Voices of the Land, Samizdat, and Visionary Politics: On the Social Life of Altai Narratives

This article analyses the social life of narratives within the contemporary Ak-Jang [Ak-Çaŋ] movement of the Altai people of Southern Siberia, based on periodic fieldwork from 2009-2012, with recent updates using the Internet and short trips. The author argues that the Ak-Jang movement, while it has roots and commonalities in the Burkhanist “new religion” of the turn of the twentieth century, also has divergences. While both were politically oppositionist, Ak-Jang members today mobilize against formal, official Buddhism and against outsiders, including tourists. Focus of the article is on written texts, often defending the ecology of sacred lands, stemming from cosmic “messages” received by Ak-Jang members.