Contemporary ethnic processes in Tuvan population in the south of Krasnoyarskii Krai

Abstract

The article examines the contemporary ethnic trends in the group of Tuvans who for a long time have been residing in Krasnoyarskii Krai, near the border with the Republic of Tuva, along the river Us. They are habitually referred to as the ‘Usinsk Tuvans’. Since early 1990s, due to the decay of cattle farming and mass unemployment, almost all of them have relocated to two Russian villages, where they now form a minority. After the move, the Tuvan population, especially its youngest age groups, have had specific ethnic experience which was investigated by an ethnographic expedition the author took part in in 2014. The Usinsk Tuvans were surveyed with the help of an ethnographic questionnaire. In addition, informant and expert discussions were held, and available statistical materials studied, as well as household books for a number of years from the local village council archive.

Our study has found that even those whose mother tongue is Tuvan commonly have to communicate in Russian. Linguistic assimilation was most conspicuous in the youngest age group, where children are increasingly often given Russian names. Youth increasingly often sing only Russian song. While the elder generation still remembers several Tuvan fairy tales, there are fewer children and teenagers with such knowledge.

Tuvans still preserve only some elements of the traditional wedding rites, but funeral rites are better known and kept. Dualist religious self-identification can be observed (Buddhism-Shamanism, Orthodox Christianity – Buddhism, or Orthodox Christianity – Shamanism). Over a third of Usinsk Tuvans identify as atheists.

Ethnic closing is habitually worn mainly by elderly women, while the majority of Usinsk Tuvans (64.5%) never wear it. Dishes belonging to Tuvan national cuisine are cooked in most families.

31.7% of households are mixed-marriage families, with women marrying a non-Tuvan more frequently than men. This significant proportion of mixed marriages means a higher percentage of mixed-ethnicity children.

Our study helped us arrive at a number of conclusions that linguistic and other forms of assimilation are on the rise. This casts doubt on the perspectives of the group’s survival. Although almost half of Usinsk Tuvans believe they will survive as an ethnic group, the other half admit the possibility of full assimilation or are at a loss concerning their ethnic group’s future.