Why the Selkup are Losing their Reindeer Herding Farms: Based on Modern Field Research
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6119-2026-1-91-101
This article examines the current decline in the number of Selkup reindeer herding farms, highlighting a crisis in the reindeer herding sector of the Selkup economy. The study draws on the author's field observations during expeditions to northern Selkup-inhabited Selkups from 2004 to 2024. This period of Selkup reindeer herding has not yet been studied by other researchers, which constitutes the scientific novelty of this work. The research led to the following conclusions. The crisis in modern Selkup reindeer herding originates in Soviet economic reforms: the collectivization of reindeer, the establishment of large-herd reindeer herding, and the specialization of collective and state farm workers in specific economic activities. The subsequent collapse of the Soviet economy forced the Selkups to return to traditional small-scale reindeer herding. Still, the legacies of the Soviet era – settlements and fishing enterprises – remained, continuing to draw Selkup fishermen away from reindeer herding. Advances in science and technology led to the widespread adoption of new means of transport among the Selkups, particularly snowmobiles, which replaced reindeer sleds. The convenience of snowmobiles and the comfort of settlement life reduced the willingness of Selkup reindeer herders to remain in the forest and endure the traditional hardships of reindeer husbandry. In the past twenty-five years, the challenges of maintaining reindeer herds have increased significantly due to the arrival of large numbers of wild reindeer and the wolves that followed them into Selkup territories. Today, Selkup reindeer herding is sustained by the Selkups' familial attachment to reindeer, state support, and new methods of herd management.
Keywords: Selkups, traditional culture, reindeer herding, Soviet past of Selkup reindeer herding, crisis of modern Selkup reindeer herding
References:
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Issue: 1, 2026
Series of issue: Issue 1
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 91 — 101
Downloads: 5