Six folklore motifs shared by the native Na-Dene speakers in North America and in Southern Siberia are revealed. In such combination, these motifs are known nowhere else. The spread of the Na-Dene languages to North America was related to the migration of the bearers of the Dyuktai culture. The lack of parallels for the Na-Dene folklore in Yakutia, Kolyma, Chukotka, and Kamchatka is understandable: the Dyuktai people had gone to Alaska and their heritage was erased by the waves of newcomers. The folklore motifs that are shared both by Na-Dene and Siberian peoples go back to the traditions of the southern neighbors of the Dyuktai people. The population density across the area between Altai and Trans-Baikal region was higher than in northward territories; therefore, the remains of the “Paleolithic” folklore could survive, notwithstanding the multiple language changes.
Keywords: America peopling, Siberian folklore, American Indian folklore, Dene-Yeniseian hypothesis, Sino-Caucasian hypothesis, Athabaskan people, Dyuktai culture.
