Class Activity #9: the Nenet Reindeer Herders 1.
For those Nenet who are continuing to live a mostly traditional pastoral lifestyle out on the Siberian tundra, the reindeer are a major and direct source of food. (i.e. Nenet raise the reindeer themselves and they themselves butcher them for meat that they directly consume.) However, the Nenet shown in the film are also engaged in an economically non-traditional activity, as well, involving some of their reindeer. How have reindeer become a means of earning money for the Nenet that they can then use to buy things from non-Nenet people? On the Siberian tundra, the Nenet people have a dual connection with their reindeer, using them for both money and nourishment. Apart from customs like as herding and meat eating, the Nenet people have also included non-traditional economic pursuits. By selling the reindeer, their antlers, skins, and other byproducts to outside markets, they make money off of the animals. The Nenet can buy goods and services from non-Nenet communities thanks to the money made from these transactions. Their adaptive strategy to maintain their traditional way of life while engaging in a larger economic framework, therefore increasing their self-sufficiency, is demonstrated by this economic diversification. 2.
What other kind of basic subsistence activity do we see the Nenet in this film engaged in besides raising and slaughtering their own reindeer? (i.e. How else do the Nenet directly acquire a source of food without the use of money and without trading with non-Nenet people?) Apart from raising and slaughtering reindeer, the Nenet in the film are engaged in traditional subsistence activities such as fishing and hunting. They directly acquire food from the surrounding environment, exploiting natural resources like fish and game without monetary transactions or external trade. This diversified approach contributes to their self-sufficiency in sustaining a traditional pastoral lifestyle.
