The Eastern Mari are a subgroup of the Mari people, a Volga Finnic ethnic group of Russia. Eastern Mari comprise those Mari living outside of the Mari El Republic, east of the Vyatka River in the Kama and Ural regions.[1] They are concentrated in Bashkortostan, particularly in the Mishkinsky District, Birsky District, and in Neftekamsk. Eastern Mari populations are also found in southern Sverdlovsk Oblast and in Perm Krai.[2] They make up between a quarter and a third of the general Mari population. According to academic Seppo Lallukka, Eastern Mari is more of a scholarly category than an ethnically unified subgroup.[3]
 Mari women of the Ural region | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Languages | |
| Eastern Mari language |
The Eastern Mari language variety includes loanwords and influence from Russian, Tatar, and Bashkir.[2]
Culture
editAbout two thirds of Eastern Mari live in rural areas, and they are traditionally farmers.[4] Folk religion is an important part of daily life for the Mari of the Ural region,[5] and they preserve many rituals that have been lost among other Mari groups.[6] Similarly to Meadow Mari, Ural Mari have a pronounced emphasis on traditional familial principles compared to neighboring ethnic groups.[7]
Mari in Bashkortostan mainly practice a syncretic combination of Russian Orthodoxy and traditional Mari religion,[8] although Finnish Lutheran missionary efforts have established several Lutheran Mari communities in the republic which incorporate aspects of traditional Mari culture.[9]
References
edit- ^ Ivanova et al. 2020, p. 312
- ^ a b Ivanova et al. 2020, p. 313
- ^ Lallukka's arguments are summarized in Badcock, Sarah (2005). "Review: From Fugitive Peasants to Diaspora: The Eastern Mari in Tsarist and Federal Russia by Seppo Lallukka". Europe-Asia Studies. 57 (3): 512–514. JSTOR 30043898.
- ^ Ivanova et al. 2018, pp. 213–214
- ^ Berezina 2021, pp. 67–68, 70
- ^ Berezina 2021, p. 74
- ^ Berezina 2021, p. 72
- ^ Klyashev & Sadikov 2024, pp. 109–110
- ^ Klyashev & Sadikov 2024, pp. 113–115
Bibliography
edit- Berezina, Anna (2021). "Повседневные культурные практики уральских мари" [Everyday cultural practices of the Ural Mari]. Finno-Ugric World (in Russian). 13 (1): 67–78. doi:10.15507/2076-2577.013.2021.01.67-78.
- Ivanova, O. M.; Bilalova, L. M.; Guriev, E. A.; Gareev, I. S. (2018). The Eastern Mari Culture as Sinergy of Tolerance and Identity (PDF). 12th International Scientific and Practical Conference "Science and Society". London. pp. 209–222.
- Ivanova, O. M.; Guriev, E. A.; Bilalova, L. M.; Gareev, I. S. (2020). "Socio–cultural existence of modern East Mary subethnos". Amazonia Investiga. 9 (28): 311–319. doi:10.34069/AI/2020.28.04.35. ISSN 2322-6307.
- Klyashev, Alexander; Sadikov, Ranus (2024). "Syncretism and Identity: The Integration of Lutheranism among the Mari People of Bashkortostan, Russia". Journal of Contemporary Rituals and Traditions. 2 (2): 109–138. doi:10.15575/jcrt.373. ISSN 2988-5884.
Further reading
edit- Lallukka, Seppo (2003). From Fugitive Peasants to Diaspora: The Eastern Mari in Tsarist and Federal Russia. Academia Scientiarum Fennica. ISBN 9789514109416.
- Sadikov, Ranus (2021). "Марийцы-лютеране Башкирии: между старыми традициями и новыми религиозными правилами" [Mari Lutherans of Bashkiria: Between Old Traditions and New Religious Rules]. Religiovedenie (in Russian) (3): 15–25. doi:10.22250/2072-8662.2021.3.15-25.