Faces of Russia. “Living together while remaining different”
The multimedia project “Faces of Russia” has existed since 2006, telling about Russian civilization, the most important feature of which is the ability to live together while remaining different - this motto is especially relevant for countries throughout the post-Soviet space. From 2006 to 2012, as part of the project, we created 60 documentaries about representatives of different Russian ethnic groups. Also, 2 cycles of radio programs “Music and Songs of the Peoples of Russia” were created - more than 40 programs. Illustrated almanacs were published to support the first series of films. Now we are halfway to creating a unique multimedia encyclopedia of the peoples of our country, a snapshot that will allow the residents of Russia to recognize themselves and leave a legacy for posterity with a picture of what they were like.
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"Faces of Russia". Ingrians. 2011
General information
FINNS-INGERMANLANDANS, St. Petersburg Finns, people in the Russian Federation, subethnic group of Finns. The population in the Russian Federation is 47.1 thousand people, including in Karelia - 18.4 thousand people, in the Leningrad region (mainly Gatchina and Vsevolozhsk districts) - about 11.8 thousand people, in St. Petersburg - 5, 5 thousand people. They also live in Estonia (about 16.6 thousand people). The total number is about 67 thousand people. According to the 2002 Population Census, the number of Ingrian Finns living in Russia is 300 people.
The language (a number of slightly different dialects) belongs to the eastern dialects of the Finnish language. Literary Finnish is also widely spoken. Self-name - Finns (suomalayset), inkerilaiset, i.e. residents of Inkeri (Finnish name for Izhora land, or Ingria - the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland and the Karelian Isthmus, Germanized name - Ingria).
Believing Ingrian Finns are Lutherans. In the past, there was a small group of Orthodox Christians among the Eurymeiset. The Savakots had widespread sectarianism (including “jumpers”), as well as various pietistic movements (Lestadianism).
The mass resettlement of Finns to the territory of Ingria began after 1617, when these lands, under the terms of the Stolbovo Treaty, were ceded to Sweden, which at that time included Finland. The main influx of Finnish colonists occurred in the mid-17th century, when the Swedish government began to force the conversion of local residents to Lutheranism and close Orthodox churches. This caused a mass exodus of the Orthodox (Izhorian, Votic, Russian and Karelian) population to the southern lands that belonged to Russia. The empty lands were quickly occupied by Finnish settlers. Settlers from the nearest regions of Finland, in particular from the parish of Euräpää and its neighboring parishes in the north-west of the Karelian Isthmus, were called eurymeiset, i.e. people from Euryapää. The Savakot ethnographic group, formed by settlers from Eastern Finland (the historical lands of Savonia), was more numerous: in the mid-18th century, out of 72 thousand Ingrian Finns, almost 44 thousand were Savakots. The influx of Finns into the territory of Ingria also occurred in the 19th century. The Ingrian Finns had little contact with the indigenous population of this region.
At the end of the 1920s and 30s, many Ingrian Finns were deported to other regions of the country. During the Great Patriotic War, about 2/3 of the Ingrian Finns ended up in the occupied territories and were evacuated to Finland (about 60 thousand people). After the conclusion of the peace treaty between the USSR and Finland, the evacuated population was returned to the USSR, but did not receive the right to settle in their previous places of residence. Since the late 1980s, a movement has developed among Ingrian Finns to restore cultural autonomy and return to their old habitats.
N.V. Shlygina
FINNS, suomalayset (self-name), people, the main population of Finland (4650 thousand people). They also live in the USA (305 thousand people), Canada (53 thousand people), Sweden (310 thousand people), Norway (22 thousand people), Russia (47.1 thousand people, see Ingrian Finns) and etc. The total number is 5430 thousand people. According to the 2002 Population Census, the number of Finns living in Russia is 34 thousand people.
Finnish is spoken by the Baltic-Finnish subgroup of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic family. Dialects are divided into Western and Eastern groups. The modern literary language is based on Western dialects with the inclusion of Eastern vocabulary. Writing based on Latin script.
The believers are mostly Lutherans. Various Pietist movements are widespread: Herrnhuters (from the 1730s), Prayerists (from the 1750s), Awakeners (from the 1830s), Laestadians (from the 1840s), Evangelists (from 1840 's), Free Church, Methodists, Baptists, Adventists, Pentecostals, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. There is a small number (1.5%) of Orthodox Christians in the southeastern regions (and immigrants from there).
The ancestors of the Finns - the Baltic-Finnish tribes - penetrated into the territory of modern Finland in the 3rd millennium BC and by the 8th century they settled most of it, pushing the Sami population to the north and partially assimilating it. The Finnish people were formed in the process of merging the southwestern tribes of the Suomi (in the Old Russian chronicles - Sum), Hame (Old Russian Em), who lived in the central part of Finland, the eastern Savo tribe, as well as the western (Vyborg and Saima) groups of Karelians (see Karelians). The eastern regions of the country were characterized by contacts with the Ladoga region and the Upper Volga region, and the southwestern regions with Scandinavia and the Baltic states.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, Finnish lands were conquered by the Swedes. The long-term Swedish rule left a noticeable imprint on Finnish culture (agrarian relations, social institutions, etc.). The Swedish conquest was accompanied by the forced Christianization of the Finns. During the Reformation (16th century), Finnish writing was created. However, the Finnish language remained only a language of worship and everyday communication until the 2nd half of the 19th century, when it received formal equality with the Swedish language. In reality, it began to be implemented in independent Finland. Swedish remains the second official language of Finland.
From 1809 to 1917 Finland, with the status of an autonomous Grand Duchy, was part of the Russian Empire. In December 1917, the independence of Finland was proclaimed, and in July 1919 it became a republic.
Finnish folk culture shows differences between Western and Eastern Finland. The ethnographic border between them runs along the line of the modern cities of Kotka, Jyväskylä, then between Oulu and Raahe. In the West, the influence of Swedish culture is more noticeable. Until the end of the 19th century, agriculture was dominated by farming. In the east in the Middle Ages, the main form was slash-and-burn agriculture; in the southwest, a fallow arable system developed early; Since the end of the 19th century, multi-field crop rotation began to be introduced. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, dairy farming became the leading industry. Traditional crafts are marine (fishing, seal hunting, sailing), forest (tar smoking), woodworking (including the manufacture of wooden utensils). More than 33% of modern Finns are employed in industry, about 9% in agriculture and forestry.
Peasant settlements in the southwest of the country until the 16th-17th centuries were cumulus villages; from the 18th century, with the spread of farmstead land use, a scattered village layout began to predominate. In the east, due to the slash-and-burn farming system, small settlements, often single-yard ones, predominated; villages arose only where there were large areas of land suitable for constant cultivation. The traditional dwelling is a log house of elongated proportions with a gable roof covered with shingles. Since the 18th century, the south of Pohjanmaa has been characterized by a two-story house. The most important outbuildings were a barn, a bathhouse (sauna), and cages (in the southwest they were often two-story; the top floor was used for sleeping in the summer). In the southwest of Finland, a residential building and outbuildings formed a closed quadrangular courtyard; in the east, the courtyards have an open layout. Dwellings in the west and east of the country differed in the design of the stove: the west is characterized by a combination of a heating-bread stove and an open hearth for cooking food, and the early appearance of chimneys; In the East, an oven close to the so-called Russian oven is common. The interior of a Western peasant house is characterized by bunk and sliding beds, cradles on curved runners, and a variety of cabinet shapes. Polychrome painting and carvings were widespread, covering furniture and utensils (spinning wheels, rakes, clamp pliers, etc.). The living space was decorated with woven products (blankets, holiday bedspreads, curtains for bunk beds), and ruyu pile carpets. In the east, archaic forms of furniture were preserved for a long time - wall benches, fixed beds, hanging cradles, wall shelves, cabinets. Traditional architecture and decoration from the east of the country had a great influence on Finnish architecture and art during the so-called “national romanticism” period of the late 19th century.
Traditional women's clothing - a shirt, blouses of various cuts, a skirt (mostly striped), a woolen sleeveless bodice or jacket, an apron, for married women - a linen or silk headdress on a rigid basis with lace trim; girls wore open headdresses in the form of a crown or headband. Men's clothing - shirt, knee-length pants, vests, jackets, caftans. In the east, a women's shirt with embroidery and an oblique cut on the chest, a white homespun or linen semi-long sundress (viita), a towel headdress, and caps were preserved for a long time. Embroidery patterns reflected Karelian and North Russian influence. Folk forms of clothing disappear early, especially in the west of the country. Their revival and the formation of the so-called national costume occurs in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, during the period of the national movement. This costume still retains its festive and symbolic role today.
There were differences in the traditional food of Western and Eastern Finns: in the east, tall soft bread was regularly baked, in the west, bread was baked 2 times a year in the form of round flat dry cakes with a hole in the middle and stored on poles under the ceiling. In the east they made lumpy yogurt, in the west they made stretchy forms of fermented milk, and they also made homemade cheese. Only in the east were baked closed pies (including fishmongers) and “wicket” type pies, only in the extreme southeast was daily consumption of tea accepted. In the western regions it is traditional to make beer, in the east - malt or bread kvass.
Small family. Large families, both paternal and fraternal, survived until the 19th century in the northwest of the country in Pohjanmaa, in the northeast in Kainuu, in the southeast in Karjala, where they existed until the 20th century.
The wedding ritual in Western Finland was distinguished by Swedish influences and borrowings from church rites: wedding at home, “gate of honor”, “wedding pole” in the yard, wedding under the canopy (“himmeli”), bride’s wedding crown, etc. The eastern Finns retained the archaic a form of wedding, with a three-part ritual of the bride’s “leaving” from her father’s house, moving (wedding train) to the groom’s house and the actual wedding-hyayat in his house. Many rituals were aimed at protecting the bride from evil spirits (when moving to the groom’s house, her face was covered with a veil, a knife was taken into the cart, etc.) and ensuring the fertility of the marriage.
Of the calendar holidays, the most important are Christmas and Midsummer's Day (Juhannus, Mittumaarja). During their conduct, various pre-Christian rituals were preserved, for example, making bonfires on Midsummer's Day. There was a belief in guardian spirits, troll witches, various protective actions, etc.
Epic songs of runic meter occupy a special place in folklore. Based on runes collected in Karelia, Eastern Finland and Ingermanland, E. Lönnrot compiled the epic “Kalevala” (1835), which became a symbol of the Finnish national movement.
N.V. Shlygina
Essays
One's own land is strawberries, someone else's land is blueberries / Oma maa mansikka; muu maa mustikka
Finland is called the Land of a Thousand Lakes. In fact, there are much more of them: about 190 thousand! Lakes occupy almost 9% of the entire territory of the country.
What happened before the lakes? To the forests? Before, when there was no land at all?
Initially, there was only an endless ocean. A lone bird flew above him in search of a nest. Exactly which one is unknown. Ancient runes differ on this issue. It could be a duck, a goose, an eagle, or even a swallow. In a word, a bird.
It was the bird that saw the knee of the first human being, which stuck out of the water. This was the tribe of the wise old man Väinämöinen or (in another rune) his mother, the heavenly maiden Ilmatar.
The bird laid an egg right on his knee... From this primary material the creator bird created the world. In some runes, the world is created by the first man Väinämöinen, and the firmament is forged by the blacksmith Ilmarinen.
From the top half of the egg the sky was created. From the bottom - the earth, from the yolk - the sun. From the protein - the moon, from the shell - the stars.
So, the creation of the universe is more or less clear, but how did it happen that the Finns became exactly what they are today?
Finn relies only on himself
The question is difficult, but it can be answered. The Finnish national character, so to speak, was forged from confrontation with nature. This is where the primary characteristic of Finnish consciousness begins. Everything about him is determined by the desire to conquer nature. And what is most interesting (which commands respect): in the fight against the natural elements, the Finn relies only on himself. That is why he attaches such importance to himself, convincing himself of his abilities. In the Finn's mind, man is a truly powerful creature, called to conquer the elements. We see this in the epic “Kalevala”.
In fairy tales, this theme of knowing the secret codes of nature is also reflected, sometimes even slightly in a comic form. Here, for example, is “The Peasant’s Prediction.”
Once upon a time there lived a king and a peasant, and the peasant's meadows and fields were so close to the royal palace that the owner had to pass through the courtyard of the royal castle every time on the way to his lands. One day a peasant went on a horse to buy some vein. When he was returning from the meadows through the royal courtyard, the king happened to be in the courtyard of his castle, and he began to scold the peasant.
How dare you, you idiot, drive through my yard with your hay, aren’t you ashamed?!
Sorry, dear king,” replied the peasant. “But the fact is that there will soon be a thunderstorm, it will begin to rain, and if I drove along the long circular road, I would not make it before the rain began to pour down, and my hay would get wet.” That's why I hurried straight ahead with the hay.
Well,” said the king, “how do you know this?”
Great sovereign! - answered the peasant. - I know from my mare's tail. Look how the gadflies crawl under your tail. And this is a sure sign that there will be bad weather.
That’s how... - said the king and allowed the peasant to pass.
After this, the king went to the tower of the palace astrologer and asked the fortuneteller whether it would rain today. The astrologer took the telescope, looked at the sky and said:
No, Mr. King, there will not be a single tear, not a single drop, today, tomorrow, or even the day after tomorrow, but then, maybe, there will be.
“I see,” said the king and descended from the tower to go to his chambers. But on the way to the palace, the king was overtaken by such heavy rain and a terrible thunderstorm that the king was wet to the skin. Finally he got, all dirty, to his palace and immediately called the fortuneteller to him.
You, unfortunate astrologer, will have to make room, since you understand nothing about the weather, while a stupid and uncouth peasant, looking at the tail of his mare, sees when it will rain and when there will be a bucket, - the king told him and dismissed him with positions, sending him to the stable to remove manure.
And the king summoned the peasant to himself and gave him possession of the astrologer’s tower and the proper title, giving him the same salary as the previous fortuneteller received. Thus, thanks to horseflies and a gadfly, the peasant became the king’s friend, to the envy of all the courtiers.
Finns love themselves
Finns love themselves in a way that few nations love themselves. In general, there are few peoples who love themselves, and the Finns are one of them. In the consciousness of most peoples there is a certain ideal image of their own, or one attributed to the golden age in the past, and their own inconsistency with this image is acutely felt.
The Finns have almost no such dissatisfaction. Finn, in essence, does not need the highest sanction; he achieved his exceptional position in the world himself. This explains the Finns’ emphasized respect for themselves, which surprised many researchers. Finn behaves with dignity, never begs for tea, even avoids a hint of it, although he will not refuse to take an increase on occasion, he will not even mention it, and whether they add something to him at the time of payment or not, he will equally thank him when he receives the agreed upon fee.
Finn depends extremely little on the team. A Finnish peasant lives on a farm. He does not often communicate with his neighbors, is closed in the family circle and does not see any particular need to open this circle. After Sunday lunch the owner will not go to visit. And why would he run away from home? His wife is his best friend, his children respect him. Finn is almost entirely focused on himself. His eyes, sometimes beautiful and expressive, look somehow deep into himself, he is closed and silent. Finn goes to fight nature one-on-one.
Even at the end of the 18th century, Finland was called the land of sorcerers. The sorcerers themselves firmly believed in their art and, as a rule, passed it on to their children, which is why it was considered the property of entire families.
Enchant nature to conquer
Since ancient times, the Finns considered the greatest wisdom to be knowledge of the hidden forces of nature, believing that a word can force nature to act as a person pleases. The wiser a person is, the stronger the influence of his words on the surrounding nature, the more it is subject to him. Since ancient times, the Finns were more famous than others for their sorcerers. The Finns tried to bewitch nature and thus conquer it. This is one of the adequate expressions of the content inherent in the Finn’s consciousness. A sorcerer is like a superman. He is lonely and proud. He is closed in and on himself. He can go out to duel with nature. His goal is to force the alien forces of nature to obey his word, his desire.
The Finns' relationship with God is almost contractual. They are ordered and extremely rationalized. Lutheranism is a purely individual religion. There is no conciliarity in it, everyone is on his own. There is no mysticism in it either. Its instructions are strict and simple. The liturgical rite is strict and simple. A person must work. Must be a respectable family man, raise children, help the poor. The Finn does all this with the greatest diligence. But in this very correctness and moderation passion shines through. This rationality itself takes on magical features.
The goal of conquering nature was and remains the main content of the Finn’s consciousness. Finn, even in our time, continues to recognize himself as a lone fighter, obliging everything to himself and counting on his own strengths or God, but not on God’s mercy and pity, but on God as a reliable collaborator with whom the Finn enters into a contract, pledging to lead a virtuous life in exchange for His protection.
Finn follows the contract to the letter. His religious life is very correct and orderly. It was considered an unforgivable crime for a Finn to miss a church service. Even at the post station there was a sign with the rule: “No one, except in extreme need, has the right to demand a horse and travel during worship on Sundays.”
The ability to read is considered a religious duty by Finns. After all, every Lutheran must know the text of Holy Scripture and be able to interpret it. Therefore, literacy in Finland was already 100% in the 20th century.
Finns read everywhere: in cafes and on trains. It is the Finnish character that can explain the Finns’ love for the harsh and uncompromising poetry of Joseph Brodsky. It is this poet who enjoys incredible success in the Land of Blue Lakes.
Laugh at yourself
This is another feature of the Finnish character. It turns out that Finns love jokes about themselves. And they willingly compose them themselves. And when they meet, they exchange new products. And this can also be seen as a healthy start. People who can laugh at themselves are truly capable of great things. Finns can even joke about their favorite sauna. “The sauna can be used by anyone who can reach it.”
Here are a few anecdotal stories that have become a kind of classic of the genre.
Three Finn brothers are sitting fishing on the Gulf of Finland. Morning, the sun begins to rise, the younger brother says: “Nah kluyett.”
Well, it’s already day, the sun is high...
The middle brother says: “Taa, it just won’t bite.”
Well, it’s already evening, the sun has already set, well, the older brother says:
You chat a lot and it gets bitten...
Raaime, are you married?
Naette, I'm not married.
But the guys have kaaltso on the paaltz!
ABOUT! Already married! How letitt frammyaya!
Toivo means hope
Finnish names... do they mean something? Finnish names adopted in the Lutheran Finnish calendar are heterogeneous in their origin. Ancient, pagan names occupy a significant place. These are names that still retain a connection with the words from which they originated.
For example: Ainikki (the only one), Armas (beloved), Arvo (dignity, honor), Ilma (air), Into (inspiration), Kauko (distance), Lempi (love), Onni (happiness), Orvokki (violet), Rauha (peace), Sikka (grasshopper), Sulo (lovely), Taimi (sprout), Taisto (struggle), Tarmo (energy, strength), Toivo (hope), Uljas (brave), Urho (hero, hero), Vuokko ( snowdrop).
Another part of the names was borrowed from Germanic and some other peoples. But these borrowed names have undergone such significant linguistic processing on Finnish soil that they are now perceived as originally Finnish, although they are not associated with any meaning.
With Finnish surnames the situation is different. All Finnish surnames are formed from native Finnish significant words. Surnames of foreign origin are recognized by native speakers as foreign.
Finnish given names are placed before the surname. Very often, a child is given two or even three names at birth. The names preceding the surname are not declined - only the surname changes. For example: Toivo Letinen (Toivo Lehtinen) - Toivo Lehtiselle (Toivo Lehtinen). The emphasis in names, as in Finnish in general, falls on the first syllable.
It is interesting to know which Finnish names correspond to Russian ones. In fact, there aren't that many of them. For example, names such as Akhti or Aimo have no correspondence in the Russian language. But the name Antti corresponds to the Russian name Andrey.
Let's list a few more Finnish names along with their Russian counterparts: Juhani - Ivan, Marty - Martyn, Matti - Matvey, Mikko - Mikhail, Niilo - Nikolay, Paavo - Pavel, Pauli - Pavel, Pekka - Peter, Pietari - Peter, Santeri - Alexander, Simo - Semyon, Vikhtori - Victor. The women's list will be as follows: Annie - Anna, Helena - Elena. Irene - Irina, Katri - Ekaterina, Leena - Elena, Liisa - Elizaveta, Marta - Martha.
The Russian language has close ties with Finnish, or more precisely, with the group of Finno-Ugric languages. It so happened historically that the lands of northern Rus' (and then Muscovy) were practically surrounded by peoples who spoke Finno-Ugric languages. This includes the Baltic region, and the northeastern forests, near the Arctic Circle, and the Urals, and many nomadic tribes that lived in the southern steppes.
To this day, linguists argue about which words passed from whom to whom. For example, there is a version that the word “tundra”, which passed into the Russian language, comes from the Finnish word “tunturi”. But with the rest of the words, everything is far from so simple. Did the Russian word “boots” come from the Finnish word “saappaat” or vice versa?
Aphorism boom in Finland
Of course, there are proverbs and sayings in Finland. Books are also published in which these proverbs are collected.
The sauna is a pharmacy for the poor. Sauna öä apteekki.
One's own land is strawberries, someone else's land is blueberries. Oma maa mansikka; muu maa mustikka.
The Finns honor not only folk wisdom, but also modern wisdom, that is, aphorisms. In Finland there is an association that unites authors working in the aphorism genre. They publish books and anthologies. They have their own website on the Internet (.aforismi.vuodatus.).
The 2011 anthology “Tiheiden ajatusten kirja” (Close to thoughts on paper) contains aphorisms from 107 authors. Every year in Finland there is a competition for the best author of aphorisms (the Samuli Paronen competition). Not only writers, poets, journalists, but also people of other professions take part in this competition. It can be said without any exaggeration that all of Finland is passionate about both reading aphorisms and composing them. It is with great pleasure that we introduce the works of modern authors of aphorisms.
Every person is the architect of his own happiness. And if someone wants to forge eternal chains for themselves, then this is their personal right. Paavo Haavikko
The most common type of classification: me and the rest. Torsti Lehtinen
When you become very old, you are not afraid to be young. Helena Anhava
Slowness (slowness) is the soul of pleasure. Markku Envall
Don't confuse God's sycophants with angels. Eero Suvilehto
It is very possible that some modern Finnish aphorisms will go among the people and become proverbs.
Statistics
Where did Ingria come from?
We talk with local historian and publisher Mikhail Markovich Braudze about forgotten and unknown pages of the history of the present-day Leningrad region, and even more broadly of the North-West.
– Let's start, as they say, “from the stove.” What is Ingria, or Ingria, about which many seem to have heard a lot, but still have a rather vague idea of what it is?
– The name originates from the Izhora River (in Finnish and Izhora - Inkeri, Inkerinjoki) and the Izhora - the oldest inhabitants of this land. Maa is Finnish for land. Hence the Finnish-Izhorian name of the land - Inkerinmaa. The Swedes, apparently who did not understand Finnish well, added the word “land” to the toponym, which also means “land”. Finally, in the 17th–18th centuries, the Russian ending “iya” was added to the word “Ingermanland”, which is characteristic of concepts denoting a region or country. Thus, the word “land” appears in three languages in the word Ingria.
Ingria has well-defined historical boundaries. It is bounded on the west by the Narva River and on the east by the Lava River. Its northern limit roughly coincides with the old border with Finland. That is, this is a significant part of the Leningrad region together with St. Petersburg. The capital of Ingria was the city of Nyen (Nyen, Nyenschanz), from which St. Petersburg actually grew, and although many deny their relationship, it is still one city that changed names, but remained the European capital, bearing alternate names: Nyen, Schlottburg , St. Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad.
– What is the reason for your interest in this topic in the history of our region? Maybe one of your ancestors belonged to the Ingrian Finns?
– Like many, I became interested in my roots and ran into a problem. It turns out that in St. Petersburg and around it they do not know where they live. Few people imagine what Ingria is, everyone perceives this land according to Pushkin “...on the shore of desert waves...”, the more advanced have also heard about the struggle of Rus' with the Germans, some are aware of the Swedes. But almost no one knows about the Vodians, the Izhoras, or the Finns and Germans in our area.
In the early 1990s, I was shocked by the story of my mother, who in 1940 went to visit her cousins in the village of Korabselki, Vsevolozhsk region. Almost no one there spoke Russian. Later I remembered that in Pargolovo in the late 1960s, many old women spoke to my mother in a language I did not understand. And most importantly, I have an aunt Elvira Pavlovna Avdeenko (nee Suokas): her stories revealed for me a previously unknown layer of our culture - the existence close to the metropolis of the foreign-language life of the Ingrian Finns, Izhoras, Vodi, Karelians, who were woven into close relations with the Russians , Germans, Estonians and other peoples living in the Leningrad region.
– Let's look at the historical facts with an open mind. Officially, the name “Ingria” was assigned to our region after, according to the Stolbovo Peace Treaty of 1617, these lands became part of Sweden. These times were very difficult for our region: the Swedes spread their faith, the local population fled, the territory was depopulated, and natives from Finland were resettled here. The Swedes colonized the land they captured. Moreover, Ingria, in fact, was a remote province of Sweden, where criminals were even exiled. In other words, the very word “Ingria” may recall a sad period in the history of our region. Is it worth raising it to the shield?
– It is not entirely correct to talk about the connection of the name specifically with the Swedish period. Obviously, the Swedish period was also controversial. Both in tsarist and Soviet times, to please a certain political situation, he was often depicted in gloomy colors. Meanwhile, in the first half of the 17th century there was no pressure on the Orthodox inhabitants of the region. It began after the Russian-Swedish War of 1656–1658, when Moscow troops treacherously violated the treaty, and stopped after Charles XII came to power.
In the formation of a new sub-ethnic group - the Ingrian Finns - along with settlers from Eastern Finland, thousands of Izhorians who accepted Lutheranism also took part, and many Russians changed their faith (Orthodox Izhorians have also survived to this day). Many military and administrative posts were occupied by “bayors” - descendants of Russian noble families who remained here and were included in the Swedish knighthood. And the last commandant of Nyenskans was Iogan Apolov (Opolyev), and Colonel of the Swedish Army Peresvetov-Murat walked to Peter’s troops under a white flag.
Another fact, almost unknown to most: in Swedish Ingria, many Old Believers, followers of the “ancient faith” persecuted in Rus', found shelter. And several hundred of them, together with the Swedes, took part in the defense of Narva!
At the same time, I do not at all want to prove that “the Swedes were right” when they conquered this region. They just were – that’s all. After all, Estonians do not have a complex about the fact that old Tallinn was built by various “conquerors” - Danes, Livonian knights, Swedes. And the Swedish period was a bizarre time of meeting on the banks of the Neva of different cultures, East and West. What's wrong if the Swedes also wrote their page in the history of the region?
By the way, during the imperial period the toponym “Ingria” did not evoke negative emotions in anyone. At different times, the Russian fleet included four battleships called Ingria. Two regiments of the Russian army were called “Ingrianland”. For some time, their chevrons featured a revised version of the Ingrian coat of arms. And virtually all somewhat educated people knew this name. And now the words “Ingria” and “Ingria” are used by many public organizations and commercial structures. I believe that those who use these toponyms no longer think about the Finns and Swedes - the names live their own independent life, becoming an integral part of the history of the region.
– When talking about Ingermanland, whether you like it or not, you focus on the history of the Finnish-speaking population of our region. But doesn’t this position run counter to the cornerstone thesis that the North-West is the original Russian land, the possessions of Veliky Novgorod, seized by Sweden and forever, by the right of history, returned by Peter the Great during the Northern War?
– The fact that the ancient inhabitants of this land were Finno-Ugrians and Izhorians does not in any way contradict another historical fact: these lands from ancient times were part of Veliky Novgorod, and then of the unified Russian state. And if we are talking about the Swedish conquest, how should we view the attack of the Moscow “Khanate” on the Novgorod Republic, and what period in the history of the region should be considered more difficult? After all, it is known that Novgorod was more oriented towards Europe than towards Moscow. So the question of the seizure of lands by Sweden is ambiguous. Ingria has always been in the area of interests of several states.
– How many people today need the memory of Ingermanland in the territory of what is now the Leningrad region? Maybe this is only interesting to those with family roots?
– I am alarmed by the very fact that such a question, unfortunately, still arises in our society. We live in a multinational country, whose citizens can coexist only in conditions of respect for the mentality of the people around them and the preservation of their culture. Having lost the diversity of cultural traditions represented on our territory, we will lose our own identity.
I think that the “Ingrian” layer is an integral part of the history of our land. Without getting to know him, it is impossible, for example, to understand a significant part of the toponymy of the Leningrad region. Ingrian Finns made their contribution to Russian history, providing St. Petersburg with meat, milk, vegetables for centuries, serving in the Russian and Soviet armies. In general, Ingrian Finns (or people with Finnish roots) are found in almost all areas of activity. Among them were the captains of the icebreakers “Litke” and “Krasin” (the Koivunen brothers), the hero of the Soviet Union Pietari Tikiläinen, the famous Finnish writer Juhani Konkka, a native of Toksovo. The list goes on.
– In 2011, the 400th anniversary of the Church of Ingria was celebrated...
– The first parish of the Church of Ingria in our area was founded in Swedish times, in 1590, for the needs of the garrison of the Koporye fortress (Kaprio). And for residents, the first parish was opened in Lembolovo (Lempaala) in 1611, and by 1642 there were 13 parishes, by the end of the Swedish period - 28. With the beginning of the “Great Malice” - the so-called Northern War in Finland (1700-1721). ) the number of parishes naturally decreased. By 1917, there were 30 independent parishes plus 5 non-independent, drip ones. During Soviet times, the number of parishes was constantly decreasing, the last church was closed on October 10, 1939 in Yucca.
Today there are 26 parishes in the Leningrad region, of which 12 are old (revived) and 14 are new. Now the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria has become all-Russian and has 77 parishes throughout the country.
– Do you think Ingria is a “historical substance” that already completely belongs to history, or is there still a continuation of it in the present day?
– Currently, according to various estimates, from 15 to 30 thousand Ingrian Finns live in the Leningrad region and St. Petersburg. Since 1988, the society of Ingrian Finns “Inkerin Liitto” has been operating, it organizes Finnish language courses, holds national holidays - Juhannus, Maslenitsa, Inkeri Day, and publishes the newspaper “Inkeri”. There are also folklore groups. Societies of Ingrian Finns exist in Finland, Estonia, Sweden, as well as in Siberia and Karelia, wherever representatives of a small people were thrown by the harsh winds of the 20th century. A small but very informative museum has been opened in Narva.
It’s hard to say what will happen next to the Ingrian Finns, what forms the national movement will take. Personally, I am interested in their history and culture, and I strive, as far as possible, to tell about it to everyone who is interested in it. This will help people with Finnish roots get in touch with the history of their ancestors. And representatives of other nationalities will enrich their knowledge of the history of their native land.
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INGERLANDS INGERS
INGERMANLANDS (Ingrian Finns, St. Petersburg Finns), subethnic group of Finns (cm. FINNS), live in the Russian Federation and Estonia. The 2002 census in the Russian Federation counted 314 Ingrians, mainly in Karelia and St. Petersburg. Ingrians are the old-timers of Ingria (Russian Izhora, German Ingermanlandia; the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland and the Karelian Isthmus). In principle, they should be distinguished from the Finns themselves - later immigrants from various regions of Finland. But the Ingrians themselves have almost completely lost their ethnic identity and consider themselves Finns or assimilated by neighboring peoples. A number of slightly different dialects of the Ingrians belong to the eastern dialects of the Finnish language; Literary Finnish was also widespread. In the past, Ingrians divided themselves into two ethnic groups: Avramoiset and Savakot. The Finns call the Ingrians inkerilaiset - residents of Inkeri (the Finnish name for Ingria).
Ingrian believers are Lutherans; in the past, there was a small group of Orthodox Christians among the Eurymeiset. The Savakots had widespread sectarianism, including “jumpers,” as well as various movements in Lutheranism (Lestadianism). The Finns appeared on the territory of Ingria mainly after 1617, when these lands were ceded to Sweden under the terms of the Peace of Stolbovo. A certain number of Finnish settlers existed here earlier, from the 14th century, after the conclusion of the Shlisselburg (Orekhovets) Peace Treaty. The main influx of Finnish colonists occurred in the mid-17th century, when the Swedes began to force local residents to accept Lutheranism and closed Orthodox churches. This caused a mass exodus of the Orthodox (Izhorian, Votic, Russian and Karelian) population to Russia. The deserted lands were occupied by Finnish settlers.
Settlers from the immediate regions of Finland, in particular from the Euräpää parish, which occupied the northwestern part of the Karelian Isthmus, as well as from the neighboring parishes of Jäeski, Lapes, Rantasalmi and Käkisalmi (Kexholm), were called Eurämäset (people from Euräpää). Part of the Eurymeiset occupied the nearest lands of the Karelian Isthmus, the other settled on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland between Strelnaya and the lower reaches of the Kovashi River. A significant group of Eurymeiset lived on the left bank of the Tosna River and near Dudergof.
A group of immigrants from Eastern Finland (the historical region of Savo) is known as Savakot. Numerically, it prevailed over the Eurymeset. In the mid-18th century, out of 72 thousand Ingrians, almost 44 thousand were Savakot. The number of immigrants from other parts of Finland was insignificant before the 19th century. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the formation of the Ingrian ethnic group took place. This process accelerated after Ingria became part of Russia and the severance of ties with Finland. After Finland joined Russia, the influx of Finns into the territory of Ingria resumed, but was no longer as significant as before and the Finns did not mix with the Ingrians. In addition, the main flow of immigrants from Finland was directed not to Ingermanland, but to other regions of the Russian Empire.
Despite their great similarity in language, religion, and customs, Savakot and Eurymeiset developed for a long time in isolation from each other. The Eurymeiset considered the rest of the Finns to be late newcomers and refrained from marrying them. Evrymeiset women, who went to the Savakot village after marriage, tried to wear their traditional clothes and preserve in the minds of their children the concept of their maternal origin. The Ingrians generally remained isolated from the neighboring population - the Vodi, Izhora, and Russians.
The main occupation of the Ingrians was agriculture, which, due to the lack of land and poor soil, was unprofitable. The limited area of pasture land hampered the development of livestock farming. The forced three-field system persisted for a long time, which hampered the development of more intensive forms of crop rotation. Cereals were mainly rye, spring barley, oats, and industrial crops were flax and hemp, which were used for household needs (making nets, bags, ropes). In the 19th century, potatoes took an important place; in some villages it was grown for sale. Among the vegetable crops, cabbage went to the market, partly in pickled form.
On average, a peasant yard had 2-3 cows, 5-6 sheep, they usually kept a pig, and several chickens. Ingrians sold veal and pork at St. Petersburg markets and bred geese for sale. Among the St. Petersburg retailers, “Okhtenki” were typical, selling milk, butter, sour cream and cottage cheese (originally this name applied to the residents of the Ingrian villages near Okhten).
On the coast of the Gulf of Finland, the Ingrians had developed fishing (mainly winter fishing for herring); fishermen went out onto the ice with sleighs and board huts in which they lived. The Ingrians were engaged in various auxiliary work and waste trades - they were hired to cut wood, peeled bark for tanning leather, drove cabs, and in winter, cab drivers (“wakes”) worked part-time in St. Petersburg, especially during the Maslenitsa riding season. In the economy and traditional culture of the Ingrians, archaic features were combined with innovations that entered everyday life thanks to the proximity of the capital of the Russian Empire.
The Ingrians lived in villages; their layout had no specific features. The dwelling consisted of one living room and a cold entryway. Chicken stoves were preserved for a long time. The stoves were ovens (like a Russian stove), but they were placed on a stone stove, as in Eastern Finland. A hanging cauldron was fixed above the pole. With the improvement of the stove and the advent of the chimney, pyramidal caps over the hearth became characteristic, into which a stove with a firebox was built. In the hut they made fixed benches along the walls, on which they sat and slept. The baby's cradle was suspended. Subsequently, the dwelling developed into a three-chamber building. When the dwelling was placed facing the street, the front hut was a winter hut, and the back one served as a summer dwelling. The Ingrians maintained a large family for a long time; separate premises were built for married sons, which did not mean separating them from the family.
The men wore the same clothes as the surrounding Russian and Karelian population: cloth trousers, a linen shirt, a gray cloth caftan at the waist with wedges extending it from the waist. Festive high boots were also worn in the summer on major holidays - they served as a symbol of prosperity. Along with felt hats, city caps were also worn. Women's clothing differed between eurymeiset and savakot. Eurymeset clothing had local differences. The clothes of Ingrian women in Duderhof (Tuutari) were considered the most beautiful. Women's shirts had a chest slit on the side, on the left side, and in the middle of the chest there was a trapezoidal embroidered bib - recco. The incision was fastened with a round fibula. The sleeves of the shirt were long, with a cuff at the wrist. A sundress-type clothing was worn over the top - a blue skirt sewn to a bodice with armholes made of red cloth. The girl's head was tied with a cloth ribbon decorated with white beads and tin stripes. Women wore a junta on their heads - a small circle of white fabric, attached to their hair above the forehead at the parting. Hair was cut, girls usually wore short hairstyles with bangs. On the Karelian Isthmus, among the Orthodox Evrymeyset, married women wore magpie-type headdresses with a richly embroidered headband and a small “tail” at the back. Here, girls braided their hair in one braid, and after getting married - in two braids, which were placed on the crown of the head like a crown.
In Tyur (Peterhof - Oranienbaum), married eurymeiset women also wore long hair, twisting it into a tight cord (syukeret) under towel headdresses. In Western Ingria (Koporye - Soykinsky Peninsula) hair bundles were not made; hair was hidden under a white towel headdress. Here they wore simple white shirts (without a recco bib) and skirts. The evrymeyset's apron was striped wool, and on holidays it was white, decorated with red cross stitch and fringe. Warm clothing was a white or gray cloth caftan and sheepskin coats; in the summer they wore “kostoli” - a hip-length linen caftan. The wearing of leggings sewn from linen (red cloth in winter) to cover the shins was preserved for a long time.
Savakot women had shirts with wide sleeves that were pulled up to the elbow. The shirt had a slit in the middle of the chest and was fastened with a button. The waist-length clothing was colorful skirts, often checkered. On holidays, a woolen or calico one was worn over an everyday skirt. With a skirt they wore either a sleeveless bodice or jackets that were fastened at the waist and at the collar. A white apron was required. Head and shoulder scarves were widely used. In some villages of Western Ingria, Savakot switched to wearing Russian-style sundresses. At the end of the 19th century, in many localities, eurymeiset began to switch to the Savakot type of clothing.
The basis of nutrition was sour soft rye bread, cereal porridge and flour. It is typical to eat both salted mushrooms and mushroom soups, and use flaxseed oil.
The Ingrian wedding ceremony retained archaic features. Matchmaking had a multi-stage nature with repeated visits of matchmakers, a visit by the bride to the groom's house, and the exchange of collateral. After the agreement, the bride went around the surrounding villages, collecting “help” for her dowry: she was given flax, wool, ready-made towels, and mittens. This custom, which dates back to the ancient traditions of collective mutual assistance, was preserved at the end of the 19th century only on the outskirts of Finland. The wedding usually preceded the wedding ceremony, and from the church the married couple went to their homes. The wedding consisted of celebrations in the bride’s house - “leaving” (laksiaiset) and the actual wedding “haat”, which was celebrated in the groom’s house.
In Ingria, many Finnish fairy tales, legends, tales, sayings, songs, both runic and rhymed, are collected, laments and laments are recorded. However, from this heritage it is difficult to single out Ingrian folklore itself. The Ingrians are characterized by songs with rhymed verse, especially round dances and swing songs, close in form to Russian ditties. Dance songs are known, in particular for rentuske - a square dance type dance.
The Lutheran Church promoted early literacy. Gradually, secular primary schools emerged in Finnish-speaking parishes. At the end of the 19th century there were 38 Finnish schools in Ingria, including three in St. Petersburg. Rural libraries, which arose in parish centers from the mid-19th century, also contributed to maintaining knowledge of the Finnish language. In 1870, the first newspaper in Finnish, Pietarin Sanomat, was published in St. Petersburg.
The teaching of Finnish in schools was discontinued in 1937. In 1938, the activities of Lutheran church communities were banned. Back in the late 1920s, during dispossession, many Ingrians were deported to other regions of the country. In 1935-1936, a “cleansing” of the border areas of the Leningrad region from “suspicious elements” was carried out, during which a significant part of the Ingrians were evicted to the Vologda region and other regions of the USSR. During the Great Patriotic War, about two-thirds of Soviet Finns ended up in the occupied territories and, at the request of the Finnish authorities, were evacuated to Finland (about 60 thousand people). After the conclusion of the peace treaty between the USSR and Finland, the evacuated population was returned to the USSR, but did not receive the right to settle in their previous places of residence. As a result, over several decades, the Ingrians were almost completely assimilated into larger ethnic groups.
encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .
See what "INGERMANLANDS" are in other dictionaries:
It is proposed to rename this page to Ingria Finns. Explanation of the reasons and discussion on the Wikipedia page: Towards renaming / January 17, 2012. Perhaps its current name does not correspond to the norms of the modern Russian language... ... Wikipedia
Ingrians Ingermanland flag Total population: Settlement: Russia, Finland Language: Russian ... Wikipedia
Russia, according to the constitution, is a multinational state. More than 180 peoples live on its territory, which includes not only indigenous small and autochthonous peoples of the country. At the same time, Russians make up about 80% of the population... ... Wikipedia
Historical region Northern Europe Estonian Ingermanland Other names (Estonian) Eesti Ingeri; (fin.) Viron Ink ... Wikipedia
According to the latest census, the population of the Leningrad region is more than 1.7 million people. The majority - 86% - consider themselves Russian, but there are also representatives of indigenous peoples (most of whom originally lived on the historical territory of Ingermanland), who belong mainly to the Finno-Ugric group - Ingrian Finns, Izhoras, Vods, Vepsians, Tikhvin Karelians. Some of them moved to other countries and cities - while some, including young ones, continue to cling to their roots. The Village photographed Ingrian Finns, Vepsians and Izhoras with symbolic objects and asked them to tell what they mean.
Photos
Egor Rogalev
Elizabeth
Izhora, 24 years old
number of Izhoras in the world:
500–1,300 people
We are often incorrectly called Izhorians. Izhora people are workers of the Izhora plant. And we are the people of Izhora. However, I am calm about such mistakes.
My maternal grandmother is Izhora, from the village of Koskolovo in the Leningrad region. We communicate with her often. Grandmother talked little about her childhood: mainly how they were taken for evacuation to the Arkhangelsk region in the 1940s (evacuation is the same as deportation, they just used a euphemism hinting at the fact that people were supposedly being saved). However, I didn’t hear horrors about those times from my grandmother. Now I know that the village was burned, and many were shot - but our farm, apparently, was lucky. Unfortunately, my grandmother doesn’t remember the Izhorian language well, so it was my personal desire to revive the culture.
Once I came to a concert in Lenryb (like Koskolovo, a village in the Kingisepp district of the Leningrad region. - Ed.) on Indigenous Peoples' Day. There I saw the Korpi group, children who are involved in Finno-Ugric culture - they sing, wear folk costumes. It shocked me.
About five years ago I found a cultural and educational organization “ Center for Indigenous Peoples of the Leningrad Region" I came to a class on reconstructing an Izhora costume, got involved, and started studying folklore and language. Now I'm driving public"VKontakte", dedicated to the study of the Izhorian language.
From childhood memories - a great-grandfather who spoke a strange language. Then I kept thinking what it was. I grew up and understood. About four years ago I found the scientist Mehmet Muslimov - he works at the Institute of Linguistic Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences and sometimes conducts language courses. And so we gathered as a group of activists, and he began to teach us Izhorian. It is very difficult to learn: the language itself is complex, and there is no practice. There is no one to talk to: there are about 50 native speakers, mostly grandmothers in the villages. However, two years ago I found my great-aunt in the village of Vistino (another village in the Kingisepp district. - Ed.). So, she is a native speaker. Sometimes I come to her, we communicate in Izhorian. She tells family stories and we look at old photographs.
Now two dialects of the Izhorian language are alive: Lower Luga (closer to Estonian) and Soykinsky (closer to Finnish). There is no literary form of Izhorian yet, which also complicates the study. I won’t say that I now speak Izhorian perfectly.
The main center of Izhora culture is still in Vistina. There is a wonderful museum there, where Nikita Dyachkov, a young man who teaches the Izhorian language, works as a guide. He learned it almost perfectly, I don’t understand: how?! I study and study, and it’s still difficult to speak, but he knows the language remarkably well.
According to the 2010 census, the number of Izhora in Russia is 266 people. But in reality there is much more: the Center for Indigenous Peoples conducted a study, during which it turned out that every fourth resident of St. Petersburg has Finno-Ugric blood. Our goal is to tell people about how interesting the culture of their ancestors was.
About the objects with which I was photographed. Firstly, mittens bought in the Komi Republic: this is not quite an Izhorian item - rather, Finno-Ugric, however, the ornament is similar to ours. What does it mean? Interpreting symbols is a thankless task; most of it results in speculation. There is an assumption that this is a symbol of the sun, but the exact meaning has already been lost. The musical instrument that I hold in my hands is called a kannel in Izhorian: it is the same as a kantele, the closest analogue is the Novgorod gusli. It is five-string, made in Finland - there is a factory there where kantele is made. Previously, the cannel was considered a mystical instrument and was played only by married men. It served as a talisman; it was painted black and hung above the door. It was also believed that the sounds of the cannel cast a spell on the sea waves; in the past, they even took a cannelist with them especially when fishing so that the boat would not get caught in a sea storm. According to legend, the first cannel was made from the jaw of a pike, and Väinämöinen played it. (one of the main characters of “Kalevala”. - Ed.): he used the hair of the beautiful girl Aino as strings. I can play several traditional folk tunes on the cannel.
Alexander
Veps, 28 years old
NUMBER OF VEPSIANS IN THE WORLD:
6,400 people
My father is a Vepsian, my mother is a Vepsian. But I only learned about this when I was 10 years old, and since then I have been interested in the history of the people.
My paternal grandfather’s family lived in Vinnitsy (Vepsian village in the Podporozhye district of the Leningrad region. - Ed.) in a typical Vepsian house, inherited. By the way, the tradition of passing houses by inheritance, as far as I know, has been preserved in some Vepsian families to this day. My grandfather's family was quite prosperous - with its own farm, even a blacksmith's shop. According to stories, in the 1920s the family was dispossessed and the house was taken away. They built a new house, but then my grandfather went to study in Petrozavodsk. He left there during the Finnish occupation in the first half of the 1940s and returned after the war. My father is from Petrozavodsk.
I am Russified, but I feel more like a Vepsian. I have no grudges for my grandfather: it was the fault of the authorities, not the people. That was the time. What has passed cannot be returned. It’s just a pity that many people forget about their roots: for example, I know Karelians who consider themselves Russians. I try not to forget about my roots.
Before the revolution, the Vepsians (and Finno-Ugric peoples in general) were called Chud, Chukhons. The name “Vepsians” appeared after 1917. The Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan in the 10th century described the “Visu” people - people living in the forest in harmony with nature. Later they began to be called all - probably these are the ancestors of the Vepsians.
From the Vepsians the Russians inherited such characters as the brownie and the goblin. This is what is known about the devil: when you are going to the forest, you need to take some gift in order to appease the owner of the forest. It could be a pinch of salt or bread, but in no case mushrooms or berries - not what the forest can provide. If you don't capture it, you'll anger the owner of the forest, and he won't let you out. But if you get lost, you need to turn your clothes to the left side, then the devil will lead you out.
In the photo I am in Sosnovka Park, showing the ritual of greeting the forest owner. In this case, I brought the seeds. And then the squirrels came running - they, as “children of the forest,” were also entitled to gifts. After leaving the gifts, you need to bow and say: “See you later.”
I was in Vinnitsa, my grandfather’s homeland, several years ago: then representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples were gathered - there were Karelians, Izhoras, Vods. There are few old buildings left in the village, more modern ones. And yet time seemed to stand still there. I liked that atmosphere.
I tried to learn the Vepsian language, but, unfortunately, there is very little educational literature, and I am not familiar with native speakers. I feel proud that I belong to a rare people... and pity that there are so few of us. Unfortunately, many people forget their roots. But it’s so interesting to know who you are. Veps are essentially friendly, kind, and treat everyone well. If you come to them, they will give you food and drink, no matter whether you are Russian or not. They will accept you as one of their own.
Valeria
Ingrian Finnish,
20 years
number of Ingrians
in Russia:
441 people (Finns - 20,300 people)
I am from the village of Vybye, it is located on the Kurgal Peninsula in the Kingisepp district of the Leningrad region. Ingrian Finns have lived there since ancient times. My grandmother is from the village of Konnovo, located on the same peninsula. Her maiden name was Saya. My surname Lukka comes from my grandfather, he, like my grandmother, is from Ingrian Finns.
At the village school we were told that since ancient times Finno-Ugric peoples lived here - Vod, Izhora, Ingrian Finns. I have heard Finnish since childhood: my grandmother spoke it. While still at school, I signed up for the Vodka folk club. And then, when I moved to St. Petersburg to study, I joined the folklore group “Korpi”. I knew its leader Olga Igorevna Konkova for a long time, and my grandmother communicated with her.
When it comes to the repression and deportation of Ingrian Finns, I feel sad. My grandmother told me about her dad: he fought in the Great Patriotic War, and after that he was exiled to Siberia, why is unclear. Then he returned to the Leningrad region, but was already very ill. However, I have no grudges. This is a bad feeling, it’s better not to hide it.
As far as I know, there used to be a program under which Ingrian Finns could move to Finland. But I probably wouldn’t want to go there: I think Finland is too boring. I've been there - I just went for a few days. In general, my godparents live in Finland - they have their own parish there. They come to us twice a year.
At the “Center for Indigenous Peoples of the Leningrad Region,” where I work, there is a puppet theater: we travel with educational performances, mainly in villages. We are treated well everywhere, many people come to our performances. I like that we are useful to people.
I started to learn purely Finnish (Ingrian is a dialect, but Finns understand it), but I always lacked patience. Now I don’t know him perfectly, but I can explain myself by using gestures.
I'm interested in being a representative of my people. They often say that I look like a Finnish woman. And many people are not interested in their own history, and this is also normal. Everyone has different interests.
I have in my hands a book with the Karelian-Finnish epic “Kalevala”, written by Elias Lönnrot. I haven’t read the book yet, but from there we often sing the Izhora rune - the only one from the Kalevala recorded in Ingermanland. It talks about how one man went to plow, plowed a hundred furrows around a stump, the stump split in two, and it turned out to be two brothers. And then a sad story unfolds about how these brothers were at enmity.
Khilya Korosteleva. Photo from the site http://pln-pskov.ru
Just over 300 Ingrian Finns currently live in the Pskov region, reported live on the radio station "Echo of Moscow in Pskov"Chairman of the Pskov city public organization of Finns-Ingrians "Pikku Inkeri" Hilja Korosteleva, reports the Pskov news feed.
She said that before the revolution of 1917, there were about 120 thousand Ingrian Finns in the Leningrad region. Among them were both settled Finns who had lived here since the 17th century, and workers who came to build the railway and work in factories.
“After the war, there was practically not a single Finn left on the territory of Ingermanland, because when the Germans occupied the Soviet homeland, half ended up under German occupation, and the other in the blockade ring. In 1943, the Finnish government decides to take 62 thousand Finns to their historical homeland, and they left through Estonia to Finland. The remaining half of the Ingrians were taken to Yakutia by the NKVD," said Khilya Korosteleva.
Of these, at most 30% made it to the destination - the moving conditions were harsh. In 1944, when the Soviet government already saw the victorious outcome of the war, it appealed to the Finnish government to return the Finns to their historical homeland, and out of 62 thousand, 55 thousand Ingrians agreed to return, were loaded onto trains and successfully returned.
Currently, Ingrians live mainly in Russia (St. Petersburg, Leningrad and Pskov regions, Karelia, Western Siberia), Estonia, some other former republics of the USSR, as well as Finland and Sweden.
According to the 2010 census, there were about 20 thousand Ingrians in Russia. Only a little over 300 representatives of this ethnic group live in the Pskov region. Such a small number is due to natural decline: many Finns living in the Pskov region are already of advanced age.
According to Hilja Korosteleva, the “Pskov” Finns have practically not gathered together in recent years, with the exception of national holidays. This is largely due to the lack of a platform on which to gather. On rare occasions, the national society meets in the Catholic Church.
“I don’t paint the future of Ingrian Finns in rosy colors, because there are very few of us left,” PLN quotes Korosteleva as saying. In addition to natural population decline, sisu is lost over time. "This is one of the main Finnish words, which has no translation in other languages. Its meaning is a sense of oneself, the inner self. And By assimilating, this feeling is lost. I even see it in my children."
According to her, Finland allocates a lot of money to preserve the language and culture of Ingrian Finns living in Russia, including in the Leningrad region, where more than 12 thousand representatives of this ethnic group live compactly. “But it’s still a slow process,” concluded the studio guest.
