Modern farming techniques, including irrigation canals, have increased the productivity of both crops and cattle. Until the early 1900's most Nogay were pastoral nomads. The two groups traveled together during the winter, then spread out in summer to make it easier to find water. The earliest Nogay farmers can be traced back to the end of the seventeenth century. Their first homes were one-room mud and brick huts.
Women take care of domestic chores.
The pre-Islamic Nogay word for god is tengri , a term associated with the animistic religion of traditional nomadic Turks. However, in the 1500s's, during the time the Nogay were closely associated with the Turkic Khanates of Crimea and the Ottoman Sultans, they were introduced to Islam . Today, virtually all of the Nogay profess to be Sunni Muslim. However, as far back as the Russian Revolution in the early twentieth century travelers noted that the Nogay were not very religious. With increased assimilation into the Russian culture, it is doubtful if Islam will survive in Nogay society.