The indigenous peoples of the Ugra territories have ancient history. Model relations with the nature of these peoples, as known is other than that of the civilized world. Developing together with the community, they learned to survive without doing violence to nature, including those of other human races. The author aims at considering the historical stages of social development of the indigenous peoples of the Khanty for more profound and many-sided presentation of the problem of socio-cultural relations and adaptation of small nations to the modern society. It is shown that with the development of the Russian state there was going systematic social development of indigenous peoples of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Region. In the environment of indigenous Khanty it was gradually being developed the literacy, documentation systems; business relationship became more formal; schools, boarding schools were opened; measures were undertaken to preserve the Khanty language and national culture.