GOVERNING RUSSIA'S PROVINCES 247As a result, some of the smaller and more backward tribes, isolated
and subjected to disease and periodic famines, were dying out, or at
any rate, rapidly decreasing in numbers. This decline made for adminis-
trative and fiscal difficulties, as their tribute had to be reassessed and
measures taken for their protection. The more advanced tribes, on the
other hand, seemed to prosper economically, but their traditional way
of life was changing. Their old customs, legal norms, and traditions did
not correspond any more to the new emerging reality. And as both the
tribal and Russian administrations were still operating on the basis of
the old ways, there resulted a discrepancy which made for difficulties
and confusion. The new activities of the natives required greater con-
sideration and regard for their interests. To insure success in their
novel ways, they had to be protected against the rapacity, exactions,
and arbitrary rule of the local administration.
The change in the natives' way of life was leading to a social trans-
formation, particularly noticeable and fraught with important con-
sequences among those natives who had settled and taken up agricul-
ture. This social transformation consisted primarily in the breakdown
of the old clan system and the development of a class differentiation
on the basis of economic activity and wealth. The old customs determin-
ing property and family relations were breaking down. The more
successful settled native, working his land and selling his own surplus,
did not want to be tied to his poorer or nomadic fellow clansmen; he
also wished to be able to transmit the fruits of his labors to his own
children. Changes in the economic and social position of a tribe's
members led to a transformation of their outlook and brought them
closer to Russian values, interests, and culture. They aspired - at least
within their tribe - to the privileges, status, and security enjoyed by
the better among the Russians (officials and merchants). As frequently
these successful native individuals belonged to the upper class of
the clan, to the "aristocracy" (and some had acquired titles and wealth
in the .service of the Russian administration), they demanded a corre-
sponding say in the management of tribal affairs. In the hope of draw-
ing the natives into the mainstream of Siberian life and of promoting
uniformity, the Russian administration was not unwilling to support
their demands. But naturally, it raised new problems and provoked
the resistance and discontent of the other members of the clan. Not
much could be expected in the way of a satisfactory readjustment to
these new conditions until the Siberian administration itself was reor-
ganized.
By 1800, it had become imperative to adjust the pattern of Siberian