AUTOCHTHONS
The
land of Ingria in the broadest sense stretches from the river Narva at the
boundary of Estonia to the Lake of Ladoga embracing areas to the North and to
the South of the river Neva, i.e. ca. 200 km from the West to the East and ca. 130 km from the North to the South, making up 15000 km2.
The autochthons of this land are Finno-Ugrians Inkeris and Votes,
not any Slavs. Local Fins may be also reckoned among the autochthons
because of their ethnic closeness to the Inkeris and Votes and because they
dwell in Ingria since the XVII c. when they were settled there by the Swedes.
All the autochthons may be named with the common name Ingrians in
English.
During the period of Bolshevism all Ingrians suffered ethnic cleansing,
became victims of the genocide. There are almost no autochthons today. Their
rests rapidly disappearing, new ethnic Russian colonists even have no idea that
this land has never been ethnic Russian. Nowadays this is not known in the West
too because of the patriotic Russian propaganda.
As the Ingrian may signify an inhabitant of Ingermanland in general, the more precise distinction is made between the peoples. These are the Finnish words inkeroinen and inkerikko, which signify the Inkeris, but the word inkeriläinen signifies the Ingrian Finns especially. The equivalent of the Inkeri in Russian is Izhorets and Izhora, but of the Ingrian Finn - Ingermanlandskij Finn, or, according to the region, Leningradskij Finn. The designation originates from the River Inkere (in Russian Izhora) that has probably given its name to the whole country. Other inhabitants of historic Ingermanland are the Votes (Russian Vozhane ).
Here the name Ingrians is applied to all autochthons of Ingria, the "Izhorians" being named Inkeris, but the local Finns - Ingrian Finns. Of course, one must bear in mind, that in the Finnish language itself the word Inkeri means Ingria and, therefore, such difference cannot be made in Finnish (for this the words inkeroinen and inkerikko vs. inkeriläinen are used, cf. over). In general, the Finns are not any Inkeris, or even Ingrians, when one translates this word from Finnish. But the Finns of Ingria are Ingrians as local inhabitants of Ingria (inkeriläiset ), not as ethnic Ingrians of Ingria, for whom the original name Inkeri must be reserved. Therefore, the Finns of Ingria must be called Ingrian Finns, not Inkeri in English.
According to historical data (see further) the Inkeris and the Votes were the oldest known inhabitants of Ingria. After Rurik had created the first state in Novgorod of local Finno-Ugrian, Norman and Russian elements, it spread its influence on all Ingrian tribes up to the Finnish Gulf , the realm of the Vikings and Varyags. Thus the Ingrians were forced into military allegiance - records of Inkeris as regular soldiers in the Novgorod army exist from 1270. Tragically, as several alien powers fought for control of Ingria the Baltic-Finnish tribes were forced against each other. Estonians formed a large part of the Teutonic army, the Finnish were amongst the ranks of the Swedish troops, and Novgorod had many Votes and Inkeris in its army.
The name Ingria, denoting the territory of the Inkeris next to Votic Watlandia, originates from the 12th c. The more recent Ingria was larger, stretching from the river Narva to the shores of the LakeLadoga. Throughout the centuries numerous wars have been fought on this territory. Fierce battles were fought between Sweden and Russia over Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox missionary work, which only ceased after the Pähkinäsaari (Russian Oreshek) and Tartu peace treaties of 1323 and 1351. The main Karelian territories remained under Swedish rule, however Ingria was given over to Russia.
In 1478 Moscow conquered the Republic of Novgorod . The new rulers strove to join the new territories with the Grand Duchy of Muscovy. In 1484 and in 1488 large numbers of Votes and Inkeris were deported to Russia . They were replaced by Russian colonists. From the 16th century on special attention was given to the dissemination of Russian Orthodoxy. Simultaneously, the Russian names spread.
According to the Stolbovo Peace Treaty of 1617, Ingria was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sweden . Many Orthodox inhabitants of the area had already migrated deeper into Russia earlier, but after the Stolbovo Treaty many more were forced to make a similar move.
Swedish laws were introduced in Ingria in order to bind the new province
more securely to its mother country. The Orthodoxes were obliged to attend
Lutheran services, while converts were promised money and reductions of taxes.
These offers were not very successful. The Lutheran congregations continued to
grow, mainly on account of a stream of fresh arrivals from Finland. Ingria was a
domain of nobles and high state officials. Their servants and workers were
recruited from Finland and a great number of peasants voluntarily resettled
themselves.
Ingria was also used by Sweden as a place to deport people. A record exists of a
Viipuri landlord complaining to the government that too many people leave for
Ingria to settle there. A separate Ingrian diocese was formed in 1641
which already had in 1655, 58 Lutheran congregations, 36 churches and 42
parsons. A further perspective aimed to make the Votes and the Inkeris both
Finnish and Lutheran.
As a result of the Great Northern War, Ingria again became a part of Russia (de facto – 1703, de jure – 1721). Besides the damage and suffering caused by the war (this time people were deported to Kazan ) it brought about an event of considerably greater significance - the founding of the city of Sanct-Peterbourg , in the middle of the Baltic-Finnish area, on the site of the one-time Nyen (Neevanlinna). In 1704 peasants were made into serfs and in 1710 Ingria became a province of Sanct-Peterbourg. Local place-names were translated into Russian or adjusted to Russian pronunciation. Although the Russian versions were the official ones, the native place-names are still in use until the present day.
The proximity of the capital also meant part of Ingria being distributed as estates to courtiers and favourites.
The more the new Russian capital developed, the more labourers, domestic servants, clerks, etc, it needed. This implied an influx of thousands of Russians into Ingria, and the merging of peoples of different nationalities within a Russian environment.
The Ingrians found employment opportunities and they became known as traders, wholesale dealers and cabmen. For peasants the town was a good market where cattle, vegetables and handicraft products were taken.
In 1861 serfdom was abolished and with the new freedom of movement, the Russian language began to spread (especially in the case of men). Russian schools, Russian Orthodoxy were the main factors uniting the Inkeris with the Russian cultural spectrum. Of the three, Orthodoxy was the most important, as its influence extended to all spheres of life.
In the first years of the Soviet power the policy was favourable to national cultures, although with a clear tendency to ideologise the culture and to make it “ proletarian” . With the collectivisation the property of the best peasants was confiscated while they themselves were deported either to Siberia or to Central Asia . The Bolsheviks railed fiercely against private property and wealth, but their militant atheists fought against the Church and its followers. This took place throughout whole U.S.S.R. The aggressive and repressive character of the ideologised Soviet state caused bloody terror and directives of the authorities to the inner police (N.K.V.D.) to keep to a plan of exterminating potential and imaginable enemies. This became grounds for organising cheap labour power of prisoners for the slavery work and helped to perform ethnic cleansing even before Hitler began to do the same.
In 1942-1943 the Inkeris and the Votes were evacuated to Finland . This was allowed by German occupation authorities to the basis of applications. 63227 Ingrian refugees, including the Inkeris, the Votes and the Ingrian Finns, had left for Finland by October 31, 1944. At the end of the war the Soviet Union sought to reclaim them. Finland had to return them to the Soviet Union after the armistice. 55773 Ingrians arrived and were transported to the regions of Novgorod, Kalinin, Vologda, Yaroslavl and Sverdlovsk. Some years after the war even children of Ingrian descent, who had been adopted by Finnish families, were reclaimed by the Soviet Union. When after 1956 those, who survived, were finally allowed to return home, their houses appeared occupied by the Russian colonists who had been settled there in the meantime.
The self-designations used are inkeroine, izhora, izhoralaine, as well as karjalain 'Karelian' and maaväki 'the Ingrian people'. The language is known as izhoran keeli (or maakeeli "language of the Land). The Inkeris are descended from the Karelian tribes and even to this day they sometimes use the self-designation karjalain. The Ingrian territory has received its name from the southern tributary of Neva, the Inkere, and according to some theories the Inkeri tribe has its origins in the valley of Inkere. The names izhora-izhoralaine, and the Estonian word isur come from the Russian version of the name of the river. Like the Estonians and the Votes, the Inkeris have also on occasion referred to themselves as 'country people' (maaväki ).
In written records the Inkeris have been mentioned from the12th century on. In one of the papal bulls of Alexander III (ca. 1181-1195) in addition to the Karelians, the Lapps, and the Votes, "the Pagans of Ingria" were also mentioned among those to whom it was forbidden to sell arms.
The Inkeris dwell in the Western part of the Sct.-Petersburg region, in the area between the Rivers Neva and Narva. In the Kingissepp District they live on the Kurkova (Kurgolovo) and the Soikkola (Soikino) peninsulas, in the Oranienbaum (Soviet Lomonosov) District they live on the Izhorian Plateau in the neighbourhood of the river Khevakha (Kovash). An Inkerian linguistic enclave was also situated in the Gatchina District, in the area of the river Oredezh, about 100 km south of Leningrad . Some traces of it (for instance in the village of Novinka ) were preserved until the 1960s.
The development of the habitat of the Inkeris has been strongly influenced by neighbouring peoples. The Inkeris had moved from their original habitat on the river Neva to the west by the17th century at the latest (partly as a result of the pressure of Russian settlers). The region of the Oredezh dialect came into being in connection with the migration after the Stolbovo Peace Treaty in 1617.
In 1848 the Inkeris lived in 222 villages and the number remained approximately the same in 1926. In 1964 A. Laanest recorded only 22 Inkeri villages, including 4 Votic-Inkeri and 2 Finnish-Inkeri mixed villages. In 1989 the situation was almost the same, for instance on the Soikkola Peninsula the Inkeris formed the majority, or at least a significant part, in 15 villages.
Population.
Data on the population of the Inkeris is available from the middle of the
19th century on:
There were 17800 native speakers in 1848, 21700 in 1897, 26137 in 1926 but only 1062 in 1959.
1897 21700 (census)
1926 26137
1939 ?
1959 1062 (34,7 % native speakers)
1970 781 (26,6 % native
speakers)
1979 748 (32,6 % native
speakers)
1989 820 (36,8 %
native speakers)
The Inkeris have never been a particularly numerous people, nevertheless their
number increased steadily until the 1930s. Subsequent mass repressions and
persecutions reduced the number of the Inkeris drastically.
It should be noted that the post-war censuses are not entirely accurate. In order to survive, the Inkeris listed themselves as Russians (also as Estonians or as Finns) and so the actual number of Inkeris and native Inkerian speakers was somewhat larger than recorded in the official data.
Anthropologically the Inkeris belong to the East-Baltic type. In appearance the Inkeris do not differ from the Votes or the Finns in that they usually have fair hair and blue eyes.
Language.
The Inkerian language belongs to the northern group of the
Baltic-Finnish languages. Its closest kindred languages are Karelian and the
eastern dialects of Finnish. Once the ancestors of these peoples formed an
ancient Karelian tribe, where Karelian was more or less commonly spoken. The
separation had presumably occurred by the 11th century and by the 17th century
the Inkerian language had reached its present area of distribution. On the basis
of habitation, the Inkerian language is divided into 4 dialects: the Lower-Luga
and Soikkola dialects which are spoken in the western part of Ingria, the Kheva
dialect on the Izhorian Plateau, and the Oredezh or the Upper-Luga dialect which
was spoken near the River Oredezh. The Oredezh dialect is now extinct.
Finnish linguists do not consider Inkerian to be a separate language, they consider it to be an eastern dialect of Finnish like dialects of Ingrian Finns. Estonian linguists (P. Ariste, A. Laanest) are of the opinion that it is a separate language, they claim that the dialect has developed from the ancient Karelian language and the Inkeris are the native inhabitants of the country, not later immigrants. The same opinion was voiced by V. Porkka (1885, Über den Ingrischen Dialekt).
Due to its origin, the Inkerian language is closely related to the Eastern-Finnish dialects. There have also been numerous contacts with the neighbouring Votes and Finns, who had begun to arrive from the southeast of Finland by the 17th c. These contacts resulted in mutual influences. In West-Ingria (Lower-Luga, Soikkola) the Votic language has influenced both Inkerian and Finnish (the more distant Oredezh dialect excluded) and in the surroundings of the River Khevakha there is a discernible Inkerian influence in the Votic language.
Although the first contacts with Russia were made in the 13th c., the fact that several kindred languages (Inkerian, Votic, Estonian, Finnish) were used in the area, acted as a check on the influence of Russian. It was not until the brutal suppressions and the Russianising campaign of the 1930s that the Inkerian resistance was broken, and the Russian language became predominant. In addition to numerous loan words, the phonetics and grammar of the Inkerian language have also been significantly influenced by Russian.
History.
The ancestors of the Inkeris had separated from the Karelian
tribes by the 11th c. and moved from the isthmus of Karelia and the
shores of Lake Ladoga southward. The oldest archaeological finds come from the
11th and 12th centuries, from the area between the Gatchina and Olhava
(Volkhov). In written records of the 12th century, along with Watlandia, Ingria
is mentioned in connection with its subjugation to Novgorod . The Inkeris were
subjected to taxation by the feudal republic, and they were also forced into
military allegiance - records of Inkeris as regular soldiers in the Novgorod
army exist from 1270.
After the Pähkinäsaare (Oreshek) Peace Treaty between the Russians and the Swedes of 1323, the contact of the Inkeris with the kindred tribes diminished. This in its turn influenced the development of the Inkerian language. However, the situation at the Swedish-Russian border, which was the area the Inkeris inhabited was not secure and the Inkeris migrated away from the isthmus of Karelia - to territories west of Narva, and further south along the River Oredezh.
After Moscow had conquered the Republic of Novgorod and large numbers of Votes and Inkeris were deported to Russia in 1484 and in 1488, the Russian colonists came on their place. From the 16th century on special attention was given to the dissemination of Russian Orthodoxy. From that time the Inkeris began to use the Russian names which were given to them when they were converted to the Orthodox faith. The Inkeris, however, usually adjusted the names according to the rules of their own language.
After the Stolbovo Peace Treaty of 1617, Ingria was reincorporated into the Kingdom of Sweden , the Inkeris and Votes were forced to migrate in Russia . Peasants from Savo and Vyborg (Viipuri) area settled – either willingly or forcibly - to the almost empty territories (Savakot and Äyrämöiset). There was no assimilation because of religious differences: the Votes and Inkeris generally being Orthodox but the Ingrian Finns being Lutherans.
In the Great Northern War, Peter the Great joined Ingria once more to Russia . In 1704 peasants were made into serfs and in 1710 Ingria became a province of Sanct-Peterbourg . Local place-names were translated into Russian or adjusted to Russian pronunciation (Sutela - Volkovo, Kotko - Orly, Soikkola - Soikino, Kukkusi - Kurovitsy etc).
In the first years of Soviet power the Inkeris cherished the hope that their persecution would come to an end. And, in fact, the initially enterprising attitude Inkeris' was encouraged: education was improved, an Inkerian written language was created and books were published in it. Unfortunately, this was only a surface phenomenon. Collectivization came and the property of the more prosperous peasants was confiscated while they themselves were deported either to Siberia or to Central Asia . The Bolsheviks railed fiercely against private property and wealth and militant atheists fought against the Church and its followers. In 1937 Russian chauvinists closed Inkeri schools and similarly, the end was signalled for cultural and social life of the Inkeris.
In 1942-1943 the Inkeris and the Votes were evacuated to Finland . After the war ended the Soviet Union sought to reclaim them, and they were deported to the Novgorod , Kalinin , Vologda and Jaroslavl regions. When after 1956 they were finally allowed to return home (where Russian colonists had settled in the meantime), there were only 1062 Inkeris left. Physical extermination and Russianising had achieved their purpose: post-war generations of Inkeris have no knowledge of their native tongue.
Ethnic culture.
The Inkeris have always cultivated land and been seafarers
and fishermen. Their land was not fertile, so it was necessary to fish and hunt.
Later trade, handicraft and migrant work increased in importance. East Ingria
was always an important area for traffic and transitory trade. The Inkeris
living on the banks of the Neva had been reloading goods and forwarding
consignments since the 12th -13th c.
As with the Russians, the land in Ingria belonged to village communities. It was divided according to the number of families, or men, into plots. As there was not enough land, people had to earn a living through handicrafts and odd jobs as well. In the coastal villages the Inkeris took to carpentry in between fishing seasons, the Inkeris of Toldoga and Kargal were known as smiths and iron founders, and the East Inkeri villages were known for their weaving. On the whole life within Inkeri villages resembled that in Russian villages by the beginning of the 19th c.
Literacy.
In 1930s the written language based on the Latin alphabet was
created for the Inkeris. In their schools in West Ingria it was possible to get
a native language primary education. Between 1932 and 1937, 25 textbooks in
Inkerian were published (e.g. V. Yunus. Izhoran keelen grammatikka.
Morfologia. Opetajaijaa vart. 1936; V. Yunus, N. Ilyin. Inkeroisin
(izhoran) keelen oppikirja alkushkouluja vart. 1936). Unfortunately, the
Inkerian written language, their native-language schools, textbooks and even
teachers were liquidated in 1937.
Self-designation. Their self-designations are vadjalain ~vaddalain, vadjakko – 'a Vote', maaväči – 'Votic people', and they call their language vadyaa čeeli - maa čeeli.
In written records, the Votes were first mentioned in the 11th c. In an order of Duke Yaroslav of Novgorod (978-1054), concerning roads and bridges, the names Vod' and Vochkaya oblast may be found, which apply to the northeastern Votes and their habitat. The southern and North-Western tribes of the Votes, like all the Baltic-Finnish peoples earlier, were called Chud' by the Russians. In the middle ages in Old Livonia, the whole North-Western part of the Duchy of Novgorod was called Watland, and all the related peoples there were called Votes. The name Watland ~ Watlandia has spread to the West via Old Livonia. The expression Pagani Watlandiae appeared in Roman-Catholic writings of the 12th-13th c. They were also mentioned by Pope Alexander III in his papal bull to the bishop of Uppsala (from 1181 to 1195) and by Gregory IX to the Archbishop of Uppsala and the bishop of Linköping (1230). The appearance of the Votes in written records is directly linked to the interests of foreign powers in the Votic lands.
Habitat.
Ancient Watland was mainly the Western and Northern Ingria. By
approximately the year 1200, the Votes had spread from the River Narva in the
west to the River Inger (Izhora in Russian) in the east, and from the
Gulf of Finland in the North to the present town of Oudova (Gdov) in the South.
In 1848, 37 Votic villages were recorded; in 1942 there were 23. Presently the
Votes still live in five villages of the Kingissepp district of the
Sanct-Peterbourg region: Kukkusi (Kurovitsy), Rajo (Mezhnyaki), Jõgõperä
(Krakolye), Liivchülä (Peski), and Luuditsa (Luzhitsy). The last four form the
Vaipool group of villages. Some Votes only live in the native village in summer,
spending the winters in towns (Kingissepp, Sanct-Peterbourg, Narva).
Population. The rapid and irreversible diminishing of the Votic people can be traced from the middle of the 19th century from when the first data about them is available.
1848 5148 (P. von Koeppen)
1917 ca 1000 (All-Russian Agricultural Census)
1926 705 (census)
1942 ca 400 (P. Ariste 300 - 400, G. Ränk 400 - 500)
1959 ca 50 (P. Ariste: native speakers ca 70 %)
1982 66 (H. Heinsoo, J. Viikberg)
1989 62 (H. Heinsoo: native speakers ca 50 %).
The Votes have never been a very numerous people, nevertheless, they have survived wars, famine and pestilence, as well as losses to assimilation (Estonianising, but to a far greater extent, Russianising). The major turning point seems to have been in the middle of the 19th century. Remarkable is the fact that while the number of Karelians, Inkeris and Veps increased considerably, the number of Votic people diminished more than five times. From 1939 on, the Votes were not recorded in the censuses, and any data about them has been obtained from individual researchers.
Anthropologically the Votic people belong to the East-Baltic type. Generally they have fair hair and blue eyes. In appearance they do not differ from Inkeris or Finns. For their more candid disposition and livelier speech, they resemble Estonians.
Language.
The Votic language belongs to the southern group of the Baltic-Finnish
languages and is the closest relative of the Estonian language. Western, eastern
(main dialects), Kukkusi and Kreevin dialects can be distinguished. The western
dialect is also spoken in the villages of Vaipool and the Kukkusi dialect –
Inkeri – influenced Votic language – in the village of Kukkusi . The Kreevin
dialect, a Votic linguistic enclave in Latvia , had already become extinct in
Courland by the middle of the 19th century, and the last speakers of the eastern
dialect passed away in Itchäpäivä (Itsepino) in the 1960s.
Linguistic contacts with several neighbouring peoples have probably been stabilising factors in helping the Votic language to survive. Being absorbed into the Russian sphere of authority could have meant total bilingualism and, consequently, total assimilation, however, Votic-Russian bilingualism must never have been universal, otherwise the Votes would not have been able to hold out to the present day. There is, for instance, a record from 1544, that the Russians of Jaanilinn (Ivangorod) spoke non-German better than Russian, and were actually Russian Votes. According to D. Tsvetkov, in 1850, about 50 % of the Votes spoke Russian, and the Church Slavonic (i.e. divine service) could be understood by some 10 %. Multilingualism rather than bilingualism has been the characteristic of the Votes. There is no insurmountable barrier preventing comprehension between the kindred languages (Votic, Inkerian, Finnish, Estonian); in addition, they also understood Russian.
History.
The Votes are the oldest people in Ingria as mentioned in
literary records. They emerged during the first millennium from the northern
Estonians who had remained on the western side of the River Narva and Lake Peipus
(Peipsi). They maintained their contacts with eastern and north-eastern Estonia,
which is attested, at least, by the Kodavere and Lüganuse-Jõhvi dialects in
Estonian. The comparatively small Votic tribes never formed either an integral
nation or a separate administrative unit. Their land was located near major
commercial routes from the East to the West. The earliest archaeological
findings come from the Izhorian plateau, between Kingissepp and Gatchina (4th–7th
c.).
In the second half of the 1st millennium, the East-Slavonic tribes reached the land of the Votes. The founding of Novgorod (earliest data from 859) meant a foothold for the foreign power and tributes from the Votes. From 1069 there is information concerning an attempt to free themselves from paying tributes when together with the army of the Polotsk duke, Vseslav, the Votes attacked Novgorod . They were defeated. Later, as the rule of theNovgorod feudal republic expanded (1136–1478), so their dependence upon it increased. Despite the fact that at first the language at the Novgorod veche (public assembly) was "chud", military and political supremacy tended to propagate, more and more, Russian. In 1149 the Votes took part in a campaign from Novgorod against the Häme people in Finland. They probably participated in other military campaigns from Novgorod , such as the battles against the Swedes in 1240 and 1248, and against the Teutonic knights in 1241, 1242 and 1269. From 1270 on, the Votes and Inkeris appeared in records of the composition of the Novgorod forces.
There were, though, other foreigners who coveted Ingria. For a long time the Russians were in armed conflict with Sweden. Peace came only with the treaty of Pähkinäsaari (Oreshek) in 1323 which defined the domains of both countries. In 1240, the Germans founded the fortress of Kaprio (Koporye) and led several campaigns between 1444 and 1447. They gained no strong foothold. The ones who suffered, who were swept over by the ambitions of the foreign authorities, were the local populace. When, in 1241, Novgorod captured Kaprio, Votes and Chudes (northwest Votes) were hung for collaborating with the Germans. In the 1440s the knight Heidenreich Vinke von Overberg deported Votic war prisoners to Courland. In Latvia they were called Krieviņi (krieviņš 'a Russian'. The Kreevin dialect was still alive in 1846, noted by the academician A. Sjögren.
The role of the Votes in the Duchy of Novgorod seems to have been significant. There was a Chude Street in the town and a Votic Road led to the north. The town was divided into five "ends", and one of these would appear to have been Votic en route to the Votes' Land. There was a Hanseatic trading office in Novgorod , and lively commercial relationships with Eastern, as well as Western merchants were maintained. It seems that the administration did not much interfere with the lives of its subjects, and gradually the Votes contented themselves with Novgorod supremacy of their land. The status of the Slavic power made its language alluring first to Votic noblemen and then later to all prominent persons. The spread of the Russian language had begun.
In 1478 the Grand Duchy of Moscovy destroyed Novgorod. The conquered duchy was divided into five parts, of which the northern was called the Votic fifth (Vodskaya pyatina). Its border ran in the west along the River Lauga (Luga) to the Bay of Narva, and in the east along the River Olkhava (Volkhov) to LakeLadoga. The Votes suffered from Moscow's need to be seen as supreme. In 1484 and 1488, a large number of Votes were deported to Central Russia and Russian colonists were brought back instead. At the same time, great attention was paid to propagating the Orthodox faith, since it provided firm support for the authorities, as well as to the whole process of Russianising. For the Votes, the influence of Novgorod had meant, besides taxes and obligations as vassals, also an acceptance of the Greek-Orthodox religion. For the missionary work of the Orthodox church, the Jaama (Yamburg) church and monastery were founded in 1348. Nevertheless, as late as the 16th century (1534 and 1548) the Archbishops of Novgorod, Makarius and Theodosius, complained that the Votes were obdurate pagans. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy took the Christianisation (i.e. securing the land) very seriously. Ilia the Monk and a later missionary, Nikifor, worked hard (mass baptisms, destroying of sacred groves and sacrificial places of the pagans), to make the Votes good Christians. About this time, Votic ethnic first names were dropped from usage. Russian Christian names, given by the Orthodox church and used in an adapted form, became the norm. Under the terms of the 1617 Stolbovo Peace Treaty, Ingria (in Swedish Ingermanland) was adjudicated as a territory of the state of Sweden . The Swedes also sought to use religion, propagating Lutheranism, to attach the new areas more firmly to Sweden . However, a part of the Votes escaped across the border to the Russian side. Vacant areas were filled with peasants brought from southeastern Finland . The difference in religion remained – Ingermanlandians are Protestants, while the Votes and Inkeris stayed Orthodox. A lot of legends and folk-tales have come from the time of Swedish rule (tales of Swedish treasures, tombs, the return of the Swedes). Probably, this period meant much more to the Votes than only a miserable life under the religious oppression.
When Ingermanland again became a part of Russia (de facto – 1703, de jure – 1721) as a result of the Great Northern War, the proximity of the new capital Sanct-Peterbourg meant part of Ingria being distributed as estates to courtiers and favourites. Of the Votic territories, the court owned the western part of Jõgõperä (kuninkaa varta).
By the middle of the 19th century, the situation had developed so that the Votes began to prefer Russian songs and style of clothing. Freedom of movement promoted the spread of the Russian language while schooling and cultural life (especially in connection with Sanct-Peterbourg) increased the status of Russian. The most decisive factor in this process was the Russian Orthodox Church which, despite the different nationalities, united people of one church and influenced their lifestyle and customs. Language remained the only division – until the Votes overcame it. In the 1920s it was already difficult to discern a Votic from a Russian. In the 1930s a point had been reached where young people no longer could speak Votic.
The Soviet regime changed the whole life of the Votes. The most industrious farmers were deported to force others to give up their property and join the kolkhoz-farms. Physical violence was combined with social injustice (urban workers and towns enjoyed privileges) as well as religious and nationalist persecution. Domestic handicrafts were forbidden, and so was owning a private boat. To repress the various forms of protest, many people were labeled as the so-called "enemies of the people". A Vote, for instance, could be deported from his homeland for not registering as a Russian.
During the World War II Ingria was a theatre of the war. When the Germans retreated, some Baltic-Finnish people were taken to Finland as refugees. So were most of the Votes. After the ceasefire with Finland, Russia claimed them all. The Soviet commissars coaxed them with talk of their native land and the graves of their ancestors, and then, threatened to bring them back by force. Some Votes succeeded in escaping to Sweden, some to Estonia, those returning were dispersed throughout the Soviet provinces, as far as Central Asia.
After Stalin's death, numerous petitions were sent to Moscow and, as a result, from 1956 on, a number of Votes were allowed to return to their homes. Their homes, however, were already occupied by strangers. Most of the Russians now living in the ancient Votic villages do not even know who the Votes are or where they live.
Ethnic culture.
Votes are ancient farmers and herders. The inhabitants of
Vaipool were also fishermen and sailors. Trades and crafts were an essential
part of Votic life. Every village had its blacksmith and shoemaker; wooden
vessels were made in Valkovitsa, earthenware in Mati. Much has been written
about Votic woodwork, birch-bark work, transport work, the making of birch tar,
charcoal-, tar- and lime-burning, etc. Russian pedlars and itinerary craftsmen
also passed through Votic villages (e.g. tanners, tailors, carpenters). Towns
offered more opportunities to the Votes. People could learn a trade in Narva or
Sanct-Peterbourg (e.g. in a marine school, a craftsman's workshop), and in the
towns they did business, concluded bargains, looked for work (the women as
domestic servants or nurses).
The ancient folk culture constitutes the mainstay of the Votic identity. It must be stressed that the fundamental part of the language about crafts and trades is Baltic-Finnic. Despite the aggressive alien influences (especially of Russian), a strong native vocabulary has held sway in all spheres of life. The universe of a peaceful farmer is reflected in the Votic folk calendar.
Literacy.
Votes have never had a written language, or a schooling or
literature of their own. In the 1930s, the Votes were the only minority in
northwestern Russia for whom no written language was created. The aspirations in
the 1920s of the Votic intellectual, Dimitri Tsvetkov, in Estonia , were also
unsuccessful.
There has been a rich variety of material on the ethnology and folklore of the Votes collected. Votic folklore was discovered for the Academy by a minister from Narva, Fr. L. Trefurt, in 1783. The first written excerpts were published in a comparative dictionary by P. S. Pallas Linguarum totius orbis vocabularia comparativa (1787–1789). Votic grammars have been written by A. Ahlquist (Wotisk Grammatik, 1856) and P. Ariste (Vadja keele grammatika, 1948; A Grammar of the Votic Language, 1968). Collections of Votic texts have been published by L. Kettunen and L. Posti, J. Mägiste, O. A. Mustonen, E. Adler and especially P. Ariste. A dictionary of the Kukkusi dialect compiled by L. Posti and S. Suhonen was published in 1980, and a 1st volume of the Academic Dictionary of Votic was published in Tallinn in 1990. The most exhaustive collection of the Votic language and folklore in manuscript has been collected by P. Ariste (5269 pages).
As a result of the Russification and physical annihilation, a great part of the post-war autochthon inhabitants of Ingria do not speak their native languages. On the other hand, the ethnic Russian new comers, who are dwelling now in ancient Ingrian villages, have no idea of the country of their current habitat, nor of who the Inkeris and the Votes are. Usually the latter are considered to be Finnish colonists but such colonists cannot be treated friendly according to the Russian character.
A remarkable amount of folk poetry, especially folk songs, have been collected in Ingria. In a Finnish anthology of folk songs Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot published in 1915-1931, there are 9 volumes (6500 pages) of Ingrian songs.
The self-designations are inkeriläinen and inkerin suomalainen 'the Ingrian, the Ingrian Finn' and they call their language suomen kieli "Finnish". The self-designation inkerin suomalaiset "Ingrian Finns" began to spread in the 19th century when under the influence of Lutheranism and schoolteaching in Finnish, a feeling of unity developed with the Finns of Finland.
Habitat.
Ingermanland is the descendant of ancient Ingria in the
area of the Gulf of Finland, the river basin of Neva and Lake Ladoga that became
a Swedish province (in Swedish: Ingermanland) after the battles during the years
1570/1595 and 1610/1617. It included Jaanilinna (Ivangorod), Jaama (Yamburg),
Kaprio (Koporye) and Pähkinälinna (Oreshek) county / all together roughly
15000 km2. The area of Ingria extended 200 km from the River Narva in
the west to the River Lava in the east and from north to south 130 km. From 1710
on, Ingria was part of Sanct-Peterbourg, from 1914 of Petrograd and from 1927 of
the province of Leningrad .
Population.
Initially the number of Ingrian Finns depended on immigration
but less so later. After the peace treaties of Stolbovo and Kärde (1617, 1661),
Finnish peasants, mainly from the regions of Savo and Vyborg (Viipuri), moved to
North- and Central Ingria . They caused quite a rapid increase in population: in
1656 the percentage of Finns in the population of Ingria was 41.1 %, in 1671 it
was 56,9 % and it was 73,8 % in 1695. The newly arrived Finns for the most part
assembled in 11 parishes of an existing 24.
Statistics concerning the Ingrians exist from the middle of the 19th c.:
1848 76069 (P. von Koeppen)
1865 72273 from parish registers (+ 13,480 in
Sanct-Peterbourg)
1897 130413 (census)
1917 126240 from parish registers (+ 15,502 in
Sanct-Peterbourg)
1926 114831 census (as well as the subsequent one)
1939 ?
1959 23193
1970 ?
1979 16239 (51,9 % native language speakers)
1989 ?
In 1848, P. von Koeppen distinguished between three groups of the Ingrian Finns:
savakot from Savo (43080), äyrämöiset from Äyräpää
in the Vyborg region (29243) and suomenmaakkoiset from elsewhere in
Finland (3746). Later these groups came under the common heading of Ingrian
Finns. Records for 1917 show that they lived in 761 Finnish villages and in 235
mixed villages. From 1939 the censuses ceased to consider the Ingrian Finns
separately.
Ingrian Finns also live in Arkhangelsk , Estonia , Komi, Siberia and elsewhere.
Of 77079 Finns living in the Soviet Union in 1919, 20099 dwelled in Karelia (native language speakers making 49,8 % there), 16239 in the Leningrad region (native language speakers being 37,1 %). According to the preliminary statistics of the census of 1989, about 67000 Finns lived in the Soviet Union , 34,6 % of whom had command of their mother tongue.
The Finns of the Leningrad Region live mainly in the Gatchina, Lomonosov (Oranienbaum) and Vsevolozhsk (Keltto) districts. The number of Finns in the area of Sanct-Peterbourg and its outskirts has been estimated as 7000/8000.
Anthropologic characteristics.
Anthropologically, the Ingrian Finns belong to the East-Baltic type. They
have dominant European characterictics. The Ingrian Finnns have generally fair
hair and blue eyes. They are somewhat shorter and more stocky in comparison with
their neighbours, the Estonians.
Language.
The language of the Ingrian Finns is not a separate language but
belongs to eastern Finnish dialects (the vernaculars of the Savo and
south-eastern dialects of Ingria). Inkerian and Karelian are the closest kindred
languages to the Eastern Finnish dialects.
History.
According to the Pähkinäsaari (Oreshek) and Tartu peace
treaties of 1323 and 1351, the border on the Karelia isthmus left the Votes and
the Inkeris to the Russian Orthodox side of Novgorod . After the peace treaty of
Stolbovo in 1617, Ingria was considered a domain of Sweden . Only noblemen,
monks and burghers were allowed to travel into Russia according to the peace
treaty.
After the Russian Czar Peter Romanov annexed Ingria to the Russian Empire, a decree was adopted in 1712 that land should be provided for the new Russian settlers. Thus Russian villages began to appear.
The border on the Karelia Isthmus dating back to the Pähkinäsaari peace treaty marked the boundary between political power, religion and language territories. At first the border between Sweden and Novgorod separated the Inkeris from the eastern Finns and the Karelians, but the border of Sweden and Russia after the Great Northern War separated the Ingrian Finns from the other eastern Finns.
By the middle of the 19th c. the Votes and the Inkeris had already firmly shifted into the cultural sphere of the Russians, however, this was not the case with the Ingrian Finns. The oppression of the Russian language and milieu was neutralized by the Lutheranism and the proximity of their mother country, Finland (as a Grand Duchy under the dominion of Russia from 1809/1917).
It was only the Soviet Communist regime which undertook the task to exterminate the Ingrian Finns morally as well as physically. Initially substantial rights were promised to the Finns of the Petrograd province, and new hopes were kindled. Educational conditions improved, and Finnish became more widely used in cultural life; in 1928 the Kuivaisi (Toksova) national district was formed in Northern Ingria and the Leningrad region had 54 national village councils by the year 1936.
The violence began in 1928 with compulsory collectivization. Ca. 18000 persons were deported from Northern Ingria to East Karelia , Central Asia and elsewhere in order to frighten others into accepting collective farms. A further 7000 were deported to the Ural and to the coast of the Caspian Sea in 1935, and 20000 to Siberia and Central Asia in 1936. Four parishes of Northern Ingria were totally emptied of Finns, which was a probable factor in the tension that led to the Finnish-Russian war. All churches and religious societies were closed by 1932 and all Ingrian Finnish cultural and social activities was stopped by 1937. The national district of Kuivaisi (Toksova) was liquidated in 1939. By 1929, at least 13000 Finns had been murdered and 37000 were suffering in Russia .
Ingria also suffered during World War II. In 1942, during the blockade of Leningrad , 25000 / 30000 Finns were deported to Siberia . Those, who had been evacuated to Finland during the war, were transported to Russia when reclaimed from Finland by the Soviet authorities after the war.
By the year 1943, only 4000 Finns remained in Ingria. All the others had either been resettled, deported, dispersed or had fled. It was only in 1956, when the Ingrians were finally allowed to return to their native country. Some 25000 Ingrian Finns live in Sankt-Peterburg and its administrative districts at present. The Finnish church has functioned in Pushkin (Saari, Tzarskoe Selo) since 1977, but the Ingrian Culture Society in Estonia has been permitted since 1989.
Culture. Due to the Lutheranism the education of the Ingrian Finns was always good. There are records of a school in Nyen (Nevanlinna) founded by Baron J. Skytte, in 1632, and from 1643 every county town (Jaama, Jaanilinna, Kaprio, Pähkinälinna) had its own school. Tests in reading skills and Sunday schools for children already existed during the Swedish period and continued later throughout the Russian dominion.
In 1785 the first primary school was opened in the village of Kolppana but
cultural life gained momentum in the 19th c. only. The Russian
annexation of Finland (1809) and abolition of serfdom (1861) were of special
importance for Ingria as the liberation of peasants brought with it radical
changes. Choirs and societies were founded. To improve the educational
standards a theological seminary was opened in Kolppana in 1863 where parish
clerks and schoolmasters were trained. Publishing a newspaper Pietarin
Sanomat (short-lived) was started in 1870. In 1871 the first calendar Pietarin
suomalainen kalenteri appeared. But, as elsewhere, the last decades of the
century were also a period of Russianising Ingria.
Regardless, the first Ingrian songs festival took place in Skuoritsa in 1899. It
was in 1913, when the sixth festival took place in Kolppana. In addition to
Christian education people could also support a spirit of national identity.
Even more favourable opportunities for cultural activities, supported by the
Finnish mother country, were gained after the revolution of 1905.
In 1920 the Ingrian Finns were promised more propitious conditions for promoting their national culture. Vernacular education at schools continued (314 schools in 1918), the Finnish language was used in offices, radio programmes and elsewhere. Two daily and eight other newspapers appeared. Kirja Publishers managed to publish 768 books / textbooks, disctionaries, fiction / in Leningrad and in Petroskoi during the period 1927/37. However this was kept strictly separate from Finland and even aimed to counterpoise. In 1937, just preceding the total dispersion of the Ingrians, all Finnish schools were Russified, most of the intellectuals murdered and the cultural life of the Ingrain Finns completely extinguished.
Finally, due to the revival of national activities, an information leaflet, Inkeri, has appeared in Estonia since 1989, published by the Ingrian Society.
In the years of "Perestroika" The Ingrian Union (Inkerin Liitto) has been established which unites all Ingrians, i.e. the Fins, the Inkeris and the Votes.
