шор-кижилер, shor-kizhiler, тадар-кижилер, tadar-kizhiler, шорлар, shorlar, тадарлар, tadarlar) are a Turkic ethnic group native to Kemerovo Oblast of Russia.

The Shors as a people formed as a result of a long process of intermixing between Turkic, Ugric, Samoyedic, and Ket-speaking tribes.

An ancient Turkic legend recorded in the Chinese annal (Book of Zhou 周書, 636 CE) mentions the origin of the Göktürks' ancestors from a possession or state named Suǒ (索國; MC: *sak̚-kwək̚), located "north of the Xiongnu country" (which, in this case, apparently meant Mongolia).

[6] The Mongol conquest of the Altai-Sayan region in the 13th century added another layer of cultural influence over the local population and their languages.

Their ability to smelt iron from ore was a feat that only one other indigenous Siberian people (the Yakuts) were able to achieve before the Russian advance into the area.

The Shors' niche as producers of ironware for the Oirats, Altaians, and Kyrgyz was soon eroded by the Russian traders.

This resulted in most Shors abandoning their old occupations and villages to move to nearby towns so they can make a better living as hunters.

[9][10] The okrug (district) was disbanded because the Soviet authorities believed its existence might hinder the development of the iron and coal industries in the region.

The establishment of the Altai Spiritual Mission in the region resulted in the severe persecution of shamanism and the kam.

Christian missionaries routinely lambasted Shor shamanism as being a dark cult and the kam as servants of the devil.

[15] During the soviet era, the authorities frequently designated the kam and others as enemies of the state and sentenced them to camps or even death.

[6] Features of their society included matrilocal marriages, exogamy, a classisfactory system of kinship terms, and the belief in certain taboos that revolve around the former.

However, this clan system eroded beginning in the mid-nineteenth century under the Russian influence of separating families into individual units.

A family now relied on a money economy and this soon resulted in wealth disparity and differentiation in Shor society.

[8] Environmental activist Alexander Arbachakov won a Whitley Award for his work preserving sustainable communities in Shor territory.

[19][6] The coal, iron, gold, and timber resources of the region are extracted by companies that show little regard to the Shors and the environment of the area.

Epic stories about heroes and deities are popular and often accompanied by singing and the use of a kai-komus (two-stringed wooden instrument).

Shor writers, journalists and clerks became prominent in what had previously been a largely illiterate society for the first time.

The teacher's college was closed while Shor intellectuals were repressed or killed fighting in the Great Patriotic War.

He then set out on a journey in search of a soul and left a hairless dog to protect man in his absence.

[21] The Shors traditionally believed that the universe was divided into three levels which were:[22] All these realms were said to be populated by spirits, humans, animals, and other creatures.

The top of the World Tree housed the Heavenly Realm whilst its trunk passed through the Middle Earth and its roots reached down to the Underworld.

By ascending order these include:[24] Traditional Shor mythology boasts a range of deities and spirits.