Ethnic Identity in Assimilated Indigenous Minorities: The Case of the Ingrian Finns

Today there are about 350 million people in the world who belong to one of the thousands of indigenous peoples. Each of these peoples had a different fate - some of them were able to fully preserve their own culture, while others were assimilated. This research examines the issues of ethnic identity and ethnic involvement of Ingrian Finns - an indigenous people who, almost in their entirety, were subjected to political repression during the Soviet period, which resulted in the forced assimilation of the people. Today, Ingrian Finns mainly live in three countries - Finland, Estonia, and Russia. In Russia, the largest communities are located in Karelia, as well as in Saint-Petersburg and the Leningrad region, the ethnic identity of which is the subject of this work. The study is based on H. Tajfel's Social Identity Theory, as well as on the understanding of acculturation and assimilation proposed by J. W. Berry. The study identified the most important indicators of ethnic involvement and examined their role as predictors of the ethnic identity of Ingrian Finns.