Altay people

infobox ethnic group
group = Altay people


caption = "Oirat -- Messenger of the White Burkhan" (Nicholas Roerich, 1925)
poptime = 200,000
popplace = Altai Republic
64,000
Kuznetsk Alatau
59,000
langs = Altay
Turkic
rels = Tibetan Buddhism, [ [http://www.sacredland.org/world_sites_pages/Golden_Mtns.html Golden Mountains, Altai Republic, Russia] ]
Russian Orthodox, [ [http://igras.geonet.ru/alt/eng/exscur.htm Altay conference, 2003] ]
Shamanism,
Burkhanism
related = other MongolsThe Altay or Altai are an ethnic group of Turkic people living in the Siberian Altai Republic and Altai Krai and surrounding areas of Tuva and Mongolia. For alternative ethnonyms see also Teleut, Tele, Telengit, Mountain Kalmuck, White Kalmuck, Black Tatar, Oirat/Oirot.

The Altay people were one of the sub-tribes of the Oirat people (a Hunnic origin). They have had skills in metalworking dating back to the 2nd millennium BC. [ [http://www.waytorussia.net/Features/RussianPeople/2003Sept24/ "Iron"] , Turkish Turan History, Ozturkler.com, retrieved 16 October 2006.] The Altay came into contact with Russians in the 18th century. In the tsarist period, the Altay were known as oirot or oyrot (this name means oirat and would later be carried on for the Oyrot Autonomous Oblast). Many of the Altay became addicted to the Russians' vodka, which they called "fire water". [ [http://www.waytorussia.net/Features/RussianPeople/2003Sept24/ "People from Russia — Interviews on the Streets"] , Way To Russia, 24 September 2003]

The Altay were originally nomadic, with a lifestyle based on hunting / trapping and pastoralism (mainly cattle, sheep, goats), but many of them settled as a result of Russian influence. In regard to religion, some of the Altay remain Shamanists, while others (in a trend beginning in the mid-19th century) have converted to the Orthodox. (The Altai mission took shape under Saint Makarii Glukharev, Apostle to the Altai.) In 1904, a religious movement called Ak Jang or Burkhanism arose, perhaps in response to Russian colonization. [ [http://www.hunmagyar.org/turan/altay/index.html Hunmagyar] ]

Prior to 1917 the Altai were actually considered to be many different ethnic groups. [Kolga et. al, "The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire", p. 29]

With the rise of the 1917 revolution, the Altay attempted to make their region a separate Burkhanist republic called Oryot, but their support for the Mensheviks during the Civil War led to the venture's collapse after the Bolshevik victory and the rise of Stalin. In the 1940s, the Altay were accused of being pro-Japanese, and the word "oyrot" was declared counterrevolutionary. By 1950, Soviet industrialization had cost the Altay 80% of their population. [ [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/etnisk_b.exe?Altai "Altay"] , Centre for Russian Studies, NUPI, retrieved 17 October 2006] Ethnic Altaians currently make up about 31% of the Altai Republic's population [ [http://eng.altai-republic.ru/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=40&page=1 Altai Republic :: official portal ] ] .

ee also

*Altay language
*Altay Mountains
*Altai Republic

Notes

External links

* [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/etnisk_b.exe?Altai NUPI - Centre for Russian Studies profile]
* [http://www.hunmagyar.org/turan/altay/altay.html Hunmagyar profile]
* [http://www.serp-k.ru/english/rustour/legenda.shtml The legend of Altay]
* [http://www.tortuga.com/foundation/altai/altai3.html Tortuga foundation]