 
also coordinate with America.gov and IIP/SE for maximum exposure 
to posts in order to encourage their participation in similar 
programs. 
 
d.      Content: it is important to have the participants discuss 
some ideas about "problem solving."  Posts need to be able to 
report on the results and/or progressive impact of the program. 
In addition to raising awareness about global climate change on 
a community, a DVC could also address means of dealing with 
these changes.  Reports on how different countries and 
communities are dealing at the policy, legislative and local 
level with climate change would provide examples for the mutual 
benefit of the participants.  The practice of ecotourism, 
watershed management programs, desalination for potable water, 
alternative crop production, benefits of alternative fuels, if 
and where available, etc., could provide more substance to the 
discussions and reports.  The American participants, for 
example, could provide examples of new ways that groups in the 
United States are working towards mitigating the negative 
effects of global climate change?  Potential coordination with 
the OES might also provide a stimulus for future international 
cooperation on these issues. 
 
e.      Logistics: The loss of Uganda due to time differences was 
unfortunate.  On the other hand because of time constraints it 
may actually be better to limit the DVCs to 2 to 3 cultures. 
More frequent DVCs could be coordinated by the University of 
North Texas to provide more interaction between different 
cultural groups around the world.  Current technology using cell 
phone modems and Skype allows for DVCs outside of landline and 
bad Internet connectivity, thus enlarging the scope of these 
cultural DVCs. 
 
¶8. (U) Conclusion - DVCs and webchats that link indigenous 
groups, minority ethnic groups, and sub-cultural social groups 
(hip-hop fans, religious minorities, etc.) are useful tools in 
outreach efforts to target marginalized communities.  The 
support of IIP's Speaker program was outstanding and should be 
encouraged to provide posts with this medium.  The University of 
North Texas' video-conferencing facilities are impressive and 
could become the hub of indigenous connections worldwide through 
the auspices of the International Indigenous and American Indian 
Initiatives.  Post encourages more development of these kinds of 
long-distance interactive cultural exchanges in order to address 
topics as complex as environmental impact on local communities, 
preserving cultural traditions in a pluralistic society, 
protecting ancestral lands from unregulated exploitation, and 
developing ethnic identity without promoting separatist 
aspirations.   The diversity of America's society provides many 
examples of the processes of assimilation, adaptation, 
accommodation and assertion that are experienced by groups in 
other countries.  Mutual exchanges sponsored by posts around the 
world could engender goodwill among both majority and minority 
groups in their host countries. 
 
SANDUSKY