Traditions and innovations in the cultures of mountainous Daghestan: From the history of the Soviet school

Abstract

For decades, the Soviet school was a way of shaping a new cultural identity rather than an educational tool. The Archi are a small people (about 1,200) who live in one village high in the mountains of Central Daghestan. Until recently, they have retained their cultural and linguistic isolation. Interviews with the Archi recorded during field work in the village, show that the Soviet school, opened in Archib in the early thirties, had been one of the principal channels of influencing the traditional culture. The school had become the .Big Brother.s. zone in Archib, because for a long period, all teachers were from more socially advanced ethnic groups. The attitude of the Archi to their language and identity, the role of women in the society, traditional clothes, and religious life were largely affected by the school. However, being from 30 to 40 years behind the neighboring ethnoses on the way to innovations, the Archi have kept their ethic identity and their language, and now show a rare example of the successful survival of a smaller nation.