Adaptation of the Kumandins to urban environment (the case of the Kumandins of Biysk)

The Kumandins are a Turkic-speaking indigenous people of the Altai. According to the last three censuses, their number has been steadily decreasing, primarily because of the urban Kumandins. This study discusses adaptation of the Kumandins to urban environment using the example of Biysk residents. The sources of the study are sociological survey in Biysk in 2016 and author’s field materials, which show adaptability of the Biysk Kumandins to urban environment in one or two generations. The respondents manifested high educational capacity growing from generation to generation. Although the Altai Krai is a subsidized region and many enterprises have been closed in Biysk, the share of the unemployed among the Kumandin residents is insignificant. The surveyed Kumandins mainly work in service industry and social sector. They have stable albeit mostly low income which is partly balanced by private subsidiary farming. The respondents were satisfied with urban lifestyle. They liked urban infrastructure and life prospects. Some respondents would like to improve their lives, especially its economic aspect, and thought about moving to a larger city or megacity. Wide geography of the desired relocation indicates adaptability of the Kumandins to urban environment. Rapid adaptation of the Kumandins to the city results from a number of reasons, such as proximity to the settlements of rural Kumandins, accessibility of the city which makes it possible to avoid the fear offailure in the city, similarity of climate, as well as age-old ethnic and cultural contacts between the indigenous and newly coming populations, including the activities of the Altai Spiritual Mission, etc.