Tuva people have two religious beliefs just like in the other Turkish communities in Siberia. However, while the other communities are the believers of Christian-Shamanist religions, Tuva people are the believers of Buddhist-Shamanist. The shamanism is the belief that is rooted from the history of Tuvas, which is still preserved. In the period of the communist system, both the religions of Buddhism and Shamanism in Tuva were tried to be eliminated and this elimination was partially realised. While there were twenty-eight Buddhist temples in Tuva in the year of 1928, there were none of them in the beginning of 1980's. In the year of 1931, there were 725 qualified Shamans composed of 411 men and 314 women. Only seven of them survived in the beginning of 1990's. The communists had prohibited Shamans from working, burnt their materials, and imposed heavy taxes for those that did not comply with the prohibitions and imprisoned them. Despite all these precautions, both Buddhism and Shamanism stayed alive among the people and reached today. On the date of 20th September 1992, 14th Dalai Lama visited the Republic of Tuva and consecrated their flag. In the environment of liberty that appeared pursuant to the decline of the Soviets, the Buddhist temples were reconstructed. The Shamans were gathered together within the structure of a society and they started again to treat the people in a centre that they founded. In the Turkish world of today, Tuva nation is the only Turkish community that accepts the Buddhism as its own official religion. Tuva Buddhism is the religion of Buddhism that depends on Tibet Lamaism and accepts Dalai Lama-Dalai Lama the XIV has been on duty recently- as the person with extraordinary powers sent to the earth by the God. This system of beliefs depends on the training of the children who are taken to the temples (Hüree) while they are too young. Then, each child becomes a "lama" and then tells everything that he/she has learned to the people in the temples or the places they visit. The things that are taught by Lamas depend on the written instructions in the books and the recommendations that are accepted as the teaching of Buddha. "Lamaism entered into the lands of Tuva in the first half of the century XVII". Only men can become lamas, the women cannot become lamas.
Shamanism is the belief that is not accepted as the official religion of Tuva but this religious belief is still preserved and maintained among the people. Shamanism is not kept alive with the same word, it is considered and named as "ham" in Tuva Turkish that is derived from the ancient word of "kam". Shamans train their inborn talents in the service of their "masters". This talent can be inherited from the father to the son or daughter; and any person whose relatives are not Shaman can have these talents. The most significant activities of Shamans is the treatment of the patients. Their other important duties can be stated as the organisation of rites carried out on the 7th and 49th days pursuant to deaths, the ceremonies carried out pursuant to births, and the management of the the important religious and national celebrations. The Shamans treat their patients with various medicines made from plants, fish oil, the galls of various animals; and through the methods of stroking, massaging, and pressing. It is believed that they can give information about the history and future of any person through fortune telling. In the ceremonies, they read poems proper for the meaning of the day with the accompaniment of the tambourines that they call "düngür". These poems are the shamanist prayers that wish goodness, happiness, and health.
There are various major reasons for the common existence of Buddhism and Shamanism in Tuva since anybody can both be a Buddhist and Shamanist. The fundamental value of these two religious systems depends on the principle of the "respect for the nature". The first condition for the survival of the human being on the earth is to appropriate to live with the nature and the environment in a harmonious and peaceful manner instead of struggling with the nature and the environment. These elements that should be respected range from the closest environment of the human being up to the eternity of the universe. Anything created affects the human life in this or that way. The Sun provides illumination with its light and life to the living creatures with its heat. The moon eliminates the dark of the night. Gods live in each layer of the sky having nine strata in respect of the souls of the good people and the degree of their kindness.
The earth is the place that all living creatures live in. The soil should be respected and it should not be scratched and scrabbled. All sorts of herbs and flowers grow up on the soil. Tuva people wear boots the tips of which are lifted upward not to cause any harm for these living creatures and not to uproot them. The mountains and forests are homes of the featured wild animals that have a significant place in the maintenance and survival of the Tuva people's lives. Therefore, they also should be respected. We take all the foods that we eat from the nature. The way to express our gratitude in return for these foods is to offer to the nature some of these foods and particularly the white milk that is the symbol of the cleanness and purity. Thus, a little of the milk that is newly boiled shall be taken with the nine-eyed wooden spoon (tos karak) and then scattered around.
According to Shamanism, it is believed that the human being has a soul. The souls of those who commit sins in their lives are black and this soul gets under the ground when the person dies. The white souls of the kind people who die will go up to the sky. They will live with the gods arranged in order in accordance with their levels in the sky. Any person who dies can be resuscitated as any living creature. Therefore, the plants and the animals on the world may have the roots of human being. We shall also mention about a tradition that we have listened from a white-bearded person in Tuva: Tuva people used to wrap the dead persons in a white cloth and then put them onto the highest rock within the surroundings. After a while, the ravens would perch near the corpse that was put on the rock.
If the ravens would eat the corpse, it was believed that the soul of that person was a white soul and that soul would go up to the sky. If the ravens would not eat the corpse, it was believed that the soul of that person was a black soul and it would get under the ground. As far as it is known; the dead persons were buries in graves together with their beloved properties and even with their horses in the Turkish history. The burial of the dead people that resembles to the tradition of Tuva people we have stated above is an incident that we commonly face in the Red Indian films.