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and English, as well as in 16 of the languages spoken by the Russian
North’s natives.
The most tangible of efforts have been those made as part of the North-Eastern
Federal University’s “Programme for Preserving and Advancing the Yukaghir
Language & Culture on Digital Carriers and in Cyberspace in 2011-2014”
(Project 4.1, Event 2.35).
In the first semester of 2011, five educational DVDs with rich content in
the Yukaghir language were released and a basis for a Web links page on the
Russian North’s small indigenous peoples was created (www.arctic-megapedia.
ru). Much of the content compiled for the site is already available online.
The materials featured are intended primarily for school and university students
pursuing courses on the Yukaghir language and traditional culture, as well as
on the folklore of this and other indigenous communities of the Russian North.
Work is currently underway to engage indigenous communities based in
adjacent regions. Maintaining linguistic and cultural diversity in cyberspace and
at the www.arctic-megapedia.ru site was a focus of the interregional conference
“Continuous Vocational Training as a Prerequisite for Sustainable Community
Development,” held in April 27-29, 2011, in the Chukchi city of Anadyr.
Conclusions made in the course of related discussions found their way into the
forum’s final recommendations:
• Developing joint interregional projects to represent scripts of small
indigenous peoples of Russia’s Northeast in computer operating
systems;
• Setting up an ad hoc group for gathering material on the linguistic and
cultural diversity of the Russian North’s native communities populating
the Chukchi Autonomy and posting that material at the North-Eastern
Federal University’s website (www.arctic-megapedia.ru);
• Elaborating a scientifically justified programme for introducing
innovative technology into the traditional economic practices of the
Chukchi Peninsula’s indigenous population.
In keeping with the Agreement on Cooperation between the North-Eastern
Federal University and the Russian IFAP Committee, the Centre to Advance
Multilingualism in Cyberspace was established (Chancellor’s Order dt.
September 1, 2010; Registration No. 93-OD). Its primary aim is to stimulate
and coordinate efforts toward sustaining the linguistic and cultural diversity of
the Russian North’s indigenous communities. The centre has been instrumental
in organizing the second international conference “Linguistic and Cultural
Diversity in Cyberspace”.