Snowshoes enlarge the foot surface, and when the surface becomes larger, the pressure exerted by the weight of human body on the upper snow layers becomes lower. That is why snowshoes make it much easier to walk on snow-covered ground. 

Researchers believe that such devices were in use as early as four thousand years ago. First snowshoes appeared in the Central Asia and then gained currency in North America getting there by the isthmus now replaced by the Bering Strait. Snowshoes were not used in Europe. Ancient people in those territories used skis in order to prevent falling into the snow.

In addition to procuring food and various raw materials, Cikassians used the forest for natural shelter. The Adyg people had no urban settlements. They lived in stand-alone dwellings or small clusters scattered over a large area securely hidden in the forest. The dense thicket provided protection from enemy attacks against the community, and in the time of peace, protected crop from the heat. 

Gradually, the Adygs developed a religious attitude to the forest. Their patron God was Mezytkh who protected wildlife and helped the kind and honest people by showing them where to find medicinal herbs, and leading them to the places where they could find bumper harvests of nuts and apples. In order not to anger their sylvan God, the Adygs went hunting with a limited number of arrows so as not to harm more animals than they needed for food. 

The forest was also associated with the Great God, Tkha. Huge age-long trees, tree trunks burnt by lightning, scenic valleys hidden deep in the forest, and other beauties of nature were considered as special manifestation of his power and perceived as natural temples where they could worship the spirits or even the Great God, Tkha himself.