Nenets!

The research trip I am on is super awesome. The people, fluent in both English and Russian, ask exactly the questions I would like to ask but cannot due to my lack of words. We've interviewed reindeer herders and many others about climate change, oil/gas development and encroachment, social issues (no young people want to herd, etc.).

And we just came from a town called Indiga (pop 800) to a town called Krasnoe. I was terrified cause we have traveled in teeny old russian-made bi-wing planes. From Indiga we snomobiled to a herder's chum (teepee) where we stayed overnight. I rode a sledge drawn by reindeer under a brilliant corona of northern lights and also lassoed a reindeer on my first try, with a rope made of reindeer skin, from a herd of 2000 deer that circled around us on a small hill. it was awesome. the interviews on the project are great too....

if i fall off the face of the planet, assume i've made it to some family based truly nomadic herder's camp, where i will try to stay as long as possible (1-3 weeks/months).

also, unfortunately, 150 km of bumping in a sled behind a snowmobile has killed my camera. i am very unhappy about the prospect.

Rossiya, take 2!

Well, they let me back into the country again! So, I'm in Moscow, where I toured the Red Square, Kremlin, a museum and some churches. I just met all the other team members for the research trip, and early tomorrow we fly to the Arctic, to Naryan Mar, in Nenets Autonomous Okrug. I dunno how much internet connection I will have for the next time, which means I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing for this year! After the research trip I hope to extend my permission so I can stay in what you could call a teepee (there are other names for them here, in Norway, and in Tuva), with some reindeer herders till I return to Norway in April to help out on a fishing boat and migrate with a reindeer herd from Kautokeino down to the sea. In Nenets it could very easily be minus 50 or 60 (F or C). So, I'm a bit worried, but I think it will work out!

Back to Russia

Well, I managed to hitch a ride on a sledge behind a snowmobile. It was the singularly least enjoyable mode of transport I've ever done. Sitting on a frozen reindeer carcass and empty fuel cans with a nervous dog in my lap, trying to also stay on the sled and not become frost-bitten from fierce cross winds in a blizzard. Somehow, I made it back to Hemmogiede, a small assortment of houses, stood on the side of the road for an hour in minus 25 C, finally hitchiked into Kautokeino, and caught a ride to the Jokkmokk Winter Market in Sweden, arriving at around 2 am I promptly fell asleep on a gym floor and woke up for 3 days of excellent Sami food, costumes, parties, etc. Now I'm in Oslo, on my way to Moscow, to meet the team for the research project CLUE (Circumpolar Land Use and Ethnicity). Sunday we'll fly north to Naryan Mar in Nenets Autonomous Okrug! Man I'm excited...

Here are a few photos from Finland, Norway, and Estonia...

Ooh exciting!

I'm writing from the winter cabin at the reindeer herding grounds of some folks I met in Kautokeino. Unlike the cabin in Tuva, this one has a generator and electricity, wireless internet, and a phone signal, but no water and only a wood stove for heat and cooking. This time of year there's not much to do, aside from riding on a snowmobile through all terrain, circling the herd of more than a thousand reindeer, to make sure no groups of 1-200 reindeer wander off in search of food or other nearby herds, butchering a few deer to bring to a Sami education day at a nearby folk high school, collecting firewood, water from the river, etc. It's super different from how herding is done in Tuva, where it mainly serves to facilitate quick movement while hunting. Here, it's all about the meat. And supposedly the sale price has fallen and support from the government has gone to extractive industries instead (typical). It's only been around -20 celcius, (-4 F), but very windy, and it's quite cold zooming on a scooter at 50-60 km/hr. Clutching to the driver and trying not to fall off helps you to keep warm though.

If some folks stop by from a nearby cabin on their way back to town in the next 30 minutes, I will be able to hop on a 2 pm bus going straight to Jokkmokk, Sweden, for the Jokkmokk Winter Market, an annual Sami festival that started in the early 1600s. The herders I've been with may gather their reindeer into a fence next Monday and Tuesday (so they can migrate them down to town to sell). So I may also be able to come back up and watch that awesome process before I fly to Oslo Feb. 9, Moscow Feb. 10, and Nenets Autonomous Okrug on Feb. 12, with the anthropology field expedition. Allllright!

But, as usual, everything depends on my making it back down to town, which, of course, is uncertain. (Update: the generator ran out of fuel, we ran out of water (I washed a bunch of dishes with snow melted on the fire), and the people on the snowmobile slept in and still have not arrived, so I will hopefully hitch a ride with someone driving to Jokkmokk today or tomorrow...) Ahhh adventure!