The past and future of reindeer herding in ethno-cultural landscapes of indigenous peoples of the Arctic: regional disparity analysis

The article considers regional differences in the development trends of the traditional reindeer herding of northern peoples from the perspective of ethno-cultural landscape science based on the analysis of official statistics on changes in the number of reindeer. The regional political contexts in which the evolution of ethno-cultural landscapes of traditional reindeer herding took place are examined in a historical retrospect. The steady, almost continuous growth of reindeer husbandry, localized in four administrative districts located in the tundras of Western Siberia, which began as early as the 1950s, is revealed. This growth stopped in recent years, when the number of deer exceeded the feeding capacity of pastures. In its territory there was a significant change in the stereotypes of economic behavior of the ethnoterritorial group of reindeers herders. Having originated in one local area, it subsequently spread to adjacent territories. The growth of the reindeer population is explained by the fact that in this ethnic community the economic activity and initiative of private reindeer herders have significantly increased. In the rest of the Arctic zone of Russia, reindeer herding mainly inherits the organizational model formed during the Soviet period, in which the economic activity and initiative of reindeer herders is controlled by the administration. A comparison of historical conditions of reindeer husbandry development in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous region and Chukotka shows considerable differences between the regions both in regional policy on reindeer husbandry and in the traditions of private family reindeer husbandry.

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