Izhorian culture. How modern Izhori live

History

The Izhors are relatives of the Karelians who have become a separate nationality. Their self-name is Izhora. It comes from the Swedish name for the lands south of the Neva and the Gulf of Finland - Ingermanland, where the Izhors settled at the end of the 1st millennium.

In the XII century, the Izhors became part of the Novgorod principality. In the Russian chronicles, under 1241, the elder of the Izhors, Pelgusy, is mentioned, who informed the young prince Alexander Yaroslavich (future Nevsky) about the landing of the Swedes on the banks of the Neva.

Pelgusy goes to the Russian army

Belonging to the Novgorod land determined the powerful impact on the Izhors of ancient Russian culture, which was expressed primarily in the adoption of Orthodoxy by the Izhors.

During the Time of Troubles, the mouth of the Neva and the entire Izhora land fell under the rule of the Swedes. After the Swedish king tried to convert the conquered Ingria to Lutheranism, the Izhors left their ancestral lands for Russia. Only in 1721, Sweden returned Ingria to Russia, and most of the Izhors returned to their former habitats.

Map of Ingria, 1727

In pre-revolutionary Russia, the number of Izhors fluctuated between 16-18 thousand people.

In the early 1930s, at the initiative of the Soviet authorities, Izhora writing was created, book publishing and school teaching of the Izhora language in primary grades were established. However, this experiment was soon abandoned.

During the Great Patriotic War, a significant part of the Izhors were forcibly taken to Finland. At the same time, the Izhors from near Oranienbaum were sent to Siberia. Some of the villages were simply destroyed during the hostilities. Of course, the preservation of the language and the people in these conditions was hardly possible. As a result, the Izhors, who lived on the Karelian Isthmus and along the Oredezh River, completely disappeared among the local population. Ethnic self-consciousness and the spoken Izhora language were preserved only in the north-west of historical Ingria (now the Kingisepp district of the Leningrad region), and then only in a few villages.

Izhora villages (by 1943) highlighted in light blue

Therefore, at present, the Izhors, alas, are, in the true sense of the word, a dying people. Their total number in Russia is only 327 people. True, another 822 Izhorians live in Ukraine, and 358 settled in Estonia.

Culture, life

The Izhors were singled out as a special people by Russian scientists of the 18th-19th centuries. They also recorded the main area of their settlement.

The Izhors are Finno-Ugric peoples with a slight admixture of Mongoloidity. According to ethnographic descriptions, among the Izhors there are many fair-haired and light-eyed, men have a strongly developed beard, the average height of an Izhor is 164-167 centimeters, i.e. higher than that of local Russians.

Izhora family, 1944

The character of the Izhors differed markedly from neighboring peoples. In the 18th century, one of the travelers wrote: “... they have cunning in great respect; they are agile and flexible.” At the same time, they do not have malice and idleness in their character, on the contrary, the Izhors are hardworking and "keep clean."

Izhors, ser. 19th century

Fishing has been the main occupation of the Izhora people for many centuries. Even for most of the 20th century, smelt and Baltic herring were still the main fishery.

The wedding customs of the Izhors are curious. The groom himself, without the help of his parents, chose his bride. They sat down at the wedding table, except for the bride, who did not sit, but stood and bowed to both sides, inviting guests to a treat. After the wedding, the young wife shaved her hair on her head and grew her braids again only after the birth of her first child.

Izhorian woman in festive attire

It is surprising that this small people retained in their memory the Kalevala epic, common with the Karelians and Finns, some parts of which were known only to the Izhorian rune singers.

Izhora storyteller
Larin Paraske (Paraskeva Nikitina)

As early as the beginning of the 20th century, researchers noted the poor knowledge of the Russian language by the Izhors, despite the fact that almost the entire population had long been converted to Orthodoxy and bore Russian surnames, names and patronymics. True, the Izhors bore a surname not by the name of their father, but by their grandfather.

Now the situation is different: most Izhorians no longer know their native language. In 2009, UNESCO listed Izhorian in the Atlas of the World's Endangered Languages as "Significantly Endangered".

To preserve the cultural heritage of the people, a local history museum was created in the village of Vistino.

Izhora Ethnographic Museum in the village. Vistino

In the village of Gorki, there is a folklore ensemble "Shoykulan Laulat", performing songs and ditties in the Izhorian language. Anyone, in principle, can understand them, since there is a self-instruction manual for the Izhorian language on the Internet http://in-yaz-book.narod.ru/izhor.html.

Deep in the Leningrad Region, on the quiet Soykinsky Peninsula, for many centuries now, the calm, serious people of the Izhora have settled. They have always been different from their neighbors, proud of their traditions and originality. A small people (maximum there were about 20 thousand) with a very rich history, which is now stored in the small village of Vistino. Hidden among the slender pines is a small green house with a triangular roof. In it, there is a storehouse of information about the Izhors.
- We have a task.
We want to know why you Izhors are dying out and how to prevent it? - approximately with such a phrase, our team falls into the house.

It's not that Vistino is waiting for every existing journalist to tell everyone and everything about the Izhors, so that the world knows who they are. No. Elena Kostrova, curator of the Izhora ethnographic museum, takes a deep breath, looks at us skeptically... and sends us on a tour.

Nobody is going to die.
History reference

The oldest inhabitants of St. Petersburg, or rather its territories, were the Izhora (“Izhera”) tribe, whose name was the name of the entire Izhora land or Ingermanland (on both banks of the Neva and Western Ladoga), later renamed the St. Petersburg province.

The first written evidence of this tribe dates back to the 12th century. In it, Pope Alexander III, along with the Karelians, Sami and Vodi, names the pagans of Ingria and forbids selling weapons to them. By this time, the Izhors had already established strong ties with the Eastern Slavs who came to neighboring territories, and took an active part in the formation of the Novgorod principality. True, the Slavs themselves barely distinguished the cultural element of the Izhors, calling all the local Finno-Ugric tribes "chud". For the first time, in Russian sources, they started talking about the Izhors only in the 13th century, when they, together with the Karelians, invaded Russian lands.

Only in 1721, Peter I included this region in the St. Petersburg province of the Russian state. During the revision of 1732, only 14.5 thousand "old-timers Izhorians" were counted in Ingermanladia.
According to Academician P. Koeppen, in 1848, 17,800 Izhors lived in 222 villages of the St. Petersburg province, and another 689 people lived in the neighboring Vyborg province. In the middle of the XIX century, a new “discovery” of the Izhora took place as a people with an amazing song culture: the Izhora recorded more than 15 thousand songs!
From the end of the 19th century, the number of Izhors began to decline: in the northern and central parts of Ingermanladia, the Izhors were assimilated by the Finnish and Russian population that outnumbered them. In 1926, there were already 16,137 Izhora. At the same time, attempts were made to support the Izhora culture: the Soyka Izhora National Council was organized, later the Izhora script was created, textbooks were published in the Izhora language, and education was introduced in the native language.
But the events of the 1930-1940s inflicted the most significant damage on the Izhora people and their traditional culture. A large number of Izhora suffered from the effects of colonization. In 1937, all public activities in the Izhorian language were stopped, national schools were closed. In the year of the war, new trials fell upon the Izhors: the vast majority were taken to Finland, through the Klooga concentration camp on steamboats. Many died from various infectious diseases. Out of 7,000, 1,000 died in the first week from various diseases. Then the Izhors lived in Finland, were used for various jobs. Not everyone returned to the Soviet Union from the places of expulsion, and those who could were forbidden to settle in their native homes and villages. Ethnic secrecy began, because the population greatly decreased.
Now there are only 262 Izhora.

During the tour, we will learn how the Izhorian women dressed, how many hats they had, how they washed and where they fashioned. The story of the guide Nikita Dyachkov is so full of details that it seems as if he himself saw how a young girl embroidered towels for her dowry decades ago.

There are no knots or gaps on the towels - it is identical on both sides. Grooms chose their bride by an embroidered towel: if everything is the same, without mistakes and marriage, then the girl will become a good wife. By the way, one of these paintings is really in the Izhorian Museum. The thing is over 100 years old.
And the locals brought towels. So, while dismantling the attic, they found an important exhibit.

Antique items are kept by the Izhors in their houses. Some people are remodeling traditional houses, and all these things become unnecessary, they are simply thrown away. More conscious residents bring here to the museum. Each of these things can tell in more detail and more interestingly about the traditional Izhora culture, - explains Nikita Andreevich

After the historical educational program, we understand who we came to. Only then the guide Nikita Dyachkov sends us to communicate with Elena Ivanovna. Prior to this, there would be no point in the conversation. We came to make material with the wrong message. The word "endangered" in relation to the Izhors no longer sounds with us. This is a small people, whose assimilation is a normal process that happens to any small people. But traditions, culture and history will not disappear as long as there are people who do this, study it and pass it on to future generations. As long as there are people who live by it.
Not that we went with the lack of even approximate knowledge ... We diligently googled the topic: what's what? - however, it was all for nothing. Only when we saw the museum with our own eyes, heard the history firsthand and personally talked with the Izhors, did we understand that traditions and culture are alive here and do not plan to disappear.

We were lucky to meet not just Izhors who know about their past. In the museum we found a man who can be called the soul and heart of this people. Elena Ivanovna, to be honest, at first scared us with her seriousness. It was as if she was very tired of the sudden outbreaks of journalists' attention, loud conclusions about the disappearing Izhors, careless headlines in the media ...

However, the nature of the Izhors is restraint and hospitality, if they see that the guests are good.

Over a cup of tea, Elena Ivanovna talks about the activities of the museum, about problems that are not so important when you are doing what you love and what you are passionate about. We came to learn about projects, funding and events, programs to popularize Izhorian traditions... And we found a real culture that begins only inside each individual person. Elena Viktorovna, still laughing at the fact that her people are dying out, shows hand-painted towels. These works were made by students in the classroom. Moreover, the age of the students has already exceeded 18 three times. Grandmothers, with great pleasure and no less big nerves, diligently master this sewing technique.

“- What is difficult: to take, draw an Izhorian wedding doll, make 15 copies and distribute to children to color? We need a lot of funding, millions! The main thing is desire. We have made such coloring pages, and with children we are learning the elements of the national costume, we are learning the traditions (why do we need a wedding doll, for example), we are also developing speech, learning the elements of the outfit. "
Children draw, study local history, weave rugs on looms and mold pots in the workshop. And if, for example, there are not enough machines, Elena Ivanovna makes the simplest model from cardboard and thread. (“Here you have fine motor skills classes, everything is simple”) And on each such example, he repeats that the main thing is to start with yourself. Like her, like Nikita Andreevich, who himself learned the language, like Dmitry, a potter working in a workshop without water.

Do you know why the Izhors are so reserved and serious?
- Elena Ivanovna said smiling,

Because the sea does not like mess. So you see, you came from St. Petersburg, you even made a pot with curls on a potter's wheel, but here everything is restrained, concise, practical.

We could sit and wait for a miracle, but then all this would not be here. And so, we ourselves collected a little bit, created, they began to notice us and help us. Let's build a new pottery workshop. The money was allocated for teaching aids. After all, funding is not allocated for nothing, some existing project is sponsored. And the project begins with the people who are involved in it, - the director of the museum explains to us.

The Museum of Izhorian Culture is not just a building,
where the artifacts are.
Elena Ivanovna is not just an employee of a budgetary institution. The Vistinsky Museum is the place where the Izhor culture lives. This is a place where every grandmother involved in painting is known by name and worried about everyone. This is a place where they can bring up national authenticity in children during a fun game. No one will be expelled here because they don’t know something or made a mistake in something. On the contrary, everyone will tell and show, explain their way of life and ideology.
It was important for Elena Ivanovna to explain to us, the students who came to cover the problem of the extinction of the people, one thing.
The number of people is not so important if each of them knows who he is, where he comes from, remembers his history and passes all this knowledge on to his children. Or children pass on to adults

project312178.tilda.ws They are alive!

December 18 in the cultural and leisure center of the municipality "Vistinsky rural settlement" The Kingiseppsky district of the Leningrad region hosted the traditional Izhora holiday "TALVI-MIIKKULA" (Nikola Zimniy) - Izhora's Day. Residents of the Vistinsky rural settlement, the vicar of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Bishop Nazariy of Vyborg, the Government of the Leningrad Region, the administration of the Kingisepp District and the Vistinsky Rural Settlement, the Soykinskaya Shrine initiative group took part in organizing the holiday.

The holiday program was quite rich:

Festive prayer service led by the vicar of the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Bishop Nazariy of Vyborg;

Opening of the holiday (speech by officials) and presentation of the Soykinskaya shrine project for the reconstruction of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on the Soykinsky churchyard;

Congratulations on behalf of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and the Soykinskaya Shrine initiative group to the children and residents of the Vistinsky rural settlement on the feast of St. Nicholas, the coming New Year and Christmas;

- "Talvi ilta" - theatrical performance;

- "Ihmisin kiittämin" - rewarding activists for their contribution to the development of the Izhora culture and the preservation of the heritage of the Izhora people;

- "Tulkaa viirahisse!" - performance of Finno-Ugric folklore ensembles (Rybachka, Soykinskie melodies, Talomerkit);

- "Tervetuloa kannen takkaaks" - presentation of the Izhorian festive table;

Izhor traditional songs and dances.

Izhora. Historical reference:

The history of the Ingrian Finns (Inkeri, Izhora).

The word "Inkeri" has several meanings. It equally means both a certain territory and the Finno-Ugric origin of the population of this territory. The ethnonym "Inkeri" - "Finns-Ingrian" (in Finnish inkerisuomalainen, inkerilainen - "inkerinsuomalainen", "inkerilainen") began to refer after the Peace of Stolbovo in 1617 to an ethnic group that moved to the territory of Ingermaplandia, spoke Finnish and professed the Evangelical faith . Inkeri Finns (Ingrian) even many of the Finno-Ugric scholars are often confused with the Izhors.

The Izhoras (in Finnish, inkeroinen, inkerikko), together with the Vodoo, constitute the indigenous Finno-Ugric population of Izhora (Ingermanland), which, under Russian influence, converted to Orthodoxy quite early. The Izhora and Vodka autochthonous populations of Ingermanland are usually referred to in Russian sources by the common name "chud". Russian chronicles for the first time mention the self-names of these tribes as separate ethnonyms under 1060 - "Vod", and under 1228 - "Izhora". The Russian resettlement movement reached these territories in the 10th-11th centuries, but the Russian population became significant in size only after the Great Northern War.

Ancient Izhora (in Swedish Ingermanland (Ingermanland), in Russian Ingermanland) was an area of about 15 thousand square meters. km, which lay on both banks of the Neva between Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland, and got its name from the left tributary of the Neva, the Izhora River (in Finnish Inhere). Ingria has not been an administrative unit for almost three centuries. Since 1710 the official name of this territory is the St. Petersburg province, from 1927 until the collapse of the USSR - the Leningrad region, at present - the St. Petersburg region).

Due to its advantageous strategic location, Ingermanland was claimed by many great powers. There was almost no century that Swedish or Russian troops did not ravage it, destroying the Finns living there. In 1323, with the conclusion of peace in the Oreshek fortress, Novgorod strengthened its influence in the region. At the beginning of the 17th century, taking advantage of the interregnum and the struggle for the throne in the Russian state of the Time of Troubles era, Sweden considered this moment convenient for seizing the territories it had long looked after for itself. In the Vyborg Treaty of 1609, the Swedes, in exchange for the province of Kakisalmi (Kexgolm volost), promised their support and assistance to the tsar's ambassador. The Russians delayed fulfilling their obligations under the treaty, in response to this, the Swedes devastated and devastated Ingermanland. In 1613, the first tsar from the Romanov dynasty ascended the throne, who, due to internal problems in the country, was forced to make major concessions to Sweden and the peace treaty in Stolbov. In addition to the Keksholm volost, Ingermanland also ceded to Sweden. According to the tax list of 1618, in Ingermanland, entire counties were depopulated, so the Swedes were forced to repopulate the province devastated by the war. Part of Ingermanland was divided among the Swedish nobility as captive feudal lands. The new feudal landowners resettled peasants from their former estates, some of whom were sent there as punishment, to their new destinies. In this way, Ingermanland became something like Swedish Siberia. Along with this, the population of this territory also increased due to veteran soldiers who served their term in the army and were resettled there. Along with these official actions of the Swedish authorities to settle Ingermanland, there was a process of spontaneous resettlement of the inhabitants of the eastern Finnish provinces of Sweden to this province, famous for its fertile lands. Finnish settlers in 1656 amounted to 41.1% of the population; in 1671 - 56.9%; and in 1695 - already 73.8%. Finnish colonists came from two territories: members of the ethnic group from the Karelian Isthmus and the ethnic group savakko from the province of Savolaks. Over time, the differences between both groups were erased, and a single Ingrian-Finnish population (Inkeri) was formed, which constantly increased and was updated due to the fresh influx of immigrants arriving from Finland. Although under the terms of the Stolbovsky peace, the inhabitants of the territories that had ceded to Sweden were given the right to freely choose their religion, the Swedes began to forcefully convert to the Evangelical faith, under the influence of which the Orthodox population, including a large number of Vodi and Izhorians, fled en masse to the interior regions of Russia. In 1655 there were already 58 evangelical religious communities in Ingria with 36 churches and 42 priests.

As a result of the Northern War of 1700-1721. Ingria was returned to Russia, which decisively changed the position of the Ingrian Finns, making them subjects of a state with an alien culture. In 1703, the construction of St. Petersburg began, in 1712 the city became the capital of the Russian Empire, the royal family moved there, most of the state institutions, and spontaneous settlement of the city began. From the very beginning, there were Finns in it, because growing and expanding, the city absorbed many villages inhabited by Ingrians. Petersburg province in the 18th century. there is economic specialization and the creation of branches of the economy to meet the needs of the inhabitants of the capital. Ingrian Finns could also benefit from this: dairy products, vegetables, fruits and greens have always been in demand in the city. Before the construction of the railway, a good additional income for men was brought by carting.

The Evangelical Church, as the only cultural institution in Ingermanland, did in the 16th century. work in the field of preservation of the Finnish language,

whose importance is difficult to overestimate. A prerequisite for concluding a church marriage was literacy - the ability to read, write and know religious texts. Thanks to this, the level of education of the Ingrian Finns significantly exceeded the level of the Russian population, which was overwhelmingly illiterate. At the beginning of the XIX century. on the initiative of the church, a system of school education began to be created. Due to the lack of teachers and the disinterested attitude of people, the number of schools grew extremely slowly. The turnaround was achieved only with the help of the teacher's seminary opened in 1863 in Kolppan. The seminary not only trained teachers for Finnish elementary schools, but also, thanks to educators, became the center of the flourishing of the culture and spiritual life of Ingria. In 1888, 38 Finnish schools were already operating in Ingermanland. Reading clubs, song choirs and musical orchestras were organized at schools, song festivals were held, moreover, fire brigades also owe their appearance to schools.

The years of the First World War meant a real golden age for the Ingrian peasants. They could sell their products at a reasonable price, and, as a sign of well-being and prosperity, various agricultural machines started up in their farms; neither sewing machines nor even a piano were a rarity in household use.

In the period after the October Revolution, the cultural institutions of the Finns-Inkeri could continue their work for some time, schools still taught in Finnish. However, in the late 20's. the attack on the church and the persecution of the Finnish language began. Since 1926, any religious and ecclesiastical event required special permission from the local Council. A lot of trouble was caused by the lack of clergy. More and more priests moved to Finland to escape the threat of exile and forced labor camps. The teaching of the law of God was discontinued, as a result of purges among the teaching staff, the teacher guard became more Russian. In 1937, Finnish, as the language of "counter-revolutionary nationalists", was banned, the publication of newspapers in Finnish was discontinued, and books were burned.

The physical extermination of the Ingrian Finns also began. In the early 30s. with the first wave of special settlers sent into exile in connection with the events of collectivization, according to some estimates, about 18 thousand people were forcibly deported from their places of permanent residence. In 1935-1936. under the pretext of expanding the border neutral zone, 27 thousand people were evicted from Northern Ingermanland. By the end of the 30s. about 50 thousand people were exiled from Ingermanlandia, they scattered in the territories from the Kola Peninsula to the Far East and Sakhalin.

During the Second World War, the blockade ring around Leningrad divided the areas inhabited by Ingrian Finns in two. There is no exact information about the number of Iggermanlanders who fell into the blockade, however, according to rough estimates, there were at least 30 thousand people, most of whom became victims of the blockades. Nevertheless, most of the Ingrian Finns ended up in the territories occupied by the Germans. As a result of German-Finnish negotiations, they got the opportunity to move to live in Finland. In three streams, a total of 62,848 Ingrian Finns were evacuated to Finland. Paragraph 10 of the Soviet-Finnish agreement on the cessation of hostilities signed on September 19, 1944 became final for the Ingrian Finns. On the basis of this paragraph, all Ingrians previously evacuated to Finland were to be extradited by the Finnish authorities to the Soviet Union. But the wagons carrying them did not stop in Ingria, but continued on their way further east. Finland handed over to the Soviet Union almost 55,000 Ingrian Finns. Some remained in Finland, some of them moved to Sweden in advance, fearing extradition to the Soviet authorities. From there, many continued on their way to other countries of Western Europe and even to America and Australia.

Ingrian Finns scattered throughout the USSR only in the late 40s. allowed to move to the lands in the neighborhood of their fatherland - in the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Permission to return to Ingermanland was received only in 1956. Many chose the Estonian SSR as their place of residence. According to the 1989 census, only 67,300 Finnish people lived in the Soviet Union. Of these, 20,500 people. lived in the Leningrad region, 18,400 people. - in the Karelian ASSR, 16,700 people. - in Estonia and 12,000 people. - in other territories of the Soviet Union. Finnish-Ipgermanland population of ancient Izhora by the end of the 80s. consisted of older people. The younger generations became Russified. In the 1989 census, only 35% of them declared Finnish as their mother tongue. But due to political changes, the Ypgermanland Finns are also experiencing an era of awakening of national identity. The newly restored social and religious organizations that had previously played such a significant role in preserving the sense of national identity among the Finns-Ipgermanlanders revived. Nowadays, there are 15 evangelical communities in Ingermanlapdia. Finland provides significant assistance to the Ingrian Finns: host farmers, teachers of the Finnish language, medical workers, clergy - priests and deacons are trained there. Since April 1990, Finland has been accepting Ingrian Finns as immigrant repatriates. So far, about 5,000 people have taken advantage of this opportunity.

The coming years will show what will be the fate of the Ingrian Finns ethnic group. Will it be able to preserve its language, culture, customs, or will it finally become Russified, and perhaps choose the path of mass emigration.

Inkeri - small people

Our city, always famous for its multinational culture and religious tolerance, served as an example not only for other regions of Russia, but also for many countries of the world. At present, only about 20,000 Finns and their descendants, or 0.3% of the six million population of the region, remain on the territory of the former Ingermanland (Petersburg and the Leningrad Region).

The public organization "Inkerin Liitto" (Ingermanland Union), which has existed since 1988, sets itself the task of reviving the national identity of the Inkeri Finns, preserving this people in their historical and ethnic homeland, and creating conditions for the development of language and culture. "Inkerin Liitto" occupies a dominant position in the Finnish national-cultural autonomy of the city and region.

Chairman Alexander Kiryanen tells about the tasks, problems and daily affairs of the union:

It is difficult for Inkeri Finns to even partially restore the socio-political position they occupied at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. And although the years of repression are behind us, the state decided to rehabilitate the Ingrian Finns, the threat to the future of this people in their native land has not been removed. The mechanism for implementing the resolution is not yet operational.

In this regard, the main emphasis in the work is placed on interaction with the governing bodies: relationships have been established with the department for national associations under the Committee on External Relations. Inkeri Finns are also members of the Council of the House of National Cultures of St. Petersburg.

And we started with the revival of folklore ensembles, and now almost every department has some kind of artistic group. Every year we hold summer and winter holidays - Ivanov's Day and Maslenitsa. At the beginning of October we usually celebrate Inkeri Day. Inkeri is also a female name (name day October 5). It so happened that on this day we celebrate the name day of our people.

Since 1988, we have been opening Finnish language groups. At the same time, over 700 people study Finnish with us, get acquainted with the culture and customs of their ancestors. We have concluded an agreement with the Central Union of Finnish Teachers, according to which a 3-year training course for teachers of the Finnish language is organized in St. Petersburg and the region. Three groups have been created: two are engaged in St. Petersburg on the basis of "Inkerin Liitto" and one - in the school of the village of Taitsy. At the same time, another group was selected, which in April must take a special language proficiency exam in Finland. Those who pass will receive a document not only on the knowledge of the Finnish language, but also on the right to teach it.

We are supported by the Finnish consulate in St. Petersburg, strong ties have been established with Finland. An agreement has been concluded with the Ministries of Labor and Education of Finland to support the language and culture of the Finns living here.

In November, we participated in the work of the Parliament of Foreign Finns in Helsinki. More than a million Finns - almost a fifth of the population - live outside of Finland, and they have created their own parliament. Such a parliament still exists only among the French and Italians. The ceremony was attended by the President of Finland, Mrs. Tarja Halonen.

In early December, our delegation of 10 people took part in the work of the III World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples, dedicated to the Independence Day of Finland. The congress was held in Helsinki and brought together the envoys of these peoples living in the space from Taimyr and the Urals to Estonia, Hungary and Finland.

Vladimir Dmitriev

Izhora

Self-name Izhors, Karyalayset, Izurit. They live in the Leningrad region. They belong to the White Sea-Baltic race of a large Caucasoid race; there is a weak Mongoloid admixture. The Izhorian language, belonging to the Baltic-Finnish subgroup, has 4 dialects. The Russian language is also widespread, which most of the Izhorians consider native.

Having separated from the South Karelian tribes, the Izhors at the end of the 1st-beginning of the 2nd millennium AD. e. settled in the river basin. Izhora and then gradually moved to the west of Ingria, partially assimilating the Votic population. The first mention of the Izhora is contained in the annals of the 13th century, when they were part of the Novgorod land. In the XVI century. Izhorians were converted to Orthodoxy.

Traditional occupations are agriculture, fishing, including sea fishing, and forestry. In the 19th century otkhodnichestvo, intermediary trade, crafts (woodworking, pottery) were developed.

Traditional material culture is close to Russian. Until the middle of the XIX century. ethnic specificity was preserved in women's clothing. In the eastern regions of Ingria, they wore a shirt with a short trimmed shoulder, on top - clothes from two panels on the straps, one on the right, the other on the left side. The upper one covered the entire body, diverging on the left side, closed by the lower panel. The Western Izhors (along the Luga River) wore an unsewn skirt over their shirts, the Eastern Izhors had a long towel headdress descending to the edge of their clothes, and the Western Izhors wore a Russian magpie-type headdress. Decorations: woven and embroidered ornament, beads, cowrie shells. At the end of the XIX century. old forms of clothing were supplanted by the Russian sundress.

Ethnic identity persisted until the 20th century. in family and calendar rituals, for example, in a special women's (so-called, Indian) holiday. There was a belief in guardian spirits (of the hearth, the owner of a barn, a bathhouse, etc.), the spirits of the earth, water. Folklore, ritual (wedding and funeral lamentations) and epic poetry are developed, for example, the runes about Kullervo, partly included in Kalevala.

History of Izhora

The Izhors, together with the Veps, constitute the indigenous population of Ingermanland. The area of their ethnogenesis was the territory lying between the Narva River and Lake Ladoga and further to the south. Their name comes from the Izhora River (in Finnish Inkere - Inkere), which flows into the Neva. The ethnonyms "Izhora" and "Inkeri" are often used as synonyms in relation to two Baltic-Finnish peoples - the Orthodox Izhora people and the Finns-Inkeri (Ingermanlanders) professing the Evangelical faith. Despite the relationship between the two languages and the centuries-old coexistence of the peoples who speak these languages, a distinction should nevertheless be made between the two ethnic groups.

The Izhorian language belongs to the northern (according to another classification, to the eastern) branch of the group of Baltic-Finnish languages, the closest related languages to it are Karelian and eastern dialects of Finnish. some linguists do not consider Izhorian a separate independent language.

The Izhors, in all likelihood, separated from the Karelian ethnic group, this is indicated by the proximity of both languages, as well as the fact that part of the Izhors call themselves Karelians. Previously, this separation of the two peoples was attributed to the 11th-12th centuries, but recently archaeological finds and linguistic studies indicate that this process ended as early as 1000 AD. e. In our time, the hypothesis that the Izhora tribe originated from the merger of several Baltic-Finnish tribes is beginning to gain recognition.

East Slavic tribes of Krivichi and Slovenes in the VI-VIII centuries. reached the southern lands of Ingermanland, and in the tenth century. have already established lively ties with the local Baltic-Finnish population. The first written source that mentioned the Izhors dates back to the 12th century, in which Pope Alexander III, along with the Karelians, Sami and Vods, names the pagans of Ingria and forbids selling weapons to them. Waterways from Lake Ilmen to Ladoga since the end of the 9th century. came under the control of Novgorod. The small Baltic-Finnish peoples who lived here took part in the formation of the Novgorod principality. The way of life of the small Finno-Ugric peoples of the Baltic States was of the same type. The common name of these peoples in the ancient Russian chronicles was "Chud". Their role in the history of Novgorod the Great is also indicated by the fact that the city even had Chudskaya Street.

In the Russian chronicles, the Izhora was first mentioned under this name in 1228, and since that time, the Izhora often appear in the annals along with the Karelians when describing battles with enemies invading Russian lands from the west. With the weakening of the power of Novgorod, at first, the activity of Lithuania intensified on the lands of the Izhora, and during the XIV century. Lithuanians repeatedly collected tribute from them. In the XV century. the star of Novgorod finally set, and Moscow intercepted the leading role from it. The process of colonization by Russian settlers of these lands continued at a rapid pace. The Moscow princes distributed estates to their faithful adherents in these territories as well. From the so-called "Vod tax list" compiled in 1500, it turns out that the population of Izhora was approximately 70 thousand people. Despite the consistent distortion in the Russian manner of names and names, it is still likely that at that time the Baltic-Finnish peoples were still in the majority. In the XVI century. special attention was paid to the spread of Orthodoxy. The Izhors were also covered by a network of churches, religious communities, and monasteries.

In the second half of the XVI century. there were long Swedish-Russian wars, which brought a lot of destruction and death to the Izhora and Karelians, but the territories inhabited by the Izhora at that time remained in the hands of Russia. At the beginning of the XVII century. Sweden took advantage of the weakening of the Russian state in the "Time of Troubles" and annexed Ingermanland to its empire. The fact of accession was recognized at the signing of the Stolbovsky peace treaty in 1617. This state remained until the end of the Northern War, until 1721. At that time, the Finnish population arrived in the Izhorian lands, professing the Lutheran Evangelical faith, as detailed in the article covering their history. After the restoration of Russian power, the landowners again began to resettle serfs in large numbers on the territory of Ingermanland. Along with this, in the XVIII century. Germans, and in the XIX century. Estonians also settled in the Ingermanland province. The ethnic map of this territory has become very colorful.

Intensified since the beginning of the XVIII century. Russian influence especially increased and deepened in the second half of the 19th century. Under the influence of Russian-speaking schools and due to the proximity of the capital of Russia, the number of people who know Russian has increased among the Izhors, and interethnic mixed marriages have become more frequent. Izhora villages by the end of the 19th century. already little different from the Russians.

From the middle of the last century to the present day, the number of Izhors has been as follows:

1848 - 178,000 people

1897 - 21700 people

1926 - 26137 people

1959 - 1026 people (proficiency in the native language - 34.7%)

1970 - 781 people (proficiency in the native language - 26.6%)

1979 - 748 people (native language proficiency -32.6%)

1989 - 820 people (native language proficiency -36.8%)

The Soviet era began for the Izhors in the same way as for other Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia. An alphabet was created based on Latin letters, in which about twenty books were published, and the school education system began to develop. Then it all stopped. First, in connection with collectivization, many were deported to Siberia and Central Asia, then in the second half of the 30s. terror fell upon the Izhorian intelligentsia. The Second World War brought them the same thing as the Ingrian Finns and the Vod people. The Finns who fled to Finland were forced to hand over to the Soviet Union, but many voluntarily returned to their homeland, believing the promises. However, they were all bitterly disappointed. They were settled throughout the country, and only after 1956 were they allowed to return to their native lands and settle there again.

Most of the Izhors were already considered bilingual between the two wars, and the post-war generations almost no longer speak the language of their fathers and grandfathers. The geographical location, as well as the environment of larger peoples, did not allow the Izhora people and their culture to develop over the course of history. Unfortunately, even now they have little chance of survival.

Bibliography:

1. Historical and cultural atlas of the Komi Republic. Moscow, 1997

2. Kindred by language. Budapest, 2000

Izhora (Inkeri)

history reference

Konstantin Saks

An old German legend about the origin of the Huns says that at first only the Germanic tribes had various gods as their ancestors, and the origin of the Huns was completely different. Once upon a time, the Goths were ruled by the noble prince Ambl, the progenitor of the Amelungs. Somehow he captured Finnish women. The Finns were skilled in everything: in weaving and spinning, but also in sorcery. They destroyed livestock, destroyed crops, sent fires, pestilence and disease to dwellings. A lot of dead Gothic people! But worst of all, men couldn't love girls. Mothers could not breastfeed their children, their breasts were full of blood instead of milk! Children were born monstrously ugly.

Embraced by horror and anger, the Goths decided to remove these terrible, monstrous women. It was impossible to kill them, so as not to desecrate the Gothic soil and not bring the curse of the gods to the destitute land. They drove them out of the Gothic land far to the north, into the icy rocky nets, thinking that there they would die of hunger... But alas! It happened differently. Evil eastern spirits united with these disgusting witches, and not on the marriage bed, at the sacred hearth, but on the backs of steppe horses, they gave birth to a terrible and numerous tribe, greedy, yellow-faced, gluttonous, bow-legged, stooping, dirty, narrow-eyed and crafty, on destruction and a curse to the peoples, on the mountain of the whole world. They were wild, like steppe wolves, disgusting Huns. Who are the Huns and why are they historically associated with the Finns, and with the territory near the city of St. Petersburg, called Ingria?

Hun invasion at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th century. shocked Europe. The Huns - Khun-Khu-Hungars (according to one of the theories of D. Europius, a Finnish ethnographer, explorer of Ingria in the 19th century - Ugrians, Ingris, Inkers, Izhers, Izhors) were considered the peoples of Asia, who came either from the Southern Urals or Altai. The main archaeological sites of the early Huns are located in Transbaikalia in the valleys of the Selenga River and its tributaries: Orkhon, Dzhida and Chikoy near the city of Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Buryat Republic. In the 19th century, in the area of the city of Kyakhta in Ilmovaya Pad and Deristuysky Kultuk, an ancient cemetery was discovered and partially explored, about 100 graves in "log cabins" and "coffins". Now the huge archaeological fund consists of about 1500 Hunnic graves. For the most part, these are low mounds of stones. The original shape of the gravestone masonry looked like a quadrangle or a circle. Ordinary Huns were buried in wooden log cabins and coffins, and representatives of the nobility - in burial chambers with double log cabins.

The culture of the early Huns is represented by weapons: three-blade and leaf-shaped arrowheads, equipped with whistles in the form of barrel-shaped hollow tubes with holes on the sides. The Huns were armed with composite bows made of wooden and bone plates, with great lethal force, up to 1.5 meters long. Since the main occupation of the Huns was cattle breeding, items of horse equipment were found in the graves: bits and cheek-pieces, bone and iron buckles and rings. The burials also contained pottery, lacquer cups, bone and wooden sticks and spoons, bronze mirrors, and dice. According to written Chinese and later European sources, it is known what great importance the horse had for the nomads of the Huns. Iron horse bits were found not only in male and female burials, but also in children's. At the same time, during the excavations of the Ivolginsky settlement, millet grains, stone grain graters and grain storage pits were discovered. The Huns made iron products themselves, which is confirmed by the finds of a raw furnace, fragments of cracks and slags.

The life of the Huns depended on a combination of nomadic and sedentary forms of economy. In the settlements, permanent dwellings were discovered - semi-dugouts with warm chimneys along the walls, when the smoke from the hearth first went through the chimneys and then went out into the chimney. But the most common dwellings were felt yurts covered with carpets. The clothes of ordinary Huns were made of leather, furs and coarse woolen fabrics. The nobility dressed in expensive woolen, silk and cotton imported fabrics. The features of the patriarchal-tribal system were strong in the Hunnic society. In connection with the growth of property inequality and the desire for wealth among many nomadic tribes, K. Marx wrote, “a war that was previously waged only in order to avenge attacks, or in order to expand the territory that has become insufficient for livestock, is now being waged only for the sake of robbery, become a constant trade.

Having risen among the local tribes, the early Huns created a powerful tribal association. A significant part of the Huns at the end of the 1st millennium BC. began its advance to the west, conquering some tribes, pushing back others, drawing them into its alliance and setting in motion still others. This movement continued for more than three centuries, until in the 4th century AD, having crossed all of Southern Siberia, the steppes of the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, the Hunnic hordes appeared at the borders of the Roman Empire. But in the course of these events, the Huns themselves changed so much that it is impossible to put an equal sign between the early Huns (Hun-Khu) and the tribes that invaded Eastern Europe at the turn of two eras. Until now, Europe has not had to deal with such numerous hordes of ruthless nomads, bringing death and destruction.

The mighty shaft of the Hun invasion also carried away many Finno-Ugric peoples of Eastern Europe, who were at a lower stage of development and lived in vast expanses from the Baltic to Eastern Siberia.

In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. iron spread to the north of Eastern Europe, where the Finno-Ugric tribes lived. In the culture of the tribes that lived in the forest belt in the 1st millennium BC, items made of bone and horn still occupied a large place, and hunting and fishing continued to play a significant role in the economy of many tribes. But along with hunting, domestic cattle breeding and slash-and-burn agriculture developed. The culture of the early Iron Age is the culture of the pre-Slavic population of the Volga-Oka region, it is mainly associated with the ancient Finno-Ugric population and is called the Dyakovo culture, after the name of the village of Dyakovo, located on the territory of Moscow, where one of the first settlements of this culture was found. The ancient inhabitants of Estonia and Latvia are close in culture to the Dyakovo tribes.

But here occasionally there are chopped quadrangular huts and stone mounds, where stone boxes contain the remains of 10-12 burials with meager inventory: bone or simple iron pins, bronze or iron eye axes. Dyakovo culture existed for a long time from the 7th - 6th centuries. BC. to VI - VII centuries AD The ancient Finno-Ugric peoples lived in small settlements, which were arranged on high, naturally fortified banks, cut along the sides by deep ravines. The settlements were fortified with ramparts and ditches, wooden walls were erected from massive logs and lay down. From the side of the field, the settlement was protected by two ramparts and two ditches. Round, oval or quadrangular dwellings in the form of dugouts and semi-dugouts were found on the settlements.

In the second half of the 1st millennium BC. ground wooden log house is spreading. On the Trinity hillfort, ring buildings were discovered - "residential walls", which were divided into four residential complexes with separate entrances. The inhabitants of the Dyakovo settlements developed the main branches of home production: blacksmithing, weaving and pottery. Reticulated pottery, decorated with impressions of bast matting, mesh and coarse cloth. The pottery was made using the band molding technique, which has been common in these places since the Neolithic. They made pots, bowls, pans, lids and lamps. Bone was used to make petiolate and socketed arrows, harpoons, knife handles, bone needles and piercers, buckles, parts of horse utensils. From iron they made axes, Celts for cutting trees and cultivating the earth, knives, spearheads, fish hooks, iron plates for armor, sickles, mowers, blacksmith tools, pins and buckles.

Iron ore was smelted in or outside the settlements. Fabrics were woven on primitive looms with spindle whorls and clay weights. The Finno-Ugric peoples raised pigs, cattle and horses. They hunted bears, foxes, elk, reindeer, badger, wild boar, hare, and birds. Rye, wheat and hemp were sown on coastal and forest glades. At the settlement of Bereznyaki near the city of Rybinsk in the upper reaches of the Volga, log dwellings were found, divided into male and female halves, a smithy with blacksmith tools and iron bells. In the North-East of modern Russia in the Trans-Volga and Ural regions, in the basin of the Kama, Vyatka and Belaya rivers, there is another area of culture of the ancient Finno-Ugric tribes, called Ananyino. At a later time, the Pyanobor culture developed in the Kama region, which also belonged to the Finno-Ugric peoples, where men had epaulet-shaped belt clasps, iron helmets, and women wore rich headdresses for braids with piercings and pendants in the form of stylized horse figures.

Bronze figurines of birds and animals are known among cult items. The peculiarity of the Huns was that, conquering vast spaces, colliding with a mass of different peoples, they themselves dissolved in their environment: on the territory of Europe it is practically very difficult to single out the archaeological materials of the Hunnic period from the general mass. Hun burials are better known in the Southern Urals, on the Volga and in the Kursk region on the Sudzha River. The era of a truly "great migration of peoples" began. When in 452 the Huns were defeated on the Catalaunian fields in France, and in 453 the great leader Attila died, the first stage of the great migrations ended and Europe became completely different. The once mighty Roman Empire fell apart and fell. Rome lay in ruins, numerous barbarian kingdoms formed in Italy and in the Western provinces of the former empire.

In the middle of the 6th century, the Gothic historian Jordanes first described the Finno-Ugric peoples, subordinate to the king of the Goths Germanaric and living from the Baltic to the Urals. The Incanaus people were also indicated there, which Academician Yu. Rybakov personified with Inkeri (Izhora). If we now turn to some directory of geographical names of the modern Leningrad region (Ingria), then it is easy to find several names associated with the name of this ancient tribe, from which the entire Izhora land got its name. The Izhora churchyard, according to the cadastral book of 1500, was located in the Orekhovets district (now Petrokrepost). Here are the rivers Izhora, Bolshaya and Malaya Izhorka, as well as several villages with the name Izhora, which arose at different times, but are partially indicated in old documents. The origin of these names - at least river names - is indisputably connected with the tribal name "Inkeri", which turned into "Izhora, Izhera" in the Russian transmission, known from written monuments from the 13th century (and the name Ingria even earlier). Back in the middle of the 13th century, even the protection of the water borders ("sea guards") was carried out by the Izhors, headed by the elder Pelgusy, - therefore, there were no Novgorod Slovenes as permanent residents of the Izhora land.

Back in the 15th century, the largest Karelian and Izhorian landowners Mustelsky, Shapkin, Sarsky and others were found in Moscow scribe books. Previously, not only the Izhors lived on the territory of Ingria, but also the Saami (Lop), Nereva (Yereva), Karelians, Veps, Vod, often united by the common name Chud. Izhora (Inkeri) belongs to the Baltic-Finnish group of languages. The most ancient Finno-Ugric population left numerous geographical names. Now on the territory of Ingria-Ingria live in addition to the Izhors: Karelians, Veps, Tikhvin and Olonets Karelians, Finns, Ludiks, Vods, Estonians, Ingrian Finns. Again, interest in the North-East of Europe and the peoples inhabiting it arose only in the 10th century, during the era of the Crusades, when two Christian churches, the Catholic and the Orthodox, fought for the pagan tribes. From the ancient tribes that underwent christianization, only folklore legends about Chud remained, known not only in the Russian North, but also in the Urals and Siberia, where they got as these lands were colonized and attached to various nationalities who lived here before the arrival of the Russians.

Traditions about Chud are also known among other peoples of the North - among the Saami and Komi. The topography of the Chud's residence is determined in the legends from the standpoint of the population, which separates itself from the Chud and often opposes itself to it. In a number of legends, the specific coordinates of the former location of the Chud are indicated at the time of recording the legends, in accordance with the administrative division of the 19th century. The Chud are, first of all, the natives of the region, later settled by a people of a different ethnic origin - the Slavs, who were in direct contact with the Chud. According to modern ethnographers, the first contacts of the Slavs with the Chud occurred in the 9th century. When describing the appearance of the Chud in Russian legends, first of all, high growth is distinguished, which is confirmed by the burials of "Chudsky bones", in a number of Ural legends they talk about one-legged natives. But the most unusual is the description in all regions from the Baltic to Siberia of the eyes of the Chud - "white-eyed", this epithet is firmly attached to the ethnonym Chud.

Chud constantly appears as anthropophagi: "The ancient inhabitants of this region - filthy raw-eaters and white-eyed Chud, who came to the Belozersky borders, did great devastation: they burned villages, devoured babies and youths, killed adults and the elderly in various ways", recorded in the 18th century or later in the 19th century "chud... passing here, ate the people, and robbed property ...". In the Komi-Permyak legends, it was said that "chuds were small, black, lived in small houses ...". Among the Pomors of the North, there is still an opinion that the ancient Chud hid from the Novgorodians on Novaya Zemlya and "is now arriving there." Also, in the legends about the Chud, there is a conflict, syncretic in nature, of the attack of the Chud on the later colonists. This is how the Chud's raid on the city of Kargopol is described: "The white-eyed Chud was advancing on the city that was behind the valushkas - the city of Kargopol." In such legends, the turning points of military clashes between the Chud and the feudal Russian detachments, caused by the uprisings of the aboriginal population "against tribute, the seizure of lands and lands, against Orthodox Christianization," were reflected. The Russian historian V. Klyuchevsky wrote that "once the Finnish tribes were distributed far south of the Moscow and Oka rivers (Yeki - rivers, in Finnish) - where we do not find their traces later. But the streams of people sweeping through southern Russia threw this tribe aside further to the north, it retreated more and more and, retreating, gradually disappeared.

In 1020, the first baptized Russian prince Yaroslav the Wise married the daughter of King Olaf of Sweden - Ingigerd (Irina) and betrayed the city of Albegaborg (Ladoga) with the surrounding lands as a wedding gift. In Russian, as the Russian historian N. Karamzin wrote, probably referring to the Scandinavian origin of the first Russian princes, this land was called the land of the people of Ingigerda - Ingermanland. The Izhora land served as a buffer zone between Scandinavia and Russia. Since then, this land has been subjected to countless raids.

Chronology

997 - the campaign of the Novgorodians against Albegaborg.

1042 - the campaign of the Novgorodians against the Em tribe.

1068 - campaign of the Novgorodians against the Vod tribe.

1069 - the Vod tribe, which gave the name Votskaya Pyatina, became part of Novgorod

1105 - campaign of the Novgorodians against Albegaborg.

1123 - the campaign of the Novgorodians against Em.

1123 - Yem tribe raided Novgorod.

1142 - Swedes attacked Novgorod merchants.

1143 - Karelians attacked em.

1149 - em attacked the water

1149 - campaign of the Novgorodians against Em.

1156 - 1st crusade of the Swedes to Ingria.

1164 - the Swedes attacked Ladoga.

1186 - campaign of the Novgorodians against Em.

1191 - campaign of the Novgorodians to Western Finland.

1198 - Novgorodians to Finland.

1227 - Novgorodians baptized Karelians.

1228 - a campaign of the Em tribe in the Ladoga region.

1230 - bull of Gregory 1X on the prohibition of selling weapons, iron and wooden products to pagans Karelian, Inger, Lapp and Votland

1240 - 2nd crusade. Neva battle.

1241 - Prince Alexander Nevsky took the city of Koporye

1250 - campaign of the Swedes against the Finns.

1255 - Pope Alexander 1V appointed a bishop for Votland, Ingria and Karelia

1256 - campaign of the Novgorodians against em.

1272 - 78 - punitive campaigns of Novgorodians in Karelia.

1279 - Novgorodians built Koporye

1283 - 84 - the Swedes attacked Novgorod merchants.

Faces of Russia. "Living Together, Being Different"

The Faces of Russia multimedia project has existed since 2006, telling about Russian civilization, the most important feature of which is the ability to live together, remaining different - this motto is especially relevant for the countries of the entire post-Soviet space. From 2006 to 2012, as part of the project, we created 60 documentaries about representatives of various 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 have been released to support the first series of films. Now we are halfway to creating a unique multimedia encyclopedia of the peoples of our country, a picture that will allow the inhabitants of Russia to recognize themselves and leave a picture of what they were like for posterity.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Faces of Russia". Izhora. "I can talk", 2009

General information

IZH'ORTSY, Izhora, Karjalyain, Izuri (self-name), people in Russia (about 450 people, mainly in the north-west of the Leningrad Region) and in Estonia (306 people). The total number is 820 people. According to the 2002 population census, the number of Izhorians living in Russia is 400 people.

They speak the Izhorian language of the Finno-Ugric group of the Ural family, which has 4 dialects: Soykinsky (on the Soykinsky Peninsula), Nizhneluzhsky, characterized by the presence of a water substrate, eastern, or Khevasky (in the Lomonosov region), and Oredezhsky, in which, unlike the rest , the influence of the Finnish language did not affect. The dialect of the Izhors, who lived on the Karelian Isthmus, remained unknown. Attempts in the 1930s to create a written language (in the Latin alphabet) were unsuccessful. Believers are Orthodox.

It is assumed that the Izhors, who emerged at the end of the 1st - the beginning of the 2nd millennium from the South Karelian tribes (see Karelians), occupied the southern part of the Karelian Isthmus and lands along the banks of the Neva and Izhora rivers. From here, in the 11th-12th centuries, they continued to gradually move westward, to the banks of the Luga and Narva rivers. The Izhors settled in stripes with Vod and Slavs. In written sources, the Izhora people (Ingris, Ingaros) and the Izhora land (Ingaria, Ingardia) have been mentioned since the 13th century. The settlement area of the Izhors probably became part of the Novgorod Republic, which determined the impact of the Slavic culture on the Izhors. The Izhors were converted to Orthodoxy. In the middle of the 19th century, there were 17 thousand Izhors, in 1926 - 16.1 thousand people.

Assimilation processes played the main role in reducing the number of Izhors. Ethnic self-consciousness and the spoken Izhorian language were steadily preserved in the north-west of Ingria (Kingiseppsky district), while in Central Ingria (Lomonosovsky district) the language was preserved only in a few villages along the Kovashi River. The Izhors living on the Karelian Isthmus had dissolved by the 20th century among the local population; in the settlements on the Oredezh River in the middle of the 20th century, only a few people remembered the Izhorian language.

Traditional occupations are agriculture, fishing, including sea fishing, and forestry. In the 19th century, otkhodnichestvo, intermediary trade, crafts (woodworking, pottery) were developed.

The traditional material culture is close to Russian (buildings, tools for agriculture, fishing). Ordinary and cumulus settlements prevailed. Archaic forms of roof construction on overhead rafters, thatched roofs, and chicken stoves were preserved. The ancient U-shaped connection of buildings was replaced by two-row and single-row. The dwelling consisted of two huts (pertti) and a canopy (euksha), the poor had a two-chamber (hut and canopy); the external decor was rich.

Until the middle of the 19th century, ethnic specificity was preserved in women's clothing: in the eastern regions of Ingria, the Izhors wore a shirt (ryatsinya) with a short detachable shoulder, over top - clothes made of two panels with straps, one on the right, the other on the left side. The upper one (aanua) covered the entire body, diverging on the left side, closed by the lower panel - khurstkuset. Western Izhors (along the Luga River) wore an unsewn skirt (khurstut) over their shirts. The eastern Izhors used to have a long towel headdress descending to the edge of their clothes - sapano, among the western ones - like the Russian magpie. Clothing decorations - woven and embroidered ornaments, beads, cowrie shells. At the end of the 19th century, the old forms of clothing were replaced by the Russian sundress.

Ethnic identity was preserved until the 20th century in family (wedding, funeral) and calendar rituals - for example, a special women's (so-called Babi) holiday. There was a belief in guardian spirits (hearth, owner of a barn, bath, etc.), spirits of the earth, water, etc., veneration of sacred groves, trees, springs and stones. Folklore, ritual (wedding and funeral lamentations) and epic poetry are developed, including runes about Kullervo, partly included in Kalevala.

N.V. Shlygin

Essays

Izhory- a small nationality in the north-west of the Russian Federation. They are representatives of the East Baltic type of a Caucasoid large race, which is characterized by a weak Mongoloid admixture. According to the 2002 census in Russia - 327 people, of which 177 live in the Leningrad region (Lomonosov and Kingisepp districts), in St. Petersburg - 53, in Karelia -24, in Estonia (2000) - 62. The Izhorian language belongs to the Baltic-Finnish subgroup of the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic language family, it is closest to Karelian and Finnish. It is divided into five dialects: Soikinsky (Soikinsky Peninsula), Khevasky (near the Kovashi River - Khevaa in Finnish), Nizhneluzhsky (lower reaches of the Luga River), Oredezhsky (upper reaches of the Oredezh) and Karelian (practically lost by the beginning of the 20th century). Writing was developed in the 1920s based on the Latin alphabet and functioned until the end of the 1930s. In 2009 Izhorian is included in UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Endangered Languages as "significantly endangered". The Russian language is widely spoken. Religion - Orthodoxy, Lutheranism.

"Approaching Izhora ..."

In the time of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, this was the name of the postal station closest to St. Ingria), stretching from the coast of the Gulf of Finland to the shores of Narva and Lake Peipsi in the west, Lake Ladoga in the east, bounded from the north by the Sestra River on the Karelian Isthmus, and from the south by Luga. The trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” passed through it, which made the region equally attractive for both Scandinavian and Novgorod merchants.

Novgorod estate - Vodskaya Pyatina

Initially, representatives of the Finno-Ugric Vod people appeared in this area, who settled in the lower reaches of the Chernaya River at its confluence with Narva. Then they were joined by the Karelians and Inkeri, who moved from the Karelian Isthmus, who got their name from the name of the Inkeri (Izhora) River, along whose banks they initially settled. In the annals of the 13th century, the Izhors are mentioned as allies of the “Lord of Veliky Novgorod”. So, on July 15, 1240, the Swedes landed at the mouth of the Izhora River, but the Russian prince Alexander Yaroslavovich, the future Nevsky, repelled the attack with his squad. According to the chronicles, he was helped by “a certain man named Pelgusius, who was an elder in the country of Inkeri, and he was entrusted with the protection of the sea coast: he received holy baptism and lived in the midst of his family, which was still pagan, and in baptism was given to him name is Philip. Gradually, the Izhora land became part of one of the five regions of the Novgorod Republic, named after its indigenous inhabitants, the Vodskaya Pyatina.

Citizens of the Moscow sovereign, the Swedish king

After the defeat of Veliky Novgorod in the war with Ivan III (1477-1478), this territory passed to the Grand Duke, and data on its population were recorded in the Scribe Book of 1500, however, without ethnicity, because the Moscow sovereign was indifferent from what peoples take taxes. For example, the "standard" quitrent from one peasant farm consisted of four squirrels, two black grouse, one hare, a loaf of bread and a ham. After the Livonian War lost by Ivan the Terrible, the Vodskaya Pyatina was ceded to the Swedes in 1583, only Boris Godunov managed to return it in 1590. During the Time of Troubles, Moscow again lost control over these lands, and in 1617, under the Stolbovsky agreement, they officially came under the jurisdiction of Sweden, and those who wished to move to the Russian Kingdom were given a two-week period to collect their belongings. Many remained, but not all. German colonists from the northern German principalities and peasants from Finland, who changed many names, were resettled in the empty graveyards. In the Finnish-Swedish fashion "ingericot land" (Izher land - Ingermanland) this territory of the Vodskaya Pyatina began to be called. Interestingly, the attempts of the authorities to spread Lutheranism met with resistance from the Orthodox population - Russians, Vods and Izhors. Despite the fact that its acceptance freed converts from taxes, the number of converts to the new faith was small. And the Duke of IzhoraAfter a hundred years of being part of the Swedish kingdom, Ingermanland was able to become part of the Russian Empire only as a result of the Northern War of 1700-1721, which was officially enshrined in the Nystadt peace treaty. At first, it was called the Duchy of Izhora, and its first and only duke was for a short time an associate of Peter the Great, Alexander Menshikov. In 1708, this territory was transformed into the Ingermanland province, then into St. Petersburg (1710), in 1914-1924. - in Petrograd, since 1927 it has been part of the Leningrad region.

Rassia (Small and Large) comes from the Finnish "rasha" - wasteland

Such double names of villages in the modern Kingisepp district of the Leningrad region are not an exception, but rather the norm. The local toponymy reflects the difficult history of this region, and the names of rivers, lakes, tracts, settlements are a source of valuable ethnographic information, because most of them are taken from the languages of different peoples who have ever lived on the Izhora land.

Yam-Yamburg-Kingisepp

A vivid example is the history of the name of this city. If the name of the Estonian revolutionary, after whom it was renamed in 1922, is translated simply as “shoemaker”, then the original nickname of the Yam fortress founded by the boyar Ivan Fedorovich makes us turn to the archives. The chronicle says that in 1384 the Novgorodians set it up on the Luga River and that there were pits on this bank in which tar was boiled. Some local historians derive the name of the settlement from them, others think so: it is located in a lowland in relation to the surroundings - hence Yama. But in the Pskov chronicles, all the Finno-Ugric tribes are collectively called "yam", which more logically explains the ancient name of the present district center, to which Peter I traditionally added the German "burg" - the city.

Vanakulya - simply "Old Village"

There are many such examples in the collection "Toponymy of the Kingisepp District". Thus, Vanakulya (in Izhorian for “old village”), located on the banks of the Rosson River, during the reign of Novgorod was called Ilkino, probably from the name of its own Ilka (Ilya), common among Russians, although its Votian name Ylkin is also found in cadastres of the 15th century. ("straw"). In 1661 it was recorded by Vannaküla in 1678. - Illkin, in 1689. - Vanakula. So in parallel, there were two names of one village, until in 1920. it did not become part of the Estonian Republic and did not receive the official "Izhora" name Vanakulya, which still exists.

Kuzemkino-Kesekyule-Narusi

Located at the confluence of two rivers - the Luga and the Dead - the village of Kuzemkino, perhaps also named after some Novgorodian Kuzemka (Kozemka), but there is also an Izhorian version: Kesekulya (middle village, that is, located halfway), and in the Swedish chronicles 1696 it is said that "Kozemkina, or Naruse, refers to the Izhora manor ...". Regarding this new name, there is such a legend: “The Finns were driving from Finland, got to the mouth of the Luga, went up the river, stopped at some place. Locals ask them: "Where are you going?". They answer: "To Russia", i.e. to Russia. After that, people settled on this place, and the settlement began to be called Narusi. And so it happened: the Izhors called him "Narusi", and the Ingrian Finns - "Narvusi". For a long time, the village existed with three names, but since the beginning of the 20th century, one name has stuck - Kuzemkino.

Villages Zolotaya and Lisya, but one fate

And there was also Kullakylä (in Izhorian “golden village”), so named because supposedly here during the Northern War, while crossing the Dead River, the Swedish king Charles XII drowned his golden carriage. But she is no longer on the map. Divided after the conclusion of a peace treaty between Soviet Russia and Estonia into two parts - the right bank of the Dead and the left bank of Kullakulya - the “golden village” was destined for one fate: to disappear. The collective farmers from Mertvitsa were repressed and deported to Central Asia in 1935, and the peasants from Kullakyuli moved to Finland in 1945. The Izhora village of Reppola (repo - fox) standing on the mountain, where there were many fox holes, is no longer there, which the surrounding residents called Repino by consonance: it burned down during the Great Patriotic War. At the moment, in the area of compact residence of the last representatives of the Izhora in Ust-Luga and Vistino, a huge port is being built, which, probably, will completely erase this small people from the ethnographic map of Russia. So, on the swampy cape Mudappa (in Izhorian "muda" - a dirty place), where horses were grazed at night for a long time, there is already an oil terminal ...

"Shelter of a wretched Chukhonian ..."

In the "Topographic description of the St. Petersburg province" (1788 - 1790), the historian Fyodor Osipovich Tumansky gives a detailed description of the Finno-speaking peoples and their way of life. He writes that the Izhors are noticeably different from their neighbors: “their behavior is not malice and idleness”, they “observe purity”, “agile and flexible”, but “they have cunning in great respect”. Still, “many of the Izhors know how to read books in Finnish, but they do not use letters, but they are as diligent in teaching their children to read and write as much as, on the contrary, Russian peasants are not inclined to do so.” Here, for the first time, data on appearance, professional occupations and national costume are presented. For example, you can find out that "part of the Izhora is especially bright-eyed, there are many fair-haired, often the hair color is light brown, men have a strongly developed beard, the average height is 164-167 centimeters, but higher than that of local Russians."

Peasants, artisans, cabbies, nannies...

Like many inhabitants of the province, the Izhors were engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. They grew cereals - rye, oats, barley; vegetables - turnips, rutabaga, cabbage, from the 19th century - potatoes, cattle, sheep and pigs were bred. In the villages on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, fishing was widespread, including ice fishing. The population of the eastern Izhorian villages, who knew the Russian language better, left for St. Petersburg, the western ones - for Narva, where men went to factories and cabbies, girls - to nannies. Izhors were good carpenters and masons, in many villages they wove linen, sewed, embroidered, wove baskets and other household utensils from rods.

Rutabagas, turnips and potatoes turn into…

A significant part of the traditional diet of Izhorian peasants was sour rye bread, various cereals (barley, rye), turnips, potatoes, fish of various varieties. Oatmeal was prepared from oats, jelly and dairy products were widely used - yogurt, cottage cheese. On holidays, they ate pies, meat dishes, drank their favorite drink - beer. In the book "Kitchen of the peoples of the USSR" for 1987. You can also find several national recipes for Izhora.

Kalakiareiti

So, to prepare these pies, you need to take a pound of rye flour, a glass of water or milk, 20 g of yeast, a teaspoon of sugar, 400 g. fish fillet of cod, whitefish or trout, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, salt. Then “dissolve salt and sugar in a small amount of warm water or milk, dilute the yeast, add flour and knead the dough. Before the end of kneading, add vegetable oil. Let the dough rise in a warm place, then roll it into flat cakes (skantsy) up to 1 cm thick. Put a piece of fish fillet in the middle of each, salt, sprinkle with vegetable oil, wrap the dough, pinch the edges with a curly seam and bake kalakäyäreiti in the oven. kolobs Using the same dough, you can make potato kolobs. To do this, lay a layer of mashed potatoes flavored with milk and butter on the rolled skants, grease the resulting kolob with sour cream and also bake in the oven. Lanttulaatikko In it, you can cook the dish "Lanttulaatikko", for which you need 500g. turnips, half a glass of milk, 1 tsp. a spoonful of sugar, 20g. butter, egg and salt. Boil the peeled swede in salted water, knead well, add milk, sugar, egg, mix, put in a greased form and bake. The secret of the "Izhorian" intoxicated beer, known since antiquity, unfortunately, has not reached our days ...

The places where St. Petersburg stands today were not at all as lifeless before the founding of the city, as is commonly believed. On the contrary, these lands, proudly called Izhora and Ingermanlandia, were home to many indigenous tribes.

Izhora

There are many versions of the origin of this obviously not native Russian toponym. According to one, "Ingria" was once born from the Finnish "inkeri maa", which means "beautiful land". This name gave the name to the river Izhora, and the tribes that inhabited its banks received the name "Izhora". Other historians, on the contrary, believe that it all began with the name of the Izhora River, which, judging by the annals, was used even under the first Rurikovich: “when she gives birth to a son, Ingor, give her a hail despoiled by the sea with Izhara in a vein.” Someone generally believes that it was not without the influence of the wife of Yaroslav the Wise, Ingigerda (Anna).

Judging by the linguistic proximity of the languages, the Izhors once separated from the Karelian ethnic group. This happened, judging by the archaeological data, not so long ago - in the first millennium of our era.

After the fall of the Novgorod Republic and the formation of the Muscovite state, active Russian colonization of these lands began, right up to the time of troubles, when Sweden annexed Ingermanland to itself. Then the Finnish population professed Lutheranism poured into these territories. Their descendants inherited Protestantism, received the name Inkeri or Ingrians, and followed their own path of cultural development. Even today, the descendants of the Inkeri and Izhorians continue to shun each other because of the difference in confessions.

After the founding of St. Petersburg, Russian influence on local territories and peoples increased again. Proximity to the Russian Empire contributed to the rapid assimilation and Russification. By the 19th century, Izhorian villages differed little from Russian ones, and as a result of settlement in the Stalin era, they almost completely lost their national element. Today, numerous attempts are being made to preserve the Izhora people, but the number of native speakers is constantly falling, and with it the chances of survival.

Vod

The outskirts of St. Petersburg - the mouth of the Neva, the coast of the Gulf of Finland, as well as the Kingisepp, Volosovsky, Gatchina and Lomonosovsky districts were once inhabited by the now existing Vod tribe. True, the question of their indigenous status remains open: some scholars see them as settlers from Estonia who came here in the first millennium BC, while others see them as the original local population, whose ancestors settled these territories as far back as the Neolithic. The disputing parties agree on one thing - the Vod, both ethnically and linguistically, were closely related to the Estonian tribes living to the west.

One way or another, in the early Middle Ages, the Vod, along with the Izhors, were the indigenous inhabitants of Ingermanland. We know this mainly from archaeological cultures, since the first annalistic mention of them dates only to the 11th century, or rather, to 1069. The chronicle tells how the Vodskaya army, along with the prince of Polotsk, attacked Novgorod, apparently in order not to pay tribute to the city. And she lost, after which she fell into a long-term dependence, first from Novgorod, then from the Moscow Principality, and in the troubled year of 1617 she completely departed from Sweden.

Almost a century later, the land at the mouth of the Neva again changed owners - Peter I was able to win back a place for the Russian "window to Europe". True, the water itself did not “fit” into this project - during the construction of St. Petersburg, many indigenous people were deported to Kazan, and Russian residents took their place, which further accelerated assimilation.

Today, there are practically no ethnic leaders who position themselves as representatives of a small nation. According to the 2010 census, in the places of their compact residence - the villages of Luzhytse and Krakolye, only 64 representatives of the Vod people still live. And scarcity is not the only problem. In the course of the active influence of Russian culture, they practically did not have anything original left: a language whose speakers are becoming less and less, folklore, and some elements of material culture. Perhaps, that's all the national treasures of the ancient, but forgotten people.

Vepsians

Also known as Veps, Bepsya, Ludinikad, Vepslayne. We have little information about them. The historical area of \u200b\u200btheir habitat is between Lake Ladoga, Onega and White Lake. Their language belongs to the Finno-Ugric group, but what people they came from and where their historical homeland remains a big mystery to scientists. The separation process, according to researchers, occurred only in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. At least, ancient Veps burial mounds date back to this period.

The first written evidence of the Vepsians is presumably found in the writings of the Gothic historian Jordanes, who in the 6th century spoke about a certain tribe of "vas". The Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan in the 10th century wrote about the Visu tribe, during the same period, the historian Adam of Bremen in the Habsburg Chronicle mentions the Vespe people.

In the Russian chronicles, the ethnonym and toponym “ves” is found, apparently denoting a region inhabited by various tribes and nationalities. According to some researchers, the Scandinavian travelers spoke about the Vepsians, describing the inhabitants of the mysterious country of Bjarmia.
Veps disappear from the pages of Russian chronicles quite early, at the beginning of the 12th century. Despite this, this small nation exists to this day. By the way, his chances of survival are much higher than those of the Izhors or Vozhans. According to the chronicle of 2010, its representatives living in the country turned out to be more than three thousand.

Izhora

Vod

Vepsians

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