On the Problem of Preserving the Traditional Wedding of the Southern Altai People as a Cultural Heritage of the Altai Republic in the City of Gorno-Altaisk

The article aims to shed light on the problem of preserving the Altai wedding in the town of Gorno-Altaisk. The study’s material is field data collected by the author over three decades in the Altai Republic. The methods of description and systematization of the collected material were used in the analysis of the source base. It was found that in the urban Altai population, a traditional wedding is considered prestigious, which is why the ritual wedding ‘Altai toi’ is celebrated in the first half of the day, and a youth wedding is celebrated in the second half of the day. It is emphasized that the modern wedding ceremony is less extensive compared to the traditional one, which is important in urban conditions. The characteristics of the town’s wedding ceremony are described, essentially performed as a sign of respect for the bride’s relatives. Attention is drawn to the problems that arise when Altaians perform a wedding in a comfortable apartment when an open fire is required for the rituals in honor of the family hearth. The problem of ritual chanting, which accompanies the bride through the streets of the town to the house of the groom’s parents and is performed early in the morning, is described, and it is pointed out that the town of Gorno-Altaisk acts as a ‘hub’ of the ritual life of the ethno-territorial groups of the Altai people, whose representatives live in the capital of the republic. This can be illustrated by the example of the Southern Altai people, whose ethnic self-identification consists of ethnoconsolidating characteristics – traditions, customs, and language. Controversial wedding situations arise when the groom or bride are Telengits because the ritual meanings of the Altai Kizhi and Telengits do not match. Contradictions can be observed when the wedding is performed in the “Telengit way” with the combination of post-wedding offerings (‘belkenchek’), while the Altai Kizhi prohibition that the bride’s parents be present at the wedding in the groom’s home is observed. The described tradition of observing the main rituals and ceremonies allows us to attribute the preserved Altai wedding rites to the ethnocultural heritage of the Altai Republic. Over the last ten years, the Council of Zaisans, as the head of the clans-seoks, has proposed establishing a “yurt-ayil” as a center of traditional culture, where the most important rituals can be held in honor of the groom’s ancestral fire. Special efforts are needed to develop ethnic culture in modern conditions and make the town a spiritual center.