Yukagirs - one of the smallest peoples of the Soviet North - live on a rather vast territory: from Indigirka in the west to Anadyr in the east. Many see the Yukagirs as the first inhabitants of northeastern Siberia. In this regard, interest in issues related to their origin, culture and social structure is understandable. The author, separating the characteristic features of the Yukagir lifestyle from various kinds of borrowings from the nearest neighbors, talks about the life and economic structure of the Yukagirs, about their customs and rituals, about their present day.