E & GEN QU UI NI N U E ETO INSTITU SA S UT SETOMAA ˚ UNIQUE AND GENUINE 2014 CONTENTS 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Who are the Setos, and where is Setomaa? �������� 4 Setomaa in facts ������������������������������������������� 9 History of Setomaa ������������������������������������� 12 Reawakening period to present day ����������������� 29 Seto language �������������������������������������������� 49 Texts —> Paul Hagu, Aare Hõrn, Anti Lillak, ������������������� Andreas Kalkun, Helen Külvik, Elvi Nassar, Leelo – the Seto singing tradition 57 Karl Pajusalu, Kristiina Tiideberg, Kadri Vissel Religion of Setos ���������������������������������������� 73 Editor —> Helen Külvik Folk calendar holidays and church feasts ����������� 89 Map —> AS Regio Traditional food ����������������������������������������� 113 ������������������������� Design —> Agnes Ratas National dress and jewellery 124 ������������������������������� Cover photos —> Toomas Tuul Traditional architecture 133 ������������������������������������� Print —> Greif Ltd Nature of Setomaa 141 The publication is supported by the Estonia–Latvia programme's cooperation project “Seto-Suiti Renaissance” and Setomaa cultural programme © Authors and SA Seto Instituut, 2014 © AS Regio, 2014 ISBN 978-9949-9540-1-8 www.setoinstituut.ee DUC ODUC 4 INTRO TION INTR TION 5 toms are still alive. Paradoxically, the economic back- WHO ARE THE wardness and unwritten culture – written culture was a recent development in Setomaa – have helped to SETOS, AND WHERE maintain those traditions. Setomaa, with its special and ancient cultural IS SETOMAA? features, has interested researchers since the end of the 19th century. A three-volume collection of Seto songs was published at the beginning of the 20th cen- The Setos are a small Finno-Ugric nation close tury. The unique and ancient Seto singing tradition to the border between Estonia and Russia, in the is called leelo. In the autumn of 2009, leelo was offi- most southeasterly part of Estonia, an area called cially recognised and added to the list of UNESCO’s Setomaa. Several features distinguish Setos from Intangible Cultural Heritage. Seeing Seto women Estonians. Firstly, in contrast to primarily Lutheran or singing and wearing distinctive and eye-catching silver atheist Estonians, Setos are traditionally Orthodox. jewellery is a sight to remember – a visiting card Secondly, the language they speak differs from the for Setomaa. Estonian written language in a way that makes it dif- Several collections, research papers and pieces ficult for Estonians to understand, and almost impos- of work have appeared during the last decade docu- sible for them to learn to speak. Russian has had a menting Seto culture. They are mostly in Estonian, major impact on the Seto language, as well as their with some in Seto as well. Some of them do include clothing, cooking, architecture and music. Historically, references and captions in English, but unfortu- Setomaa was Russian territory, thus the Russian influ- nately there is no comprehensive English overview of ence. However, Setos have remained a separate nation Setomaa – nothing that Setos could take with them to this day, and have not been subsumed by Russia. when going abroad to introduce themselves or to give However, their location on the boundary between to foreign visitors. East and West has greatly affected the being and The present book aims to do just that. The book essence of Setos. Setomaa has always been on the was put together in the framework of the Estonian- periphery, a borderland. Being peripheral and being —> Despite of difficult history, the Seto people know how to party. separated from others is the reason why ancient cus- The eye-catching national national dress adds festivity. Photo: Andres Ots DUC DUC 8 INTRO TION INTRO TION 9 Latvian international cooperational project “Seto- Suiti Renaissance”. The Suiti cultural environment in SETOMAA Courland (Kuramaa) belongs to the UNESCO Intan- gible Cultural Heritage list, like the Seto leelo, and IN FACTS both these fascinating areas deserve to be introduced to the English reader as well. The book gives a general yet detailed overview of TERRITORY Setomaa and its diverse history, surprisingly unique Divided between two countries: Estonia and Russia nature and the rich cultural repository of the Setos: Historically, the territory of Setos (Pechory their language, religion, traditional folk celebrations, County) has covered about 1700 km2 leelo singing practices, national dress, traditional food Nowadays, about 2/3 of the historical range and architecture. All of these aspects are closely belongs to Russian Federation, and about 1/3 to linked together and have developed under the specific Estonian Republic. circumstances which Setos have lived under since the In Estonia, the territory of Setomaa is divided earliest days. We hope that this guide will help friends into 3 rural municipalities (Meremäe, Mikitamäe, of Setomaa to better know and understand this small Värska), and a small patch lies in Misso municipality. but unique place. More importantly, however, seeing is believing! Come and visit us! Population As of 2011 Estonian census, there are about 12 800 people able to understand the Seto language in Esto- nia. About 4000 of them live in Setomaa (Estonia), about 8500 elsewhere in Estonia and in the world, and about 300 in Russia. The historical capital of Setomaa has been Pechory (Petseri), which now belongs to Russia. <— Härmä village with typical log buildings with no outer The most important settlements in today’s wainscoting. Photo: Ahto Raudoja Setomaa in Estonia are Värska, Obinitsa, Meremäe, <— The main colors of Seto national dress are white, red and black, and the noteworthy silver brooch of women can be called Mikitamäe, Luhamaa and Saatse. a trademark of Setos.. Photo: Ülle Pärnoja 10 OMAA IN FAC OMAA IN FAC 11 SET TS SET TS SPECIAL FEATURES ˚ Leelo (special singing) – on the list of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2009 ˚ Silver jewellery, especially the huge silver brooch ˚ Seto Kingdom Days held in August ˚ Orthodox religion and church feast days followed by village parties Finland The most important church feasts are: Norway ˚ St. George’s Day (6 May) at Värska Russia St. John’s Day (7 June) at Miikse Estonia ˚ Sweden Setomaa ˚ Päätnits/St. Paraskeva Day (last Friday of July) at Saatse Latvia Transfiguration Day (19 August) at Obinitsa ˚ Lithuania ˚ Assumption of Mary (Great St. Mary’s Day, 28 August) at Pechory Belarus Poland Location of Setomaa. A detailed map of Setomaa is attached on the back cover Tourist information: www.visitsetomaa.ee The flag of Setomaa, adopted in 2003 12 HISTORY HISTORY 13 instance, in the pine forests around Laossina, Suurõ- HISTORY OF Rõsna and Obinitsa. While in the Soviet times it was thought that the burial mounds mainly belonged to SETOMAA Slavic tribes, in recent decades researchers have gen- erally been of the opinion that these were the burial places of a local Baltic-Finnic nation. Burial mounds EARLIEST HISTORY have been common also elsewhere in south-eastern The history of settlement in Setomaa is a long one, Estonia and the Pskov region. dating back at least 8,000 to 9,000 years. The first humans here chose to settle near bodies of water, BEGINNING OF THE RUSSIAN State like Värska Bay, Optjok River and Lake Izborsk. Setomaa was first engaged in big politics during the In the hillier western part of Setomaa, people have time of the Vikings (9th to 11th century). Accord- also lived farther away from large bodies of water, as ing to legend, in 862 three Varangian brothers is evidenced by the stone tools found around Mere- were called from overseas to rule the Russian State: mäe. Not much changed over millennia: the settle- Rjurik, Sineus and Truvor. It is said that Rjurik set- ments of ancient people remained in the same regions tled in Novgorod, Sineus at Beloozero, and Truvor at throughout the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Izborsk. The old town hill in Izborsk is therefore also Early Iron Age. As yet, we do not know a lot about known as Truvor’s Castle. the burial grounds of those times – only a few Early Some historians think that the original text might Iron Age stone graves have been examined. have said that Rjurik came “sine hus, thru varing” or “with There is considerably more information about his tribe, a faithful force” and a scrivener, not knowing burial grounds from the Middle Iron Age. From the Proto-Norse, later thought that those words stood for 6th to the 10th century, people used to build round names – Sineus and Truvor. It has also been thought or elongated mounds of sand, in which they buried that instead of Izborsk, as mentioned in the legend, the bone fragments of the deceased burnt on a pyre. —> The first humans settled near water bodies, such as the Värska Sometimes, bones have been buried in such mounds Bay. Today, there is a well-known curative centre and recre- in a burial urn, and jewellery or other smaller items ation area. Photo: Toomas Tuul have been added. There are numerous mounds, for —> In the first centuries of the second millennium, the Izborsk Castle became a major fortified center of the area settled by the ancestors of Setos. Photo: Natalia Baranova 16 HISTORY HISTORY 17 Rurik actually settled in Pskov, as the location of Pskov erected on the lands of the Diocese of Dorpat, and on Velikaya River is much more advantageous than Marienburg or Alu¯ksne Castle on the lands of the that of Izborsk in terms of access to main waterways. Livonian Order in 1342. At Izborsk, the former castle Be that as it may, over the last centuries of the was abandoned and in 1330 a stronger and more con- Antiquity, Izborsk Castle together with the adjacent temporary stone castle was completed a few hundred settlement grew into an important centre in the con- metres away. The old castle was replaced by the small text of both Setomaa and the entire developing Old Nikolsky monastery.