Cultural Identity; Manuscripts; Rites Of Passages; Tatars In Poland;

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As a related and tied terms tradition and cultural heritage play very important role in creation and defi-nition of identity. When it comes to a Muslim Turkish minority that has been living among the Christian Slavs for more than 600 years, keeping alive the owned traditions become much more important than ever. The Tatars, living in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus (PLB), that are the subject matter of this article, have been living in east Europe and this region is the west end of Turkic speaking world. In this article, we have dwelled on the role and importance of rites of passage and some other traditions that might have been sustained with some changes on the formation of Tatar identity in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. Departing from the disser-tation “The Folk Beliefs and Practices of Tatars Living in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus” in these article certain old and new written and oral sources are being utilized. As the most important written sources for the traditions and rituals are the manuscripts, those manuscripts provide very valuable information on the rituals about daily life and practices related to beliefs. It should also be reminded that some of the forgotten rituals and practices are described in those manuscripts. It is not an exaggeration to say that those manuscripts have not only provided information on the rituals and practices that plays very important role in the life of the Tatars, but they might also be valued as the memory boxes. Those manuscripts were written down in three languages; Arabic, Chagatai Turkish and Polish (some of them in Russian and Belarussian) and all the manuscripts were written with Arabic scripts. Some of manuscripts consist of verses from Koran and some of them are tafsir, and many of them are called “chamails”, “hramotka”, “nuska”, “dalawary”, and “muhir”. As for the oral sources, they are the Tatar Turks living in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus as small communities, and during our field work they provided information on their current traditions, rituals and practices. In order to obtain information on their traditions we had number of fieldwork trips between 2016 and 2018, and in order to record the information provided we used the method of “face to face meeting”, “observation” and “partici-pation to event”. In order to observe, collect and record the current situations and meaning of each traditions we have participated number traditional ceremonies and we carefully selected our informants who had enough information on the past and current situation and changes took place in those rituals. It is our finding that the Tatars who located in Slavic land could not be able to speak their native language outside the household area. It is also our observation that Soviet rule of Poland, Lithuania and Belarus had certain negative effects and destruction on the cultural identity of the Tatars living in those countries. In the face of the bans exercised by Soviet regime Tatars have tried to keep their cultural identity alive by keeping the traditions related to the rites of passage and rituals alive. As a result, today most of the elements of intangible cultural heritage have been practiced and sustained as part of beliefs and religion. It is also our fieldwork finding and observation that the Tatars living in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus have been revitalizing some of the past rituals and traditions upon meeting and reuniting with their relatives in Crimea, Kazan and Turkey. It should be kept in mind that the struggle and efforts for keeping alive, safeguarding and recreating those intangible cultural heritage elements be regarded as keeping alive the cultural identity of Tatar Turks scattered in those three countries.