Two unexpected shocks have shaken off the post-referendum quiet in Latvian politics. First, although Latvian voters in the February 18 referendum overwhelmingly rejected the proposition that Russian should become a second official language, moves to strengthen Latvian by changes to the Labour Law have been stymied in the Saeima (Parliament).

And from left field entirely, Jewish organisations have raised anew the question of restitution of property belonging to Jewish social organisations, bringing surprisingly swift and unexpected political reactions.

The language issue arose in response to the long-standing complaint that many employers had regularly advertised or had in their work contracts that prospective employees must have a command of Russian (or sometimes English, among others) even where the job clearly did not demand use of this language. It was proposed that such a demand for a specific language was only allowable when that language was clearly necessary for the job.

Over the years a steady language shift had occured in the education system as many younger Latvians no longer studied Russian in school and had a much weaker grasp of it than did the previous generation. Meanwhile, Russian youth had significantly improved its capacity in Latvian, leading to claims of linguistic discrimination on the part of Latvians who did not know Russian but applied for jobs even where it would not be necessary but still demanded by employers.

After lengthy debates, the Saeima did pass the amendment to the Labour Law banning the advertising of specific language requirements unless clearly necessary for that particular job. But two subsequent amendments that would have given teeth to this proposition were surprisingly defeated. First, the Saeima rejected the amendment that would disallow such requirements in work contracts, and secondly it rejected a more global amendment making it illegal for employers to make such unnecessary language demands of employees.

The vote was lost because a number of coalition members, who had a free vote on this issue, voted against the last two amendments, or abstained. Significantly, most of the members of the Reform Party (RP), a coalition party and the second largest party in the Saeima, voted with the Russian-oriented Harmony Centre (Saskaņas centrs – SC). A number of members of the Unity (Vienotība) party, the party of the Premier Valdis Dombrovskis also abstained on the vote, critically influencing the numbers.

This performance of the Reform Party was another low point for a party that has had a catastrophic fall in pubic support after its strong showing in the 2010 elections. It is worth remembering that at that time it had declared a willingness to go into coalition with the SC, but had given up this idea when Unity threatened not to join such a coalition. In the June 2012 ratings, the party had slipped to only 2.6% support, well below the 5% needed to get back into Parliament. In the same ratings, Unity improved its support over that of previous months and even pipped SC, the largest party in the Saeima and long-time ratings leader; this result seems to be thanks largely to Dombrovskis’ steady stewardship and the slowly improving economic situation. The Reform Party’s vote on the language issue would not have boosted its stocks.

Jewish property

The issue of restituting the properties of Jewish social organisations came as a surprise because a number of Jewish religious properties had long been given back or were being managed by joint Jewish-local government agreements. The issue quickly brought diametrically opposed responses: some pointed to the question of why these demands were being made now rather than at the time in the 1990s when all privatisation and property issues for the majority of properties had been decided. The only difference now was that many of the claimed Jewish social organisation properties had greatly increased in value compared to their often threadbare status in the 1990s. As many of these properties had been since legally bought and sold by other parties, compensation – running into the millions – rather than restitution of property had become the issue.

Immediately, other social oganisations that for various reasons had been unsuccessful in their restitution bids came to the fore. Jewish organisations were taken aback by these claims, arguing that this issue had been long-standing and one which several governments had been slowly working on.

The upshot came when Justice Minister Gaidis Bērziņš, of the National Association faction, one of the members of the governing coalition, resigned from his position, claiming the Premier was forcing him to make hasty decisions on this issue, a view the Premier Valdis Dombrovskis denies. The issue brought international media attention, not favourable to Latvia, and how this issue will be resolved at the moment remains unclear.

Beyond the property issue, the resignation of the Justice Minister would seem to raise questions of the future of the coalition. Yet Gaidis Bērziņš insisted the decision to resign was his own, and was not even discussed by his party. A considered view is that the National Association is worried by a perceived lack of influence and being largely ignored in the present coalition; the unsatisfactory outcome of the language question being only one such instance. A number of other major decisions, including driving down budget deficits to satisfy Eurozone eligibility criteria, and some large and less-than-transparent purchases of railway rolling stock, are issues the National Association also feels strongly about, and feels its voice is not heard.

Although Dombrovskis has had success in improving economic conditions, and in some quarters of international finance is seen as a paradigm of good fiscal policy, these issues of Jewish property and other economic decisions will continue to present significant political challenges.

 

 

Ireland now home to 20,000 Latvians

Ireland is now home to many Latvians. They arrived in large numbers from Latvia looking for work in what was then a booming Ireland.

Like Latvia, the global economic crisis of 2008 hit Ireland hard. Many recent immigrants from Latvia have headed for greener pastures but thousands stayed on. Over the years a total of 45,000 Latvians have registered with the Irish government but the number of Latvians in the 2011 census was around 20,000.

Most Latvians found work as unskilled labourers in the service and construction sectors although with the Irish financial crisis, construction jobs are now few and far between. There are families where one or the other spouse works in Ireland and the rest are back home. Earning close to minimal wages in Ireland it is possible to survive and still send back money to keep things afloat in Latvia.

The term Latvian is ambiguous and refers to those from Latvia without distinguishing ethnicity. Anecdotal evidence provided by the Latvian Embassy in Ireland suggests that the ethnic breakdown of immigrants from Latvia is opposite to the ethnic composition back home. Approximately 40% of those arriving from Latvia appear to be Latvian with the remainder coming from other nationalities mostly Russian.

Parallels with post-war trimda

Latvia’s ambassador to Ireland Peteris Elferts was one of the speakers at opening ceremonies on the afternoon of June 17. Elferts grew up in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and headed for Latvia soon after independence was restored. In addition to his diplomatic duties, Elferts and his family are visible and engaged within the Latvian immigrant community in Ireland.

Elferts sees similarities between the early years of the post-war exile community (i.e. trimda) of his parents and the emergence of Latvian choirs, folk dance groups, church congregations (the Latvian Lutheran and Catholic churches have both sent clergy to work in Ireland), media and heritage language schools in Ireland. A veteran of summer camps, high schools, youth seminars and conventions while growing up, Elferts was an early proponent of running the week-long 3×3 Latvian family heritage camp in Ireland and was one of its organizers.

Latvia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry would be well advised to carefully consider his replacement when that comes up in a year to ensure that the new ambassador does not limit his role to diplomatic corridors in Dublin but is also interested in and understands the needs of Latvia’s diaspora in Ireland.

Participants include all ages

3×3 was held June 17-24 at Scouting Ireland’s Larch Hill camp in the Wicklow Mountains with Dublin visible far below. Ireland has fickle weather, changing almost on the hour but the intermittent showers earlier in the day gave way to sunshine for the opening ceremony. Latvian choir eLVē and children’s vocal group Mazais Letiņš performed. Both are based in Dublin and eLVē recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. Folk dance groups and choirs from England and Latvia joined to mark the occasion.

Quarters were cramped for the 80+ registered participants of all ages at 3×3 including those who pitched in as kitchen staff. Although small in comparison to the 300 to 400 that attend 3×3 camps in Latvia, the turn-out was not bad for starters especially when compared with the United States and the 100+ persons who attend 3×3 in the Catskills or Garezers.

Latvian baby boom in Ireland

The youngest participant was a newborn only a few weeks old. A baby boom is underway as immigrants start families amongst themselves or with locals. Although the numbers are still small, a new category of arrivals to Ireland from Latvia are grandmothers who come to look after children while parents work. Given their limited English language skills, grandmothers can help teach Latvian to their grandchildren much like they did back in the 1950s.

There are now eleven Latvian heritage schools across Ireland, two in each of Dublin and Limerick as well as schools in Cork, Drogheda, Navan, Mayo, Portlaoise, Longford and Newry (Northern Ireland). They are attended by close to 300 students.

Across the Irish Sea, England has seen a similar explosion in the number of heritage language schools where a few years ago there was just one in London. In February 2012 Māris Pūlis, a retired headmaster and Chair of the Education Committee of the Latvian National Council in the United Kingdom, held the first ever workshop in Bradford for teachers of Latvian schools in Ireland and England.

Workshops keep participants busy

Former Bonn University professor of Baltic languages, Austris Grasis, who grew up in Sweden and now lives near Mazsalaca in Latvia ran a workshop on Latvian language. He focused on the state of the Latvian language today and the impact of structural reforms introduced during the Soviet occupation which were part of a broader Soviet campaign to ultimately have all its languages converge to Russian. These changes have been accepted in Latvia but undermine the grammatical structure of Latvian and according to Grasis are more dangerous than the influx of foreign words. Grasis also presented a number of grammatical rules that give Latvian speakers the ability to decipher a lot more Lithuanian than they would have thought.

Ilva Krama from Ireland ran a crafts workshop for school-aged participants, while Mārīte Briede from Latvia handled the youngest. Other workshops aimed at children and youths included the puppet theatre by puppet-masters Jānis and Laila Kirmuškas, ancient Latvian warfare by Jānis Krūmiņš and sports activities offered by Valērijs Martinkēvičs who runs sports camps in Dublin and Limerick. Māris Brasliņš led nightly folk dancing.

There was consensus that future camps need more activities for children especially those that would build and reinforce Latvian language skills and knowledge of Latvian culture and Latvia. Most children at 3×3 knew at least some Latvian but they often slipped into English during play-time and had to be reminded “runāsim latviski”, a refrain familiar to anyone from Latvian communities in Canada or the United States.

Workshops included the ever-popular family dynamics and relationships session run by 3×3 founder Līga Ruperte and Māra Tupese, both from the United States, sauna rituals by Aelita and Juris Batņas, history through your family photo album by Andris Tomašūns and Latvian cooking by the leader of Latvia’s 3×3 movement, Inese Krūmiņa.

Participants of Tomašūns workshop visited Peterson of Dublin. In the late nineteenth century, Latvian immigrant Kārlis Pētersons joined up with the Kapp brothers and became partner of the concern which is a now a renowned producer of quality pipes, all hand-crafted in Dublin. His nephew Konrads re-emigrated to Ireland after World War II and ran Ireland’s largest peat moss operation.

This author’s beer workshop proved popular and focused on gaining a deeper understanding and respect of beer, its different styles and history including Latvian and Irish beer. American graduate student Trevor Wirtenen, a student in Ireland demonstrated homebrewing.

The small number of adults at 3×3 meant some workshops ran with only a few participants but on the flip side this meant there was a significant amount of interaction with workshop leaders.

Late night “vegging” (nīkšana), always popular at 3×3 camps, included singing, conversations and board games such as Latvian versions of Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble.

Mobile Latvian food shop is popular

A popular and regular “visitor” to 3×3 was Elki, a refrigerated mobile Latvian food shop that sold imported goods from Latvia including sweets, cheese, canned fish, beverages and potato chips or crisps as they are called in the British Isles. The owners also sell their own smoked meat. With the Baltic States and Poland being members of the European Union, distributors load transport trucks with products from back home and feed a network of stores in Western Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland, that sell Russian, Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian goods. Elki is a mobile shop and criss-crosses Ireland announcing dates and locations through social media sites such as draugiem.lv.

Through the eyes of Irish visitors

An interesting guest at 3×3 was Irish poet Michael O’Loughlin. After visiting Rīga on an European Union poet exchange program, he became aware of the connections between Ireland and Latvia as well as the similarities and differences between the two countries and their history. O’Loughlin proceeded to invent a literary persona Miķelis Norģelis, supposedly a Latvian poet who immigrated to Ireland. As an outsider, Norģelis was free to rail against excesses of the boom years in Ireland when it was all about making money. The ruse worked for a while before he was unmasked. When asked what has now happened to Norģelis, O’Loughlin stated that with the collapse of the Irish economy, Norģelis emigrated to the United States and rumour has it that he might be back in Rīga.

Another guest was Ruairj O Huiginn (Rory Higgins), a professor of Celtic languages and a former colleague of Austris Grasis. He compared the state of Latvian with the Irish language which came close to being extinct after English was imposed on Ireland. Today, although Irish is the official language of Ireland, only a minority speak it on a regular basis with English being prevalent. Participation of non-Latvian guest lecturers was welcome. Sometimes the best way to understand yourself is through the looking glass of others.

Keeping Latvians in Ireland connected

Sandra Bondarevska is editor of Sveiks, a Latvian broadsheet and Internet media outlet in Ireland. She had lined up a real-time connection with Radio SWH Rīga. Those present took great pride in singing Līgo songs that were being transmitted through Sandra’s cell phone and broadcast live in Latvia. It was as if they had a point to prove to those back home, that even though they were in Ireland, they too celebrated their heritage and Jāņi.

Sveiks features articles ranging from the latest news from Latvia and Latvian activities in Ireland to questions about schooling, social welfare,  tenant and worker rights in Ireland as well as classifieds and colourful advertisements for children’s Christmas parties, tour dates for musicians from Latvia and more.

A recent article profiled Sanita Pušpūrs, a Latvian immigrant who will represent Ireland in rowing at the London Olympics. According to Valērijs Martinkēvičs, the Irish focus on their traditional sports – rugby, Gaelic football and hurling leaving the field open in other sports for new arrivals.

Another useful Latvian Internet portal in Ireland is baltic-ireland.ie

Authentic Jāņi celebrated

Even though there were only around sixty participants at the 3×3 Jāņi, more than a few commented that this was the most authentic Jāņi that they had celebrated in years. Unfortunately most Jāņi in Latvia and around the world have degenerated into summer parties fueled by alcohol with little thought given to tradition apart from perfunctory on-stage choir and folk dance performances. At 3×3, participants gathered around a roaring bonfire, many in folk costumes, they ate cheese, pīrāgi and grilled kebobs, and celebrated by singing songs and dancing despite the steady drizzle throughout the night.

The first but not the last

Prior to closing on June 24, the adults participated in a round-table discussion about their 3×3 experience this past week. Everyone was asked to comment about their likes and dislikes. There was unanimity that the inaugural 3×3 camp in Ireland was a success. Yes there were glitches and gaps that need to be filled, but sometimes you just have to go with it and learn from experience. Plans are now underway for another 3×3 in Ireland. It will be easier to attract partiucipants the second time around because the message will spread by word-of-mouth. Some participants also indicated they now planned to attend 3×3 in Latvia.

On June 24, Ilze Čeiča, Head of the Organizing Committee, and Kārlis Briedis, Chairman of the Latvian Society in Ireland, lowered the Latvian flag to officially close the first 3×3 camp in Ireland. Along with Baiba Kalniņa, Sandra Bondarevska and Ambassador Elferts, the five were called out and received a standing ovation for their efforts organizing 3×3 in Ireland.

The need for 3×3 in Ireland, America, Australia, elsewhere in Europe, not to mention Latvia, continues. As Inese Krūmiņa commented at the opening ceremonies – when Latvia regained its independence we could all answer that we’re Latvian but beyond that response there was little substance. The post-war exile community understood that it requires a conscious effort to maintain a Latvian identity and it is they who brought 3×3 and its ideals to Latvia. 

Conversations reflect sentiments of Latvians in Ireland

It was interesting listening in on conversations throughout the week. There were conversations about children’s schooling in Ireland, about the role of the Catholic Church in Ireland, about discrimination in schools against non-Catholics, about job opportunities, about the challenges of getting children to speak Latvian. There were comments about visits to Latvia becoming less frequent as lives became rooted in Ireland, of there being less and less in common with those back home particularly for those born in Ireland.

There was anger that some in Latvia considered those living in Ireland as traitors who had abandoned Latvia. They were making good money and owed something to those back home even though the reality was that most held menial jobs in Ireland and worked long hard hours to make ends meet.

Most of all there was the sense that those living in Ireland wish to be treated on equal terms with Latvians living anywhere else. No hyphens. No Irish-Latvians. Just Latvians who happen to live in Ireland. And there were those who stated unequivocally that they would move back to Latvia at a moment’s notice if the economic conditions and job market improved.

Others were doubtful and a poignant reminder was the Čikāgas Piecīši song Pazudušais Dēls (Prodigal Son) sung by Ilze Čeiča one evening with the verse „Dzimu te bet augu tālā Amerikā / Vai atgriezties man kādreiz būs vēl lemts” ( „I was born here [i.e. Rīga] but grew up in far-off America / Will it be my fate to ever return”).

Ireland’s example

Having said that, Ireland is a case in point. There are over 70 million Irish descendants in the world. Until recently Ireland lost many emigrants to poverty, famine and war. During the boom years of the Celtic Tiger, emigration was stemmed and many returned, only to see the tide reversed with the recent economic troubles. Next year the Irish government is hosting The Gathering, a series of festivals and events that showcase Ireland calling out to the Irish throughout the world to return and visit Ireland and „Whether you’re Irish-born, Irish-bred or Irish in spirit, get involved and celebrate a year of Irish connections”. Latvia should take note.

Šogad tieši nedēļā pirms Jāņiem latviešu kopienā Baškīrijā norisinājās lingvistiskā nometne “Avots”. Dalībnieki ieradās gan no vietējā Arhlatviešu pagasta, gan no Omskas apgabala latviešu biedrības, gan no Latvijas.

Nometnē piedalījās 20 vietējo skolēnu, 9 dalībnieki no Omskas apgabala, 7 – no Latvijas. Nometni organizē un vada latviešu valodas skolotājs, Ufas Latviešu biedrības direktors Viktors Kārkliņš katru gadu apmaksā ceļu skolotājam no Latvijas, kurš ierodas, lai palīdzētu vadīt bērnu nometni.

Papildus valodas apguvei, tiek apgūta latviešu kultūra, folklora, paralēli notiek gatavošanās Jāņiem, kas arīdzan sniedz padziļinātu ieskatu latviešu kultūrā. Būtiski, ka nometni apmeklē ne tikai tie bērni, kas visa mācību gada garumā apgūst latviešu valodu, bet arī tie, kas mūsu valodas un kultūras iepazīšanai nepievēršas. Nometne skolēnos raisa interesi un daļa no tiem ir regulāri “Avots” dalībnieki.

Nometnes “Avots” programma balstās uz latviešu kultūras iepazīšanu un izpratni, kaļot rotas, tēšot kokles, aužot, cepot latviešu rupjmaizi, vārot Jāņu sieru, mācoties Līgo dziesmas, dejojot latviešu dančus, spēlējot kokles un klausoties latviešu valodu, atrodoties starp latviešiem un latviešu pēctečiem. Savu prasmi rādīja gan Latvijas, gan vietējie amatnieki.

Jānis Vecis – viens no Baškīrijas latviešiem mācīja pīt cepures no kļavu lapām, amatnieks stāstīja, ka to apguvis puikas gados, kad ganījis govis. Sieru vārīja Latviešu kultūrvēsturiskā centra direktore Ludmila Muceniece, maizi pēc savas ģimenes tradīcijām cepa M. Gorkija kultūras nama direktore Jeļena Kazanceva, kuras māte, arīdzan latviete, to turpina darīt vēl aizvien.

Prasmīgs Amatas kokļu meistars Andris Roze ar sievu Inesi šādā nometnē nav pirmo reizi. 2010. gadā līdzīga nometne norisinājās Krasnojarskā, kuru rīkoja pilsētas latviešu biedrība “Auseklis”. Andris mācīja gatavot kokles, Inese un Ritma Laškovas – aust un adīt. Amatnieks Edgars Žīgurs bija rotu kalšanas lietpratējs, kas ar savu aizrautību piesaistīja nometnes dalībniekus, kā rezultātā radās lieliska seno rotu izstāde.

Madonietis Tālis Karlsons pacietīgi dažiem nometnes dalībniekiem ierādīja kokles spēlēšanas specifiku. Uzcītīgs darbs vainagojās ar neliela koklētāju ansambļa uzstāšanos Jāņu koncertā. Neizsīkstoša bija Tāļa un rīdzinieka Raita Sondora enerģija latviešu danču un dziesmu vakaros, kuros tika apgūts daudz latviešu deju un rotaļu, kā arī ievērojams skaits Jāņu dziesmu.

Katra nometnes diena bija darbiem un notikumiem piesātināta. Ciemata Kumurli skolas telpās klaudzēja āmurs, skandēja lakta, dunēja kalta, melodiski strinkšķēja kokles un skanīgās balsis. Vakaros visi metās dejot un rotaļās iet, lai no rīta celtos un turpinātu iesākto.

Nometnes idejas aizsācēja ir Lauma Vlasova – Krievijas-Latvijas kongresa priekšsēdētāja, Pasaules brīvo latviešu apvienības valdes locekle, kura nometnei guva daļu finansējuma. Ufas Latviešu biedrības direktors Viktors Kārkliņš, Arhangeles rajona administrācija bija atbalstīja šo pasākumu, kā arī Latvijas un vietējie amatnieki, kas dalījās savās zināšanās ar zinātkārajiem nometnes dalībniekiem.

Atliek vien secināt, ka kopā varam paveikt ļoti daudz. Attīstot ideju rodas kaut kas liels un skaists. Nometne, kas saveda kopā tik daudz cilvēku, kuriem ir kas kopīgs – latvietība. Apziņa, ka esam latvieši, apziņa, ka mums ir viena dzimtene, apziņa, ka varam paveikt tik daudz, ja vien ir griba un atbalsts.

Vēsturisks ieskats

Latvieši dažādos laikos izbraukuši gan brīvprātīgi, gan piespiedu kārtā, pamest Latviju tos mudinājis gan laiks, gan valdošā vara. Taču par spīti valdošajai varai, latvieši ir centušies visiem spēkiem saglabāt saikni ar dzimteni. To palīdzējušas uzturēt atmiņas par dzimteni, līdzi paņemtie priekšmeti, blakus esošie biedri un ģimenes locekļi kā arī paši latvieši, kas neaizmirst savējos, lai arī kur tie būtu nokļuvuši.

Šoreiz runa ir par 19. gadsimta beigām, brīvprātīgu izceļošanu un Krieviju. 19. gadsimta sākumā liela daļa latviešu izceļoja uz Krieviju, lai iegūtu zemi un sāktu jaunu, pārtikušu dzīvi ārpus Latvijas. Viena no Krievijas republikām, uz kuru devās daļa latviešu bija Baškīrija. Atbraukušajiem tautiešiem tika iedalīta zeme, kuras iekopšana prasīja daudz laika un pūļu, taču tas atmaksājās, jo 20. gadsimta sākumā Baškīrijā bija vairāk nekā 1000 latviešu saimniecību, turklāt ļoti turīgu saimniecību.

Nereti nācies dzirdēt, ka latvieši iemācījuši baškīriem strādāt, pie latviešu mājām vienmēr ziedēja puķes, auga ābeles un ogu krūmi. Viss bija veidots un iekārtots tā kā ierasts dzimtenē. Liekas, latvieši radīja savu mazo Latviju Baškīrijas plašumos.

Izglītības ceļš Arhlatviešu kolonijā saistāms ar 19. gs. beigām. Lai arī skolas, kur bērniem mācīties nebija, vecāki saviem bērniem spēja nodrošināt mājskolotāju, kas mācīja aritmētiku, gramatiku, mācības notika latviešu valodā.

Pirmā skola Arhlatviešu kolonijā tika uzcelta 1901. gadā Arhangeles mežā. Skola 1903. gadā nodega, taču 1909.-1910. gadā tika uzcelta jauna skolas ēka, kurai piešķīra sākumskolas statusu. Skolā bija internāts, kurā uzturējās bērni no attālajām zemnieku saimniecībām, nedēļas beigās vecāki savus bērnus veda mājās.

1935. gadā sākumskolu pārdēvēja par septiņgadīgo skolu. 1939. gadā, pēc kolektivizācijas un Maksima Gorkija ciema dibināšanas, skola tika pārvesta uz ciematu, taču tās celtniecību aizkavēja Otrais Pasaules karš.

No 1947. līdz 1963. gadam gadā skolas direktors bija Masailovs Pāvels Mihailovičs, kurš veica skolas labiekārtošanu. Četrus gadus vēlāk skola kļuva par Arhlatviešu vidusskolu un 1969. gadā bija pirmais absolventu izlaidums.

1978. gada pavasarī sāka jaunās (pašreizējās) skolas ēkas celtniecību, kuru pabeidza tā paša gada septembrī. Skolu atklāja 1978. gada 18. decembrī. Kopš 1989. gada skolā māca latviešu valodu, kultūru, folkloru. Sākumā tās bija fakultatīvas nodarbības, kopš 1994. gada – mācību stundas. Paralēli mācību stundām, skolēni var apmeklēt latviešu folkloras pulciņu, lai apgūtu latviešu tautas dziesmas, dejas, gūtu priekšstatu par latviešu gadskārtām.