The Ethnopark by Lake Teletskoye

The exhibits were collected by Synaruh Olegovna Anatpaeva and her family, a Yurt-Museum called «Altai Ail» was built, exclusive handmade souvenirs of the Altai masters were taken to the museum, and so on. And this was just the beginning. The most exciting part was the preparation of the tour program, which was also the long-term part: the independent and a more thorough study of the history, the origin of the people, and the philosophy of the people; meeting and communicating with the elders of the clans, kamas (shamans), the generalization and analysis of how these people live today, what path they took, the comparison with other ethnic groups, and many other things. This knowledge continues and will always continue. The amazing world, the wisdom of people, the diversity and identity of cultures still amaze us today.

When people come to Altai, many are fascinated by its beauty, energy, and wildness, but after they have driven across the region, they feel a certain incompleteness of their journey. In fact, Altai not only represents pristine nature, it is also represents its people, the keepers of their native land, who honor and sing about it in numerous heroic epics and tales. The system of beliefs of the Altai people can hardly be called a religion in the usual sense of the word; it does not lend itself to formal scientific classification. It contains monotheism, paganism, pantheism, magic, shamanism, and even elements of totemism. Thanks to a special attitude to nature, to the Earth, and to the Universe, Altai nowadays is as you see it. It is impossible to study Altai without its people, just as it is impossible to understand the people without their motherland.

The description of the collection:

There is an exposition «Altai Ail» in the Yurt-Museum: the hearth in the center, the left side is the men’s side (saddlebags, horsehair harness, saddle with decoration, bow and arrows, chain mail, whips, etc.) and the right is the women’s half of the ail (stupa – Soki, kamneterka – baspak, vessel for storing sour milk drink – chegenya, teherik ostol – family table, cauldrons, shurum – the device for distilling milk arachka, chest etc.).