Reindeer herding
Reindeer herding is conducted in nine countries: Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Greenland, The United States (Alaska), Mongolia, China and Canada.
[1] Reindeer herding is conducted by individuals within some kind of cooperation, in forms such as families, districts, Sámi and Yakut villages and sovkhozy (collective farms).
[2] Modern archaeological data (rock art) suggest that domestication may have taken place for the first time in the Sayan Mountains between Russia and Mongolia, possibly 2–3 thousand years ago.
The siida is an ancient Sámi community system within a designated area but it can also be defined as a working partnership where the members had individual rights to resources but helped each other with the management of the herds, or when hunting and fishing.
The involvement of young people in Norway and Sweden is hindered by legislative acts, and the lack of pastures and economic opportunities hamper the growth of the industry.
The reindeer graze on pastures with an area of approximately 146 thousand km2 in the provinces of Finnmark, Troms, Nordland and Trøndelag, which is 40% of the mainland part of Norway.
Only a person who is a Sámi and themselves, their parents or their grandparents have or had reindeer herding as their primary occupation qualifies for an earmark.
The most common reasons for these fluctuations include difficult climatic situations during several winters, increasing predation levels and poor pasture conditions.
Modern reindeer herders have to adapt to a wide variety of changes in the local, regional and national economy.
Today, the income of individual reindeer herders consists of the production of meat and raw materials such as skins, bones and horns.
The only exception are concession villages, as they engage in reindeer husbandry with special permission from the County Administrative Board (in Swedish: Länsstyrelsen).
Concession villages exist only in the Torne Valley (the area on the Swedish side of the river which marks the border between Sweden and Finland).
There are 56 districts in the reindeer husbandry area, 41 of which are in Lapland and the remaining 15 are in Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu.
[12] Reindeer herding in Finland is not the prerogative of only ethnic Sámi, and any European Union citizen can engage in this type of farm.
[13] In Finland, reindeer husbandry at the individual level in terms of taxation is not treated as a for-profit-business.
With regard to ethnic groups in Finland, reindeer herding is from the economic point of view the most important for Sámi people.
The annual total revenue from reindeer husbandry in Finland is estimated to be 60 million Euro with the main product being meat.
In addition to meat production, reindeer are also an extremely valuable resource for both summer and winter tourism, as they are one of the main attractions for foreign tourists.
Reindeer herding on the basis of semi-grazing was transformed into large-scale farms with a focus on productivity.
Evenki are the most widespread of the Tungus speaking people and can be found in various regions of the Russian Federation: through the Lower Yenisey valley through the Evenk Autonomous Okrug, Irkutskaya and Amur Oblast to Khabarovsk Krai, Buryatia, North-West and South Sakha (Yakutia); they also live in China and a small group in Mongolia.
Hunting for wild deer has traditionally served as a by-catch for reindeer herders and was conducted seasonally by small groups of hunters in river crossings.
The industrial development of certain parts of Siberia had catastrophic consequences for some groups of Evenks, and recently this process is gaining momentum due to accelerated extraction of minerals, construction of pipelines and development of the timber industry complex.
Intending to put an end to free migration across the state border, the Chinese authorities moved these people deep into the country: first to Alonsohn, then to Monkey, and finally to the settlement of Alougoya.
Grazing of these deer is comparable to that of other peoples in the south of Siberia: The small number of reindeer that were owned by the families were milked and used as a means of transport.
Improving the health status and diversity of the herd, as well as the economic situation of reindeer herders, are the top priorities for this region.
[citation needed] The Tsaatan people live in the remote, deep forest of northern Mongolia.
They are one of the few remaining tribes of their kind left as modern development makes its way into their remote area; their ancient traditions are now at risk of dying out.
[citation needed] Besides Sámi and Evenk reindeer herders there are also Yakut, Nenets, Chukchi, Finnish, Komi, Koryak, Khanty, Mansi, Dolgan, Dukha, Enets, Yukagir, Tozha Tuvans, Tofalar, Selkup, Nganasan, Scottish and Greenlandic herders, Chuvan, Inupiaq Eskimo, Inuvialuit, Uil’ta, Kets, Negidal and Soyot.
