The ancient Siberian nomads who may have mastered the art of skiing

Cultures · Published 1 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Long before modern winter sports, the Tuvans of the Altai mountains were using skis to hunt elk. This Turkic ethnic group, with deep roots in the Siberian landscape, carries a complex history of shifting empires, shamanistic traditions, and a genetic connection that hints at the very origins of the Americas.

The Tuvans are a Turkic ethnic group indigenous to the regions of Tuva, Mongolia, and China. Historically, they have been livestock-herding nomads, managing diverse herds of reindeer, yaks, camels, and sheep. Their ancestral lineage is deeply tied to the landscape; archaeological findings near Arzhan reveal Scythian kurally burials from the 7th and 6th centuries BC, representing some of the earliest and easternmost remains of these people. Genetic research further suggests that Tuvans are closely related to other Siberian Turkic groups, such as the Altaians and Khakas, and even share close genetic ties with the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

The history of the Tuvan people is a tapestry of imperial transitions. They lived under the Xiongnu prior to 200 AD and later experienced the dominance of the Göktürks from the late 6th century until the 8th-century Uyghur takeover. The region saw various waves of influence, including the Yeniseian Kyrgyz in 840 AD and Mongol suzerainty following the arrival of Oirat prince Quduqa-Beki in 1207. By the 17th century, the area was under the control of the Khalka Mongol leader Sholoi Ubashi Altan-Khan, and Russian explorers Vasily Tyumenets and Ivan Petrov first visited the region in 1615.

Culturally, the Tuvans are renowned for Khoomei, or throat singing, a unique musical form that uses overtones to create multiple simultaneous tones. Their spiritual life is a blend of traditional Tengriism—a Turkic animistic shamanism—and Tibetan Buddhism, which was adopted in the 18th century. While many Tuvans still maintain semi-nomadic traditions using yurts or conical hide tents, their modern identity is shaped by significant demographic shifts. In the Tuva Republic, Tuvans comprise 82.0% of the population as of the 2010 census, characterized by a much lower median age and higher fertility rate than the Russian population.

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