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Perevalova E., Kisser T. Reindeer Husbandry of European Nenets: Traditions and Transformations

E. Perevalova
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera)
of the Russian Academy of Sciences
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-9480-715X
E-mail: Elena_Perevalova@mail.ru

 

T. Kisser
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera)
of the Russian Academy of Sciences
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0001-9246-2787
E-mail: tkisser@bk.ru

 

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ABSTRACT. The article examines the modern reindeer husbandry system of the European Nenets. It draws on the materials of field studies conducted during July 2022, April 2023, and the periods from July to August 2023 in the Kaninskaya, Timanskaya, Malozemelskaya, and Bolshezemelskaya tundras of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO). The reindeer herders of the NAO have fewer problems with reindeer grazing than the nomads of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The oil and gas production here is less large-scale that on the Yamal Peninsula, and there is no shortage of land. Reindeer breeders fully meet the district’s demand for meat products, which plays an essential role in the region’s food security. The authorities support the development of the industry by assisting reindeer herding cooperatives and family ancestral communities in acquiring new production bases, corals, slaughtering stations, generators, refrigeration units, and housing modules. However, the reindeer husbandry in the four tundras and at the Kolguyev Island are uneven. There are differences in management, grazing organization, and personnel policy; much depends on the presence of oil and gas-producing companies in the pasture territories. The emerging need to redistribute grazing lands and the need for experienced reindeer herders remain two significant problems. On the one hand, the herders seek to increase their incomes by increasing the size of herds, primarily private herds. This, in turn, leads to increased pressure on pastures and sometimes causes disasters (the Kolguyev case). On the other hand, the transition to shift grazing in the Soviet period and the low prestige of the reindeer herding industry in the post-Soviet period became the reasons for the decline of herds, their merger, and the dissipation of individual reindeer herding enterprises and communities. The arrival of Ural Nenets from the Bolshezemelskaya Tundra and nomads from neighboring tundras, such as the Timanskaya tundra, contributes to solving the problem. Simultaneously, the “land issue” intensifies, and the ethno-cultural character of the region transforms.

 

KEYWORDS: reindeer breeding, Nenets, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, traditions, transformations, agricultural enterprise, Indigenous family and clan community, shift grazing, family nomadism

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2024-2(24)-162-194
UDC 334.71(=511.2) 

 

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