(Note: Pending review and approval by the UArctic Indigenous Advisory Board.)
40 distinct Peoples are identified as Small Indigenous Minorities of the North, Siberia, and the Far East of the Russian Federation, speaking around the same number of languages. These speech communities have seen various levels and types of governmental protections for their languages as they have lived through different periods of governance and administration; these are namely the current Russian Federation and its most recent predecessors: the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire. Vladimir Lenin for instance, who founded the Soviet Union, was against designating Russian or any language for that matter as an official language, and he insisted that education was to be made available to students in their local language. This contrasts with the earlier dominant ideology of Russification that marked the Russian Empire’s language policy: the general aim at that time was to make Russian the most important language, which more concretely meant for example that it was to be the sole language of higher education, in addition to that of other spheres of society.
Today, education carried out in minority/Indigenous languages is quite uncommon past primary education, and Russian proficiency is needed to complete secondary education and to be accepted into a higher education institution. There are however certain course offerings in and about Indigenous languages at some institutions. There is what’s more a strong tradition of linguistics in Russia that goes back several decades, this being visible in the plethora of academic texts published on the country’s languages.
The following links to an interactive resource comprising information on 30 Indigenous Peoples in the Russian Federation, touching on their histories, cultures, and languages. Available in English and Russian, it is recommended that you access the Russian version and translate the page in your web browser, as it is the more complete version.
Interactive Atlas of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East: Languages and Cultures
Alex Krouglov (2022) Language planning and policies in Russia through a historical perspective, Current Issues in Language Planning, 23:4, 412-434, DOI: 10.1080/14664208.2021.2005384.
Jankiewicz, S., Knyaginina, N., & Prina, F. (2020). Linguistic Rights and Education in the Republics of the Russian Federation: Towards Unity through Uniformity. Review of Central and East European Law, 45(1), 59-91. https://doi.org/10.1163/15730352-bja10003.
Kantarovich, J. (2022). Language variation in a shifting community: Different patterns of noun incorporation in Modern Chukchi. International Journal of Bilingualism, 26, 620 - 638. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069221110406.
Polikarpov A.M., Latysheva O.E. Translation of Folklore Texts as a Means of Preserving the Nenets Language: An Integrative Approach. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 2. Yazykoznanie [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. Linguistics], 2023, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 118-128. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2023.3.11.
Shestera, E. A. (2022). Intonation of imperative statements of the Teleut language: 20th century and early 21st century. Âzyki i folʹklor korennyh narodov Sibiri, 85-99. DOI: 10.25205/2312-6337-2022-2-85-99.
Vladimir Lenin, on a compulsory language for Russia
Languages in Russia Disappearing Faster than Data Suggests, Activists Warn - The Moscow Times
