For the indigenous Altai people, the kurgans of the Ukok Plateau are the graves of ancestors.

The ancestors are not simply historical figures; they are spiritual presences with ongoing relevance to the living community.

Removing the remains from their burial place is not a neutral scientific act; it is a violation of a relationship between the dead and the land in which they rest.

The opposition to the removal of the Ice Maiden grew over the years following the discovery.

Altai spiritual leaders — shamans and others — connected various misfortunes that occurred in the region to the disturbance of the Ice Maiden’s burial.