A.A. Burykin

Materials On Languages And Folklore Of Native Small Peoples Of The North, Siberia And The Far East In The Collections Of The Phonogrammarchive Of The Institute Of Russian Literature Institute Of Linguistic Research Of The Russian Academy Of Science, Saint Petersburg (The Pushkin House): Experience Of The Analysis And Problem Of Studying

Burykin, Alexei Alexeevich

Changes in ethnic culture of small peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation not only transform the ethnic culture itself, but radically change system of life values of these peoples. Alongside with asquisitions in this process, there are observed also the losses, from what, as it is well known, native languages and verbal folklore suffer first of all,. The sphere of activity of native languages is being narrowed up to a minimum, and the sphere of functioning of traditional folklore becomes isolated deeply inside the sphere of use of native languages as also perception of folklore at a level of tradition, and studying of folklore as the phenomenon of verbal art demands the highest language competence of the environment of users of ethnic language – this competence should come nearer to the competence of the performer and at those compatriots who listen to performance of folklore product by the expert and the keeper of traditions of oral literature, and at that collector who fixes the samples of folklore, processes and translates them, thus making them accessible to other researchers and readers speaking another language. Without exaggeration it is possible to tell, that the sphere of folklore is unique mean of maintenance of the highest level of the language competence among all users of language – either among ethnic users, or among experts who in this respect for a long time are initiated amidst the keepers of traditional ethnic folklore irrespective of the fact, whether their colleagues – linguists, specialists in folklore and ethnographers or other representatives of ethnos in the greater degree distanced from language and traditional culture of ethnos, than those who is engaged in languages and ethnography, recognize this fact.

For anybody it is not a secret, that already today experts on languages and folklore of small peoples of the North of the Russian Federation lack materials on languages and folklore of these peoples. Every year it becomes more and more difficult to write down new folklore texts. Many collectors, in particular those who belongs to small peoples of the North, having disappointed in expectations to find any volumetric and bright epic products among the representatives of these peoples, reduce their collecting activity and by that they miss the last opportunity to fix the displays of contemporary alive folklore tradition, when it is represented by not prestigious samples – the short fairy tales already known in variants, legends, oral stories. Among many peoples the small genres of folklore – riddles, interdictions, proverbs, sayings, figurative phraseological expressions, instructions, superstitions nowadays are almost completely lost. Good experts on traditional folklore named these forms “verbal garbage” because of what it was sometimes difficult to establish, if the given forms of folklore still exist, though they have already left their active functioning. If to aim to analyse the total amount of the published records of samples of folklore of small peoples of the North of the Russian Federations made in XX century, it appears oppressively small. It will look especially small for those field researchers, who began their work from 1970s. Those years at work with informants born in 1900-х1910-years, perfectly owning languages and excellently knowing traditional folklore, it was possible to see those really great opportunities for record of samples of folklore of peoples of the North of the Russian Federation which the scientists working with languages and folklore of these peoples in 40-th-70-th years of XX century had – but they, to our big regret, for the different reasons have not taken advantage of these opportunities.

So minor prospect concerning sources of updating of our knowledge in traditional folklore of peoples of the North and new texts in disappearing languages which we, researchers of the beginning of XXI century, have in front of our eyes, puts some problems before us. First, it induces to address to a history of a science with intention to find out the reason why during gold time of performing traditions the researchers paid so small attention to collecting activity. Second, the searches of unknown texts force us to address to archival materials which have not been claimed yet by experts. Third, one more problem facing to new generation of researchers is a characteristic of a history of a science, in particular, illumination of a history of formation of the stored archival assemblies and selfless activity of those scientists whose materials are saved up in the archives and nowadays are accessible to studying.

The offered work is called to present to the attention of experts and all interested persons the review of sound materials on languages and folklore of native small peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East to Russia, which are stored in the Phonogrammarchive of Institute of Russian literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Science (IRLI) [1].The considered collections include records on the phonographic platens, executed in 1900-1930s, and tape recordings, relating to 1950-1990s. Assembly of audiomaterials in the Phonogrammarchive of IRLI are closely connected to the history of field researches of languages and cultures of small peoples of the North of the Russian Federation, and with activity of various institutions in the sphere of education of the peoples of the North and cultural construction in northern regions, and with a history of Phonogrammarchive itself and those scientific institutes of Petrograd – Leningrad –Saint-Peretsburg in structure of which the collections of sound recordings in languages of peoples of the North of the Russian Federation were kept and accumulated.

The earliest phonographic records stored in the funds of Phonogrammarhive of IRLI concern to the beginning of 1900s and belong to V.I. Jochelson who wrote down on a phonograph the folklore of Yakuts, Koryaks, Itelmens, Evens and Aleuts. Later, in 1910s, the folklore of Evenki was recorded by L.Ja. Schternberg and S.M. Shirokogorov whose collections make the gold fund of the Phonogrammarhive of IRLI. The materials collected by them concern to Eastern Siberia and the Far East of Russia. Today their phonographic collections allow us to look at the scientific activity of these scholars in a new fashion, and in the greater measure positively to estimate their activity and to appreciate insight of founders of ethnography of peoples of Siberia, who have seen the big future in phonographic records of folklore and ceremonial practice of peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of Russia.

The earliest records from funds of the Phonogrammarhive of IRLI on peoples of the European North and Western Siberia.- it is G.D. Fedorov's records on folklore of Komi and Nenets, made in 1914, and the records of V.I. Anuchin, made in 1908 relating to Kets and Selkups (the Taz Ostyaks). The rich assembly of phonographic records of samples of folklore of peoples of southern Siberia and Altai made by A.V. Anokhin relates to 1910s. After these records there comes a long break in chronology of collections of the Phonogrammarhive the reasons of which are clear to all who know Russian history…

The work on recording the audiomaterials on the folklore of peoples of the North in Leningrad begins again in the second half of 1920s. At that time there begins the work of such experts on ethnic musicology as Z.V. Evald and V.V. Gippius, who have brought in the big contribution to collecting samples of traditional musical, song and to some extent narrative and ceremonial folklore of peoples of the North of Russia. Later S.D. Magid begins the same work During this period the experts named above conduct records among representatives of peoples of the North, visitors to Leningrad for to study in Institute of peoples of the North, and also go to the expedition to the places of residing of these peoples – to the European North to Nenets and Saami, to Western Siberia to Khanty and Mansi. Simultaneously with work of the Leningrad musicologists who conducted the active collecting work on recording samples of musical and verbal folklore of peoples of the North the same work was being done by the teachers and students of the Moscow State Conservatory, and the materials collected by them nowadays also are stored in the Phonogrammarhive of IRLI. During the same period the ethnographers and linguists continue their collecting work – so, in Phonogrammarchive of IRLI there is kept the collection of the phonographic cylinders written down by V.K. Steinitz during his trip to Khanty-Mansi National Territory. At that time there was created also the documental basis of Manuscript fund the of Phonogrammarhive of IRLI, where there are stored the texts of phonographic recordings and their translations into Russian, and also as it is represented, various text materials which were prepared for sound recording, but have not been written down in oral performance, or possibly they were written down, but recordings corresponding to them were consequently lost. The texts and documents of Manuscript fund of the Phonogrammarhive of IRLI make especially valuable source of materials on the languages, folklore and the early literature of peoples of the North.

If to speak about what role of sound materials of Phonogrammarchive of IRLI for studying the literature and culture of peoples of the North of the Russian Federation in 30-th-50-th years of XX century here it is necessary to tell about some findings which surprise even good experts in these subjects. Among the phonographic records the voices of Evenki poets A. Platonov and N. Sakharov, of the founder of Even literature N. Tarabukin, of Even writer V. Sleptsov have been found. In assembly of the Phonogrammarchive there are 3 records, read to the phonograph by the Udehe writer Dzhansi Kimonko, some records of Nanai poet Akim Samar and writer Bogdan Hodzher. In several collections we find the records of a voice of the Chukchee poet and artist M. Vukvol, and also the melodies which have been written down from two known public figures of Chukotka – I.I. Ashkamakin and P.N. Otke. In one of collections there is a phonographic record of Khanty poet Dm. Tebetev, and in hand-written fund – some variants of the text to this record on Khanty language with Russian translation (it is probable, one of them – the autograph of the author, on the other one there is V. Steinitz's signature). The valuable contribution to collecting and studying of folklore of peoples of the North of the Russian Federation to 1930s are the collections of Nenets and Saami folklore, materials from which were processed for the project “800 songs of peoples of the USSR” - the project has not been carried out, but the materials as sound recordings with dechifering the text and Russian translation are nowadays accessible to researchers.

In the end of the 1930s - the beginning of the 1940s in collecting and research work which was conducted on the basis of collections of Phonogrammarchive IRLI, there comes the interruption connected with war. This work starts again in 1945, but it has not so intensive character, as begore. Nevertheless as a result of work of employees of Phonogrammarchive B.M. Dobrovolsky and V.V. Korguzalov in Phonogrammarchive there appears the collection № 268 in which the materials which have been recorded in 1955-56 from the students of faculty of peoples of Far North Leningrad State Pedagogical Institute named after A.I. Hertzen are concentrated. These materials have been prepared and written down in reply to inquiry of one of the Belgian organizations about a condition of traditional folklore of peoples of the North in the USSR. Accordingly we can be firmly convinced that if there was no such inquiry, we would not have this collection in Phonogrammarchive and this collection now makes an ornament of fund of materials on languages of peoples of the North as even those tape recordings of the folklore of peoples of the North, concerning to this and later time which are available at the order of researchers of languages and folklore of these peoples, did not reach and do not reach the Phonogrammarchive.. Records of this collection are executed on a magnetic tape and differ from phonographic records by high quality. In the structure of this collection there are records of voices of Elena Grigorjevny Susoj (nowadays the candidate of pedagogical sciences, the author of some textbooks of the Nenets language, the known performer of Nenets songs), Lyubov Prokopyevna Komarova-Nenyang, the famous Nenets poetess and the writer, Lyudmila Ivanovna Ajnana, the best expert in the field of a technique of teaching of the Eskimo language and one of the best experts on the Eskimo language today, the teacher, the scientist and Mansi poetesses Matrena Pankratjevna Vahrusheva-Balandina. In this collection there are the records of the talented Evenki singer and poet Afanasy Khromov. In structure of hand-written documents to this collection there are ready text materials to the anthology of dialects of Khanty and Mansi languages, prepared by A.N. Balandin and M.P. Vahrusheva-Balandina and representing records of samples of folklore on various dialects of these languages, however is far from being all from these texts are available in archive in the sounded kind. Probably, for any reasons this interesting project has not been carried out completely.

If to speak about collections of sound recordings of samples of the languages and folklore of peoples of the North concerning to 1960-1990 years it is necessary to begin that in Phonogrammarchive there is insultingly little number of such records. We have in Phonogrammarchive some assemblies of samples epic and song folklore of Nenets, made with A.M. Shcherbakova with participation of the employees of Phonogrammarchive B.M. Dobrovolsky and V.V. Korguzalov. Materials of these collections are well documentary, the recordings of texts were made on magnetic tape, and the part of records has hand-written texts of folklore products accompanying them in Nenets language with translation into Russian. Among the assemblies of Phonogrammarchive there is a collection № 489, written down by the Moscow researchers in 1978 in Taimyr and reflecting enormous riches of folklore of Nganasans and Dolgans. It is, obviously, the richest assembly of audiomaterials on Nganasan folklore, however it remains raw. Collections of the end of 1980s - beginning of 1990s on folklore of peoples of Siberia are represented by the records of I.A. Bogdanov (Brodsky) in 1977-1982 and E.E. Alekseev in 1990-1991.

The brief description of collections of Phonogrammarchive of IRLI on the languages of native small peoples of the North of the Russian Federation is given in the table enclosed to present article. This table allows to make representation about the volume of materials on separate ethnoses, about collectors of samples of folklore on these or those peoples, about the time of collecting of materials, and those genres of folklore which are represented and prevail in this or that collection.

The assembly of audiomaterials on the languages and folklore of Phonogrammarchive of IRLI has the specificity connected not only with interests of its employees and collectors which were engaged basically not so much narrative and in general in verbal folklore, but with the studying of ethnic misic, and also with features of application of the sound recording equipment to fixing those or other genres of folklore. The first collectors using a phonograph in the work, used to record with its help basically that samples, that it was impossible to write down by hand – songs and melodies, shamanistic rituals accompanied with chanting, they preferred to write the prosaic folklore on a paper by hand. The next generation of collectors and researchers used a phonograph in the same purposes as verbal texts, as well as at collectors of the beginning of XX century, were fixed first of all on a paper. Since second half 1950s when the tape recorder has come in use of collectors and opportunities for a sound recording in field conditions have immeasurably extended, the quantity of the records transmitted to a different sorts archives, has not increased, though during this period it was really possible to write down much more materials, than it has been made, even if these materials and have been left in the inheritance to the subsequent generation of linguists and specialists in folklore. However, during this period there became obvious the ways of fixing and processing of folklore materials which researchers of first half and the middle of XX century used and there was boldly designated the comparison of strategy of collectors of different generations. [2]

If, developing the mentioned theme to start to analyze the collecting work and publishing activity of scientists from the environment of radical peoples of the North as specialists in folklore the picture here will be sad already and in historical prospect. Even those scientists from among peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East who was born in 1920s-1930s, already in any way have not proved in work with sounding samples of folklore though could recommend itself as good experts on the native language. The subsequent generation of scientists from this environment, apparently, could not already think about serious work with folklore of native peoples – and it strengthened a general impression that the folklore of peoples of the North of Russia died away and disappeared, while two generations of experts and carriers of folklore tradition and two generations of scientists from the environment of peoples of the North could not break the language barrier which has arisen because of insufficient knowledge of the native language by young representatives of native peoples.

Undoubtedly, any materials on folklore and languages of peoples of the North of Russia, collected in the last century, and especially in its first half, represent special value for us. At the same time it is clear, that for studying language there are the most valuable the samples of narrative prosaic folklore, and for studying the traditional culture – the ceremonial records. Therefore below we shall result quotations from the Catalogue of northern collections of Phonogrammarchive of IRLI, containing sendings to the corresponding materials and their brief. first of all the quantitative characteristic:

In the Collection. № 20 (L.Ja. Shternberg's materials) there is the Nanai myth, the Negidal story “The Legend about the person marrying to the daughter of a dawn”, Nivkh fairy tale “Tutun” and Nivkh “shamanistic fairy tale”.

In The Collection. №21 (S.M. Shirokogorova's recordings) are available four Evenki fairy tales.

The Collection. №22 – (S.D. Majnagashev's Khakass recordings) consists almost entirely of shamanistic rites.

In The Collection №23 (S.M. Shirokogorov's recordings from Orochons) there are available two shamanistic rites.

The Collection. №25 (S.D. Majnagashev's recordings from different groups of Khakases) also almost completely will consist from shamanistic records.

In The Collection №26, gathered by I.I. Suslov at the Evenki and Kets, about half of recordings relate to shamanistic materials.

In The Collection №27 (G.D. Fedorov's recordings) there are available two Nenets heroic fairy tales.

In The Collection №29, V.I. Iohelsona containing the Yakut record, submits Yakut fairy tale “Churupcha”.

In The Collection №30 (A.N. Lipsky's records from Altaians) there is one sample of the epos.

In The Collection №31 (N.K. Karger's Ket records) besides other materials there is one fairy tale and the set of shamanistic records.

In The Collection№32 (D.N. Anuchin’s and J.Strozhetsky's records from the Yakuts) there are represented one record of olonkho and shaman’s rite.

In The Collection №33 (V.I. Jochelson's records with prevalence of Itelmen materials) there are present eight Itelmen fairy tales.

In the structure of Collection №34, (materials of V.I. Jochelson) consisting of records from Aleuts, there are available not less than 15 fairy tales and samples of prose of Aleuts

Among the materials from the Collection №35, relating to various peoples of the North of the Russian Federation, there are not less than 10 shamanistic records.

In the structure of Collection № 63, (A.V. Anokhin) consisting of records, concerning to Turkic peoples of Southern Siberia, there are available at least two shamanistic rites.

In The Collection. № 65 (Ket recordings of V.I. Anuchin) there are represented not less than eight Ket shamanistic rites.

In The Collection. №74, gathered by N.M. Kovjazin at Evenki, among various records there is presented one Evenki shamanistic rite.

In The Collection. № 84 (S.G. Kozin's materials on Nivkh and Nanai) there is one Nivkh fairy tale and nine Nivkh shamanistic rites.

The Collection. № 94 (S.M. Shirokogorov's Evenki materials) contains not less than sixteen shamanistic records.

The Collection. № 95, consisting from Nivkh materials, contains two shamanistic records.

The Collection. №112, the collected S.M. Shirokogorov at Evenki, includes records several (not less than two) shamanistic rites, located on many cylinders.

The Collection № 124 (E.V. Gippius's records) includes among other three Mansi shamanistic rites.

In The Collection. № 126, the collected S.D. Magid from students - Evenki, there are present four Evenki shamanistic records.

The Collection. № 127 (V.K. Stejnitz's records from Khanty) contains alongside with other materials two fairy tales and four shamanistic records.

In The Collection. № 133, containing materials on folklore of different peoples in E.V. Gippiusa's records, there are available one Udehe fairy tale and one Nanai shamanistic rite.

The Collection. № 146, Z.V. Evald and A.P. Pyrerki consisting of records, includes four samples of the Nenets epos.

In structure Koll. №206, the collected S.D. Magid from the students representing different peoples, is present one volumetric Even legend (it is the first audio recording of the epos of the Okhotsk Evens), and also Evenki and Koryak shamanistic records.

In The Collection. №268, describing the existing of folklore of different peoples of the North of Russia in 1950s, there are fragments of Yakut olonkho (scoring of the printed text).

In The Collection. № 436 there is at least one Nenets fairy tale.

In The Collection. № 437 two are represented Mansi fairy tales.

In structure Koll. № 449 contain Yakut Olonkhos (obviously, fragments) and one Ket shamanistic tune.

Among materials The Collection. № 469 there are two fragments of Yakut olonkho and Yakut shamanistic rite.

In The Collection. № 489, being the richest assembly of Nganasan folklore, there are present the epos, fairy tales and shamanistic rites of Nganasans.

The Collection. № 490, containing records of samples of folklore of Altaians, gives samples of the epos, prose and one shamanistic rite.

In The Collection. № 491 alongside with various materials there are three fragments of Yakut olonkhos.

In The Collection. № 492 among other four stories about Evenki shamans are represented.

In the structure Koll. № 493 among the records reflecting the existence of different genres of the Yakut folklore, are available Yakut olonkhos, toyuks (poems), shamanistic records (totally about 10)

In The Collection № 494 where A.V. Anokhina's records on Turkic peoples of Siberia are concentrated, there are fifteen shamanistic records.

In The Collection. № 514 there are two epic songs without a designation of a genre in Nenets, there are one song - khynabc and two prosaic stories, probably, legends.

In The Collection. № 515 are present one Nenets fairy tale, one khynabc and six epic songs from which one is designated as syudbabc.

In The Collection. № 516 four Nenets epic songs syudbabc, four songs khynabc and seven songs yarabc are stored.

In The Collection. № 517 there are eight Nenets songs yarabc.

In The Collection. № 519 among other materials there are two Saami fairy tales and two Udehe ritual melodies.

That in the Collections of Phonogrammarchive there are no either old, or new materials on Enets, Yukagir, Oroch, Orok, Ulcha languages is possible to complain, there are no materials on a lot of endangered dialects, very little or nearly so there are no text materials on Chukchee, Koryak, Eskimo, Nivkh, Even, Nanai languages. But the real history a history of studying of languages and folklore of peoples of the North where there are reflected not only available achievements and results, but alongside with it and really available, but the missed opportunities for collecting folklore and the sizes of those cultural losses which by virtue of the different reasons have incurred these peoples and scientific disciplines studying their languages and ethnography.

If to address to a history of studying of collections of Phonogrammarchive IRLI on the peoples of the North it is necessary to mention that the first full catalogue of these collections was made only in 2002-2005, and work on it still is going on. But one of important stages in studying these collections and their cataloguing there was work of the Finnish scientist Yarkko Niemi – the expert on ethnic music of peoples of the North of Russia who result the list of materials typed on an old printer of the end of 1980s - beginning of the 1990s are kept in Phonogrammarchive together with old inventories of phonographic materials.

Today audiomaterials of Phonogrammarchive of IRLI remain a valuable source for musicologists, historians of culture of peoples of the North of Russia, ethnographers. With their help we can receive the important information of ethnolinguistic character, the technique of studying of phonographic records of shamanistic rites – to a word is fulfilled, it is almost the same which was used by researchers in the beginning of 1930s whose handwritten materials are stored in Phonogrammarchive among written documents (Manuscript fund), with that only a difference, that now we have an opportunity to compare an audio record of shamanistic rite with the verbal description of such rite from any ethnographic source and to analyze similarities and distinctions in sound picture of ritual. Unfortunately, it is the most difficult to decipher verbal texts and to translate them into Russian. One researcher cannot know to the same extent almost 30 languages, materials on which are available in Phonogrammarchive of IRLI, and it appears practically impossible to find three tens of researchers, everyone of whom would own in perfection at least one of “endangered” languages,. It is especially annoying, that there are inaccessible to researchers the materials on such disappearing languages, as Aleutian, Ket, Selkup, Nganasan, Nivkh, Itelmen, Saami. This fact directs at sad reflections about, where and as it is necessary to prepare the staff of experts on languages and folklore of peoples of the North. It is quite clear, that preparation of a teachers’ level in the field of the native language for representatives of peoples of the North in pedagogical universities does not provide necessary knowledge of the native language for the work with folklore texts, especially with audio recordings. This is necessary to tell and about preparation of experts - philologists on branches of the theory of linguistics and of mathematical linguistics of leading universities of Russia from which very few people masters appropriated language in perfection – though such was the tradition of domestic Siberian linguistic studies. It is insulting to look how problems of studying of languages, folklore and cultures of peoples of the North more and more become attached to a level of the language competence of experts, and this level, as we can observe, becomes lower and lower from one generation of scholars to other generation. At first sight this process is undistinguished on a background of activity of linguists - experts on the Siberian languages, is especial in regions of residing of peoples of the North. However, if to look narrowly more attentively at the priorities it becomes visible, that interests of linguists – specialists in Northern languages more and more concentrate on such questions as language contacts, questions of typology of languages, experimental - phonetic researches, superficial problems of sociolinguistics, - on all volume that does not demand good mastery of a language. Field work of linguists is reduced to asking questions to the informants about their language with use of Russian as means of dialogue regardless of the fact what is the subject of interestss of linguist – grammar or lexicon, already without a due estimation of the language competence of informants. In regions of residing of peoples of the North the same process has two forms of course – or this narrowing of research problems of languages of indigenous peoples, or incredibly slowed down time of execution of the tasks nominally adequate to modern level of science, but doomed on backlog from it.

The same, namely attachment of actual problems of training the languages to a that real level of possession to languages which is shown nowadays by teachers and the experts working with the educational literature, and in a technique of training to native languages of peoples of the North of Russia and in drawing up of textbooks – here we see enough concerning new manuals for primary school, but manuals of such type which do not demand the perfect possession of languages and are mostly compilative (for example, thematic and picture dictionaries of small volume, reprinting of manuals) while manuals for the high school, demanding good knowledge of northern language and skills of using it in writing, are created with improbable works and more often are made by means of glue and scissors of ready texts: an example – the textbooks on Even literature for 5-9 classes, made by the Even poet and teacher V.S. Kejmetinov-Bargachan. Here already evidently is visible how the level of a condition of a science is reflected in a condition of languages and folklore of peoples of the North of Russia, and it not only becomes unpromising concerning revival of languages and traditional culture of these peoples, but, on the contrary, promotes the further deterioration of their condition. In it one of the reasons of absence of textbooks in the native languages of peoples of the North for the higher school – there is no anybody to write them. Anybody from potential authors to the right degree does not know native or taught language … Such tutorials can be still made by means of glue and scissors, but they already cannot be written.

It is possible and it is necessary to tell that in relation to the savings and developments of traditional folklore of peoples of the North, despite of all attention to this question in northern regions, sometimes there are large miscalculations at a level of the regional legislation. Some years ago The territorial Duma of Khanty-Mansi territory have passed of autonomous region the law on folklore of native peoples of territory. We shall not discuss here this law in details though it is necessary to tell that it essentially limits the opportunities of occupations in this area for the experts living outside Khanty-Mansi autonomous territory, but within the limits of Russia (foreign visitors unequivocally will be welcomed there). The most important for us is the following: the definition of folklore in this law begins not with habitual for specialists in folklore concepts of a fairy tale, the legend, a myth, that is with forms of verbal narrative folklore, and it begins from dance and songs – from the forms forming separate kinds of folk art, investigated by ethnography and ethnical music studies. Such legislative fastening of cultural priorities renders serious impact on preservation of traditional verbal folklore and on preservation of that high degree of possession by languages of indigenous population, which cannot be provided on any other way, than maintenance and propagation of verbal folklore. It is possible to tell and that the law on folklore all the same will not work on protection of interests and ambitions of the local scientific staff as extensive records of samples of folklore of Khanty and Mansi, made by the Hungarian and Finnish scientists in the XIX-beginning of XX centuries. (B. Munkáchi, A. Reguli, J. Papai, K. Karjalajnen, H. Paasonen, A. Kannisto and others) and published by their scientific followers, repeatedly surpass everything what was made in XX century in the country where these peoples live, and they will for ever stay accessible to scientists of all countries and regions. It is indicative, that foreign scientific schools find resources of experts for work with the oldest archival materials in languages of peoples of Russia, while in Russia, where these languages are the title or official ones, this problem does not find the decision. Clearly, that is possible and necessary to support “masters of folklore” and keepers of traditions of a folk art, and very good, that it is being done. But it is necessary to face the truth – such two or three dance masters, supported by Khanty-Mansi local law in an environment from four-five so-called experts with diplomas of “ethnoculturologists” after short time will form around themselves the burnt space concerning traditional verbal folklore and the native language. We shall note, that in Yakutia where it is much done for development of title language and culture of title people, care of the olonkhosuts-executors of traditional verbal folklore of people Sakha (Yakuts), since 1980s years is stipulated specially.

By the way, the similar thing was observed concerning studying languages of peoples of the North 50 or 30 years ago. In those individual areas of a science where the tandem from “the leading scientist” took place and the representative of the peoples of the North, what made, for example, A.P. Pyrerka and N.M. Tereshchenko in studying Nenets language, V.A. Avrorin and S.N. Onenko with reference to Nanai language, P.Ja.Skorik and P.I. Inenlikej concerning Chukchee language (such examples can be increased), and for that time the personnel question in a science was considered successfully closed – there today there is no any trace from the former scientific school, these fields of knowledge become scientific desert, today they are deserted and extremely discomfortable for experts of the following generations coming there.

Certainly, in studying and in the edition of folklore of native peoples of the North not everything is so sad. Today the work above the edition of a 60-volume series “ Monuments of folklore of peoples of Siberia and the Far East ” to which volumes audio records of folklore are applied, successfully goes on. Certainly, the big advantage of the left volumes of this series is that in them archival records of folklore of radical peoples of Siberia find reflection, made in first half XX centuries or in 60-ies70ies and by that these materials are entered in a scientific revolution. But studying of a material of the left volumes of this series directs at ideas that their structure anyhow shades deficiency concerning late records of samples of folklore of peoples of Siberia, those records which could be carried out with the help of modern technical means and are made by current generation of experts.

One more problem arising at work with archival materials on languages and folklore of peoples of the North is a problem of the edition of deciphered, processed and the translated texts. In application to the materials stored in Phonogrammarchive of IRLI, the given problem has not found the decision though a number of the listened records quite could be deciphered by efforts of participants of work with these materials.

The audiomaterials of Phonogrammarchive IRLI on folklore and languages of native peoples of the North of Russia are not only the valuable source of the information in conditions of constant restriction of its volume, and not only a monument of a history of a science in which it is reflected as in a mirror. Nowadays the preliminary results of their studying create the major precedent for studying all archival audiomaterials and text materials on folklore of peoples of the North, dissociated nowadays in different establishments and private assemblies and determine the prospects of this work. At the same time the problems arising in this area connected directly with a condition of languages of native peoples of the North of the Russian Federation and a science about these languages, cannot be regarded as a disturbing signal and serve as the warning in formation of strategy of development of a federal and regional language policy, a policy in the field of culture and science, those scientific disciplines which have straight connection with formation interethnic relations in the Russian North, a condition of these relations and prospect of their development.

Appendix

Index of the “Northern” collections of the IRLI Phonogrammarchive

References

1. Studying of records was carried out in 2003-2005 under the Russian - Dutch project “Voices of tundra and a taiga” (heads Prof. Т. de Graaf and Prof. L.V. Bondarko.) See: A.A. Burykin, A.Kh. Girfanova, A.Ju. Kastrov, Ju.I. Marchenko, N.D. Svetozarova, V.P. Shiff. Kollektsii narodov Severa v Fonogrammarkhive Pushkinskogo Doma. SPb., 2005. [ back ]
2. In the beginning of 1980s Elena Pavlovna Lebedeva, one of known experts on languages and folklore folklore of Tungus-Manchu peoples repeatedly warned the author of use of the tape recorder for recording of folklore materials and insisted on, that written down texts (it is preferable – written by hand) would be necessarily translated with the participation of the performer or the adviser. At this moment E.P.Lebedeva referred to destiny of tape recordings of Nanai folklore made by V.A. Avrorin. In her stories, V.A. Avrorin, having disappointed in the opportunity to decipher these records, gave them to the speaker of the Nanai language S.N. Onenko, who, having heard these records some times, has given them to other Nanai linguist – N.B. Kile. Now the site and destiny of these materials are unknown. [ back ]

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