Ethnodictation in indigenous peoples' languages of Russia held in Presidential Library

On February 19, 2025, the VI All-Russian Ethno Dictation in the languages of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation was held at the Presidential Library.

The event is held within the framework of the All–Russian ethnodictant Russia - the House of Peoples on the eve of the International Mother Tongue Day, which is celebrated annually on February 21.

The educational campaign is also being held within the framework of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Languages (2022-2032) and the Year of Defender of the Fatherland, announced by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

Igor Solonko, the director of the department for scientific and educational work, read out a greeting on behalf of Yuri Nosov, the general director of the Presidential Library. A video message from Anna Polezhaeva, the director of the House of Peoples of Russia, was also played.

The event was attended by Grigory Ledkov, the president of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East of the Russian Federation and a senator of the Russian Federation. Nina Veisalova, the vice president of the Association for Education and Native Languages of Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, and the Far East, Igor Zhukov, the director of the St. Petersburg House of Nationalities, and Alexander Palagin, the head of the representative offices of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District in St. Petersburg, were also present. Ilya Ogorodnikov, the deputy chairman of the St. Petersburg Committee for Arctic Affairs, and Alexander Baburin, the director of the St. Petersburg office of Prosveshcheniye Publishing House, were among the other guests of honor.

The purpose of the All-Russian Ethnodict Russia - the Home of Nations is to promote multilingualism among the people of the Russian Federation, encourage interest in learning the Russian language as the official language and the languages of the people of Russia, reinforce and promote traditional Russian cultural and moral values, and highlight the importance of preserving linguistic diversity in Russia.

The theme of the upcoming ethnographic dictation in 2025 will be dedicated to celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Participants in the event will be asked to write a single text based on Ilya Ehrenburg's article, Utro Mira (Morning of the World), which was published in the newspaper Pravda on May 10, 1945. This article is translated into the languages spoken by indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East of the Russian Federation.

The event took place simultaneously in 12 different languages: Eskimo, Nanai, Khanty, Chukchi, Evenki, Even, Koryak, Nenets, Enets, Sami, Vepsian, and Russian, which will be added to the Ethnodict in 2025.

The dictation texts were read by native speakers of rare languages - representatives of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation, the Center for Traditional Knowledge and Languages of Indigenous Peoples, as well as editors from the St. Petersburg branch of the Prosveshcheniye publishing house.

The ceremony to sum up the results of the ethnodictation and present certificates to participants took place at the Presidential Library on February 19th.

The recording of grand opening of the ethnic dictation, welcoming participants in their native languages is available on the Rutube-channel of the Library.

The educational event was organized by the House of Peoples of Russia, the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East of the Russian Federation, its St. Petersburg Regional Branch, the Center for Traditional Knowledge and Languages of Indigenous Peoples, and the Association of Teachers of Native Languages and Literature of the Indigenous Peoples.

Partners of the event include the St. Petersburg Committee for Arctic Affairs, Presidential Library, St. Petersburg Branch of Prosveshcheniye Publishing House, and Almaz- Graf Publishing House.