A child and an adult stand on a gravel road surrounded by flaming red foliage wih forest-green mountains rising above.

Northeast Kazakhstan, Zyrianovsk region July 5-17 2025

Old Believers of the Bukhtarma valley

Old ways, new generations

For hundreds of years these remote Altai valleys have sheltered runaway serfs, escaped prisoners and Old Believer religious dissidents. On the banks of the Bukhtarma River you can still find several villages founded by Old Believers in the 1700s.

Since 1826 their distinctive Russian Old Believer way of life has been documented by multiple ethnographers, linguists, and folklorists. Our expedition will add to this multi-generational portrait by visiting two riverside villages, Bykovo and Bogatyriovo, to record songs and document the family histories, local architecture, holiday customs, life-cycle rituals, and traditional beliefs of the local population.

Along the way our team will join in on the traditional midsummer celebration of Ivan Kupala, hosted by the regional folklore-collecting-and-performing ensemble >>Bastenki<<

Our expedition will begin and end in Ust Kamenogorsk / Oskemen, Kazakhstan

About This Expedition

  • Dates:

    July 5, 2025 to July 17, 2025

  • Location:

    Northeast Kazakhstan, Zyrianovsk region

  • Expedition Languages:

    Russian, English

  • Team Size:

    3-6

  • Projected Fee:

    $2554 - $1870 (depending on number of volunteers)

  • Apply By:

    April 6, 2023

Meet The Team

  • head shot Yelena Minyonok

    Dr. Yelena Minyonok

    Major Researcher and Chief Curator of the Folklore Archive
    Gorky Institute of World Literature, Moscow

    Lena Minyonok is a philologist, folklorist, and Principal Investigator of the American Friends of Russian Folklore. Dr. Minyonok graduated from the Philological Department of the Moscow State University, where she received her M.A. degree from in 1988. Her postgraduate studies were at the Gorky Institute of World Literature (Russian Academy of Sciences, 1988-1991). She received her Ph.D. in Folklore (Moscow, 1998) and now serves as Chief Curator of the Folklore Archive and Major Researcher in the Folklore Division of the Gorky Institute. Dr. Minyonok has been a Principal Investigator for countless folklore expeditions and has published over 60 articles about Russian folklore traditions. Most recently, she has led expeditions for the American Friends of Russian Folklore (PREEEF’s former name) in conjunction with the Institute of World Literature at the Russian Academy of Sciences. She was a visiting professor at the University of Kentucky in 2007, as a Fulbright scholar.

  • head shot of woman, trees in background

    Dr. Alevtina Tsvetkova

    Professor of Russian Philology, specializing in Folklore, at Pavlodar State University in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan

    Dr. Tsvetkova has been making folklore expeditions to Siberia and the Altai Mountains (on both sides of the Russia/Kazakhstan border) since 1983. Her special interests include family folklore, family life-cycle rituals, and the contemporary role of folk legend and belief.

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