Today, Host Esty Dinur speaks with cultural anthropologist and professor Greta Uehling about her book Decolonizing Ukraine: the Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom.

Tatars, the indigenous people of Crimea, made up 90% of the population of Crimea. Their language was the primary language spoken there until 1783, when they were subject to atrocities similar to the indigenous peoples of America; being removed from their land, dissolving their culture, and broken agreements. During World War II, the Third Reich took control of Crimea. When Soviets gained control again in 1944, they executed a previously conceived plan to round up all the tatars and deport them to Siberia and Central Asia. This lasted until 1991 when the Soviet Union disintegrated and the tatars rejoined Ukraine until the Russian occupation in 2014. 

Crimea’s peninsula sticks out to the black sea, which is more like an island than a peninsula; its isthmus is only a few kilometers wide, making it an isolated area. Crimea was a desirable location for Russia due to its warm ports – in contrast to Russia’s ports, which would often freeze in the Winter –  and it was a strategic location due to its proximity to Turkey, just 144 miles away on the Black sea. In 2019, the bridge to Russia to the east was subjected to multiple attacks, compromising its integrity.

Uehling mentions that modern warfare is hybrid. In addition to conventional military tactics like missiles and tanks, the people of Crimea now face misinformation, election interference and cyber attacks. A final component of warfare is psychological manipulation, which disrupts previously harmonious relationships, creates tension in families, difficulties in romantic relationships, and friendships. This is especially the case in children receiving a Russian “patriotic education,” creating conflicts in families, which Russians are doing to Ukrainian children today. The war is destroying the physical infrastructure in Ukraine in addition to the emotional infrastructure, and the latter is much harder to rebuild.

Recording artist of Crimean Tatar ancestry Jamala won the Eurovision Song contest in 2016 for her song 1944, which mourned Stalin’s deportation of her people. Ukrainians resonated with this feeling of being silenced in history and their struggle under the Soviet Union. Uehling says that The Crimean people redefined their national identity, building on cultural characteristics and incorporating the shared values of democracy, anti-corruption, and transparency. The song helped them come together in solidarity.and exemplifies courage in the face of fear. 

Greta Uehling is a cultural anthropologist who works at the intersection of Indigenous and Eastern European Studies. She is a Teaching Professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she teaches for the Program in International and Comparative Studies and is Associate Faculty of the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. Uehling is the author of three books: Beyond Memory: The Deportation and Return of the Crimean Tatars (Palgrave 2004), Everyday War: The Conflict over Donbas, Ukraine (Cornell University Press 2023), and Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom (Rowman & Littlefield 2025). Throughout her career, Uehling has served as a consultant to organizations working in the fields of international migration, human rights, and human trafficking, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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