The Samoyede people are an Asiatic group of nomadic origins. They traditionally spoke a Uralic - Samoyedic language which is related to the Finno - Ugric languages. The Samoyede are probably of Mongoloid descent and they probably started migrating Northwest during the late Pleistocene, when so many other Mongoloid nomadic hunter-gathers were moving in all the directions of the compass. Some of these Mongoloid nomads, after crossing Berangea, became the first North American inhabitants and through later migrations brought the Eskimos (Inuit) to Alaska, Canada and Greenland. The Samoyede are physically characterized by short stature, yellowish white skin, high cheek bones and straight or concave noses. There are now, less than 50,000 Samoyede left. Most now speak Russian or Turkish. The two principle groups are the Nentsy and the Entsy.

The Samoyede migrated to their current location shortly after the time of Christ in the first millennium. They now occupy an area on the Taimyr Peninsula, between the Yenisei and Olenek rivers. This peninsula is in Northwestern Siberia, north of the Arctic Circle, jutting into the Arctic Ocean. It is the northernmost part of the continent. The Laplanders are further West of the Urals to Northern Finland, Norway and Sweden and the Eskimo (Inuit) and Yakuts are in northeastern Siberia (more details on these native people can be found in the "Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire" page).

Early in the Samoyede's history, the nomads had subsisted mainly on nomadic reindeer (caribou) hunting, following the great herds as they migrated through Siberia. Reindeer must move frequently on the tundra, for their main food source, Reindeer Moss (a lichen) and so did the Samoyede alongside of them. By doing so, the Samoyede switched evolutionally from hunting the reindeer and being hunter-gatherers, to herding the reindeer and being herdsmen. All this time, they managed a form of domestication on the reindeer. Over many generations of selective breeding of the reindeer, through the physical removal of males that tended to take their cows and move off, they selected passive males that would stay with their cows and were docile toward the herdsman. It is now believed that because of this action, there are no longer any real wild reindeer populations left in the area. Despite domestication, the Samoyede still moved in the traditional migration routes from tundra to taiga (forest-lands). Their reindeer consumed large quantities of reindeer moss and because it takes years to grow to a harvestable size for the reindeer to eat, had to be frequently moved to areas where the reindeer moss was ample.

The Samoyede were a reindeer culture. As well as a food source, they used collapsible tents that were made of saplings and reindeer hide, fashioned into a dome. They used reindeer to haul these tents and their other possessions. Their clothes consisted of long hooded parkas made of reindeer hide, with the fur turned inward. Reindeer hair is hollow and thus makes excellent insulated clothing for Arctic use. As a result, the reindeer had become a symbol of wealth and status amongst the Samoyede.

The traditional religion was animistic (worship of animal spirits) and included shamanistic practices. The word shaman originates from these Siberian cultures, where shamanism in its classic form is found. Shamanism is found not only in Central Asian, but also in North American and Pacific Island cultures. Generally a shaman is a man of great religious status and a mouthpiece to the spirits. He can divine where the herds will appear, how to increase and store food supplies and practice healing. Shamans undergo fasting, seclusion and other ordeals that lead to visions that guide the shaman in the performance of their duties.
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