MOSCOW, November 3. /TASS/. An online atlas containing information about the low-numbered peoples in the North, Siberia and the Far East, composed by the Russian State Humanitarian University, will be translated into English in 2023, the University's President Alexander Bezborodov told TASS on the fringes of the Arctic's summit of low-numbered indigenous peoples.
On September 2, at the Eastern Economic Forum, the University and the Association of indigenous low-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East presented the online atlas, which contains data on the Nenets, Evenks, Saami and other peoples. The atlas tells about cultures, languages, traditions, problems, and about outstanding representatives of ten ethnic groups. In 2023, it will be updated with information about another 30 ethnic groups. The atlas is available online without any limitations.
"The University's team includes top-level interpreters, and we are paying for their work," the university president. "They have been working, have been translating the data as it is uploaded. In 2023, an English version will be available. In late 2023, work on the atlas will be completed."
At the summit's session on preservation of languages and cultural heritage, he stressed the work to study the low-numbered peoples' cultures and the reliable information product will be helpful in the social development and will make those ethnic groups more open and familiar to Russia's other people and for people living abroad.
In all languages
At the summit, Deputy Head of the UNESCO Department at the North-Eastern Federal University Anatoly Zhozhikov said scientists have been working on digital records of all language and culture elements related to the low-numbered peoples. The studies will continue in 2022-2023, and by 2024 the data will be uploaded to an online GIS-map and to digital resources. The first map of the kind will cover the territory of Yakutia - it will show where the Chukchi, Evenks and other indigenous peoples live.
Financial and human resources are needed to develop a project that preserves endangered languages, he continued. "In such a large country, for example, first, for financial support, it is necessary to attract other regions. Secondly, it is necessary to determine the ministry, which will be responsible for the financial support," he said.
According to Mikhail Pogodayev, Yakutia's deputy minister for the development of the Arctic and for the North's peoples' affairs, the sanctions have affected international participation in projects to preserve small-numbered indigenous peoples, as well as the preservation and digitalization of their culture and languages, which had been among the Russian Federation's flagship projects in the international Arctic Council. European partners, in particular Norway, have refused the projects. The sanctions against Russia must not concern projects on the preservation of culture and languages, he stressed.
"Today, in the conditions of globalization and the climate changes, the indigenous peoples are facing the risks of losing languages, traditional culture, traditional ways of life. First of all, these conditions will affect those who depend on the nature. The most vulnerable will be most affected. We call on the Arctic states to resume cooperation. The Russian Federation will continue to implement our projects and will fulfill all the commitments undertaken in the international Arctic Council," he said.
Internet for deer herders
The Association's Vice President Nina Veisalova expressed the opinion the traditional languages' preservation requires legal regulations of their use, including at official levels.
"As we all well know, year 2022 opens a Decade of Indigenous Languages. We eye this event as a global call to action, the concentration of all resources and opportunities to have our languages sound in the global modern world. We consider the new decade as a great dialogue between all involved parties," she said.
Digital services will be introduced into everyday life of indigenous peoples, in particular reindeer herders, so that they could have communication and could share their culture on the Internet, Pogodayev told TASS. This will be done under the Young Reindeer Herder project. "We plan to make changes to the existing program, as for the terms - we plan this for the coming year. First of all, this is related to the subsidies procedures: the program should meet the project's key objectives - to support the youth and to promote traditional economic activities," he said.
The program may attract public initiatives like the Digital Reindeer Herder project and the IT-Nomad Camps project, implemented in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region, to ensure the indigenous communities have access to communication, he explained.
The program will raise the applicable age limit so that incentives are extended to the older generation of reindeer herders, along with incentives for young people. The project will introduce educational programs for young reindeer herders so that they could obtain skills, which will be helpful to increase their incomes.
In addition, he said, the program changes will refer to the law on the nomadic family. Legislators will offer a minimum provision standard for a young nomadic family and will specify the state support for it. "This is very important, so that the families do not face elementary problems of ensuring their everyday life, so that they had access to communications and the Internet," Pogodayev said in conclusion.