The Veps are a Finnic-speaking people, who live in present-day northwestern Russia (see Finno-Ugrians; Russians: nationality). Their ancestral territory was around Lake Onega and the headwaters of the oyat River. There now exist three defined groups: The Aanis-Veps, or Northern Veps inhabit Karelia near Aanisjarv, to the south of Petroskoi; the Central Veps, the largest group, live on the River Oyat in the St. Petersburg region. The Southern Veps live on the Leedjogi River in the eastern part of the St. Petersburg region on the northwestern edge of the Vologda Oblast. In Russian texts the Veps are sometimes called Chuds (or Northern Chuds), a name also applied by the Russian Slavs to the Votes (or Southern Chuds) and other Finnic tribes. To the south and east of the Veps lived the Merya, occupying the territory between the Oka and the upper Volga.
ORIGINS
Jordanes wrote about the Vasina, possibly the Veps or an ancestral people, in the context of their relations with the Goths in the sixth century C. E. It is known with certainty that by the ninth century the Veps were one of the more powerful Finnic tribes in the country around Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega.
LANGUAGE
The Vepsian language is in the Balto-Finnic group of Finnic in the Finno-ugric language family. The three surviving dialects correspond to the northern, central, and southern tribal groupings. The extinct language of the Merya is thought to be related to Vepsian.
HISTORY
The Veps, as did other Finnic peoples, had contacts with the Vikings in the ninth century C. E. and most certainly before. They are known to have served under Prince Oleg of the Rus in his various campaigns of the late ninth and early 10th century, in 907 he attacked Constantinople (modern Istanbul). In the 11th century the principality of Novgorod had hegemony in the region, and the Veps and other Finnics became caught up in its struggle over the region with Sweden. The Treaty of Noteborg, signed in 1323 by Novgorod and the Swedish kingdom, had no clear delineation of the borders between the countries. The major powers of the time, including Denmark, Sweden, Novgorod, and Kievan Rus, all claimed the right to levy taxes on the Vepsian territory. In 1478 Vepsian lands were annexed by Russian Slavs to the Grand Principality of Muscovy
Over the centuries under Russian rule the Veps have had to endure increased Slavic presence in their homeland, decimation of their forests for lumber, and forced conversion to Eastern Orthodox Christianity Economic hardship and loss of traditional culture continued into the 20th century during the era of the Soviet Union (USSR). In the 1920s-30s to avoid collectivization many Veps migrated to the Kemerovo region of Siberia. in 1937 the USSR initiated a policy of suppression of minorities, causing further loss of identity
During World War II (1939-45) Finland, supporting Nazi Germany against the USSR, occupied the homeland of the Northern Veps. Some Veps joined the Finnish army, forming the volunteer Kindred Battallion. During and after the war Soviet authorities severely punished anyone who had collaborated with the Finns.
Even before the breakup of the Soviet Empire in 1991 the Veps had begun to experience a rebirth of national consciousness. In 1972 a Veps-Russian dictionary was published in Leningrad, helping to preserve the language. In 1989 the Veps Cultural Society was formed and, in 1991, the Vepsa Ethnographic Museum.
CULTURE (see also Finno-Ugrians) Economy
Veps have always engaged in farming and herding, as well as hunting in the forests and fishing in lakes and rivers. In 1703 Peter the Great of Russia founded a metalworking and munitions factory on Vepsian lands near Aanisjarv, where Veps found employment. The Veps are also known for stone cutting, working in quarries, as well as stone polishing. Many have traditionally been migrant workers in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, and Lithuania in times when international travel was permitted.
The Veps used sleighs, sledges, toboggans, and a type of springless carriage known as a barouche-tarantas.
Birch bark was utilized in many capacities by the Veps—for horns, bags, boxes, and various food containers. The only traditional craft that has widely endured among the Veps, however, is pottery.
The Vepsian pagan religion celebrated animals, such as the bear and the pike (a fish). Wood was favored for ceremonial objects, such as staffs made of alder used by a noid (shaman) in weddings and other rites. They had spoken charms for healing. Omens govern much of their behavior, such as in the building of their homes.
Some of the ancient beliefs carried over into their interpretation of Christianity. A Vepsian house traditionally has a yumalchog, “holy corner,” where icons are hung and other revered objects are kept on a blue table. An ancient belief maintains that a goblin Pertyizhand lives under the household stove.
Surviving Veps, many of whom have departed from their ancestral villages and have been assimilated into mainstream Russian society, are at a crossroads. Political cohesiveness and cultural awareness have been diminished by the forces of history. It will take great efforts by parents and educators to pass on their native language and traditional lifeways to future generations.
World History
