Lavish costumes of the Nenets people

Editor - Stakheev Vladimir, photos - Andrey Shapran

The Nenets, also known as Samoyeds, are an indigenous people in northern arctic Russia. The Nenets have a very rich tradition of working with fur, as many of the northern people do. The men and women basically wear the same thing, a parka like shirt with a hood, and often a bib flap in front, baggy pants and boots. 

The ornamented and beaded boots are typical for most of the indigenous peoples of Siberia, although they differ in detail. This type of design recurrs over and over in North Eurasia, showing up in Chuchki and Evenk bead work and even Saami pewter embroidery. The floral work seen above is a more recent development, or perhaps shows more East Asian influence. 

Even a people with no tradition of woven cloth because of their native climate, can still have a very rich and beautiful textile tradition. 

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