Samoyedic Shamanism

Samoyedic Shamanism is the traditional belief of the Samoyedic peoples of northern Siberia, the Nenets, Enets, Nganasans and Selkups, who lived by hunting, fishing and reindeer herding. It is a shamanistic and animistic system that stresses respect for the land.

Among the Nenets, the sky god Num was the good creator and high god, while his malevolent son Nga ruled the world below. The shaman, called a tadibya, could travel beneath the earth to Nga. In one tale, one who did so married Nga's daughter and came to hold up the world as the Old Man of the Earth. On the migrations a sacred sleigh carried bear skins and figures, and only elders opened it for rituals.

The Russians reached the Selkups about 1628 and later tried to convert them. Many kept their old religion.