Eastern Mari people

Eastern Mari people

Eastern Mari women of the Ural region
Regions with significant populations
Bashkortostan Perm Krai Sverdlovsk Oblast
Languages
Eastern Mari language

The Eastern Mari are a subgroup of the Mari people, a Volga Finnic ethnic group of Russia. Eastern Mari live outside of the Mari El Republic, east of the Vyatka River. 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.

The Eastern Mari language variety includes loanwords and influence from Russian, Tatar, and Bashkir.

About two thirds of Eastern Mari live in rural areas, and they are traditionally farmers. Mari in Bashkortostan mainly practice a syncretic combination of Russian Orthodoxy and traditional Mari religion, although Finnish Lutheran missionary efforts have established several Lutheran Mari communities in the republic which incorporate aspects of traditional Mari culture.

Bibliography

• 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.