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.