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RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM IN THE TRANS-TOM INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN INTERDISCIPLINARY CONTEXT // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2019. Issue 1 (23). P. 136-145

The article compares the data of historical studies and the analysis of the museum collections and archives on religious syncretism in the beliefs of minority indigenous peoples of the Trans-Tom region (Shors and Bachat Teleuts). The empirical base of the study comprises the museum collections of St. Petersburg, Kemerovo, Tomsk, Novokuznetsk and others cities. The study deals with problems of interaction of animistic beliefs, shamanic cult, Orthodoxy and Burkhanism in the context of an interdisciplinary approach, relying on the methods of macro- and micro-analysis. The article highlights peculiarities of religious syncretism through generalization of research approaches to understanding the phenomenon of religious syncretism. Authors substantiate the use of the term “The Trans-Tom region” for the territory of the compact settlement of the Shors and Bachat Teleut people. Basing on the historical-genetic method, the sequence and degree of influence of the components of world religions on the traditional religious consciousness are traced. New sources (museum collections and archives) are being introduced into scientific circulation, all characterized as manifestations of religious syncretism. We conclude that local religious syncretic forms combine Christian and Burkhanistic constituent elements. These forms are more typical for Bachat Teleuts. The study also posits that during the intercultural interaction of the northern Shors and Bachat Teleuts, certain elements of the Burkhanist rites were introduced.

Keywords: religious syncretism, interconfessional interaction, traditional cults, ritual, animism, shamanism, Orthodoxy, Burkhanism, museum collections, Shors, Bachat Teleuts