ABSTRACT
In December 1994, the commission supervising work under the bilateral agreement on cooperation on environmental protection issues between the Russian Federation and Norway decided to include cultural heritage protection in its working programme. The working programme of the Cultural Heritage group had two initial statements of principles for the work: The working group agreed on an agenda for a variety of activities: It was also decided to set up an expert group on the restoration of wooden buildings. The Russian Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage Research and the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage, the Riksantikvaren, should take charge of this specific part. The study and preservation of East Sami cultural monuments in Norway and Russia became a part of the broader Norwegian-Russian collaboration on conservation of cultural heritage. Addressing East Sami intellectual and material values within that project with indigenous people's active and immediate participation contributed to the strengthening of their rich, specific identity, realized in various different forms.
