O. N. SHELEGINAInstitute of History SB RAS 8 Nikolaeva St., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia E-mail: sholga@ngs.ru "The XXI century is a century that, without any exaggeration, is designed to embody the global adaptive paradigm: the great adaptation of global civilization to the strict requirements of the era of "sustainable development" and "multicivilizational consensus". < ... > In the light of the imperatives of human survival, the search for optimal strategies for the development of civilization becomes the central task of all science " [Romm, 2002, p. 6-7, 10]. In the broadest sense of the word, to live means to adapt [Osnovnye mekhanizmy adaptatsii..., 1993, p. 5]. Hypothetical propositions about the adaptation of ethnic groups to the modernizing environment, ethnic migrants to new places of residence can be empirically verified on the basis of comparative studies that characterize the general and special features in the patterns of adaptation of social systems in different countries, as well as in the regions of one country [Korel', 1997, p. 23]. In the process of socio-cultural development, adaptation is the mechanism that regulates the life of both the individual and society as a whole [Makhanko, 2001, p.25]. In this regard, the relevance of studying adaptation processes on the territory of Siberia in historical dynamics is indisputable. At present, when problems related to ecology have become extremely acute and traditional management systems are rapidly disappearing, the historical and ethnographic study of the life-support culture of ethnic groups, including the housing and economic complex, clothing, and food systems aimed at meeting the vital and social needs of a person, seems to be very significant in scientific and practical terms. "Material culture almost completely covers the sphere of production and life support.. It is a mechanism of adaptation of society to the conditions of the natural and social environment of its existence " [Arutyunov, Be ... Read more