RUSSIA / FINLAND: Russia's fast- expanding energy industry is bringing rapid change to the lives of indigenous reindeer herders of Western Siberia

Record ID: 335310

  • Title: RUSSIA / FINLAND: Russia's fast- expanding energy industry is bringing rapid change to the lives of indigenous reindeer herders of Western Siberia
  • Date: 7th January 2008
  • Summary: (L!1) ROVANIEMI, FINLAND (RECENT - DECEMBER 18, 2007) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. FLORIAN STAMMLER, PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF LAPLAND, SAYING: "There is definitely positive material impact and increase of living standards for the herders as a result of the oil company being present but on the other hand they are also aware that this creates dependen
  • Embargoed: 22nd January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Energy
  • Reuters ID: LVA8TRBBUL5A4HP2N1WFEKMDPIRJ
  • Story Text: Reindeer have been rounded up for slaughter every winter in Western Siberia for centuries, but the lifestyles of their herders have taken a modern twist.
    Reindeer herds roam the vast Varandey tundra, many containing as many as 3,000 animals. The reindeer are owned and herded by the indigenous and nomadic Nenets tribes who lived like this long before czars or commissars ruled the land.
    The animals are butchered by hand, and the Nenets work in the frozen arctic air with little more than a knife and saw to conduct their work.
    Every part of the animal is used, with the reindeer meat salted or smoked to be preserved throughout the year.
    But this ancient rhythm of life is about to change according to a scientist who has studied the Nenets for years.

    "From next year on there will most probably be a slaughterhouse brought in from Finland where a slaughterhouse company will care for all of the slaughter in the future so this was the last time we were able to observe that," said Dr. Florian Stammler, from the University of Lapland.
    Russia's rapidly expanding oil industry has spread its infrastructure across migration routes the Nenets and their herds have used for centuries, providing a profitable market for reindeer meat.
    As a result, oil money is flowing to the Nenets who now have contracts to provide meat and watch out for pipeline breaks and spills.
    The changes have also shifted the Nenets' living standards.

    "There is definitely positive material impact and increase of living standards for the herders as a result of the oil company being present but on the other hand they are also aware that this creates dependency,"
    Stammler said.
    Herders have bargained with oil companies to build modern homes, and now enjoy the modern comforts of CD players and mobile phones.

    "Reindeer herders have told me, particularly the women, that it's not interesting anymore to visit each other because there is nothing to chat about anymore. Everything is exchanged beforehand on mobile phones. On the other hand mobile phones have tremendous positive impacts on the reindeer herders because they can shortcut their information flows between themselves and their company headquarters," Stammler added.
    The herders will continue to roam the vast Siberian tundra with their animals and should make a good profit from the delivery of meat to oil workers. But the closer the oil industry and the herders work together, the more changes are likely to occur in the herders' way of living.
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