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Crypto-Mormons or Pseudo-Mormons?
Western Folklore, Summer 2002 by Eliason, Eric A, Browning, Gary
It is not clear how Old Believer-style crosses in Mekhzavod came to be called "Mormon crosses." Perhaps the local penchant for identifying as "Mormon" anything religiously unfamiliar is responsible. Whatever the reason, Latter-day Saint missionaries have interpreted these crosses as a sign of the existence of long-lost Mormon cousins in Russia. It may seem ironic that Latter-day Saints, who do not use crosses, have interpreted a peculiar cross as a sign of Mormonness. However, the "Mormon cross" looks less crosslike than traditional crosses and could be interpreted as the syncretic accommodation of a religious group trying to survive underground. Or the story of Mekhzavod's "Mormon crosses" could also be interpreted as a symbolic reminder of the ease with which artifacts' historical significance can be misinterpreted.
The interpretive possibilities are further complicated by the findings of James Scott, based on fieldwork in Russia in the Summer of 2001. Scott suggests that the peaked roof is not the only relevant distinguishing feature of Russian grave crosses. Rather, even though both "Mormon" and Old Believer crosses have peaked roofs, the single bar seen in figure 1 is unique to "Mormon" graves while Old Believer graves have three bars as seen in figure 4. Villagers in the village Yablonovyy Ovrag near Samara call their local cemetery with single-barred, peaked roof crosses the "Mormon Graveyard" (Scott, James n.d.). The fact that the sextons at Mekhzavod cemetery, one of whom was a professed Old Believer, called singled-barred, peaked roof crosses, Old Believer crosses might be explained by the fact the "Old Believer," is one of the terms used to refer to Samara Mormons. These claims might also be explained by the Samara Mormons' religious imperative to conceal their religion from outsiders. The issues of symbolic and terminological interpretation become very complex indeed in searching for concrete evidence of contemporary Russian Mormons.
Tania Rands Lyon suggests that the Latter-day Saints' long curiosity about Russia, speculation about the whereabouts of the lost ten tribes, and the legacy of the Cold War have made Russia into a vast screen onto which some Latter-day Saint imaginations project wondrous speculations (Lyon 2000:1-24). Such suggestions maybe true. However, it was not any naive gullibility or theological agendas on the part of American missionaries that originated the widespread Latter-day Saint folk belief in secret Russian Latter-day Saints. Such a belief came from a quite reasonable process of deduction. When confronted with persuasive evidence and firsthand reports provided by native Russians of people who do not smoke or drink, who worship in secret, who might have additional scripture, and who are called "Mormons" by their neighbors, the simplest explanation would seem to be that "long-lost religious cousins" had been found. However, the problem arises not from gullibility but from missionaries' focused range of language proficiency and lack of time to explore esoteric cultural background knowledge. Moreover, even informed, expert, non-Latter-day Saint observers such as Vadim Iakunin, John Noble, and scholars of Russian religion have assumed Russian
