Russia, Nenets Tundra. How reindeer herders live (35 photos). How reindeer herders of the Far North live (38 photos) Business of reindeer breeding

The life of reindeer herders who lead a traditional nomadic life in the Tundra is one of the most interesting parallel realities that I came into contact with during my travels. Today I want to tell and show how life works in the plague in summer, but I will definitely return for the winter continuation of this amazing story... A story that contrasts very strongly with the realities of life in megacities that are familiar to us.

Welcome to the Tundra!

2. See a small spot of color in the center of the frame? A few pixels in the photo, a small, barely noticeable point on the map and a place that is very well described by the untranslatable phrase "in the middle of nowhere". This is the tent of the reindeer herders of the Harp reindeer herding brigade.

3. The pilots of the helicopter know only approximate coordinates, the search is carried out visually on the ground, sometimes it takes half an hour or even more.

4. The soil in the tundra is special, unlike anything else, soft and gentle to the touch. The Mi-8 helicopter of the United Naryan-Mar Aviation Detachment cannot land here, so it freezes when it touches the surface. We unload our things very quickly.

5. And after 5 minutes, it rises sharply into the air, blowing even a backpack or bag by tens of meters.


7. This is Timofey - the foreman of the Harp reindeer herding brigade, in his subordination there are four shepherds and a chum-worker and ... 2,500 reindeer. Timofey himself is a Komi, and the shepherds in his brigade are the Nenets. And his wife is also a Nenets.

8. In summer and winter, they travel on sledges along the tundra. In summer, they also glide perfectly on the surface of shrubs.

What is nomadic reindeer herding?

There are 7 brigades in the Harp reindeer herding farm, all of them belong to the collective farm located in the village of Krasnoe. Each brigade has its own grazing route, changing its place of deployment every 3-4 weeks, passing tens of kilometers along the tundra. Timofey's brigade covers a distance of 200-300 km per year, for some brigades this route can be up to 600 km. The herd itself grazes within a radius of 10 km from the miracle.

In the village of Krasnoe, members of the brigade have homes, but they rarely live in them, on vacation and after retirement. Even retirees go to the tundra whenever possible.

Why is it impossible to engage in reindeer husbandry on a permanent basis on a collective farm?

IN soviet time Attempts were made to equip a stationary economy. But reindeer husbandry cannot be stationary, the reindeer eat reindeer lichen, which is renewed after years. On the other hand, the reindeer population cannot be increased uncontrollably for the same reason - there is simply not enough food on the vast expanses of the Tundra.

How is reindeer made from reindeer?

Every spring, the reindeer bring offspring, Timofey's brigade has 1,200 calves, half of which will have to be handed over to a slaughterhouse on the collective farm by winter.
Reindeer are slaughtered in December-January. Most slaughterhouses (which are located in villages) do not have refrigeration facilities, so freezing occurs naturally. The number of reindeer in the NAO is 180 thousand, annually 30-35 thousand reindeer are slaughtered. 70-80% of the downhole contingent are deer under 1 year old. For comparison: in the 70s of the last century, 60-70 thousand reindeer were slaughtered annually in the NAO.

Frozen deer carcasses are taken from settlements in the tundra using the Mi-26 helicopter, this is the largest serial transport helicopter in the world! One hour of operation of the Mi-26 costs 670 thousand rubles / hour, the carrying capacity is 18 tons. With the purchase price of 125 rubles per 1 kg of venison, the cost of its transportation by helicopter is another 90 rubles / kg !!! And there are simply no other options to get to the remote regions of the district. There are no roads or winter roads! During the winter, the helicopter makes 20-25 such flights in different regionswhere meat is centrally transported on snowmobiles from smaller villages or reindeer are driven independently to large slaughter points. Moreover, there are flights for 1 hour, and there are flights for 5-6 hours.

The turnover of the only meat processing plant in Naryan-Mar is 900 tons of venison per year. 450 tons are delivered by helicopter and 450 tons by land transport on winter roads. In total, 1000-1100 tons are slaughtered in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug per season, 900 are taken and processed by the meat-packing plant, and 100-150 are bought by the local population and used locally for their own needs.

How much is a deer?

One live deer costs 15 thousand rubles on average. This is not only meat, but also horns, hooves, skin ...

10. Mariana is in the tent all summer long, this is the only way to learn the skills of reindeer husbandry. In the NAO and Yakutia, distance education is being introduced, when even in winter, children stay with their parents in the tundra, and basic education is taught by their parents.

Children help with housework in the vast majority of tasks. For example, Mariana helps to jerk the reindeer, driving them into a karzak (area bounded by a net), where the shepherds select the reindeer for sledding. Marina harnesses and unharms the reindeer herself without any problems.


12. Shepherds and foreman know each deer “by sight”. Many have nicknames.




16.

Mariana, what kind of toys do you have?
- (thinks) None, why do I need toys?

I am wearing argish (sleigh with things and food), puppies, reindeer teams ...





22. Timothy found a fragment of a mammoth tusk, began to dig, found other bones. That is why we flew to him this time. Then our expedition continued and we began to dig deeper in search of the rest of the skeleton.

24. Satellite dish and TV in the tent. One tank of diesel fuel in a diesel generator is enough for 6-8 hours of viewing. Everything is delivered only by helicopter in the summer! In winter, it is a little easier - you can bring the necessary things, food, diesel fuel from the nearest village on a snowmobile.

As a digression: almost all Nenets have Russian names. In fact, everyone has a different Nenets name, which is given at birth, but you cannot say it out loud. This is due to the fact that the name has a sacred connection with its owner. In order to avoid interference in the inner life of a person from the outside, from ancient times the Nenets took Russian names, which are also indicated in the passport (this is due to the time when the Russians came to the land of the North ... many holy places of the Nenets were destroyed, shamans were persecuted.). The faith of the northern peoples is directly related to their life. Many customs and rituals are incomprehensible to a modern person, but when understanding the essence of the action, eyes open to many things. For example, one of the stories of an earlier period: “when an argish (a caravan of teams) walks along the snow-covered tundra and there are traces of polar bearthen everyone stops. Bear footprints are carefully dug out with pieces of snow and laid to the side. After all the argish has passed, the pieces of snow with traces are placed in their original place. Many people say that this is due to religion and therefore it is not allowed to cross the polar bear trail. Quite right. And you cannot cross the tracks of a polar bear, because he can return along his path and find strangers who have passed in his tracks, i.e. the territory of the beast. Naturally, the bear perceives other people's footprints from above its path as an attempt on its territory and begins to follow the trail. When the bear finds its tracks safe and sound, then it goes on its own path. " There are a lot of such examples that are related to life, religion and knowledge of the surrounding world. Yes, in fact, the whole life of the Nenets is permeated with this knowledge. You can write about this a lot and for a long time, but we return to our story.

The weather was good, only minus 8 degrees. In some places, snow was blowing. When overcoming steep slopes and snowdrifts, the snowmobile engine warmed up, so we stopped from time to time. It got a little warmer, and on the small river channels, water already appeared, which in some places froze into ice. At first we moved along the auto winter road and in the last third of the way we drove into the snow-white tundra, after a few kilometers we turned into forest zone... Having passed through numerous bumps, we went down to the river. Further, having driven along the frozen riverbed, we got to the forest-tundra area and stopped. A hundred meters away, among the larches, several dozen deer were walking peacefully. “Here, we have almost arrived,” said Sergei. The deer turned their heads in our direction. “They are interested in who came to visit them,” Sergey laughs. After another half a kilometer, on a small hill, we stopped near a Nenets camp. Among the forest-tundra were three hides covered with skins. From the iron chimneys, dissolving in the air, the smoke of the hearths curled ... We were greeted with loud barking by dogs, it is difficult to say how many there are, about eight. Dogs are excellent helpers of reindeer herders, they obey perfectly.

It must be said that the reindeer herders are divided into brigades, which stand in different parts of the forest-tundra (about 25-35 km from each other). For convenience, they herd the reindeer into one herd and take care of it together. The herd numbers approximately 8-9 thousand heads. Deer in the tundra move like a huge living river, moving from one place to another. The owner of the tent, Pel, to whom we arrived, was sitting aside on a sled and planing with an ax a new trooper (a pole used to drive reindeer in a harness). There are a lot of small fresh-smelling spruce shavings around it. We did not have a long conversation and he, leaving his occupation, invited us to the chum. The plague is spacious. Is always fresh air and at the same time warm. Natural ventilation in the chum is somewhat reminiscent of the operation of an air conditioner, only silent and slowly exhausting air through the upper opening. Any smoke, even from cigarettes, instantly evaporates, not even a smell remains. In the middle of the chum, an iron stove is heated. There is enough heat from it to sit quite comfortably in a T-shirt. The skins that cover the chum keep warm very well. We sat down to drink tea at a low table. Drinking tea certainly means refreshing yourself. "How was the ride? How is the road? " - these are the questions that guests are always asked. Each visitor tells about the way, regardless of which side he came from. Thanks to this, the Nenets always know the state of the tundra at different ends: where it is covered with snow, where the crust is frozen, where is loose snow, etc. We ate well after the road: hot boiled venison and frozen muksun are the main food in winter. In summer, northerners hardly eat muksun, more and more lean, low-fat fish such as cheek, pyzhyana. But in winter, fatty muksun saturates the body with energy very well. Visitors from " big land»Eat any fish at any time of the year, regardless of the subtleties and characteristics of the body's saturation. Muksun is eaten in ice cream not only because it is kept in the cold, but also because it is a very fatty fish. Fat flows from the thawed muksun down the hands in streams. Well, you can simply cut ice cream, bite it, in general it is normal to eat. Inside the chum: there is a stove in the middle, wide boards are laid directly on the snow on the right and left (in the places of passage), along the entire perimeter in a circle, mats of thin trunks of young birch are laid on the snow, mats of stem grass are laid on top of them, and only then are the skins. Of course, it is unusual to sit in warmth and see snow in front of you through the cracks between the boards. Chum - the structure is very strong and is installed according to old proven technology. This dwelling withstands the strongest winds in the open tundra, visible through to the horizon. More than 30 strong poles are covered on top with two layers of nyuk (nyuk is a plague covering, in winter these are four huge nukes sewn from deer skins, and in summer a tarpaulin covering. Earlier, in summer, chum was covered with nukes sewn from boiled birch bark). The first layer is wool inward, and the second is outward. In total, 80 deer skins are used for the winter covering of the plague. Dogs walk inside the chum, they are all short. At first you might think that there are more puppies. In fact, these are adult, trained dogs. Sometimes in the chum they are tied on a short rope to poles so that they do not interfere with walking. At night they sleep at the entrance to the chum. Dogs will never take food off the table. They will sit nearby, but they will not take even a piece of meat. A dog named Peyak was very interested in us: it would sit on one side, then on the other. You won't immediately think that this small dog is four years old and, together with its fellows, deftly gathers a large herd of deer in the tundra.

When we emerged from the chum, we found ourselves surrounded by deer, mules and fawns. At this time, closer to dinner, they always come to the tents, where they are fed with bread, fish soup. The fawns were fed milk from bottles with a nipple. Communication with deer evokes something kind and real. Small children (4-5 years old) also walked with their mother and communicated with the fawns, held them by the horns, stroked the thick wool with their hands. While we were photographing and filming, one of the deer became very involved in the photo session. He walked, then looked into Igor's video camera, then into my camera. He was very interested in this process. As a result, he licked the camera, and I was once again convinced of his good intentions. While we were talking with the reindeer, Paley continued making chorea. We went up to him and continued our conversation.

I do these chorea for a short time, temporarily ... for six months, - explained Pale.

And what kind of tree are they? We asked.

From a Christmas tree, and in order for a trochee to serve for a long time, you need to make from birch and a tip from a deer horn (the tip is a spherical knob the size of a five-ruble coin), and he showed us a trochee, which was standing near the tree.

How long has he been serving?

Six years, but the spruce quickly breaks down ... enough for six months ...

Near the sleds lay blanks for the horei - thin hewn trunks were eaten with an ax from four sides, which formed a square in cross-section. Smooth workpieces are made so perfectly that if we had not seen how they are made, we thought: the rail was passed through the machine.

How is it possible to achieve a flat surface when processing the trunk of a thin spruce with a diameter of about 7 cm? It's all about the tool and skill of the master. The Nenets ax has a one-sided sharpening similar to a plane's knife. Slowly, the layers of wood are systematically removed. Each time, after several movements with the ax, Pel stopped. Squinting, he looked along the workpiece with one eye to make sure of the quality of his work. Several ready-made chorea were already standing near the tree, all of them glowing with a fresh tree in the sun and smelling of pine needles. Another Nenets approached us and, noticing that we were interested in the process, showed a scabbard made of bone with knives. “These are old knives, very old ... they last a long time,” one of them explained, proudly showing the items. The weighty sheath made of solid bone with a slit along the length (which is made so that the cutting end of the knife is not visible) impress with the simplicity of the device and the craftsmanship. The knife handle (made of bone) is fitted so that it fits snugly into the sheath. The Nenets showed us a bar for sharpening knives: "Do you know from what?" I took it in my hands and realized - this is not an abrasive store bar, but a stone. “This block was still used by my grandfather, and the stone was hardly even worn off. Picked up from the Polar Urals, ”the narrator explained.

Do you also make sledges with an ax? - we ask.

Of course, but with what? With a knife ... there is also a plane, - the Nenets laugh.

How many days does it take to make a sled?

Well ... - Pel's trooper stopped whining, squinted, thought for a few seconds, - I'll do it in two weeks. I'm not a master. But the master will do it in three days.

For three days? - we were surprised.

Yes, the master will do it in three days, the blanks are there. Alexey makes them. In the evening he will come from the camp - said Pela and pointed to the four blanks for the runners lying to the side. Soft fluffy snow was falling outside.

And how do you drill holes?

There is a drill, manual, - answered Pel.

Later, we were shown a drill, consisting of a wooden bend with a stretched leather strap and a shaft in the middle with a drill (I want to note that this is not the only specimen, earlier we met the same tool more than once among other Nenets who live on the coast of the Ob Bay). This tool is similar to those used to make fire. In the city, this structure can now be found only in a museum ... It is very reliable and works well. “A modern instrument is heavy and breaks often, but where can one repair it in the tundra? And your tool can be made and repaired everywhere. We have a chainsaw and an electric plane. When gasoline runs out, the power plant does not work and there is no electricity. Our tool is more reliable, ”explained Palea.

Nenets sledges are wooden sleds that are assembled from parts by insertion. In the manufacture of sleds, no nails, screws, or any other connecting materials are used. Very robust and reliable construction. On sledges that have been serving for more than one year, the Nenets lay hundreds of kilometers not only in winter, but also in summer and autumn - wooden sled runners slide over reindeer moss. They are lightweight, durable and cushion softly when riding over bumps. Sleds are different in size and appearance: cargo sleds (longer and with powerful runners, often large boxes with a side height of about a meter are made on them), light sleds, children's sleds (small, the size of ordinary iron children's sleds), men's sleds, women's sledges (they are distinguished by the presence of sides that serve as protection when transporting small children), sacred sledges, sledges for transporting poles of the plague (they do not have an upper platform, that is, you cannot sit on it), sledges for transporting products (boxes are made on them with doors). Broken sledges are not thrown away, but simply replaced with new ones. On the Yamal Peninsula there is very sparse vegetation and a large deficit of wood, so it is impermissible to throw away a sled with one broken runner. To do this, simply replace the broken part.

While we were talking, several dozen deer scattered around in the forest belt. Pela shouted a few words in Nenets and all the dogs (which at that time were in different places, which were in the chum, some were sleeping or walking in the street) jumped up at once and rushed to collect the reindeer. In less than a minute, all the deer, under the barking of dogs, were already marching towards the main herd. We filmed this plot on video. “Trained dogs are the best helpers of reindeer herders,” Pela commented on the incident and slowly went to the chum. After a while, he went out into the street and carried a tynzyan (a lasso for catching deer) in his hands. "Do you see how gossip is?" - said the Nenets, showing us a skillfully made tynzyan. It is very strong and long, tightly woven from four cords of leather. Later, Palea showed how to correctly collect tynzyan in one hand. Evening was approaching, the Nenets came to the chums from the camp, who spent the whole day in the tundra with a herd of many thousands. Alexei also arrived. We asked him: "Is it true that you can do sledges in three days?" He looked at us attentively and calmly but confidently replied: "Of course it is true." We were later told why sleds were being built near all the chums. The thing is that there is no tree in Yamal, and when reindeer herders move south to the forest-tundra, it is at this time that sledges, new poles for tents, and chorea are made. After all, closer to spring they will again go far to the north, there will no longer be an opportunity to make something from spruce or larch due to the lack of trees in the tundra. The Nenets were interested in how they carefully choose a tree for different purposes: “Sometimes you need to choose a trunk with a natural bend, sometimes you need a larch with a reddish tint, and for some products, on the contrary, with a white one ...” And the more we listened about the intricacies of wood processing, the more were more surprised by the depth of knowledge in this area ...

The next day we gathered in the tundra, where the main herd of deer is many thousands. We were told that we need to travel about six kilometers along the trail. Wooden sledges were hooked up to the snowmobile, the skins were laid on top, tied with a rope. Sergei got on the snowmobile and we drove off ... The path through the forest is all bumpy, on which we constantly jumped together with sledges. The main thing is to hold well and sit correctly on the sleds, the structure is stable and jumps, as if invisible high-quality shock absorbers are built into it. Sergei increased speed, the snowmobile howled ... trees flashed ... We drove into the tundra and on the next hummock the right edge of the sled rose. It was impossible to overlap ... flew on one runner ... shouted to Sergei to slow down ... he did not hear ... the wind whistled in his ears and our cries were drowned out by the roar of the engine. One more bump and we flew off the sleds to the tundra, burying ourselves in the snow. Sergei turned around, stopped: "Why don't you hold on?" Sitting down, we moved on ... After a kilometer we drove into a huge, clean tundra area, along which a huge herd of deer was moving like a living river. Every time this spectacle does not leave you indifferent. When the herd walks, the spreading antlers of the deer walking next to each other touch each other and a clatter is emitted. When a herd of many thousands is walking, this clinking turns into a kind of natural music, the music of a living tundra ... You can look at the departing "living river" for a long time ... We waited until the deer crossed the tundra and stopped in the distance, near the forest. The huge herd turned into a living dark streak on the horizon. The noise of a snowmobile engine was heard, and a few seconds later Alexei appeared on the snowmobile. On the seat, there was a dog in the back. Despite the fact that the snowmobile was flying at full speed, the dog sat upright and, balancing, looked around.

Alexey, and your dog does not fall when you go like this? We asked when he stopped.

She never falls, she always travels with me… I'm used to it, ”he replied, smiling.

The deer are walking beautifully, ”Sergei said gravely.

Shall we go drinking tea in the neighboring chums? - Alexey asked us.

Long away?

No, not far. Ten kilometers.

We drove not ten kilometers at all, but much more. We drove up to three tents, went to visit Alexei's relatives. Over ice cream muksun and hot tea after the road we were shown photographs different years... “Here we are in the fall on Yamal, crossing the river,” commented Alexey. In the photo: an argish crosses a water barrier that on the way to new pastures - teams of reindeer with loaded sledges go across the river. Such crossings require not only knowledge and skills, but also attentiveness, precise coordination, and coherence in actions. Alexey leafed through the photo album, telling about the captured plots and it was clear how he was internally immersed in the events of the past, as if they were happening now. It seemed that when he looked at his photos from early childhood, he became a child ... when he looked at the plot of last year's autumn in the camp, he became an adult and serious person, with the experience of all the difficulties and responsibilities for work. He recalled the weather, the mood, all the actions to the smallest detail, living again the years with emotions and attentiveness.

We warmed ourselves well in the chum, refreshed ourselves and after interesting story Alexei, thanking the hostess of the plague for the warm and kind welcome, drove back. Almost the whole day passed in this way. After a while, it got dark and the headlights on the snowmobiles were turned on. We drove along the snowy tundra. Alexei drove first, showing the way: "It's completely covered with snow, there are no traces of yesterday's snowmobiles." Then he turned off and we took a completely different path. The Nenets are very well oriented. A little later, we drove to the winter road, which ran next to the railway of the 501st construction site. Nearby, a bridge appeared that reminded us of the expedition last fall. Then we drove past the Shchuchiy camp. In the evening we arrived at the chums.

Where have you been? Pal asked.

We went to our relatives for tea, - Alexey answered.

How many kilometers are there, after all, more than ten? Camp "Shchuchiy" is located 42 km from Nadym, and we were further away. This is more than 20 km from here - we asked.

Ten or twenty-five, what's the difference? - Alexey answered and smiled.

We laughed and went to the chum. Indeed, for the Nenets, such a difference in mileage is not significant. It is not surprising to go with them to drink tea both 50 km and 70 km. Constantly wandering across the northern expanses, they generally measure the distance of fifty or one hundred kilometers. Well, plus or minus thirty kilometers - these are the little things in life. “Alexey loves to travel,” Pela commented.

In the evening after dinner we gathered in Alexei's tent and watched on TV the footage of our expedition to the 501st construction site. The Nenets have small TVs and DVD players powered by a mobile power plant (they do not show programs due to their remoteness). In the evenings, not for long, everyone gathers in the tent to watch a movie.

Everyone goes to bed early, because the next day they get up at 5 in the morning (so every day). At night, the stove is not heated, but it is still warm under the lamb ( women's clothing from deer skins, which hide themselves at night).

In the morning it is fresh and cool in the tent. The hostess fills up the stove and the room is filled with pleasant warmth. At breakfast we were told that on that day they would dismantle the plague and move to a new place, a few kilometers to the north.

Pel, how do you then separate your reindeer from a large herd? Are there any tags? We ask.

There are marks… there are deer without marks, ”Pela replies.

And if there is no label, then how?

So I know all my deer.

How? Are they all alike? And there are many of them ... dozens, hundreds ...

People are all alike too: a head, two arms, two legs. You don't confuse people, do you? And I do not confuse deer. I know everyone ... Yes, and the reindeer know us ... - the Nenets explained reasonably.

It was not yet six o'clock in the morning, but work had already begun on the street: the Nenets began to collect their things and put them on the sledges. A cat came out imposingly from the neighboring chum and began to roll in the snow (for good weather). On the street, the bright rays of the sun really made their way. It is very interesting to observe from the sidelines the preparation before touching. All clearly perform actions and no unnecessary words, deeds. Men assemble men's sleds and lay down their tools (ax, tools for making sledges), women lay down theirs (two-handed saw, skinning boards, etc.). It is noteworthy that women do not touch the tools of men, and men do not touch the tools of women. In general, a tool is not just a device, but a purely personal thing that no one picks up except for the owners - this is an unspoken rule.

The cat was apparently tired of spinning in the snow, he jumped onto the loaded sledges and sat down comfortably to lazily watch what was happening from above. After all the belongings were packed on the sleds, the process of dismantling the chums began. First, they took off the nukes, rolled them up and laid them down. When all the covers of the chum were laid and tied to the sleds, they began to dismantle the poles. Within an hour, nothing remained on the place where the chum stood.

After all the things, the plague were collected and laid, the Nenets made a corral for selecting reindeer in harness. For this, the sledges were built in the shape of the letter "P" and a net was pulled between them so that there was only a free entrance on one side. Before the reindeer were brought up, a little further away, near the road that had been rolled away from the chums, the Nenets tied the dog up. “So that the road is guarded and the deer do not turn on it,” she explained. An important task was assigned to the dog - not to let the rushing deer into the road. As soon as a herd of more than a hundred deer appeared on the horizon, the dog began barking responsibly, jumping up and down, showing with all kinds that the way here was closed and the deer had nothing to do here. From all sides the herd was driven into a corral by dogs and Nenets on snowmobiles. As soon as the bulk of the reindeer entered the place, the Nenets with a rope in their hands blocked the entrance to the corral. Around, among the forest, deer were still rushing through the snowdrifts at a fairly high speed. From under the hooves in pieces different sides the snow was flying. Some of them were driven away by dogs, the rest were deftly caught by the Nenets with the help of tynzyans and were escorted to the common herd. Wild reindeer in a common herd are often nailed to reindeer, and therefore, they also have to be tamed later. When all the reindeer were assembled, the Nenets chose some for the harness and took them out of the corral. Women selected and bred deer for women's sleds, men for men's and cargo sleds. In literally minutes the harness was put on and the sledges were ready to touch.

When all the teams were ready, the Nenets checked everything again. At this time, we went ahead on snowmobiles to make video and photographs. Kostya, Pal's son, drove up to us. The guy finishes his studies in the eighth grade, he is already an adult reindeer herder. Together with all the men, he daily works in the tundra with a huge herd of deer, deftly manages the tynzyan. It must be said that the children in the camp grow up early, because from the earliest childhood they already communicate with the reindeer and help with the housework as much as they can. We talked for some time, soon voices were heard on the horizon - the argish was walking in our direction. Alexei rode in front on a reindeer sled. It is more difficult for the first team to walk on untrampled snow and the deer fell through the snowdrifts. When Alexei's team drew level with us, we were impressed by the length of the entire caravan - it ended in the horizon. It is easier for each subsequent team to walk, because the snow in front is rolling away. At the beginning of the whole line there are men, followed by women and children. The argish is completed by a team of elderly Nenets (at the end, a grandfather, who is already over seventy years old, was riding a team). The Nenets always treat old people with respect. In general, the younger ones obey the older ones - this behavior is dictated by life. The older ones know and know more, they have more experience. The elders, in turn, are attentive to the younger ones and teach them the art of living in wildlife... Boys learn from men (hunting, fishing, reindeer herding, the art of making sledges), girls learn from women to farm, sew and dress skins, butcher fish, cook, install and disassemble chum. Work in the tundra is clearly distributed and this is the key to a normal life in harsh conditions.

We stood and watched the argish slowly leave, hiding behind the horizon. A little later, we followed. In the open area of \u200b\u200bthe tundra, the Nenets stopped and unharnessed the reindeer, began to clear the area from snow under the chum. In the meantime, the deer started looking for reindeer reindeer in a new place. They skillfully dig rather deep holes with their hoofs and stick their heads there so that only the horns stick out. Northern dwelling - the chum was installed by women. The men only helped to lift the nukes with the poles. First, an iron sheet was laid on the site of the chum under the furnace. (The order of installation of the plague is not accidental, it is connected not only with ideas about the world, faith, but also with practicality. The world view of the Nenets is not simple in description. There are Gods and spirits, complex relationships between them and people. We will not write about this here. because this is a large separate topic, in which there is both the process of the formation of the earth, and the appearance of various animals, evil and good spirits, legends about the people of Sikhirta, and much more. Let us limit ourselves only to the fact that there is a Heavenly God - Num and the underground, in contrast to the heavenly - Nga. Under the upper hole of the plague (which connects with the sky), an iron sheet is laid on the ground, which covers the passage to the underworld). A stove is installed on the sheet, boards, mats made of branches and grass, then skins are laid. When the mistress of the plague had laid the skins, Peyak lay down on one of them and dozed off sweetly (he knows exactly where the dwelling is ... although the plague is not yet).

After the stove had already been installed and flooded, all things were packed, and everything was put in order inside the future chum, they began to install poles. At the beginning, three poles were installed, tied at the top, and reindeer skins were placed under them. Then the women set up the rest of the poles. (Watching how quickly the chum grows, you involuntarily wonder at the dexterity and strength of women in the seriousness of the arrangement of the home. The hostess practically alone installs the chum from rather long and weighty poles. Men occasionally help only where she cannot cope on her own.) After installing all the poles, the hostess the plague installed the simza pole (a sacred pole that is installed inside the plague) and tied the crossbars. The stove at this time was already fully heated and the kettle was warming up on it. Further, the men with the help of poles lifted the heavy nukes, which are attached with several cords at the bottom. (The cords are pulled diagonally so that they fit the surface of the plague cone. Due to this, the nukes are pressed and do not break off in strong winds.) When the entire plague cover was fixed, the edge was buried in snow from the bottom of the outer side. At four o'clock in the afternoon we were already sitting in a new place in the tent at the table, eating and drinking tea. Everything is in its place: a kerosene lamp is also suspended, there is also a goose wing near the entrance (it serves as a broom for sweeping the floor), a stick for upholstering snow from shoes, a washbasin hangs on the left, dogs lie on the skins ... ... everything is as in the same place.

Until it started to get dark, we gathered back to the city. Wonderful, unforgettable days among reindeer herders change our inner state every time. When we again see these patient and skillful people, when we join the culture and way of life of this northern people, when we feed the growing deer again with our hands, when the short but strong and proud Peiyak looks into the distance with attentive eyes ... we understand that we are filled with something elusive real as if they had acquired enormous invisible wealth in this life. Two or three more days will pass and again the argish from the sleds through the endless snowy expanses will go further to the North, to where spring has not yet come, to Yamal, to the village of Yar-Sale, the name of which is translated as Sand Cape.

Blogger Alexander Cheban writes:

Russia, Nenets tundra. Girl Mariana is 9 years old. Her urban peers are already versed in cosmetic trends, leafing through the glamorous Instagram feeds, and Mariana skillfully drives a reindeer team across the endless expanses of the Nenets tundra. Very soon, a week later, she will board a school helicopter and go to boarding school until spring, but for now she is in a plague, where life does not stand still, where the place on the map is only tied to the changing gps position, which only the helicopter pilot knows , together with whom we went to visit Mariana.

The life of reindeer herders leading a traditional nomadic life in the tundra is one of the most interesting parallel realities that I came into contact with during my travels. Today I want to tell and show you how life works in the plague in summer, but I will definitely return for the winter continuation of this amazing story. A story that contrasts very strongly with the realities of life in megacities that are familiar to us.

Where is the fresh air ... you can taste it.

Where there is endless space ... which you really feel, but you cannot embrace with your imagination.

Where the age-old traditions of their ancestors are preserved ... which cannot be replaced by any modern technology.

Do you see a small spot of color in the center of the frame?

A few pixels in the photo, a small, barely noticeable point on the map and a place that is very well described by the untranslatable phrase "in the middle of nowhere". This is the tent of the reindeer herders of the Harp reindeer herding brigade.

The pilots of the helicopter know only approximate coordinates, the search is carried out visually on the ground, sometimes it takes half an hour or even more.

The soil in the tundra is special, unlike anything else, soft and delicate to the touch. The Mi-8 helicopter of the United Naryan-Mar Air Squadron cannot land here, so it hovers when it touches the surface. We unload our things very quickly.

And after 5 minutes it rises sharply into the air, blowing off even a backpack or bag by tens of meters.

This is Timofey - the foreman of the Harp reindeer herding brigade, in his subordination there are four shepherds, a chum-worker and ... 2500 reindeer.

Timofey Komi himself, and the shepherds in his brigade are Nenets. And his wife is also a Nenets.

In summer and winter, they travel along the tundra by sleigh. In summer, they also glide perfectly on the surface of shrubs.

- What is nomadic reindeer herding?

There are 7 brigades in the Harp reindeer herding farm, all of them belong to the collective farm, which is located in the village of Krasnoe. Each brigade has its own grazing route, changing its location every 3-4 weeks, passing tens of kilometers along the tundra. Timofey's brigade covers a distance of 200-300 km per year, for some brigades this route can be up to 600 km. The herd itself grazes within a radius of 10 km.

In the village of Krasnoe, members of the brigade have homes, but they rarely live in them, on vacation and after retirement. Even retirees go to the tundra whenever possible.

- Why is it impossible to engage in reindeer husbandry on a permanent basis on a collective farm?

In Soviet times, attempts were made to equip a stationary farm. But reindeer husbandry cannot be stationary; reindeer eat reindeer lichen, which is renewed after years. On the other hand, the reindeer population cannot be increased uncontrollably for the same reason - there is simply not enough food on the vast expanses of the tundra.

- How is reindeer made from reindeer?

Every spring, the reindeer bring offspring, Timofey's brigade has 1,200 calves, half of which will have to be handed over to a slaughterhouse on the collective farm by winter.
Reindeer are slaughtered in December-January. Most slaughterhouses (which are located in villages) do not have refrigeration facilities, so freezing occurs naturally. The number of reindeer in the NAO is 180 thousand, annually 30-35 thousand reindeer are slaughtered. 70-80% of the downhole contingent are deer under 1 year old. For comparison: in the 70s of the last century, 60-70 thousand reindeer were slaughtered annually in the NAO.

Frozen deer carcasses are taken from settlements in the tundra using the Mi-26 helicopter, this is the largest serial transport helicopter in the world! One hour of operation of the Mi-26 costs 670 thousand rubles, the carrying capacity is 18 tons. With the purchase price of 125 rubles per 1 kg of venison, the cost of its transportation by helicopter is another 90 rubles / kg !!! And there are simply no other options to get to remote regions of the district. There are no roads or winter roads! During the winter, the helicopter makes 20-25 such flights to different regions, where meat is centrally transported on snowmobiles from smaller villages or deer are driven independently to large slaughter points. Moreover, there are flights for 1 hour, and there are flights for 5-6 hours.

The turnover of the only meat processing plant in Naryan-Mar is 900 tons of venison per year. 450 tons are delivered by helicopter and 450 tons by land transport on winter roads. In total, 1000-1100 tons are slaughtered in the NAO during the season, 900 are taken and processed by the meat-packing plant, and 100-150 are bought by the local population and used locally for their own needs.

- How much is a deer?

One live deer costs 15 thousand rubles on average. This is not only meat, but also horns, hooves, skin ...

Mariana is in the tent all summer long, this is the only way to learn the skills of reindeer husbandry. In the NAO and Yakutia, distance education is being introduced, when even in winter, children stay with their parents in the tundra, and basic education is taught by their parents.

Children help with housework in the vast majority of tasks. For example, Mariana helps to jerk the reindeer, driving them into a karzak (area bounded by a net), where the shepherds select the reindeer for sledding. Marina harnesses and unharms the reindeer herself without any problems.

Shepherds and foreman know each deer “by sight”. Many have nicknames.

Mariana, what kind of toys do you have?

- (Thinks) None, why do I need toys? I am wearing argish (sleigh with things and food), puppies, reindeer teams ...

Timofey found a fragment of a mammoth tusk, started digging, found other bones. That is why we flew to him this time. Then our expedition continued, and we began to dig deeper in search of the rest of the skeleton.

Satellite dish and TV in the chum. One tank of diesel fuel in a diesel generator is enough for 6-8 hours of viewing. Everything is delivered only by helicopter in the summer! In winter, it's a little easier - you can bring the necessary things, food, diesel fuel from the nearest village on a snowmobile.

This is firewood ... in the tundra it is not easy with firewood, because there are no trees here.

In the chum, the hostess treats us with delicious pasta with stewed venison! The taste cannot be described in words.

Last days summer ... last rays avaricious polar sun. Last days in the tundra for Mariana before a long school year at the boarding school.

Deer translated from Nenets means "life". The deer is everything: food, dishes, clothes, this is life in literally the words.

So who is leading whom?

Is a reindeer herder leading a herd of reindeer?
Or do reindeer herders move their chum from place to place, following the herd?

Russia, Nenets Tundra. Girl Mariana is 9 years old. Her urban peers are already versed in cosmetic trends, leafing through the glamorous Instagram feeds, and Mariana skillfully drives a reindeer team across the endless expanses of the Nenets tundra. Very soon, a week later, she will board a school helicopter and go to boarding school until spring, but for now she is in a plague, in which life does not stand still, in which a place on the map is only tied to a changeable gps position, which only knows the pilot of the helicopter with whom we went to visit Mariana.

The life of reindeer herders who lead a traditional nomadic lifestyle in the Tundra is one of the most interesting parallel realities that I came into contact with during my travels. Today I want to tell and show how life works in the plague in summer, but I will definitely return for the winter continuation of this amazing story. A story that contrasts very strongly with the realities of life in megacities that are familiar to us.

Photos and text by Alexander Cheban

Where is the fresh air ... that you taste.
Where is the endless space ... which you really feel, but you cannot embrace with your imagination.
Where age-old traditions of ancestors are preserved ... which cannot be replaced by any modern technology.

Welcome to the Tundra!

2. See a small spot of color in the center of the frame? A few pixels in the photo, a small, barely noticeable point on the map and a place that is very well described by the untranslatable phrase "in the middle of nowhere". This is the tent of the reindeer herders of the Harp reindeer herding brigade.

3. The pilots of the helicopter know only approximate coordinates, the search is carried out visually on the ground, sometimes it takes half an hour or even more.

4. The soil in the tundra is special, unlike anything else, soft and gentle to the touch. The Mi-8 helicopter of the United Naryan-Mar Aviation Detachment cannot land here, so it freezes when it touches the surface. We unload our things very quickly.

5. And after 5 minutes, it rises sharply into the air, blowing even a backpack or bag by tens of meters.

7. This is Timofey - the foreman of the Harp reindeer herding brigade, in his subordination there are four shepherds and a chum-worker and ... 2,500 reindeer. Timofey himself is a Komi, and the shepherds in his brigade are the Nenets. And his wife is also a Nenets.

8. In summer and winter, they travel on sledges along the tundra. In summer, they also glide perfectly on the surface of shrubs.

What is nomadic reindeer herding?

There are 7 brigades in the Harp reindeer herding farm, all of them belong to the collective farm located in the village of Krasnoe. Each brigade has its own grazing route, changing its place of deployment every 3-4 weeks, passing tens of kilometers along the tundra. Timofey's brigade covers a distance of 200-300 km per year, for some brigades this route can be up to 600 km. The herd itself grazes within a radius of 10 km from the miracle.

In the village of Krasnoe, members of the brigade have homes, but they rarely live in them, on vacation and after retirement. Even retirees go to the tundra whenever possible.

Why is it impossible to engage in reindeer husbandry on a permanent basis on a collective farm?

In Soviet times, attempts were made to equip a stationary farm. But reindeer husbandry cannot be stationary; reindeer eat reindeer lichen, which is renewed after years. On the other hand, the reindeer population cannot be increased uncontrollably for the same reason - there is simply not enough food on the vast expanses of the Tundra.

How is reindeer made from reindeer?

Every spring, the reindeer bring offspring, Timofey's brigade has 1,200 calves, half of which will have to be handed over to a slaughterhouse on the collective farm by winter.
Reindeer are slaughtered in December-January. Most slaughterhouses (which are located in villages) do not have refrigeration facilities, so freezing occurs naturally. The number of reindeer in the NAO is 180 thousand, annually 30-35 thousand reindeer are slaughtered. 70-80% of the downhole contingent are deer under 1 year old. For comparison: in the 70s of the last century, 60-70 thousand reindeer were slaughtered annually in the NAO.

Frozen deer carcasses are taken from settlements in the tundra using the Mi-26 helicopter, this is the largest serial transport helicopter in the world! One hour of operation of the Mi-26 costs 670 thousand rubles / hour, the carrying capacity is 18 tons. With a purchase price of 125 rubles per 1 kg of venison, the cost of its transportation by helicopter is another 90 rubles / kg !!! And there are simply no other options to get to remote regions of the district. There are no roads or winter roads! During the winter, the helicopter makes 20-25 such flights to different regions, where meat is centrally transported on snowmobiles from smaller villages or deer are driven independently to large slaughter points. Moreover, there are flights for 1 hour, and there are flights for 5-6 hours.

The turnover of the only meat processing plant in Naryan-Mar is 900 tons of venison per year. 450 tons are delivered by helicopter and 450 tons by land transport on winter roads. In total, 1000-1100 tons are slaughtered in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug per season, 900 are taken and processed by the meat-packing plant, and 100-150 are bought by the local population and used locally for their own needs.

How much is a deer?

One live deer costs 15 thousand rubles on average. This is not only meat, but also horns, hooves, skin ...

10. Mariana is in the tent all summer long, this is the only way to learn the skills of reindeer husbandry. In the NAO and Yakutia, distance education is being introduced, when even in winter, children stay with their parents in the tundra, and basic education is taught by their parents.

Children help with housework in the vast majority of tasks. For example, Mariana helps to jerk the reindeer, driving them into a karzak (area bounded by a net), where the shepherds select the reindeer for sledding. Marina harnesses and unharms the reindeer herself without any problems.

12. Shepherds and foreman know each deer “by sight”. Many have nicknames.

Mariana, what kind of toys do you have?
- (thinks) None, why do I need toys?

I am wearing argish (sledges with things and food), puppies, reindeer teams ...

22. Timothy found a fragment of a mammoth tusk, began to dig, found other bones. That is why we flew to him this time. Then our expedition continued and we began to dig deeper in search of the rest of the skeleton.

24. Satellite dish and TV in the tent. One tank of diesel fuel in a diesel generator is enough for 6-8 hours of viewing. Everything is delivered only by helicopter in the summer! In winter, it is a little easier - you can bring the necessary things, food, diesel fuel from the nearest village on a snowmobile.

The Lost Reindeer Story

I wake up from the fact that I was covered with snow. Despite the temperature of minus twenty degrees, the May sun warms, which rises high in the North at this time of the year. The shepherd Ilya is sleeping next to me near the sled. Around, to the horizon, snow and three thousand deer, which haunted us for the last day. The plague is far away, four hours by sledding. We were very cold, did not eat anything, and now we are waiting for other shepherds to replace us.

But let's go back a day ago, when nothing foreshadowed trouble.

“We will not strain ourselves today. Zoya gave us a bunch of food, so let's take a look at the deer, and then we'll go to the beam (hunting lodge. - Approx. ed.), it is near the river. There I have vodka and a special case... And the first watch is just a special case, ”Ilya made me happy last night as we followed the tracks in search of the herd that had just been left in the tundra. “Three thousand reindeer cannot be lost so easily,” I thought and imagined how we heat the stove, lay out the supplies on the table in the house - despite the hearty dinner, I again craved to eat, but the herd was not visible.

My first watch did not go well. In search of food, the deer scattered tens of kilometers along the Usa River

Not surprisingly, we never found them: they grazed one by one and were completely invisible in the dark. We realized this only by midnight. There was no hope for a warm house: the hard work began. We had to collect three thousand scattered deer into one herd.

It got colder by morning. The snow hardened and became like stone. We drove the team for a day and fought the cold, barely warm tea remained in the thermos, but it no longer helped. Everyone is tired: me, the shepherd, the deer. And there was still a whole frosty day ahead until the evening shift. I wanted to sleep, and a snowdrift would fit perfectly.

"VvIIIÖÖ ++ \u003d"

Ilya is a shepherd of the second brigade of reindeer herders from the Komi people, who has been wandering along the Bolshezemelskaya tundra for about three hundred years. This is a swampy desert in the Far North - where the Ural mountains... By historical standards, the Komi came to this region quite recently, mixed with the families of the local Nenets and adopted them. everyday life Ulyanov N.I. Essays on the history of the Komi-Zyryan people.

Once a year, tens of thousands of reindeer were removed from the winter camp on the very border with the forest-tundra and went to the Kara Sea in search of lichen and salt water. They had to collect a supply of salt for the next year. Families of reindeer herders were filmed together with the reindeer. They worked together in small communes and followed the herd all the way to the sea and back. We started before the snow had melted, and finished by the first persistent frost. They warmed themselves with bonfires, moved on sleds: spruce runners rolled well both on the snow and on the ground. They ate venison, and the balance of vitamins was restored with fresh reindeer blood. We spent the winter in extreme cold in the forest-tundra so that everything would start by spring first Khomich L.V. Nenets. M.-L .: Nauka, 1966... “Their threads are made from the tendons of various small animals; this is how they sew together various furs that serve as their clothing, and in the summer they wear skins with the pile outward, and in winter inward, turning them toward the body, ”Dutch merchant Isaac Massa wrote about the clothes of Nenets families in the 17th century.

As a result of the development of Siberia by the 16th – 17th centuries, Russian merchants, yasak collectors and officials were firmly entrenched in the North. Have appeared big cities - strongholds throughout Siberia: Salekhard, Surgut. They became the center of trade with the indigenous population and forever changed their way of life. Reindeer breeders have the first firearms, nets, fabrics that they bought for furs and fur.

The next time the life of nomads changed radically only at the beginning of the 20th century with the advent of Soviet power. Civil War and the constant looting on both sides left many families of reindeer herders without herds and food supplies. They were forced to form cooperatives and work together. Fortunately, the creation of collective farms (collective farms) was the main policy of the Soviet Union in the North. Poor and often illiterate families became the initiators of collectivization. For example, the Nenets Yadko expressed a desire to join the collective farm in the form of the pictogram "VvIIIÖÖ ++ \u003d", which meant that there were two workers in the family - Yadko himself and his younger brother; two disabled women; they also have five deer - three males and two vazhenki.

The era of collectivization began. Reindeer herding farms were divided into collective and individual. Moreover, preference was given to the first. By the 1930s, collective farms were given nomadic lands - varga - and deer were marked. Farms no longer belonged to the Nenets.

By the 1940s, the Union had built up to Vorkuta - a large field coal right in the heart of the Bolshezemelskaya tundra. Vorkuta became a regional center, and small villages appeared along the Vorkuta railway. In Meskashor, they were engaged in experimental farming: they tried to grow vegetables in extreme cold. Civilization came, and the nomads received its benefits.

Collective farm workers have acquired apartments in Vorkuta. True, they did not visit them more than once a year, but they always took care of their housing and shared it with relatives who either could no longer roam or chose a different life for themselves. “We lived in the tundra,” explains Ilya. - It would seem that you stay in this comfortable apartment. And what to do with deer? That would give a house in the village and a corral, we would not wander anywhere. Heard how they live in Europe? "

The children of the nomads went to. Special boarding schools were opened for them, in which they had to live until the beginning of the summer nomad, in order to then go on vacation with their family and a herd of thousands of reindeer to the Kara Sea. Classes were only in Russian: Nenets and Komi were banned. After school - the army. And there, if you didn't find a job, then back to the chum.

"He's got me for the cracklings - and into the chum"

The family of reindeer herders I stay with is not like a family in the traditional sense. It is rather a small community that lives under one roof. It is called the "second brigade" and consists of two families with children, a foreman and a pair of shepherds - hired Nenets workers who wander between communities until they find a wife and stay in one place forever.

“I was born in the plague. Then school, thirty-first school. Got married. My Lesha is also from the chum, he finished 9 classes. He lived at home for a year and got rid of it, and then he also took me away for cracklings and in the chum, ”says Zoya with a laugh. Her husband is a foreman. He no longer grazes reindeer, does not sit in the snow for thirty-six hours, but decides on more important issues. Every year he and his brother, also a brigadier, share the nomad camps. He loves to hunt. All his free time until the spring migration, he drives a Finnish snowmobile. He needs time to solve problems with fuel and food. And in the morning the whole brigade wakes up to his command: "Company, rise!"

Reindeer husbandry is a family business. In spite of the fact that any person from the outside can "get a job" in the chum, no one lingers. Everything here is incomprehensible to those who grew up in the city. Even the rules of the only one card game You will have to study the surf for a whole month. Russian demobels were also employed in the chum, but no one remained in the history of any brigade. “Who wants to? Hereditary reindeer herder only. Children of children, ”explains Lesha.

Everybody knows each other. There are few families, and they are scattered in the farthest corners of the tundra. And if they spend the summer in wild conditions, where they don't meet with anyone, then winter is the time to visit each other. In big cities, holidays are held at this time - the days of the reindeer herder. This is an excuse for everyone to get together and get to know each other. Someone after that will leave to work with another team, someone will find a second half. In any case, life here does not stand still at all. People are separated by huge distances, but this makes life even more interesting.

The work of the nomads and their orders

There is a fairly simple hierarchy within the brigade. The brigadier is engaged in a nomadic plan, searching for a parking lot and once a year tries to knock out the most pleasant places for wintering from neighbors near the village, where there are shops and a bathhouse. Women practically do not leave the plague: they have to cook a lot, clean up, sew clothes.

Until now, nomads wear homemade clothes from skins, make belts from leather and buckles from deer bones. They always have a bear fang with them: if your fang is larger than that of a live bear, then it will not attack

The work of shepherds is the most difficult, because they have to spend most of their time with the herd away from home in the extreme cold. And sometimes their workday doesn't end even when they get home to sleep.

The day after my first watch, we were replaced by Misha and Yegor - two merry Nenets, who are jokingly called “nailed” here because they have not yet started a family. It became sharply warmer, a powerful blizzard rose - this is the most disgusting weather, when the cold creeps through and it seems that it is simply impossible to get warm. The shepherds returned, as expected, only a day later, just at the moment when we were collecting chum to move. All they had to do was finish the lukewarm soup, put on the soaked malitsa and pimas (high boots made of reindeer wool) again and prepare the caravan for the wandering. Only two days later, when they managed to get enough sleep, they told how, during a blizzard, they covered themselves with sledges and waited until they were covered with snow, so that it became warmer and could get some sleep.

A special place in the bikes of the second brigade is occupied by the story of the acquaintance of Ilya and his wife Nastya. It is usually told somewhere between the story of how the shepherd Misha fell into a den and woke the bear, and the story of the shepherd Yegor, who was found in the tundra when he was little. The whole team insisted that Ilya should tell her to me personally.

I just waited until we were on duty together, and while we were chasing the team for the missing herd of reindeer all night long, Ilya said: “When I was young, I traveled all over the tundra. I myself am from the south, from Vorgasor, but friends are everywhere. When I turned twenty-five, we were near the shores of the Kara Sea, so I celebrated my birthday in the most respectable place - in Ust-Kara. My brother is there. I came and said that it was a holiday and we should celebrate. And he has no gifts, no vodka. Well, there were no problems with vodka, but he surprised me with a gift. Imagine, I come to him, and there is a girl. So modest, her name is Nastya. “Here's a present for you, as expected,” he said. And I didn’t think he would do that. ”

In the morning, Ilya took Nastya to his tent, and for several days they had to cross the Bolshezemelskaya tundra in a team - Ilya's camp was at its other end, by the Pechora Sea. Nastya's family did not accept such a daring act, so her brother Vanya followed in the footsteps of those who fled. He took a larger rifle and set out to deal with the kidnapper.

Ivan crossed the tundra and almost reached the camp. The massacre was so close. But at the entrance he met a heartbroken Ilya. He had just lost his entire herd - three thousand heads, an unthinkable number at that time. It was necessary to help a colleague in trouble. They got back into the team and headed back to the tundra. The massacre had to be postponed.

These stories, egregious for us, still exist thanks to the remnants of the Nenets culture. Until the middle of the 20th century, tribal relations reigned in the Nenets family: kalym paid for wives, they were kidnapped, polygamy was in vogue. In 1927, the Soviet Union decided to put an end to such barbarism, unacceptable in a secular state, and issued a decree banning kalym and polygamy. A special commission appeared to improve the work and life of women, the court began to consider cases of kalym. Of archives Khomich L.V. Nenets. M. – L .: Nauka, 1966 cases like: “Samoyed Salinder Napakata bought his sister from Yadne Panten in 1926 for his son, who was then 12 years old, gave her kalym for her - 50 darlings, 20 male deer, several foxes of autumn hunting, 20 pieces of pawns ( deer calves), one copper cauldron and a dagger.

More than seventy years have passed since then until the collapse of the Soviet Union. If traditions were not completely eradicated, they acquired a new shade.

“Everything ended well. Vanya stayed with us. You just know him. So this is the one who wanted to kill me, ”Ilya finished his story.

"Let's die with them"

Vorkuta began to be abandoned after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, experimental farms were already closed, food prices rose sharply, and salaries fell. The population census tells us that at present, compared to only Vorkuta, there are only total residents left. They left for large cities, and the villages along the Northern Railway were completely deserted. The North looks gloomy today. In the village of Seida, for example, there are about twenty people left - the workers of the railway station and the grandmother who bakes bread. Half of the houses are boarded up, Khrushchev houses are with broken windows, and only a couple of them can have lights. Progress has stalled.

In the early 1990s, state farms. Reindeer breeders never gained independence, but remained with the benefits of civilization. Former state farms, and now reindeer herding enterprises, still supply their teams with food, fuel and vodka, as well as send a helicopter with supplies once per wandering when nomads go too far from residential areas, closer to the Kara Sea. Children are also sent by helicopter to the camps, when many of them start their summer holidays, and the family has already left for the north, beyond Vorkuta. Reindeer breeders are paid salaries: a shepherd gets 10,000 rubles, and his wife gets half that - a ridiculous amount for the North, where only a kilogram of apples or oranges can cost 300 rubles. But in the bare tundra there is practically nowhere to spend money. On the other hand, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was no one to control the work of enterprises. Chaos began.

“They haven't even decided where to roam now. They got out of the tundra and came up with: “I go where my father showed me,” and there is no one to cope with them. Wild world, ”complains Sergei Pasynkov, director of the former Vorkuta state farm“ Olenevod ”. Since the 1990s and until now, he has not been able to establish relations with reindeer herders and agree on where the nomad camps are now. And if in the days of the Soviet Union the routes were strictly observed, now the North has "run wild". Nomads cling to the railroad - the only piece of civilization in the Bolshezemelskaya tundra. There is a mobile connection, gasoline, TV and radio signals, and you can spend the winter just in the village, in a cozy heated house. But Pasynkov is sure that there will not be enough reindeer lichen for everyone. “One severe winter, and that's it! The deer will die! And we are together with them ”, - the director is indignant.

Dish

In the evening, the team gets together. Even those who are on duty in the herd try to be closer to the plague at this time in order to escape from work for a couple of hours and warm up.

The wind rose, and the snow gusts were so powerful that the snow drifted in through the window at the top of the chum. The floor was covered with fine snow dust. Chum hummed and bent. The blizzard was extremely strong even by the standards of reindeer breeders who were accustomed to everything - they took turns getting up and holding the sticks on which the chum was held. But the storm did not subside, so soon everyone was tired of playing the role of props. The shepherds Yegor and Ilya brushed the snow off their low stools and sat around the table. The hostess Zoya set the table.

The satellite dish does not catch in such weather. Therefore, on TV we watch a DVD concert of "Butyrka" of terrible quality - a gift to demobilized Ilya. He received this disc when he decided to return to his family and leave the service, refusing the fabulous salary of 50,000 rubles by the standards of reindeer herders.

For modern man it sounds crazy: a satellite dish in the chum, a DVD, a concert "Butyrka" in the recording. But in the North, this is nothing more than a part of the daily routine. Can't leave the chum, leave the herd and move to a comfortable apartment? So, make yourself comfortable in your chum. In the end, a plate costs some 6,000 rubles, and a generator with a cheap Chinese TV is even less.

Dinner in the tent symbolizes the end of the working day. Everyone worked hard, they were very tired, and now you just need to relax. Steel glasses clink, Zoya throws birch wood into the stove, and in the chum begins to smell like a heated bath. She brings out a knee-high wooden table in the middle and fills it with small plates of hot meals and snacks. The generator works, filling the soundless tundra with measured rattling.

Egor picks up a frozen heart, which is kept in the snow on the floor of the plague. Then he slices it into thin slices resembling chips with a sharp knife, throws it into a saucepan, pours it with sunflower oil and sprinkles it with salt and pepper. “An excellent snack for vodka,” says Yegor and puts the pot on the table. But that is not all. Soon, deer brains are brought right on the plate. “Imagine it's pate or chocolate spread. Just spread on bread, - advises Yegor. "But it won't taste good until you dip your sandwich in deer blood."

Sounds crazy. But in fact, this is a very tasty food.

Better life

At first glance, the life of reindeer herders has changed radically. They were given the opportunity to enjoy the benefits, offered, albeit meager, salary and even told where exactly to roam. Has this influenced their traditions? Without a doubt, yes. We will no longer find shamans or animists among most of these people. Nomads have changed part of their wardrobe: pimas - boots made of reindeer skins - are replaced by rubber boots that do not rot in the off-season. Satellite dishes appeared on the chums, and television penetrated into the daily life of a reindeer herder: every morning women listen to Malysheva and watch Let the Talk, play cartoons for children at lunchtime, and play chanson on DVD in the evening. For breakfast, lunch and dinner, they put vodka on the table - for it you can drive on a snowmobile to the village, which is about six hours away.

“Reindeer husbandry is our life,” says Pasynkov. - Progress? Deer can be hung with GPS collars, and reindeer herders can no longer roam if they build trading posts. Imagine: you left the herd in the winter pasture, and then business, just leave a warm house and drive it once a week. Handsomely? Handsomely. But in this way we will break their traditions, we will tame them. Once they change their way of life, they will not be able to return back to the chum. And that's all - theory. Look at the villages around us: they are few, they are abandoned. Who needs us here? What factories? So we return to the chum and begin to wander. "