#indigenous russian

[thenuclearmallard]

❗❗❗

[tamatarkha]

tuvan indigenous 🔵🟡

[songs-of-the-east]

Bashkir Girl with Fox. Ufa, European Russia.

In Bashkir culture, the fox occupied an important place within traditional mythological paradigm. Traces of a fox cult, once widespread among Bashkirs, reveal a complex system of beliefs where the fox was not only revered but also perceived as a sacred, almost divine, creature. This veneration is rooted in ancient totemic traditions, where specific clans believed themselves to be descended from foxes. Because of this, the fox functioned as more than just an animal, but also as a totemic ancestor, a spiritual guardian, and a guiding force. The fox was believed to bestow prosperity, fertility, health, and protection, and was, at times, invoked during rituals tied to these themes.

The image of the fox also appears as a zoomorphic deity in Bashkir culture; an embodiment of natural forces and a symbolic representation of the sun. An aspect shared with other Turkic and Finno-Ugric traditions, where animals often served as intermediaries between the human and spiritual realms. The fox’s cleverness and adaptability may have further elevated its status as a mythic advisor and/or trickster figure. Its presence in folk dances and customs also suggests that rituals were once performed in its honor.

Because of its sacred status, the fox was considered taboo, so it was protected and not hunted or harmed. The cultural memory of the fox cult offers valuable insight into the animistic and totemic roots of Bashkir spiritual life, pointing to a worldview where humans and animals were interlinked through cycles of kinship, mutual respect, and beliefs in reincarnation.

[irithnova]

‘Putin is using ethnic minorities to fight in Ukraine’

Russian minorities are much more likely to die in Ukraine, the Free Buryatia Foundation tells Al Jazeera.

The Russian state using ethnic minorities as cannon fodder - with a focus on Buryats

Article written in 2022, update on the Free Buryatia Foundation in September 2023 given at the end of the post.

Putin announced on October 14th 2022 that by the end of October, his partial mobilisation process would be complete

The recruitment target was 300,000. 222,000 were recruited, and it was claimed that there'd be no more plans for future recruitment

The mobilisation process soaked nation wide outrage which lead to mass protests.

It drew in criticism from some of the Russian political elite

The mobilisation process disproportionately affected ethnic minorities/impoverished regions (many impoverished regions have a high ethnic minority population)

Tuva Republic

Regions that held high populations of ethnic minorities bared the brunt of war-related deaths.

Both Ukrainian media and authorities have levelled accusations at Russian ethnic minorities - that they committed war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine

This accusations was made in May 2022 by Lydmyla Denisova, Ukrainian ombudsman for human rights

Buryats and Chechens were being accused of this

This was a form of scapegoating (not to say they 0 ethnic minorities have committed war crimes in Ukraine of course)

The Free Buryat Foundation investigated this and produced a report that challenged the notion that Buryats were ever sent to Bucha, let alone being responsible for the war crimes committed

Victoria Maladaeva is the vice president of the Free Buryatia Foundation.

She said:

Dagestan, Tuva Republic and Buryatia Republic have the highest death tolls

Moscow, with 17 million, had >50 deaths.

Buryatia with only 980,000 had 364

A Buryat is 7.8 x more likely to die in the war compared to an ethnic Russian.

A Tuvan is 10.4x more likely

The biggest losses were at the beginning of the war and numbers gradually decreased.

Mobilisation was first and foremost carried out in ethnic republics

The day Putin announced this, authorities came to Buryatia at night, went into people's homes and took them from their beds.

No one was given draft notices

They even took men with multiple children, men from the same family

Endangered ethnic groups reside in Dagestan

There are very small communities of those people with populations of around 13,000

Despite this, those minorities were still drafted

There are also very small communities in the Sakha Republic.

They are so remote, helicopters are needed to be called for medical treatment

They almost never come because of how remote these communities are

Funnily enough, helicopters came immediately to draft those people upon Putin's announcement

Putin is a Russian imperialist through and through

None Russians are treated like second class citizens

Russian cultural chauvinism is seen even in small things - such as names

Putin would frequently mispronounce Kazakhstan's president's name. If you have an ethnic Buryat name for example, Russians are reluctant to use it, instead assigning you an "easier" Russian name

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

Unfortunately, many of the people of Buryatia believe in the Russian narrative about Nazi ideology in Ukraine

It is one of the missions of the free Buryatia Foundation to help Buryats understand that this is Russian propaganda

The focus on Buryat/ethnic minority war crimes has a racial element

When an ethnic minority commits a war crime, their ethnicity is singled out

It should not matter the ethnicity of a war criminal

78 Buryat soldiers from the 11th air assault brigade were barred from terminating their contract

They were imprisoned in Luhansk.

Only Ilya Kaminskiy returned. The fate of the other men is unknown

The Free Buryatia Foundation knows they cannot help everyone but they do their best. They help people in terminating their contracts for example and have been quite successful in this.

The Free Buryatia Foundation was established to counter Russian propaganda and to protest the war.

People worldwide took an interest to this, so they founded the free Buryatia Foundation.

The Free Buryatia Foundation is the first ethnic anti war organisation in Russia

They aided in founding anti war organisations in other ethnic regions such as Tuva, Kalmykia, Udmurtia, Sakha

Many Buryats fled to Mongolia and Kazakhstan

Some men were able to come back after being drafted, some were not

The economic situation for Buryatia is dire. It ranked 81st out of 85 of Russia's regions when it came to living standards

Buryats had to spend money on a list of supplies for war that Russia did not provide them

Very recently, on September 1st, Russia banned the Free Buryatia Foundation, labelling them as undesirable and anti Russian.

Free Buryatia Foundation declared ‘undesirable’ — Meduza

Russia’s General Prosecutor has declared the Free Buryatia Foundation, which is registered in the U.S. and which has been outspoken against

Here is the website for the Free Buryatia Foundation:

And here is where you can donate:

Please spread around or give what you can.

[luoravetlana]

Polina Osipova is forging armor for the Chuvash warrior women of her past

[sophiemariepl]

The fact that there are the so-called “anti-imperialists” and “leftists” out there, who do zero research on the situation of the Indigenous people in Russia and then dare say that Indigenous activists like Yana Tannagasheva are neo-liberal American spies, just because they received de@th threats from the FSB just for fighting for their basic rights, is just appalling.

Like, a literal gen0cide of hundreds of nations, cultures and languages is funny to them. The same thing that happened to the Indigenous people in the Americas is funny to them, because it is not being done by the US. This is the real face of a large portion of leftist internet activism, or so it seems. What is leftist in cheering for people being illegally drafted and killed for a colonial empire’s war?

Like, WTF is wrong with those people.

[cheriedies]

Currently dying at this historical account of the Mordvinians (my grandma's indigenous group!)

[azhdakha]

Indigenous people of Volga Region or Russia in traditional costumes. Late XIX - beginning of XX century.

Mari women

Chuvash woman

Bashkir women

Udmurt women

Shoksha-Mordva women and girl