Traditional Khanty and Mansi footwear can be categorized as follows: men’s and women’s, winter and summer versions. Winter shoes were sewn from the fur and kamus [smooth and dense fur taken from the feet of hooved animals] of deer or elk; summer shoes — from leather, rovduga (suede). Previously, summer shoes were sewn from fish skin. The common name for shoes was obviously ‘nir’ and ‘nyara’. ‘Vai’ originally meant ‘boot’. There are three types of shoes — piston [with soles strapped to the foot of the shoe], boot [with the sole sewn directly to the bottom of the shoe] and unty-like (or shoes with quarters).

<…> Boots with high calves were sewn from kamus. Shoes made of fur were decorated with inserts of colored cloth. Men’s and women’s shoes were laced differently by threading the laces (unlike the Nenets people, who wore their laces crossed), and had different patterns (women’s shoes were decorated at the bottom of the toe, while men’s shoes were decorated higher — under the knee).

Boot-type footwear (the sole is directly sewn to the bottom of the shoe) is also quite old <…> Such footwear could be both short — without a calf (cherki, chirki, charki) — and with a calf sewn to the top of the boot. The cherki were most often made of leather, either with the addition of cloth or kamus, on an overstretch (Mansi). They were often decorated with beaded embroidery or applique patterns.