Setos' way to manage identities and well-being: shame and pride, opposition and openness

Abstract

The paper examines how the tiny ethno-cultural group of Setos constructs its identity in the multicultural context. The study examines the validity of three acculturation models and tests earlier findings on the relationship between identity and well-being. The results suggest that Setos have clearly adopted a multicultural identity strategy while not merging different identities, and that they have managed to separate the material well-being from the pride of their identity. Despite its small size and peripheral location, the Setos' way to preserve their identity in a constantly changing context is an interesting lesson for other indigenous groups, and also for bigger neighbors.

Keywords:

• Seto
• Estonia
• ethnic identity
• acculturation
• well-being

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the nine volunteers who gave interviews in Setomaa in May 2010, and everybody who filled in questionnaires all over Estonia, as well as to our colleagues (Marianna Drozdova, Heidi Kiuru, and Kristel Karu-Kletter) who helped to organize the data collection. Special thanks for distributing the questionnaires and other help during the fieldwork in Setomaa to our assistant Margit Korotkova and to some people of Seto origin: Andreas Kalkun (Estonian Literary Museum, Estonian Folklore Archives), Jane Priks (Värska Cultural Centre), and Silvia and Hillar Laanetu (Värska Guesthouse). We are also thankful to Jaan Tamm (Estonian Folklore Archives) and Julia Sulina (Estonian Literary Museum, department of ethnomusicology) for technical help before, during, and after data collection. Special thanks go to Dage Särg, a student of the University of Tartu, and Hanno Särg, a student of the Miina Härma Gymnasium, who helped in writing up the interviews from the recordings and English translation.

ORCID

Aune Valk http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9944-2041

Notes

1. There is no official data about the number of Setos in Estonia as there was not a choice “Seto” for ethnic belonging in the censuses of population in Estonia. In the Estonian census of the population in 2011, 12,549 declared that they spoke the Seto dialect. A century ago the population of Setomaa reached ca 15,000 people. Jääts (1998) estimated the number of Setos on the Estonian side of Setomaa to be 3000 and on the Russian side (Petseri region) to be 500. Approximately two-thirds of the traditional Seto territory lie in Russia, but after 1991 many people relocated to Estonia. In the Russian censuses of the population in 2002 and 2010, only ca 200 people had designated themselves as Setos. http://www.estblul.ee/EST/Keeled/seto.html. Since 2010 Russia recognized Setos as a small indigenous nation.

2. In the 1920s almost 50% of Setos (inhabitants of Petserimaa) were illiterate, while among the other Estonian inhabitants the proportion of illiteracy was less than 5%. Between the two world wars, many schools were established and by mid-1930s the illiteracy was around one in three (Jääts 1998).

3. The study was conducted in 1997 on both the Estonian and Russian sides of Setomaa. All students coming from Setomaa and going to upper-secondary schools (age 15–18) were surveyed – altogether 164 people. Due to constraints in sampling and data collection, the adult study was conducted only on the Estonian side of Setomaa. A total of 499 adults (simple random sample of people living in historical Seto area) aged 18–74 years responded to the survey. Information about identity is based on the adult sample only: 39% identified as Seto and 7% as rather Seto than Estonian (46% altogether); 33% identified as Estonian and 12% rather Estonian than Seto (altogether 45%); 9% had other identifications. In parallel, in 1996 in Russia 76% of the surveyed people with Seto background had Seto identity and 9% had double (Seto+Estonian) identity (Maximova 1997).

4. The first Seto Congress was held in 1921 and the second in 1930, but then was a long gap until the third congress in 1993.

5. Rahvas is a common word in Estonian and Seto. It is not a scholarly term in Estonian and can stand for “nation,” “ethnos,” “ethnic group,” and also “people.” In the context of Seto Congress, the statement about Seto rahvas may stand for “ethnos” as the differentiation from other people is stressed.

6. The name Seto has been used in different ways: Seto, Setu, and Setuke. The quotation is given following the original text.

7. Most of the respondents filled out the questionnaire on their own, but in a few cases it was completed with the assistance of the interviewer.

8. To find Setos, people with Seto identity were compared to people with Estonian identity from Setomaa and neighboring South Estonian areas (Võrumaa and Põlvamaa), called South-Estonians, and from other parts of Estonia, called simply Estonians. People who identified themselves as Setos predominantly lived in Setomaa, only some of them dwelled in neighboring South Estonian areas.

9. There were single, double, and triple self-identifications given. In this study we grouped all cases that included Seto identification into the subgroup of Setos, irrespective of the order of components or wording.

10. There was a request in the questionnaire to provide one's contact information, if the respondent agreed with the further interview.

11. The average income in the four rural municipalities that form Setomaa in Estonia (Meremäe, Mikitamäe, Misso, and Värska) was in 2011 81.4% of the Estonian average and 95.1% of the average of the Võru county, of which Setomaa is mainly a part. In the same municipalities less than 40% of people aged 15 years or older are employed, while the Estonian average is ca 50% (Statistics Estonia 2012).

Additional information

Funding

The study was conducted in the framework of the project “Perspectives of music in constructing the Estonian open identity,” Estonian Literary Museum, the department of ethnomusicology, led by Triinu Ojamaa and supported by the grant SF0030068s08 by the Estonian Ministry of Education.