A creative meeting between the pupils of the school and Gennady Kelchin

Since 2020, Yamal has launched a dynamic project on translation of the works of Russian classical authors into the languages of the indigenous peoples of the North. Yamal holds the activities aimed at “preservation and promotion of the languages of the indigenous peoples of the North” on a permanent basis.

On April 23, 2022, a boarding school in the village of Aksarka, Priuralsky district, hosted a creative meeting between the pupils of the school and Gennady Kelchin, a member of the Union of Writers of Russia, a folklorist and translator of Russian fairy tales into the Khanty language.

More than 40 indigenous pupils of the boarding school, whose parents lead a nomadic lifestyle, and about 10 teachers got immersed into the history of the culture and language of the Khanty people.

At the meeting, Gennady Kelchin told about his projects for young readers published in the Khanty language, shared his creative plans, answered schoolchildren’s questions and presented them his collections of fairy tales, including “Favorite Fairy Tales for Little Northerners” (Ай няврэмат кеша лунаттыя лэсятам монсят) reprinted in Yamal in two languages – Khanty and Russian. The collection includes three artworks: “the Tale of the Golden Cockerel”, “the Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights” and “the Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda”. There are 500 copies printed. This collection of fairy tales expands the list of compilations translated by Gennady Kelchin earlier. Previously Gennady Kelchin worked with five fairy tales by Alexander Pushkin and “the Little Humpbacked Horse” by Pyotr Yershov and translated them from Russian into Khanty.

The books have been sent to Yamal libraries and schools and can be used by teachers in the Khanty language classes. The event took place within the framework of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.