WEPCIAN COSTUME
MEN'S CLOTHING
The most elegant in men's Vepsian clothes were wedding shirts (paid). They were richly decorated with embroidery with red cotton threads along the hem, collar and sleeves, and red gussets were hemmed under the sleeves. Such a shirt for the groom, as a rule, was sewn and embroidered by the bride, for the southern Vepsians - his godmother. At the end of the last century, men's shirts in Vepsian villages were usually painted red or blue. Shirts were also sewn from motley in a blue-white cage (5-6 threads for each color). The Vepsians had very elegant wedding pants (kadjad, kadgad) of the groom. In terms of cut, they did not differ from everyday ones, they were sewn of white thin cloth, and along the bottom of the legs they were decorated with a wide ornamental strip (about 18-20 cm) of red threads or sewn with multi-colored ribbons and fringes
From the second half of the XIX century. changes are taking place in the male waistcoat of the Vepsians. When sewing top pants, white canvas is replaced by factory-made fabrics of dark or gray color. At the beginning of the XX century. a new type of upper pants appeared - narrow cloth pants (štanad) with a slit and a button fastening in the front, and white homespun pants (kadjad, kadgad) are used only as underwear. In the same period of time, the festive wardrobe of the Vepsian male population is replenished with a suit consisting of a “pair” (jacket and trousers) or “three-piece” (jacket, vest and trousers). Such a suit is worn with a shirt-shirt made of chintz or red calico.
Men acquired new types of clothing during out-of-town crafts or ordered them from local or visiting tailors. Outer men's clothing of Vepsians of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. represented by several types. The earliest of them is a caftan (kauhtan, kouhtan) made of gray or dark cloth or half-cloth. The caftan had a robe-like cut, in which the back, hem and sleeves were cut straight. This type of clothing was sewn without a collar and without buttons or with one button at the top. The men also used kerchiefs (kaglan paik).
WOMEN'S CLOTHING
In the 80s of the XIX century. The main type of everyday and festive clothing of Vepsian women was a sarafan complex, which, in addition to a sundress, included a shirt, a shower jacket, a shugai, and an apron. The main element of the complex, the sarafan, like its name (sarafon), was borrowed by the Vepsians from the Russians. As a rule, under this name, the Vepsians figured a type of straight sundress, sewn from 4-5 panels assembled on a casing, with narrow long straps and a small cut on the chest. A frill was sewn to its hem. The festive sundress was sewn from bright purchased fabrics - chintz, silk, cashmere, garus; everyday - from homespun canvas, usually painted blue. There is no information about the distribution of an earlier type of sarafan among the Vepsians, the kosoklinny.
The sundress was worn on a shirt (paid), consisting of two parts: a stanushka - the lower part, sewn from four panels of homespun rough white canvas, and sleeves made of factory fabrics (chintz, kumach, eraser). The sleeves were cut wide, sewn directly to the collar, and gathered in a small assembly at the elbow. Gussets of a square or diamond shape were sewn under the sleeves. The collar of such a shirt was made round or quadrangular, with gathers and trimmed with an inlay. In front, it was fastened with one button.
The hem of the shirt was decorated with ornaments, the size and color of which depended on the age of the woman and the purpose of this type of clothing. The casual shirts of older women were not embroidered at all or had a nondescript pattern. Women's festive shirts, in comparison with everyday ones, were distinguished by richer ornamentation. During the holidays, every woman tried to show an elegant pattern on her shirt, tucking the hem of a sundress or skirt into her belt. On weekdays, on the contrary, embroidery was hidden under clothes. Vepsian women of Prionezhie on holidays sometimes put on two or more shirts, so that the embroidered edges were arranged in rows one above the other, forming a wide ornamental canvas.
In the last century, linen underskirts decorated with embroidery (poutnasine jupk) were a festive element of South Vepsian women's clothing. They were sewn from five canvases of white canvas at the back. Skirts were worn under a silk sundress over embroidered shirts. At the same time, shirts were decorated with geometric patterns along the hem, and skirts were decorated with floral, animalistic and anthropomorphic patterns.
Shoes, like clothing, were made by Vepsians by hand. Winter Vepsian footwear is unique - Pieksy, boots with a raised toe, which was attached to the skis with a rope (Vepsians were excellent skiers).
Local shoemakers independently processed leather and sewed boots, weaved bast shoes from bast and birch bark. It is interesting that the Vepsians, like the Karelians, sewed shoes on one foot, not distinguishing between right and left.
Vepsians are a small Finno-Ugric-speaking people living in Karelia, Vologda and Leningrad regions in Russia. Since April 2006, they have been included in the List of Indigenous Minorities of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation.
Self-name - Veps (Beps), also called Veps and neighboring peoples (f. Veps ?, Rus. Veps, etc.). The origin of the word is unclear: perhaps we are dealing here with some old ethnonym, dating back to the pre-Vepsian population of the Mezhozerie. It is first found, as is commonly believed, at the Jordan (VI century AD, information refers to an earlier period) in the form of the first part of the mysterious name of the Vasinabroncas people. Dr.-rus. All the "Vepsians" are used in the Tale of Bygone Years when describing the events of the 9th century. It is not very clear whether the distant Visu people, living to the north of the Volga Bulgaria in the land where there are white nights, about which the works of Arab and Persian medieval geographers (already in Ibn Fadlan at the beginning of the 10th century), should be correlated with the Vepsians. In Western European sources, the Vepsians were first mentioned under the name Wizzi by Adam of Bremen (late 11th century).
Old Russian names for Vepsians: Chud (from about the 12th century used instead of Ves), Chukhari (from Chud) and Kaivans (also the name of the Karelians) - the latter is probably connected with the name of the Finnish-Scandinavian tribal group of Kvens: Rus. (pomor.) kayans' kvens; Norwegians ", f. kainuu).
Judging by the wide popularity of ethno and toponyms derived from veps in the sources of the 9th-13th centuries, by the role played by Ves in the early history of the Old Russian state, it was a very numerous and strong people. Nestor the chronicler points to Beloozero as the center where Ves was the original population. Probably, judging by the archaeological monuments (the culture of the Ladoga type mounds) and toponymy, the most ancient habitat of the Vepsians was the Mezhozerie - the triangle between the Ladoga, Onega and Beloye lakes, where, presumably, they advanced as early as the second half of the 1st millennium AD. from the west or north-west, displacing or assimilating the more ancient population, which left place names that can be considered Sami. The rather distant connections of the Vepsians in the past in the east (if not about the penetration of some of their groups to the east, possibly to the Northern Dvina and Mezen) are indicated, firstly, by the above-mentioned news about them in the works of Arab geographers who wrote about the Volga Bulgarians: at least Abu Hamid al-Garnati (born in 1070) reports that he personally met a group of Visu merchants - white-haired and blue-eyed, dressed in fur clothes and drinking beer, in Bulgar. Secondly, either the past penetration of noticeable groups of the population who spoke the Baltic-Finnish languages, most likely - Karelian or Vepsian, or the systematic trade relations of the medieval population of the Mezen, Vashka and Vychegda river basins with these peoples are indicated by quite numerous Baltic-Finnish borrowings in the Komi-Zyryan dialects, first of all in the westernmost of them, Udor, and the Baltic-Finnish etymology of OE. Perm. The possible presence of some relatively large Baltic-Finnish enclaves in the area of the mouth of the Northern Dvina is also evidenced by the reports of the Scandinavian sagas about Biarmia (Bjarmaland), which the Vikings visited during the 9th-13th centuries, and the localization of which shifted to the east as we moved further and further on. east of the Viking campaigns: from the southern coast of the Kola Peninsula in the 9th century to the mouth of the Northern Dvina in a later period.
As already mentioned, Ves took part in the earliest events of Russian history, in particular in the "vocation of the Varangians" in the 9th century. Apparently, from the 11th century, the Vepsian lands began to be seized by Novgorod feudal lords and Orthodoxy began to spread here. In the XI-XII centuries, part of the Vepsians, obviously, mixed with the Karelians who moved to the Onega region, were assimilated by them and became part of the Karelian people. The process of assimilation of Vepsians by the Karelians in the Onega region continued in later eras.
From about the XIII-XIV centuries, when, on the one hand, the old trade relations of Eastern Europe, in which the Vepsians played an important role (the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks", trade along the Volga through the Volga Bulgaria), were destroyed as a result of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, and, on the other hand, a more or less solid state border is established between Novgorod and Sweden, the territory of Vepsian habitation - Mezhozerie becomes a kind of bearish corner, and the Ves ceases to be one of the most important ethnopolitical units of Northern Russia. In the north of their ethnic territory, the Vepsians are gradually included in the Karelian people, a significant part of them living in more busy places along the roads and waterways, apparently, are assimilated by the Russians. All this led, on the one hand, to a reduction in the Vepsian habitat and their number, on the other, to the preservation of a more conservative way of life in them.
The traditional occupation of the Vepsians is arable farming (three-field with strong remnants of the slash system), animal husbandry and hunting played an auxiliary role. Fishing and picking of mushrooms and berries were of great importance for intra-family consumption. From the second half of the 18th century, otkhodniki developed - logging and rafting, bustling on the rivers Svir, Neva, etc. Pottery was common on the Oyat River. In Soviet times, the industrial development of decorative building stone developed among the northern Vepsians, and animal husbandry acquired meat and dairy production. Many Vepsians work in the logging industry, 49.3% live in cities.
Traditional dwellings and material culture are close to those of the North Russian; differences: T-shaped layout of the connection between the residential part and the covered two-story courtyard; the so-called Finnish (near the wall of the facade, and not in the front corner) position of the table in the interior of the hut. The peculiarity of women's traditional clothing is the existence of a skirt (skirt and jacket) along with a sarafan complex. Traditional food - sour bread, fish pies, fish dishes; drinks - beer (olud), bread kvass.
Until 1917, archaic social institutions persisted - a rural community (suim) and a large family. Family rituals are similar to those of the North Russian; differences: night matchmaking, ritual eating of fish pie by the young as part of the wedding ceremony; two types of funerals - lamentations and funerals of the deceased.
In the 11-12 centuries, Orthodoxy spread among the Vepsians, but pre-Christian beliefs persisted for a long time, for example, in a brownie (pertyzhand), in amulets (one of them was the jaw of a pike); the sick turned to a healer (noyd) for help.
In the folklore of the Vepsians, the legends about the ancient Chud are original, the tales are similar to the North Russian and Karelian ones.
By the 19th century, the Vepsians were mainly a peasant population (state and landlord peasants), some of them were assigned to the Olonets factories, the Pronezh Vepsians were engaged in stone-cutting, working as migrant workers both in Finland and in St. Petersburg. Already during this period, publications about the Vepsians noted a decline in the authority of their native language and the spread of Russian, especially among young people.
In 1897, the number of Vepsians (Chudi) was 25.6 thousand people, including 7.3 thousand who lived in Eastern Karelia, north of the river. Swir. In 1897, the Vepsians accounted for 7.2% of the population of the Tikhvin district and 2.3% of the population of the Belozersk district of the Novgorod province. Since the 1950s. the process of assimilation of the Vepsians has accelerated. According to the 1979 census, 8.1 thousand Vepsians lived in the USSR. However, according to the estimates of Karelian scientists, the real number of Vepsians was noticeably higher: about 13 thousand in the USSR, including 12.5 thousand in Russia (1981). About half of the Vepsians settled in cities. According to the 1989 census, 12,100 Vepsians lived in the USSR, but only 52% of them called the Vepsian language their native language.
The largest part of the Vepsian ethnic territory in terms of area is located in the Leningrad region at the junction of the borders of three administrative regions (Podporozhsky, Tikhvin and Boksitogorsky).
By the name of the former administrative regions, as well as rivers and lakes, the Vepsians are divided into a number of groups: Sheltozero (Prionezhskie) in Karelia, Shimozero and Belozersk in the Vologda Region, Vinnytsia (Oyat), Shugozero and Efimov in the Leningrad Region.
The total number in Russia is 8,240 according to the 2002 census, but this figure appears to be underestimated.
In 1994, the Vepsian national volost was formed in the Prionezhsky region of Karelia (from 01.01.2006 it was abolished). The population of the Vepsian national volost lives in 14 settlements, united into three village councils. The former center of the parish - the village of Sheltozero - is located 84 km from Petrozavodsk. There is the Society of Vepsian Culture in Petrozavodsk, which enjoys considerable help from the authorities of Karelia, and the Vepsian Society in St. Petersburg.
In everyday life and at school lessons, we get to know the history of our homeland, we study the peoples of Russia. For some reason, the Vepsians remain forgotten. In fact, we are talking about multinational Russia without thinking about its roots. To the question: "What do you know about Vepsians?" - almost everyone will answer that this is an almost extinct nationality. It is a shame that people have ceased to be interested in the peculiarities of culture, traditional activities and customs and beliefs of an old nationality. Despite this, many people realize that Vepsian blood may flow in them, and this suggests that the Vepsian people are part of the history of many families, so in no case should they be forgotten, because this is how you destroy your past with your own hands. Has anyone ever thought that it is to the ancient peoples of Russia that we owe the prosperity of our region, so forgetting the Veps is like cutting out a piece of the country's history.
Who are the Vepsians?
This is a relatively small ethnic group that lives within the Republic of Karelia. Most often, the Veps people, imitating some groups of southern Karelians, call themselves the word "lyadinikad". Only a few use the ethnonyms "Bepsya" or "Veps", since they have long been known to kindred peoples. Officially, the Vepsians were called Chudyu, but in everyday life they used names with a scornful and derogatory connotation: Chukhari or Kaivans.
The history of the emergence of the Karelian people
The Veps people were officially called Chudyu until 1917. The more ancient name Vepsya was almost never recorded anywhere in the 20th century. In the essay of the historian Jordan, dating back to the 6th century AD, one can find references to the ancestors of the Vepsians, they are also mentioned in Arabic sources, in the "Tale of Bygone Years" and in the works of Western European authors. The archaeological monuments of the ancient people include many burial mounds and individual settlements that appeared in the 10th - early 12th centuries on the territory of Ladoga, Prionezhie and Belozerye. The Vepsians took part in the formation of the Russian Komi. In the 18th century, the Karelian people were assigned to the Olonets arms factories. In the 1930s, attempts were made to introduce Vepsian language lessons in elementary schools. In the late 1980s, teaching of the language was resumed in some educational institutions, even a special primer appeared, but most of the people communicate and think in Russian. At the same time, a movement emerged, the main goal of which was the revival of the Vepsian culture.
Traditionally, the Vepsians were engaged in arable farming, but animal husbandry and hunting were assigned an auxiliary role. Fishing and gathering were of great importance for family consumption. The development of otkhodniki and seething on the rivers began in the second half of the 18th century. Pottery developed on the Oyati River. During the Soviet era, the northern Vepsians began to engage in the industrial development of decorative stone, and meat and dairy production appeared in animal husbandry. 49.3% of the population lives in cities, many work in the logging industry.
The roots of the Vepsian people go back to ancient times. The most important events are associated with one of the largest outposts of national importance - Ladoga, later the historical past was intertwined with the Novgorod state.
Place of residence
According to modern sources, the Karelian people inhabited the south-west of the Onega region in the south-north direction, starting from the village of Gimreka (northern Vepsians). The largest points of location are Rybreka, Sheltozero and a village located 60 kilometers from Petrozavodsk - Shoksha.
Many villages are located along the Oyat River, and the borders coincide with the Vinnitsa district of the Leningrad region. The most significant points are Ozera, Yaroslavichi, Ladva and Nadporozhye.
One of the largest settlements, Shimozero, is located on the northern and eastern slopes of the Veps Upland, but many people moved to the south: to Megra, Oshta and Ascension.
A cluster of villages called Belozersky was localized in the Megra tributary. It is located 70 kilometers from the White Lake. The largest settlement is Podala.
In the tributary of the Chagodishi, there is the settlement of Sidorovo, where the Efimov Vepsians live. The Shugozerskaya group is located not far from the sources and Kapsha.
Food and utensils
The Vepsian diet combines new and traditional dishes. Their bread is rather unusual, with sourness. Recently, it has been increasingly bought in stores. In addition to the main baking, Vepsians prepare fish pies (chicken pies), kalitada - open pies with millet porridge or mashed potatoes, all kinds of koloboks, cheesecakes and pancakes. As for the stews, the most widespread are cabbage soup, various soups and ukha. The Vepsians' daily diet includes cereals, for the preparation of which rye groats (powders) are used. The Karelian people also like oatmeal jelly. Common sweet dishes include lingonberry juice and malt dough. As in all of Russia, Vepsians love bread kvass and barley beer. Brewing takes place twice a year, for the upcoming holidays. But on ordinary everyday life Vepsians enjoy strong tea.
The population, practically forgotten by all, did not lag behind civilization. At present, they can freely purchase goods in the retail network that they had only dreamed of before (sweets, sausage, sugar, cookies), and the Vepsians did not even know about the existence of some products (pasta, canned food and fruits). The largest number of products are purchased in stores by people living in forest villages. Today the Veps people are also familiar with new dishes (borsch, goulash, dumplings, vinaigrette).
Occupations and everyday life
As mentioned earlier, agriculture was the basis of the economy, although cattle breeding also took a significant place. In the middle of the 19th century, a large-scale development of logging began. Agricultural production was focused mainly on the meat and dairy industry in animal husbandry.
There were no industrial production in the territory where the Vepsians lived, which caused the outflow of a large number of the able-bodied population to areas with a pronounced industrial-production specialization. The settlements are characterized by free planning. The location of the dwelling was determined by the complex relief terrain and the contours of the coastline.
Traditional dwelling
The hut was usually erected on a high basement, where the cellar was located according to the tradition of the people. The Vepsians used larch logs for the walls of their homes. The main feature of the traditional Vepsian hut is the T-shaped layout. A residential part and a two-storey courtyard were located under one roof. The more well-to-do Vepsians (a people whose interesting facts from the life of which few people know) built houses with wide windows framed by stepped platbands, slightly pressed into the depths of the wall. The facade of the building certainly looked at the road, and all the neighboring huts were exactly in a row. Everyone independently invented a decoration for their home: some had a carved balcony under the ridge of the roof.
The interior space was divided into 2 parts by a double-sided cupboard with tea utensils and others. On the same line with the so-called partition there was a Russian stove - the center of the hut. This essential attribute of the Karelian people was used not only for heating, but also for rest and drying clothes. The Vepsians firmly believed that a brownie (pertyzhand) lived under the stove.
Each hut had a holy corner, in the upper part of which icons were placed, and in the lower part, needles and threads and bundles of salt were kept. Other small items, including wood and earthenware, were placed in a cupboard. According to the Finnish layout, the table occupied a place against the wall of the facade. The traditional Vepsian hut was lit with a kerosene lamp. A wooden cradle was an obligatory attribute of the house. As a rule, in the women's half, near the bed, there was a sofa and a chest, in some huts near the window it was installed
clothing
Traditional Vepsian homespun clothing has not been produced since the early 30s. The citywide suit has become widespread. In the old days, the Vepsians went to work in trousers and a short caftan, worn on top of linen. Women's clothing was identical in cut to men's, only a shirt (ryazzin) and a skirt were worn under the bottom.
Vepsians, the people (photos are presented in this material), living in Karelia, dressed smartly for the holidays. Women could be seen in bright Cossack sweaters and skirts with aprons. A headscarf served as a headdress, and married representatives of the weaker half of humanity must also wear a warrior. Leather shoes predominated, birch bark bast shoes, or wirzut, were used only for work.
The cut and material used for sewing clothes are very close to those of the North Great Russian, but with many rather distinctive features. So, in sarafans one could see only Vepsians living in the south of Karelia, but the women of Prionezhye - in longitudinal striped skirts. Men in winter wore hats made of hare fur and a scarf (kaglan pike).
Today the Veps people do not wear folk clothes, they survived only among the elderly. Of the traditional, headscarves, half-cloth caftans, woolen skirts and knitted products are still used.
Vepsians (people): appearance and race
The ancient Karelian nationality is a part with the Uralic admixture. Vepsians are small in stature, with an average head size, their face is slightly flattened, their forehead is low, the lower jaw is slightly widened, the cheekbones are protruding, the tip of the nose is raised, and a slight growth of hair on the lower part of the face is also characteristic. The hair of the inhabitants of the Republic of Karelia is straight, mostly light.
Beliefs
The amazingly kind Veps people have not lost their national characteristics. You will learn briefly about traditions and customs a little later, but now I would like to talk about beliefs. Vepsians worshiped spruce, juniper, mountain ash, alder, they believed in the existence of brownies, water, yard and other owners. In the 11-12 centuries, Orthodoxy spread among the Vepsians, but pre-Christian beliefs persisted for a long time.
Culture
From the folklore genre, proverbs, ditties, bylichki and various legends about the conquerors were popular. At the beginning of the 20th century, the kantele was replaced by an accordion with a minor scale. Vepsians were engaged in woodcarving, weaved from birch bark, molded from clay, embroidered and weaved.
Means of transport
The Vepsian people got to the neighboring areas mainly by road, but the settlements and Leningrad were connected by air traffic. Southern Vepsians could use the timber processing plant's railway to the Zabor'e station. In some areas, movement was only possible with a tractor with a trailer. Dugout aspen boats were used by the Vepsians living on small rivers. The people (photos and interesting facts from life are given in this material) also moved on shuttles (hon-goi), on the sides of which float logs were attached.
Traditions and customs of the Vepsians
The customs of peoples (Vepsians are no exception) can tell a lot of useful information about them. The residents of the Republic of Karelia played a wedding in winter, but only before that matchmaking took place. In case of refusal, the girl had to throw 3 logs into the corner of her home. If the matchmaking ended in consent, the bride's parents went to visit the groom to inspect the house and farm. Before the wedding, the parents must have blessed the couple.
The funeral for the Veps consisted of two types: the first involved mourning the deceased, and the second - “cheering” the deceased.
It so happened that I was born in the village of Volodino, Vologda region, Babaevsky district.
40 km. from us there is the village of Pyazhelka ...
Deaf bearish places where Vepsians live. All my Grandmothers - Grandfathers, Uncles and Aunts were just born on the territory where Vepsians lived.
Therefore, I believe that I am Veps.
Therefore, I defend the Vepsians here, who, like all of us, real Russian pagans, are called by some Konto Dyatly dolboslavs, pseudo-nobles, neo-pagans and all sorts of other bad words ... everything is strictly according to the State Department's manual ...
Below is a brief about the Veps ... Although you can write about them endlessly ...
The Vepsians are a small Finno-Ugric people, until 1917 in the official documents of the Russian Empire called Chudyu.
Chud - Veps
The language is a mixture of Karelian, Finnish and Russian ....
Winter, Cold ..
Fishing with measures ...
Smoke bath ...
Pancakes and Kakkars ...
Most likely, the point here is in the Russian chroniclers, who introduced this term into business circulation in order to avoid confusion, since among the Slavs the word “all” meant “village” (for example, Belarusian equivalents: village - veska, rural - rural, vyaskovy) ... Therefore, "Vepsians" are a modern ethnonym that has become widespread today.
Although, according to historians, one of the first mentions of the Vepsians, or more precisely, of the tribe of you, belongs to the pen of the Ostrogothic historian Jordan. And this, by the way, - VI century AD. Four centuries later, in the 10th century, the ethnonym Visu was used in his writings by the Arab historian Ibn Fadlan. And since the 11th century, the name "all" appears in Russian chronicles. Although it is quite rare.
As already mentioned, much more often in such Russian sources as scribes or the lives of saints, a different name for the ancient Veps is used, which later became official - chud.
Now it is difficult to say something specific about the origin and historical homeland of this people, but it is very likely that the Vepsians separated from other Baltic-Finnish peoples in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. At that time, they occupied part of the territory of the southeastern Baltic, which is indirectly evidenced by the modern name of Lake Peipsi, which has the same root with the former, official name of the Vepsians.
It was from there, from the southeast of the Baltic, that the Vepsians began to gradually move north and northeast, as evidenced by the excavations of 10th-13th century burial mounds in the southeastern Ladoga area, which, as it turned out, are precisely ancient Vepsian burials.
Already from the Ladoga area, the Vepsians moved north and east. Their resettlement apparently proceeded in several stages, waves. And each such "wave" had its own destiny.
So the Vepsians, who penetrated in the XII-XIII centuries into the regions located north of the Svir River, were completely assimilated by the Karelians living there and gave rise to two independent branches of the Karelian ethnos - the Livvik Karelians and the Human Karelians. The most eastern of the Vepsian settlers, having completely dissolved among the indigenous peoples of those places, still left their noticeable mark on the formation of the western Komi.
Vepsians, who retained their national independence, by the last third XV century settled around Lake Onega(in Obonezhie) and in Zavolochye - regions in the basin of the Northern Dvina and Onega rivers(behind the portages connecting into a single transport artery Onega, White lakes and the Sheksna river).
True, at one time it was believed that the Vepsians as a nationality disappeared, that they completely dissolved in the Karelians, Komi, Slavs who lived with them in the neighborhood. Only to an outstanding linguist, historian and ethnographer, Russian academician of Finnish origin Andrey Mikhailovich (Anders Johan) Sjögren we managed to establish that this is far from the case.
During an expedition that lasted from 1824 to 1829, organized to study the languages of the Russian North, related to Finnish, as well as the history and traditions of people who speak these languages, he convincingly proved to all pessimists that no - Veps are still alive!
Just as their language is alive - independent, original and by no means a dialect of Finnish. For the first time, the number of Vepsians was determined based on the materials of the census (revision) of 1835 by Academician P by etrom Ivanovich Köppen... According to him, at that time they lived: in the Olonets province - 8 550, in the Novgorod province - 7 067 people.
And in total on the territory of the European part of Russia - 15,615 Vepsians. Unfortunately, over the past time (and this is almost 18 decades!) Vepsians in our country have not increased. According to the last census of 2010, their number is 5,936 people.
Most of them, the so-called northern (or Prionezhsky) Vepsians, lives in the south of Karelia(southwestern coast of Lake Onega). In 1994, the Vepsian national volost with the center in the village was even formed here. Sheltozero, which included 14 settlements.
However, since January 1, 2006, after the entry into force of the law "On general principles of organization of local self-government", this administrative-territorial unit has been abolished and now there are three Vepsian rural settlements on the territory of the Prionezhsky district of Karelia - Shokshinskoye, Sheltozerskoye and Ryboretskoye.
In total, according to the census, 3423 Veps live in Karelia. But more than half of them are in the capital of the republic, Petrozavodsk, where their number is less than 1% of the total population of the city. Accordingly, we can already say that under such conditions the northern Vepsians are doomed to inevitable assimilation, which may occur in the very near future.
The second group, Middle (Oyat) Vepsians - lives on the north-east of the Leningrad and north-west of the Vologda regions. This is the area of the source of the Pasha River, the upper and middle reaches of the Oyat River. The third group - southern Vepsians, is geographically assigned to the east of the Leningrad region and northwest of the Vologda region (southern slopes of the Vepsovskaya Upland).
The largest area inhabited by Vepsians is located at the junction of three administrative districts of the Leningrad Region - Podporozhsky, Tikhvinsky and Boksitogorsky. But in terms of numbers ... This is 1672 people. Another 76 Vepsians live in the Lodeynopolsky district. The remaining 271 people are in other districts of the Leningrad Region.
All Vepsians of the Vologda Oblast (412 people) live on the territory of the only district - Babaevsky, in which there is one national rural settlement - Kuyskoye (the villages of Kiino, Nikonova Gora).
In general, everything is rather sad. Therefore, it is probably not surprising that by a special order of the Government of Russia in April 2006 the Vepsians were included in the List of Indigenous Minorities of the North, Siberia and the Far East, and already in 2009 the Vepsian language is classified by UNESCO as an endangered language.
Against this, in general, rather sad background, the efforts of enthusiasts are burning with bright stars that give some hope, thanks to which not only the material heritage, traditions of the people, but also the memory of such a difficult history are preserved.
One of these stars is the Vepsian Ethnographic Museum in the village of Sheltozero.
Vepsky Historical and Ethnographic Museum in the village of Sheltozero.
So - let's not talk about sad things. Hope always dies last. But if she didn't die ...
So the Vepsians are still alive! How their language, customs, traditions are alive.
Very characteristic personality and environment ... This is how we lived ...
Vepsians live not so far from Petrozavodsk - a small Finno-Ugric people. Once upon a time they were still called all or chud. You can get to know them better in the village of Sholtozero (Šoutjärv ") of the Prionezhsky region of Karelia.
1. If you go from Petrozavodsk along Lake Onega towards Svir and the Leningrad Region, after a while yellow signs with names and translations that are incomprehensible at first glance will appear on the usual road signs.
Until 2005, in this part of Karelia there was Vepsän rahvahaline volost '- Vepsian National Volost (VNV). In the 1920s, Vepsians made up almost 95% of the population here. In general, then there were more than 30 thousand of them, but then the number of Vepsians fell sharply.
Now in Karelia there are a little more than 3 thousand people and about the same number in other regions - St. Petersburg, Leningrad and Vologda obalsty.
2. In the former center of VNV - the village of Sholtozero (Šoutjärv) - Melnikov's house of the early 19th century has been preserved
3. Now it houses the Sheltozero Vepsian Ethnographic Museum. Here are collected materials about the traditions and culture of the Vepsians
4. Vepsians are
Northern (prionezhskie), living on the southwestern coast of Lake Onega in the former Vepsian national volost,
Middle (Oyat) Vepsians from the upper and middle reaches of the Oyat River (north-east of the Leningrad region and north-west of the Vologda region),
Southern (from the east of the Leningrad region and the north-west of the Vologda region).
They call themselves vepsä, bepsä, vepsläižed, bepsaažed, lüdinikad (veps, bepsya, lyudinikad, vepsline)
5. The Vepsians have their own language, which is closest to Finnish, Karelian and almost no longer existing Izhora (it was spoken by the Izhora people from the Leningrad region)
6. Alphabet based on the Latin alphabet
7. ABC, books for teaching.
In 1937, the Soviet government struck a blow at the Vepsians. Vepsian culture and language are prohibited, Vepsian schools, textbooks were burned, the intelligentsia was sent to camps. The forced assimilation of the Vepsians began, the result of which is clearly visible in the decline in the population and the forgetting of traditions.
8. Left - Elias Lönnrot, Finnish linguist and folklorist. He is best known as a collector and compiler of the Karelian-Finnish epic "Kalevala", but he was also the first scientist to study the Vepsian language.
An excerpt from the myth. In general, unlike most other Baltic-Finnish peoples, the Vepsians have not preserved epics and legends similar to the Karelian "Kalevala" or the Estonian "Kalevipoeg"
10. The earliest mentions of Veps are known from the 6th century. Information about the Vepsians has been preserved in Arabic sources, Russian chronicles (from the 9th century), the Tale of Bygone Years. The Vepsians entered into an alliance with the Slovenes and Krivichs, which became the basis for the formation of the Old Russian state
12. Vepsian folklore contains many magic, everyday and satirical tales, various proverbs, sayings and catchphrases.
13. Wedding traditions. Until 1917, the ancient social institutions were preserved - a rural community (suim) and a large family. Until the 1930s, the Vepsians lived in large, 3 - 4 generation families. The entire economic and ordinary life of a large family was led by its head - the oldest man, grandfather or father - ižand (owner). His wife - emag (mistress) - looked after cattle (except horses), house, cooked food, weaved and sewed clothes
14. Traditional knowledge - farming, hunting and fishing
15. Fish (various dishes and fish pies) was part of the traditional food of the Vepsians. Besides her, it is sour bread, kurnik pie and "gates" - rye cheesecakes. Beer (olud) and bread kvass were widespread among the drinks.
16. Traditional dwellings are similar to the North Russian ones, but the Vepsians have Finnish (near the wall of the facade, not in the front corner) the position of the table in the interior of the hut
20. The Vepsians have their own flag. It’s a pity, it doesn’t hang on houses, like those of their relatives - a small people close to Estonians
21.Since the late 1980s, interest in Vepsians has been increasing. People begin to call themselves Vepsians, Vepsian conferences and the Society of Vepsian culture appear. The study of the Vepsian language began in schools, an ABC book, textbooks and dictionaries in the Vepsian language were published. Now in Karelia mass media, fiction and educational literature are published in the Vepsian language. The Vepsian folk group "Noid" was created, performing traditional songs.
According to the museum workers, the Vepsians now have an interest in their native culture. Many people learn the language with pleasure, and in some villages echoes of traditions have been preserved. For example, after visiting cemeteries, grandmothers can still wash their hands.
22. One of the Vepsian symbols is the Vepsian rooster
23. By the way, the museum workers themselves are Vepsians. They talk to each other in the Vepsian language.
Veps in national costume - museum guide Evgeniy
24. One of the main periodical Vepsian newspapers is "Kodima". Published for 25 years
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