Nowadays, in the Kuban region, children and adults still have the opportunity to learn about the culture of their ancestors through traditional handicrafts. They were skilled in singing and dancing as well.
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They also had to become versed in how to handle bladed weapons, along with flankirovka-the art spinning and manipulating a saber. Other Cossack organizations are focused on reviving Cossack culture.Ĭossacks have historically learned to ride a horse from an early age ("without a horse a Cossack is an orphan," went one saying), including stunt riding (called dzhigitovka). They sign contracts to provide security for businesses and public events, and help the police to patrol streets and airports. According to the 2010 census, around 70,000 people now identify as Cossacks, predominantly in the Krasnodar Territory and the Volgograd and Rostov regions, where many local people have Cossack roots.Ī large number of Cossack organizations today are involved in maintaining law and order. This was called "decossackization," just as "dekulakization" referred to the Soviet campaign of political repressions against prosperous peasants known as the kulaks.īecause of this, up to the very end of the Soviet period people were reluctant to talk about their Cossack background. Their assets were confiscated and their families deported.
Nevertheless, in the early years of the new Soviet state, the Cossacks-especially wealthy Cossacks-were subjected to repressions. A large number of the senior ranks joined the White Movement, but many others adopted the idea of social equality and went along with the Bolsheviks. As a result, sociologists regard the Cossacks as a distinct ethnically-based group.Īfter the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917, the attitude among Cossacks toward the new regime varied. "beyond the rapids," of the Dnieper River in present-day Ukraine) and the Yenisei Cossacks (who lived along the River Yenisei in Siberia).Īlthough the Cossacks came from entirely different ethnic groups and belonged to a variety of different religions (Orthodox Christians made up the majority, but there were also Muslims and Buddhists), with time they developed their own traditions, culture and dialect ("balachka," which comes from from the verb "balakat," meaning to chatter). There were the Kuban Cossacks (who lived along the River Kuban in the Krasnodar Territory), the Don Cossacks (who lived along the Don River in the Rostov Region), the Terek Cossacks (who lived along the Terek River in the Caucasus), the Zaporozhian Cossacks (who lived "za porogami," i.e. The Russian state ultimately opted to use the Cossack forces in its own interests and granted them considerable freedoms in exchange for guarding the Russian borders against external threats.ĭifferent groups of Cossacks were referred to according to their geographical location.
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Their ancestors were "fugitives" of all sorts who had fled from the authorities to the outskirts of the empire in search of a free life. "Volnoe Delo" Oleg Deripaska Foundation How to become a Cossack?īefore the 1917 Revolution, the Cossacks constituted a major military-service class in Russia, numbering over three million people (around 2.5 percent of the entire population). For instance, Anatoly became a blacksmith and for more than 40 years has been transforming pieces of metal into delicately shaped roses, sturdy horseshoes and Cossack sabers. Naturally, nowadays all hereditary Cossacks have regular professions to earn a living. The community includes men with a military background, many of whom are now trying to revive the traditional skills of the Kuban Cossacks. "My grandfathers and great-grandfathers were also Cossacks." Khorunzhy is a Cossack junior officer rank-roughly equivalent to second lieutenant-that is awarded by the ataman (leader) of a Cossack community. "I am a Cossack, a khorunzhy, an officer and a warrior," he says. In modern Russia, Cossacks no longer perform the same role as in pre-revolutionary Russia, but for their descendants this still remains a major part of their identity. The spectacle attracts a whole crowd of onlookers.Īnatoly Kramarenko is a hereditary Cossack. He then makes a light movement of his hand, we hear a swishing sound, and the sharp blade cuts through the neck of the plastic bottle while leaving the bottle itself still standing in the exact same position. "Now I'll show you a trick," he says, placing a bottle of water on the table. "We take our shashka in our right hand and hold it firmly," says a sturdy, gray-haired man wearing a linen shirt adorned with an ethnic design. They were distinguished for their great military prowess and tasked with defending the country's frontiers. In the Russian Empire, the Cossacks formed a special social class.