There's a long history of trade and contact between Siberians and Native Alaskans, though its often overlooked. A recent theory proposes that a disruption in the Siberian iron trade caused by the Mongolian Khanate in the 13th Century was a factor in the rapid expansion of the Thule / Ancestral Inuit culture across Arctic Canada. There evidence of Asian influences on their bows and armor at this time, suggesting at least indirect contact with cultures to the southwest of the Bering Sea. Though the Thule's predecessors lived on both sides of the Bering Strait (as do some of their close cultural relatives today), immediately before their big expansion eastward, their main cultural centers were on the north coast of Alaska. In addition to the proposed "iron migration" theory mentioned earlier, the warmer temperatures of that time opened the Arctic up to bowhead whales, a major food source for the Thule. Their maritime skills allows them to not only hunt large marine mammals but also to travel and trade over considerable distances, using specialized boats for either purpose.

The Thule were just the most recent of long series of eastward migrations. Before them were the Dorset (to Western anthropologists / archaeologist) or the Tuniit (to the Inuit). Before the Dorset, at least in Greenland, was the poorly known Saqqaq Culture, which appears to have been more closely related, genetically, to the Chukchi of Siberian, than to later peoples of the Canadian Arctic.

The Chukchi and their relatives live in the northeastern part of Siberia, directly opposite Alaska. You can see them as the green area on this (map). If you look really closely you'll also notice a fringe of blue right on the Bering Strait representing the Siberian Yupik (relatives of the Inuit). The Yupik also in Alaska (between Norton Sound and Bristol Bay mostly) and some of the islands in the Bering Strait, maintaining trade and contacts on both sides of the strait. The Chukchi definitely had and have contact with the Yupik. How far the Chukchi might have transmitted their knowledge of the Yupik and the land beyond the Bering Strait, I can't say. From what little I've read on the Siberian cultures, the Chukchi don't appear to have been on very good terms with the Yakut neighbors to the west when the Russians start pushing into the area. Since the Chukchi were using the same Asian-influence weaponry and armor mentioned earlier, they would have been well matched to resist potential expansion from their local rivals until the Russians show up with their guns and diseases.

And since I mentioned guns and diseases, this is probably a good time to mention the Guns, Germs, and Steel section of our FAQ. Spoiler: historians aren't big fans of it. One of my biggest problems with Diamond's argument is that, of the three, "germs" is the most influential by a large margin. He attributes Europe's germ-arsenal to the Old World's suite of domesticated animals, ignoring that many of the most deadly diseases historically have nothing to do with domesticated animals. Malaria and the Black Death are both spread by insects; the exact origins of smallpox is uncertain, but it seems to have developed from a rodent virus.

Anyhow, check out these books for more information about the history of the Arctic:

• Ancient People of the Arctic
• The Northern World: AD 900 - 1400

We may have. The problem is that before Russian contact, we do not have written records of such exploration and contact. There is evidence of long-distance trade (a cast bronze buckle found in an archaeological dig, for one) and of short-distance regular contact across the strait.

But give it time. Because this is before written records, only archaeological study will reveal the truth. And that takes time and money.