National Unity Day is a holiday that symbolises not so much the victory over the Polish invaders in the 17th century as the unity of all the peoples of Russia. Symbolically, the international educational campaign 'Great Ethnographic Dictation,' which took place in all regions of Russia, including the Arctic ones, as well as abroad, is timed to coincide with this day. The event brought together millions of people of different ages, educational backgrounds and faiths who strive to live in peace and harmony with one another.

'Many peoples, one country!'—this was the slogan of the Great Ethnographic Dictation for the seventh time, from 3 to 8 November. Participation in the event provides an opportunity not only to test your ethnographic knowledge but also to learn interesting facts about the peoples of multinational Russia, their holidays and customs. And the main aim of the dictation is to draw attention to the importance of the history, culture and traditions of different peoples.

This year, 4,076,070 people from 89 regions of Russia and 184 foreign countries were able to assess their level of knowledge of the culture and life of other peoples. This is almost twice as much as last year. To make it more convenient for participants from other countries, this year the answers could be given not only in Russian but also in English and Spanish.

Thus, 103,365 participants came to test their level of ethnographic literacy at the offline venues. Each of them was unique in its own way: for example, the dictation was held in the visitor's centre of the Russian Arctic National Park, at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, as well as on the world's first nuclear-powered icebreaker, Lenin.

It took 45 minutes to complete the dictation. The first 20 questions were the same for all Russian regions and foreign sites. Ten more questions were unique to each subject in Russia.

Thanks to the campaign, people living in the Arctic regions of the country were able to learn more about the culture of the indigenous peoples of the North. Now that the Great Ethnographic Dictation 2022 has been completed, we can assess the level of difficulty and information content of the last ten regional questions on the example of the questions for the regions of the Russian Arctic.

Question: There are two special places in a traditional Nenets chum—the 'si' and the 'nyo'. Si is a sacred place behind the central axis of the chum, where only older men are allowed to tread. There is a chest containing the family's savings, as well as images of guardian spirits. Nyo is the female part, located at the entrance to the chum. What is in the middle of the chum, between the 'nyo' and the 'si'?

Answer: Sleeping space.

Question: One of the unique crafts of the Arkhangelsk North is bone carving. Russian bone carvers used to work with more than just a 'fish tooth'—a walrus tusk. A special, 'blue bone' was also used. What kind of material is it?

Answer: Mammoth tusk.

Question: Legend has it that these northern people were once so numerous that they were compared to the stars in the darkness of the polar night. And the reflection of their nomad camp lights was seen as the northern lights.

Answer: Yukaghirs.

The participants could not only find out the correct answer but also get a historical reference with links to information sources. And each of the 4,076,070 people were also given a special e-certificate with their personal results.