The Yukaghir has a unique clan system as well as hunting practices. Although there was one clan leader called Ligey Shomorok, who made all decisions on behalf of the clan, women and teenagers had equal say and voices with men. The everyday life of the clan is also under the control of the older women. Their wisdom and decisions are considered indisputable and final.

The Northern Yukaghir were patrilocal, which means centered on the male’s family. Meanwhile, the Southern Yukaghir were matrilocal, meaning they are centered on the female’s line. Inheritance in both groups was patrilineal. They generally organized small family groups into clans. Each clan was guided in matters of food provision and clan defense by an able adult male. There are also hunting leaders called Khangitche and war leaders called Tonia.

They live in camps consisting of tents that can be easily packed up. The tent (called a "chum") is square with a wooden frame covered with hides. A fire usually burns inside all day to provide warmth and to cook.

The Yukaghir practice shamanism. They hold a view of the spirits of hunting, earth, fire, water, and most importantly, the sun. Each clan has a shaman called an alma, who, after death, becomes a deity. The family will dismember the shaman’s body and keep parts of it as a relic after death.

Animals play a central role in Yukaghir spiritual practices, social structure, and hunting. They practice dog sacrifices and have many different epic poems and stories based around animals. Yukaghir people have a changeable sense of identity. For example, if a person from Yakut or a different region resides in another region for some time, he identifies as that ethnicity. This is because he lives, hunts, and works like a Yukaghir. This is called a ‘relational identity, and also extends to how Yukaghirs see themselves residing with animals. For the Yukaghir, being a person means having the ability to take on the perspective of the other species. As they believe that animals and even rivers and trees have this ability, everything could be considered people.

The role of the shaman for the Yukaghir is to mediate between the souls of men and animals to ensure correct hunting practices are observed. In this way, no balance will be disturbed in nature. The shaman will also protect the clan against the evil doings of a dark shaman or shamans from other clans. Lastly, he acts as a healer against illness or disease. When a Yukaghir shaman died, his body was cut into pieces, the meat dried and distributed like good-luck charms, and his head was erected into a wooden body, dressed in fine clothes and put inside a house like an icon.