The name Yuit (юит, plural: юиты) was officially assigned to them in 1931, at the brief time of the campaign of support of Indigenous cultures in the Soviet Union.

These even include some "moving sculptures" with complicated pulleys animating scenes such as walrus hunting or traditional dances.

It is called yaranga in the literature, the same word referring also to the similar building of the Chukchi.

It was separated from the outer, cooler parts of the yaranga with haired reindeer skins and grass, supported by a cage-like framework.

[6] Many Indigenous Siberian cultures had persons working as mediator (between human and beings of the belief system, among others) — usually termed as "shamans" in the literature.

[7][8] Compared to the variants found among Eskimo groups of America, shamanism among Siberian Yupiks stressed more the importance of maintaining good relationship with sea animals.

[9] Ungazighmiit people (the largest of Siberian Yupik variants) had /aˈliɣnalʁi/s, who received presents for the shamanizing, healing.

The Even people, a tribe that lived on the far eastern side of Russia, believed that the spirit of smallpox could be seen as a Russian woman with red hair.

A local shaman would be there to greet migrating reindeer herders (who sometimes brought the disease with them).

The spirit of smallpox was supposed to be very powerful, and if the shaman's ritual failed, all the local people would die.

[12] Similarly to several other Indigenous cultures, the name-giving of a newborn baby among Siberian Yupik meant that a deceased person was affected, a certain rebirth was believed.

[18][21] The motif of spider as a benevolent personage, saving people from peril with its cobweb, lifting them up to the sky in danger, is present also in many tales of Sireniki Eskimos[22] (as mentioned, their exact classification inside Eskimo peoples is not settled yet).