Attitudes

The two major linguistic communities in Siberia are the indigenous groups and the Russians. As we have discussed, the native groups form a very diverse collection, but they share many commonalities. These include traditional reliance on subsistence economy, small populations usually concentrated in villages, cultural and spiritual relationship with the environment, geographic isolation and “historical experience of marginalization, exclusion, dispossession and state paternalism” (RAIPON & INFOE 2008). On the other hand, the Russians, though themselves quite diverse, display relative linguistic and cultural homogeneity, and are decidedly on the opposite end of this unfortunate history.

Attitudes of native groups are sometimes defeatist in nature. For example, Tofa, a Turkic language of Central Siberia, is currently moribund, as children are not actively learning it. They traditionally relied on reindeer herding for survival, but since the Soviet times this economic pattern is in decline, and the Tofa are integrating into larger Russian society. A member of the last Tofalar herding family, Mitya Amostayev, states that “I don’t speak Tofa at all, not a single word. What for?” (Harrison 2003). The Tofa language is specially adapted to the life of raising reindeer, and when the two seem to be dying together. Village doctor Raisa Kishteeva laments that “our children no longer know the taste of reindeer milk”, and goes on to say that “I spoke only Tofa with my grandmother. Nowadays I can’t even remember our language, only a few words.” (Harrison). In situations like these, indigenous groups feel sadness that their culture and language are fading away, but at the same time feel a sense of acceptance that the modern world is moving forward without them, and that assimilation into Russian culture is their only viable option.

On the other hand, some groups proudly and strongly hold on to their ethno-linguistic identity, even if their language has already gone extinct. Vakhtin (1998) mentions a group called the Chuvantsy, a mixed Yukaghir-Russian group whose language went extinct in the 19th century. From the 1890’s onward, they began to speak a “reconstructed” language with lexicon and grammar from several native languages (Yukaghir, Even, Chukchi) along with Russian. They consider this language distinct from Russian and other indigenous groups, and today “have developed a clear and proud sense of identity” (Vakhtin). Chuvanski is used in personal domains (friends, family) while Russian is used in official domains (work, trade). Though extinction looms for many languages, this example suggests that factors such as belief, heritage, environment, culture, and opposition to dominant populations can not only aid preservation, but resurrect formerly extinct or moribund languages, as happened with Cornish. Therefore, we can see that many Siberians are proud and happy to speak their own language.

As for the Russians, attitudes have often been unfavorable and discriminatory. The Harrison article notes that in Soviet times discrimination was rampant: people wearing traditional clothes who would walk into Russian-owned stores were told to “dress Russian, then come!” There were also official orders in Stalinist times discouraging speaking and singing in Tofa. Singing is a major part of Tofa as well as Tuva (a related Turkic group) culture, and so this constituted a major blow, leading to the diminishing of the language we see today. Despite early Soviet policies, many Russians retained contempt for native peoples, and treatment reflected this. The perception of Siberians in Russian culture for a very long time dwelt on their being “exotic” and “Asianized”. They were seen as needing civilization and guidance from Europeans to prosper, just like Native Americans in the United States or Aztecs in New Spain, and some Russians would call Siberia “Our Peru” or “Our Mexico” (Bassin). Eventually, when the economic benefits of the fur boom ran dry, Russians became even more contemptuous of Siberia. At a time when they looked to France and Germany as models of civilization and culture, Siberia was seen as useless and frightening. Siberia and its people “produced sorrowful feelings as a domain of eternal wind storms and snow… a dank and barren land, with gloomy penal mines” (Bassin). Soviet times would bring unfulfilled promise of equality and brotherhood, which never quite took hold among ethnic Russians.

Today, animosity exists between Russian business interests who seek to extract the vast natural resources of Siberia and the native peoples like the Khanty who seek to protect their sacred homeland. Furthermore, Russians grow up with lingering images of natives as backward people with a penchant for consuming psychoactive mushrooms. Though some people, especially academics, are involved with documenting and preserving these languages, most Russians are apathetic toward or unaware of the predicament of the Siberian peoples.

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