The Ways of the Revived Zaisanat in the Republic of Altai

The investigation of the problem under study was carried out on the basis of the field material collected in the Republic of Altai using the ethnographic techniques of direct observation and interrogation. The material of local newspapers, information on the Internet sites, the draft law "On the tribal community of the Altaians", the Charter of the Kurultai of the Altai People organization was introduced into scientific discourse. The aim of the study is to identify the ways of reviving the institution of Zaisanat as the council of tribal heads against the background of ethnic mobility of the Altaians. The initial stage was marked by the facts of the restoration of the importance of the Seok (clan) institution in the late 1980s by constructing the tradition to elect the tribal head - a Zaisan - who is destined to actualize the clan consciousness, customs and traditions. The Zaisan's public activity is rather limited as there are no normative documents regulating his status. When the ethnic heritage was at the stage of politicization in the late 1990s, Zaisanat made use of the administrative method to influence the society through the decisions of meetings-kurultais. The topical issues on the status of the Altaian language, the ecology of the Altai, the reduction of match-making costs, etc., are on the agenda. Local Russians, who make up the ethnic majority of the region, are far from understanding the tribal system of the Altaians, and view the conduct of the clan meeting and the election of a Zaisan as a source of dangerous inter-ethnic tension. At the time of the social crisis which is observed in the recent decade, ways have been revealed to transform Zaisanat expressed in the combination of the clan and administrative-territorial principles of leadership. Modern Zaisanat is largely criticized for its passivity and adherence to some politicization. Supporters of the revived Zaisanat claim that the restoration of the council of clan heads makes it possible for the ethnic markers of the Altaians to leave the family-related environment and act at the social level, which is one of the forms of self-assetion of the Altaians. The conclusion drawn says that, in the conditions of the existing relationships between the local authorities and the Altai people, a new strategy that can strengthen the importance of ethnic values is required, one of such values is the revived Zaisanat.

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