Ethnic and cultural identity of the inhabitants of the Altai krai in the customs and rituals of the commemoration day in the 1950s-2020s (evidence of ethnographic expeditions in 2013-2023)

This article discusses the preservation of calendar customs and traditions of the Commemoration Day (Radonitsa) among the residents of the Altai Krai in the 1950s-2020s as a manifestation of their ethnic and cultural identity. Commemorative traditions of the Easter period (distribution of commemorative foods, preparation of commemorative dishes, meal at the grave, and rolling eggs on the grave), praying (individual and collective singing, reciting prayers), observance of prohibitions, etc. are described. Transformations of popular lifestyle, involving customs and rituals of the Commemoration Day, in the 1950s-2020s, occurred during the controversial period of global stabilization after the World War II, restoration of the Soviet economy, rapid development of science and technologies, collapse of the USSR and post-Soviet development of Russia. The article pays special attention to adaptive forms of commemorative practices ("secret” visits to cemeteries, commemoration at home and at other people’s houses) in the 1950s-1960s in the time ofpersecution and prohibition on visiting cemeteries. Preservation of customs and rituals of the Commemoration Day "despite everything” (anti-religious propaganda, pressure from the authorities, expulsion from the Communist Party, persecution, etc.) indicates the importance of the Easter commemorative practices in preserving ethnic and cultural identity of the Altai Krai residents at the personal, family, and group levels. The following sources have been used in the study: field interviews with residents of the Altai Krai, photographic evidence from field expeditions organized by the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the SB RAS in 2013-2023 taken during participant observation in the villages of Ozerki and Shipunovo in Shipunovo District. For the first time, the research problem was discussed at narrow regional level of Shipunovo, Aleisk, Mamontovo, Romanovo, Ust-Pristan, and Krasnoshchekovo Districts of the Altai Krai.