The article considers ethnic transformations among the Russian Cossacks, Yakuts, Buryats, Evenks, and peoples of the Far North, the role of Orthodoxy and Buddhism in Cossack culture, and the participation of Cossacks in the baptism of non-Christian ethnic groups. In the context of the consideration of the phenomenon of the Yakut, Transbaikalian, Buryat, and other Cossacks, the author examines the features of the interaction of ethnic groups and faiths. The study uses archival documents and historical experience of long-term observation and analysis of interethnic and inter-confessional relations in Cossack environment by scholars and portrayers of ordinary life. The author comes to the conclusion that in the conditions of everyday life the historical experience of ethno-cultural community of the Cossacks in the territory of the Far East demonstrates the possibility to ensure the consolidation of disparate representatives of various cultures with the formation of an integral socially significant Cossack society on multi-confessional and multinational basis.

Key words: Cossacks of Eastern regions of Russia, ethno-confessional relations, ethnoses, Orthodoxy, Buddhism, Old Belief, shamanism

About the author

Anna I. Kovalenko – DSc (History), Professor, Head of the Department of Humanities, Amur State Medical Academy; 95 Gorkogo str., Blagoveshchensk, Russia. 675006; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.