The preservation of indigenous customs provides a crucial link between the past, present and future. However, the preservation of shamanic customs and rites for the roughly 10,000-15,000 Shor people indigenous to the south-central Siberian region of Gornaya Shoriya is of paramount importance for their ultimate survival. The Shors or Shortsi are a relatively understudied group with very little coverage in the historical literature. In fact, the last complete study of the region's religious and cultural practices dates back to 1977. Part of this can be attributed to the persecution of Shor traditions by Russian Christian organizations in the 18th and 19th centuries to the anti-Shamanism Soviet policies in the 20th century. The other part can be attributed to linguistic difficulties for researchers and the Shor people. As expected, the Shor people speak the Shor language, which is a Turkic language in two dialects (Mrasu and Kondoma) with borrowings from Russian and Mongolian.

In the Author's Foreword, the Arbachakov's describe not only the persecution of the Shors, but provide a glimpse of the content for the remainder of the book. It is clear the motivation for the book, as they describe two types of shamans: "[T]here are those who continue the people's traditions of centuries and there are those new performing shamans who simply amuse the public with exotic show…in this book we are concerned with the first type of shaman, the genuine shaman" (p. 8). Therefore, The Last of the Shor Shamansfocuses on the principles of Shor shamanism from interviews with a few of the remaining 'genuine' shamans from Gornaya Shoriya with never-before printed texts of two shamanic verses. Moreover, the author's themselves are indigenous Shors, which only substantiates their findings even more. As a result, the author's attempt to highlight a poorly-studied and vanishing group of indigenous Shor people is a much needed and welcome addition to the literature.

In order for readers to understand the Shor shamans, the authors first discuss the spiritual and philosophical principles within Shor culture. The Shor world-view is encapsulated in its own chapter, where the perception of the universe is detailed rather directly: "[T]he Universe is said to be comprised of the Upper World, the Middle World and the Lower World or…Heavens…Earth, and…Under World - all of which are populated by human beings, animals, other living creatures and…various deities and spirits" (p. 11). Similarly, most researchers recognize four main conditions of the human soul, as tin-soul, kut-soul, surun eezi-soul, and uzut-soul. Each soul is based on a specific condition or stage of life, and death or birth.

A few Shor words are included throughout the text. For clarification purposes, the authors succinctly and sufficiently translate Shor words into English. For instance, a 'kam' is a common word that crops up, meaning a shaman that acts as a mediator "between the deities, spirits and humankind, and between the three worlds" (p. 12). Additional words are clarified throughout the text and in the two-page glossary at the end of the book.

The chapter 'Who Is The Kam?' provides details surrounding the shamanic practices and communications with various spirits. This is where the 'kamlanie' or shamanic ceremony is first introduced. The most important instrument in shamanic ceremony is the drum. The authors provide examples of a kamlanie and how the drum is used. Almost every method surrounding the creation of a drum is noted. The detailed list of assembling the proper materials for the drum, along with the appropriate performance methodologies of the drum are included. In short, the reader gains insight into the meanings behind every component of the shamanic drum and performative actions. Next to the drum, the human body provides additional performative movements "[T]he kamka [female kam] began to shake and then she shook harder…[h]er head twitched and she began to give out hoarse noises as if pushing them out of her stomach" (p. 34). The next chapter, 'Shor Shamanic Rituals', delves into other functions of the kamlanie beyond the typical healing of the sick, as a solution for dealing with "one's enemy, changing the weather, and participation in funeral rites" (p. 43).

One kamlanie of particular importance is called 'Eski Churt', which is translated as 'Journey to the Deserted Churt'. This kamlanie is a conversation between a shaman and an ancestor's spirits. It follows a three-part structure as the "[1] kam sets off on her journey with her spirit-helpers and the help of incantations…[2] by achieving the goal to communicate with the ancestral spirits…and [3] learning of their intentions, she calms the disturbed spirits and carries out libation at their resting place" (p. 64). The drum is a key instrument in the kamlanie, but a "'shorbu' (cluster of birch twigs), towel (head scarf), and a glove filled with sand, clay or ash" is also used (p. 47). Two English verses of Eski Churt are included by two different kam for about twenty pages.


In conducting research for the book, the author's recorded thirteen ritual kamlanie from seven different kam between 1994-2003. The biographical details of all seven kam are included in the poignantly-titled chapter, 'The Last of The Shor Shamans'. However, none of the oral recordings accompany the text on CD. A small reference list is included, though limited to Russian language materials. This is expected, as the authors indicate this is the first English book of its kind on Shor shamanism. An index is not included and the entire book is only ninety-two pages in length. Yet, the information contained therein is priceless. The Arbachakovs successfully introduce readers to the world of the Shor shamans. This is a prized work for scholars in shamanism, Siberian folklore, and cultural studies.

Reviewed by Matthew J. Forss; Independent Scholar

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Tags: Russia  Siberia  Gornaya Shoriya  Shor  shamans