Tubalars

The Tubalars emerged from the merging of Turkic tribes with Ket, Samoyedic, and other native Siberian groups. Due to socio-economic changes taking place in the area during the middle to late 20th century, traditional Tubalar culture witnessed a decline. Many Tubalars migrated to cities for work and the merging of small, "unpromising" villages into larger ones resulted in many historically Tuba villages being left abandoned or non-existent. There has been a recent push by the Tubalars to conserve their culture and language. The Tubalars consider themselves to be distinct from the other Turkic peoples in the Altai region. == Culture ==

The Tubalars were originally hunters and animals living in the taiga were vital to the local subsistence economy. The traditional dwellings of the Tubalars included polygonal yurts made out of bark or log and topped with a conic bark roof. Other types of dwellings also included conic yurts made out of bark or perches. Traditional Tubalar dress included short breeches, linen shirts, and single-breasted robes. A clan structure is still strongly prevalent among the modern Tubalars. The sacred tree of Tubalars is the cedar, a symbol of the power, beauty and courage of taiga. The Holiday of Cedar is a celebration of this tree. == Religion ==

Most Tubalars are Orthodox Christian but there is a significant minority that still practice shamanism. ==References==