Old believers-wanderers of Udora and Pechora: local variants of the confessional tradition (end of the XIX – XX centuries)

Introduction: problem of local variation of cultures is an important part of significant for folklore and ethnographic studies. In this context, the study of confessional cultures and their variants, including old believer communities existing in different regions of the Russian Federation, is being conducted. Since the late 1980s, studies have been carried out on the role of the old belief in the ethno-cultural self-determination of local groups of Finno-Ugric peoples. The article is devoted to the history of the teaching of true orthodox christians wandering (wanderers, runners) in the areas of residence of Komi-Zyryans (on the Upper and Middle Pechora and Udora). Objective: to determine the factors that contributed the spread of the wanderers’ doctrine among the Pechora and Udora Komi-Zyryans, as well as its fate in the XX century; to characterize the features of the existing religious practices of the Udora and Pechora wanderers. Research materials: archival and published documents of ecclesiastical departments; reports of the Soviet period prepared by representatives of local party and law enforcement agencies; scientific reports of ethnographic expeditions of the 1960s. The author’s field materials were used. Results and novelty of the research: in the article for the first time the author compares local variants of Pechora and Udora tradition of the Komi old believers-wanderers. An analysis of various sources allows us to draw conclusions about the defining significance of the cultural environment, as well as social changes of the beginning of the XX century in the spread of the wanderers’ teaching among the Komi-Zyryans of Udora and Pechora. The accession of the part of Pechora Pomor communities leaders to wanderers contributed to the widespread dissemination of their doctrine on the Middle and Upper Pechora, while the old believers’ mentors of Udora opposed the wanderers, and their ideals were established only in the circle of a number of families. The difference in the number of followers, as well as the peculiarities of local religious practices, largely determined the fate of the Udora and Pechora pilgrim communities in the XX century.