Some belive that they split apart from the Finno-Ugric groups around 3,000 B.C. and migrated east where they mixed with Turkish-Altaic peoples around 200 B.C. Those who remained in Europe came under Russian control around 1200 A.D. but those who lived further east did not come in contact until 14th century. In the early 17th century, all Nenets were under Russian control. The Samoyedic languages form a minor branch of the Uralic language family, the major branch being the Finno-Ugric languages.

It is of major importance for the basic comparison between the Uralic and Finno-Ugric languages. (Another consideration is that they moved (probably from farther south in Siberia) to the northernmost part of what later became Russia before the 12th century A.D.

They ended up between the Kanin and Taymyr peninsulas, around the Ob' and Yenisey rivers, with some of them settling into small communities and taking up farming, while others continued hunting and reindeer herding, travelling great distances over the Kanin peninsular. They bred the Samoyed dog to help herd their reindeer and pull their sleds, and European explorers later used those dogs for polar expeditions, because they have adapted so well to the Arctic conditions. Fish was also a major component of their diet.

They had a shamanistic and animistic belief system which stressed respect for the land and its resources. They had a clan-based social structure. The name Samoyed entered the Russian language
as a deformation of the self-reference Saamod, Saamid (the Fennic suffix "-d" denotes plurality: Fennic Saami -> "Saamid"). Another version derives the name from the expression "same edne", i.e., the land of sami. In Russian ethnographic literature of 19th century they were also called "Самоядь", "Самодь", (samoyad', samod', samodijtsy, samodijskie narody) which was often transliterated into English as Samodi. The literal morphs samo and yed in Russian convey the meaning "self-eater" and sound very derogatory. Therefore the name Samoyed quickly went out of usage in the 20th century, and the people bear the name of Nenets, which actually refers to one of Samodi tribes.

When reading old Russian documents it is necessary to keep in mind that the term samoyad' was often applied indiscriminatively to different Finno-Ugric peoples of Northern Siberia: nentses, yukaghirs, nganasans, enetses, selkups (speakers of Samoyedic languages).

After the Russian Revolution, their culture suffered due to Soviet collectivisation policy. The government of the Soviet Union tried to force the nomad Samoyeds to settle down, and most of them became assimilated. They were forced to settle on permanent farms and their children were educated in state schools, leading to an erosion of their cultural heritage. Environmental damage due to the industrialisation of their land and overgrazing of the tundra migration routes have further endangered their way of life.
The Nenets shaman is termed Tadibya.