The Forest Nenets are one of indigenous people of Siberia, a small ethnical group. Like many other Northern peoples, the NEnets still have a lot of beliefs including those regarding hair. Most of them state that hair contains the life itself, it is home for gods and spirits, that’s why one should take good care of his hair.

Nicely combed hair is an indispensable part of a Forest Nenets woman image: women make a parting and neatly braid their hair. Decorations for hair are very important, they are handmade of various materials. An outstanding accessory to a NEnets woman’s outfit is a forehead decorative band made of cloth with a simple beads ornament. This bright and feminine piece is lighter and more convenient than fake braids, called ‘nakosniki’, which are also very popular.

The forehead decoration colors are picked basing on intuition, the NEnets women can show all their artistic approach and sense of beauty. The outer part of this headgear can be ornamented both with single beads or with a combined embroidered or braided pattern.

In the recent past, forehead accessories and other traditional clothing were decorated with tiny bone tubes, beads and round overlays. They were dyed by a natural paint, extracted from plants. As fur buyers came to the North of the Western Siberia, glass beads became popular. But when the temperature went below –40°С, beads often cracked. Chinese porcelain beads and Indian beads made of seashells stood the cold. These beads were carefully stored in special needlework bags, removed from worn-out clothes and attached to the new ones and even collected for a daughter’s dowry.

Gubkinsky Museum of the Development of the North exposition shows a female forehead accessory made by the Forest Nenets Yenasyata Pyak, a Rychi-Yakha camp resident. It consists of a blue cloth, red satin ribbon, large white beads and red glass beads laces.