Nenets Reindeer Herders Research Articles

Экологические проблемы Арктической зоны России на примере Ямало-Ненецкого автономного округа

The authors analyze the ecological state of three environments (media) of the Russian Arctic zone on the example of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area: soil, water and atmosphere. The the Autonomous Area economy is based on the oil and gas production, which has an increasing negative impact on the region ecology. Environmental pollution due to accidents and fires on oil pipelines, the formation of unauthorized landfills near settlements, contamination of rivers and reservoirs, air pollution, year–round navigation in the Gulf of Ob contribute to the overall change in the region microclimate, which leads to degradation of pastures, changes in deer migration routes and disruption of the traditional way of life of the indigenous population — Nenets-reindeer herders. In order to restore pastures and preserve the traditional way of life of reindeer herders, the authors propose building roads and railways on stilts or isolating reindeer herds from transport infrastructure with the help of eco-bridges so that it does not become an obstacle to seasonal migration of reindeer along traditional routes.

Ways of identifying lichen and plant species by the Nenets reindeer herders in Yamal

Yamal Nenets herders have historically developed a rich knowledge of lichens and vascular plants, which feature in the diet of their migratory reindeer herds in the tundra zone of northwest Siberia. In the Nenets language there are native names for certain species of lichens and other reindeer forage plants, including graminoids, herbs, shrubs, berries, and mushrooms. During participant fieldwork together with nomadic tundra Nenets herders, we documented names and definitions of reindeer food on herding territories during their long migration routes from the northern forest-tundra transition zone to the northern coastal tundra. Like many other Indigenous peoples of Siberia, Nenets have noticed that the Arctic is changing and some of its recent dynamics are seriously affecting their livelihood. The degradation of some lichen composition and cover on tundra pastures has also contributed to a decrease of herders’ linguistic palette for describing these losses in a concrete manner. Since the Nenets language is on the list of endangered languages of the world, this has an especially negative impact on the language skills and traditional knowledge of the younger generations of Nenets people, who may not know what these lichens look like and why they are important for the Nenets reindeer herding culture.

A microregional reindeer herding landscape in Yamal: patterns and dynamics of movements

Human and animal mobility lies at the core of any nomadic pastoralist system. Anthropological studies of migratory patterns of mobile pastoralists’ movements have revealed two universal sets of factors—ecological and non-ecological—that influence such movements differently. Our study focuses on the nomadic movement of the Yamal Nenets reindeer herders in the Russian Arctic using a microregional approach to study the indigenous communities on a large scale. The Nenets households of the Mordyyakha microregion in the northwest of the Yamal Peninsula have changed winter pasture sites several times over the past 15–20 years, while maintaining a stable summer route. Based on fieldwork among these people, we analyse how environmental and non-environmental factors influence the dynamics of their summer and winter meridional nomadic routes. We argue that long-term changes in their winter mobility are mainly related to the quality of pastures. Changing winter sites is a strategy that relates to ecological factors and still remains relevant for the households migrating via the meridional pastoral corridors of Yamal. In contrast, changing summer areas, as a rule, occurs in response to developing industry and, thus, relates to non-ecological factors.

On Thin Ice Nenets Reindeer Herders’ Changing Perception of their Environment After Conversion to Evangelical Christianity

In this paper, I will focus on Nenets reindeer herders’ changing perception of their environment after conversion to evangelical Christianity. Until recently they regarded the landscape to be populated by numerous sentient beings with their own differing agendas. I suggest that conversion of Nenets families has led them to reinterpret much of the earlier intricate forms of agency into largely one kind of demonic agency in which more or less respectful reciprocity with spirits is discontinued. This shift informs directly how people navigate on the land and water, perceive their environment and talk about their relationship with it. I discuss these issues using a pair of notions, i.e. the practical mastery of one’s surroundings and the mental map-reading. My central argument is that conversion creates a certain shift in these perceptions and practices related to the environment and the spirit world.

Sürja traditsioon Põhja-Venemaa ja Siberi käsitöönduses ja rahvakunstis

The article deals with the term “Zyryanskoe” in the traditional designations of the material objects and art technologies among the people who live in the boundary territories with Komi-Zyryan’s. The article considers the ethnographic material that was gathered under the research project “The nomadic ornament: ethnic identity in the ornamental tradition of Izhma and Nenets reindeer herders”. The article is based on the published and contemporary field data. The author supposes that widely spread “Zyryan designations” among the Northern Russian, Nenets and Ob-Ugric people is the result of the high level of development and uniqueness of some traditional technologies of Komi-Zyryan. Also, this article presents recent field data on the ornamental tradition in the technique of decorating fur products among those modern Izhma Komi and Nenets, who live together in reindeer-herding settlements of the Nenets and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs. The article discusses the ideas of Komi and Nenets masters about what represents the ethnic and cultural specifics in the artistic decoration of fur products. Also, this article focuses on the question of the reasons for loss of ethnic identity in the modern arts and crafts of the Komi. Special attention is paid to how Komi ethnicity is visualized in modern folk art. Finally the possibility of a correct translation of the ethnocultural heritage in the works of modern masters of Komi Republic is discussed.

The context of an emerging predation problem: Nenets reindeer herders and Arctic foxes in Yamal

Human-wildlife problems often arise when predators kill livestock. This can develop into serious conflicts between traditional pastoralists and other stakeholders, such as government officials and conservationists. In the Yamal Peninsula (Russia), nearly half of the indigenous Nenets people are reindeer herders. They have recently faced many challenges, such as high mortality of reindeer from pasture icing or disease outbreaks. In addition, predation of arctic fox on reindeer calves is perceived as an increasing problem. Here, we use an interdisciplinary approach to study this emerging predation problem. We present here results from semi-structured interviews with indigenous people, as well as from biological monitoring of fox populations. Our field data were obtained in Erkuta, in the south of Yamal and in Sabetta in the north, close to a newly built industrial settlement. We show how different factors may have come together to create a problematic situation. These factors include the abandonment of the fur trade in the 1990s, the building of huge industrial facilities providing possible resource subsidies and the increasing frequency of abnormal weather events leading to weak reindeer, high reindeer mortality and abundant carcasses as resources for predators. We discuss how each of these factors affects the abundance of predators as well as the understanding of the herders.

Who Benefits? How Interest-Convergence Shapes Benefit-Sharing and Indigenous Rights to Sustainable Livelihoods in Russia

The paper examines interactions of oil companies and reindeer herders in the tundra of the Russian Arctic. We focus on governance arrangements that have an impact on the sustainability of oil production and reindeer herding. We analyze a shift in benefit-sharing arrangements between oil companies and Indigenous Nenets reindeer herders in Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO), Russia, as an evolution of the herders’ rights, defined as the intertwined co-production of legal processes, ideologies, and power relations. Semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis demonstrate that in NAO, benefit-sharing shifted from paternalism (dependent on herders’ negotiation skills) to company-centered social responsibility (formalized compensation rules). This shift was enabled by the adoption of a formal methodology for calculating income lost due to extractive projects and facilitated by the regional government’s efforts to develop reindeer-herding. While laws per se did not change, herders’ ability to access compensation and markets increased. This paper shows that even when ideologies of indigeneity are not influential, the use of existing laws and convergence of the government’s and Indigenous groups’ economic interests may shift legal processes and power relations toward greater rights for Indigenous groups.

Domestication as Enskilment: Harnessing Reindeer in Arctic Siberia

The study of reindeer domestication provides a unique opportunity to examine how domestication involves more than bodily changes in animals produced through selection. Domestication requires enskilment among humans and animals, and this process of pragmatic learning is dependent on specific forms of material culture. Particularly with the domestication of working animals, the use of such material culture may predate phenotypic and genetic changes produced through selective breeding. The Iamal region of Arctic Siberia is generating an increasingly diverse set of archeological data for reindeer domestication that evidences such processes. Three early sites, Ust’-Polui, Tiutei-Sale I, and Iarte VI, contain artifacts proposed to be parts of headgear worn by transport reindeer, the earliest dating to just over 2000 years ago. Contemporary Nenets reindeer herders scrutinized replicas of these archeological objects, and comparisons with historic reindeer harness parts from Arctic Russia were also made. Nenets consistently interpreted barbed L-shaped antler pieces from Iamal as parts of headgear for training young reindeer in pulling sleds. Some types of swivels were also interpreted as transport reindeer headgear. Based on these consultations with Nenets and observations of their ongoing reindeer domestication practices, we argue that material things such as headgear, harnesses, and sleds are not merely technological means of using or controlling reindeer in transportation but instead were part of the meshwork within which some reindeer became enskilled to being domestic. Domestication of reindeer and other animals involves ongoing efforts, landscapes, and made things, all of which form the environment within which domestic relationships emerge.

Analysis of parasitological situation in nenets autonomous district

In the article there is presented an analysis of the own parasitological studies, as well as indices of the prevalence of parasitic diseases according to the official statistical reports of medical institutions, Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare in the Nenets Autonomous District (NAD) over the periodfrom 2002 to 2013. The survey on parasitoses was performed in the indigenous population - the Nenets reindeer herders and their families, as well as in the alien population residing in the territory of the NAD settlements: Varnek, Krasnoe, Karatayka, Nes, Haruta, Norey-Ver, Iskateley, village Oma, and city of Naryan-Mar. During this period, by means of the method of the native smear there were surveyed 5891 cases, method of Kato - 217,417 persons, by perianal scraping - 3054 persons, by ELISA for the presence of specific antibodies to the antigens of various parasites - 11556 cases. The statistical analysis was performed with the use of Statistical Software Package - Excel 2010. There were revealed both downward trends in the prevalence of the county's population for giardiasis, enterobiasis, diphyllobothriasis and the gain in indices of prevalence of ascariasis in the population of the District, also there were detected and found new types ofparasitoses for county - opisthorchiasis, toxocariasis in all age groups of the population of NAD.

«Только трусливый плутает»: страх, беспокойство и ориентация в пространстве у оленеводов — ненцев и коми

«Только трусливый плутает»: страх, беспокойство и ориентация в пространстве у оленеводов — ненцев и коми

Soome-ugri misjon: Eesti kristlaste hõimutöö Venemaal

Faith-Based Finno-Ugric Outreach: Estonian Christian Missionaries among Kindred Peoples in Russia This article provides an initial overview of the role of Christianity in the Finno-Ugric movement and the instrumentalisation of Finno-Ugric identity. It analyses the mission activity conducted by Estonians (and Finns to some extent) among speakers of Finno-Ugric (Uralic) languages in Russia. Above all, the writings of missionaries are used as the source – primarily mission publications published in Estonia. The background is the author’s fieldwork conducted among Nenets reindeer herders, who have been influenced by Russian and Ukrainian Protestant missionaries, and the Udmurt people living on the far side of the Kama, the latter being untouched by mission work. In both communities, religion and language inherited from forebears have a noteworthy role, even though the younger generation is becoming equally bilingual (the Russian language often dominates) and fewer and fewer young people take part in the non-Christian rituals passed down by their ancestors. The first half of the article gives an overview of how the church’s outreach directed at peoples who speak Finno-Ugric languages (hõimumisjon and hõimutöö are Estonian terms used) developed and the ideology behind it. The second half focuses on the activities of Estonian and Finnish missionaries in Russia. The author looks at the reception that the Erzya and Moksha Mordvins, Mari, Udmurts and Zyrian Komis have given the missionaries and also examines Protestant relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and representatives of local native religions. Whereas the collapse of the Soviet Union saw extensive missionary activity in Russia, Protestants from Estonia and Finland (mainly Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists and Pentecostals) set out to actively spread the gospel among Finno-Ugric peoples living in Russia. As Estonians and Finns are often accepted as ‘kin’, missionaries see this as a ‘niche provided by God’, which should be utilised. The goal for the missionaries is to create a Christian community where the kindred brothers and sisters become religious brethren. In spite of accusations to the contrary, they consider their endeavour something that will save Finno-Ugric cultures and languages, proceeding from the attempt to bring eastern ‘kindred peoples’ closer to the Protestant world and the world of the Estonians and Finns and the possibility of redemption. Protestant Estonian and Finnish missionaries portray themselves as preservers of the local languages. In practice, however, their activities are quite conflicting. On one hand, the need to make religious texts available in native languages is stressed, and they participate in organising translation of Christian texts and promote the local mission in the indigenous languages. On the other hand, the primary language used for outreach is not the local language but Russian, as Russian proficiency is predominant among Finno-Ugrians (although not always on a par with that of Russians). As the primary objective is to convert as many people as possible to Christianity, it is not of primary importance for missionaries to learn the local language. Due to conflicting values and practical choices, few native-language congregations are created. Estonian and Finnish Protestants style themselves as preservers of local cultures. The role model is that of Estonian and Finnish Christian popular cultures where the role of ‘paganism’ is under control and the elements of national culture tend to be integrated into a cultural whole. Missionaries cultivate an image of culture as something that can be dressed, sung, eaten, but not as something that relates to the house guardian spirits or the souls of ancestors, communicating with whom is a factor underlying the creation of a major part of the visible culture. To sum up, the author asserts that Christianisation as a culture-changing force has all the more powerful an effect if cultural changes are resisted.

Effects of increase in temperature and open water on transmigration and access to health care by the Nenets reindeer herders in northern Russia

BackgroundThe indigenous Nenets reindeer herders in northern Russia annually migrate several hundred kilometers between summer and winter pastures. In the warming climate, ice-rich permafrost and glaciers are being significantly reduced and will eventually disappear from parts of the Arctic. The emergent changes in hydrological cycles have already led to substantial increases in open water that stays unfrozen for longer periods of time. This environmental change has been reported to compromise the nomadic Nenets’ traditional way of life because the presence of new water in the tundra reduces the Nenets’ ability to travel by foot, sled, or motor vehicle from the summer transitory tundra campsites in order to access healthcare centers in villages. New water can also impede their access to family and community at other herder camps and in the villages. Although regional and global models predicting hydrologic changes due to climate changes exist, the spatial resolution of these models is too coarse for studying how increases in open water affect health and livelihoods. To anticipate the full health impact of hydrologic changes, the current gap between globally forecasted scenarios and locally forecasted hydrologic scenarios needs to be bridged.ObjectivesWe studied the effects of the autumn temperature anomalies and increases in open water on health care access and transmigration of reindeer herders on the Kanin Peninsula.DesignCorrelational and time series analyses were completed.MethodsThe study population consisted of 370 full-time, nomadic reindeer herders. We utilized clinical visit records, studied surface temperature anomalies during autumn migrations, and used remotely sensed imagery to detect water bodies. Spearman correlation was used to measure the relationship between temperature anomalies and the annual arrival of the herders at the Nes clinic for preventive and primary care. Piecewise regression was used to model change in mean autumnal temperature anomalies over time. We also created a water body product to detect inter-annual changes in water area.ResultsCorrelation between arrivals to the Nes clinic and temperature anomalies during the fall transmigration (1979–2011) was r = 0.64, p = 0.0004; 95% CI (0.31; 0.82). Regression analysis estimated that mean temperature anomalies during the fall migration in September–December were stochastically stationary pre-1991 and have been rising significantly (p < 0.001) since then. The rate of change was estimated at +0.1351°C/year, SE = 0.0328, 95% CI (+0.0694, +0.2007). The amount of detected water fluctuated significantly interannually (620–800 km2).ConclusionsLater arrival of freezing temperatures in the autumn followed by the earlier spring thaws and more open water delay transmigration and reduce herders’ access to health care. The recently observed delays in arrival to the clinic are likely related to the warming trend and to concomitant hydrologic changes.

Nenets migration in the landscape: impacts of industrial development in Yamal peninsula, Russia

Worldwide, traditional pastoralists are facing challenges of industrial development and competitive land use interfering with their nomadic lives. The Yamal peninsula in western Siberia, a homeland of nomadic Nenets reindeer herders, has been subjected to the Bovanenkovo gas field industrial development since the 1980s. We quantitatively assess how industrial development impacts Nenets migration routes and camp sites and discuss implications for their quality of life. In cooperation with herders, we mapped 21 migration routes and followed two reindeer herder brigades for 15 weeks in July 2008 to August 2009, providing insight into both the social and physical challenges facing Nenets herders. Terrain ruggedness, willow cover, migration routes and camp (chum) sites were recorded on 2 × 2 km grid cells on topographic maps. Rugged terrain with willows (31% of the study area), which is land particularly suitable and valuable for reindeer husbandry, contained nearly 61% of all migration routes. All clusters (>8 km2) of rugged terrain were used for grazing, migration and camp sites, reflecting few alternative land opportunities. Many 1- to 3-km narrow passages of such terrain created natural ‘bottlenecks’ for Nenets migrations in the Yamal landscape. These bottlenecks, used by three to six different reindeer brigades, are crucial for the herders, while competition for land with industrial developers within these areas is particularly high. The physical footprint of Bovanenkovo installations is small, but for the three herding units migrating through these bottlenecks, the industrial development resulted in blockage of two out of four possible routes, loss of major grazing areas and subsequent loss of access to at least 18 traditional camp sites and one sacred site along their traditional route. The combined actions of physical and social impacts from industrial development have reduced migration opportunities and the quality and access to natural resources in the herding cycle. This has thus affected the lives and well-being of indigenous herders in Yamal.

Dynamics of a Coupled System: Multi-Resolution Remote Sensing in Assessing Social-Ecological Responses during 25 Years of Gas Field Development in Arctic Russia

Hydrocarbon exploration has been underway in the north of West Siberia for several decades. Giant gas fields on the Yamal Peninsula are expected to begin feeding the Nord Stream pipeline to Western Europe in late 2012. Employing a variety of high- to very high-resolution satellite-based sensors, we have followed the establishment and spread of Bovanenkovo, the biggest and first field to be developed. Extensive onsite field observations and measurements of land use and land cover changes since 1985 have been combined with intensive participant observation in all seasons among indigenous Nenets reindeer herders and long-term gas field workers during 2004–2007 and 2010–2011. Time series and multi-resolution imagery was used to build a chronology of the gas field’s development. Large areas of partially or totally denuded tundra and most forms of expanding infrastructure are readily tracked with Landsat scenes (1985, 1988, 2000, 2009, 2011). SPOT (1993, 1998) and ASTER (2001) were also used. Quickbird-2 (2004) and GeoEye (2010) were most successful in detecting small-scale anthropogenic disturbances as well as individual camps of nomadic herders moving in the vicinity of the gas field. For assessing gas field development the best results are obtained by combining lower resolution with Very High Resolution (VHR) imagery (spatial resolution &lt; 5 m) and fieldwork. Nenets managing collective and privately owned herds of reindeer have proven adept in responding to a broad range of intensifying industrial impacts at the same time as they have been dealing with symptoms of a warming climate. Here we detail both the spatial extent of gas field growth and the dynamic relationship between Nenets nomads and their rapidly evolving social-ecological system.

Land use and land cover change in Arctic Russia: Ecological and social implications of industrial development

Sizable areas in northwestern arctic Russia have undergone fundamental change in recent decades as the exploration of vast hydrocarbon deposits has intensified. We undertook two case studies on the influence of oil and gas activities within neighbouring federal districts in the tundra zone. Employing a strongly interdisciplinary approach, we studied the ecological, spatial and social dimensions of the visible and perceived changes in land use and land cover. Our data are derived from field sampling, remote sensing and intensive participant observation with indigenous Nenets reindeer herders and non-indigenous workers. Important trends include the rapid expansion of infrastructure, a large influx of workers who compete for freshwater fish, and extensive transformation from shrub- to grass- and sedge-dominated tundra. The latter represents an alternative ecosystem state that is likely to persist indefinitely. On terrain disturbed by off-road vehicle traffic, reindeer pastures’ vegetation regenerates with fewer species among which grasses and sedges dominate, thus reducing biodiversity. To have maximum forage value such pastures must be accessible and free of trash, petro-chemicals and feral dogs. We found that a wide range of direct and indirect impacts, both ecological and social, accumulate in space and time such that the combined influence is effectively regional rather than local, depending in part on the placement of facilities. While incoming workers commonly commit poaching, they also serve as exchange partners, making barter for goods possible in remote locations. In general, the same positive and negative impacts of the presence of industry were mentioned in each study region. Even using very high-resolution remote sensing data (Quickbird-2) it is not possible to determine fully the amount of degraded territory in modern oil and gas fields. With regard to policy, both biophysical and social impacts could be substantially reduced if information flow between herders and workers were to be optimized.

Remote Sensing and Local Knowledge of Hydrocarbon Exploitation: The Case of Bovanenkovo, Yamal Peninsula, West Siberia, Russia

The capacity of satellite imagery to detect anthropogenic impacts on land cover was assessed for the Bovanenkovo gas field on the Yamal Peninsula in northwest Siberia, which contains some of the world’s largest untapped gas deposits. The region is also the homeland of nomadic Nenets reindeer herders, whose annual migration between the tree line and the northern tundra exposes them to impacts associated with exploration and production activities. These range from physical obstructions, such as roads, railways, and pipelines, to direct and indirect ecological impacts, such as changes in vegetation and hydrology. Nenets’ perceptions of their territories encompass changes in the quantity and quality of terrestrial and freshwater habitats and campsites that have been used seasonally for centuries. Industrial impacts on land cover were examined at spatial scales from very detailed to coarse. Very-high-resolution Quickbird-2 imagery revealed the most impacts, but could not detect items like trash that reduce the quality of reindeer pastures. ASTER, SPOT, and Landsat imagery were useful at the broader landscape level. A proper assessment of the overall ecological impacts of hydrocarbon exploitation requires a combination of remote sensing and detailed ground-truthing. Ideally, these efforts should combine scientific and local knowledge from both indigenous herders and non-indigenous industrial workers.

Russian Arctic warming and ‘greening’ are closely tracked by tundra shrub willows

AbstractGrowth in arctic vegetation is generally expected to increase under a warming climate, particularly among deciduous shrubs. We analyzed annual ring growth for an abundant and nearly circumpolar erect willow (Salix lanata L.) from the coastal zone of the northwest Russian Arctic (Nenets Autonomous Okrug). The resulting chronology is strongly related to summer temperature for the period 1942–2005. Remarkably high correlations occur at long distances (&gt;1600 km) across the tundra and taiga zones of West Siberia and Eastern Europe. We also found a clear relationship with photosynthetic activity for upland vegetation at a regional scale for the period 1981–2005, confirming a parallel ‘greening’ trend reported for similarly warming North American portions of the tundra biome. The standardized growth curve suggests a significant increase in shrub willow growth over the last six decades. These findings are in line with field and remote sensing studies that have assigned a strong shrub component to the reported greening signal since the early 1980s. Furthermore, the growth trend agrees with qualitative observations by nomadic Nenets reindeer herders of recent increases in willow size in the region. The quality of the chronology as a climate proxy is exceptional. Given its wide geographic distribution and the ready preservation of wood in permafrost, S. lanata L. has great potential for extended temperature reconstructions in remote areas across the Arctic.

Finding the Way

In anthropology, research on human spatial orientation (wayfinding) has centered on two conflicting theories: the "mental map," whereby humans build abstract cognitive representations of the spatial relations between objects, and "practical mastery," which rejects the idea that such abstract representations exist and, in its most developed form, suggests that wayfinding is a process of moving from one recognized visual perspective (vista) to another (transitions between vistas). In this paper we reveal, on the basis of existing psychology and geography research, that both wayfinding theories are in fact complementary: humans rely on mental maps but also memorize vistas while navigating, and an individual's navigation method, ability, and the form of the mental map is likely to depend on a situation as well as on factors such as age, sex, familiarity with the environment, and life history. We demonstrate (using research material obtained during fieldwork carried out among Komi and Nenets reindeer herders) that anthropology can contribute to human spatial cognitive research, which has traditionally been an interdisciplinary endeavor, by identifying differences in spatial representation between different people and peoples. However, future contributions can be achieved only if anthropologists accept that mental maps and route knowledge (as advocated by practical mastery) are part and parcel of spatial cognition.

Nenets reindeer herders on the lower Yenisei River: traditional economy under current conditions are responses to economic change

The article is dedicated to the problems of survival and development among the aboriginal peoples of northern Russia in the context of current conditions. Data collected in the western art of the Taimyr Autonomous District allowed us to divide the non-sedentary population of this territory into three groups differentiated by overall way of life, land use and economic “calendar.” These groups are: the nomadic reindeer herders of the tundra (about 250–300 people), the semi-nomadic fishermenherders of Yenisei delta (about 500), and the nomadic herders of the forest-tundra (300–350). The economy and ways of life of the three non-sedentary groups are described. Communities whose traditional subsistence base is reindeers have entered a crucial period. In response to the pressure of the dominant society, these peoples have three possible strategies: isolation, passive adaptation and active adaptation. Only the last strategy can preserve their culture, and create a “neoculture”. Now, however, passive adaptation predominates. The mutual, bi-directional process of cultural integration needs to reinforce positive aspects of acculturation and promote active, rather than passive, adaptation. A necessary condition for this is the appearance among the Nenets of an intermediate social stratum which maintains close links to nomadic reindeer-husbandry and is simultaneously integrated into the dominant society.

The contribution of Alexander von Middendorff to the exploration of the Taymyr Peninsula in 1843

Abstract Following a plan conceived by the arctic explorer K. M. Baer, which focused on a study of the limitations on growth in plants and animals as one proceeds north to and beyond the treeline, and with the support of the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences, in 1843 Alexander von Middendorff mounted a remarkably successful expedition to the Taymyr Peninsula (Poluostrov Taymyr). Having established a base camp at Filipovskoye on the Boganida River, where members of the expedition carried out baseline studies in the areas of meteorology, botany, and zoology, Middendorff set off northward with a small party, travelling in company with nomadic Nenets reindeer herders. The party built a boat on the Verkhnaya Taymyra, then travelled down that river, across Lake Taymyr (Ozero Taymyr) and down the Nizhnaya Taymyra to the sea. Middendorff carried out a detailed survey of his route and collected geological, botanical, and zoological specimens. On the return route he almost died from starvation and exposure. His ...