Russia is |
Peoples of Russia
Komi
Their self-designations are Komi, Komi Mort (Komi human), Komi Voytyr (Komi people). The main ethnic groups are: Verkhnevychegodsk group, Vym group, Izhma group, Pechora group, Luza group, Sysola group, Udora group.
Language
They speak the Komi-Zyrian dialect of the Komi language of the Permic subgroup of the Finno-Permic group of the Finno-Ugric branch of the Ural language family. The language has 10 dialects, which does not stop their speakers from understanding each other. The original writing system (abur, anbur) was created by the St. Stephan of Perm in late 14th century. It was also used by other peoples of the Permic range. In 1918, the Cyrillic-based Molodtsov alphabet was introduced. Since 1936, a new Cyrillic alphabet was used, which was unified with other new Cyrillic writing systems of the peoples of Russia.
Food
The Komi diet included shchi and various other soups, bread kvass-based broths, peeled barley grits, bread, curd patties, flapjacks, pies, shan’ga scones, rutabaga, turnips, radish, onions, cabbage, potatoes, herb and berry brews, fermented-bread kvass, birch syrup, rutabaga compote, homemade beer. The most widely used food product was fish, it was eaten cooked, salted, dried, fried, used as pie filling. The fish pie was obligatory during feast days, too.
Occupations
Komi people worked in agriculture grew barley, rye, oats, wheat, linen and hemp. They grew turnips, radishes, potatoes, sometimes cabbage and onions. They also bred cows, horses, sheep and pigs. The Izhma Komi raised reindeer. Hunting was very widespread, especially among the Verkhnevychegodsk, Pechora and Udora Komi. The main game animals were: hazel grouse, heath cock, wood grouse, partridge, ducks, geese, mink. The traditions of fishing and berry picking were ancient, traditional crafts were also developing: weaving, shoe making, coopering, pottery, bastmaking.
