Izhorians

From NativeWiki

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

The history of Izhorians is bounded to the history of Ingria. It is supposed that at the beginning of II millennium post Christum, Izhorians moved from Karelia to west and south-west. In 1478 Novgorod Republic, where Ingrians had settled, was united with Grand Duchy of Moscow, some of the Izhorians were transferred to east. Establishment of St. Petersburg in 1703 had great influence on Izhorian culture. Deportations in 1929—1931 changed dramatically the demographics of Ingria. The Second World War had the biggest impact on Izhorian culture, as devastating battles near Leningrad were held.

In 1848 P. von Köppen counted 17,800 Izhorians, in 1926 there lived 26137 Izhorians in Russian SFSR. 1100 Izhorians were counted in USSR by cencus in 1959. In 1989, 820 self-designated Izhorians, thereof 302 speakers of their Finnic language, (known as Ingrian or Izhorian) were registered. 449 Izhorians lived on the territory of 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.

The language, close to Karelian, is used primarily by members of the older generation. It is bound for extinction. Izhorian, along with Finnish, Karelian and Vepsian, belongs to the Northern Baltic-Finnic group of the Finno-Ugric languages. Izhorian consists of four dialects: Soikola, Hevaha (or Heva), lower-Luuga and Oredezhi -- from the names of Soikola (Soikino) peninsula, Heva, Luuga (Lauga) and Oredezhi rivers.

In 1932—1937, Latin letters based written Izhorian language existed, it was taught in schools of the Soikino Peninsula and the area around the mouth of the Luga River.<ref name="kurs">Kurs, Ott (1994). Ingria: The broken landbridge between Estonia and Finland. GeoJournal 33.1, 107-113.</ref>. Several textbooks were published, in 1936 even a grammar book was published. However, in 1937 the Izhorian written language was abolished and mass repressions of the peasantry were started.<ref name="kurs"/>

The Izhorians and the Votes are generally Orthodox, while the other Finnic inhabitants of Ingria, the Ingrian Finns, are Lutheran. Some pre-Christian traditions exist, too.