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Concept
Livonians
Summary
The Livonians, or Livs (Livonian: līvlizt; Estonian: liivlased; Finnish: liiviläiset; Latvian: līvi, lībieši), are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language closely related to Estonian and Finnish. Initially, the last person to have learned and spoken Livonian as a mother tongue, Grizelda Kristiņa, died in 2013, making Livonian a dormant language. In 2020, it was reported that newborn Kuldi Medne had once again become the only living person who speaks Livonian as their first language. As of 2010, there were approximately 30 people who had learned it as a second language.
Historical, social and economic factors, together with an ethnically dispersed population, have resulted in the decline of Livonian identity, with only a small group surviving in the 21st century. In 2011, there were 250 people who claimed Livonian ethnicity in Latvia.
The exact date of migration of Livonians to the region has been disputed. "The Livonians claim to have inhabited their present homeland for over 5,000 years." "The Finnic tribes were pushed into the coastal regions by the Slav migrations of the sixth and seventh centuries AD."
Historically, the Livonians lived in two separate areas of Latvia, one group in Livonia and another on the northern coast of Courland. The latter were referred as Curonians, together with the Balts living there. The Livonians referred to themselves as rāndalist ("coast dwellers") and supported themselves mainly by fishing, but also by agriculture and animal husbandry. Since they controlled an important trade route, the Daugava River (Livonian: Väina), their culture was highly developed through trade with the Gotlanders, Russians and Finns, and, from the end of the first millennium AD onwards, with the Germans, Swedes and Danes.
However, with the traders came missionaries from Western Europe who wanted to convert the pagan Livonians to Christianity.
Official source
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