Finno-Ugric Peoples As Ethnic Minorities

The total number of Finno-Ugrians and Samoyeds, i.e. speakers of Uralic languages, is less than 25 million and includes a large variety of small groups. At present they live in small areas extending from the Scandinavian peninsula to the Taimyr peninsula in Siberia and as far south as the Carpathian Basin (the Hungarians).

Finno-Ugrians are subdivided into 5 branches:

• Baltic Finns (Finns, Estonians, Karelians, Izhorians, Veps, Livonians and Votes)
• Samis or Lapps
• Volga-Finns (Erza-Mordvinians, Moksha-Mordvinians, and Mari or Cheremis)
• Finno-Permyaks (Komi or Zyryans, and Udmurts or Votyaks)
• Ugrians (Hungarians, Khant or Ostyaks, and Mansi or Voguls).

The following fact sheet highlights the problems of the lesser known and less fortunate Finno-Ugric peoples who at present form various ethnic minorities mostly in Russia.

The fate of each Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia has been different, but every group has had to struggle for its survival. In the 10th century, Finno-Ugric peoples lived all over Russia. In many areas today, however, all that remains of the former Finno-Ugric inhabitants are placenames. Meryas and Muroms no longer exist — Votes and Izhorians have been almost completely assimilated. Assimilation is a problem all Finno-Ugric peoples face in Russia. They have become minorities in their ancestral land, and approximately 30% of them have lost their native language.

The deterioration in their situation occurred in phases associated with changes in Russian Statehood.

The principality of Novgorod expands. The Komi (Zyryans) are subjugated and converted to the orthodox faith. The Republic of Vjatka is formed, the Northern Udmurts (Votyaks) are subdued and the town of Vjatka is founded.

The 16th Century

Kazan is conquered, the Mari (Cheremis) and the Southern Udmurts (Votyaks) are subjugated. New towns are founded on their territory. The Finno-Ugric population living near the new towns is forced to leave. The Khant (Ostyaks) and the Mansi (Voguls) are conquered.

The 17th Century

The conquered areas are colonised, Siberia is occupied and the Mari (Cheremis) and the Udmurts (Votyaks) are forced to participate.

The Mari and the Udmurts are converted to the orthodox faith. 70 000 Mari flee to what is now the territory of Bashkortostan. Mordvins emigrate en masse from the pressure of Russian colonisation. The Southern Urals are industrialised and St. Petersburg is founded. The local Finno-Ugric population is used extensively in construction work in these areas. The russification of the Finno-Ugric peoples becomes part of the Russian Empire’s domestic policy. These minorities have no access to native language education or literature. They cannot be nominated for the local administrative posts. The Russian attitude towards the Finno-Ugric minorities becomes increasingly contemptuous. Negative reports about them are constantly published in the Russian press.

Some Finno-Ugric peoples obtain autonomous districts or republics within the Soviet Union. Borders, however, are not drawn in accordance with ethnic distribution, but are based solely on economic expediency. This leads to ethnic conflict. Most of the so called Finno-Ugric republics contain areas with a purely Russian population, while some areas with an almost 100 % indigenous population might not be included in their autonomous republic at all. This period is characterised by large-scale industrialisation and exploitation of oil and gas deposits. Colonisation becomes even more intensive. Finno-Ugric intellectuals are repressed. Native language schools which had operated for a short period in the twenties and thirties are closed down. Some of the Finno-Ugric peoples are forced to give up the use of the Latin alphabet and use the Cyrillic. The native populations become rapidly urbanised. The number of the Finno-Ugrians settled outside their homeland increases, as they are sent to the areas of construction all over the Soviet Union (in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and so on).

Table 1

Representatives of the three independent Finno-Ugric nations also live in Russia. According to the census 1989 the figures are: 47 000 Finns, 46 000 Estonians and 5700 Hungarians.

The national survival of the Finno-Ugric peoples as nations in Russia has become seriously endangered as is illustrated by the following figures:

Table 2

Percentage of the Finno-Ugric population in Russia who consider their mother tongue as their first language:
Finno-Ugric nation	In1979	In 1989
Mordvins Udmurts (Votyaks) Mari (Cheremis) Komi (Zyryans) Komi-Permyaks Karelians Khant (Ostyaks) Mansi (Voguls) Samis (Lapps) Ingrian Finns (Ingermanlanders) Estonians Hungarians	74,6 77,6 87,7 76,9 78,0 56,5 68,1 49,7 51,8 42,8 46,9 62,9	69,0 70,8 81,9 71,0 71,1 48,6 60,8 36,7 42,0 36,2 41,5 61,2

Table 3

The Finno-Ugric peoples have emigrated in increasing numbers during the last 30 years, leading to drastic changes in demographics. The Mari population, for instance, increased by 16% within the Mari Republic, but by 29% outside it between 1959 and 1989. The corresponding figures for the Udmurts are 5% and 20%. The Komi-Permyaks population, however, decreased by 23% in their homeland, but increased by 3% outside it. The percentage of Finno-Ugrians who live outside their homeland has been increasing steadily: in 1959, 45% of the Mari lived elsewhere, compared to 52% in 1989; the figures for the Udmurts are 24% and 31%, respectively.

Even in the autonomous republics such trends inevitably lead to the russification of the Finno-Ugric peoples. In addition, the areas inhabited by Finno-Ugrians, especially those rich in natural resources (the homelands of the Khant, the Mansi and the Lapps, in particular), have been irreparably polluted as a result of the Soviet Union’s destructive mining practices. Thus both their culture and their land were extensively damaged by Soviet policies. The indigenous population was helpless as they have few seats in local parliaments.

In their common struggle for survival, the Finno-Ugric peoples have in recent years established closer cooperation with each other. The first congress of Finno-Ugric peoples in Russia took place in the Udmurt capital, Odzhkar, in 1992. A committee for Finno-Ugric affairs has been founded, its headquarters are in Finland. The representatives from Estonia and Hungary include members of parliament and government officials. The committee organises conferences and seminars on practical issues, publishes information bulletins, supports educational and cultural policies (including the development of educational opportunities in Finland, Hungary and Estonia for Finno-Ugric peoples from Russia), tries to bring the Finno-Ugric minorities problems to international attention etc. But above all, the future of the Finno-Ugric minorities in Russia depends on the development of democracy in Russia.

Finno-Ugrians in Estonia

As a consequence of Russia’s imperialistic policy, domestic as well as foreign, a large proportion of Finno-Ugrians live outside their ethnic homeland (over 50% of the Mari and Mordvins). Since the 16th century some have come to Estonia. During Estonia’s independence (1918-1940) there were, according to the figures from the 1934 census, almost a thousand Ingrian Finns (Ingermanlanders) living in Estonia.

With the Soviet occupation in 1940 a policy of demographic change was initiated in Estonia. Large-scale industry was developed. This required additional manpower, brought in from all over the Soviet Union. Tens of thousands of Estonians were deported to Siberia and replaced mainly by Russians and other Slavs. There were few Finno-Ugrians among the newcomers, except for Ingrian Finns and Izhorians. For political reasons they were not allowed to live in their homeland in north-western Russia and chose to settle nearby, in Estonia. As a result of this policy, 18% of all the Ingrian Finns in the Soviet Union were living in Estonia in 1959 (as were 34% of the Izhorians) — altogether about 17 000 persons, which formed a relatively large minority group. This figure remained unchanged for the next 30 years. No other Finno-Ugric peoples are represented by more than a thousand individuals in Estonia. The larger groups according to the 1989 census were: Mordvins (985), Karelians (881), Udmurts (413) and Mari (359). The total number of Finno-Ugrians from the former Soviet Union only constituted 1.2% of the total population of Estonia. Most of them have arrived during the 60s and 70s. The migration was mainly directed towards the cities, areas with large-scale industry, i.e. Tallinn and north-eastern Estonia. Most of the immigrants were young people. Although Estonian is a language related to their own, the Finno-Ugrians were quickly russified even in Estonia, as Russian had become the dominant language of communication in the above-mentioned areas. Less than half of the Finno-Ugrians have kept their mother tongue as first language. As for Finns, whose language is fairly close to Estonian, nearly 50% have changed to Estonian, whereas over 50% of the other Finno-Ugrians in Estonia have adopted the Russian language.

Attitudes changed radically after the restoration of the Republic of Estonia. Like other ethnic minority groups in Estonia, the Finno-Ugric minorities have formed ethnic cultural associations (Finns, Mordvins, Mari, Komi, Hungarians). Finnish and Ingrian Finnish associations are especially active, as these groups are several times larger in Estonia than all the other Finno-Ugric minorities taken together. During the past few years people of Finnish or Ingrian Finnish origin have also moved to Finland, with support from the Finnish government.

During Soviet time, relatively large number of students and postgraduates of Finno-Ugric origin were enrolled at institutes of higher education in Estonia. University of Tartu in particular has always promoted Finno-Ugric Studies and tried to cater for the needs of study possibilities for researchers of Finno-Ugric minorities. This tradition still continues today.

It is hoped that the newly updated law on the cultural autonomy of ethnic minorities (enacted in October 1993) will also help further develop the ethnic identity of all national minority groups in Estonia.