European ethnicities on verge of extinction.

[Jarl]

Here I present a short list of ethnicities which are likely to die out within the next 50-100 years. I will start from the Ugro-Finnic ethnicities of Eastern Europe:

I. Finno-permic:

-----> 1) Permic group:

- Udmurt or Votyak
- Komi-Permyak
- Komi-Zyrian

-----> 2) Finno-cheremisic:

----------> A) Mari or Cheremis

----------> B)Finno-mordvinic:

a) Mordvin:

-Erzya-Mordvin
-Moksha-Mordvin

b) Finno-Lappic: Lappic and Baltic Finnic:

- Finnish
- Estonian
- Karelian
- Meänkieli
- Veps - In danger of extinction
- Livonian - extinct
- Votic - Almost extinct
- Izhorian - Almost extinct
- Ingrian Finnish

II. Ugric:

----->1) Hungarian

----->2) Ob Ugric (Khanty or Ostyak and Mansi or Vogul)



Below is a map of their current distribution:



For comparison, here is historical Fenno-Ugric distribution in antiquity (numbered grey shading):



Historical distribution (during Slavic expansion and early Medieval Ages):



Most of the endangered Baltic-Finnic ethnicities inhabit historical Ingria, which today is a part of Russian Federation:






1. Votes of Ingria - 20 left.

Votic or Votian is the language spoken by the Votes of Ingria. It is closely related to Estonian and belongs to the Balto-Finnic subgroup of Finno-Ugric languages. Votic is spoken only in Krakolye and Luzhitsy, two villages in the Kingisepp district, and is close to extinction. In 1989 there were 62 speakers left, the youngest born in 1938. In its 24 December 2005 issue, The Economist wrote that there are only approximately 20 speakers left.[3]

In the 19th century it was already declining in favour of Russian (there were around 1,000 speakers of the language by the start of the World War I), but its decline was accelerated under Soviet rule, when the Vote population diminished by 90% between 1926 and 1959. Since then, the Votes have, as far as possible, concealed their Votic identity, pretending to be Russians in the predominantly Russian environment. Votic originally had several dialects: Western, Eastern, Kukkusi and Kreevin (an enclave in Latvia). Of these, Kreevin became extinct in the 19th century and Eastern in the 1960s.

More on Votes:

Votes are people of Votia in Ingria (part of modern day northwestern Russia, roughly (south)west of Saint Petersburg, near, and east of, the Estonian border-town of Narva). Their own ethnic name is Vadjalain (plural: Vadjalaizõt). The Finno-Ugric Votic language spoken by Votes is close to extinction. Votians were one of the founding people of Veliky Novgorod.

As a distinct people, Votes have become practically extinct after Stalinist dispersion to Soviet provinces far away — as 'punishment' for alleged disloyalty and cowardice during World War II. In 1989, there were still 62 known Votes left, the youngest of whom was born in 1930. In 1848, the number of Votes had been 5,148 (Ariste 1981: 78). Along with the Izhorians, they are generally Orthodox, while the other Finnic inhabitants of Ingria, the Ingrian Finns, are Lutheran.

On extinct Latvian Votes (settled in Courland in XVI century) - the Krevinians: http://www.roots-saknes.lv/Ethnicities/Vots/vots.htm

Map of Votic villages of Ingria (just East of Estonia and Narva):



"Virtual Votia" - http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/3259/index.html ... Votian woman:





Votian folklore:

http://www.folklore.ee/Folklore/vol13/news.htm#4

http://www.folklore.ee/Folklore/vol12/spirits.htm

In this article I intend to focus on the belief reports, legends and descriptions of customs concerning the bodies of water and water-related supernatural beings recorded from the Votian linguistic area in the Votian language. 1 As compared with the analogous Finnish (Jauhiainen 1998: 257-266), Estonian and Livonian material (see, for example, Loorits 1998: 111-210) the records of Votian folklore are scarce and relatively fragmentary, comprising a total of 120 shorter or longer texts. Except for a few from the 18th century, the era of the exploration of Votian folklore, the majority of accounts were collected by the greatest researcher of the Votian language of the 20th century, Paul Ariste, an academician and professor of Tartu University. (These are available in the collection of manuscripts «The Votian Ethnology» and partially published in Ariste 1935; 1941; 1958; 1964; 1965; 1969; 1976; 1977.) In order to be able to orientate in this fragmentary material and categorise it in some way I will attempt to distinguish between the concepts reflecting the tradition spheres of different periods based on certain religious phenomenological processes as described by the Estonian historian of folk religion Ivar Paulson in his collection of essays «The Old Estonian Folk Religion» (1971).

Although the Votian linguistic area was relatively small during the collection period, we can distinguish between the preferences of different village groups as regards the names of the water spirits2, beliefs and characteristic plots of folk narratives: particularly the Central Votia rich in lakes (the village groups of Orko, Mätshi and Kabrio) contrasted with the western coastal villages and those at the River Lauga (the village group of Vaipooli and Kukkuzi; see map). The geographical position of the village groups has determined their different natural surroundings and sources of livelihood. Even in the middle of the 20th century people in Vaipooli gained their sustenance mostly from deep-sea fishing (the coastal villages had retained the common dragnet crews), whereas in Central and East Votia the smaller-scale fresh-water fishing had only a secondary role in providing subsistence (see Ränk 1960: 79). The difference is reflected correspondingly in the tradition concerning water spirits: in the Central Votian lake area the perception of water spirits was never associated with fishing, whereas in the villages of Vaipooli it was clearly a part of fishing at sea and in the River Lauga.

Another map of Votian villages:



Votian landscapes. Lake Süväjarvi. Photo by Ergo-Hart Västrik 1998:



Site at River Tshämee where water suddenly swirls upstream. According to the folk belief it was the place where resided water spirit («jõggõõ emä» or «vesi-emä»). Photo by Ergo-Hart Västrik 1998:




Fragments in the history of the Votic language (from http://www.aber.ac.uk/mercator/images/agranat.pdf ):

In the beginning of the 19th century Votic speaking people were enough numerous: there were more than 5000 persons and they lived in a large territory near Saint Petersburg. In 1861 after the fall of serfdom Votic people had to go to nearest towns to earn money. So they began speak Russian. Now, unfortunately, only several elderly persons speaking Votic remain in some villages, they all speak also Russian. Young people do not speak Votic. So it is an endangered language. There are some extra linguistic political causes for it.

During the Second World War the most part of Votic people perished. In 1943 all Votic, Ingrian and Finnish population of Ingria were moved to Finland, in 1944 they returned, but till 1953 they were forbidden to live in their villages. When they returned, the Votic language usage was prohibited. So, they tried to speak Russian with children and as the result only old generation now remember Votian.

WWII and post-war Soviet policy seem to be the main factors contributed towards near-extinction. Partly this might be also due to the rural character of the Votian culture. Votians never really underwent a "national awakening". They consider themselves "Ingrian":

In 1995, when I was there at my first expedition, almost all Votic people considered themselves as Ingrians, as the result of functionaries mistake in 1930th yaers. But Votian people, of course, distinguished their language from one of Ingrians. Now my informants remember their old ethnonym.

Steady work of ethnographists and linguists brought some positive effects:

But working with linguists the informants have practice and remember Votic. As persons knowing Votic began to be interested on it, they try now to speak this language to each other. So the nature functioning of the language is reviving. And the most important result of linguistic work in Votian villages is that children are interested in the Votic language and culture; they sing Votic folk songs that their parents do not know. (See Agranat 2002b).

Last year for the fist time in the history a Votic speaking woman began to teach this language (as not written) at a village school. She speaks to children her own idiolect; as Votic never had any norm, an individual speech of each native speaking is quite different. Now it is not a time to speak about standardization of the Votic language, the only chance for the endangered language to be revived is to be taught as living language. Otherwise we will have standard manuals, but will not have pupils, because there is the risk that children lose the interest of leaning Votic.

It's a fragile balance, yet there is some hope left.



2. Vepsians - 8000 to 12000 left.

Veps or Vepsians are a Finnic people that speak the Veps language, which belongs to the Baltic-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. The self-designations of these people in various dialects are vepslaine, bepslaane, and (in northern dialects, southwest of Lake Onega) lüdinik and lüdilaine. In early Russian chronicles, they are called "Весь" (Ves’).

From archeological studies and old names suggest that they lived at least in the valleys of the rivers Sheksna, Suda and Syas. They probably also lived in Olonets Karelia and on the northern coast of Lake Onega. One of the eastern routes of Vikings went through their area. Tomb findings prove that they had contact with Staraya Ladoga, western Finnish area and Meryans, other Volga Finnic tribes and later with Novgorod and other Russian principalities. Later Vepsians inhabited also Western and Eastern shores of Onega.

From 12th century their history is connected with first Novgorod and then Russia. Eastern Vepsians in Kargopol area merged linguistically with Russians before 20th century. Western Vepsians have kept their language and culture. Nowadays almost all Vepsians speak fluently Russian.

In modern times, they live in the area between Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega (Änine), and White Lake or Lake Beloye (Valged’ärv, Белое Озеро) - in the Russian Republic of Karelia in the former Veps National Volost (the northern Veps dialect area), in Leningrad Oblast along the Oyat River in the Podporozhskii and Lodeinopolskii raions and further south in the Tikhvinskii raion (western parts of the Central Veps dialect area), in the Vytegorskii and Babayevo raions of the Vologda Oblast (eastern parts of the Central Veps dialect area), and in the Boksitogorskii raion of the Leningrad Oblast (southern Veps dialect area).

According to the 2002 census, there were 8240 Veps in Russia. Of the 281 Veps in Ukraine, 11 speak Vepsian. (Ukr. Census 2001) A more recent study has estimated 11,300 Veps in the St. Petersburg and Northwest Russia area.[2]

Website dedicated to cultural and linguistic Vepsian preservation: http://www.veps.de/Teacher/teacher.htm

Vepsian community today:

Vepsia is nowadays separated into districts with no connections between them. It was invoked by Russian communists' politics of enforced assimilation. Thus in a dense taiga arouse a belt of emptied settlements. It was an idea of mine to pass around all Vepsian territories with my school pupils to show them our beautiful country lying disrupted, let them listen to different Vepsian tongues and admire the variety of tribal cultures. Another burning idea was to collect stuff for a Vepsian folk museum.

Traveling on vacations we used to stay for a couple of days in a Vepsian community and then made our way to another one by crossing extended areas of deserted villages lost in the heart of endless taiga forests. Just imagine us walking along an old way last time driven before the World War with huge logs lying across the road or climbing over a rotten bridge . In the evening twilight we arrive to a next village, lighting the way with our pocket lapms. It is unpopulated as well, but is looking quite undestroyed and you can choose among a couple of massive pine or spruce wooden cottages, what you'd prefer to stay in. But no hurry! It's rather cool in the house and there are no facilities in the village (electricity was cut off some twenty years ago). First of all you'd cut enough dry firewood (not so easy after it has been raining cats and dogs all these days) to make fire in a huge brick or clay stove middle the cottage. The stove is large enough for all of us to go up and bask on its bed-like upper part just under the ceiling. It is the favorite privacy place where Vepsian children prefer to sleep and a so called white oven is especially designed for this purpose. It isn't just an accommodation, but to some extent a sacred place, where thrilling folk myths are told in darkness...

Brick and clay stoves:





Traditional Vepsian folk song:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjN64hvjM_4[/YOUTUBE]

Wooden houses:







Vepsians:









Countyside:









Vepsian fishing log boat:



Winter:






3. Izhorians - 200 left

The Izhorians (sg. ižoralaine, inkeroine, ižora, ingermans, ingers, ingrian), along with the Votes are an indigenous people of Ingria. Small numbers can still be found in the Western part of Ingria, between the Narva and Neva rivers in northwestern Russia.

The history of the Izhorians is bound to the history of Ingria. It is supposed that shortly after 1000, the Izhorians moved from Karelia to the west and south-west. In 1478, the Novgorod Republic, where Ingrians had settled, was united with the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and some of the Izhorians were transferred to the east. The establishment of St Petersburg in 1703 had a great influence on Izhorian culture. Deportations in 1929–1931 dramatically changed the demographics of Ingria. World War II had the biggest impact on Izhorian culture, as devastating battles (Siege of Leningrad) took place nearby.

In 1848, P. von Köppen counted 17,800 Izhorians, and by 1926 there were 26,137 Izhorians in the Russian SFSR. In the 1959 census, however, only 1,100 Izhorians were counted in the USSR. In 1989, 820 self-designated Izhorians, 302 of whom were speakers of the Ingrian language were registered. 449 Izhorians lived in the territory of the USSR. According to the 2002 Russian Census, there were 327 Izhorians in Russia, of whom 177 lived in Leningrad oblast and 53 in St Petersburg. There were also 812 Ingrians in Ukraine and a further 358 Ingrians in Estonia. [1]

Their language, close to Karelian, is used primarily by members of the older generation. Izhorian, along with Finnish, Karelian and Vepsian, belongs to the Northern Baltic-Finnic group of the Uralic languages. Izhorian consists of four dialects: Soikola, Hevaha (or Heva), lower-Luuga and Oredezhi — from the names of the Soikola (Soikinsky) peninsula and the Heva, Luuga (Lauga) and Oredezhi rivers.

In 1932–1937, a Latin-based orthography for the Izhorian language existed, taught in schools of the Soikino Peninsula and the area around the mouth of the Luga River.[2]. Several textbooks were published, including, in 1936, a grammar of the language. However, in 1937 the Izhorian written language was abolished and mass repressions of the peasantry began.[2] The Izhorians and the Votes are generally Orthodox, while the other Finnic inhabitants of Ingria, the Ingrian Finns, are generally Lutheran. Some pre-Christian traditions exist, also.

Izhorians are the close neighbours of the Votes:



Old XIX century Russian maps showing Finnic-speaking areas (inhabited by Votes, Izhroians and Ingrians) of Ingria:



Womens' traditional dress:





Looks somewhat similar to dresses of Novogrod female peasants.



4. Livs or Livonians - less than 100 left. 0 speakers left (the last first-language speaker of Livonian, Viktor Berthold, died in February, 2009; Livonian is further studied and cultivated as a second language)

Livonian belongs to the Baltic Finnic branch of the Uralic languages. It is a moribund language until recently spoken by some 35 people, of whom only 10 were fluent.[2] It is closely related to Estonian. The native land of the Livonian people is Livonia, located in Latvia, in the north of the Kurzeme peninsula.

Some ethnic Livonians are learning or have learnt the language in an attempt to revive it, but, as ethnic Livonians are a small minority, opportunities to use Livonian are limited. The Estonian newspaper Eesti Päevaleht announced that Viktor Berthold, the last native speaker who started the Latvian-language school as a monolingual, died on 28 February 2009. Some other Livonians recently argued, though, that there are some native speakers left[3]. An article published by the Foundation for Endangered Languages in 2007 stated that there were only 182 registered Livonians and a mere six native speakers.

The promotion of the Livonian language as a living language has been advanced mostly by Livonian Cultural Centre (Līvõ Kultūr Sidām), an organisation of mostly young Livonians. Livonian as a lesser used language in Latvia – along with Latgalian – is represented by the Latvian Bureau of Lesser Used Languages (LatBLUL), a national branch of the European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL).

As a second language, Livonian has about 20 speakers in Latvia.[4] However, the language is taught in universities in Latvia, Estonia and Finland, which constantly increases the pool of second-language speakers who do not constantly reside in Latvia.

History of the Livonians: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livonians

Livonians in Medieval Ages and today (darker shading):



Livonian:



Livonian village names:



Virtual Livonia: http://homepage.mac.com/uldis/livonia/intro.html

The last Livonian hold-out:





The last Livonians:







Before their extinction, they recorded traditional songs in Livonian:

This year songs in Livonian were recorded from two singers in north western Kurzeme. There are no later recordings of singing in LFK featuring this Finno-Ugrian language. Still there is a quite long fragment of conversation in Livonian between Valda Suvcane and Viktors Bertholds recorded in summer 2003 (a sample is available here).

The two mentioned above singers were:

Hilda Griva, (maiden name Cerbaha), born in Sikrags 1910., died 13 September 1984 in Ventspils. Her father was a Livonian, mother - Estonian, the family used both languages, Hilda learned also the melodies of both nations. She also studied music, worked as a teacher of music, established and led the Livonian group "Kandla".

Katrina Krasone (maiden name Fletno), born in Kosrags 22 August 1890, died 1 June 1979. She sings without any musical education, in a characteristic folk style. Katrina was also featured in the film by Andris Slapins "Livu dziesma" ('Livonian Song'). Although her farmstead is gone, the birch tree planted on her birthday still grows proud and mighty.

Interesting that the same song has been recorded by Emilis Melngailis many years before from Marija Saltjare.

Marija Saltjare (maiden name Bertholde) was born in Pitrags in 1860, died in 1930. She has been among the best Livonian informants of the time, recorded also by Estonian adn Finnish scholars. She has narrated more than 200 folk-tales and legends and sung more than 90 songs (the collection is kept at Estonian folklore archive in Tartu). Listen what it sounds like according to Melngailis notes.

Some recordings can be found HERE Land of the Livonians:































Livonia in photography and music: http://web3038.wbh.deac.lv/print.php...d=75&lang_id=1









The last Livonians (Viktor Berthold on the right) talking in their own language:



Pity they are no more...




More on these ethnicities can be found here: "The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire" ( http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/livonians.shtml ).

[Jarl]

So far the extinct European languages from the Uralic family encompass ( http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/fu.html ):

- Kemi (XIX century) and Akkala (2003) Sami

- Livonian (2009)

Western Sami languages:

Southern Sami
Ume Sami
Pite Sami
Lule Sami
Northern Sami

Eastern Sami languages:

Inari Sami
Kemi Sami (extinct)
Skolt Sami
Akkala Sami (extinct)
Kildin Sami
Ter Sami

The Sami languages form a branch of the Uralic language family. According to the traditional view, Sami is within the Uralic family most closely related to the Baltic-Finnic languages (Sammallahti 1998). However, this view has recently been doubted by some scholars, who argue that the traditional view of a common Finno-Sami protolanguage is not as strongly supported as has been earlier assumed[2], and that the similarities may stem from an areal influence on Sami from Baltic-Finnic.

In terms of internal relationships, the Sami languages are divided into two groups: western and eastern. The groups may be further divided into various subgroups and ultimately individual languages. (Sammallahti 1998: 6-38.) Parts of the Sami language area form a dialect continuum in which the neighbouring languages may be to a fair degree mutually intelligible, but two more widely separated groups will not understand each other's speech. There are, however, sharp and absolute language boundaries, in particular between Northern Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami, the speakers of which are not able to understand each other without learning or long practice.

Historical and modern range of the Sami:





1. Southern Sami - 500
2. Ume Sami - 10 speakers
3. Pite Sami - 20 speakers
4. Lule Sami - 2000 speakers
5. Northern Sami - 15 000 to 25 000
6. Skolt Sami - 400 speakers
7. Inari Sami - 400 speakers
8. Kildin Sami - 753 speakers
9. Ter Sami - 10 speakers


1. Akkala Sami were neighbours of the Skolt (their languages closely related):

Akkala Sami is a Sami language that was spoken in the Sami villages of A´kkel and Ču´kksuâl, in the inland parts of the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Formerly erroneously regarded as a dialect of Kildin Sami, it has recently become recognized as an independent Sami language that is most closely related to its western neighbor Skolt Sami.

The last known speaker of Akkala Sami, Marja Sergina, died on December 29, 2003, and it is now extinct.[1] The language remains the most poorly documented of the Sami languages.

2. Kemi Sami inhabited Northern Finland. Their language was similar to the Skolt and Inari.

Kemi Sami is a Sami language that was originally spoken in the southernmost district of Finnish Lapland as far south as the Sami siidas around Kuusamo. A complex of local variants which had a distinct identity from other Sami dialects, but existed in a linguistic continuum between Inari Sami and Skolt Sami (some Kemi groups sounded more like Inari, and some more like Skolt, due to geographic proximity). Extinct now for over 100 years, few written examples of Kemi Sami survive. Johannes Schefferus's Lapponia from 1673 contains two yoik poems by the Kemi Sami Olof (Mattsson) Sirma, "Guldnasas" and "Moarsi favrrot". A short vocabulary was written by Jacob Fellman in 1829 after he visited the villages of Kuolajärvi and Sompio (Äima, F, Itkonen, T.I. 1918: Jacob Fellmanin muistiinpanot Sompion ja Kuolajärven lapin murteista. Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Aikakauskirja 30 p. 1-91.).

Finland's Sami:



Lappland - the dark Pohjola:











Northern Lights over Lappland:









Lapp tents:





Finland Lapps in 1936:



Blonde Lapp children:













And my favourite - "the hunter":



3. Ume Sami - 10 speakers

Ume Sami is a Sami language spoken in Sweden and Norway. It is a dying language with only about 10 native speakers left and is spoken mainly along the Ume
River in the north of Arjeplog and Arvidsjaur. Ume Sami is one of the four Sami languages that does not have an official written language, although it was the first Sami
language to be written extensively. The New Testament was published in Ume Sami in 1755 and the first Bible in Sami was also published in Ume Sami, in 1811.

This language is bound to become extincs within the next few years.



4. Ter Sami - 10 speakers left in 2004

Ter Sami is the easternmost of the Sami languages. It was traditionally spoken in the northeastern part of the Kola Peninsula, but now it is a dying language; in 2004, only ten speakers were left.In the end of the 19th century, there were six Ter Sami villages in the eastern part of the Kola Peninsula, with a total population of approximately 450. In 2004, there were approximately 100 ethnic Ter Sami of whom ten elderly persons speak the language; the rest have shifted their language to Russian.[1]

The rapid decline in the number of speakers was caused by Soviet collectivisation, during which use of the language was prohibited in schools and homes in the 1930s, and the largest Ter Sami village, Jokanga, was declared "perspectiveless" and its inhabitants were forced to move to the Gremikha military base.[1]
There are no educational materials or facilities in Ter Sami, and the language has no standardized orthography. The language is incompletely studied and documented; text specimens, audio recordings as well as dictionaries for linguistic purposes exist[2][3], but no grammatical description is available.

Curiously, the earliest known documentation of Sami languages is a short Ter Sami vocabulary collected by the British explorer Stephen Burrough in 1557; the vocabulary was published by Richard Hakluyt.[4]

Ter Sami, like Vepses and Izhorians seem to succumb to russification. There is however the "Kola Saami Documentation Project (KSDP):
Linguistic and ethnographic documentation of the endangered Kola-Saami languages" : http://www2.hu-berlin.de/ksdp/ concerned with preservation of Akkala-, Kildin-, Skolt-, and Ter Saami heritage. Project is run the Nordeuropa-InstitutHumboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

The aim of the project is to provide comprehensive linguistic and ethnographic documentation of the endangered Saami languages of Russia, which are spoken in the northwestern-most region of Russia (Murmansk Region – Murmanskaja oblast') on the Kola Peninsula. The Kola Saami languages Skolt, Kildin, Ter and Akkala belong to the group of eastern Saami languages. Saami itself is a branch of the Uralic language family.

Today only a minor part of the approximately 1800 Kola Saami speak and understand their mother tongue fluently. Most of them are elder speakers. The middle generation has either a very limited knowledge of Saami, or does not know the language at all. There is almost no member of the younger generation who actively uses Saami. The absence of a language environment in which the language is spoken by everyone all the time as well as a lack of social motivation for language use pose a threat to the survival of the languages. Taking into account the age of the active speakers, the end of the Saami speech communities in Russia is probably not far away.

Ter Sami and Russian Skol Sami are bound to become extinct in the nearest future:

There are probably less than 300 speakers of Kildin who actively use their language. The situation is even more dramatic in the case of Skolt and Ter. There are only a few Ter and Skolt Saami (in Russia) who use their mother tongue today. Akkala is probably extinct already.

Western Saami:

South Sami - Norway, Sweden 300–500 seriously endangered
Ume - Sweden < 20 nearly extinct
Pite - Sweden < 20 nearly extinct
Lule - Norway, Sweden 2 000–3 000 seriously endangered
North - Norway, Sweden, Finland 30 000 endangered

Eastern Saami:

Inari - Finland 300-500 seriously endangered
Kemi - Finland, Russia extinct (19th century)
Skolt - Norway extinct (20th century)
Skolt - Finland 300–500 seriously endangered
Skolt - Russia < 20 nearly extinct
Kildin - Russia 300–700 seriously endangered
Ter - Russia < 20 nearly extinct
Akkala - Russia probably extinct (2003)

The Saami languages: number of speakers and degree of endangerment. Sources: Sammallahti (1998), Hasselblatt & Blokland (2003), Salminen (1993), own estimates (for Kola-Saami).

Some on more Kola Sami: http://arcticstudies.pbworks.com/Sami-Culture-in-Russia

This picture is called 'master of the tundra' and it was taken by Alexander Stephanenko:



Russian Skolt Sami:







Reindeer "food industry":



These pictures are of a performance in Sami Culturual Centre in Lovozero.







Russian, Swede, Sami, Goth: The four languages spoken in the Nordic by Olaus Magnus (1555)






5. Pite Sami - 20 speakers

Pite Sami, also known as Arjeplog Sami, is a Sami language traditionally spoken in Sweden and Norway. It is a dying language that has only about twenty native speakers left and is now only spoken on the Swedish side of the border along the Pite River in the north of Arjeplog and Arvidsjaur and in the mountainous areas of the Arjeplog municipality. Pite Sámi has 9 cases.

There is project to sace Pite Sami language carried out by the Department for Northern European Studies
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin: http://www2.hu-berlin.de/psdp/index.html

Brief Project Description

The Pite Saami Documentation project shall create and archive current linguistic documentation of Pite Saami (also known as Arjeplog Saami), a severly endangered and essentially moribund Saami language spoken by a mere handful of Saami in and around Arjeplog, Sweden. The project will ultimately result in modern dictionaries and grammatical descriptions, transcriptions of older archived recordings, and a dissertation on morphophonological alternations in this language.

Arjeplog and Pite River region:





Project under way:





Reindeers:



Pite Sami in Norway: http://www.pitesamisk.no/ (in Norwegian):



Pite Sami dress:

[Hweinlant]

Good job Jarl. There are few small mistakes but one I really need to correct. Veps-people are not the Chudes even tho' some ethnologists have called them that way. Veps were one of the nations that established Russia, together with the Chudes. This is what Russian Primary Chronicle says about ethnogeography back then:

In the share of Japheth lies Rus', Chud, and all the gentiles: Merya, Muroma, Ves', Mordva, Chud beyond the portages, Perm', Pechera, Yam', Ugra, Litva, Zimegola, Kors', Let'gola, and Liv'.

So Chud' and Ves' are different people. Original Chud' were kinsmen of modern day Estonians, living in territory of modern Estonia but also Pskov and Novgorod regions of Russia. Veps language is closer to Finnish. Allmost all of listed nations are Finno-Ugric btw, none of them is Slavic.

Veps or Ves' as their annalistic name goes however were major players in Aldeigjuborg/Staraya Ladoga, oldest town in Russia. They infact very likely established it.

Few more pics about the Vepsians:



This guy is Rurik Lonin, Veps revivalist:


These pics are from movie Vepsan Sai:

[Jarl]

Good job Jarl. There are few small mistakes but one I really need to correct. Veps-people are not the Chudes even tho' some ethnologists have called them that way. Veps were one of the nations that established Russia, together with the Chudes. This is what Russian Primary Chronicle says about ethnogeography back then

Yeah! Chudes were ancestors of Estonians and Votes I reckon. Am I correct on that? I am not certain why Vepses are sometimes called "Chudy" in Russian. Where did the Izhorians come from?

It seems Russians called "Chudes" all proto-Estonians, Votes and Vepses alike:

Chud or Chude is a term historically applied in the early Russian annals to several Finnic peoples in the area of what is now Finland, Estonia and Northwestern Russia.

The term Chudes was first applied by a monk Nestor in the earliest Russian chronicles to proto-Estonians.[1] According to Nestor in 1030 Yaroslav I the Wise invaded the country of the Chuds and laid the foundations of Yuriev, (the historical Russian name of Tartu, Estonia). Then it was used for other Baltic Finns called volok which is thought to refer to the Karelians.

According to Old East Slavic chronicles the Chudes were one of the founders of the Rus' state.[1] Folk etymology derives the word from Old East Slavic language (chuzhoi, 'foreign'; or chudnyi 'odd'; or chud 'weird').

Later, the word "Chudes" was more often used for more eastern Finnic peoples, Veps and Votes in particular, while some derivatives of "chud" like chukhna or chukhonets were applied to more western Finns and Estonians. Following the Russian conquests of Finland 1714–1809, and increasing contacts between Finns and Saint Petersburg, Finns perceived the word Chud to be disparaging and hinting at the serfdom that the Russians were believed to find fit for the Finns. However, as a disparaging word, it was rather "chukhna" that was applied also to Finns (and likewise to Estonians) as late as during the Winter War, 1939–1940, between the Soviet Union and Finland.

In present day Russian vernacular the word chukhna is often used to denote Veps. The name Chudes (or Northern Chudes) has been used for Veps people also by some anthropologists.

[Hweinlant]

Yeah! Chudes were ancestors of Estonians and Votes I reckon. Am I correct on that? I am not certain why Vepses are sometimes called "Chudy" in Russian. Where did the Izhorians come from?

Yes, you are. Chud' seem to have been collective name for "tribes" belonging to southern group of Balto-Fennics. Later the Chude expanded to cover all Balto-Fennics and finally it became mythological. There are plenty of folktales about the "white eye Chude" in Russia. Chudes are allways fabulously rich in those stories but hate christianity. When christianity came to north Russia the Chudes disappeared. According to tales they went to their underground kingdom.

Considering that language of Orthodox church is Church Slavonic those tales are actually allegory to language change. People tought that the Chude disappeared because of the christianity. Estonians did not accept Orthodox christianity so they didnt disappear.

Main street of old Novgorod was called "Chud st.", brother-in-law (and lord of Novgorod and Kiev) of Rurik the Rus' was Oleg (Helgi), often nicknamed as Chudin Boyar ("Chud' lord").

Izhorans (Inkerikko is their real name) are too ancient people, they did not come from anywhere. They grew up from Ingrian ground like mushrooms

[Hweinlant]

Old Skool Ingrian Finns, early 1900's, before the genocide (when they were not "endangered spieces" but ethnic majority of Ingermanland)








Some contemporary Inkeri's:

[Aemma]

Now this is the kind of thread that makes The Apricity a jewel! Excellent work gentlemen and thank you!

Such beautiful people and cultures disappearing from this earth before our very eyes. Now THAT is a racial tragedy!

Keep up the excellent work! I'm looking forward to reading more...

Cheers for now!...Aemma

[Jarl]

Right... I added loads of pics of Lapps and views from Finland and Kola. Next stop - South Estonians! Thanks for the pics Hweinlant!


Handful of rough conlusions. Looking through those websites and articles, it appears that:

1. communism and WWII decimated Finnic-speaking populations of Ingria,

2. there was inadequate policy and no concern for Finnic or Sami heritage preservation in Soviet Union,

3. in the Soviet Union, there were brutal interventions into the traditional lifestyle of these people and attempts of russification.


Nonetheless the number of Russian Sami seems to be steadily increasing:

Since 1926 the number of Sami in Russia has gradually increased:

census 1926: 1,720 (this number refers to the total Soviet Union)
census 1939: 1,829
census 1959: 1,760
census 1970: 1,836
census 1979: 1,775
census 1989: 1,835
census 2002: 1,991

I cannot really explain why the Swedish-Norwegian Ume and Pite Sami are on the verge of extinction now... what was the Norwegian and the Swedish policy towards the Sami in the past? Anybody knows??? From what I gathered here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Co...ami_map_II.PNG

Ume Sami language is not recognized by the local Norwegian distric authorities. Though the neighbouring Pite languge is. Norwegian Pite Sami:



Another Norwegian Sami:



Is it voluntary germanisation and emigration into cities? I found this:

For long periods of time, the Sami lifestyle thrived because of its adaptation to the Arctic environment. Indeed, throughout the 18th century, as Norwegians of Northern Norway suffered from low fish prices and consequent depopulation, the Sami cultural element was strengthened, since the Sami were mostly independent of supplies from Southern Norway.

A Pite Sami from Beiarn, NorwayHowever, in the 19th century, Norwegian authorities put the Sami culture under pressure in order to make the Norwegian language and culture universal. A strong economic development of the north also took place, giving Norwegian culture and language status. On the Swedish and Finnish side, the authorities were much less militant in their efforts; however, strong economic development in the north led to a weakening of status and economy for the Sami.

The strongest pressure took place from around 1900 to 1940, when Norway invested considerable money and effort to wipe out Sami culture. Notably, anyone who wanted to buy or lease state lands for agriculture in Finnmark, had to prove knowledge of the Norwegian language. This also ultimately caused the dislocation in the 1920s, which increased the gap between local Sami groups (something still present today) and sometimes bears the character of an internal Sami ethnic conflict. Another factor was the heavy war destruction in northern Finland and northern Norway in 1944-45, destroying all existing houses or kota, and visible traces of Sami culture. After World War II, the pressure was relaxed somewhat.

The controversy around the construction of the hydro-electric power station in Alta in 1979 brought Sami rights onto the political agenda. In August 1986, the national anthem (Sámi soga lávlla) and flag (Sami flag) of the Sami people were created. In 1989, the first Sami parliament in Norway was elected. In 2005, the Finnmark Act was passed in the Norwegian parliament. This law gives the Sami parliament and the Finnmark Provincial council a joint responsibility of administering the land areas previously considered state property. These areas (96% of the provincial area), which have always been used primarily by the Sami, now belong officially to the people of the province, Sami or Norwegian, and not to the Norwegian state.

So:

1. There were organised attempts to assimilate/dislocate Samis. Partucluarly in Norway,

2. WWII also contributed to the demographical recession of Finland's and Norway's Sami.

More on Sami dislocation and the history of Sami here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dislocation_of_Sami_people

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_hi...s_in_the_North


Wiki states Sweden and Finland were liberal towards the Sami, while Norway seemd to be a bit less concerned:

News in Sami on national radio in Norway started in 1946. At about the same time, experiments were being done with bilingual teachings of the alphabet in the first and second grade, to ease the learning process. However, the presence of a Sami minority in Norway was largely ignored. Education, communication, industrialization, all contributed to integrating Sami communities into Norwegian society at the point of losing identity.

I guess this explains it best. No adequate policy for the preservation of Sami language among school children, plus simultaneous progressive urbanisation/industrialisation pushing the Sami away or sucking them in.

[Loki]

Silesians.

There are only 170,000 Silesians left in their native lands (current Poland) ... the rest have been expelled from their homeland after World War II.

[Hweinlant]

Handful of rough conlusions. Looking through those websites and articles, it appears that:

[b]1. communism and WWII decimated Finnic-speaking populations of Ingria,

Genocide of Ingrian autochtons started in 1920's, it's hayday was reached in 1937 when Finnish language was declared "bourguese nationalist" language, basically Finnish (and other autochton) ethnicities were made illegal in Soviet Union. Rest of the schools were closed (there was some 300 Finnish schools in Ingermanland), all newspapers closed and academia murdered. Some 10.000 Finns are to be found from Levasovo massgrave. Many more in Karelia. 2 years later Soviets attacked Finland, 1939, in order to "protect Leningrad from the fascists".

Allready before that lot of Ingrians were killed and deported. Some 100.000 Finns were dispersed into Siberia and Cenral-Asia, many send to deathcamps. This is the unknown genocide in Europe. Finland was able to evacuate some 60.000 Ingrian autochtonos to Finland with help of Germany during WW2. After the war Soviets promised that the Ingrians can return to their homes in Ingermanland. This was blatant lie. They were put into trains, these trains did not take them home but to Bolshevik deathcamps and deportation at faraway lands.

Russian Federation was kind enough to rehabilate Ingrians 1993. Yet no compensation for lost lands, farms and lives. There are no memorials for Ingrians and no Russian officials have ever said "sorry". Infact most Russians living in Ingermanland (called; Leningrad oblast) dont even know that they are walking in Finnish lands. They havent asked the question; Why is St. Petersburg located at Leningrad region

2. there was inadequate policy and no concern for Finnic or Sami heritage preservation in Soviet Union,

There was policy of genocide.