Modern Culture and Crafts, Folklore Groups, Professional Art

Ethnic village councils (sovety) were established and operated in the Krasnogorskoye and Solton districts in the Altai territory, the traditional Kumandin settlement areas. Their “ethnic” status was rather nominal. The Kaltash village council operating out of the village of Krasnogorskoye served as an “ethnic” body for the Krasnogorskoye district and included both Kumandin and Russian population. Subsequently, the Kaltash village council was subsumed into the Krasnogorskoye village council. The Shatobal village council operating out of the village of Shatobal as an ethnic village council for the Solton district. In 2010, the Shatobal ethnic village council was merged with the Solton village council. An experimental center for traditional folk Kumandin culture established in 2013 at the Malinovsky Culture and Recreation Center in the village of Krasnogorskoye was an important step in preserving Kumandin traditions. In November 2013, the Estey Kumandin ethnic center was opened at the Malinovsky Culture and Recreation Center. It serves as a venue for clubs, teaching an elective course in the Kumandin language, performing rehearsals, and cultural events.

Early August is the time of annual Kumandin festivals timed to coincide with the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. In 2014, for instance, this festival was held in Biysk, and in 2019 - in the village of Krasnogorskoye. This festival has a rather busy schedule: an opening ceremony, a celebratory concert, Kumandin artisans’ fair, Kumandin Beauty pageant, athletic competitions (the kuresh martial art, stone lifting and throwing, archery, etc.), and traditional food tasting.

The Kocho-Kan fall fertility festival has become an important element in the Kumandins’ modern holiday culture. Reconstructed from ethnographic descriptions, this holiday today brings together all the Kumandins. This is a meeting venue for Kumandin communes from different regions, a site for folk song contests among folk performing groups, for children’s games, and for traditional food tastings.

In addition to these festivals, other events have recently engaged Kumandins from the three districts: the Dorm Olympics, the Mother Tongue Day, etc. Members of the Kumandin ethnic folk performing groups Odychak and Chakayak (Krasnogorskoye district), Ayrychak (Biysk), and Talychak (Solton district) are actively involved in nationwide and international fairs where they represent their people’s traditions. For instance, a Kumandin performing group regularly participates in the Treasure of the North international forum held at the All-Russia Exhibition Center in Moscow.

A breakthrough was achieved when folklore performing groups (Odychak, Chakayak, Ayrychak, and Talychak) were established in all three districts where Kumandins live in tightly- knit communities; the groups perform both traditional songs (takpak) and Russian folk and popular songs translated into Kumandin. For instance, Lidia O. Kukoeva, one of the best experts on the Kumandin language and the matriarch of a Kumandin clan, translated into Kumandin the songs “Moscow Evenings” and “Through the Wild Steppes around Lake Baikal” that are expertly performed at Kumandin festivals and celebrations. Surviving examples of traditional Kumandin clothes and memoirs of folk bands’ members served as models for making stage costumes in different colors depending on a specific district.