Teaching the Even language in a nomadic camp: problems and solutions

Sleptsov Yurii Alekseevich ORCID: 0000-0002-6820-4216 PhD in Pedagogy Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North of Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 677007, Russia, respublika Sakha (yakutiya), g. Yakutsk, ul. Petrovskogo, 1 seva_may@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Conduction

Nomadic camps in Momsky district began their work in 2000 with the support of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Ministry of Peoples' Affairs of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The first camp, "Neltenke" (Evensk. "The Sun"), was organized on the territory of the Tirektyakh river on the basis of the Choloy reindeer herd and worked in this place for 2 years. In 2001, at the Indigir secondary school in the village of Buor-Sysyy, at the request of its director N.A. Bryzgalov, a nomadic ecological camp "Maranga" was organized (Evensk. "Rainbow"), who worked in the Toyon Uyalakh area, and in 2002 – on the territory of the reindeer herding brigade "Berkicheh" of the Municipal Unitary Enterprise "Pobeda". Unfortunately, after the death of the headmaster, the work stopped.

In 2002, the ethnoecological nomadic camp "Harpanga" (Evensk. "The first rays of the sun") at the Ulakhan-Chistai secondary school, which is currently operating.

The main part

The process of reducing the knowledge of the native language began in the 1950s and 1960s. During this period, gross mistakes were made in the national language policy.

In the Momsky district of the Yakut ASSR under consideration, Evens mostly lived at a distance of 300-400 km from the district center, and they were so scattered that the distance between some settlements reached 1000 km ^{[3, p. 3]}. So, part of the Evens of the Eselyakh nasleg lived in the village of Sasyr, part in the village of Buor-Sysyy, Dogdo-Chybagalakhsky in the Ortho-Doydun nasleg, part moved to the village of Kubergenya of the Aby district.

The expansion of the boarding school system with the teaching of children of the peoples of the North exclusively in Russian aggravated the situation with the deplorable state of the Even language, led to a decline in the prestige of the native language and a sharp reduction in its social functions, i.e., to its gradual withdrawal from everyday use. This was one of the main reasons for the current plight of the peoples of Siberia, the North and the Far East. It is believed that boarding schools have led to a weakening, and often to a break in the connection of generations ^{[2, p. 118]}, but one cannot fully agree with this statement. For example, in Yamal, local authorities did not forbid children to communicate in their native language, there was no harsh pressure on children.

   The absence of a speech environment leads to the underdevelopment of the language ^{[6, p. 41]}. So, the Even language lost its importance in everyday life, under the pressure of external circumstances, people stopped speaking their own language. Only reindeer herders who lead a nomadic lifestyle preserved their native language; they became islands where the Even language had its use and purpose. Also, many children, for a number of reasons, who roamed with their parents, retained their language, culture and skills in traditional types of farming.

Particular attention is drawn to the depressing picture of ignorance of the native language by the northern peoples. Thus, out of 22383 Evens (Lamuts) living in the Russian Federation, only 5538 people speak their native language, i.e. 25% ^{[5, p. 89]}.

There are several reasons that influenced the process of reducing the assimilation of the native language by the peoples of Siberia, the North and the Far East. Firstly, it is the above-mentioned translation of nomadic peoples into a settled lifestyle; secondly, at the moment people have a prevailing opinion that without knowledge of Russian (for urban and living in the centers of districts) and Yakut (for living in remote settlements) languages it is impossible to be a cultured person. At the same time, it does not take into account the fact that ignorance of the native language, especially for a person living in his ethnic environment, is a convincing proof of the lack of culture and self–esteem; thirdly, schoolchildren often have problems in teaching their native language due to the fact that there are different dialects in different localities, and children do not understand what is written in textbooks. Therefore, the assimilation of educational material by students has certain difficulties.

Taking into account the above, the following practical steps were taken to achieve the specified goal of the nomadic camp: 1) teaching children their native language in a local dialect, in a natural environment; 2) studying local toponyms, names of vegetation in their connection with the indigenous language of the Evens; 3) immersing a new generation of Even children in the traditional communal lifestyle and in the ancestral occupations of their reindeer herders ^{[7, p. 23]}.

In 2002, at the request of the residents of the village of Sasyr, Momsky district, a place of compact residence of representatives of the indigenous small–numbered peoples of the North of the Evens, an ethnoecological nomadic camp "Harpanga" was organized. The teaching of the Even language in the camp was conducted by the teacher of Ulakhan-Chistai secondary school Evdokia Solovieva and the native speaker of the Even language Zoya Sadovnikova. They also taught the girls national sewing. In the process of learning to sew or embroider beads, the children, together with their mentors, learned Even songs.

During the work of the nomadic camp, a team of teachers and mentors applied the basic criteria for the general and personal development of children, and also carried out monitoring, including continuous observation, recording, correction by teachers of certain facts and phenomena in the course of the activities of pupils characterizing their traditional ethnic identity ^{[4, p. 32]}.

When teaching our native language at first, we noticed that children do not understand the spoken Even language. The students showed their textbooks by V.A. Robbek, N.I. Gladkova; we, in turn, showed these textbooks to native speakers of the Ulakhan-Chistai Nasleg language. It turned out that adults do not understand what is written in them. The fact is that all textbooks are published on the basis of the Olsky dialect, which is considered a literary language.

In the table we will consider a few words from the dialect of the Moma Evens living in the Dogdo-Chibagalakh and Ulakhan-Chistai naslegs.

      Comparative characteristics of Momsky Even dialects

* The Russian translation is taken from V.D. Lebedev's research ^{[3, p. 19]}.

A comparative analysis of Even words showed that there are different dialects within one district; in this regard, local residents do not understand the literary language based on the Olsky dialect.

Based on the above, we immediately refused to teach children from textbooks of the Even language.

It should be noted that Vasily Dmitrievich Lebedev (1934-1982), the first Even poet and scientist, at one time sought to ensure that textbooks of the Even language were issued taking into account various dialects.

A child, once in a nomadic camp, must decipher the language spoken by reindeer herders – native speakers of the Even language. The teaching of the native language in our camp was carried out as follows: the teacher and mentors showed the subjects, explained its Even name and how the subject is used, so that in the future the child could work with this material.

Toponyms play a huge role in the development of the Even language. The teachers explained the meaning of the word and told the legends associated with it. Children learned these words-toponyms very easily. Each locality in the Ulakhan-Chistai nasleg, in addition to the Yakut name, has an Even name. Each of them has its own semantics, i.e. each natural object is assigned its own meaning. For example, passing by the Kinikich River (Evensk. "Water coming out of the ground"), children learn from the mentor's stories that two shamans once argued in this area, and that the river comes out of the ground, and sometimes, despite clear weather, a thunderstorm with lightning can descend ^{[1, p. 9]}. The children easily remembered the names of the places where the nomadic camp's movement route took place, and not only learned the meaning of the name, but also learned about places unsafe for people and deer.

In order to teach children the Even language, teachers sometimes spend huge efforts, because children must not only memorize words, but also break them into parts and be able to compose whole sentences with their help.

When raising children, the Evens focus on the development of his memory. To do this, they show the reception once, sometimes twice. Even a young person should have good sensory abilities, i.e. he needs to see and hear well, while being able to process the information received.

Teachers also paid attention to the development of fine motor skills of the hands, so the girls worked with beads, and the guys wove a rope. 

The experience of a nomadic camp can be applied in any conditions. To do this, it is not necessary to constantly move around, you can also organize a stationary camp in which children will have the opportunity to learn their native language and culture. The first condition of such a camp is the distance from the settlement. Children should be artificially removed from civilization, this ensures their concentration on the process of daily work and learning. The pupils of the nomadic camp "Harpanga" (2002) always note at a meeting that during their stay in the camp they learned to work in nomadic conditions, which was useful in the future.

Conclusion

In recent years, interest in the problems of the North has been increasing in many scientific disciplines. Scientists note that the living conditions of the studied peoples have deteriorated significantly in the last 15-20 years. The most tragic thing that can happen to the indigenous northern peoples is that their language, history, and traditional way of life can disappear forever. The mission of the modern generation is to ensure that life in the North continues in its traditional rhythm and pace. Our task is to preserve the native language and original culture, traditional types of management and lifestyle of Northerners. When studying native culture, it is necessary to adhere to an indigenous approach (Indigenous Methodology) aimed at enriching science with the worldview and experience of indigenous peoples, interpretation of a deep vision of the interests and prospects of these peoples by their own scientists in order to adapt research approaches in favor of indigenous peoples and solve precisely those problems that concern the aboriginal population itself.

One of the ways to solve this problem is the organization of temporary children's associations – nomadic camps, which provide for the complete immersion of children in the traditional way of life and their in-depth acquaintance with the way of life, traditions and culture of their people.  The activity of this type of camps leads to a positive result in the traditional upbringing of the younger generation of the indigenous peoples of the North. This experience can be applied by many ethnic groups, which will make it possible to preserve the original culture of the small peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East.