The religion of the many native peoples in Siberia and the Russian Arctic is often a sort of natural religion, or shamanism, which involves a natural, harmonious and evolving approach to the natural world and to social relations, and, as such, is akin to the sort of religion and approach to life sought after by many adherents of new religions, and of new movements within established religions, in the west. However, as the demand for national recognition grows among such peoples, and with it the need for more formal state structures, built around the nation, religion too begins to become formalized, and to lose its natural, all-pervasive character.
This book explores the religion and world outlook of the Telengits of the Republic of Altai in Southern Siberia. It provides an account of the Altai, its peoples, clans and political structures, focusing particularly on the Telengits; and considers the different elements of religious belief exhibited among these native peoples. It goes on to investigate the sacred places of the Telengits, their religious customs, beliefs and rituals. It addresses important theoretical questions raised by the interaction of different kinds of knowledge, especially in the context of state intervention in the area of religion, and with a particular focus on the interaction between non-institutionalized and institutionalized religious practices and knowledge. It demonstrates how the idea of national unity as expressed in state ideology influences processes of reshaping spiritual knowledge among the Telengits. Overall, this book is a comprehensive anthropological account of the contemporary religious life of the Telengits, and has important implications forwider debates in sociology and politics.

This book concerns the politics of religion as expressed through apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Dzhublyk in Transcarpathian Ukraine. On the one hand, the analysis provides insights into the present position of Transcarpathia in regional, Ukraine-wide, and European struggles for identity and political belonging. The way in which the apparitions site has been conceived and managed raises questions concerning the fate of religious communities during and after socialism, the significance of national projects for religious organizations, and the politics of religious management in a situation in which local religious commitments are relatively strong and religious organizations are relatively weak. The analysis contributes to the ethnography and history of this particular region and of the post-socialist world in general. On the other hand, the changing status of the apparition site over the years allows investigation of the questions concerning authority, legitimacy, and power in religious organizations, especially in relation to management of religious experiences.The analysis aims at clarification of such concepts as religious institutions, organizations but also religious experiences and is relevant to anthropology, sociology and religious studies. It is argued that the important question in analyses of religious apparitions should not be how an individual experience becomes institutionalized and instrumentalized, but how experience becomes a tool for negotiation and transformation in the religious field.

In a new and engaging study, Halemba explores the religion and world outlook of the Telengits of Altai. The book provides an account of the Altai, its peoples, clans and political structures, focusing particularly on on the Telengits, whilst also considering the different elements of religious belief exhibited among these native peoples. Paradoxically, as the demand for national recognition grows among such people, and with it the need for more formal state structures, built around the nation, religion too begins to become formalized, and loses its natural, all-pervasive character. With the Telengits, whose natural religion includes elements of Buddhism, this takes the form of a debate as to whether the state religion of their polity is to be Buddhism or, contrary to the character of shamanism, a formal, structured, fixed shamanism. This is a comprehensive anthropological account of the contemporary religious life of the Telengits, holding important implications for wider debates in sociology and politics.