Among the Khakass people, trees serve as both an essential economic resource and a central symbol with a broad semantic range, perceived as objects belonging simultaneously to the profane and sacred worlds. In shamanic practices of the late 19th to mid-20th centuries, the birch tree played a dual role: it embodied the concept of the world tree and the shaman's personal tree. Shamans traveled across the universe and conveyed sacrifices through the birch, which was called "Sacred birch with golden leaves." The shaman's attributes, vitality, and supernatural abilities were directly tied to this tree, which he received from patron spirits during his formative years.
Since the 18th century, scholars viewed Shamanism as the traditional religion of Siberian Turkic peoples, but this concept has been challenged in the post-Soviet period by an alternative Tengrian discourse. The discourse holds that Tengrism is a well-developed monotheistic religion whose deities are creations or emanations of Tengri, contrasting with Shamanism as an ancient practice tied to a shaman's personality. Academic discussions on this contrast are rooted in terminological issues: academia defines Shamanism broadly to include all Siberian and Far Eastern religious practices, while Tengrian proponents restrict Shamanism to Manchu-Tungus faiths and define the faith of Siberian Turkic nations as Tengrism.
A review of medieval to modern written sources on Kyrgyz religious beliefs and funeral rituals in the Tien Shan region shows that at the turn of the first and second millennia, the Kyrgyz practiced shamanism, Manichaeism, and ancient beliefs centered on the cult of Tengri and ancestor worship. From the 10th to the 16th centuries, beliefs were complex and combined shamanism, nature worship, and ancient traditions. Despite the spread of Islam, traditional beliefs persisted; 17th-century sources describe the Kyrgyz as opponents of Muslims, indicating the endurance of pre-Islamic practices. The adoption of Islam was a long process, and pre-Islamic beliefs continued for centuries.