MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS Correspondent Viktoria Melnikova/. Representatives of the North's eight small-numbered indigenous peoples live in the Krasnoyarsk Region. Every group has specific culture, customs, and language, and every group has been striving to preserve them. Native speakers say it's most important to pass the knowledge on to children, to stir up their interest. They develop board games, create language nests for deep immersion into the language and make video blogs.
Families are losing native language
The Dolgans, Evenks, Nganasans, Selkups, Nenets, Enets, Kets and Yakuts have been living in the Krasnoyarsk Region's north for centuries. They were the first to explore the Yenisei's coast, they developed traditional northern crafts and were preserving the culture, and therefore the language.
Elena Evai, who leads the Yalako family ethnographic club in Taimyr, said it was only 40 years ago that almost every Nenets family spoke the native language.
"At home, the Nenets spoke their native language. However, over time, the language was disappearing from everyday use. Sure, if parents don't speak the language at home, their children don't speak it either, it's easier for them to use Russian. When kids go to school, and when they are about to choose what other language to study besides Russian - what's their choice? English, if it's available. There seems to be no place for the native language," she said.
In Russia, the problem of disappearing indigenous languages has been on agenda, said Natalia Koptseva, Acting Head of Academic Affairs at the Institute of North and Arctic at the Siberian Federal University. Olympiads are being held, books are being printed.
"However, there are clear independent processes. Including the shrinking numbers of native speakers. Situations differ with every language. Take for example, native speakers of the Nenets language who live in Yamal, in Taimyr in the Krasnoyarsk Region's north. The language situation there is not rosy, though it's better than with other indigenous peoples. The Nenets are still engaged in nomadic reindeer husbandry, and while preserving traditional crafts, traditional economy and traditional way of life, they preserve the language, since it is the language of traditional farming," Koptseva said.
Leader of the Krasnoyarsk Region's Agency for Development of the Northern Territories and Support of Indigenous Peoples Anton Narchuganov agrees with the expert.
"Scientists have proved languages can be preserved only in an environment that favors their natural development. For languages of small indigenous peoples, this environment is first of all the tundra and taiga, the places where they lead a traditional way of life - reindeer husbandry, hunting and fishing. Therefore, our agency sees its key task in supporting the peoples that preserve this traditional way of life. We strive to create comfortable conditions for nomads so that young people stayed in their native environment and continued living in harmony with traditions, so that the language did not disappear," he said.
The situation with the Evenk and Ket languages differs. In the Krasnoyarsk Region, the Evenks live in the Evenki, North Yenisei Districts, and in the Taimyr District.
"Native speakers are very few there. <...> There are also few native speakers of the Nganasan language. But the biggest catastrophe continues with the Ket language. The Kets are an indigenous people of the Krasnoyarsk Region. The Ket language was spoken in the village of Kellog in the Turukhansky District and the village of Sulomai in the Evenki District. There are no manuals for teaching this language to children of any ages. The number of native speakers is decreasing inevitably. There are no children or teenagers who speak Ket anymore," Koptseva explained.
According to the 2020 census, 1,206 people were registered in the region, where only 55 were native speakers. Out of 63,000 Evenks just 5,000 know the Evenki language; out of 1,000 Nganasans only 294 speak the native language.
"We can see that languages of the North's indigenous peoples are largely saved by enthusiasts. They are true devotees who preserve the language and culture on their own, including with state grant support," Natalia Koptseva said in conclusion.
'We are just 300 in the world'
Such enthusiasts are in Taymyr's remote ancient village of Potapovo, where about 300 people live, and 76 of them are the Krasnoyarsk Region's indigenous northern people - the Enets.
"The Enets are about 300, and they live in the villages of Potapovo and Vorontsovo. When an ethnic group is only 300 people in the world, it is only easy to lose the national language. The desire to preserve the culture and pass it on to children was huge. Therefore, in 2012, with the effort to revive Enets, the secondary school in Potapovo created a language nest (full immersion into language, were all communication with children is in their native language only - TASS) "Kayaku bine" - "Sunbeam," said Elena Dobrova, the school's director.
In addition to teaching the language, a native elder tells children about customs, traditions, and crafts.
The immersion is organized in a truly northern setting - yurts, national costumes and household items. However, success of a project of the kind depends not on the place, but on the person. The first mentor at Kayaku Bine was Svetlana Roslyakova, she continued.
"A wonderful teacher, a writer of Enets songs and fairy tales. Unfortunately, she passed away a year ago. Right now, all this work is done by our school's ethnic tutor Ekaterina Glibchenko. She is also an Enets and knows the language perfectly. She was born and spent childhood in the tundra. Her father was a famous reindeer herder in Taimyr. Getting knowledge from such a person is twice interesting," the school director said.
Over the years, more than 30 children have passed the language nest. "It is difficult to name the exact number. Now, we have seven students, and one of them is a one-and-a-half-year-old baby. You may think such a number of children is too low. But for the Enets, this is a large number. <...> The Enets language is not taught at school, as this people did not have a written language until recently. The first Enets primer was published in 2020 only, and now specialists are working on textbooks for first grades. We are undertaking small steps, but the result is encouraging," she said.
Presently, 91 people out of 321 Enets can speak the language.
Games as liaisons
As for older children, language nests are not that effective in learning their native language and culture. Enthusiasts in the village of Vanavara have found their own way to instill in teenagers a love for their native Evenk language.
"Together with the Vanavar Library and the Tunguska Nature Reserve, we've made the Kulik Trail board game. It introduces children to the Tunguska phenomenon history, which is Vanavara's hallmark. The game is named after famous Russian mineralogist Leonid Kulik. While playing, children tour the Tunguska State Nature Reserve, learn about the flora, fauna, archeology, learn about outstanding researchers of the 20th-century mysterious phenomenon. While playing, the children are learning the Evenki language," said Malvina Churkina, the game's creator.
Her idea has received a grant from the competition held by the region's Agency for Development of Northern Territories in the nomination "Introducing children and teenagers to native culture, language and traditional activities of small-numbered peoples."
"Our choice of the learning format through a board game was based on results of a survey conducted by the Vanavar Library, where most young people when answering the question "what events are you interested in, and in which you would like to participate" said they were interested in board games," she told TASS.
The board game features 90 hand-painted figures of Evenks in national clothes. Other characters are a fisherman, a reindeer herder, a hunter, a shaman, a needlewoman and others.
"Sure, you can't learn the language perfectly with the help of such a game, and that isn't the task. It is important to tell children about their culture, roots, and to teach them simple words so that at home they could communicate in their native language and pass on the knowledge to their children," the game's author said.
Ethnic blogs in the tundra
Adviser to the head of Russia's Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs Sergey Timoshkov points to importance of presence in public space as a key condition for preservation and promotion of indigenous languages.
"It is important to be present in the information space, to gain access to the audience, where technology gives this opportunity to any language. Making content is possible anywhere in the tundra where the Internet is available, although its absence is still a problem, but this issue anyway is being resolved quite promptly," he said.
Alexander Vorotnikov, coordinator of the Expert Council of the Arctic Development Project Office, Associate Professor at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), stresses language is preserved when it is widely used in the family, in everyday life, in education and at work.
"A lot of work is needed to digitalize the linguistic and cultural heritage of indigenous peoples. Native languages must be included in modern cyberspace, plus it is necessary to develop digital education through electronic educational resources, development and implementation of electronic textbooks and teaching aids," he said.
Importantly, the language learning format should be clear to teenagers. One of such projects - "Ethnic bloggers of Taimyr" - was created in the Krasnoyarsk Region's north.
"The idea of this project was based on what kids need - to make about 60 videos about the Nenets culture, language, traditional farming, and sports. We've made the videos in Nenets with Russian subtitles. By using this series of videos, it will be easier to tell children about their culture, the life of the Nenets - how they hunt, about reindeer husbandry, about their dwelling, peculiarities of national costume, how they cook national dishes, etc.," the project's author Natalia Sidorova said.
Experts of the Nenets culture, well-known Yamal bloggers, representatives of the tourism industry, and craftsmen tell children about the Nenets. "It's too early to discuss results, as we have started only this year. Anyway, I receive feedback from kids and I can see they are overwhelmed with pride for being related to the Nenets culture," she added.
According to Alexander Vorotnikov, another important step in preserving the languages could be online translators for textbooks and world literature masterpieces into languages of the North's peoples.
Elena Evai agrees with him, adding the best result would be if the indigenous people's epic is translated into foreign languages. "In that case, our children will be able to be proud of their identity, they will study even more their native culture, and their languages will live on," she said in conclusion.