Sihirtya (sirtya, siirtya) – is a name of legendary people. In translation from Nenets it means – doing an opening, a hole. Sihirtya are of small stature, they have white skin and hair, light eyes, sometime vertical pupils. Once they lived on the surface of tundra, and then they went under the earth.

Sihirtya are unable to stand sunlight, they appear only at night. They hunt see animal and wild deer, fish with nets that are decorated with colorful floats and stone plummets, harness dogs in sledges. Sihirtya are excellent farriers, jewelers, doctors. They can disappear and suddenly crop up anew, become invisible, they know magic. Women’s clothes is beautiful, is decorated with metallic things that is why clanging is heard. They sew clothes with a help of dog’s tendons. Sihirtya enter into a marriage with Nenets people.

Records of mysterious people Sihirtya are found in Russian chronicles of X – XIV centuries, in travel writings (Pierre de Lamartinyer, XVII), in works of the North researchers. Legends about Sihirtya are found in all Nenets tundra from peninsula Kanin to the river Yenisei. For example, according to the native people’s stories near the village Nelmin-Nos (Nenets autonomous okrug) in the region of Kruklaya sopka lives stunted people. When the weather is rainy you can hear tinkling of bells: it means that Sihirtya show the way to lost people. Only elites can see sihirtya – who have a gift or shamans. Going by Kruglaya sopka it is obligatory to leave some gift. In 1987-1990s was discovered Ortinskoye ancient settlement (VI-XI centuries) on the right banch of the river Pechora. Doctor of History Ovsyannikov O. V. who led excavations, thinks that Ortinskoye ancient settlement is a contact zone of Russians with sihirtya.