KRASNOYARSK, October 9. /TASS/. Before year 2025 ends, Russia will put on the federal list of intangible ethnic and cultural heritage about 90 objects, Deputy Minister of Culture Zhanna Alekseeva told reporters at the Cultural Forum of Indigenous Low-Numbered Peoples in Krasnoyarsk.
"It (the list - TASS) features most valuable, most important objects of intangible ethnic and cultural heritage - our traditions, folklore, and ethnographies. So, every region makes its own list, and the most interesting examples of ethnic and cultural heritage will be put on the federal list. We have been working on this list since this year, and the list now contains 31 objects of intangible ethnic and cultural heritage. We plan to add about another 90 objects to the federal list by the end of the year," the deputy minister said, adding the work would continue in the future.
The federal experts, working on the list, are specialists from the national House of Folk Art, museums, and research institutes, she continued. The federal information system allows anyone in Russia and abroad to view those objects. "The diversity of culture in the Russian Federation is a most important asset of this country. Preserving this diversity is top important in the era of globalization. The Ministry of Culture pays special attention to supporting indigenous peoples, and here the active role belongs to our libraries, cultural centers, theaters, and museums," she said.
Digitization of indigenous languages, and various cuisine technologies
According to Natalia Koptseva of the Institute of the North and the Arctic (part of the Siberian Federal University), the list is a form of support for the culture of Russia's peoples, including the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East. Of the eight indigenous peoples in the Krasnoyarsk Region, seven live in the Arctic Zone, she said. "The living conditions, the harsh climate and complex landscapes make their ethnic and cultural heritage even more valuable and unique," she stressed. One of such assets is the North's unique cuisine technologies. Scientists propose to introduce special labeling for these products to support this legacy, she continued. In order to receive this label, products must be associated with a particular northern people, must be produced in certain geographical areas and must have a stable long-term formulation.
Artur Gayulsky, First Vice-President of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, stressed importance of digitizing indigenous peoples' languages. "Our youth has been digitizing five languages of the Krasnoyarsk Region's indigenous peoples of the North. The Evenki language - 90,000 words have been digitized, another 50,000 are due. We have been digitizing the Nganasan language. We make sure the languages do not die, since those are languages at risk of extinction," he said in an interview with TASS.
General Director of the Krasnoyarsk Region's Center for Folk Art Lyubov Romanova named objects on the regional list of intangible heritage - the technology for making Evenki hunting skis, where hunters can move through deep snow and silently sneak up on wild animals, the technology for making Evenki national carpets (kumalan) from deer skins, and the technology for making baby cradles that are convenient for nomadic life in the North.
About the forum
The Cultural Forum of Indigenous Peoples started in Anadyr (Chukotka) in September, continued in Krasnoyarsk, and later on it will move to Petrozavodsk (Karelia) to finish in Tyumen in November.