River crossings as principal points of human/reindeer relationship in Eurasia

Leonid Baskin

doi:10.7557/2.23.5.1653

Abstract

Since prehistoric time, indigenous peoples throughout Eurasia have hunted reindeer from boats when the animals were swimming across rivers. A number of landscape peculiarities and reindeer behavior features determine the phenomena of mass reindeer river crossings at a few points. Hunting at river crossings occurs predominantly in the autumn season along migration routes of tundra and forest-tundra populations. In the past, many of the well-known river cross&not;ings were in private possession by indigenous families (Anonymous, 1945). In northern Russia, since the 1970s, the reindeer river crossings became the place of commercial slaughter of reindeer. The state hunting husbandry "Taymyrsky" was established, it received licenses for hunting and then totally regulated who was permitted to hunt reindeer and where (Sarkin, 1977). Step by step, most of the indigenous peoples have been forced out of their traditional hunting locations by aggressive non-indigenous newcomers and became unemployed. Large-scale commercial hunting has led to overexploitation and the decline of reindeer populations in Yakutia and Taymyr. The sustainable use of migratory reindeer populations, as well as renaissance of hunting economies, are possible if exclusive use of some of the reindeer river crossings are returned to indigenous communities as their property, with others to be used by urban hunters and commercial enterprises under the improved state regulations and enforcement.

Highlights

Indigenous peoples throughout Eurasia have known that reindeer use a few river crossings year after year
In Taymyr, 8 km from Katyryk settlement on Kheta River (Fig. 1) there is a reindeer river crossing that is said to have been functioning for 3200 years (Khlobystin, 1998)
Mass slaughters in river crossings were a significant part of national economies and hunting culture (Khlobystin, 1996)

Summary

Introduction

Indigenous peoples throughout Eurasia have known that reindeer use a few river crossings year after year. Khlobystin exca¬ vated an ancient settlement, which specialized in reindeer stabbing, at the river crossing. Many well-known crossings were in private possession of some families (Popov, 1948). When reindeer changed their use of crossing points, it led to severe famine and even the perishing of entire settlements (Argentov, 1857; Vdovin, 1965). In Russia we meet urgent problems in the relationship of human and wild reindeer - a strong decline of wild reindeer populations caused crashes of commercial hunting and unem¬ ployment of indigenous people because urban hunters and commercial enterprises occupied their economical niche. I demonstrate that fidelity of migratory reindeer to the river crossings provides a great possibility of exploitation, manage¬ ment, and study of reindeer populations

Stabbings of reindeer on river crossings in the past

Mass reindeer river crossings localities and reindeer behaviour

Commercial slaughtering

Findings

Management and conservation