G.N. Potanin - a friend of Asian people

The article focuses on one of the aspects of G.N. Potanin's activities- on his attitude to the peoples of Central Asia, in particular the Kazakhs. Potanin was born in the Kazakh steppes and was well acquaintedwith the life, traditions, culture and myths of the nomadic peoples of Inner Asia, including the Kazakhs. Potanin did not divide peoplesinto historic and backward, acknowledging that all the peoples of the world have the right and opportunities for development. He believedthat Asian and European peoples have a common destiny reflected in the mythology. It was the original myth that Potanin tried todiscover. He respected the language and traditions of peoples that he studied during the expeditions and did not resort to the services of militarydetachments. For the nomads, he was a friend, and not a civilizer.In his expeditions Potanin used the complex method to study the population and territory. He recorded the data about the history, demography,ethnic composition of the population, its activities, culture and language, buildings, dwellings, customs, lines of communications.The information about the natural environment, landscape, climate, flora and fauna was also thoroughly recorded. Such an approach allowedPotanin to gather an extensive body of information consisting of herbaria, maps, topographic data, meteorological and geologic observationswhich he later, being primarily interested in ethnography and folk-lore, shared generously with other researchers. For him, it was an opportunityto gain a better understanding of the conditions of life and customs of peoples.G.N. Potanin not only studied the peoples of Central Asia, he did a lot for their development, helped the best representatives of Kazakhintelligentsia to be educated in Tomsk, encouraged their participation in research activites. Russians and Kazakhs, Siberia and Kazakhstanhave a shared memory of Potanin.

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