Karelians

Subject / Ethnic culture/Ethnic communities
Subject / Ethnic culture/Ethnic communities/
Subject / Ethnic culture//
Karelians (their own native name is kar'yalaizet) is an ethnic community. Among Karelians there are some ethnic local groups which can be stood out. The Karelian language is related to the Baltic-Finnic subgroup of the Finno-Ugric branch of the Ural language family and has three dialects: Karelians' one proper, Livviks' and Lyudiks' ones. According to the census of 2002 in Russian Federation there were 93344 Karelians, including 2057 Karelians living in the Leningrad Oblast. On the territory of the Leningrad Oblast there are two areas of compact habitation of Karelians. One of them was arised in the 17th century in the upper reaches of the Chagoda River (now it's Boksitogorsk District) where a group of Tikhvin Karelians was formed. Another area is located to the north of the Svir River in Lodeinoye Pole District (some villages called Andreyevshchina, former Kondushi). The own native names of Tikhvin Karelians are Kar'yalazet/Karialazet, the names of Livviks are Livgilyains, Livvikyoi. The Karelians of Tikhvin formed their own particular mode of speech of the Karelian dialect proper, the Karelians of Lodeynoye Pole use the Livviks' dialect in their everyday life. The most Tikhvin Karelians were Old Believers - the Bezpopovtsy in the past, Livviks have been the Orthodox. In the 19th - the beginning of the 20th century the main occupations of Karelians of Tikhvin and Lodeynoye Pole were farming and animal husbandry. The secondary trades were hunting and fishing, timber trades, including logging. There were some domestic trades developed. They were cooperage, weaving, embroidery, knitting, braiding from birch bark, wood carving and wood painting. The most Karelian villages had street planning and the planning where their houses were located in the riverside rows. Their traditional homes are izbas built of logs which are similar to the West and North Russian ones. The traditional clothes is close the North Russian ones. Their main food was farinaceous foods, cereals and also vegetables, mushrooms, berries, fish, dairy products, rarely meat. Their everyday drinks were turnip kvass, tea; the holiday one was beer. Old people kept notions about spirits- masters of water, forest, home, utility structures. There is a tradition of lamentation ritual, legends were formed, there are fairy tales and other folk genres . Yegorov, Sergey Borisovich
Leningrad Oblast, the/Lodeynoye Pole District/Andreyevshchina Village
Leningrad Oblast, the/Boksitogorsk District
Topographical landmarks/Chagoda River, the
Topographical landmarks/Svir River, the
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