Some of this will depend on how steeped in the culture you wish the character to be. I've played two shaman type characters. One actually was based (very loosely) on the Inuit peoples. As I don't know a ton about the culture, I had that character be integrated into "modern" society, and he was just learning about the shamanic aspect of his power and people as his gifts emerged. He was totemistically linked to the artic fox, and had some water based magics. Sort of shaman as sorcerer (or maybe the other way around). I leaned into the basic ideas of spirtual/animism, started him as a healer and semi-pacifist, and then let the character grow over time. He ended up being thrust into more of a leadership role, and the first time he was forced into a position where he had to take a life to save others was a big deal.
The other shaman character I played came from more of a barbarian style tribe/clan. He was a full blood orc, but this was a home brew world, and I had a whole backstory about how/why his people were the original orcs, and the stereotypical blood thirsty and evil orcs were a corruption of his people's ancient and primal ways. I like totem animals, so this guy way tied to Mammoths, and his people did come from far northern/frozen climes. This character was an ambassador for the tribes to the rest of the world; hence his call to adventure. I gave him some difficulty with the common tongue. Not unintelligible, but ignorant of idioms and some metaphors when in common. As a result he was affable and wise, but sometimes slow to engage in conversation. When he did venture in, it was usually with a tale, wise (hopefully) council, and usually a botched idiom or two. As a general rule, while he was a bit more of a beat stick in combat, he preferred to look for diplomatic solutions and cultural exchanges in most encounters. I did throw in one really weird bit of tribal culture for him. (My own thing, not linking this to any real world cultures I know of.) When he was bonded enough to the other party members, or certain NPCs, he would cut very tiny slivers from his hands or forearms and offer them to the others to eat. Within his tribe, this was a sign of high trust, honor, and friendship. Sort of like the idea of blood brothers, but a bit more primal/barbaric, and bizarre (at least from the others' perspectives).
