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Slavic Origins
Our people belong to the Slavic group of the Indo-European
family of nations, which settled sown in its European cradle about 2,000 years
before Christ. The primitive habitat of the Slavs can be roughly outlined in the
North by the Baltic Sea, to the East by the River Bug, in the South by the
Carpathian Mountains, and on the Western frontier by the River Elbe.
The archeological excavations prove that our Slavic ancestors
possessed a very high culture. They were peace-loving people, dedicated to their
soil, since agriculture was their main occupation. Some of the nomadic tribes,
like the Scythians, Sarmathian Croats and Turkish Bulgarians, accepted the Slav
culture and became assimilated by them, while retaining their tribal names.
The Greek historian Procopius of Caesarea, who came into
contact with the Slavs during the military campaign of the Byzantine General
Belisarius (538-552), in his memoirs praises the democratic way of life:
"They are not ruled by one man, but since ancient times they have lived in
a democracy. This is the reason why they discuss in common the pleasant events
and the harassing troubles of importance, and the whole people decide upon these
things".
The primitive Slav culture, generally speaking, can be
divided into two periods: 10 Lusatian and 20 Venedian. Lusatian culture,
embracing the period of time from 2,000 - 500 B.C., was violently interrupted by
the invasion of nomadic Scythians in about 500 B.C. It took the Slavs almost 400
years to restore their pristine culture as is witnessed by the Venedian period
from 100 B.C. until about 400 A.D.
Believing in the life beyond the grave, the Slavs developed
their religion under the influence of the Iranian belief as it was recently
proved by comparative philology. To designate a deity, the Slavs used the term
"Bog," "Boh," while the other Indo-European peoples used
"Deus" or its derivatives. Slavic "Boh" (originally "Bogu")
is closely related to the Iranian "Baga" meaning the source or giver
of all good things. Thus man with plenty of good things is called by the Slavs
"bogat", "Bohatyj" (same root - bog, boh).
The Iranian religion was dualistic, i.e. admitting two
supreme principles-deities: " Baga" - the principle of good and "Dauva"-the
principle of evil. The second left its traces in the Slavic "Div" -
bad spirit, and "divyj"-wild, untamed. The Slavs, subjecting the evil
spirits to the Supreme God, slowly discarded the dualistic philosophy of life.
They believed also in the free will of man. The freedom of choice they called
"vira" from the Iranian "var" meaning choice. After the
conversion to Christianity they used the term "vira" to designate
faith i.e. choice of good, adherence to God.
for many centuries the Slavic tribes used the same common
language. It was only during the third and fourth centuries that some
dialectical differences began to develop among the various tribes, but until the
tenth century they were not too noticeable. Thus, at the time of SS. Cyril and
Methodius we can still talk about a common language among the Slavic tribes.
The Slavs lived up to the third century in their original
settlement, relatively speaking, in a compact mass. They were ruled by their
ancients or tribal princes, called by various names. The most common were: kahan,
kniaz, zhupan and ban. It was only under the pressure of nomadic hoards in the
fourth century that some Slavic tribes crossed the Carpathian Mountains and
pushed their way down to the Balkans. Others moved westward toward the upper
Danube, and still others eastward toward the River Dniper and Black Sea. Thus,
from the fourth through the eighth centuries, we have a definite tribal division
among the Slavs, giving birth to the various Slavic peoples.
Generally, the linguists divide the Slavs into three main
groups, called: 10 Western Slavs 20 Southern or Yugoslavs, and 30 Eastern Slavs.
The Western Slavs embrace modern nations of Czechs, Slovaks, Lusitian Serbs and
Poles. To the group of Southern Slavs belong Serbs, Croats, Slovenians,
Macedonians and Bulgarians. The Eastern Slavs are subdivided into three separate
branches, forming as many nationalities: Russians (originally Muscovites), White
or Bielo-Russians and Rusyns, most of whom are commonly called Ukrainians today.
From the above classification one can see that our ancestors,
who came to the United States mostly from the eparchies of Mukachevo, Prjashev
and Przemyshyl, are known in history as "Rusyns" and in our language
as "Rusiny." They belong to the group of the Eastern Slavs and,
therefore, they should not be confused with any ethnic group of the Western
Slavs or even with a non-Slavic nationality.
The slavic tribe, which during the eighth century settled on
both slopes of the Carpathian mountains (north and south) bore the name of White
Horvaths - "Bil'l Horvaty" (not to be confused with the Croats). They
were ruled by their own princes, vassals of some stronger Slavic ruler of
Bulgaria, Moravia, and later Kievan Rus'. It was only in the eleventh century
that some of them became subjects of the king of Hungary. From the Kievan Rus'
they adopted their national name of "Rusiny", "Rusi Syny,"
meaning - Sons of the Rus'. It became the common name of all southeastern Slavic
tribes from the Poprad River in Prjashevschina all the way to the Caspian Sea
and the River Don.
Since the Greek historians were the first to show their
interest in our ancestors, they adapted our national name, making some phonetic
changes according to the exigency of their language. Changing our dental sound
"s" into their "th" and adding their own ending, the Greek
historians called our people "Ruthenoi". In Latin our national name
became "Rutheni:, from which it was adapted into the English language as
"Rusyns."
Since many of our ancestors lived for many centuries under
the Hungarian suzerainty, they were also called "Uhors'ki Rusiny,"
i.e. Rusyns of Hungary. After World War I, they were called from their habitat
"Podkarpats'ki Rusiny," meaning Rusyns living under the Carpathians.
The majority of the Rusyns in order not to be confused with
the Russians (known in history as Muscovites until 1713), began to call
themselves Ukrainians and their land Ukraine. Under the influence of these
changes and political tendencies, our people at home and abroad developed three
various denominations; 10 Carpatho-Rusyns, 20 Carpatho-Russians, and 30 Carpatho-Ukrainians,
each giving the opportunity to further alterations. In his recent inquiry, the
Rev. John Slivka of Brooklyn NY enumerates 21 different names extracted from our
various periodicals and publications.
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