The museum’s history began in 1929 with the establishment of the Nenets Okrug Bureau of Local Lore. It focused on studying the language, culture, and life of the Nenets people. The collection of the future museum began to form at once, and the first exhibition was held three years later. In 1934, the Nenets Museum of Local Lore was opened in the Nenets House in Naryan-Mar.
By organizing archaeological expeditions, forming new collections and archives, conducting research activities, and receiving diplomas from the Ministry of Culture, the museum became a major research center of the region.
Nowadays, the Nenets Museum of Local Lore houses over 40,000 artifacts, including Nenets, Komi, and Russian ethnographic collections, artworks, photos, documents, and cult objects. It has exciting collections of early printed books as well as geological and archaeological artifacts. The museum also features paleontology exhibits, including a mammoth skull, bones of a steppe mammoth, and plant fossils.
