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What is a reindeer? Indigenous perspectives from northeast Siberia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2014

Piers Vitebsky  and
Anatoly Alekseyev
Piers Vitebsky
Affiliation:
Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1ER ([email protected])
Anatoly Alekseyev
Affiliation:
Faculty of History, M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, 58 Belinsky Street, 677980 Yakutsk, Russia
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Abstract

The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) is the mainstay of most of the indigenous cultures and economies of the Eurasian north. Yet much of the literature ignores indigenous perspectives in favour of ecological perspectives based on a resource-oriented model. While acknowledging the role of scientific writing on reindeer, here we explore the meaning of reindeer economies that are also reindeer cultures. We show how reindeer can be endowed with a personhood which parallels that of humans, leading to a working partnership which encompasses both ecological and spiritual dimensions. Even when reindeer herders qualify in veterinary science, this does not wipe out their indigenous understanding of the nature of the reindeer. We relate this to the physical, social and moral demands of life in the taiga.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 51 , Issue 4 , July 2015 , pp. 413 - 421
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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