"Reviving Indigenous Tradition" in Altai: Sacred Places and Creating Social Networks

The fall of the USSR contributed to the flourishing of new religious movements and inventing of indigenous traditions. Neo-shamanic practices in Siberia are vivid illustration of this. One of these "traditions" in the Altai (Southern Siberia) has become A k-Jan movement. Its background comes from the beginning of XX cent. when there was proclaimed the reformation of Altaians religion which was called then Burkhanism. Since the late 1990's - early 2000's new wave of revitalization of the Ak-Jan "tradition" and the invention of the new religious practices has begun. Unlike Burkhanism of that period, modern Ak-Jan movement creates social institutes, inner structure and social networks. Ak-Jan is regarded by indigenous people as "national religion" and focuses on "reviving traditions" and environmental protection. The process of building of social networks of the movement and creating local communities has begun. My project aims to investigate what factors and impulses become crucial for creating social networ ks within Ak-Jan and what are their inner structures. The most significant custom within modern Ak-Jan becomes the practice of "reanimating" ancient and new sacred places. These sacred places become not just simply religious centers for performing rituals but also function as socially organizing force - new social networks started to be created around these sacred places, definite hierarchal structured group of followers. The main point of my project is to research how these sacred places and practices re lating to them determine considerable change of social space configuration, become major impulses for creating institutional hierarchies within renewed Altai local communities. Such social process of constructing new symbolic boundaries and identities has led to appearance of conflict space in Altai Republic, for example the conflict between Ak-Jan and Buddhism, where Buddhism plays the role of elite urban movement while Ak-Jan is rural (and underground) one