The museum was founded on November 7, 1927, and is the only accessible place where historical relics of the cultures of the Evenki, the Yessei Yakuts, and the Kets living in Evenkiya are stored.

The museum's collections include unique exhibits: natural history and archaeological, ethnographic, as well as national clothing and ancient women's jewelry. Here you can see decorations for reindeer harnesses, Evenki calendars, musical instruments made of wood, bone, and metal. The museum also features religious cult items, a shaman's costume, drums, amulets, as well as collections of numismatics and applied arts. Among the exhibits are items made of birch bark, bone, fur appliqués, bead embroidery, collections of visual arts, documentary materials, and personal belongings of people who contributed to the development of Evenkiya.