Blandov A. A. Kolvitsa Karelians in the 21st Century: Ethnic Identity and Historical Memory (In Russ.)

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Original article

https://doi.org/10.15507/2076-2577.26183.408-421
https://elibrary.ru/icgeyu
УДК / UDC 94(=511.112):39

Kolvitsa Karelians in the 21st Century: Ethnic Identity and Historical Memory

A. A. Blandov
Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History of the Karelian Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation, https://ror.org/05wgt8358

Abstract

Introduction. The village of Kolvitsa, located on the Kandalaksha coast of the White Sea, is the only Karelian settlement on the Kola Peninsula and, at the same time, the northernmost Karelian locality still in existence. Founded in the late 19th century, it remained for many decades largely outside the scope of scholarly inquiry by ethnographers, historians, and linguists. The aim of this study is to analyse the ethnic identity and collective historical memory of Kolvitsa’s present-day residents and native-born inhabitants.

Materials and Methods. The article is based on fieldwork materials collected by the author in the Kandalaksha District of the Murmansk Region between 2023 and 2025, as well as archival sources, published speech samples, newspaper articles, and other materials. The methodological framework of the study comprises observation and in-depth interviewing, narrative analysis, comparative historical analysis, and the functional method. Their application made it possible to record and examine texts describing the traditional occupations, social composition, and place names of the village of Kolvitsa, as well as the ethnic and religious identity of its present-day residents and their perceptions of local history.

Results and Discussion. The oral tradition of people born in Kolvitsa is dominated by accounts of events that took place between the 1890s and the 1940s, including migration to the Kola Peninsula, participation in the Russian Civil War, work on collective farms, and other experiences. These narratives place local history within a broader national context while also shaping the local identity of communities living along the coast of Kandalaksha Bay. The settlers and their descendants gradually adapted to the surrounding landscape and invested it with new meanings rooted in their own life experiences, although some historical legends may have been borrowed from neighbouring Russian communities. Despite the gradual loss of their language, many natives of Kolvitsa confidently identify themselves as Karelians. Their religious identity, however, is considerably less clearly defined.

Conclusion. The study contributes to research on the ethnic history of the northern coast of the White Sea and on the development of the northernmost surviving group of the Karelian people. The materials presented in the article may prove valuable for compiling an ethno-confessional atlas of the region, examining migration flows in the 19th and 20th centuries, and analysing practices of adaptation to and settlement of Arctic landscapes. The findings may also be of interest to local historians, residents, and tourists.

Keywords: Kolvitsa, Karelians, Pomors, ethnic identity, historical memory

Funding: Financial support for the research was provided from the federal budget to fulfill the state assignment of the Karelian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences No. 125032004283-0 “Spiritual Traditions of the Peoples of Karelia: Texts and Contexts” (2025–2027).

Acknowledgements: The author expresses gratitude to the residents of the village of Kolvitsa for their help in collecting authentic materials of scientific value, as well as to Cand.Sci. (Philol.) D. V. Kuzmin for valuable advice during the preparation of the article. All the mentioned persons have given their information consent to be mentioned in the acknowledgements.

Conflict of interest: The author declares no conflict of interest.

For citation: Blandov A.A. Kolvitsa Karelians in the 21st Century: Ethnic Identity and Historical Memory. Finno–Ugric World. 2026;18(3):408‒421. https://doi.org/10.15507/2076-2577.26183.408-421

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Information about the author:

Aleksei A. Blandov, Cand.Sci. (Hist.), Senior Researcher, Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History, Karelian Research Centre of the RAS (11 Pushkin St., Petrozavodsk 185910, Russian Federation), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1473-0314, SPIN-code: 9388-8143, vap_87@inbox.ru

The author has read and approved the final manuscript.

Submitted 09.12.2025; revised 26.02.2026; accepted 05.03.2026.

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