Assimilation of natural terrains and ethnocultural identity (evidence of the Russians living in the Altai Mountains)

The relationship between the settlement of Russians on new territories and specific aspects of their ethnic and cultural identity are analyzed using the evidence from the Altai Mountains. The study presents information on the culture of the so-called old-timers of the Altai Mountains, Old Believers of the Uymon Valley, and Orthodox migrants who settled on new territories during the Stolypin ’s resettlement. Ethnic and cultural adaptation of Russian old-timers and new settlers to the terrains ofthe Altai Mountains included not only agricultural cultivation of the available lands, but also adaptation of the worldview to new space and emergence of Russian place names. Some aspects in the worldview of the Uymon Old Believers reveal the perception of the territories where they lived as sacred. They founded secluded settlements in mountains and valleys and formed a stable ethnic and confessional group which still exists until now. The most important components of ethnic and cultural identity of this group were beliefs associated with sacralization of their dwelling area around Mount Belukha and Katun River. The Stolypin ’s migrants, who arrived and started to cultivate this land with mountains and taiga, built small villages with highly diverse population in terms of places of origin. Small sizes of settlements did not make it possible for new settlers who came from different regions to organize their own parts or “ends” as they called them, in these settlements. The migrants were consciously prepared for assimilation and development of new local communities of the region. Thus, cultivating various natural terrains of the Altai Mountains by the Russians could have facilitated both emergence and prolonged preservation of local ethnic and cultural identity as it happened to the group of the Uymon Old Believers. The process of land cultivation also led to leveling off cultural differences as it was the case with the Stolypin ’s settlers.