Eastern Mari people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Mari women of the Ural region | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Languages | |
| Eastern Mari language |
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]
The Eastern Mari language variety includes loanwords and influence from Russian, Tatar, and Bashkir.[2]
About 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]
