The Tubalars are an ethnic subgroup of the
Altaians
The Altai people ( alt, Алтай-кижи, Altai-kizhi), also the Altaians ( alt, Алтайлар, Altailar), are a Turkic ethnic group of indigenous peoples of Siberia mainly living in the Altai Republic, Russia. Several thousand of the Alta ...
native to the
Altai Republic in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
According to the
2010 census, there were 1,965 Tubalars in Russia.
In 2002 they were listed by the authorities within the
.
The villages with the highest population of Tubalars are
Artybash,
Iogach,
Novotroitsk,
Tuloi,
Tondoshka,
Kebezen
Kebezen (russian: Кебезень; alt, Кебезен) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a Village#Russia, selo) in Kebezenskoye Rural Settlement of Turochaksky District, the Altai Republic, Russia. The population was ...
,
Ust-Pyzha,
Biyka,
Yailu,
Chuyka,
Torochak,
Paspaul,
Salganda,
Karakoksha,
Tunzha, Krasnoselskoye,
Uskuch,
Uimen, and
Karasuk.
History
The Tubalars emerged from the mixing of Turkic tribes with
Ket,
Samoyed, and other native Siberian groups. This was a process that began as early as the period when the
Yenisei Kyrgyz dominated the region. The Mongols then ruled over the region and people from the 13th to 18th centuries. The
Dzungars than briefly controlled the area until the Tubalars (along with other Altaians) submitted to the Russians.
Due to socio-economic changes taking place in the area during the middle to late 20 century, traditional Tubalar culture witnessed a decline. Many Tubalars migrated to cities for work and the merging of small villages into larger ones resulted in many historically Tuba villages to be left abandoned or non-existent. There has been a recent push by the Tubalars to conserve their culture and language. The Tubalars consider themselves to be distinct from the other Turkic peoples in the Altai region.
Culture
The Tubalars were originally hunters and animals living in the taiga were vital to the local subsistence economy.
Around the 19th century, Tubalars took up picking
cedar nuts as a additional economic activity.
The traditional dwellings of the Tubalars included polygonal yurts made out of bark or log and topped with a conic bark roof. Other types of dwellings also included conic yurts made out of bark or perches.
Traditional Tubalar dress included short breeches, linen shirts, and single-breasted robes.
A clan structure is still strongly prevalent among the modern Tubalars.
The sacred tree of Tubalars is the
cedar
Cedar may refer to:
Trees and plants
*''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae
*Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar
Places United States
* Cedar, Arizona
* ...
, a symbol of the power, beauty and courage of taiga. The Holiday of Cedar is a celebration of this tree.
Religion
Most Tubalars are
Orthodox Christian but there is a significant minority that still practice
shamanism.
See also
*
Altai language
Altai ( alt, Алтай тил, Altay til) is a set of Turkic languages, spoken officially in the Altai Republic, Russia. The standard vocabulary is based on the Southern Altai language, though it's also taught to and used by speakers of the No ...
(''
Tuba
The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...
'' dialect is often considered a dialect of the Altay language, although whether these dialects are dialects of the "standard"
Southern Altai language
Southern Altai (also known as Oirot, Oyrot, Altai and Altai proper) is a Turkic language spoken in the Altai Republic, a federal subject of Russia located in Southern Siberia on the border with Mongolia and China. The language has some mutual i ...
or separate languages is controversial)
References
External links
speaking4earth: Tubalars & Chelkans
Altai people
Ethnic groups in Siberia
Indigenous peoples of North Asia
Indigenous peoples of the Altai Republic
Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East
{{Asia-ethno-group-stub