The Nenets people called the deserted island Hebidya Ya, that means “the Saint Land”. This is where the most ancient of the known Nenets shrines were situated – the shrines of their main deities. ‘The children and the grandchildren” of those gods have their own shrines in different parts of the continental tundra – from the White Sea to the Enisey river.
In the sacred sites the nenets mounted huge wooden idols. The most esteemed gods were Vesako (“the Old Man”) and Hodako (“the Old Woman”). Vesako ‘lived’ in the southern part of Vaigach on the Dyakonova Cape. The idol of Vesako was a high wooden figure with seven faces, accompanied by the retinue of 400 smaller wooden idols depicting the men, women and children, and also about 20 stone statues.

This was the description of the main shrine on Vaigach made by the first European visitors. The English Captain Steven Barrow arrived on the island in 1556, and the Dutch navigator William Barents saw its coast 40 years later.
Remarkably that at about the same time another Dutch seafarer, Captain Roggeven discovered the small Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean. Nowadays it is world-known because of the ritual god’s statues installed on its coast. English and Dutch seamen mentioned that the Vaigach idols had blood-stained eyes and mouths, as Nentsy ‘fed’ their gods with the blood of sacrificed deer. The sacred cave was located close to Vesako. The frightful howl was allegedly heard from this cave during the sacrifices.

The idol of Hodako - a stone block resembling a human figure with a pointed head – was mounted in the northern part of Vaigach, at the Bolvansky Nos cape. Hodako was the mother of the Earth and the hunting patroness. Moreover, the shrine of thesupreme god Num was in the central part of the island on the Bolshaya Bolvanskaya Mountain. And Neve-Hege (the Gods’ mother) stood close to Him, at the cliff with the deep cleft. The Europeans discovered these two shrines much later, as they were hidden far from the coast, in the area difficult to access.

Vesako and Hodako had four sons who went away to different points of tundra. Nyu-Hegu was worshipped near quaint rock in the south of the island, while Minissei was worshipped on one of the Urals` peak that is known now as Konstantinov Kamen, Yalmal was bowed to on a small peninsula of Obskoya bay (it is believed that Yamal peninsula descends from this name) . The ultimate sacred place was a Kozmin coppice on Kanin peninsula. Sanctuaries with wooden gods were erected in all the aforementioned places, and sacrifices took place over there.

In 1898 an inspired master of northern landscapes Russian artist Borisov visited the sanctuaries Neve-Hege and Numa in the center of Vaigach. He was the first among the Europeans to do so. Here is how he described his impressions. “Having crossed the ultimate obstacle – the Divine River (Hai-Yaga), we went uphill. Snow was still seen there in some places, and we still could ride on it in spite of the fact the snow was too friable in order to hold the deer. We had stopped at the threshold of this Nenets’ Mecca three miles away the main sanctuary. I rushed to carefully study the interesting place and ran across a big pile of idols between the rocks. It was so huge, that if it would require around 30-40 carts to transport it to the other place.

Archeologists exploring the island for over the last few years have discovered some earlier unknown sanctuaries. At the moment there are 15 known sanctuaries on Vaigach Island. The idols there date back to XIV-XV century, and some ancient sacrificial objects even date to IX-X century.

It is considered, that the first who began to worship to sanctuaries of the island, were ancient legendary "sirtya", under the legend, they left to live under the ground and then became gnomes, then the peoples "pechiera" and "yugra". Since the sixteenth century, according to Europeans tales, "nenets" began here to worship to the main gods, and then other northern peoples came to the island from the North. A small stone, brought from the Sacred Island, brought good luck in hunting and protected dwellings from malicious spirits. Some of these sanctuaries have been kept up to present time and protect rest of Vaigach so strictly as in past.

The most terrible times of the Russian history have also passed over Vaigach Island. There are zinc and lead mines, which functioned on the island in 1930 - 1940 years and they were part of system of Prison Camps of special assignment in USSR. In the south of island - on Razdelniy Cape, the rests of structures of mine filled with water have been kept until present time with rusted trolleys and rails. And on ruins of garage towers there is a dilapidated tractor as a monument to that time.

Today Vaigach is a natural reserve and there are various historical-cultural monuments and the settlement Varnek (about 40 residents). Nenets are engaged in reindeer breeding, crafts, there is a small souvenir-fur shop on the island.

There are constant fantastic landscapes, surprising vegetative and fauna world and that unusual influence which Vaigach impresses people. The actor Vatslav Dvorzhetsky, who spent on mines of Vaigach for three years, from 1931 until 1933, writes in the memoirs, that in spite of hard work, and the status of the prisoner, "… it always seemed to me, that romanticism there covered the majority. I don’t remember desponding people…". And one more citation from his book - "…improbable "miracles" were on Vaigach. For example, nobody was sick. It was possible to freeze there but not to catch a cold. No microbes…"

And it is so really. The modern scientists who have visited the island, speak, that Vaigach is unique its geomagnetic properties. A person, at subconscious level, receives there the most powerful charge of energy, very quickly adapts for the environment, instantly forgetting all illnesses and stresses. Some days on island, will give you a charge of vivacity for the whole year.