Льыоравэтльан

Selection of articles

Rye Lake
From my childhood I keep in the memory a place with a strange name Rye Lake. This is the motherland of my granddad, Veps, Pavel Lutokhin. As I knew later, it is called Rye Lake because long ago rye was grown there. But this is not what I want to speak about. Why do I remember this place so well? Maybe because it was not a garden like many of my friends had, but a wild nature – beautiful and rich. In the forest just near the house built by my granddad with his sons and grandsons, you could find very big strawberries, and one kilometer away the tastiest berry of the North was waiting for us – cloudberry. And nobody hurried to gather it before the others – there were plenty of generous marshes, and my granddad knew in any summer, rainy or dry, which marsh we should go to gather a full basket. Granddad showed me a hare or a wood grouse, my brother went hunting, uncle caught full buckets of fish. So it was difficult to go 12 km to reach a bus with rich forest gifts. We were lucky that the elder brother always helped us. When, in a week or two, we returned to the house, we knew that even if it had been visited by somebody, it stayed in order. The hunters or fishermen who visited it didn’t need the products we left, as there were enough fish in the lake and game-bird in the forest…
Ten years ago I with my brother decided to visit the Rye Lake during our student vocations. I was especially interested, as I was big, I won’t whimper, I’ll go to the remote marshes for my cloudberry I love!
But what we saw in the forest… No, it wasn’t a forest already, or at least not our forest once rich and beautiful; it was like a wounded animal – wretched and pitiful: glades and cutting everywhere, sawed down and left firs and birches; the marsh seemed to dry, and silence … such a dead silence sometimes broken by the sound of a fuel saw. “New times,” I thought. Obviously, someone wanted timber, probably for the fire, or maybe summer cottages will be built here. But we are not hosts here any more – no more village Rye Lake and no more house of the Lutokhins since the sixties, and our granddad is no longer alive for about a year. Three years ago I decided to visit Rye Lake again hoping that the nature cured its wounds and nobody wounded it again. Alas – cutting didn’t stop here, and of course there were neither animals, nor fish in the lake left. But the Veps indigenous people had lived here from ancient times thanks to the forest! The wounded forest is dying and the forgotten people is becoming extinct… I sympathize with Veps people for their lost of forest riches!
A lot of pain and sadness contains this story, and any Veps will understand me, as well as any Man who loves nature. But I will try to conclude with an optimistic note. In 2001 the Law about territories of traditional landuse was passed aiming to preserve biodiversity and protect native environment of indigenous peoples. We want to hope that this law has started its work, and my native land will please with its beauty and generosity.
Ekaterina Geroyeva

You Keenly Feel the Past Here
On the crossroads of three roads in the center of Sheltozero there stands a high, beautiful house in the laces of wooden carving. Almost two hundred years ago this house was built by a Veps craftsman, a local peasant Ivan Melkin. Now in the house there is the Veps Ethnographic Museum keeping the history and culture of a small people – Veps. For the first time the museum opened its doors for visitors on 28 October 1967. The Museum was founded by Rurik Petrovich Lonin. Collecting folklore, he started to collect the objects of Veps’ everyday life and began to strive for founding the folk museum. Thanks to his persistency, the museum was given two rooms in the library. Every year the stock of the museum grew, and soon it moved to another, a bigger room. And in 1991 the museum moved to the house of Melkin.
Here you can learn a lot about life, occupations, customs, omens, about the destiny and expectations of Veps. In the first room of the museum there is the interior of a Veps house of the end of 19th – beginning of 20th century. The central place of the house is occupied by the stove which served not only for heating and cooking, but for sleeping on it and drying cloths. Some beliefs are connected with the stove. The fire in the stove could be made by the oldest woman in the house only. The stove and the wardrobe divide the house into two parts – the working and the clean one. In the working part to the left of the entrance there is a table-hencoop, under which in winter time hens were kept. Above the table there is a shelf for dishes made of wood, birch-bark, clay – all made by hands of Veps craftsmen.
The house was lit by a kerosene lamp or a torch. The prop with the torch is standing in the clean part near the loom. Next to them there is a bed, a sofa, a chest, a kid’s cradle. Near the stove there is an entrance to the basement. On its cover there is samovar. This is a wedding samovar with the volume 27 liters. Next to it there is a “grandfather” of the modern iron – rubel. With its help cloths were ironed wrapped around a rolling pin. After getting acquainted with the Veps people we enter the second room of the museum. Its exhibition tells us about ethnogeny of the Veps people, traditional occupations of Veps, about Orthodox and pagan beliefs.
From ancient times hunting and fishing were main economic occupations of Veps. And any man could use carpenter’s and joiner’s tool because he needed to build a house to make furniture and dishes. Women’s occupations are presented with wonderful Veps embroidery, homespun works.
Having completed study of the exposition on the first floor, we go upstairs and through ‘ook’ come to the household yard. It was always two-storied. Downstairs they kept cattle, upstairs hay and different household tools were kept. There is a variety of tools for agriculture, fishing, wood-working, means of transport, tools of smith and tanner presented there.
The next, forth room shows the exhibition of works of the first national artist of Karelia – Sofony Dmitriyevich Yershov “Way home”. S.D.Yershov was born in Dorofeyevskaya village of Sheltozersko-Berezhnaya Volost, studied at Petersburg Academy of Art. He taught paining at schools of Petrozavodsk, Rybreka, Kem, Soroka, founded an art studio at the Palace of Pioneers in Petrozavodsk. At the same time he made a lot of art work, but unfortunately most of Yershov’s works are not saved, they burnt during the fire of 1941. In the stock of Karelia State Museum of Local History some of his pictures are saved. This pictures are presented at the exhibition.
Going round the rooms of the museum you have a keen feeling of the past, it feels like the time stopped and you have the possibility to see the living history, traditions and rural life of the Veps people.
Oleg Lonin

Who Will Protect the Veps Language?

Veps are small numbered people. We are inscribed into the Red book of threatened peoples of the planet. People are alive while their language is alive. The problem of preservation of the Veps language today is especially actual and acceptance of the Karelia Republic’s law "About state support of the Karelian, Veps and Finnish languages in the Karelia Republic» has become one more step to its solution. For the last years much is done for the preservation and development of the language, since the issue of the first ABC book and translation of Kalevala into the Veps language. But it is impossible to tell with full confidence that the Veps language will function to the full.
And if now the family is not providing the language continuity of generations, the basic burden in solution of the problem of language preservation should be borne by school. And first of all the state support of the school is necessary. The main complexity in studying the Veps language is insufficient quantity of class hours per one week. The native language is studied less hours in comparison with foreign language and is taught at primary school only. Ten times more is given to study the Russian language at the school than to the Veps language. The state has not yet refused discrimination policy of the Veps language which started in 1937.
But increase of quantity of hours in teaching is not the full solution of the problem. As far as the Veps language is taught as foreign it won’t become native for many schoolchildren. Translation of at least some subjects is necessary for teaching the Veps language. Now there is no opportunity to get education in the native language and to preserve the culture.
A lot of mass media have paid a greater attention to the problem of reduction of the Russian-speaking schools in Estonia. All have written about violation of human rights. Estonia is protecting its people’s language which has been killed during half of the century. Situation with the Veps language is more menacing but who has said a word for its protection?
It turned out that it is possible to hear such statements as the Veps people even have not had its culture. Acceptance of the Karelia Republic’s law "About the state support of the Karelian, Veps and Finnish languages in the Karelia Republic" gives guarantee for protection of the Veps language and there is a hope that the Karelia Republic Government can provide its implementation.
Oleg Lonin

No Forest - No Problem?

Each summer a lot of families leave for the period of holiday to the village. This village is Ozera (lakes) in Podporozhsky district of the Leningrad region. Very beautiful places. And also from the point of view of ecology. Woods, lakes - places for fishing, hunting, gathering of berries and mushrooms. My grandfather and other relatives who know in our forests every path, every bush, showed me pine forests and wood borders which were pitch-dark from bilberries, smelt sweet with raspberry, excited from cloudberries on marshes.
And what is happening now? When we come to the village every year we see unpleasant picture. Cutting trees and deforestation take place. Timber lorries take away industrial timber which in documents are inscribed as "sanitary cut timber". They take timber without agreement of local population, breaking roads by huge machines, leaving disorder on places of cutting. Someone makes profit of it not accepting any statements about national riches and not paying the appropriate taxes.
This problem “has already had a dry mouth” for inhabitants of the Leningrad region and the Karelia Republic. Much written, spoken about it, there are laws but why there is no reaction to this problem? Opinions of inhabitants mean nothing at all. To tell the truth, there is use and help from businessmen who are engaged in this business - they can sell waste products as fire wood at low price. But what is it in comparison with machines of ship wood?!
While there is a forest, there is a problem. If no wood left – there will be no problem then. But how a village will survive the life of which is based on subsistence farming, using the same woods? After cuttings lakes and the rivers become shallow, soon there will be no fish. Finally, the village will die out.
I think of this problem not as an ordinary summer resident. This land originally belongs to my people, my relatives who have always treated with care to its gifts. Here are graves of my ancestors.
In my opinion, it is necessary to raise an alarm to this problem constantly to inform people on their rights. Only unification of efforts of non-governmental organizations, professionals and people who are indifferent to these problems can bring us to the good results.
Olga Etoeva

Days of Study Have Flown by Imperceptibly

The time of our training in Information Сentre “NEVOND” has come to the end. We represent the second group of the interns who have arrived from Kondopoga, Pryazhino, Olonets, Kalevala Regions of Karelia, and also from Tverskaya Oblast. Many of us hardly could imagine where they go, with what purpose, as information on places was very little.
Now, after six weeks of training, we can say with full confidence that this time is not spent in vain. During training we have received knowledge on human rights, have got acquainted with the international, European and federal documents in this area. Certainly, it is far from being everything about what we have learned.
Each of us has found his path in the program of training, has taken what is useful for him.
When I was going to the training course, I had only one purpose: to receive knowledge on human rights and to try to apply them in the work.
During the training I understood, that many themes literally absorb and become more and more interesting. I felt like a sportsman taking a baton. And I wanted to carry this knowledge to the far Kalevala Region, and certainly to educate others.
Practically everything what we learned, turned to be useful for me, and the main thing – vital. I have come to a conclusion, that those documents, which we studied, should be known by everybody, and the most important, we should be able to use the rights guaranteed by laws.
Love,
Antipova,
correspondent,
Kalevala Region

Does the Karelian Language Have the Future?

My native town Olonets, like many towns of Karelia, is engaged in revival and development of the Karelian language. The work in this field starts at the kindergarten, continues at schools. So many active, infatuated with their job pedagogues work with children! For example, in Tuksa village there is a wonderful pedagogue Lubov Tuttuyeva. A lot of power and labor she contributed to living and development of the Karelian language. She created her program of teaching children their native language, collected rich material on history of their village. Now this program is getting prepared for publishing. Any educational institute, either a school or a kindergarten, has people aware of the destiny of the Karelian language, these are the people who organize different activities. It turns out that the main responsibility for knowledge of the native language is taken by the pedagogues. It’s not a secret that there are very few young families speaking the Karelian language, and a child is out of the language environment when he comes home. So I told only about a small part of the work done in the region in the field of study of the native language. But I’m worried with the question what is expecting the children whom we are teaching national languages? Because such education is completed in secondary or even a primary school. Teachers complain of lack of educational materials, and the materials they possess are old. And what is the most unpleasant thing, the students of the higher grades lost their interest to the language of our ancestors. The studies are optional, but the desire to visit them inheres only a few students. And here I’m approaching the question – does the Karelian language have the future, the language which Brendoyev spoke and wrote, the language of our ancestors? If our children don’t have their own interest, and, importantly, the desire to know their language, to speak it, no teachers or parents can make them do it. And what is needed to support this interest is another subject.

Natalya Romanova

Breaking Stereotypes
Studies inside the walls of the university. It sometimes happens that not every student can manage the assignment. And here you can hear the aggravated voice of the teacher, the Professor of Philology, “You are stupid like Karelians!” Why? What for?
Russian people really have the opinion that the Karelian people are like that. And I heard it not only from the professor, but from other people. I remember Karelians I know and having estimated them I understand that none of them falls under the category of stupid people. What’s the matter then?
Scientists have found that any process of cognition, communication is preceded by what is called by psychologists a ‘set’. In the system of sets, insensible for the person, his living experience, moods of his social environment accumulate. And such a preconceived opinion about people’s abilities, concluded from standard judgments, but not based on the direct evaluation, psychologists call a stereotype. This means a complicated personality automatically falls under a simple common formula which is not always correct. For example, that Karelians are angry. If Lebedev is Karelian, he is angry.
Stereotypes are very firm and difficult to change by reasonable arguments. How do they form and what do they lead to?
When people communicate, different conflicts and negative emotions arise between them. When one Karelian has conflict with another, the conflict is honest. But if two people belong to different nations, the situation is easily generalized, and the negative evaluation of one person turns into a negative stereotype of the ethnic group: all Karelians are like that.
Origin of many formed stereotypes can be explained historically. For example, the roughest stereotype “Karelians are stupid” can easily be explained. The Karelians who came to study in the city before had big difficulties in communication and even bigger in the process of study as they knew Russian badly. They could hardly explain their thoughts in Russian, but it doesn’t mean that Karelians think worse than Russian.
Every nation undoubtedly has its peculiar features, its traditions. Whether people want it or not, they inevitably perceive foreign traditions, forms of conduct, first of all through the prism of their own customs and traditions in which they were educated. It seems it has nothing bad. The problem arises when these real or fictitious peculiarities are made the main feature and become an inimical psychological set in relation to some nation, a set which leads to discrimination.
The discrimination in relation to Tver Karelians was very strong in the middle of the 20th century, during the period of the corresponding policy, when there were terrible repressions of intelligentsia and one couldn’t be accepted to a university only because he is Karelian. Such discrimination leads to the situation that Karelians began to conceal their nationality. That’s why Lev Gumilev wrote in his notes that a Karelian from Tver Gubernia coming to Moscow becomes Russian, and on his return to the village he becomes Karelian. Mostly due to intolerant attitude, Karelians’ assimilation was going at a rapid pace.
Recently I heard a talk in the bus. Speaking on the local Karelian population, one man confessed confusedly, “I’m Karelian myself”. On the question of his interlocutor, “Do you know the Karelian language?” he answered making a wry face, “It’s not a good language. It impeded me in the army, I spoke poorly, mixed genders, many people laughed.” And my aunt, who came to the city with her grandmother, was said by the grandmother, “Don’t speak Karelian.” Native language was concealed. People were afraid. They feared after post-war repressions and felt ashamed like they were not educated. The echo of that discrimination is heard even now: older Karelians staying in the city try not to use the Karelian language and look around in fear when somebody near says loudly that he is Karelian. So we can see that the problem of tolerance still exists. How to overcome this problem? Probably, the only way is through inculcation tolerance, respectful attitude to other’s beliefs in the society, the understanding that peoples cannot be alike in their customs and culture.
Ulia Bogolubova

Tver Karelia
The indigenous population of the Karelia Republic are Karelian people. But there is one more place in Russia where Karelians also live. This is Tverskaya Oblast, or, as Fyodor Glinka poetically called it – “Tver Karelia”. Many people are surprised when, traveling in Tver regions, they hear strange language. Karelians live there for about 400 years, and despite such a close neighboring to Russian managed to save their culture, language and customs. How do Karelians appeared there, in the center of Russia? Many centuries ago, after the cruel government of the tsar Ivan the Terrible, this land became deserted. Russian peasants living there left because of wars, hunger and terrible epidemics. Then Russian government decided to give this land “with vast forests and deep marshes” to Karelians who ran from the Karelian Isthmus because of the war with Sweden. “Ran… for three reasons: the first one is for belief, the second – for language and their originality, the third – from the load of big taxes…” this is how the migrants themselves describe the reasons of their movement. That’s how Karelians appeared in Tver territory. They settled mainly near Tolmachi village of Likhoslavl Region and Kozlovo village of Spirovsky Region. And the deserted area revived, new villages were founded here and there. Churches were built which were kept in the best condition, “Karelians were very diligent to their church, pious, respectful to clergy”. Even 150 years ago one could see icons in some of them brought from Karela “of a very ancient painting”.
Being very hardworking, Tolmachi’s Karelians in 19th century were considered as the richest in the area. Each of them had a big farm, churns, mills… Administration of Tver Gubernia had to talk with the population only through translators. And even now well-groomed Karelian villages are standing, and the houses smell with well-known Karelian pies, and people coming out from the steam-bath thanks for good steam “kulun izanda”, but only the Karelian speech is heard less and less now. Why? Because the terrifying 20th century has left its print in the destiny of Karelian people. Political games of people running multinational country couldn’t pass without consequences. We should say that at the beginning of 20th century Tver Karelians comprised the biggest ethnic group in Russia (140 567 people). A lot of Karelians suffered during dispossession of kulaks, when the whole families were left homeless.
After spring 1939 the relations between the USSR and Finland, with which Karelians have much common in ethnic and language respects, began to spoil. Everything connected with Karelian culture and any demonstration of national self-consciousness fell under repressions. Although the majority of investigation cases were closed due to the absurdity of the accusation, and the arrested people, except for those who died in prisons, were released, the Karelian language and the Karelian culture were greatly crippled. Then – the Soviet-Finnish war, when Karelians went to kill people speaking the similar language; Great Patriotic War which took lives of thousands of Karelians; ban for everything national, terrible discrimination… As a result, the number of Tver Karelians reduced two times. According to the population census of 1989 there are 23 196 Karelians left in Tverskaya Oblast. Whatever hard the destiny of Tver Karelians was, they haven’t forgotten their language and culture. And at the beginning of 1990s the issue was raised about saving and revival of the Karelian language and culture. There appeared activists very anxious about their people, and the activity started. On the territory of Tverskaya Oblast a national cultural autonomy of Tver Karelians was founded for saving and revival of native culture. ABC-books and textbook in native languages have been published; children and adult groups of professional and amateur art exist; mass events in the field of national culture are held: festivals, competitions, shows, exhibitions, etc. The Karelian language is taught at schools. In Likhoslavl Pedagogical College and Tver State University groups for studying native language and culture are formed. A newspaper “Karielan Sana” is issued regularly, every month the radio program “Tver Karelia” is broadcasted. A lot more things have to be done and many problems have to be solved, and there are plenty of them in Tver region. Nevertheless, Tver Karelians revive their culture. Although there are few representatives of this ethnic group left, the lost of even a minor culture of a small ethnic group is a spiritual lost for all the human beings.
Ulia Bogolubova

To See Eternity in One Moment
In one Karelian village Pulcheila, which doesn’t exist even on the map now, far from the center, among deep Karelian forests my mother was born – Klavdia Arkhipova. She was the only daughter among three brothers in the family. Of course, the most part of the housework was carried by her delicate girl’s shoulders. Being a very young girl, she had to work in a collective farm, to look after cows and pigs. The work was paid just symbolically and a day of work was marked with 4 working days. For the older generation these figures say a lot.
All her life my mother worked hard, and the years ran inevitably. Now she considers herself uneducated, as she completed only 3 grades. The younger generation cannot understand how it is possible to stop at such a low level. The answer is simple – such was the life, the main thing was work, my mother’s father thought then that this level was enough.
My grandfather and grandmother are Karelians, they spoke only the Karelian language. In everyday life, at work and in free time native language was heard. Children took over the experience of the older, used the language of their ancestors.
The history of development of Karelia has a period when the Karelian language was not recognized, it was considered a spoiled Finnish dialect. This led changes in education of children at schools. All the subjects were taught only in Finnish. Despite it, in the families the native language was still used. Our parents couldn’t even think of their existence without their culture. In those times the Karelian language was not welcomed at schools, where it wasn’t even mentioned.
Young people spoke native language less and less. I remember when I was a child only mother spoke Karelian in our family (grandmother and grandfather were no longer alive). My father understood Karelian very well, but used it very seldom, felt shy and afraid to speak the native language. It happened so, that the Karelian language was extirpated from social life. There are few families who could resist the historical circumstances, save their language and pass it to grandchildren. Thanks to my mother, who instills us love to our native language.
One May day kids, grandchildren and even three great-grandchildren came to congratulate her with 70th jubilee. It was so pleasant to hear the native Karelian speech again which now lives mostly in villages. But the children who left for the city speak very seldom or don’t speak at all and don’t hear their native language or speak it with elderly parents while visiting them. And here mother’s song sounds, loved from childhood:
Kazvatti minu mami,
Kazvatti ainivon,
Ei ni ruatuttelluh,
Saduizes istutti,
Saduizes istutti da
Limonal qostitti.
When I hear this song I remember my mother talking about the past life. The destiny of a Karelian woman is showed in the song. The native speech touches the soul, awakes national memory.
During one human life – 50 years – mother saw the prosperity and decay of a village which once was populous, living and dying of the Karelian language.
I hope not only we, but our children and grandchildren will keep and develop our native Karelian language.
Victoria Yevseyeva

Mysteries of Saami Culture

On 7th May in Petrozavodsk in the Republican Center of National Cultures a meeting of Karelians and Veps with the delegation of indigenous people of Murmanskaya Oblast – Saami – was held. The visiting group included not only Saami, but also representatives of other nationalities who attached to Saami culture and are not only its experts but keepers. During the meeting they told about themselves, their culture, language and, of course, about their problems, inherent to every indigenous people in fact.
There are three regions of this unique and very old people Saami in Murmanskaya Oblast: Lovozersky, Kolsky, Kovdorsky. The peculiarity of this indigenous people is its trans-state feature. Today Saami live on the territories of four states: Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway. For many years they have been cooperating with each other through state borders.
Saami refer to the Western-Finnish branch of Finnish-Ugric peoples. Saami call themselves in different dialects in different ways: saam’, saami, samet’, same, samach, sabm, sam’. Linguists feature the Saami language within the group of the Finnish-Ugric languages. They say in its basis there is some unknown for the science substratum which further dissolved in the Finnish language and left for the Saami language its Finnish-Ugric character. Despite the closeness of the languages, if Saami and Finn meet today, they won’t understand each other. One third of the vocabulary of the Saami language is still an enigma for the modern science, as they can’t find any correspondence in any language of the world. Undoubtedly, such a unique language must be saved and developed, and this is what representatives of the Saami culture do as far as possible.
After such a cognitive meeting everybody had the possibility to visit a concert organized by the delegation. They presented folklore and modern art of Saami for the audience judgment, and it showed that the culture is not only saved, but developed, it means it won’t pass completely.
Lubov Antipova

We want to live
This is the cry from my heart in which, I think, multiple voices of people of Kalevala national region joined.
I love my small motherland so much, I want to live and work in my village and nowhere else. Not so long ago I thought our region would live forever despite any difficulties. But now I feel fear for its future.
Social and economic situation of Kalevala Region is rather poor. The basic factory – timber industry enterprise – on the verge of bankruptcy, while today it is almost the only organization where the main part of the population work. There is one more regional consumer’s enterprise which is steady on its legs, but we understand that without industry the region won’t survive.
Some years ago the administrative center started to move slowly but inevitably to the town of Kostomuksha. Only branches were left in Kalevala. We all understood what it was leading to, but didn’t want to believe. We though that the national region will be supported and saved anyway. But recently they raised the question of uniting Kalevala national region and Kostomukshi. What will it result in? What is the future of the people of the region and the regional center? These are the questions which bother me. I can suppose that the working places which are now insufficient will be reduced even more, especially in Kalevala village. In despair people will leave their native area to find work. And it’s difficult to imagine where the indigenous people of a small northern corner of Karelia will find themselves. Old men and women will be derelict in their villages as they have nowhere and no need to go. When I imagine it, I want to cry. I think what is waiting for me in the future? The moving away is so unwanted and scaring…
What to do? How to save the national region where the living Karelian speech is heard everywhere, where national folk theatre and children’s folk groups are working, where traditions and customs of northern Karelians are kept?
Many people of the region complain that the youth doesn’t return to their motherland. And they are the majority among people I know who graduate universities this year. For the question, “What are you going to do after the graduation?” they answer, “Of course I will search a job in the city, what will I do in Kalevala?” And really in the placement service there are many young people registered as unemployed. What perspective do the rest people have then? Nobody wants such a destiny, that’s why they are not going to come back to receive social allowance. But there are some people like me who want to live and work in their village, which are worried with the future of the region, and we will fight for its life up to the end believing in the bright future.
I remember the words of a well-known song “… A native land loved forever. Where will you find another one like it?…” and understand how precise they are, because for me the only house is my native one forever.
Kalevala Region
Lubov Antipova

Опубликовано на: 2007-07-24 (2163 Прочтено)

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