Local Ethnic Groups Research Articles

Comprehensive analysis of water and sediment from holy water body ‘Pokhri’ reveals presence of biomolecules that may educe skin, gastroenterological and neurological dysfunction

‘Pokhri mai’ refers to the natural pond amidst the hilly forest slopes of the Buxa tiger reserve (BTR) nearby Jayanti considered to be sacred by the local ethnic groups serving as the prime source of water for wild animals and occasionally by neighbouring inhabitants. However, the water body is designated to be noxious by a group of native people with no scientific validation. This paper focuses to explore its toxicity status and allied environmental concerns through Pokhri water and sediment sample analysis through physicochemical assessment, in vitro antioxidant assay, microbiological investigation followed by AAS, GC–MS and in silico study. pH of soil and water samples were found to be quite high (>6.8) with organic matter, carbon and available nitrogen content being 1.5308 ± 0.28 %, 0.89 ± 0.17 % and 0.072 ± 0.34 % respectively. Profuse microbial growths were observed in both sediment and water samples with consortia obtained exhibiting tolerance against a range of antifungals and antibiotics. Inhibition zone was absent for sediment consortium whereas consortium of water samples portrayed susceptibility against various heavy metals viz. Cu2+, Pb2+, Zn2+, Fe3+ and Al3+ salts with corresponding AAS quantified values of sediment samples being 133, 223.3, 86.8, 1449 and 481.5 ppm. A summative of 18 metabolites were identified by GC–MS in Pokhri lake sediment among which 13 (occupying 96.35 % peak area) were investigated to be potentially toxic with 2,4-Di-tert-butylphenol (53.38 %) as the major compound. Biomolecular characterization, ADMET test and molecular docking study with dermal, gastrointestinal and neural peptides exhibiting high binding affinity scores (ranging between −2.6 to −8.3 kcal/mol) further affirmed the toxicity attributes of the GC–MS deciphered molecules. The findings clearly justifies the local ‘myth’ of Pokhri water to be deleterious with prospective dermatotoxic, neurotoxic and being evident of gastrointestinal toxicity emphasizing ecological risk to the environment, wildlife and microflora of the adjoining forests.

Large-scale agro-industries and host community land restitution demands: understanding the land-use conflicts between the CDC and Fako elites in the south west region, Cameroon

Large-scale land acquisition has been frequent in most parts of Africa. This frequently led to extensive dispossession among other pitfalls of violation of indigenous land ownership rights. A significant proportion of Fako division’s fertile slopes and plains were expropriated by the Germans for implantation and development of plantations. Ownership rights of indigenous community lands were transferred without the legal consent of the rightful native authorities. Against the backdrop of this colonial intrusion and consequential violations of local customary tenure rights, the growing need for justice and restoration of dignity has been a shared value among a preponderant proportion of the local Bakweri ethnic group. This culminated to a restitution decision of CDC leased lands to the Bakweri by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. Nonetheless, the proportion of restituted lands has not been significant and satisfactory enough to conciliate the expropriated host communities of the extensive CDC leaseholds. As such, landownership contestations and its consequential socio-political tensions still persist in Fako. This paper is centered on yet a more frequently expressed contestation: encroachment into and occupancy of CDC leaseholds by natives of Fako as a whole and Ndongo of Tiko sub-division in particular. Prior extensive documentary review was done which pointed to the locality of Ndongo as a suitable case of interest. Contrary to the general land grabbing tendencies of agro-businesses, community members here are accused of unauthorized intrusion into and tenancy of lands with legal ownership rights belonging to the CDC. The study was ethnographic comprising of individual in-depth interviews and observations.

Китайский опыт управления горным туризмом в условиях урбанизации: на примере провинции Гуйчжоу

The study is based on analyzing urban discourse in the context of mountain tourism development in China using Guizhou Province as an example. The focus is on exploring the interaction between urban and mountain cultures, and the formation of strategies that promote the sustainable development of the tourism industry in mountainous areas. Methods. The authors used system approach and factor analysis, as well as trans-disciplinary-regionological approach to study regional aspects of mountain tourism. Analytical reports, mountain tourism development strategies and works of Chinese researchers served as the main sources for the analysis. Results. In October 2019, the Guizhou Provincial Government published a document proposing to turn Guizhou into a world-renowned sports and mountain tourism area, highlighting the region’s ambition to become a leader in this field. International conferences and seminars have confirmed the desire to utilize the natural environment to develop mountain tourism, which includes not only improving infrastructure but also preserving the province’s unique natural and cultural characteristics. Guizhou has significant potential due to its geographical location and cultural diversity, making it an ideal location for tourism development. Key strategies to effectively engage with the urban discourse include enhancing the environmental culture of the people, developing transportation accessibility and infrastructure, promoting the cultural heritage of local ethnic groups, and increasing the region’s role in tourism management. Conclusions. The study emphasizes the importance of integrating urbanist discourse in mountain tourism development, especially in multinational and geographically unique regions such as Guizhou. Four key strategies – ecological development, improving infrastructure, preserving cultural uniqueness, and strengthening regional management – provide a sustainable foundation for future growth of the tourism industry. This approach not only promotes economic development, but also preserves the unique natural and cultural resources that make Guizhou attractive to tourists. The results of this study can serve as a basis for developing similar strategies in other mountain regions of the world, thus stimulating global cooperation and knowledge sharing in mountain tourism.

Orthodox Monasteries as Centers of Christian Civilization on the Eastern Borders of the Russian State

The study is devoted to the history and activities of monastic monasteries in Siberia, their importance in the context of the integration of Siberian territories into the Russian statehood, due to the duration of the processes of Christianization: from the creation of a church administrative unit in Siberia (1620) and completion at the beginning of the twentieth century. The research involved complex and communicative approaches, axiological aspects and methodology of local history, involving the reconstruction of a regional historical narrative. It is noted that the establishment of monastic monasteries has become an important factor in the spread of Russian statehood. The ways of creating monasteries related to both monastic and public initiatives, as well as by decision of the diocesan authorities, are considered. We pay attention to the scientific discourse of modern historical science on the issues of dating the establishment of monastic monasteries and an individual research approach. The contribution of monasteries to the economic development of territories is determined, the main directions of social and educational activities of monastics are indicated. We consider the role of the women’s Orthodox communities of Siberia in the second half of the XIX century, contributing to the strengthening of the ideological basis of the empire, influencing the formation of moral and value attitudes and improving the educational level of local ethnic groups. The special role of monasteries in the history of the region is justified, due to the territorial and climatic conditions, the multi-confessional and multilingual nature of Siberia, when a few monks performed various functions, engaged in missionary, socio-educational and educational activities. We draw a conclusion that Orthodox monasteries in Siberia were outposts of the spread and establishment of Christian civilization, monasteries provided communication with the non-ethnic population, involving them in the Orthodox mentality, forming a vector of the socio-cultural topos of the peoples of Siberia.

Integrasi Etnis Tionghoa dengan Penduduk Lokal di Wonosobo Tahun 1970 sampai 1998

Even though they are dominant in the economic sector, it does not always make it easy for Chinese citizens to survive among local ethnic groups and they must always adapt to various changes in power. This can be seen by the presence of racism entering the Soeharto regime and peaking during the reform period in 1998 which was marked by the amount of violence experienced by the Chinese people. This research is limited temporally, namely from 1970 when development was experiencing very rapid progress during the New Order era until 1998 with the peak event, namely riots and violence experienced by almost all Tonghoa people in Indonesia. Apart from that, the spatial boundary used is Wonosobo City because it is a place for the Chinese community. The aims of this research are (1) to reveal the forms of relations with local communities in the lives of the Chinese people in the 1970s (2) to find out the role played by ethnic Chinese in the development of Wonosobo City during the New Order era (3) to reveal the riots in May 1998 and the racism that occurred happened to Chinese residents in Wonosobo (4) knowing about the efforts made to stop racism that occurred in 1998. Historical research methods were used to obtain data from primary and secondary sources. Primary sources were obtained through archives, newspapers and interviews with related parties. Meanwhile, secondary sources are obtained through literature studies in books, journals, articles and others related to the research topic. Even though during the New Order era there was racism and restrictions on the rights of Chinese citizens. In Wonosobo itself, no significant incidents occurred, including when it peaked in 1998. This is due to the high level of tolerance among religious communities and Wonosobo residents.

An inter-ethnic interpretation of tourism conflicts and collaboration

Inter-ethnic conflicts are commonplace worldwide, but current tourism conflict theories seldom examine disputes within a host community of diverse ethnicities. Using concepts from inter-group threat theory (ITT), contact hypothesis in social psychology and power theories, a conceptual schema for comprehending the dynamics of inter-ethnic conflicts and collaboration in tourism destinations is proposed. An ethnographic case study then follows the discussion in Malaysia's Taman Negara National Park, where I make use of the conceptual schema to analyze how the three local ethnic groups (Malays, Malaysian Chinese, and Orangasli Batek) were negotiating various types of threats, as well as the ‘conditions’ leading to inter-group conflicts. Further supported by Barth's ethnic boundary theory, the evolution of ethnic boundaries and collaborative mechanisms in a three-group situation is also evaluated. The conceptual schema and findings from Malaysia have important implications for researchers and management advice for practitioners dealing with multi-ethnic host communities in destinations worldwide.

Baltic Refugees of World War II and Their Descendants: Resettlement and Adaptation in Four Lands

At the end of World War II, an unprecedented burst of politically motivated emigration occurred from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, to escape incorporation into the Soviet Union. This report describes processes of resettlement and adaptation in four lands: Sweden, Canada, Australia, and the United States of America. The analysis examines how refugees’ and descendants’ experiences were shaped by selectivity of evacuation, camps for displaced persons, clustering patterns, and host country policies. The traumas, disruptions, and deprivations experienced during several years of war, foreign occupation, and rootlessness in refugee camps did not prove to create enduring disadvantages, as the second generation more than made up for the ground lost (at least for several years) by their parents. The yearslong journey of the refugees in finding new homes and new careers turned out to be most conducive to the creation of a global network of cohesive, viable, and interdependent ethnic communities. The Baltic refugees prefer to think of themselves as maintaining the traditions of their homelands, but they learned to do some important things differently on the way to new lands, through a process of social levelling and cooperation within their own local ethnic group, as well as through interacting with other local communities of their own kind, with other Baltic groups, and with their new neighbors in the host countries. Later generations will not continue to do everything like their elders did, but substantial numbers of descendants still show a rather high degree of commitment to maintaining their cultural and even linguistic heritage in some form.

Ресурсный потенциал Республики Карелия в контексте развития глэмпингов как нового вида средств размещения

The article is devoted to the actual and rapidly developing direction in ecological tourism - glamping in domestic and foreign practices. The authors have highlighted the key features of ecological tourism, namely, the implementation of recreational opportunities in the unique natural environment and its preservation. The paper analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of this type of tourist recreation in the unique natural environment. The theoretical foundations of glamping are noted, the history of the concept of ‘glamping’ is considered. Additionally, the paper pays attention to the types of glamping sites (a brief description of each type is formulated), the features of domestic glamping, the assessment of the present situation and future development. It is noted that the rich variety of natural locations in the Russian Federation makes it possible to create unique glamping sites. Attention is paid to the factors contributing to the development of glamping in Russia. The authors conclude that there are prospects for the development of this type of recreation in Russia, and highlight its high potential for domestic tourism. The authors focus on the tourist potential of the Republic of Karelia, which accumulates on its territory a large number of important architectural, cultural and historical sites, the diversity of cultural heritage of local ethnic groups. The article investigates the main varieties of tourist activities in the Republic of Karelia: ethno-cultural, event, active, rural, countryside and ecological tourism. The authors stress the fact, that there is a high demand for glamping service among tourists, which ultimately contributes to the active recovery process of the tourism industry after Covid-19.

TOURIST POTENTIAL OF LVIV REGION AND ITS RESORT SETTLEMENTS

The tourism industry and its balneological component is that branch of the economic complex that allows effective utilization of the potential of local resources – landscape, water, biotic, balneological, recreational, ethnographic, architectural, historical and cultural, as well as traditions of the local ethnic group.
 The analysis of the tourism sphere of the regions of Ukraine, in particular the Lviv region, is in the field of view of researchers of various departments and universities of the Carpathian-Podilsky region of Ukraine, including the department of tourism of the geography faculty of Ivan Franko Lviv National University. In the works of these scientists, the main attention was paid to the study of factors affecting the development of tourism in the Lviv region, the formation of the specific structure of tourism activity in the region, the characteristics of the prerequisites for the emergence and development of elements of the infrastructure of tourism and its individual types. At the same time, issues of analysis and assessment of the potential and threats to the development of tourism in the Lviv region and its resort settlements remain insufficiently covered.
 The Lviv region is considered one of the richest regions of Ukraine in terms of recreational and medical resources. However, today there are many factors that hold back the development of the tourist potential of resort settlements in the Lviv region. These factors include insufficient level of development of the service industries of the economic complex of the region, insufficient state support for tourism as an economic sector (imperfection of the state regulatory and legal framework, lack of adequate funding of programs, etc.) due to military actions on the territory of the country, inadequate coordination of the activities of urban economic sectors, lack of flexible systems for stimulating investment in tourism, insufficient number of means of accommodation for tourists of various categories, lack of funds for a set of advertising campaigns to promote the tourist product of Lviv region on the international tourist market, etc.
 In such conditions, determining the touristic (in particular balneological) potential of resort settlements in the Lviv region, analyzing the factors affecting it, substantiating directions for its rational use is an urgent task that requires further research.
 Summing up, we can conclude that it is necessary to develop new tourist routes by resort settlements of the Lviv region to attract more tourists. Given the currently uncertain, but certainly significant damage caused by the Russian invasion, the usual resort development measures may not be enough. Regardless of the recorded positive trend in the development of the tourist industry of Lviv region, its tourist and recreational potential and infrastructural support, the assessment of damages and the construction of an optimal strategy for the development of the tourism sector will require the effective use of all available tools available to a modern scientist, including SWOT analysis, GIS, etc.
 Keywords: resort settlements, tourist potential, tourism infrastructure, natural tourism resources, Lviv region.

The Transition from the Formation of a Mixed Party Elite Based on Local Ethnic Groups and Client-Patronage Clan Relations in the Soviet Republics of Central Asia to National Bureaucratic Ethnocracy in the Post-Soviet Period

This study aims to demonstrate the importance of local ethnic groups in the formation of the party elite of the Soviet period and to study their role status in the modern period of a new post–Soviet elite emergence. The methodology is based on the analysis of domestic and foreign historiography, and public statistical and biographical data concerning the Central Asian elite of the late Soviet and post-Soviet period. In practice, tribalism and clan connections are strongly developed in Central Asia, which has a direct impact on the relationships between various elite groups. The study relies on a survey of 144 respondents under the Central Asia Forecasting project. The causality mechanism underlying the transition from the establishment of a mixed-party elite based on local ethnic groups and client-patronage clan relations in the Soviet republics of Central Asia to a national bureaucratic ethnocracy in the post-Soviet era is substantiated. The importance of this work lies in the study of the significance of representatives of local ethnic groups in the Soviet party elite, which enables an understanding not only of the past but also of contemporary processes in its formation.

文化交往与认同

Chinese Buddhism has played an undeniable role in the construction of ethnic communities through the process of communication, shaping, and reconstruction in the development of various ethnic groups in Yunnan. The dissemination of Han Buddhism in Yunnan has promoted the communication between Han culture and ethnic minorities; Ethnic minorities engage in rational communication between the culture and understanding of Chinese Buddhism, reflecting the process of ethnic integration and cultural consciousness. This study examines the cultural identity factors of various ethnic minorities in Yunnan in their communication with Chinese Buddhism, in order to analyze ethnic unity and strengthen the sense of Chinese national community. Local governments, chieftain elites, civil society, and different ethnic groups, through the absorption of Han Buddhist culture, are closely related to minority cultures, moving from inequality to equality, from heterogeneity to homogenization, and jointly constructing an ethnic culture with the strengths of a hundred schools of thought, integration and inclusiveness, melting into a Chinese culture with a sense of national community.

Ethnic belonging, kinship, and wealth: local politics of descent and group formation in a Roma community

ABSTRACTThe present study investigates the case of a Hungarian-speaking Roma community in a Szekler village (Transylvania) from the perspectives of (contested) ethnic belonging, kinship, and different forms of capital, and presents the struggles of a relatively newly formed group within this community for finding new social and ethnic positions in relation with their Roma fellows and also with the Hungarian/Szekler majority. The members of this new group are the most successful in basket weaving, the special craft of local Roma, while they also share a common family history when they link their descent to a funding father who raised 11 children. The family histories of the descent – besides referring to supposed Hungarian ancestors/relatives – are told in terms of work ethic, education, and religious life that all resulted in wealth, thus creating a new local ethnic group whose members constantly contest their Roma ethnic belonging and delimit themselves from the ordinary Roma. This in-betweenness unfolds the certainties and uncertainties of social and economic life, the identities between self, family, and community. The case can be perceived as an example of the dynamics of local social life and offer a view on the renegotiation of group formation and ethnic boundaries.

Media Integration and Digital Inheritance: A Study of Huizhou Rituals and Lacquerware Paths under Rural Cultural Revitalization

At present, rural revitalization has risen to the level of national strategy, in which rural cultural revitalization is the soul of rural revitalization. As the essence of rural culture in Huizhou, the use and inheritance of Huizhou etiquette culture is particularly important. The core connotation of Huizhou etiquette culture can be summarized as "respecting etiquette, emphasizing etiquette", which has the functions of education, standardization, maintenance and regulation. Combined with the characteristics of today's society and era, the application and inheritance of Huizhou etiquette and culture should be based on the full study of the basis of adherence to some abandonment; in the inheritance of the basis of innovation; innovative use of the way to optimize the traditional way; make full use of the Internet, to open up new forms. The use and inheritance of Huizhou ritual culture is conducive to solving the "Three Rural Issues", building a beautiful countryside in Huizhou, promoting the coordinated development of the countryside, realizing the prosperity of the countryside, affluence, and achieving the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way. At the same time, we study the production of traditional handicraft Huizhou lacquer ware and carry out regeneration design for it. On the one hand, it is of great social significance to carry forward the local culture of Huizhou, which is conducive to the improvement of the current status quo of the lack of awareness of the traditional culture of the local ethnic groups; on the other hand, it improves the state of no one to succeed the relatively lagging behind development of lacquerware craftsmanship, so that the consumers can understand and accept this traditional craftsmanship through the lacquerware cultural and creative products.

Developing Inclusive Tourism in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT): A Case Study on Sajek Valley, Bangladesh

The study focuses on the inclusivity of tourism development in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, specifically in the Sajek Valley, and examines whether it has improved the socio-economic status of local ethnic minority groups. The research found that the development of tourism in Sajek Valley has brought numerous benefits to the local community, including modernization, improved access to education and electricity, and alternative livelihood options. Inclusive tourism has also helped to develop a sustainable tourism industry that values the preservation of cultural values and involves local leaders in decision-making. The development of tourism has also fostered a cordial relationship between Bengali businessmen, tourists, and local ethnic minority groups. However, challenges to inclusive tourism remain, including the relocation of local ethnic families, environmental concerns, a sense of relative deprivation among local ethnic minorities, and a lack of mutual trust between different ethnic groups. To ensure the sustainability of Sajek as a tourist destination, further research is necessary to understand and overcome these exclusionary factors. Overall, inclusive tourism has been a positive force in Sajek Valley, benefiting the local society and promoting sustainable development, but there are still areas to improve.

The Central Asian Elements in the Accounts of Sallam’s Journey (9th – 16th Centuries)

This article examines the story of the itinerary of Abbasid Caliph al-Wathiq’s envoy accomplishing the mission to visit the defensive fortifications established by Alexander Macedonian on the border with peoples “Yajuj and Majuj”. Its topicality consists in the necessity to understand adequately the history of intercultural interactions among the residents of the Eurasia Steppe. This article aims to confirm that the accounts on the traveler’s experience reflex geographical objects of Central Asia and certain custom of the local ethnic groups. Variations of the descriptions on Sallam’s journey in Arabic geographical literature from 9th to 16th centuries, from one hand, and fragments from both Arabic geographic tradition and Chinese historical and geographical works which facilitate the interpretation of the narration of the landscape, settlements and the antique custom within the peoples of Central Asia, from the other hand, are studied. Comparative and chronological approaches are applied to date the episodes of the travel, while historical-ethnological method is employed to identify realistic components in the mythological extract from Sallam’s journey. It is concluded that the story of the travel had reflected the effect of wind erosion on the Central Asian desert as well as history of conquest of the transport artery between Pamir and the Heartland of China by the Tibetans, and moreover, the typical ritual gestures which sometimes permitted the Sogidans to get rid of a complicated political dilemma.

Russian Architectural Heritage in the Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region of China as Manifestation of Interethnic and Intercultural Interaction in the 19th-21st Centuries

The author identifies the Russian architectural heritage in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China in the process of intercultural and interethnic interaction of the Russian Diaspora with the peoples of the province. In this regard, the subject of the study is the preserved monuments of Russian culture - residential buildings, temples, cemeteries. The structure of the study is determined by the need to explore the mutual influence of the culture of the Russian diaspora and those of local peoples on the example of architectural structures. The research is based on modern literature, as well as documents of Russian archives: materials deposited in the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the Russian State Military Historical Archive. Most of them have not been introduced into scientific use before. The author identifies the features of intercultural and interethnic interaction of representatives of the Russian diaspora with local peoples for a long time and depending on the political situation in the region. It is noted that at the stage of the formation of the Russian Diaspora in the XUAR there were difficulties in the relations between Russians and representatives of local ethnic groups. At the same time, the local culture had a serious impact on the development of the Russian diaspora. There is noted the rather competent policy of the Chinese and Russian authorities at the present stage to support the culture of Russians in Xinjiang, although the author does not exclude difficulties in its further preservation. Therefore, according to the author, there is a need for further close interaction between the Chinese and Russian authorities in order to determine new courses of cooperation in this direction.

Promoting Agritourism in Poland with Ready-Made Digital Components and Rustic Cyberfolklore

Online content can have unique cultural value. It is certainly the case for digital representations of folklore found on websites related to rural tourism, including agritourism. It is true for both archaic websites, copies of which are found in digital archives, and modern websites. The purpose of this paper is to assess the frequency of ready-made digital components and rustic folklore on agritourism farms’ websites. The exploration and comparative analysis involved 866 websites from two independent sets: (1) archaic websites, copies of which are available in the Internet Archive and (2) currently operational websites published in the Polish ccTLD (country code top-level domain). We employed HTML code exploration to verify the websites’ development technique and their selected characteristics, including content management systems (CMSs) and responsiveness. In the set of the ccTLD websites, we recorded such design attributes as the type of graphic layout, hero image, and parallax scrolling. The research demonstrated that ready-made folklore graphics were relatively rare among the investigated websites. Elements of rustic cyberfolklore were found only on 17 archaic websites (approx. 4%) and 52 ccTLD websites (approx. 12%). They were most often Kashubian patterns. The research suggests that rustic cyberfolklore is most often found on websites of agritourism farms in areas where local communities and ethnic groups are particularly active and strongly identify with regional traditions.

Crimean Tatars: Autochtonity of the Indigenous People of Ukraine. Historical Origins

The study is devoted to substantiating the status of the Crimean Tatars as an indigenous people of Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to identify the phenomenon of historical continuity of the Crimean Tatars ethnogenesis on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula. The anthropological, population and genetic continuity of the autochthonous population existence on the territory of Crimea is argued. The direct genetic and cultural kinship of a series of basic ethnic groups of the peninsula (Tavrs, Scythians, Roksolans, Polovtsians, Crimean Tatars) is substantiated. The ability of the Crimean Tatar ethnic group to a high level of self-organization, including the formation of an independent state, has been proven. During the 13th-15th centuries, the process of political formation and self-determination of the Crimean Tatars took place. The landscape and climatic features of certain regions of the Crimean Peninsula contributed to the formation of several regional centers of ethnogenesis. It is with the flat part of its territory that the actual process of birth and formation of the Crimean Tatars as an ethnic group is connected. The southern coast and the mountainous part of Crimea, in the conditions of a peculiar natural isolation, and as a result, attractiveness for colonization expansions, had a peculiar trajectory of ethnic changes and transformations. And only with the emergence of the Crimean Khanate as an independent state, local ethnic groups and national groups were involved, through assimilation, in the further development of the Crimean Tatar people. The same applies to the population from the neighboring countries forcibly brought into the Crimean society, which became a kind of source of diversification of the gene pool and cultural borrowings for the Crimean Tatar ethnic group. The influence of Lithuanian Rus on the ethno-political formation of the Crimean Khanate is traced.

Mechanical Solidarity as precipitating factor in establishing Ethnic Churches in Bandung in the first half of the 20th Century

The spirit to construct unity among the various ethnic groups in the early 20th century in Indonesia did not significantly influence the church. In the church under the zending in Bandung, West Java province, what happened was in fact the opposite. The church was unable to break down ethnic barriers among its members. Why? By using historical methods and analysis based on Durkheim's theory of solidarity, the following conclusions are drawn: Chinese and Javanese ethnic communities tend to have high levels of mechanical solidarity. This can happen because (1) the ethnic Chinese congregation in terms of numbers is huge. They come from a circle of family groups, so that they tend to form mechanical bonds of solidarity based on blood relations. (2) The social status of the Chinese ethnic group is in the second category below Europeans and above the local population, so that it creates a feeling of superiority compared to the indigenous congregation. The Javanese congregation, although in terms of numbers, is not too large, among them some people have enough influence (elite) so that the tendency to maintain their Javanese existence is quite strong. (3) Social polarization based on ethnic similarities eventually stimulates other communities to create their own/separate communities; and (4) External influences, namely the NZV policy that places the Chinese ethnic group above the local ethnic group and developments at the national or international level are also factors that trigger the formation of ethnic churches in Bandung.

Сибирский археолог Борис Александрович Коников (к 75-летию со дня рождения)

Boris A. Konikov is an archaeologist who devoted his activity to studying the culture of the medieval peoples of the Middle Irtysh region, uniting the archaeological sites left by them in the Ust-Ishim archaeological culture. The analysis of such materials requires extensive knowledge in the archaeology of the taiga Irtysh and Ob, Upper Irtysh, and Altai. Having found and then excavated several dozen sites of this culture, B.A. Konikov put forward an interesting and debatable concept of the development of the Middle Irtysh region by local and alien ethnic groups. Ceramic vessels, tools and figgeres made of bronze, silver, iron, and bones found during excavations have become a “golden fund”, allowing any scientist to get acquainted with these interesting materials with their own eyes. It should be noted in particular that the researcher obtained a solid, probably the largest in Western Siberia, a collection of cast bronze images of a person, animals, birds, on the basis of which it is possible to study religious ideas and beliefs, aesthetic views of people of the past. Field and desk work B.A. Konikov combined with teaching, giving general courses of lectures on archaeology, the history of the Ancient East, leading special courses and seminars for specialized students of the Omsk State Pedagogical Institute / University and its Tara branch. Another area of work by B.A. Konikov was the head of the Laboratory of Archaeological Research of the Omsk State Pedagogical Institute, whose employees prepared the Code of historical and cultural monuments of the Omsk region. Going to work as director of the Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts named after M.A. Vrubel, B.A. Konikov did not break off his ties with his alma mater. But, of course, he gave the main attention to the museum, whose employees still remember him with warmth. We note his activity in organizing and holding the “December Dialogues” scientific conference, in which archaeologists, museum workers, art critics, and culturologists consider it an honor to take part. In recent years, B.A. Konikov holds the position of Advisor to the General Director of the Omsk Popov Production Association (RELERO), manages the project for the study of the complex of archaeological monuments “Omsk parking lot”, writes monographs. He is a member of several public organizations, and has been rewarded for his work.