1. Name

The Finno-Ugric peoples were an autochthonous population of the interfluve of the Oka and the Volga, their tribes were the Ests, all, Merya, Mordvins, Cheremis, were part of the Gothic kingdom of Germanarich in the 4th century. The chronicler Nestor in the Ipatiev Chronicle indicates about twenty tribes of the Ural group (Ugrofiniv): Chud, Livs, waters, yam (Ӕm), all (even North of them on the White Lake sit Vѣt Vѣs), Karelians, Yugra, caves, Samoyeds, Perm ), cheremis, casting, zimgola, kors, nerom, mordvinians, measuring (and on Rostov ѡzerѣ Merѧ and on Kleshchin and ѣzerѣ sѣdѧt mѣrzh same), murom (and Ѡtsѣ rѣtsѣ where to flow into the Volga ҕzyk Svoi Murom) and Meshchery. The Muscovites called all the local tribes Chud from the indigenous Chud, and accompanied this name with irony, explaining it through Moscow weird, weird, strange. Now these peoples are completely assimilated by Russians, they have disappeared from the ethnic map of modern Russia forever, having replenished the number of Russians and leaving only a wide range of their ethnic place names.

These are all the names of the rivers with ending-wa: Moscow, Protva, Kosva, Silva, Sosva, Izva, etc. The Kama River has about 20 tributaries whose names end with na-va, means "water" in Finnish. Muscovite tribes from the very beginning felt their superiority over the local Finno-Ugric peoples. However, Finno-Ugric toponyms are found not only where these peoples today make up a significant part of the population, form autonomous republics and national districts. Their distribution area is much larger, for example, Moscow.

According to archaeological data, the area of ​​settlement of the Chud tribes in Eastern Europe remained unchanged for 2 thousand years. Beginning in the 9th century, the Finno-Ugric tribes of the European part of present-day Russia were gradually assimilated by Slavic colonists who came from Kievan Rus. This process formed the basis for the formation of modern Russian nation.

The Finno-Ugric tribes belong to the Ural-Altai group and a thousand years ago they were close to the Pechenegs, Polovtsians and Khazars, but were at a much lower level of social development than the rest, in fact, the ancestors of the Russians were the same Pechenegs, only forest. At that time, these were the primitive and culturally most backward tribes of Europe. Not only in the distant past, but even at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia, they were cannibals. The Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) called them androphages (devourers of people), and Nestor the chronicler already in the period of the Russian state - Samoyeds (Samoyed) .

The Finno-Ugric tribes of a primitive gathering and hunting culture were the ancestors of the Russians. Scientists argue that the Muscovite people received the greatest admixture of the Mongoloid race through the assimilation of Finno-Ugric peoples who came to Europe from Asia and partially absorbed Caucasoid admixture even before the arrival of the Slavs. A mixture of Finno-Ugric, Mongolian and Tatar ethnic components led to the ethnogenesis of Russians, which was formed with the participation of the Slavic tribes Radimichi and Vyatichi. Due to ethnic mixing with the Finns, and later the Tatars and partly with the Mongols, the Russians have an anthropological type that is different from the Kievan-Russian (Ukrainian). The Ukrainian diaspora jokes about this: "The eye is narrow, the nose is plush - completely Russian." Under the influence of the Finno-Ugric language environment, there were formations phonetic system Russians (akanye, gekanya, ticking). Today, "Ural" features are inherent to one degree or another in all the peoples of Russia: medium height, broad face, snub-nosed nose, and a sparse beard. The Mari and Udmurts often have eyes with the so-called Mongolian fold - epicanthus, they have very wide cheekbones, a liquid beard. But at the same time blond and red hair, blue and gray eyes. The Mongolian fold is sometimes found among Estonians and Karelians. Komi are different: in those places where there are mixed marriages with grow up, they are dark-haired and braced, others are more like Scandinavians, but with a slightly wider face.

According to the studies of the Meryanist Orest Tkachenko, "In the Russian people, on the maternal side associated with the Slavic ancestral home, the father was a Finn. On the paternal side, the Russians descended from the Finno-Ugric peoples." It should be noted that according to modern research In fact, the Y-chromosome halotype was the opposite - Slavic men married women of the local Finno-Ugric population. According to Mikhail Pokrovsky, the Russians are an ethnic mixture in which the Finns own 4/5, and the Slavs - 1/5. The remnants of the Finno-Ugric culture in Russian culture can be traced in such features that are not found among others Slavic peoples: women's kokoshnik and sundress, men's shirt-kosovorotka, bast shoes (bast shoes) in national costume, dumplings in dishes, the style of folk architecture (tent buildings, porch), Russian bath, sacred animal - bear, 5-tone scale of singing, a-touch and vowel reduction, pair words like stitches, paths, arms and legs, alive and well, such and such, turnover I have(instead of I, characteristic of other Slavs) the fabulous beginning "once upon a time", the absence of a mermaid cycle, carols, the cult of Perun, the presence of a cult of birch, not oak.

Not everyone knows that there is nothing Slavic in the surnames Shukshin, Vedenyapin, Piyashev, but they come from the name of the Shuksha tribe, the name of the goddess of war Vedeno Ala, the pre-Christian name Piyash. So a significant part of the Finno-Ugric peoples was assimilated by the Slavs, and some, having adopted Islam, mixed with the Turks. Therefore, today ugrofins do not make up the majority of the population, even in the republics to which they gave their name. But, having dissolved in the mass of Russians (Rus. Russians), the Ugrofins retained their anthropological type, which is now perceived as typically Russian (Rus. Russian ) .

According to the overwhelming majority of historians, the Finnish tribes had an extremely peaceful and meek disposition. By this, the Muscovites themselves explain the peaceful nature of the colonization, stating that there were no military clashes, because written sources do not remember anything like that. However, as the same V.O. Klyuchevsky notes, "in the legends of Great Russia, some vague memories of the struggle that flared up in some places survived."

3. Toponymy

Toponyms of Meryan-Yerzyans origin in Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Ivanovo, Vologda, Tver, Vladimir, Moscow regions account for 70-80% (Veksa, Voksenga, Elenga, Kovonga, Koloksa, Kukoboy, leht, Meleksa, Nadoksa, Nero (Inero), Nuks, Nuksha, Palenga, Peleng, Pelenda, Peksoma, Puzhbol, Pulokhta, Sara, Seleksha, Sonohta, Tolgobol, otherwise, Sheksheboy, Shekhroma, Shileksha, Shoksha, Shopsha, Yakhrenga, Yahrobol(Yaroslavl region, 70-80%), Andoba, Vandoga, Vokhma, Vokhtoga, Voroksa, Lynger, Mezenda, Meremsha, Monza, Nerekhta (flicker), Neya, Notelga, Onga, Pechegda, Picherga, Poksha, Pong, Simonga, Sudolga, Toyehta, Urma, Shunga, Yakshanga(Kostroma region, 90-100%), Vazopol, Vichuga, Kineshma, Kistega, Kokhma, Ksty, Landeh, Nodoga, Paksh, Palekh, Scab, Pokshenga, Reshma, Sarohta, Ukhtoma, Ukhtokhma, Shacha, Shizhegda, Shileksa, Shuya, Yukhma etc. (Ivanovsk region), Vokhtoga, Selma, Senga, Solokhta, Sot, Tolshmy, Shuya and others. (Vologda region), "" Valdai, Koi, Koksha, Koivushka, Lama, Maksatikha, Palenga, Palenka, Raida, Seliger, Siksha, Syshko, Talalga, Udomlya, Urdoma, Shomushka, Shosha, Yakhroma etc. (Tver region), Arsemaky, Velga, Voininga, Vorsha, Ineksha, Kirzhach, Klyazma, Koloksha, Mstera, Moloksha, Motra, Nerl, Peksha, Pichegino, Soima, Sudogda, Suzdal, Tumonga, Undol etc. (Vladimir region), Vereya, Vorya, Volgusha, Lama,

The Komi language is included in the financial and n o - u r s k u language family, and with the one closest to it Udmurt language forms the Permian group of Finno-Ugric languages. In total, the Finno-Ugric family includes 16 languages, which in ancient times developed from a single language-base: Hungarian, Mansi, Khanty (Ugric group of languages); Komi, Udmurt (Permian group); Mari, Mordovian languages ​​- Erzya and Moksha: Baltic and Baltic languages ​​- Finnish, Karelian, Izhorian, Vepsian, Votic, Estonian, Liv languages. A special place in the Finno-Ugric family of languages ​​is occupied by the Sami language, which is very different from other related languages.

The Finno-Ugric languages ​​and the Samoyedic languages ​​form the Uralic family of languages. The Nenets, Enets, Nganasan, Selkup, and Kamasin languages ​​are classified as modern languages. The peoples speaking Samoyedic languages ​​live in Western Siberia, except for the Nenets, who also live in northern Europe.

The question of the ancestry of the ancient Finno-Ugric peoples has long been of interest to scientists. They also searched for the ancient ancestral home in the Altai region, on the upper reaches of the Ob, Irtysh and Yenisei, and on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Modern scientists, based on the study of the vocabulary of the flora of the Finno-Ugric languages, have come to the conclusion that the ancestral home of the Finno-Ugric peoples was located in the Volga-Kama region on both sides of the Ural mountains. Then the Finno-Ugric tribes and languages ​​were divided, isolated, and the ancestors of the current Finno-Ugric Ugric peoples left the ancient ancestral home. The first annalistic references to the Finno-Ugric peoples already find these peoples in the places of their current residence.

Hungariansmore than a millennium ago they moved to the territory surrounded by the Carpathians. The self-name of the Hungarians Modyor has been known since the 5th century. n. e. Writing in the Hungarian language appeared at the end of the 12th century, and the Hungarians have a rich literature. The total number of Hungarians is about 17 million people. In addition to Hungary, they live in Czechoslovakia, Romania, Austria, Ukraine, Yugoslavia.

Mansi (Voguls)live in the Khanty-Mansiysk district of the Tyumen region. In Russian chronicles, they, together with the Khanty, were called Yugra. Mansi use writing on a Russian graphic basis, have their own schools. Total amount There are more than 7,000 Mansi people, but only half of them consider Mansi their native language.

Khanty (Ostyaks)live on the Yamal Peninsula, lower and middle Ob. Writing in the Khanty language appeared in the 30s of our century, but the dialects of the Khanty language are so different that communication between representatives of different dialects is often difficult. Many lexical borrowings from the Komi language penetrated into the Khanty and Mansi languages. The total number of Khanty is 21,000 people. The traditional occupation of the Ob Ugrians is reindeer herding, hunting, and fishing.

Udmurtsthe least advanced from the territory of the Finno-Ugric ancestral home; they live on the lower reaches of the Kama and Vyatka rivers, except for the Udmurt Republic, they live in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Mari El, Vyatka region. There were 713,696 Udmurts in 1989; writing arose in the 18th century. The capital of Udmurtia is the city of Izhevsk.

Marilive on the territory of the Volga left bank. About half of the Mari live in the Republic of Mari El, the rest live in Bashkortostan, Tatarstan and Udmurtia. Writing in the Mari language arose in the 18th century, there are two variants of the literary language - meadow and mountain, they have the main difference in phonetics. The total number of Mari is 621,961 (1989). The capital of Mari El is the city of Yoshkar-Ola.

Among the Finno-Ugric peoples, the 3rd place is occupied byMordovians. There are more than 1,200 thousand people, but the Mordovians live very widely and fragmented. Their more compact groups can be found in the basins of the Moksha and Sura rivers (Mordovia), in the Penza, Samara, Orenburg, Ulyanovsk, and Nizhny Novgorod regions. There are two closely related Mordovian languages, Erzya and Moksha, but speakers of these languages ​​communicate with each other in Russian. Writing in the Mordovian languages ​​appeared in the 19th century. The capital of Mordovia is the city of Saransk.

Baltic-Finnish languages ​​and peoples are so close that speakers of these languages ​​can communicate among themselves without an interpreter. Among the languages ​​of the Baltic-Finnish group, the most common isFinnish, it is spoken by about 5 million people, self-name of the Finnssuomi. In addition to Finland, Finns also live in Leningrad region Russia. Writing arose in the 16th century, from 1870 the period of the modern Finnish language begins. The epic "Kalevala" sounds in Finnish, a rich original literature has been created. About 77 thousand Finns live in Russia.

Estonianslive on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, the number of Estonians in 1989 was 1,027,255 people. Writing existed from the 16th century to the 19th century. two literary languages ​​developed: southern and northern Estonian. In the 19th century these literary languages ​​converged on the basis of Middle Estonian dialects.

Karelylive in Karelia and the Tver region of Russia. There are 138,429 Karelians (1989), a little more than half speak their native language. The Karelian language consists of many dialects. In Karelia, Karelians study and use the Finnish literary language. The most ancient monuments of Karelian writing date back to the 13th century; in the Finno-Ugric languages, in antiquity this is the second written language (after Hungarian).

Izhorathe language is unwritten, it is spoken by about 1,500 people. The Izhors live on the southeastern coast of the Gulf of Finland, on the river. Izhora, a tributary of the Neva. Although the Izhors call themselves Karelians, it is customary in science to single out an independent Izhorian language.

Vepsianslive on the territory of three administrative-territorial units: Vologda, Leningrad regions of Russia, Karelia. In the 30s, there were about 30,000 Vepsians, in 1970 - 8,300 people. Due to the strong influence of the Russian language, the Vepsian language differs markedly from other Baltic-Finnish languages.

Vodskythe language is on the verge of extinction, since there are no more than 30 people speaking this language. Vod lives in several villages located between the northeastern part of Estonia and the Leningrad region. The Votic language is unwritten.

Do youlive in several seaside fishing villages in northern Latvia. Their number in the course of history, due to the devastation during World War II, has sharply decreased. Now the number of Liv speakers is only about 150 people. Writing has been developing since the 19th century, but at the present time Livs are switching to the Latvian language.

Samilanguage forms separate group Finno-Ugric languages, since there are many specific features in its grammar and vocabulary. The Saami live in the northern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. There are only about 40 thousand of them, including about 2000 in Russia. The Sami language has much in common with the Baltic-Finnish languages. Sami writing develops on the basis of different dialects in Latin and Russian graphic systems.

Modern Finno-Ugric languages ​​have diverged so much from each other that at first glance they seem completely unrelated to each other. However, a deeper study of the sound composition, grammar and vocabulary shows that these languages ​​have many common features that prove the former common origin of the Finno-Ugric languages ​​from one ancient parent language.

ON THE CONCEPT "KOMI LANGUAGE"

Traditionally, the Komi language is understood as all three Komi dialects: Komi-Zyryansky, Komi-Permyak and Kozhi-Yazva. Many foreign Finno-Ugric scholars do not separate the Komi-Zyryan and Komi-Permyak languages. However, in Soviet ethnography, two ethnic groups are distinguished - Komi-Zyryans and Komi-Permyaks, and in linguistics, respectively, two languages. Komi-Zyryans and Komi-Permyaks freely communicate with each other in their languages, without resorting to Russian. Thus, the Komi-Zyryan and Komi-Permyak literary languages ​​are very close.

This closeness is clearly seen when comparing the following two sentences:

1) Komi-Zyryan literary language -Ruch vidzodlis gogorbok and ydzhyd goats vyly addzis uros, kodi tov kezhlo dastis tshak .

2) Komi-Permyak literary language -Ruch vidzotis gogor and ydzhyt koz yylis kazyalis urokos, code tov kezho zaptis tshakkez .

"The fox looked around and on the top of a tall spruce saw a squirrel that was storing mushrooms for the winter".

The study of the Komi-Zyryan literary language, in principle, makes it possible to read everything written in the Komi-Permyak literary language, as well as to communicate freely with the Komi-Permyaks.

RESIDENCE AND NUMBER OF KOMI

A special ethnographic group of the Komi are the Komi-Yazva people whose language is very different from the modern Komi-Zyryan and Komi-Permyak dialects. Komi-Yazvinians live in the Krasnovishersky district of the Perm region along the middle and upper reaches of the river. Yazva, the left tributary of the river. Vishera, which flows into the Kama. Their total number is about 4,000 people, however, at present, the Komi-Yazva people are rapidly becoming Russified.

In the Afanasyevsky district of the Kirov region, the so-called "Zyuzda" Komi live, the dialect of which stands, as it were, between the Komi-Zyryan and Komi-Permyak dialects. In the 1950s, there were more than 5,000 Zyuzdins, but then their number began to decrease.

Komi-Zyrianslive in the Komi Republic in the basins of the rivers Luza, Vychegda and its tributaries Sysola, Vym, in the basins of the Izhma and Pechora rivers, which flows into the White Sea. Mezen and its tributary Vashka. Accordingly, the Komi ethnographic groups are subdivided along the rivers - Luz Komi, Sysolsky, Vychegodsky, Vymsky, Udorsky, Izhma, Upper Pechora Komi, etc. region, in many villages of the lower Ob and along its tributaries, on the Kola Peninsula in the Murmansk region in the Omsk, Novosibirsk and other regions of Siberia.

Komi-Permyakslive in isolation from the Komi-Zyryans, to the south, in the Perm region, in the Upper Kama region, on its tributaries Kos, Inva. The capital of the Komi-Permyatsk Autonomous Region is the city of Kudymkar.

The total number of the Komi population (Komi-Zyryans and Komi-Permyaks), according to the population censuses, was constantly increasing: 1897 - 254,000; 1970 - 475,000; 1926 - 364,000; 1979 - 478,000; 1959 - 431,000; 1989 - 497,081.

Demographers have noticed a trend towards a sharp decline in the growth of the Komi population in recent decades. If for 1959-1970. the increase was 44,000 people, then for 1970-1979. - only 3,000 people. For 1979 In the USSR, there were 326,700 Komi-Zyryans and 150,768 Komi-Permyaks. In the Komi SSR, 280,797 Komi-Zyryans lived, which amounted to 25.3% of the population of the republic.

In 1989, the Komi made up 23% of the population of the Komi SSR. According to the 1989 census, 345,007 Komi-Zyryans and 152,074 Komi-Permyaks lived in the USSR. However, the number of people who speak the Komi language is decreasing. So, in 1970, 82.7% of the Komi-Zyryans and 85.8% of the Komi-Permyaks called the Komi language their native language. In 1979, 76.2% of the Komi-Zyryans and 77.1% of the Komi-Permyaks called the Komi language their native language. For 10 years, the Komi language community has decreased by 33,000 people. The decline in the number of Komi speakers continues. According to the 1989 census, among all the Komi in the USSR, 70% named the Komi language as their native language, i.e. now every third Komi no longer speaks the mother language.

From the book "KOMI KYV: Self-instruction manual for the Komi language" E A Tsypanov 1992 (Syktyvkar, Komi book publishing house)

Finno-Ugric peoples

Settlement of the Finno-Ugur peoples
Number and range
Total: 25,000,000 people 9 416 000 4 849 000 3 146 000—3 712 000 1 888 000 1 433 000 930 000 520 500 345 500 315 500 293 300 156 600 40 000 250—400

finno- Ugric peoples -

After Slavic and Turkic, this group of peoples is the third largest among all peoples Russia . Of the 25 million Finno-Ugric more than 3 million planets now live on territories Russia. In our country they are represented by 16 peoples, five of which have their own national-state, and two - national-territorial formations. The rest are dispersed throughout the country.

According to the 1989 census, in Russia there were 3184317 representatives Finno-Ugric peoples. Of these, the number of Mordovians was 1072939 people, Udmurts - 714833, Mari- 643698, Komi - 336309, Komi - Permyaks - 147269, Karelians - 124921, Khanty - 22283, Vepsians - 12142, Mansi- 8279, Izhorians - 449. In addition, 46390 Estonians, 47102 Finns, 1835 Saami, 5742 Hungarians, other representatives of the small Finno-Ugric peoples and ethnic groups such as Setos, Livs, vod and etc.

significant portion Finno-Ugric lives in "titular" subjects Federations : republics Karelia, Komi, Mari El, Mordovia, Udmurt Republic, Komi-Perm Autonomous Okrug, Khanty- Mansi autonomous region. There are diasporas in Vologda, Kirovskaya , Leningrad , Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Penza, Perm, Pskov, Samara, Saratov , Sverdlovsk, Tverskoy, Tomsk , Ulyanovsk regions, as well as in the Nenets and Yamal-Nenets autonomous regions, in the republics Bashkortostan , Tatarstan , Chuvashia .

Russian finno- Ugric peoples, except for Komi-Permyaks, have one common feature: living in a nationally mixed environment where they are a minority. For their ethnocultural, linguistic And social development, factors such as the compactness of settlement and the share in national administrative formations are also important.

Subjects of the Federation in which finno- Ugric peoples, federal bodies authorities, pay much attention to the development of cultures and languages ​​of these peoples. Laws on culture, in a number of republics - about languages ​​(Republics of Komi, Mari El), in other republics, draft laws on languages ​​are under preparation. Regional programs for the national and cultural development of peoples have been prepared and are being implemented, in which specific measures on issues of national culture, education, and languages ​​occupy a significant place.

The history of the Finno-Ugric peoples and languages ​​goes back many millennia. The process of formation of modern Finnish, Ugric and Samoyedic peoples was very complicated. The real name of the Finno-Ugric or Finno-Ugric family of languages ​​was replaced by the Ural one, since Samoyedic languages ​​were discovered and proved to belong to this family.

The Uralic language family is divided into the Ugric branch, which includes the Hungarian, Khanty and Mansi languages ​​(with the latter two being combined under common name"Ob-Ugric languages"), into the Finno-Permian branch, which unites the Permian languages ​​(Komi, Komi-Permyak and Udmurt), the Volga languages ​​(Mari and Mordovian), the Baltic-Finnish language group (Karelian, Finnish, Estonian, and also the languages ​​of the Vepsians, Vodi, Izhors, Livs), Sami and Samoyedic languages, within which the northern branch (Nganasan, Nenets, Enets languages) and the southern branch (Selkup) are distinguished.

The number of peoples who speak the Uralic languages ​​is about 23 - 24 million people. The Ural peoples occupy a vast territory that stretches from Scandinavia to the Taimyr Peninsula, with the exception of the Hungarians, who, by the will of fate, found themselves aloof from other Ural peoples - in the Carpatho-Danube region.

Most of the Uralic peoples live in Russia, with the exception of the Hungarians, Finns and Estonians. The most numerous are the Hungarians (more than 15 million people). The Finns are the second largest people (about 5 million people). There are about a million Estonians. On the territory of Russia (according to the 2002 census) live Mordovians (843,350 people), Udmurts (636,906 people), Maris (604,298 people), Komi-Zyryans (293,406 people), Komi-Permyaks (125,235 people), Karelians (93,344 people) , Veps (8240 people), Khanty (28678 people), Mansi (11432 people), Izhora (327 people), Vod (73 people), as well as Finns, Hungarians, Estonians, Saami. At present, Mordvins, Maris, Udmurts, Komi-Zyrians, Karelians have their own national-state formations, which are republics within the Russian Federation.

Komi-Permyaks live on the territory of the Komi-Permyatsky District of the Perm Territory, Khanty and Mansi - Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Yugra of the Tyumen Region. Veps live in Karelia, in the north-east of the Leningrad region and in the north-western part of the Vologda regions, the Saami live in the Murmansk region, in the city of St. Petersburg, the Arkhangelsk region and Karelia, the Izhora live in the Leningrad region, the city of St. Petersburg, the Republic of Karelia . Vod - in the Leningrad region, in the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia

Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia

Finno-Ugric peoples

Documents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament:

The position of the Finno-Ugric and Samoyedic peoples. Report. Committee for Culture, Science and Education. Speaker: Katrin Saks, Estonia, Socialist Group (Doc. 11087, October 26, 2006): http://www.mari.ee/eng/scien/topical/Katrin_Saks_Report.html

Resolution 1171 (1989). Cultures of the Ural national minorities in danger (in English): http://www.suri.ee/doc/reso_1171.html

In a statement signed by an employee of the Institute of Human Rights, a linguist, professor Mart Rannut, the institute notes that the diversity of nationalities and cultures is a world wealth, and therefore it is necessary to stop the forced assimilation of Finno-Ugric speaking national minorities carried out by officials and the educational and administrative system of Russia.

“Until now, the participation of the Finno-Ugric peoples in public life is limited to folk art, the state funding of which is carried out according to not entirely clear criteria, which allows Russian officials to conduct everything according to own will without taking into account the needs of the national minorities themselves,” the institute reports.

The Institute draws attention to the fact that in 2009 the opportunity to take the state exam in the Finno-Ugric languages ​​was eliminated; in addition, national minorities do not have the opportunity to take part in decision-making concerning themselves; there is also no legislative basis for the study of national minority languages ​​and their use in public life.

“Local toponyms are used very rarely in the Finno-Ugric territories, in addition, conditions for the development and viability of the linguistic environment of national minorities have not been created in cities. The share of television and radio programs in national minority languages ​​is decreasing, which leads to a forced change of language in many areas of life.

The Russian Federation has so far consistently prevented national minorities from using alphabets other than Cyrillic, although this is one of the fundamental rights of national minorities,” the statement says.

The Institute emphasizes that over the past ten years the Finno-Ugric population of Russia has decreased by almost a third. Discrimination against national minorities and their languages ​​continues, and inter-ethnic hatred and intolerance are being fomented.

“The above direct violations of human rights have been documented by many international organizations on human rights, including in the report of the Council of Europe,” the statement reads.

The Human Rights Institute calls Russian Federation respect the rights of national minorities, including the rights of the Finno-Ugric peoples, and comply with the obligations assumed under international treaties in this area.

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I told you 3 fantastic stories, and this is not science fiction, but fantasy (from English. fantasy- "fantasy"), science fiction[English] science fiction< science - наука, fiction>- fiction; fiction, fantasy]. None of these countries not only sent their troops to the territory of the Russian Federation, but did not even plan to do so, although they have exactly the same reasons for this as Russia has to send troops to the territory of sovereign Ukraine.

I would like to ask questions to the Russian-speaking readers of "7x7 Komi", who, like myself, do not belong to the indigenous nationality of our Republic, have lived in it for a long time, and many of them all their lives: How many of us know the Komi language? Do we have a desire to know the language of the people on whose land we live, their customs and culture? Why? Why in any of national republics Russian Federation, knowledge of the Russian language is mandatory for all residents of this republic, including for the indigenous population, and knowledge of the language of the indigenous population is not mandatory for its non-indigenous population? Isn't this a manifestation of Russian imperial thinking? Why does any "guest worker" who comes to any place in the Russian Federation try to master the Russian (but not the local) language? Why does the Russian-speaking population of Crimea, which has been part of Ukraine for 60 years, consider it a violation of their rights to know its state language, and the population of Western Ukraine, after its entry into the USSR (let me remind you that this "entry" took place when the USSR was an ally of Hitler's Germany) was obliged learn and know Russian? Why does any Russian who has moved for permanent residence to any country in the non-post-Soviet space consider it natural to master the language of this country first of all, but does not think so when living in the former Soviet republics? Why does Russia still consider them, including Ukraine, to be its fiefdom, to which it can dictate its terms from a position of strength?

The names of the peoples included in the Finno-Ugric language group will occupy almost all letters of the alphabet. The inhabitants of Mari El, the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug, Karelia, Udmurtia and other regions of Russia are very different and yet have something in common. We tell.

The Finno-Ugric peoples are not the largest, but rather large in terms of the number of peoples, a language group. Most peoples live partially or completely on the territory of Russia. There are hundreds of thousands of some (Mordovians, Maris, Udmurts), some can be counted on the fingers (in 2002, only 73 people were registered in Russia, calling themselves Vod). However, most of the Finno-Ugric speakers live outside of Russia. First of all, these are Hungarians (about 14.5 million people), Finns (about 6 million) and Estonians (about a million).

Who are the Finno-Ugrians

The largest variety of Finno-Ugric peoples is represented in our country. This is primarily the Volga-Finnish subgroup (Mordovians and Mari), the Permian subgroup (Udmurts, Komi-Permyaks and Komi-Zyryans) and the Ob subgroup (Khanty and Mansi). Also in Russia there are almost all representatives of the Baltic-Finnish subgroup (Ingrian, Setu, Karelians, Veps, Izhorians, Vod and Sami).

The ancient Russian chronicles preserved the names of three more peoples that have not survived to our time and, apparently, were completely assimilated by the Russian population: the Chud, who lived along the banks of the Onega and the Northern Dvina, the Merya - in the interfluve of the Volga and Oka, and the Murom - in the Oka basin.

Also, the archaeological and ethnographic expedition of the Dalnekonstantinovsky Museum of the Nizhny Novgorod Region and the University of Nizhny Novgorod is now studying in detail another ethnic subgroup of the Mordovians that disappeared quite recently - the Teryukhans, who lived in the south of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

The most numerous Finno-Ugric peoples have their own republics and autonomous regions within Russia - the republics of Mordovia, Mari El, Udmurtia, Karelia, Komi and the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug).

Where live

Initially living in the Urals and Western Siberia, the Finno-Ugric peoples eventually settled to the west and north of their ancestral lands - up to modern Estonia and Hungary. On the this moment There are four main areas of their settlement:

• Scandinavian, Kola Peninsula and Baltic;
• the middle reaches of the Volga and the lower reaches of the Kama;
• Northern Ural and the Northern Ob;
• Hungary.

However, over time, the borders of the settlement of the Finno-Ugric peoples become less and less clear. This is especially evident in the last 50 years, and this process is associated with labor migration both within the country (from the countryside to cities) and interstate (especially after the creation of the European Union).

Languages ​​and anbur

Language is in fact one of the main features of a given community, otherwise it is simply appearance one can hardly say that the Hungarians, Estonians and Mansi are relatives. In total, there are about 35 Finno-Ugric languages, divided into only two sub-branches:

• Ugric - Hungarians, Khanty and Mansi;
• Finno-Perm - all the rest, including the dead Murom, Meryan, Meshchersky, Kemi-Sami and the Akkala language.

According to researchers and linguists, all the current Finno-Ugric languages ​​had a common ancestor, named for the linguistic classification of the Proto-Finno-Ugric language. The oldest known written monument (the end of the 12th century) is the so-called “Tomb Speech and Prayer”, which is written in Latin in Old Hungarian.

We will be more interested in the so-called Anbur - ancient Permian writing, which was used on the territory of Perm the Great in the XIV-XVII centuries by the peoples inhabiting it: Komi-Permyaks, Komi-Zyryans and Russians. It was created by the Russian Orthodox missionary, Ustyuzhanite Stefan of Perm in 1372 on the basis of the Russian, Greek alphabets and tamga - runic Perm symbols.

Anbur was necessary for the Muscovites to communicate with their new neighbors in the east and northeast, since the Muscovite state was systematically and fairly quickly expanding in the direction as usual, baptizing new citizens

Anbur was necessary for the Muscovites to communicate with their new neighbors in the east and northeast, since the Muscovite state systematically and fairly quickly expanded in the direction it usually does, baptizing new citizens. The latter, by the way, were not particularly opposed (if we are talking about Permians and Zyryans). However, with the gradual expansion of the Moscow principality and the inclusion of the whole of Perm, the Great Anbur is completely replaced by the Russian alphabet, since, in general, all literate people in those places already speak Russian. IN XV-XVI centuries this writing is still used in some places, but already as a secret script - this is a kind of cipher, which is familiar to a very limited number of people. TO XVII century Anbur is completely out of circulation.

Finno-Ugric holidays and customs

At present, the majority of Finno-Ugric peoples are Christians. The Russians are Orthodox, the Hungarians are mostly Catholics, the Baltic peoples are Protestants. However, in Russia there are many Finno-Ugric Muslims. also in Lately traditional beliefs are being revived: shamanism, animism and the cult of ancestors.

As is usually the case during Christianization, the local holiday calendar was timed to coincide with the church calendar, churches and chapels were erected on the site of sacred groves, and the cult of locally revered saints was introduced.

Among the Khanty, who are mainly engaged in fishing, “fish” gods were more revered, but among the Mansi, who are mainly engaged in hunting, various forest animals (bear, elk). That is, all nations prioritized depending on their needs. Religion was quite utilitarian. If the sacrifices made to some idol had no effect, then the same Mansi could easily flog him with a whip

The pre-Christian religion of the Finno-Ugric peoples was polytheistic - there was a supreme god (usually the god of heaven), as well as a galaxy of “smaller” gods: the sun, earth, water, fertility ... All nations had different names for the gods: in the case of the supreme deity, god the sky at Finns called Yumala, Estonians— Taevataat, at Mari— Yumo.

And, for example, Khanty, engaged mainly in fishing, "fish" gods were more revered, but among Mansi engaged mainly in hunting - various forest animals (bear, elk). That is, all nations prioritized depending on their needs. Religion was quite utilitarian. If the sacrifices made to some idol had no effect, then his same Mansi could easily be whipped.

Also, until now, some of the Finno-Ugric peoples practice dressing up as animal masks during the holidays, which also takes us back to the time of totemism.

At Mordovians, engaged mainly in agriculture, the cult of plants is highly developed - the ritual significance of bread and porridge, which were mandatory in almost all rituals, is still great. The traditional holidays of the Mordovians are also associated with agriculture: Ozim-purya - a prayer for harvesting bread on September 15, a week later for Ozim-purya, the Keremet molyans, Kaldaz-Ozks, Velima-biva (worldly beer) are celebrated near Kazanskaya.

Mari celebrate U Ii Payrem ( New Year) from 31 December to 1 January. Shortly before this, Shorykyol (Christmas) is celebrated. Shorykyol is also called "sheep's leg". This is because on this day the girls went from house to house and always went into the sheepfolds and pulled the sheep by the legs - this was supposed to ensure well-being in the household and family. Shorykyol is one of the most famous Mari holidays. It is celebrated during the winter solstice (from December 22) after the new moon.

Roshto (Christmas) is also celebrated, accompanied by a procession of mummers led by the main characters - Vasli kuva-kugyz and Shorykyol kuva-kugyz.

In the same way, almost all local traditional holidays associated with churches.

It should also be noted that it was the Mari who gave a strong rebuff to Christian missionaries and still visit sacred groves and sacred trees on traditional holidays, conducting rituals there.

At Udmurts traditional holidays were also timed to coincide with church, as well as agricultural work and the days of the winter and summer solstices, spring and autumn equinoxes.

For Finns the most important are Christmas (as for decent Christians) and Midsummer (Juhannus). Yuhannus in Finland is the holiday of Ivan Kupala in Russia. As in Russia, the Finns believe that this is a holiday in honor of John the Baptist, but it is immediately clear that this is a pagan holiday that could not eradicate itself, and the church found a compromise. Like ours, on Ivan's Day, young people jumped over the fire, and the girls let the wreaths float on the water - whoever catches the wreath will be the groom.

This day is also revered Estonians.

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The rite of karsikko is very interesting. Karelians and Finns. Karsikko is a specially chopped or felled tree (necessarily coniferous). The rite can be associated with almost any significant event: a wedding, the death of an important and respected person, a good hunt.

Depending on the situation, the tree was chopped down or all its branches were cut off completely. They could leave one branch or only the top. All this was decided on an individual basis, known only to the performer of the ritual. After the ceremony, the tree was watched. If his condition did not worsen and the tree continued to grow, this meant happiness. If not, grief and misfortune.

Where you can get acquainted with the life and history of the Finno-Ugric peoples

Seto: Museum-estate of the Seto people in the village of Sigovo http://www.museum-izborsk.ru/ru/page/sigovo

Vepsians: Vepsian Forest Natural Park, as well as

Lyantor Khanty ethnographical museum http://www.museum.ru/M2228

Komi: Finno-Ugric Cultural Center of the Komi Republic http://zyrians.foto11.com/fucenter

Karely: Center national cultures And folk art

The peoples of the Finno-Ugric group have inhabited the territories of Europe and Siberia for more than ten thousand years, since the Neolithic. Today, the number of Finno-Ugric speakers exceeds 20 million people, and they are citizens of Russia and a number of European countries - modern representatives of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group live in Western and Central Siberia, Central and Northern Europe. The Finno-Ugric peoples are an ethno-linguistic community of peoples, including the Mari, Samoyeds, Saami, Udmurts, Ob Ugrians, Erzya, Hungarians, Finns, Estonians, Livs, etc.

Some peoples of the Finno-Ugric group created their own states (Hungary, Finland, Estonia, Latvia), and some live in multinational states. Despite the fact that the cultures of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group were significantly influenced by the beliefs of ethnic groups living with them on the same territory, and the Christianization of Europe, the Finno-Ugric peoples nevertheless managed to preserve a layer of their original culture and religion.

Religion of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group before Christianization

In the pre-Christian era, the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group lived in isolation, on a vast territory, and representatives different peoples practically no contact with each other. Therefore, it is natural that both dialects and nuances of traditions and beliefs among different peoples of this group differed significantly: for example, despite the fact that both Estonians and Mansi belong to the Finno-Ugric peoples, it cannot be said that their beliefs and traditions contain a lot general. The formation of the religion and way of life of each ethnic group was influenced by the conditions environment and the way of life of the people, therefore it is not surprising that the beliefs and traditions of the ethnic groups living in Siberia differed significantly from the religion of the Finno-Ugric peoples who lived in Western Europe.

There was no Finno-Ugric group in the religions of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group, therefore, all information about the beliefs of this ethnic group historians take from folklore - oral folk art, which was recorded in the epics and legends of different peoples. And most famous epics, out of which modern historians draw knowledge about beliefs, are the Finnish "Kalevala" and the Estonian "Kalevipoeg", describing in sufficient detail not only the gods and traditions, but also the exploits of the heroes of different times.

Despite the presence of a certain difference between the beliefs of different peoples of the Finno-Ugric group, there is much in common between them. All these religions were polytheistic, and most of the gods were associated either with natural phenomena or with cattle breeding and agriculture - the main occupations of the Finno-Ugric peoples. The god of heaven was considered the supreme deity, whom the Finns called Yumala, the Estonians - Taevataat, the Mari - Yumo, the Udmurts - Inmar, and the Sami - Ibmel. The Finno-Ugric peoples also honored the deities of the sun, moon, fertility, earth and thunder; representatives of each nation called their deities in their own way, however General characteristics gods, in addition to names, did not have too many differences. In addition to polytheism and similar gods, all religions of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group have the following common characteristics:

1. ancestral cult - all representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples believed in the existence of the immortal soul of man, and also that the inhabitants afterlife can influence the lives of living people and, in exceptional cases, help their descendants
2. Cults of gods and spirits associated with nature and earth (but nimism) - since the subsistence of the majority of the peoples of Siberia and Europe directly depended on the offspring of farmed animals and the harvest of cultivated plants, it is not surprising that many peoples of the Finno-Ugric group had many traditions and rituals designed to appease the spirits of nature
3. Elements of shamanism - as in, in the Finno-Ugric ethnic groups, the role of intermediaries between the world of people and the spiritual world was performed by shamans.

Religion of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group in modern times

After the Christianization of Europe, as well as an increase in the number of adherents of Islam at the beginning of the first half of the second millennium AD, all more people belonging to the Finno-Ugric peoples, began to profess any of them, leaving the beliefs of their ancestors in the past. Now only a small part of the Finno-Ugric people profess traditional pagan beliefs and shamanism, while the majority adopted the faith of the peoples living with them on the same territory. For example, the vast majority of Finns and Estonians, as well as citizens of other European countries, are Christians (Catholics, Orthodox or Lutherans), and among the representatives of the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group inhabiting the Urals and Siberia, there are many adherents of Islam.

Today, ancient animistic religions and shamanism are the most full form preserved by the Udmurts, Mari and Samoyed peoples - the indigenous inhabitants of western and central Siberia. However, it cannot be said that the Finno-Ugric peoples have completely forgotten their traditions, because they have preserved a number of rituals and beliefs, and even the traditions of some Christian holidays in the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group are closely intertwined with ancient pagan customs.