As early as 1876 the Khakass people were forced by the Orthodox Church to become Christians. In Abakan I saw two new church buildings being built. But I can not say how far the Orthodox Church influences the Khakass people today. Our hostess, Aunt Raya in the village Nizhnaya Tyeya, openly confessed belonging to the Orthodox Church. But there was no chapel and she only leaves the village four times a year. The question remains how serious the Khakass Orthodox believers take their faith.

Traditionally, Khakass are shamanists. A lot of people see a comeback of shamanism but this does not seem to automatically be welcomed in society. Aunt Raya told me, that in the past there were good Shamans, who were able to do something. Surely, there were also bad, black Shamans. She affirmed that there was a shaman in the village in answer to my question. She had been to him, but he had not done a lot, only palmreading and giving her some "medicine" for her illness, nothing more.

Alexey, who lived for one year in Nizhnaya Tyeya, told me that occultism and belief in spirits is wide spread, but we did not talk about any details. This is probably connected to the comeback of the old animistic ideas. On our way home to Abakan I only saw one Shaman-tree.

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