the ket are thought to be the only survivors of an ancient nomadic people believed to have originally lived throughout central and southern siberia. in the 1960s the yugh people were distinguished as a separate, though similar, group. today's kets are the descendants of the tribes of fishermen and hunters of the yenisei taiga, who adopted some of the cultural ways of those original ket-speaking tribes of south siberia. the earlier tribes engaged in hunting, fishing, and even reindeer breeding in the northern areas.