Association for the Radiation of Himalayan Cultures
By Clément Jacquemond (ATER-EPHE)
Programme Conference 25 February 2023
From Shamanism to Shamanisms?
Perspectives on religious dynamics in the Russian Altai
This presentation provides an overview of religious practices in the Russian Altai. This region of southern Siberia, best known for the shamanism of its natives, is also historically a crossroads of cultural exchange and the meeting point of many religious currents, which has earned it the nickname "Palestine of Asia". How have the systems of representations and practices interacted over time? How did these interactions shape the pre- and post-Soviet indigenous religion? The presentation will review the different historical processes of the Altai religious and question its contemporary socio-political dimensions.