The Indigenous Voices App

The Buryat people, one of the largest Indigenous groups native to southeastern Siberia and residing near Lake Baikal—the world's deepest freshwater lake—have long faced colonial and institutional oppression. This oppression has targeted our religion, culture, and language, along with causing systemic environmental degradation. Over time, forced assimilation with ethnic Russian culture has led to a continuous erosion of our ethnic identity, culture, and native language. The Buryat language is now listed by UNESCO as endangered. Moreover, current political events and mandatory military drafting has driven significant displacement and migration of our people from our ancestral lands.

In response to these challenges, the Indigenous Voices App has been developed as a grassroots technical solution aimed at uniting the Indigenous Buryat community. This app focuses on documenting and preserving the Buryats' significant historical, traditional, cultural knowledge, and language, including insights into their ancestral lands near the sacred Lake Baikal.

Targeted towards the Buryat community in the United States and Canada, where one of the largest Buryat diasporas exists—totaling between 5,000 and 6,000 people—the app addresses the difficulties they face in preserving their identity, history, culture, and language within predominantly English-speaking environments. The Indigenous Voices App facilitates engagement and stewardship of Buryat cultural heritage, provides language learning, and fosters connections to our native lands. Our research indicates that nearly half of the Buryat population in North America faces economic and social challenges integrating into new societies. Currently, there are no other technical solutions that specifically address the preservation of Buryat identity, culture, and language.

Indigenous Voices is a mobile application designed to preserve and share the cultural identity of the Buryat people. Available in both English and Russian, this app provides structured knowledge across several key areas:

1. History and Traditions: This section offers detailed accounts of the Buryat people's history, traditions, and customs, presenting accurate chronological data and historical information. It addresses the issue of historical distortions prevalent in Russian Federation narratives, offering a perspective that counters ongoing colonization narratives.

2. Art and Folklore: Users can explore Buryat art and folklore literature, gaining insights into the rich cultural expressions of the community.

3. Online Translating Platform: Utilizing advanced AI language models for natural language processing, our team is developing a robust translation tool. Supported by resources from Microsoft for Startups, this platform will feature text-to-text, speech-to-text, and image-to-text translations between Buryat, Russian, and English, enhancing communication and understanding.

4. Online Store: As a non-profit, we aim to be partially self-sustaining by selling culturally significant products. Collaborations with Buryat poets, artists, and illustrators will produce items such as books of yurools (traditional Buryat poems and well-wishes) and children's fairy tales. These products will be available in multiple languages, providing a source of income and royalties for the Buryat creative community.

5. Buryat Language Learning: Despite the primary interface being in Russian and English, the app includes a dedicated section for learning the Buryat language. Employing AI-driven, gamified learning scenarios that incorporate cultural contexts, we hope to inspire users to engage with and preserve the Buryat language.

This comprehensive application not only serves as a cultural resource but also as a dynamic tool for education, translation, and cultural celebration, ensuring our Buryat heritage is preserved and cherished globally.

Our project is specifically designed for the Buryat population residing in the United States and Canada. This demographic will benefit from an application that provides structured, comprehensive data about their heritage—information typically omitted from the Russian Federation’s public educational curriculum. Although the Buryat language is one of the official languages of the Republic of Buryatia, in reality, it is only taught as an optional subject, and little to no formal education is provided on Buryat culture. Our application aims to bridge this educational gap and creates an opportunity for everyone to learn.

Living within the Buryat community in the United States, we have firsthand experience of the community's needs and a deep understanding of the importance of connecting with our origins. We recognize that a person devoid of knowledge about their spiritual knowledge and history is like a tree without roots. The colonial past has nearly erased the Buryats' cultural identity, putting us at risk of losing our connection to our ancestors, cultural roots and native lands.

Our application serves as a crucial tool to preserve and rejuvenate the Buryat culture and language. It is designed not only to educate but also to empower the Buryat people by reconnecting them with their ancestral traditions and language, thus fostering a sense of pride and identity. This solution is directly informed by and developed within the Buryat community, ensuring it meets their specific needs and contributes meaningfully to their cultural preservation.

Our core team is composed of Buryat individuals, both male and female, ranging in age from their early 30s to 40s, each hailing from diverse educational and professional backgrounds. Despite these differences, we share a unified motivation and vision: the preservation of our Buryat culture and language. We all grew up in the same region, were educated under the same system, and, unfortunately, have all experienced the dissemination of fragmented and often distorted information about our people’s history and culture due to post-Soviet and modern political influences.

This shared background gives us a profound understanding and a mature, conscious intention to delve deeper into our heritage, share our knowledge with future generations, and preserve the legacy we have inherited. Our community is tightly-knit, interconnected through family and friends, and we recognize that we are among the last generations who can actively contribute to the positive development of Buryat culture. Many of us are young parents who are eager to create educational opportunities for our children and pass on this valuable knowledge.

As representatives of our community, we understand firsthand the systematic marginalization our Indigenous group has faced. We believe that the Buryat people themselves must be part of crafting solutions to these challenges. The design and implementation of our solution are deeply guided by the community’s input, ideas, and agendas, ensuring that our efforts are rooted in the genuine needs and aspirations of the Buryat people.

We have been developing this conceptual idea for some time, evolving as a team of volunteer, like-minded individuals. Our team includes Buryat linguists, historians, software developers, project managers, and nonprofit professionals living as expatriates and immigrants. Each team member's contributions have been instrumental in continuously refining our concept.

Additionally, we have made coordinated efforts to engage our community directly. We have consulted with community members and elders, and conducted short surveys to better understand the reasons behind cultural loss, the specific needs of our community, and the potential opportunities offered by the proposed learning platform. These interactions have helped shape our project, ensuring that it addresses real issues and leverages genuine opportunities for cultural preservation. As an example of our survey results, we had about 100 respondents. The majority of responses indicated that the following primary reasons for not learning the native language were: low motivation and interest, not enough time, low quality education resources and a priority to learn another language such as English. 

"Nutag" means "native land" in the Buryat language. As a newly launched organization, we face numerous challenges, yet we are a team of committed and like-minded individuals dedicated to preserving our people, culture, and heritage. We are proud to be the first Indigenous Buryat organization launched outside Buryatia, with a mission to safeguard our heritage. Most of our team members are immigrants who have lived and worked far from our native lands. Additionally, some of our members had to flee Buryatia due to ongoing political and civil society oppression and extensive military drafting of Indigenous community members. Although we are far from our native home and currently unable to return, we maintain a deep connection to our ancestral lands. We are passionate about continuing our mission and believe that the Solve initiative presents an incredible opportunity for us. We are all eager to learn, contribute, and connect with experts, peer social entrepreneurs, and changemakers.

I am an Indigenous Buryat woman who has been living in the US for nearly ten years. As an experienced nonprofit professional and a passionate advocate for sustainable community development, I co-founded a US-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting my fellow Indigenous Buryat people, our culture, and native language. As a member of the Buryat diaspora in the US, I have connected with many Buryat individuals across the United States and Canada. Many of them are also activists who are also advocating for our community.

There are numerous valuable resources available, including online language schools, bloggers, and language activists who continuously advocate for the preservation and revitalization of Buryat language and culture. While there is an abundance of great written, published, and digital materials, many of them are now outdated and lack the systematic approach necessary for comprehensive learning about our Buryat heritage. Furthermore, we believe that creating the Indigenous Voices App, which is based on the ethical use of AI, can help us tailor the content to meet the knowledge and skill levels of anyone interested in learning - a child, adult, senior.

Our theory of change for the Indigenous Voices App is focused to address the critical challenges faced by our Buryat community, such as the erosion of ethnic identity, language, and culture, primarily due to historical oppression and current political issues. 

Our team has identified the following framework for our project:

Inputs:

• Funding resources and profits generated through partnerships and the sale of cultural products.

• Key stakeholders including learners, educators, community members, partners, sponsors, and investors.

• Educational resources and content developed specifically for learning the Buryat language, history, and culture.

Activities:

• AI-based learning tools for the Buryat language, culture, and history, designed to provide an engaging and effective educational experience.

Outputs:

• Increased number of users (learners/beneficiaries) engaging with the App.

• Demographic and data tracking of users to tailor and improve educational offerings.

Outcomes:

• Increased number of Buryat native speakers from effective, systematic and engaging language learning.

• Empowered Indigenous community members who feel more connected to their heritage.

• Increased self-awareness and self-identity among the Buryat people, fostering a strong sense of cultural pride.

• Enhanced decolonization process, as our community reclaims and revitalizes our cultural narratives and practices.

Impact:

• Preservation of Indigenous Buryat heritage, ensuring that the language and culture are maintained for future generations.

• An empowered and strong community that can advocate for its rights and sustain its cultural practices.

While developing the framework we identified the following as the key principles for our project.

1. Community Engagement: Continuous input and feedback from the community ensure that the app meets their specific needs and preferences, enhancing usability and effectiveness.

2. Cultural Relevance: Content is created by Indigenous Buryat historians, linguists, and cultural experts and other professionals, ensuring authenticity and depth.

3. Technology Utilization: Leveraging AI enhances the learning experience, making it interactive and adaptive to individual learning paces and styles.

We identify the following primary impact goals and metrics to measure our progress of the Indigenous Voices App:

1. For preservation and documentation of Indigenous Buryat cultural heritage (history, traditions, arts), we plan to track the number of articles, videos, and learning exercises/tutorials accessed and reviewed positively by users; user engagement rates with the educational content).

2. For increase in knowledge and practical use of Buryat language among our community members, we plan to track and measure the completion rates of the users Buryat language learning courses, conduct users’ pre- and post assessment of their language skills and knowledge. 

3. To strengthen our Buryat community and diasporas, we plan on keeping a track of active users, in-app purchases/downloads, interactions with other users, social media following and real-life community participation in cultural and other community events.

In addition, it is also important to continuously collect feedback from our community, partners, sponsors, create and participate discussions in our Buryat community chats as well as analyze sales reports

Our team aspires to create the Indigenous Voices App by utilizing the modern technologies for the preservation of our Indigenous Buryat culture and language. With the ethical use of an AI-driven language learning system that utilizes natural language processing (NLP) to facilitate Buryat language acquisition. We also understand the need to conduct a huge ground work and develop data sets for Buryat/Russian/English. It would help to create interactive exercises and experiences, real-time feedback and adaptive learning pathways tailored to individuals of different age, generation, language skill levels. Additionally, it would also help to implement the engaging, culturally- rich content such as folklore stories, educational videos, traditional music and arts. We also rely on cloud-based technology to ensure the content is scalable and accessible and adaptive to change and continuous updates. Our team so far have created a current iteration of the Indigenous Voices App on Glide. Please watch the video above. With larger financial and technical capacity, we believe that we will be able to bring a high quality solution in order to create a change and preserve our Buryat heritage.  

East Coast of the US.

across North America

Our team of volunteers consists of 2 project managers, 1 software developer, 1 UX/UI designer, 1 historian, and 1 linguist. We are all Indigenous Buryat. In order to take this project to another level we would need significant financial and technical support and resources.  We prefer to keep the names of our team members anonymous.

About 1 year

We are a relatively small team of Indigenous Buryat individuals. We are deeply committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment. We strive to cultivate respect and understanding among team members, recognizing that each of us comes from different backgrounds with diverse perspectives and opinions. Together, we are dedicated to being servant leaders for our community, aiming to lead by example and serve for the betterment of our Buryat community.

The Indigenous Voices App primarily serves our Indigenous Buryat people and helps to preserve our self-identity, culture & language by creating a learning opportunity, resources and interactive technical solution. Here is a breakdown of our business model.

Key products and services:

• A mobile app available on iOS and Android that features educational content, interactive language learning tools, and community engagement functionalities.

• A comprehensive website that hosts in-depth information on Buryat culture, history, and current events.

• Merchandise with Buryat cultural symbols and designs.

Channels of Influence:

• The mobile app and website serve as primary channels for delivering our services and engaging with users.

• Social media platforms are used to interact with our Buryat community, promote our services, and engage with a broader audience.

• Partnerships with educational institutions and cultural organizations help us reach more stakeholders and enhance our content and program offerings.

Relationships with Stakeholders:

• We maintain close relationships with Buryat communities in the U.S. and Canada, Buryat studies scholars and researchers, educational institutions, cultural and other Indigenous Peoples’ organizations to ensure our offerings are relevant and impactful.

• We are developing collaborations and partnerships with foundations and grantmakers to support our financial stability and enable us to expand our services.

Revenue Streams:

• Our primary income sources include donations from individuals and organizations passionate about the mission of our organization, the Indigenous Voices App project and Buryat cultural preservation.

• We are working to secure grants from foundations and government agencies focused on cultural and linguistic preservation.

• The app would provide a revenue that is generated through paid features in the app, such as subscriptions and in-app purchases.

• Another revenue option is the sales of merchandise featuring Buryat cultural symbols/elements and/or Buryat artists work such as illustrations, art pieces and etc.

Key Resources:

• Our dedicated app development and design team will ensure a high-quality user experience.

• Our Buryat experts and native speakers will create authentic and engaging content.

• The cultural content (texts, images, illustrations, videos) will be provided by our Buryat artists.

• We are working on developing strategic partnerships with educational and cultural organizations.

Key Activities:

• Ongoing development and support for our mobile application.

• Continuous creation and curation of culturally rich and informative content.

• Active promotion of our app and website to attract new users and retain existing ones.

• Engagement with stakeholders through collaborative projects and community events.

• Organization of educational & cultural events in the US and Canada

Expenses:

• Our expenses include app development and maintenance, content creation, marketing and promotion efforts, compensation for all key project members/professionals, and other technical costs.

Scalability:

• The Indigenous Voices App will be designed to allow technical adaptation to growing number of users, larger amount of content, integration of new features or innovative learning tools with the use of AI.

• Community  & Language expansion: The app has a potential to adapt to other Indigenous peoples’ communities and languages that are in similar situations and at the brink of extinction. For example, Kalmyk, Sakha (Yakut), or any other Indigenous languages originating in Russia or worldwide. 

To fund the project or at least the initial prototype of the Indigenous Voices app, we will actively continue to seek sponsorships and grants, and launch crowdfunding campaigns to accept donations from private individuals, organizations, and businesses. As the project progresses, we plan to introduce in-app purchases and start selling Buryat cultural goods such as books, apparel, art pieces, and other merchandise. We will also continue to engage actively with the Buryat community to raise awareness about the Indigenous Voices App and gain more support and input. Our team is committed to ensure a sustained funding and community involvement in our project.