ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the electronic devices used to safeguard Siberian traditional cultures and languages. It explains the reasons for the modern cultural and linguistic decline (Soviet policy, globalisation, issues of native language teaching). It stresses the important interrelations between the preservation of the natural environment and the protection of culture and language. The chapter then examines Evenki community-driven experiences led by the first two authors in successful and unsuccessful initiatives to preserve Indigenous culture and language. It proves that tools of globalisation (new information technologies: social networks, smartphone applications, online databases and modern music) can create an e-learning environment that helps to protect and revitalise Evenki language and culture. It also stresses the crucial role played by Indigenous youth in urban environments. The chapter continues with recent recommendations from Evenki scholars to improve the teaching of their language and proposes comparisons with other experiences in the Arctic and elsewhere in the world. It ends with a discussion of the interactions between scholars and native communities in Siberia.
