Koryaks are one of the ethnic groups of the so called north-eastern Paleo Asians. The first ethnographic information about them was obtained in 1700 during the expedition of Vladimir Atlasov, who claimed Kamchatka for the Russian crown. During the Second Kamchatka expedition the Koryaks became a point of interest of Stepan Krasheninnikov, Jacob Lindenau, and George Steller, who left some descriptions of the Koryak life style at that time. Bartholomew Lesseps, a member of Laperouze expedition, visited Koryaks in 1788. His diary has interesting descriptions of the Koryak settlements and lifestyle. Another foreigner, an American George Kennan, who came to Kamchatka during the Russian-American telegraph expedition in 1864-1867, published his accounts in the book entitled “Tent Life in Siberia.” Number of Russian researchers, such as Karl Ditmar, Nikolai Slunin and Vasilii Margaritov also made their input in the nineteenth century Koryak studies. Despite these efforts, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Koryaks remained one of the least known people of Siberia.
The Jesuppe North-Pacific expedition, organized by the new-York Museum of Natural History and the Russian Academy of Science in 1900-1902 was a major brake through in the Koryak studies. The main goal of this expedition was to establish the ancient connection between the indigenous population of Asia and North America. The Koryak branch of the expedition was directed by Woldemar Jochelson. This research yielded a wealth of information, oral lore and ethnographic collections. The results of this work were published in 2 of 12 volumes of “The Jesup North Pacific Expedition”