The museum’s exhibition is dedicated to the life of the Nenets people. It explores the traditional activities and household of reindeer herders, living conditions in the tundra, cultural traditions, and ancient religious beliefs of the indigenous population of the North.
The exhibition features Nenets tools, utensils, clothes, and toys. Visitors can find out why toy dolls have a duck’s bill instead of a face, which puzzles reindeer herders like to solve, and why a shaman hides behind a mask. Through the material objects, one can attempt to grasp the ideas, concepts, and values associated with the emotional world of the European Nenets.
The Nenets are a Samoyedic ethnic group, divided into Siberian (Asian) and European Nenets. They are the most numerous of all the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the Russian North. The total population is approximately 45,000, and all Nenets live in Russia.
Exhibits are marked with AR stickers for identification purposes.