Press releases

MINSK, 3 October (BelTA) – Fairy tales of Belarusian Siberians make a substantial part of folklore that is practically unknown to a wide audience and may disappear soon, BelTA learned from Oleg Rudakov, Deputy Chairman of the Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Belarusians in Russia, member of the Irkutsk Krivichy youth club.

Members of the club collect fairy tales during their ethnographic expeditions to Belarusian settlements in Irkutsk Oblast. They already could bring out a whole edition of fairy tales. “We have come up with the idea to publish fairy tales in a special almanac, but we do not have enough money for the project to get going. It could include legends and memories of first descendants of Belarusian settlers in Siberia,” Oleg Rudakov said.

Yelena Ovcharenko, assistant to the state secretary of Belarus-Russia Union State, promised to help with this idea. She suggested that one of radio stations friendly to the Standing Committee of the Belarus-Russia Union State could broadcast fairy tales of Belarusian Siberians.

Oleg Rudakov also said that the club members collect not only fairy tales and legends but also folk songs. They have already recorded three disks of songs. The work on the fourth one is underway.

About 300,000 Belarusian settlers arrived in Irkutsk Oblast in the early 20th century during the Stolypin agrarian reforms. Now about 50,000 Belarusian live in Irkutsk Oblast. According to Oleg Rudakov, their number has reduced due to the assimilation.

Belarusian and Russian journalists are taking part in the media tour “The Belarusian diaspora of Baikal region: authority, activities, uniqueness” in Irkutsk on 3-6 October. The media tour has been organized by the Standing Committee of the Belarus-Russia Union State, Belarus' National Press Center and the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency.