In 1993, it was re-registered as a social and political movement by the name of "Association of indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation" and the Khanty author Yeremey Aypin became its president.

November 2012, Russia's Ministry of Justice ordered the closure of RAIPON, because of an “alleged lack of correspondence between the association’s statutes and federal law”.

According to Russia's Ministry of Justice the indigenous peoples association will be closed for six months, whereupon the statutes will have to be adjusted.

[2] The highest decision-making body is the Congress of Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, which is held every four years.

As well as its role as an Indigenous Permanent Participants of the Arctic Council and its consultative Status with ECOSOC, RAIPON is also an observer of UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum and of the World Intellectual Property Organization's Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore.