Introduction. Achievements of scientific and technological progress oblige humanity to carefully introduce them into existing socioecosystems, which is especially important in relation to socially vulnerable communities of indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North of Russia. The possibility of their survival is currently an important theoretical problem. Theoretical analysis. The interrelation of social and natural foundations is investigated, the importance of legal anthropology in the preservation of the ecological and social system of the peoples of the North is substantiated. Traditional nature management is considered as a special type of relationship between people and nature, which poses the task of improving regulatory regulation in order to maintain socio-natural unity. Empirical analysis. The author analyzes the gaps and conflicts of legal regulation in the field of preserving the traditional foundations of life, which can lead to the disappearance of the identity of small-numbered peoples and the leveling of their cultures. Results. The introduction of new technologies into the life of the social ecosystems of small nations inevitably leads to a change in life activity, which leads to the transformation of moral values and the emergence of new ideas. In order for the identity of the peoples of the North not to perish, the role of law as an effective protective mechanism must manifest itself. It is noted that it is necessary to conduct a cultural and anthropological examination of normative acts affecting the traditional spheres of relations at both federal and regional levels for their compliance with the spiritual and moral values of the peoples.