Reindeer Transhumance Formafantasma, Oltre Terra NAM Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo NO The Sámi are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people of fewer than 140,000 who inhabit mostly the northern reaches of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. They are best known for their semi-nomadic reindeer herding, which provides meat, fur, and transportation for them. Recent archaeological evidence suggests that humans domesticated reindeer approximately 2 to 3 thousand years ago, but human-reindeer relationships, primarily through hunting, are much older. Inhabitants in the north quickly learned to take advantage of the reindeer’s presence, and its exceptional ability to survive in a cold climate with short growing seasons and long winters. With regard to land use reindeer pastoralists require mobility, flexibility, and reciprocity much like other pastoralists do. Both reindeer herders and many researchers have stated that intrusions, or loss of pastures, are the primary challenge that reindeer and reindeer herding faces in the future. The practice of free grazing and the migration of reindeer between summer and winter pastures has endured and adapted to many influences over the last 150 years. Despite technological changes and the natural and bureaucratic limitations, the livelihood has nevertheless resisted attempts to rationalize established practices. Even today, reindeer herding continues to be an important livelihood for the Sámi people, although practitioners cannot entirely rely on herding for their income. Apart from its practical relevance for the local economy, it is observed a growing symbolic importance of reindeer herding, and especially, ownership of reindeer in the definition and self-determination of the Sámi nation. Full article at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/16/world/europe/reindeer-norway-sami.html Sources: 1 - Nadia Shira Cohen, “Where Reindeer Are a Way of Life”, The New York Times (2018) Images: 1,2 - Nadia Shira Cohen, Photo of a Sámi herder feeding his reindeer, New York Times (2018) 3 - Reindeer grazing. Photo: Sandra Zagolin #formafantasma #oltreterra #NAMoslo #nasjonalmuseet #design #research #sámi #reindeer @nasjonalmuseet