In the Magadan region, there are 39 tribal communities of indigenous peoples. The aboriginal people residing in the region lead a traditional lifestyle. They are involved in reindeer herding, hunting, marine hunting, fishing and harvesting of wild plants. The peoples also develop national arts and crafts and folklore.
The regional authorities pay special attention to studying native languages. The Northeastern State University trains teachers from the number of indigenous peoples of the North within the framework of the regional target program "Development of Education in the Magadan region."
"The value of culture and language is absolute. Moreover, the preservation of languages of the peoples is a tradition for Russia, - said Margarita Lyange. - This is our trend, which, unfortunately, does not exist in the rest of the world, where on the contrary, indigenous peoples were forced to speak a foreign language. I believe that any language is an enormous wealth, and we must never allow any of those languages to disappear. During the last 100 years, we have managed to preserve all languages, along with all the peoples, in contrast to the rest of the world, in contrast to Europe, by the way, too."
However, most young people have no interest in studying their native language. They are not interested in obtaining a profession that would be dedicated to teaching this language to others either. The regional Center of the North helps solving the problem, which accumulates the activity of the bearers of native languages and traditions to convey the knowledge to graduates of educational institutions in the region and students of North-Eastern State University. There are 100 people studying there.
"I think that the preservation of language, culture of any nation is extremely important, and one needs to continue this support, - leading researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Zoya Anaiban said. - It would be a mistake to stop working in this direction just because young people do not need it."