CULTURE | National Congress Bureau

Traditions and customs

Eastern Siberia is the land of many peoples and not one of its regions is represented by only one nationality. Today, Russians who came to these lands in the 17th century live in eastern Siberia, as well as Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Lithuanians, Chuvashs, Tatars, Germans and other nationalities who followed them. Before the development of Eastern Siberia by Russian Cossacks, these territories belonged exclusively to small ethnic groups of the North - Buryats, Evenks, and Tofalars. Today, the Irkutsk region is considered the most densely populated and ethnically rich region of Eastern Siberia - about 140 nationalities live on its territory, most of which moved to the region from other regions of the country. And although almost 90% of the population of the Irkutsk region is Russian, the small ethnic groups of the region still play an important role in its ethnic self-determination, and increased attention is paid to their culture and traditions.

Buryats

Among the indigenous peoples of the Irkutsk region, the Buryats are the most numerous - according to the All-Russian population census, about 80 thousand Buryats live in the region, which makes up 3.3% of the total population of the region. Buryatia is located in beautiful places among the hills, spacious steppes, and most importantly - next to the famous Baikal. It is not surprising that the locals treat their small motherland with special love and trepidation — each peak, tree, and boulder. This attitude is rooted in shamanism that reigned here many centuries before the advent of Buddhism and Christianity. People believed that any natural phenomenon, place, forest, river has its own spirit that protects them. The habit of worshiping and decorating memorial sites remained: crossing the expanses of Transbaikalia, you can come across fancy columns on which tied ribbons from multi-colored rags of fabric sway. The pillars made of wood or stone are called “serge”, and the ribbons for decoration are called “zallaa”. With every breath of wind, ribbons flutter, and people's requests for happiness, wealth, healing are fulfilled. The places where the pillars stand are considered sacred and are referred to as "barisan". Here you can not make noise, litter, smoke, light a fire, swear and even allow unclean thoughts. Traditional Buryat holidays, such as Sagaalgan, Eastern New Year, and Surkharban are celebrated at the regional level and not only by Buryats - representatives of all nationalities are invited to celebrate together.

Evenki

Evenki today occupy about 0.05% of the total population of 1272 people in the Irkutsk region. Evenki shamanism is distinguished by highly developed polytheism and the complexity of the ritual complex. Like any social phenomenon, it has its own structure and performs a number of social functions. The main and characteristic thing in shamanism is the deification of the forces of nature and dead ancestors, the belief that there are many gods and spirits in the world and with the help of shamans you can influence them to ensure happiness, health and well-being, and aversion to disaster. Evenki worship spirits, follow the Evenki commandments of Ita.

Golendra

Descendants of the Germans who moved to Siberia, living in the villages of Pikhtinsk, Srednepihtinsk and Dagnik in the Zalarinsky district. They still have a special "European" way of life and language - a bizarre combination of German, Polish, Belarusian and Ukrainian.

Tofalars

Tofalars (tofs) are considered the smallest indigenous people of the Irkutsk region - in the Nizhneudinsky district, where tofs live, there are only 678 representatives of the nationality, which is 0.03% of the total population of the region. And in the mountains of East Sayan, near the border with Tuva, near Nizhneudinsk, in the villages of Alyglzher, Verkhnyaya Gutara and Nerja, there are tofalars or tofas, of which no more than 700 people remain. They live very separately and call themselves the indigenous inhabitants of these places. There are also settlements of Old Believers and old-timers - descendants of the very first immigrants to these lands in the 17-18 centuries. Tofalars maintain a high level of ethnic identity, passing on from generation to generation traditional legends, tales and songs.