According to the statutes of the association (hereinafter - the Association), the Congress is the highest governing body of the Association.
The Congress is convened by the Coordinating Council of the Association once every 4 years and has the right to consider any issue of the Association's activities. In the period between congresses, the current work of the organization is managed by a Coordinating Council and a Presidium consisting of the President, 1st Vice-President and Vice-Presidents of the Association. The President of the Association is elected at the Congress by secret ballot on an alternative basis.
The Congress of the Association may consider the issues of admission and exclusion from the membership in the Association. The rules on the representativeness at the Congress from the Regional Branches of the Association are determined by the Coordinating Council of the Association in compliance with the principle of representation from each of the Indigenous small-numbered Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East in proportion to their number in the regional branch on the territory of the relevant region of the Russian Federation.
The first Congress was held in March 1990, at which the Association was established.
The extraordinary congress of the Association was held in Moscow on January 24, 2013. The reason for the extraordinary Congress was the need to amend the statutes of the RAIPON, in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (for reference: the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation by its order of November 1, 2012 suspended the activities of the Association until April 20, 2013, citing the fact that the organization's charter does not comply with federal legislation). In this regard, at the extraordinary congress all questions on the statutes of the organization were officially resolved by voting of delegates, required documents were prepared and submitted to the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.