The article is devoted to the analysis of ethno-marking and integration plots of Altai historical legends. The author
characterizes the historical circumstances of the formation of the corpus of Altai historical legends, attempts to systema-
tize the stories on the content and highlights the signs of ethnic identity for Altai-kizhi on the basis of folklore texts:
language, lifestyle, type of management, clothing, hairstyle. A debatable question about ethnic borders of Altai-kizhi
and relations with local sub-ethnic groups is presented. The author insists on the incompleteness of the integrative pro-
cesses taking place in the territory of the Altai Mountains in the post-Oirot period, which currently lead to the inclusion
of various small ethnic and sub-ethnic turkic-speaking groups in the Altay-kizhi people. The importance of knowledge
of specific folklore subjects, and not only the Altai language for ethnic idetification is emphasized. Historical legends
are presented as a marker of ethnic boundaries in a multi-ethnic population. The mechanisms of formation of traditional
ethical prohibitions and their significance for the definition of their "own" and "others" are described. The stages of
integration of migrants into the structure of exogamous genera of Altay-kizhi are described in detail on the example of
the texts of legends. The author illustrates the process of population recovery through incorporation and natural growth
and describes the cultural attitudes that allow to preserve ethnic identity after depopulation and civil war. Question of
bilingual existence of Altai folklore texts is considered. The relevance of historical legends in the modern community is
noted. Thus, folklore texts could be considered not only as examples of folk literature, but also as a source of ethnic
history.
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