Shoksha (, ) is an ethnographic group of Erzya people. It is named after the village of Shoksha in Tengushevsky District, Mordovia.MordvaШаронов С. М., Шокша: Историко-этногрофический очерк, Saransk, 2004, They live mostly in Mordovia, Tengushevsky District and Torbeyevsky District. The ethnonym is relatively recent.МОРДВА, ЭРЗЯ, МОКША — ИСТОРИЯ ЭТНОСА И ЭТНОНИМА
Shoksha live (or lived) in following settlements: Tengushevsky District: Баево, Березняк, Вяжга, Дудниково, Коляево, Кураево, Малая Шокша, Мельсетьево, Мокшанка, Нароватово, Сакаево, Стандрово, Шелубей, Широмасово, Shoksha Torbeyevsky District: Drakino, Кажлодка, Майский, Фёдоровка (depopulated), Якстере Теште (depopulated)
Language
The Shoksha speak the , a dialect of the Erzya language formed under the influence of the Moksha language, as for a long time Shokshas have been living with and surrounded by Mokshas. The language is unwritten and has a status of critically endangered.
Genetics Based on 65 samples from Tengushevsky, 44.6 percent of Shoksha men have the haplogroup R1a (mostly R1a-CTS1211), and 43.1 percent carry the halpogroup N1c. Some other haplogroups are found with lower frequencies.
References