Informative and interesting. Amazing displays of everything about the ecology and geography of Yakutia, the traditional life of Yakutians, as well as modern history.

We had difficulty finding this museum, but were pleasantly surprised on entering. The museum is a 5 minute walk from Prospekt Lenina, so is not visible from the street. We had just visited the House Museum for Political exiles and decided to walk to the nearby Savior Monastery, which is to the left of the museum. The museum opened it's first exhibit in 1891. A totem pole with a UNESCO seal stands in front of the museum. Also in front of the museum, is a statue of Yemelyan Yaroslavsky, who was a Russian revolutionary. He was exiled to Siberia for his political activism.In 1917, political exiles were allowed to work at the museum, and in 1923 the museum was named after him. It is ironic that Yaroslavsky was a leading atheist activist in the communist party, and his statue is positioned between an exquisite wooden church to his right (Savior Monestary) and a beautiful chapel to his left. When Yaroslavsky died in 1943 his ashes were buried in the Kremlin Wall near to Lenin's mausoleum. Other exhibits outside, include the Yakut Ritual complex, which is comprised of a series of totem poles, used by ancient Yakut people. A house which was occupied by political exiles between 1915-1917 is located to the right of the chapel, and it has a gold seal as a historical building. There is a exhibit of a whale skeleton locked in a room behind the chapel. The entrance fee was 300 ruble, and photography cost 100 ruble. We took many pictures of the exhibits,so the photo cost was well spent. The museum has three floors of exhibits. The lower floor is dedicated to the indigenous people, animals and nature of the region. It includes many stuffed animals, and exhibits of items used in daily life, including clothing, utensils and weapons.The prehistoric mammal section included a Woolly Mammoth skeleton, Bison and other ancient animals. We particularly enjoyed the exhibits on the upper floor, which included a World War 2 section of propaganda posters and weapon displays. Look out for the captured German Flag from World War 2, with a German Helmet, luger pistol and Schmeisser (MP-40) sub machine gun. The cossack weapon display was well presented.There was a small exhibit on Lenin, which we found to be a feature of older museums in Russia. One of the main exhibits upstairs was an ancient horse, whose skeleton was shown in a glass case as it was found in the earth in 2004. We spent over an hour in the museum, and another half an hour enjoying the exhibits outside. This is the best museum in Yakutsk to get an understanding and appreciation of the local culture.