Shkayism

Shkayism is followed by the Mokshas, a Mordvinic people who speak a Uralic language and live along the Moksha River and the middle Volga. It takes its name from Shkay, the sun, regarded as the chief divinity; the moon, thunder and water were also worshipped.

In their creation myth the great bird Ińe Narmon, called the White Swan, made water first; a duck brought sand from the sea floor, and the bird shaped it into the earth and set the Great Tree upon it. Mastoratia ruled the underworld, while the souls of heroes and warriors travelled to the green isle of Usiya to feast with King Ťušťen over pure mead.

After 1552 the Mokshas were Russian subjects. Russian rule brought forced conversion to Orthodoxy, but pagan elements long survived inside Christian practice.