Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most C ...
shamanism
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
Siberian Tatars
Siberian Tatars ( sty, , ), the ethnographic and ethnoterritorial group of Tatars of Western Siberia, the indigenous Turkic-speaking population of the forests and steppes of Western Siberia, originate in areas stretching from somewhat east o ...
,
Shors
Shors or Shorians ( Shor: , ''shor-kizhi'', , ''tadar-kizhi'', , ''shor'', , ''tadar'', , ''shor-kizhiler'', , ''tadar-kizhiler'', , ''shorlar'', , ''tadarlar'') are a Turkic ethnic group native to Kemerovo Oblast of Russia. Their self design ...
,
Tofalar
The Tofalar (Тофалары, тофа (tofa) in Russian; formerly known as карагасы or Karagas) or Tofa people, are a Turkic people in the Irkutsk Oblast in Russia. Their ethnonym contains the Turkic plural suffix -lar, thus it means "T ...
, footnotes =
Teleuts ( alt, тэлэңэт, тэлэңут, Telenget, Telengut) are a
Turkic
Turkic may refer to:
* anything related to the country of Turkey
* Turkic languages, a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages
** Turkic alphabets (disambiguation)
** Turkish language, the most widely spoken Turkic language
* ...
indigenous people of Siberia
Siberia, including the Russian Far East, is a vast region spanning the northern part of the Asian continent, and forming the Asiatic portion of Russia. As a result of the Russian conquest of Siberia (17th to 19th centuries) and of the subseque ...
living in
Kemerovo Oblast
Kemerovo Oblast — Kuzbass (russian: Ке́меровская о́бласть — Кузба́сс, translit=Kemerovskaya oblast — Kuzbass, ), also known simply as Kemerovo Oblast (russian: Ке́меровская о́бласть, label=non ...
,
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-eigh ...
. According to the 2010
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
, there were 2,643 Teleuts in Russia. They speak the Southern Altai Teleut language/dialect.
In the Soviet years and until 2000, the authorities considered the Teleuts to be part of the
Altai people
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 ...
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...
and 2010 Russian Census, they are recognized as a separate ethnic group within
Tiele people
The Tiele (, Mongolian ''*Tegreg'' " eople of theCarts"), also transliterated as Dili (), Chile (), Zhile (), Tele (), also named Gaoche or Gaoju (, "High Carts"), were a tribal confederation of Turkic ethnic origins living to the north of China ...
. They came under the rule of the
First Turkic Khaganate
The First Turkic Khaganate, also referred to as the First Turkic Empire, the Turkic Khaganate or the Göktürk Khaganate, was a Turkic khaganate established by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks in medieval Inner Asia under the leadership of Bumin ...
. The Teleuts emerged from the result of
Kipchaks
The Kipchaks or Qipchaks, also known as Kipchak Turks or Polovtsians, were a Turkic nomadic people and confederation that existed in the Middle Ages, inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the 8th century as part of the Sec ...
and Mongols mixing together. Near the end of the 16th century, the Teleuts wandered the steppe between the Irtysh and the Ob'. They became nominal subjects to the
Oirats
Oirats ( mn, Ойрад, ''Oirad'', or , Oird; xal-RU, Өөрд; zh, 瓦剌; in the past, also Eleuths) are the westernmost group of the Mongols whose ancestral home is in the Altai Mountains, Altai region of Siberia, Xinjiang and western M ...
at this period. Their population at this time numbered 4,000 tents.
The Russians gained control of the region in the mid-eighteenth century and the Teleuts subsequently became their subjects. The Russians called the Teleuts "White Kalmyks" in their documents despite the ethnic and linguistic differences between the
Kalmyks
The Kalmyks ( Kalmyk: Хальмгуд, ''Xaľmgud'', Mongolian: Халимагууд, ''Halimaguud''; russian: Калмыки, translit=Kalmyki, archaically anglicised as ''Calmucks'') are a Mongolic ethnic group living mainly in Russia, w ...
and Teleuts.
The Teleuts consider themselves to be a distinct people and many do not accept being labeled as Altaian. The majority of the Teleuts live along the Great and Little Bachat Rivers in
Kemerovo Oblast
Kemerovo Oblast — Kuzbass (russian: Ке́меровская о́бласть — Кузба́сс, translit=Kemerovskaya oblast — Kuzbass, ), also known simply as Kemerovo Oblast (russian: Ке́меровская о́бласть, label=non ...
. However, a few Teleuts also live in the
Altai Republic
The Altai Republic (; russian: Респу́блика Алта́й, Respublika Altay, ; Altai: , ''Altay Respublika''), also known as Gorno-Altai Republic, and colloquially, and primarily referred to in Russian to distinguish from the neighbouri ...
.
Culture
Most Teleuts used to be nomadic or semi-nomadic livestock herders and horses, goats, cattle, and sheep were the most common types of animals they raised. Some Teleuts were hunters and relied on animals living in the
taiga
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces ...
for subsistence.
Traditional Teleut dwellings included conic yurts made out of bark or perches.
Common Teleut dress was composed of linen shirts, short breeches, and single-breasted robes.
Religion
Most Teleuts are Orthodox Christians. However, there is a minority that practice shamanism.
Burkhanism
Burkhanism or Ak Jang ( alt, Ак јаҥ "the White Faith") is a indigenist new religious movement that flourished among the Altai people of Russia's Altai Republic between 1904 and the 1930s. The Russian Empire was suspicious of the movement' ...
was once widely practiced by the Teleuts but was effectively eliminated during the Soviet era. Contemporary revivals of the religion among other Altaian groups have not affected the Teleuts. A minority of Teleuts moved up to the north of Kemerovo Oblast and interacted with local
Tatars
The Tatars ()Tatar in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different and became
Sunni Muslims
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
. Today they number around 500 and have mostly assimilated while keeping their Teleut roots, into the local Tatars and are known as the Kalmaks also adopting a local dialect of the Tatar language.
However some sources consider the language of the Kalmaks to be a separate variety of Tatar, or even a dialect of the Teleut language, as it differs greatly from other Siberian Tatar varieties.
See also
*
Altay 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 N ...
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose memb ...